There’s a couple of things i never got around to doing in my teenage years (it’s because I’m boring as bat shit) and in many ways, glad that I missed the boat when everybody else either got them or did them and they are:

-never got around to getting a tattoo. Besides the fact that I’m not into the whole “pain factor”, I just could never work out what i wanted. I know whatever it was I would have chosen at 14, would mean I’d be regretting at age 28.

-never got extra piercings in my ear/nose/eyebrows. I have the standard one piercing that my parents got me as a child. I remembered that it hurt like hell. I think I was 6 or 7. That pain has put me off ever wanting to do it again. 

-never smoked a cigarette or dabbled in any kind of illicit drugs. Firstly I couldn’t afford it. Pocket money was only EVER enough for a train ticket and an afternoon snack of chips and potato cakes… and i couldn’t give up the snacks for cigarettes, it just didn’t make sense.

The whole drug thing… well i saw my first overdose in the city and freaked me out as a kid. Never ever going to bother with that shit. EVER! 

In saying that, I’ll always remember an incident when I was with my bf (ex now), and a bum came up to us at Footscray station asking if we had change because he needed to make a phone call. We gave him $2.00 and he gifted us a bag of weed. I made my ex throw it in the bin. Looking back now, we probably could have sold it, smoked it or whatever, but being me, I made him throw the stash away, fearing the cops were going to throw us in jail.

actually, thinking about it now, i wonder why the bum didn’t just sell his stash..it would have been a lot more than the $2 bucks he’d given us.

It’s the straight and narrow path that I ended up taking which has worked out well for me. I mean those friends that started smoking are all trying to quit. The ones with tattoos don’t look as cool as they did back then, look kinda trashy and some have resorted to spending lots of money to remove it.

And the whole drugs thing.. i dont know anyone i know back then who was into drugs that isn’t 6 feet under.

You know it’s always the small little things that do your head in….but I have to pick the music for the reception

I don’t THINK we’re going to have a church ceremony (that the Lord-yes i know the irony in that)… as this means I don’t have to try to work out what song I’d be walking down the aisle too..

but i still have to work out what song I’d be entering the reception too.

At first I liked the song: a thousand years bu Christina Perri (more so for the bridesmaid to walk down) but the whole Twilight attachment to it.. Not sure how that’s going to go down with the partner. Plus after listening to it, it’s a very somber song… makes me almost wanting to cry, it’s MORE of a church song to get the bridesmaids to walk down it but there’s no church so that’s kinda mute.

Then there’s Jason Marz- I’m yours. which is a lot more upbeat…

Oh man.. that’s all i got.

and i ain’t going to be playing bruno mars-marry me. As much as I LOVE bruno mars.. i don’t know if any of you have actually listened to the lyrics properly, it pokes fun of marriage.. like it’s a dumb thing. so heck no.

*sigh*

I wish this was something I could just palm off to the Mister to decide. but 

1. he’s too busy

2. anything he’s going to choose is going to be bad. i know this because he has bad taste.

OHHHH MAN.. this sucks

gah… see.. what..i… mean…

this just does my head in

I remember there was a time where I was extremely resistant to using facebook. Looking back now, I’m not even sure exactly why that was the case.

The irony of course is I am a very BIG facebook user. 

And like many people who first started off with facebook, I added everybody I knew under the sun, including people I don’t entirely like and others I hadn’t even spoken to in years.

But like any voyeuristic person out there, I kept them on because hey, it’s always interesting to see what OTHER people are doing?

Right? wrong!

Not if it’s your past “flame” going on their own bucks, and pretty much the first news you heard about them even getting married, which brings out the stalker side of you out to check out their “hundred plus” engagement photo just to check out the “bride” 

Yehhhh.. that shit’s not cool in normal circumstances, but for some reason it’s “okay” under facebook rules.

Don’t go judging me, every single one of you have stalked someone you either liked, didn’t like, or just wanted to know what someone you used to know, like/didn’t like were up to.

And so I went through the arduous task of cleaning out my friends list…

Yes ladies and Gentleman… we have decided… and it’s FINAL

26th of April 2014

is when I’d be getting hitched.

just 587 days to go….. do you think i should be counting down from now to then??!?! that would drive you all mad right?

I really admire people daring enough to go all out on a wedding venue. I have a friend who’s paying almost $17K for hers, another paying $12K and not too long ago, one paid $20K.

These costs DO NOT include the catering of the venue. The costs vary from $45 per person to $93 per person (being asian this means an 7-9 course banquet)

Personally I can’t justify spending that kind of money, well anything over $10K for a venue is a tad extreme for me. Like I have mentioned before, the nerve of these places to be charging out their venues at these ridiculous prices.

But when you start looking at the cheap end, you end up with nasty looking places. Really old fashioned stuff, to the point that it’s starting to borderline FOB-ness or for those who aren’t asian- country hick style.

So it’s a tough gig trying to find the right balance- something modern, nice looking but cheap. And that’s the key, anything over $10K is modern, anything under… well if they could charge the high prices they wouldn’t be so dire looking.

Then you have the tricky part of trying to ensure that the venue you are hiring doesn’t happen to be one that your family/friends have recently had their wedding reception at. Because that’s a bit awkward, or is it? To me it is, but as pointed out by my mother “you make it difficult for yourself hence why you’re having all this trouble”.

But every girl wants to be different right? 

It’s not just trying to contend with cheap, modern looking venue where no one else has had their wedding but ensuring that there’s parking and it’s easy to get to.

One year, one of my cousins got married at a reception in Docklands which didn’t make it easy-parking wise and getting there. Basically I’m still hearing the grumblings from family members at how pissed off they were trying to find parking (and some hard to pay for parking -$25 is a bit of a rip).

As much as I don’t care about what half my relatives think, my parents do. 

and that’s the other criteria.. finding a venue that gets the big fat tick from my mother.

Oh dear lordy… I might as well pull up a tent in the backyard… it’s much simpler that way. But I can’t because our backyard can’t fit 200-300 potential guests.

FML

So today I took my mum to Footscray market because I was bored. 

We ended up buying some fish (yuck) and a new rice cooker. The old one busted on us.

Rice cookers aren’t cheap that’s for sure. I mean you can get a cheap crappy one for $19 but the good ones really start at $150. The better rice cookers are made by Tiger which is a japanese brand that most asians would be familiar with.

We didn’t end up with a Tiger but a Toshiba. According to my mum (the expert), this one was a particular good one because the “bowl thing” that holds the rice is actually really thick. Apparently the Tiger ones eventually burn out (like after 10 years).

My mum haggled with the shop assistant even though the product was on sale from $288 to $245. We paid $235. A couple that walked in just before us paid $240.

Our next stop was Chemist Warehouse… I am so in LOVE with this place! I can buy so many skin care products and the like for cheap!!! and there are so many things that they have that i didn’t knew existed but do… for example prior to go to Vietnam I bought chaffing cream. Awesome stuff!!!! Saved us during the trip. 2 fat people walking long distances in the wretched heat.. think about it. Have been looking for a good cleanser, scrub and mask… only ended up getting a make up remover.I figured I better do some online research before I part away with money.

and now… as I type this up, it sounds like my neighbours are having another domestic. These people usually have a domestic every couple of weeks (and they always happen on a weekend). Sometimes the screaming is so loud, that it wakes me up. There have been times when I’ve been tempted to open  my sliding door to my bedroom and scream out “shut the fruck up, it’s only 10am on a saturday morning. what the fruck?!?!”

But i don’t. Yes, it’s annoying to be woken up but it’s very interesting to hear them scream at each other. Although when people are just screaming on the top of their lungs, it’s a tad hard to understand. Plus who knows if these psychopaths are owners of a gun, then that would be scary.

As I’m not focusing on what they’re screaming about (yeh these people are loud). I’m not sure what the heck it’s about. But it makes me think, don’t these people care about their neighbours or what their neighbours would think?!!??! 

obviously not because if they did, they wouldn’t be carrying on like idiots.

One time, the arguing/screaming went on for hours and hours on end. It woke me up at 10ish, i went out, came back at 4 and they were still at it. I was like “if i screamed like that, i’d lose my voice”

Yes, I live in an interesting neighbourbood.

A couple of nights ago, my partner and I watched Criminal Minds. For those who don’t follow Criminal Minds- it’s about FBI agents who try solve crimes committed by psychopaths. These FBI agents try to profile these criminals by their behaviours to try to catch them etc etc.

The storylines became creepier or maybe I just became more of a chicken over time.I used to be an avid fan and watched it religiously… and then the format somehow changed and it got a lot more gorier as in you got to see blood, bones and the fear in the victims.

So I stopped watching it altogether because I just couldn’t handle it. I mean if i watch something too creepy, it literally gives me nightmares. 

So anyway, I was a tad upset with my partner that we had to watch 2 episodes of this show (because that’s what was on tv) and it DID creep me out no less.

Now, I think everyone can possibly be a psychopath (i mean how do you really know?) and worst still, the episode we were watching was about the taxi driver being a serial killer who kidnapped women that get into his cab. I don’t think I’d be getting into any cabs by myself for a LONG time. Prior to watching this episode, i never gave it a second thought about it, but now… I’m too chicken scared to want to catch a cab on my own. I mean how do I not KNOW that he might want to chop me up and use parts of my skin as moulds for another body.

You know what the response was from the other half? “just don’t catch a cab without me”…

oh brother… that doesnt necessarily always work, considering I’d most likely be catching them when I’m interstate for work. Now i just got to pray that I don’t end up dead

I don’t know if it’s because I’m now 28 and I’ve grown up, matured and see the world differently or perhaps I’m in a stable relationship and find that there’s no reason to do it but… tonight when I accompanied the “girls” to a bar… I was over it before we even entered the venue.

Just the mention of “bar hopping/clubbing” drains me.

I guess I wouldn’t mind so much to be heading out to a bar to go to “after work drinks” but frankly, I’m currently semi unemployed. Technically I’m not because someone is still paying me but I haven’t really “worked” for 2 weeks so I really don’t need to go to a bar to drown my sorrows over a beer/wine/spirit and have the need to bitch about how bad work is. In fact even when work was THAT bad I didn’t even bother engaging in such activities. Mainly because work happened to be so far out in the sticks, and the nearest “bar/pub” happened to be filled with bikies/bogans.

I know this makes me boring but I like boring.

Bars/pubs/clubs are for whatever reason not my cup of tea (atm)… especially considering when we did go tonight it was like a BIG sausage fest. the ratio was: 10 guys to 1 girl. Great ratio if I was single, not so great when I’m happily attached.

I also hate walking into the venue and having all these men look me up and down and being judged. It makes me very self aware that I am in fact a very big ASIAN girl, tall and fat.

And then i start to notice all the OTHER asian girls who happen to be half my size. You know, i look like I ate one of these girls for breakfast and possibly lunch too. I don’t understand how women can be so skinny! I know I used to be, but that’s the thing.. USED TO BE… I am not. I don’t fit the status quo and not fitting the status quo means people stare and it’s awkward.

Then as the night wears on, I start to notice that a lot of the girls rocking up to the venue with shorter skirts, skankier tops etc etc. The only thing that goes through my head is “Girlfriend?!?!?! are you not cold?!?!?!”

There used to be a time when I dressed like them and looked like them. I think to myself “why on earth did i torture myself?!?!? why oh why?!?!?! what the fuck was i thinking?!?!” 

A bar with bad ratio of to many men with skanky dressed women mean only one thing, FREE drinks all night long. None of which I can really participate in, which makes the whole exercise a very boring exercise. 

Do I feel out of place? of course. I’m dressed somewhat conservatively (warm-ish for winter), I’m not drinking any alcohol because I’m a responsible driver and value my licence too much and definately not in the mood to talk to anyone that I don’t already know…

I know my single friends love going but that’s just it.. they’re single.. They’re the ones that want to mingle with the sausage fest “crowd”. They’re the ones that can drink all they like and not have to worry about any consequences that may result from a drunken night rampage. 

OMG… i sound like a 50 year old.

-_-”

At this rate, this would be day 13..

why is this blog written so late? because today has been one jammed pack day and I wasn’t “free” enough to be able to write something.

1. I did go for my usual morning swim. It’s been exactly 1 week, and i do NOT see any improvements to my body whatsoever. i would LOVE immediate results but to no avail. It’s no wonder so many people give up exercise. I know, i know… these things take time and eventually the weight will shed off. RIGHT??? it frackin better because if it doesn’t….i’m going to swear off exercise forever.

2. I also had to go to the office today because my colleagues wanted to do a proper send off, basically when i got asked to leave on the Friday (this being almost 2 weeks ago), many people didn’t get to say goodbye… 

I got a card and a pink handbag… which was nice.

What wasn’t nice was the lunch that I had with my colleagues (as of the 21st of September I can officially call them ex colleagues). We went to the local pub and ordered $15 steak and chips. Mine was supposed to be medium but it came over OVERLY well done which of course made the steak really tough to eat. I am not a big fan of overcooked steak.

Still gives me the shivers thinking about it.

Actually, the steak wasn’t as bad as the cherry chocolate cake from the cheesecake shop that my manager had purchased. Not a big fan of cherries unless it’s extremely fresh…arghz. I took one bite out of the cake i was given and regretted it, i regretted it even more because i had been given a large piece to eat. double arghz.

3. I also met up with the girls from book club to have our usual get together dinner. Now for those who want to be technical, we’re not really a book club because we haven’t actually formally finished an entire book as a group, individually some of us have. We should call ourselves the “dining out club”.

so there you have it… lots to do today..

Can someone please explain to me why the Iphone 5′s starting price is $799 in Australia and it’s price in america starts at $399 (or something ridiculous like that)?

Considering our currency right now is ACTUALLY higher than that of the U.S of A. and frankly shipping costs from China (because let’s be frank, everything is manufactured from there) is a LOT cheaper to Australia because we’re heck of a lot closer than the states. Yet, we, Australians have to pay MORE than our counterparts.

There’s no doubt that these iphone’s will sell like hot cakes (although i really can’t tell what the fruck is so different from the 5 to the 4s from the 4…the changes that have been made are so marginal. but meh) but we- Australians get JIBBED hard.

I could completely understand this when our dollar was trading at like 58cents to the greenback.. but we’re like 1.03.

If anything, these Iphones should be sold either at the same price as what the Yanks get them for or at a lesser price. NOT freakin more.

It’s a joke.

It’s a real shame our government are so incapable of doing NOTHING to stop this kind of practice.But you know, this is such a common and wide practice amongst businesses in Australia, and I, for one am sick of it.

And I know I’m not the only one. Nobody LIKES being ripped off, that’s for sure. So lots of people are heading overseas to shop or shopping online with overseas retailers. And yes, i know the old comeback would be “retailers have to pay for things like overheads and employees etc”. Sure, i get the argument. But someone can’t tell me that the RENT space in NY is going to be heaps cheaper than rent space… say in melbourne.. yet the Apple store is able to sell their phones a heck of a lot cheaper? What gives?!!? 

There are plenty of retailers that have stores in expensive places around the world but they don’t go ripping the general public like they do here.

The other thing that gets to me is how so many retailers are now advertising that they’ve managed to keep the “prices” either the same or even lower than what it used to cost before. Which basically translates to “hey, unfortunately consumers have gotten too smart and we can’t rip them off anymore, so we’re going to sell our products are the price they should have paid 10 years ago but we manage to get away with ripping them off for so long… OOPS!”

One thing I love about the digital age, it’s starting to make australian businesses a lot more honest… because clearly our governments can’t.