F-Word: Hustlin and Bustlin Thru Life

When I'm 26..

2009-06-17T12:59:00.001-04:00

It's 42 minutes till I become 27, so in the spirit of reminiscing what's left of my 26 year old age, I'm touching again this beloved blog of mine that I haven't touched for almost one year.

When I am 26 (because I'm not yet 27)..

.. I made one of the best decisions in my life
It's when I decided to go to this place called Kellogg. More about that later.

.. I lost somebody that I love so much..
My dearest auntie, how I love her dearly. It was one of those things in life when you start to see things in a better perspective. When you finally learn how to accept, just simply surrender, and no matter how hard life is, you know that in the end, everything will be alright.

.. I had to leave the people that I love..
The decision that I made required me to move thousand miles away to the other side of the world. It was hard to leave my family behind and my friends too. I still remembered how it felt like yesterday. It's funny how you think that one year is a long time, well it's not.. it certainly flies.

.. I had to move my whole life in two suitcases..
I arrived in a small town outside Chicago where I don't know anyone at all. It was 28 hours of traveling, two days worth of jet-lag, and suddenly the center of your universe is now in this tiny town.

.. I made more than 300 new friends..
Shortly after I start school, I suddenly know a lot of friendly faces. A mix of people that are very interesting, smart, funny, kind, some are bitchy, some are just obnoxious, but overall, they're my new buddies.

.. I did things that I haven't done before..
So many leadership activities that I did. Can't even name them all.

.. I got so busy living in a bubble..
B-school life is seriously crazy. I rarely have my own me-time (rarely? make that never!). My outlook calendar is probably busier than some Fortune 500 CEOs out there, I'm not even joking.

.. I got to wear so many costumes in one year..
Kellogg parties are known for their random fondness of costumes & weird themes. So far, I've been a Gossip Girl posse, a lumberjane, a reindeer, an angel, a grunge '90s girl, a sexy '80s girl, and the list goes on.

.. I lost my Bruno..
Certainly the toughest time for me since I left for school. I lost him and never got to say good bye in person, but I know that he knew how much I love him. I missed my dogs every day and I really can't wait to see them again.

.. I went to see the Oprah show live..
And I got to be on national.. no, international TV! Amazing.

.. I met Warren Buffett..
I took some crazy pictures with Mr. Buffett. Another amazing experience. Oh, I also met Mitt Romney and I became Tim Draper's personal assistant for one day.

.. I went to the Bahamas, led a trip to Russia, Finland, Estonia, went on a ski trip in Colorado..
Yes, I sure traveled a lot. I love it.

.. I haven't had a real, proper break for more than seven months..
Since Christmas, crazy life moved like a bullet train, non-stop. I don't think I'll have a proper break until this year's Thanksgiving week. Wow.

.. I took a job in Waterloo, Canada..
And now, for the summer I live in another place, another tiny town that made me miss my old apartment 601 alot, but I'm determined to like this new place. You gotta love it! Who could hate a place where you can eat poutine every single day?

.. I waited to turn 27 in my tiny little room on my air mattress all by myself..
Sad? Slightly, because I miss my family and friends. But I'm actually pretty content with what I have at this very moment. Remember.. it's the perspective.. I'm just trying to live my life in the present. One day at a time.

Happy birthday, F-Word. You're actually growing up.

One Lazy Evening in Paradise..

2008-07-17T10:18:00.005-04:00

A good friend and I decided to list down what do we want to do within the next five years. Both of us are leaving to go to school this Fall. Without further ado, this is both of our lists..

And this is mine. I hope I can cross them all..
I've been enjoying my holiday in this beautiful island. It will be my last vacation before school and I've been feeling quite enlightened lately. Happiness is truly inside of you. :-)

Hollow

2008-06-20T03:15:00.003-04:00

I guess it's a mix of a lot of things. For the past week, I haven't been in the bestest of moods (do I ever?). It could be my raging hormones. It could be the two vials of vaccine shot. It could be separation anxiety. It could be anything. For a change has about to start. And I feel a bit empty..

Is it a feeling of underachieving? Which I very rarely feel.. (sorry for being an obnoxious jerk here.. but it's true). I know that I'm losing my mind, because I don't think I have anything to complain about. Well, of course there's always my neverending financial troubles.. but hey, money shouldn't be able to buy happiness right?

So, what is it then? What?

Older, Older, Older..

2008-06-18T03:23:00.005-04:00

So, it's my birthday again. I guess I should be happy, I mean I got hugs, kisses, wishes, greetings, prayers from people who cared about me. All eyes on me.

I don't wanna share any reflections just yet, maybe soon, since I'm about to embark a new journey, so instead of the deep stuffs, let's talk about the superficial stuffs.. Stuffs that I get to talk about because it's my birthday.. Yes.. my birthday wish list!!

Without further ado, here it goes:
1. Lenovo ThinkPad X300, the mothership of all Thinkpads
2. 1TB of Hard Disk Drive, to keep all my music, photos & videos
3. Portrait lens for my Nikon D-40X digital SLR
4. Tickets to Alicia Keys in concert
5. Plane ticket to Bali
6. Nintendo DS Lite, yeah.. I lost mine back in Hong Kong
7. A new iPod, yeah.. I lost mine in Starbucks
8. A small portable hard drive 250 GB that I can use to watch DivX movies in TV

There you go, my most wanted shallow stuff list.

Happy birthday to me, I'm older, not wiser, but helluva prettier! :)

Photo courtesy of gettyimages.com

Keeping Myself Busy

2008-05-23T04:42:00.002-04:00

1. Read Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth and then listen to the global webcast
2. Keep myself updated with the Economist
3. Maybe I should take a photography class and fully use that Nikon D-40x of mine
4. Since I sprained my ankle last week in the gym I can't really do cardio for the next 2 weeks, so maybe I should switch to a gentler yoga class
5. Pay all my credit card debts
6. Apply for my student visa
7. Sell my iPhone so I can buy a 1 TB hard disk, I'm so broke

American Idol Conspiracy Theory

2008-05-14T11:03:00.002-04:00

Sorry folks, but I gotta write another post on American Idol.

Seriously, I think the producers are a bunch of mean people. On the Top 3 performance night, they are so purposely guiding the viewers to vote for a David vs David finals. I feel really sorry for Syesha. Here are few comments on the show tonight:

1. It's almost a 2 hour show.. and you know how they say that you'll only remember the first person and the last person (like back in my presentation skills class, the instructor always told me to pick the first slot or the last slot), well, guess who got stuck in the middle? Syesha.

2. In the tradition of the songs pick by the judges, usually the person who got Simon's song choice will get the best comment from.. Simon, of course. And you know how viewers almost always follow Simon's opinion. And guess who got Simon's song? Not Syesha.

3. So, every TV pothead knew that David Archuleta is almost guaranteed a spot in the finals. He's 17, cute looking, and very much is the favorite of the 16-25 female group, which is the largest group of voters. So, he's 99% safe. However, David Cook is not safe. So, in order to make the David vs David finals, the producers will choose songs for all contestants. David Archuleta gets a lame choice of song, but still okay. Unfairly, David Cook gets the best song of them all (a very legendary one indeed), Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, now.. if you're in the top 3 of American Idol, of course you'll be able to sing it well, no need to be great because the song itself is already a great song. So, who got the worse song of them all, which is also the least popular song of them all? Syesha.

It's a very cruel show. Especially, the judges seemed like they are specially tasked to guide the voters to choose David A. and David C.

Okay, I think it's time for me to get a life.

Mr. Gates & I

2008-05-09T11:26:00.000-04:00

Well, this is my second encounter with Bill Gates. I've seen him speak (live of course) last year and again yesterday. Although yesterday was my first photo session with him. At this rate, who knows? Maybe he'll invite me for a BBQ party at his house next year.

Sick In Bed

2008-04-27T12:36:00.004-04:00

Just spent the whole Sunday in bed. Yep, I'm sick. I got myself a fever, terrible sore throat, loss of voice and a bad headache.

Dammit. All I've done today is sleeping, reading one comic book, watching four and a half movies on DVDs. I'm getting so unproductive, I'm so worried that I won't be able to finish my Secret Project.

Cough. Sniff. Argh!

Hate Mail to My Almamater

2008-04-24T22:55:00.003-04:00

It's one of the best universities in the country, but it took more than one week just to get my translated-transcript signed. Seriously, is it that hard to get one person sign the damn thing?

They have an ARMY of administration people, yet all they seemed to do is just sit there and do nothing. They have such an obsolete management style, I bet companies back in 1940s are better at managing documents than this university folks!

Stupid, stupid, stupid bureaucracy!! I'm so looking forward to get the education (administration) that I deserve!!

Think of Me

2008-04-24T04:29:00.000-04:00

Holy ish, I feel like crying when I heard David Archuleta's version of Think of Me. I really love that song!!

That's all.

A Short Tale on Friendship

2008-04-22T09:15:00.007-04:00

Warning: You may not understand this post.(*)

I think that I am quite an inspiration. I am pretty sure that I'm really good at influencing others, especially my friends.

I have a group of friends that I love dearly. They are quite a ruckus, this lot. We had a clique within a clique kind of thing going on. Yep, there's a certain thing that split this group into two sides. So, some of us are those who are trying to pursue our dreams by going back to business school, and we call ourselves the "Cashmere Mafia/Sex and the City" gang. And then there's another group that has a bunch of bride-to-bes and some bride wannabes. We call them the "Desperate Housewives" group.

Cruel. I know. But this is how friendship works.

So, apparently, after I got accepted into Cool School, I inspired one used-to-be-bride-wannabe to pursue her b-school dream. Ha! I am an inspiration, right? She switched sides faster than Britney changes her personality.

I do have to admit that I'm happy when a Desperate Housewife became a Mafia, because it would mean that I will have more friends to share the fun of going back to school. If she goes to my school, I'll have a roomie.. and if she goes to a different school (hopefully in a different city), I'll have a free place to stay when I'm on a holiday.

Of course, there's nothing wrong of being a Desperate Housewife, I do respect my friends who chose this path. And by the way, this doesn't mean that they will be stay at home wives or soccer moms. No, they're still very smart, independent, ambitious ladies. Only they had found their own Mr. Right. We just like to mock them and call them part of the DH. I know, we're a mean and bitchy crowd.

This is what a DH told me once in one of our e-mail conversations, after I called her out as a DH:

"Whatever dude..... we're just one step ahead of you. We're done with school long time ago....and now we're living the real life."

and I laughed and replied:

"Exactly.. and we're living the dream."

Our conversations usually revolved around hate mails and constant mockery. I guess that's just how we show affection and love to each other. I am surely going to miss my friends, both Mafiosos and Housewives alike. Because no matter how much we liked to think that we have two sides of the group, we're still under the same group, we're all Drama Queens.

(*) If you do, then, good, you're probably smart enough to be one of my friends. Send me your résumé.

Bits and Pieces

2008-04-18T21:12:00.003-04:00

I got a lot of comments from friends about my previous posts. They said my blog looks like a bunch of hate mails. Really?

Okay, so I think I gotta stop doing this brooding, dark, kind of writing. I'm trying to write in a cheerful way now.

Alright, here goes. Yippie.

OMG OMG OMG, it was like.. I sooo love my dogs. They are so cute!!!! They are, like, you know, what do you call it.. okay, CUT! This doesn't work.

Alright, let me try again.

I do love my dogs, they all looked like wookies now. They haven't been groomed for a while. You do know what wookies are, right? They look like mini Chewbaccas. Also, I've realized how much Choncito (my black cocker spaniel) and Chloé (my silver buff cocker spaniel) adored me. Much more than anybody else in the house. It's pretty darn cute.

Okay, move on to the next subject, I'm pretty stressed out lately. What's new you might asked? This whole blog is pretty much about stressing things out. Anyway, so, I've been watching a lot of DVDs lately and of all the DVDs that I watched for the past three days, I would choose:

a. St. Trinian's, as the most unexpectedly entertaining and anarchic
b. Penelope, as the one with the nicest cinematography and snout.. funny too!
c. Old School, as the most entertaining à la America with a good surprise when I saw Meredith Grey of Grey's Anatomy (her real name is Ellen Pompeo) in the movie, I didn't know her when I first saw the movie years ago.

Also, finally Americans got it right when they voted Kristy Lee Cook out of American Idol. Yeah, I'm a TV pothead. I love Jason Castro, although I always thought that probably he would never won the show. It's probably going to be David Archuleta vs. David Cook. I don't really like David Cook's seemingly arrogant look, though, it's as if he's thinking "Yeah, you know I look really damn cool..". And what's with the constant gasping everytime Ryan Seacrest ask David Archuleta something.. He's always catching his breath and out of air. Don't get me wrong, I like him, I think he's as cute as a puppy. I also want to see Brooke White to stop talking back to the judges, just accept your fate, lady! She just won't shut up, it's getting annoying, now. I can't believe she's only 24, she looks like she's 5 years older than me! I'm pretty excited that next week is Andrew Lloyd Weber week, I wanna see what they're singing. Okay enough with American Idol talk.

I've also been crazy listening to my podcast collection everytime I have a spare time (a.k.a. 18 hours a day.. Ha! I wish!). Some of my favorites include:

1. MBA Podcaster, in my opinion, the most comprehensive podcast there is about b-school application and totally worth-it even if you only have 4 MB left in your iPod.
2. Answer Bitch, seriously, the ultimate gossip bitch of all time! Please take me as your bitchling! I love this show. It's hilarious!
3. Oprah & Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth class, it's pretty deep stuff. The podcast is also quite long, so take your time listening to it, read the book too while you're at it.
4. Food for Thoughts by the Compassionate Cooks, mostly about vegetarianism.
5. The Economist, my favorite magazine and also I like the podcast for giving me daily updates about news & politics.
6. Cute with Chris, a funny video podcast aboot [sic] a Canadian whose name is Chris and is also trying to be cute.
7. Other podcasts that I like include some The French École (great way of improving my French), The Daily Boost, Hip Tranquil Chick, GrammarGirl's Quick and Dirty Tips.

You can check all those podcasts in iTunes. They're great and of course, the best part is.. they're free.

Okay, I gotta go now.. I have a mentoring session and some studying to do.

Sitting Idly

2008-04-06T23:45:00.002-04:00

I can't do it. I'm such a paranoid freak that the thought of doing nothing about some of my situations actually scares me.

So, I will need to compromise my newfound love to the gym. For the past weeks I have been working out almost every day. But now, with my Secret Project, I don't think I'll have much time to sleep anyway, nevermind the gym.

What is Your Problem?

2008-04-03T22:38:00.004-04:00

Seriously. There's this one person who consistently trying to put me down. What the hell? I don't have any problems with you, I even used to admire you. I have to admit that you are maybe smart and on your path to success. But seriously, man, you're freaking judgmental. I have no idea what your problems are, but maybe being nicer to people might do you some good.

Crushed Ego

2008-04-03T11:00:00.003-04:00

I'm so not used to being an underachiever and I'm not one at the moment, but I'm kinda not overachieving anything too. So, this sucks.

Life's Good?

2008-03-31T11:29:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I guess it kinda is at the moment. I've been pretty happy these past few days, although I still have the ocassional "why did I do that? why did I say that instead of this?", of course this is related to my pending decision to Dream School. But all in all, my life in general is quite good.

So, I've been going back to exercising regularly (mind you, I exercise five times a week now.. ha!). After months of eating like a pig and being in a flabby state of body, I decided to do some drastic measures. I have to be healthy! I have to start caring about my health, especially because I'm very concerned my family's medical history of cancer and heart disease (from both sides). It's kinda scary, huh? I guess exercising & eating healthy food are necessary for me. PS: I found the best vegetarian food in town! I'm so excited! Today, I ate the same food for lunch AND dinner. It's an organic vegie v-wrap. It's unbelievably delicious. Yum! For those of you who think vegans can't eat good food, well, you're wrong.

Next, I'm going to start my secret mission that I mentioned in my earlier post. This mission will help me (I hope) to get accepted in Dream School, received fellowship in Cool School, or maybe to help me get better offers post-MBA. I'm determined to finish this mission in a great note for the next one month.

I do think (on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest), I have a productivity score of 1 at work. I can't take my mind off the so many other exciting stuffs out there. I'm planning to travel a bit before school. I'm thinking about many things I need to do before moving. I'm looking at pictures of apartments & housing options in my future city.

Of course, when it comes to reading & finishing the books in my shelf, for the past two weeks, I should be proud and give myself a 9. I have finished 3 books in 2 weeks time, even already started the next one at the moment.

This whole life thing of course wouldn't be complete without my infamous To Do List. I do this all the time. I tend to list all sorts of To Dos and trying my ass off to be a better planner. So, I'm gonna have to start jotting down that list. I sounded like a paranoid freak. Which is true anyway.

So, life is good. Life is good. It could be better. But life is good.

The Next Big Thing

2008-03-29T12:18:00.004-04:00

Yes, finally after years of blind obsession, I'm going to experience a new phase in my life.

And, no, I'm not getting married. Is that what you think a 25-year-old girl should do with her life? Getting married, have kids & the whole nine yards? Well, if you think that way, then you're wrong. Okay, maybe you've been wondering, "Is F-Word such an anti-marriage/establishment kind-of girl?", again, the answer is no! I'm not anti anything, I'm really a lover not a hater (ha!). Although, maybe I could be anti-annoyingness (if there is such a thing).

Back to the subject, can you guess what I'm about to do? I'm about to move my whole life for the next two years in a place far, far away (think 24 hours in a plane just to go to this new destination).

Alright, I think I've done enough of trying to be coy and secretive to my loyal readers. So here goes, I just received an offer to join one of the most prestigious business schools in the world to do an MBA, for now, let's just call it Cool School. However, yes, there is a but.. I am still waiting for two other schools, they can't give me the decisions just yet. I don't know why, but they are not showing any love. One of them is my ultimate dream school, also known as Dream School in this blog.

I understand that many people would probably kill to go into the program that I got accepted to. But keep in mind, F-Word is also a mere human being, no matter how perfect & such a gorgeous being that she is. So, that means I'm not easily amused & satisfied with life. Which actually kind of sucks. It sucks big time because this would mean that I stressed more often than normal people. I stressed about so many things. I'm afraid that no matter how much SK-II Miracle Water that I use, I will still get wrinkles and breakouts (eww!) because of too much worrying.

So, instead of getting hammered and throw a party, I opted to do something unnecessary that I think I should do to get a feeling of I-have-done-my-best. I think I have an ego the size of Texas or your average male. I hope this would calm my mind down. I know that I could just not care about it anymore and just go to Cool School. Well, I guess I should just go ahead and do everything I can do right now. I don't wanna look back and think "what if?", that's just scary.

Enough about that. I also want to let you know that I'm officially a vegan. Not for religious reasons whatsoever, I only do it for health reasons, although I did read an awful lot of things about slaughterhouses which practically turned me off from eating meat.

Apparently, my newfound diet has caused my friends to hate me. They thought that I'm not gonna be fun to hang out with anymore. Can't really see the corelations, but they're not the most supportive group on earth, don't know why I still love them. I don't know how long will I stay a vegan, I'm just doing my best right now. I do realize that I would have to cut down my exercise level, I don't think I can do too-intense-cardio-trainings anymore.

That's it for now. I'll see you soon, yes, real soon.

Two Months Later..

2008-03-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

After my last post.

I'm definitely moving on with my life. Of course, I have so many stuffs going on lately.

There's the work thing. Yep, it's been pretty loco lately. Ever since December, I can't seem to breathe. So many stuffs going on. Some issues too. Made me kinda missed my old workplace. Oh well, no regrets.

There's the apps thing. If you know what this means, then you must be one of my good friends. It's practically something that I've been obssessed with for the past four years. Now, I can almost smell it. I'm almost there. Just need one little push & one letter. Oh, how I really want this thing so badly. I think I've done almost everything beyond words. All I need to do is to actually just wait.

There's the love thing. Not that I have anything to worry about. Well, it's because of the apps thing and maybe I would have to think through about the love thing now.

There's the friends thing. Now that seven of my closest friends are married, two of them are pregnant, and another two will also be bridezillas soon, I pretty much would need to shop for some new friends. You know when people get married they would hang out with other married friends. Which kinda sucks (and.. how it sounds tres boring), but I think I can survive.

There's the financial thing. Well, the apps thing cost me alot. Yes, a freakin lot. So, will need to be a broke-ass girl for the next couple of months. But knowing me, I couldn't possibly eat cheap food everyday. How am I going to survive by eating lunch in my office everyday? Although, probably that's the easiest way for me to save money. I'm also going to Hong Kong within the next two weeks. There goes some more benjamins down the drain.

There's the dog thing. I miss my baby girl. I'm so glad that I have my five other babies to help me survive. Of course, everytime I talk about the dog thing, it would have something to do with the financial thing. I would need to feed my babies right. And since I'm eating good food (although in a broke condition), I would need to feed them good food too. Hence, the financial thing.

There's the life in general thing. I do think that I've been in a contemplative mood. Is this a sign of getting older? I'm just trying to think wiser about everything. This blog post is one example (although it might not sound wise anyway).

I guess that's it. I'm trying hard to sound more witty in this blog post. However, you get to decide whether this blog is actually nice to read or not.

My Cherry Went to Heaven

2008-01-08T03:22:00.000-05:00

I just lost my little girl, Cherry.
I am at a loss of words.

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well, another year goes by. I swear they're getting faster every year.

2007 was quite eventful. Especially towards the end, it was very hectic. I really wanna write more about this, however I don't really have time.

So, I can only wish you, dear readers.. a very happy new year. May 2008 brings success, happiness, joy, love and prosperity to all of you!

Huge hugs from me!

It's Almost Christmas

2007-12-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season to be jolly!

Everybody is on holidays, well not me.. I'm writing.. pages and pages! If you know me well, you would know what I'm talking about.

In the meantime, check this out. Make an elf out of yourself.

Fa la la la la la la la la.

PS: It's quite rare to see me cheerful isn't it? Although, I just lost my 80GB white iPod yesterday (damn you thief! but I forgive you..), still I'm in a Christmas spirit.

Reasons for Being M.I.A.

2007-12-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

1. Same Old Story..
Since I've only been in this job for 6 months, I still got a lot.. (yes, a lot!) to learn. I've been missing the old workplace, miss my friends, but I guess this is pretty okay. I still need to multitask a little bit (and you know how bad I am at multitasking). Anyway.. work has been taking a lot of my time.

2. Writing Essays
Yes, I've been writing a lot lately. What for? Oh, just wait and see...

3. Dogs
I have 6 now. Uh huh.. Six. Three are couch potatoes, the other three are show dogs. But they're all too cute. This much cuteness has got to be illegal!

4. Too many weddings to attend
I don't know why people tend to get married in November & December. Seriously, I have 6 of my very best friends' weddings to attend these past 2 months. It's crazy!!!!!

On another note, Christmas is almost here. I can't believe another year has gone by.

I'm So Freaking Giddy..

2007-10-08T23:36:00.000-04:00

Beyoncé is coming to town. She's coming to town. I'm definitely going!

Hurrah!

Giddy. Giddy. Giddy.

Okay, I gotta stop this, I'm sounding like a freak.

Unnecessary Suckiness

2007-09-23T06:15:00.000-04:00

Have you ever feel so messed up, it's as if the whole universe conspires to make it happened?

Sometimes, you think that you're absolutely right, yet nobody gets it. People would try to see it from their point of view, which they think that they're also absolutely right.It's bad really.It's messed up.

It's only 5 more days left before I have to take a dreaded test. Dreaded but important.Yet, nobody gets how important it is. Nobody except me.

It's really annoying when you are unable to focus what's really important right now, because so many minor issues, have to be solved and give you hassles.

Ignorance.I think that's the cause.

Ignorance is the problem of the universe.

Yeah, ignorance sucks.

Don't mind me, I'm just in a really bad mood.

Woohoo..

2007-09-07T04:00:00.000-04:00

I'll be done with training in 30 minutes, then I'm free for the weekend.
Well, not that free... I'm going out tonight to an Art Festival, I don't know why I bother to come, but, I'm meeting an old friend, so be it...

Singapore has been nice, yesterday I had an office drinks & party with the rest of the class, the place is called Screening Room, and it's outdoor, on top of a building. It's pretty cool.

So, tomorrow, I'm flying to Jakarta. Don't worry Singapore, F-Word will be back next week for (again) another training..