The start of my new life :)

Many many things have transpired over the last three weeks. Summer ended, and we're officially living in the fall season, but still there is way too much heat wrapping around the city.

I apologize for the lack of updates folks, because I've been pretty occupied with stuff, stuff that I will write about in this blog entry.

Summer holiday ended for me approximately 4 weeks ago, and I started a new chapter of my life with a significant other. Yes, I think I have finally found someone who understands me and doesn't scramble off once I start to rattle off in a bratty manner about my life credentials. Not gonna lie, boys are pretty intimidated by my nerdiness, but he's not. Boys dislike my lack of roots here in Philadelphia, but he embraces it. I must say that certain aspects of my life do scare the hell out of him, but when you love someone, you take in everything that comes together in the package, don't you?

I refused to blog about this matter because I wanted to be sure that he is here to stay and he isn't gonna be some random summer fling of mine. It's not like I had summer flings in the past (you know me, I am extremely loyal and sincere =p), but I didn't want to announce to the whole world about it, only to take it back a few weeks later. My mum used to tease me for being a flower heart (translate that in chinese, will you?) girl, and I wanted to make damn sure that I didn't portray myself as one on my blog. So, ladies and gents, I guess this is it! Eddie Chang is here to stay for sure =)

That's it folks. Here's me signing off with much love.

Hitting bull's eye

Shooting with Matt, Betty, Andy and Sean was fun today! 

I got to try out the pistols and rifles, and I want to say that I prefer the rifles...

Serious stuff 

My partner-in-crime for the day :) 

American food

Have you seen such a huge burger before? 

Fungal Cake?

We baked brownies which turned out to be more like cake, and it looked like it had fungal infection. Actually we added marshmallows and m&ms into the mix!

Happy happy :) 

Where did all the time go?

Has it really been 12 weeks?

Yes, that's exactly how long I've been back and how long I've been working at Towers. Can't believe today was my last day of work. Now I have exactly one more week to take a break before I head back to school again. For this one week, I don't have to wake up at 630am anymore and get ready for work. It's gonna be weird trying to adjust back to normal life. 

Yesterday was mini-golf tournament day. I loved every single moment of it. We all had teams, and my team was hilarious. We had 12 golf holes aka 12 stations, and this particular hole (the racetracks) took me 8 strokes. Blahhhhh..

This, ladies and gents, is the Phillies Phanatics Hole. I helped build it on Wednesday evening by staying back a little after the usual working hours! 

Anyway, Amanda and I had a fieldtrip walking around the office today. Who knew there were so many people on both floors of the office, and I hardly know half of them. We made our rounds, said our goodbyes, had our nice lunches with the associates and wrapped up everything within a day. Our cubicles were neat once again - no more work piling up days after days, and for once it looked spacious.

 

Amanda and I in front of our office building after work. 

We left slightly earlier to get our free monthly Godiva chocolate from the store. That's the beauty of working in the city - everything is within easy reach! 

Okay so after work, I had a quick bite with Sean, who just came back from Japan after 4 months of living there. I want to go there so badly! He's such a cute boy, and I am so excited to be his neighbor! We went for midnight bowling after dinner (like way after) and for some reason, I can't sleep now even though it's 5am in the morning, hence I'm blogging about my uninteresting day and I think I shall hit the pillows soon again!

Midnight Bowling with SJU peeps :

Memories

Memories are a funny thing. 

Last year around this time of the year, I remember saying goodbye to all the SASers whom I've met on the ship, not knowing when we will see each other again. One year later, most of the girls in my group made it to NYC for a mini-reunion. We made a pact for next year before we parted ways, and we are determined to make it to Grand Canyon the next time we meet again :)

Two weekends in a row, I had to make separate trips back to NYC to meet up with different groups of people, but it's all worth the time and effort. I took the Megabus, and sat on the top deck, front seat with 270 degrees view of everything. It was the most dangerous spot, but I loved it!

Crashed at Wei Jen's place for the night as I was too tired to make a trip to NJ to meet up with the others. Wei Jen brought me to the lower west side of town where all the clubs and pubs were. We opted for a low-key pub which was perfecto for the occasion. I was too tired anyway, so we called it a night at 1am. Within 3 hours, he also managed to show me around his building with a topdeck night view of NYC. 

Can you see why this is one of my favorite cities in the world? This place doesn't sleep at all. 

Anyhow, I met the girls on Saturday morning and we walked, walked, walked around New York City. Did some touristy sights, went for a fantastic Italian meal at Camines near Times Square, watched a live comedy performance that ended in the AM (midnight), and saw a Broadway show - Stomp on the next day. We also bonded over a sleepless night and now I'm dead beat. Time to sleep to recharge my battery!

So long, my friends! 

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps?

I woke up this morning, a funny feeling in my heart, I buttered my bread and it tasted different. Fresh. Amazing. The voices in my head told me that today would be an excellent day.

So far away from the place where I started from... I never thought I would reach this point in life. Maybe, life isn't that bad?

Had a baby shower for my desk buddy today. Of course, the interns were tasked to decorate the conference room. Both Amanda and I ran up to the 29th floor to collect the ice cream, and stumbled back down to the 28th with 6 tubs of ice cream and whip cream. Yum yum.

Tomorrow - perhaps it would be even better?

Remember that time?

Remember that time when I left London? It's been 10 weeks. Time flies without waiting for anyone. London has been the epic of epic epicness, but I try to make my summer in Philly as exciting as possible. Everyday after work, I jampack my schedule with activities, so much so that my apartment has become a place where I only sleep and shower nowadays. 2 more weeks of work, then 1 week of break before I start anew in SJU as a senior! Rahhhhhhh! 

Friday night, we had an Actuarial Science reunion in the city at Melting Pot. Funny how everyone in the group has already graduated except for me! That's how I roll - I used to take classes with the seniors. As a result of that, I hardly know my peers from the actuarial science 2011 graduation class.  

Brian, Melissa, Nancy and Des. Almost half the group couldn't make it :(

We had two chocolate fondues and cheese fondues. I know right - the cheese one sounds overwhelming, but it went really well with the fruits and bread and chips. Even though the food was a little pricey, it was nice to catch up with the peeps!

Saturday morning, both Jo and I woke up at 6am to get ready for our big trip to NYC. Yeay, big apple, here we come! We caught the 8am bus, arrived at NYC at 930am, and we went our separate ways before converging back at Times Square at 1pm to meet the rest of the gang. I got to meet with Wei Jen briefly for brunch, and it was nice to have someone bring me around the area. He gave me insights to the living standards in NYC, and it made me think twice about my dreams of moving there in the future. Boy, did you know that a 2-bedroom apartment in NYC cost $5000.!@#$%^)*(&*^&%^%$#@!~~ 

Met up with the gang at Bubba Gump for more food at 1pm. It was Mark's bday, so we all bought him lunch. 

The gang - 3 redheads vs 3 asians. 

Times Square has a special spot in my heart. It makes me feel so alive and at home no matter when I visit NYC :)

We went to FAO Schwatz after that and inched our way through the crowd of kids. We must have been the oldest kids there. haha. The toys were so soft, so soft that I can die. 

Remember the movie Big, produced 22 years ago, featuring Tom Hanks who became an adult overnight. They created this big piano just for the movie, and it has been there ever since. The professional dancers were really good at playing the piano :) 

Then we chilled at Central Park where all the hype seemed to be at. Not really actually, since everywhere in NYC is happening during the summer.We sat on the rocks cos we were too lazy to layout our blankets, and then Joe did a 15-minutes speech on his last debate topic. Joe is, btw, top 24th speaker in the country! 

And here comes the mandatory Asian picture :) 

Today both Jo and I had a major crisis back home at Presidential Apartments. Mind you, the name of the apartment is deceiving. You would think that I'm living life the Presidential way, but nope u are wrong. There are bed bugs crawling around in my bed room right now. I mean I'm not allergic to them, but Jo is, so I threw away my mattress and am currently sleeping on an air mattress right now. Damn crawlies. GO AWAY! so annoying. Don't know how and when they got here - must have been one of my guests who brought them here?? Or maybe I got it from somewhere else?? In a desperate attempt to eliminate all of them, Jo called the exterminator, and now they insists on treating the apartment for bugs for a freaking grand total of $450. plus we need to buy all the sprays and bed encassing. Boy, I know I go around telling people I have earning power right now (I'm actually not that great in reality), but I don't earn the big bucks yet, at least not enough to be throwing so much money out of the window!

And I might have a little personal problem going on at the same time. All these poisonous thoughts are consuming me and Jo, hence the slight breakdown today. We left work earlier today to speak with the management. Then we laughed it out by buying a bucket full of 12 chicken pieces, made fries, and had margarita with seasalt to go with our dinner while watching our all time fav show - Big Bang Theory.

What a way to start the week, isn't it? But it's alright. We'll tide through this crisis soon! :)

Yesterday's Greek dinner at Kanella with wine was perfect.

I felt as if I were living in a different world altogether for one night :)