We're Baaaack!!

That's right, we're back in the US of A. In fact, we've been back since last Wed but I've been too lazy to post. I'm only posting now to let you people know we're alive and well (not lying in a dirty gutter somewhere in the seedy underbelly of Taipei). We did consider staying in Taiwan indefinitely and having my aunt cook us delicious meals 24/7 but we couldn't abandon the cats. So we're back.

In short, our trip was awesome. A meaty post with minute details will follow soon. Too sleepy to make an attempt now. Since coming home, Badge and I have been super jetlagged. We've only been able to stay asleep 3 hours at any given time. Not fun. On Thursday, we went to the parentals for Thanksgiving (more in another post) and promptly passed out on the couch after the meal. We couldn't even keep our eyes open. So sad.

Anyway, that's all I got. Today I went back to work: caught up on emails in the morning, had lunch with Busy Mama, actually did work in the afternoon. Hopefully tonight, my body will recognize I'm back into a routine and let me have one good night's sleep. For the love...let me just have one...

Ok more soon, promise.

Motherland

Tomorrow, Badge, Mom, and I embark on our journey to the Motherland, a.k.a Taiwan.

In the morning, I'll be desperately trying to finish work, then it's off to Stone Brewery for the Software Dept team building event. Afterwards, Badge and I will drive up to LA and at 11pm, the three of us will be tucked in our seats for a 15 hour flight. I look forward to two weeks of eating uncontrollably and R&R. Yay!

Monkey Business

Look at this adorable bunny stuffie Monkey made for my birthday. HOW CUTE IS THIS?? If Monkey were here, I'd pummel her. Too goddamn cute. Also in the box were two other stuffies she made for my cousin's two daughters in Taiwan. Quirky and whimsical. Maybe a tad creepy but still super cute.


She also knitted this cat hat for one of the kids, and included a Penn engineering tshirt for my aunt and a threadless tshirt for my cousin.


On an unrelated note, we went Ashoka last night for Indian with the parentals. On a bet, Badge named 100 countries around the world, which is ridiculous since I can probably only name 30. He just rattled them off. Most countries I could have sworn he was making up as I'd never even heard of them (Frog and Spike confirmed they were legit). In particular, I have no clue how he knew all those African countries. Very proud of my altas Badge.

The night before that we went to La Puerta with Dog, Luna, Kimbo, and Marc. The food was tasty but a tad salty and it was so loud that I could barely hear what anyone was saying. I think I prefer going there on a weekend afternoon when it's not so busy. Still, we had a good time chit chatting.

I'm about to get ready for yoga. Hopefully my butt will feel better today since we hit up the jacuzzi last night. We shall see! Unfortunately, Badge will be gone all day (soccer and the many hours of recording) so I'll probably just be puttering around at home. Must 1) clean 2) start packing 3) finish contracting project for Bobby.

Good Day

All good days start off with a cat picture so let me start with the following.


So why was this a good day? Well, I helped fix a memory leak for one of our high profile projects. Go me! Now, I can go on vacation next week in peace.

Unfortunately, it was not a great yoga day as my butt/hamstring has been acting up. It feels extra painful today, probably because the cold weather has stiffened me up. Additionally, I must have been dehydrated because I had horrible foot cramps all throughout class. Not cool.

Tonight, I ate left over pizza and am watching the World Series for no reason other than it's on. I don't even find baseball particularly interesting. Badge should be home soon from soccer and then it's time for SYTYCD at the parentals.

Love You Mom

I start off this post by saying "love you" to my Mom, who was grievously offended after reading my last post about her abnormally high Asian standards. Though I don't deny what I said before, I would like to add that my Mom raised two kids on her own in a foreign country and she did a damn good job doing it. You're the best Mom!

Now for a quick recap of the weekend festivities...

On Friday, there was an unimpressive Halloween happy hour at work. I was expecting the event to be spectacular, esp since it was hosted by Marketing who typically can stretch beyond the budget. But I was disappointed. Beer selection was sub-par and there were only 3 kegs versus the usual 4-5. At least I got to eat a chocolate cupcake and help Nevertap track down some cracked out looking girl who's been giving her the evil eye.

On Saturday, I went to yoga and then we ran errands in the afternoon. Mostly gift shopping for the Taiwan family. We got plenty of SD sweatshirts, boxes of See's candy, and some t-shirts from Banana Republic for my cousin. That night we went to a rock band themed Halloween party at Badge's soccer friend's house. Before we found out it was a rock star theme, we wanted to be matching Hamburglars but alas, that will have to be another year. Instead, we settled for the following.


I gotta say, this mohawk drove me insane. I wanted to go for a full spike but my hair just would not hold. Believe me, I sprayed half a can of hair spray and used half a bottle of gel. No go. Maybe I need some wax or something. The party was lots of fun. Everyone was super nice and of course I got OBSESSED with rock band. This is only my second time playing and sadly I ended up hogging the guitar a bit (I tried not to!). I wish I had it at home, but then again maybe it's better that I don't.

On Sunday, I went to yoga again, then Badge and I headed downtown to watch the football game and drink micheladas at La Puerta. Of course several micheladas turned into guacamole, turned into tacos and quesadilla. Despite being close to exploding, we waddled our way over to ghirardelli to split an enormous sundae. By that time, I was about to pass out from being so full so we quickly drove home and took a nap. That night we went to a informal engagement celebration at our neighbor's. Surprisingly, I enjoyed chatting with people despite the age difference. It was nice to put faces to the houses around us.

Tonight, I've watched 3 episodes of BSG and am tempted to watch more. Badge and I threw together a stew which turned our pretty tasty. That's all I got for tonight. 10 days till we go to the motherland!