Celebrity Sighting at Target

Dr. Chris Taub played by Peter Jacobson (left)

I turned around from the cash register with my purchases and heard a man ask, "Basket?"  I inadvertently looked at him and OMG, it was Dr. Chris Taub from the Fox show House.  House is my favorite show to watch when I'm winding down at night and not sleepy enough to sleep.  It was very exciting to see him a couple feet away from me and see his quizzical face asking for a shopping basket.  He was smaller and thinner in person.  TV really makes people look bigger.  His face even looked smaller.  If I had to go on tv, I'd really need to lose a lot of weight to look like myself now.

Palin Language

When I would listen to Palin's excruciatingly painful interviews, I'd listen in horror to her sentences.  Her sentences did not make sense.  I tried hard to describe it to other people.  "It sounds like nonsense...grammatically incorrect, she's not coherent!"

But reading actual transcripts of her interview helped me put my finger on it.  Palin's responses sound like a really bad cut and paste job.   OR it's like you used one of those free crappy translation websites to translate a paragraph from your high school French book into English and spoke it out loud.  

She is so disturbing.

Watching Fall Begin

I moved into a rambling Victorian house a couple of days ago and it's been a ticklish delight to get to know my new home.

This morning I stood chopping leeks in front of the kitchen window and watched gusts of wind flutter leaves to the ground.  Yesterday it was over 90 degrees in Pasadena; today the light is grey and cool and rain drops smatter the sidewalks.

Fall is beginning, isn't it?  And though I'm not in school, I am burying myself in books.  Two parcels arrived today:

--The Associated Press Stylebook

--2009 Writer's Market

--The Copyeditor's Handbook

--The Chicago Manual of Style

--The Synonym Finder

--Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

Thick yummy word books to get lost in.  

My new favorite recipe is from a recent issue of Bon Appetit Magazine called Leek Confit.    It's a delicious treat on almost anything.  Last night I had it with seared eggplants.  Today, I'm having it on top of Ethiopian Lentils.  Yum.

it's been a while

i took a blogging hiatus at the end of my trip and this last week.  i'm getting all my pictures in order and i'm finally over jetlag.  i'll post again soon.  thanks readers!

chillin in bangkok

it's officially decided. i love the expat life and i think i will be returning to asia (or europe) very soon. bangkok is the nicest city i have been tooo...the luxe parts are so luxe that i spin around in awe. doubledecker subway platforms, music in the air, fountains spouting water and good food everywhere? oh man. i looove it.

i'm staying at The Atlanta, a very quirky, eccentric hotel that draws writers and artsy travelers. if you do a quick google search, you'll draw some interesting reviews. they have their own verbose tonal language here and you just have to be here to experience the absurd, humorous, and intelligent nature of signs and manuals found everywhere around this hotel telling you what they thinks about a number of topics including your language, stupid tourists, thai rifraf and sexpats. (by the way, i have seen so many old white business guys with young thai girls. it's really gross. ewwww).

lots of things are planned for these last few days. i am so sad this trip is ending soon. thank you to all my dear friends who supported me. i have had the time of my life and learned so much about myself and God and living life the way I have longed to live it. I'm going to a big open market tomorrow...hope to find you a gift there :)

one more beach escape in southern thailand
a visit to the famous floating boat market
teaching english at a center serving the poor
visiting my friend lexie
going to a cock fight
a facial
riding elephants and tigers
visiting temples
getting a haircut
reading more books
taking a thai cooking class
learning thai kickboxing

which ones do you think are true? i mixed in a couple fake ones to make you gasp. oh the joys of making others gasp.

Paradise in Pictures

It's been so long since I blogged but I finally have access to a camera cord and am able to post some pictures.

Sunday to Tuesday, I joined YWAM Singapore's team to Pulau Besar, an island off the coast of Malaysia.  It was a tropical dream come true.  There were only two resorts on the island and that was it.  No internet cafes, no shops, no nothing!  I felt almost like Robinson Crusoe.  I had a wonderful time with Carl, Theresa, and their family of friends.  We played lots of card games, swooned over the crystal clear waters and white sand, stared at the stars (we could see the Milky Way!!!), and did lots of snorkeling.

Enjoy the pics.

The night before we left, I made kimchi for the first time with Theresa.  

It was surprisingly fun and easy.

We left for Malaysia early in the morning and were greeted by a local parade.

Then we got on a boat for Pulau Besar.

Here's Carl on the boat.

We arrived and gasped.  Yup, this is for real.

We stayed in these bungalows

and kept looking at the water

i know, it's amazing.  wish you were there.

a few days later, we left for civilization.  this is Mersing, a port town in Malaysia.  I had my first Malaysian KFC meal there.  Spicy chicken.  It was just out of the fryer and smackalicious!  Theresa swears they sprinkled msg all over it.  Probably true.

We came  back to rainy Singapore, and I treated Theresa and Carl to a big Korean bbq dinner.  They loved it.

Hot Kimchi Jun Geol--perfect for a rainy day.

Theresa is quite the gourmand cook.  I think she could be the next Julia Child.  This is the salad she made for me today.

And I helped her to do laundry on poles hanging off the building--Singapore style.

till next time...

Goodbye Bali

Tonight I leave Bali for Singapore and I am grateful for my time here.

The island has been good to me and while it was not a "tropical paradise," it was a place for renewal, reflection, and joy.

I haven't spent much time on the internet doing my usual work--reading the nytimes like I did daily back in the U.S. I just read this article just now however, and now I realize clearly that the ny times shapes my tastes to the elites' and teaches me to complain and feel like life should be working out a certain more bourgeois way. I read once that in order to be a great leader, you shouldn't be reading periodicals like the NY Times or The Economist. You should be reading the great classics. I'm going to take that advice now.

In Bali, I contemplated poverty and the non-U.S. life. I remembered again how much I had loved to live in a different country. I remembered how much it bothered me that just because I was born in a different country, I get more privileges than any common person in Bali does.

In the U.S., I felt like a poor person, "needing" a job to get by. I felt discriminated against at times and sensitive of my identity as an Asian American. In Bali, I realized how I am an incredibly rich person in the world. I could afford anything here, every luxury, every fine dining experience that Agus and Wayan would never dream in a million years of being served at.

When I heard Agus and Wayan tell me that their dream was to work for a cruise line, employers notorious for exploiting and trapping laborers on boats for months, I realized that I have so many options. I can dream big and I actually have the realistic means to go for it. And I need to--to be given those opportunities and not do anything with them is clearly a waste. There are people here whose dreams are so limited.

In Bali, I remembered dreams from my youth to write from abroad and to tell the stories of those too poor to tell them themselves. I realized the dreams are very much still alive.

Bali helped me remember my dreams and stoked the passions that had lain dormant for some time. It showed me what was real and what was still alive--even after all the religious confusion and chaos. It showed me that I am privileged and that I want to make the most of it with joy and love for the rest of the world.

Thank you Bali. I'll be coming back soon.