Thoughts about V-day

So it's V-day....Personally and honestly, I really don't care about any particular days including my own birthday. It's really not the end of the world if someone doesn't remember my birthday because I don't remember a lot of people's birthday including my best friends.

But I still like to celebrate things occasionally :) Well the thing with V-day is too much fed up with all the commercials. It's pretty much a HUGE opportunity for business to make $$. Well they kind of CREATE that tradition to celebrate it.

Personally I think two lovers can celebrate the day that's meaningful for both of them like anniversary or something. It doesn't have to be 'V-day'. It seems like people are doing it because everyone is doing it! And there is a lot of pressure for guys. I think if you have to pressure someone to do something, it's just not fun anymore. I'm not saying all these because I'm single at the moment. I never made a big deal about it when I was in a relationship also.

But if two lovers really want to have fun and good times without any external pressure and expensive gifts, Happy Valentine's to all those :)

Sleepless in New York City

When I was little, my mom tried to get me to take a nap during the day or sleep during the night. She said I would be running around refusing to sleep and then when I ran out of energy, I just crashed at anywhere.

Once I got back NY, as usual, there have been so much going on!
1. my final semester began! ( had some hiccups and dramas in the first week.)
2. still have to get up every day at before 7 am to go to work
3. a lot of birthday parties and gatherings and catch-ups with my friends
4. restaurant week

Yes, as usual, I'm sleep deprived again. I always choose something else over sleep. I still have so many things I want to do and I just don't find myself enough time to do all those. I still got blamed by my best friend for not having enough time for her.

But what can I do? I really really am so happy with all those things I'm doing; school, work, my friends. I'm usually so stubborn so I'm not willing to give up any of those. I'm always up to do something fun with friends and sometimes I say yes too soon before I realize my schedule really allows me to do so....But what I really need now is to better manage my time....and also need some quality time just for myself alone...

Highlights of Festive December

Colorado College new President’s visit in NYC

Earlier in the month, the new president of CC came to see alumni and parents in NYC area. It was a pretty nice event at University Club on Fifth Ave. The event was catered with nice hors d'oeuvres and fine wines. I always love going to CC alumni events as it is always great to get connected with all those people who went through the similar experience as CC students. I met a lot of interesting people with interesting careers like entrepreneurs, journalists and all. It was really inspiring. The new president was really energetic and seemed very academic focused for CC to become a better institution. As always, I was the only very foreign looking alumna among all those mostly white Americans who come from middle and upper middle class families. They were all surprised how I ended up in CC. That’s why I pointed out to the president that CC should be more diverse as a liberal arts college. I was usually the only one international student/second language speaker in most of my classes in CC.

CC alumni holiday party

This year they did it again in Brooklyn Bowl. I love that place as they have live bands playing later in the night and it’s a pretty big facility compared to those bowling places in the city. It was also quite fun to socialize with fellow alumni in more casual and fun environment. I just wish I bowled better. I really want to learn how to bowl well. It’s a fun activity! After that, a few of us went to visit another alumnus, who is a friend of mine and lives in the neighborhood. He got a great view on top of his apt. We were all just hanging out chilling and enjoying a great view of Manhattan.

My Bday Party

I was reluctant to do my bday party as my finals were getting really close. But I still thought it’d be a great chance to get all my friends together. I have different groups of friends and they don’t know each other- Burmese, my schoolmates, co-workers and other group of mix. I grew up playing with my brother like a boy in my childhood. I was actually more of a wild child than my brother. He was always concerned with his safety and getting hurt. I, on the other hand, just wanted to do so many things without caring about getting hurt. I thought it’d be really fun to revive my childhood memory with my awesome friends. We didn’t play laser tag but we played with toy guns a lot. “Laser tag” idea came from “How I met your mother” as Berny has so much fun playing laser tag J

A lot of my friends came to the laser tag arena in Queens. It was really fun! We divided the groups as boys and girls. There were 7 guys and 7 girls! Yeah amazing how it was even! But I just wish that the facility was bigger and I knew physically when I get killed not just some words saying ‘….is killed by….” on your guy’s screen.

After laser tag, we went to a Polish restaurant and most of us had this polish traditional plates. Very delicious and meaty! Then we went to a bar ‘Von’ in Noho. Some more friends who didn’t come to laser tag came by. I had more drinks from my friends. I had a great time.

More birthday celebrations

My real bday fell on the day when I had my final exam for Advanced Accounting. I was just studying but nothing the whole weekend and was so exhausted from it. The exam was really tough as usual. But it was so nice that I got so many bday wishes from all my friends all over the different parts of the world- Europe, Asia, South America. Some were from friends I never expected to hear and they sent me messages with their updates and stuff. Especially those are guy friends and normally I never expect to hear from my guy friends because they don’t get in touch once they are out somewhere. I was really moved…

Then right after the last final exam, the professor took us all to a nearby bar- he’s a young professor and believes that networking is important for our career. I was exhausted so I didn’t have much energy to socialize as usual. I don’t really like networking – I just don’t like talking to people with some ‘purpose’ and agenda in mind. I just think it destroys the whole fun of meeting new people and getting to know them and their interesting stories.

The next day, my girlfriends including MM and YK wanted to celebrate more for my bday and get together to go dancing at this Taiwanese professional event. Normally, those events are held in one of those meatpacking lounges. I usually don’t like it because it’s mostly packed and people just dance with loud music and don’t socialize much at all. But that day a lot of my friends were going. We first met up at this place “City Crab” near union square. I like it because they have happy hour every day that includes half off for their delicious seafood appetizers! So I had a few drinks there.

I was quite in a pretty social mood and talked to everyone who talked to me J even some random guy on the bus who was pretty good looking and nice. Then when I went on a line to get into the event, one guy asked me if he could go along because it’s easier for him to get in with a girl. So I said why not. Yeah he kept talking to me but got the sense that he was feeling insecured around me. Anyways, I left him once I got in to the club.

I had lots of fun dancing with my girl friends. MM was really drunk and even tried to kiss me at one point. It was hilarious! Then we left there and joined this group of Asian guys and headed out to Beer Garden in Standard Hotel. So finally just MM and me were the only girls with three/four of those guys. One of them was really really hilarious and funny. He and I kept joking and flirting around like crazy. One point, he asked my name and I said “I’ll do anything if you can guess my name’’. I didn’t even give my name at all even when I left the group. It was such a FUN night!

The next night, I decided to join my friend AB, her brother and her mother in town. We had a really nice dinner at Apiary in East Village. She treated me saying because it was my bday. Three of us, she, her brother and I went to another gathering in an Irish bar. We hanged out there and chatted with some other ppl there. Then I took them to Drop Off Service, the bar I like a lot in EV which is right around the corner from my place. But that day, most places were dead and that bar had some NYU college kids which didn’t behave well when they were drunk…I had a good time hanging out with them though.

The next day, MM and I got together for dinner and she wanted to treat me again for my bday! We had really good SE Asian food at this place “Laut” AB recommended which I’ve been to also. Then another friend joined and we went to a movie at LES and saw this ‘Shame”. We didn’t like it. Then we did more lounge hopping in the neighborhood. But NYC was DEAD – every taxi was available and every bar/ lounge were almost empty. We first went to Beauty and Essex, very beautiful restaurant I love. We had a few delicious cocktails there. Then we went to the next lounge which was also empty. We just called off the night but it was still very nice to spend the evening with my wonderful friends.

Next day was the Xmas day. MM and her family doesn’t celebrate Xmas. So she and I decided to get together again in the evening at Bryant Park. It was so nice and festive there. Everyone looked so happy. All those nice Xmas songs were playing around the iceskating rink. We had yummy crepes and kettle popcorns, best I have ever had! Then we had normal girl chitchat about people and relationships….I love MM a lot! She’s also very energetic, happy and outgoing.

NYE

A friend from college was coming to NY to stay and go out with me for NYE. I started feeling pressure because all my friends were asking what I was going to do. I didn’t have a solid plan. Personally, I didn’t really care like where to go and what to do for NYE. I always ended up having fun either way so I didn’t want to make an EFFORT. It’s really more fun when you have no expectations anyways! But I did want my friends who wanted to come along with me to have fun. Anyways, when LL got in, we, AB, me and LL, got together at Westville and had a nice brunch there. Then we went to a small boutique shop near AB place. I bought two dresses! We then went to one of the house parties across the street from AB for the first stop. Those people were nice and we had some nice food and drinks there.

Then we headed out to Brooklyn, another friend’s friend house party. I didn’t have any agenda. I just wanted to enjoy and have fun. It turned out once I got in there- someone started talking to me. I met him briefly once at another friend’s bday party. Thought he was boring and didn’t talk to anyone back then. But that day, he was really friendly and talking to me almost the whole time. I was very tipsy and don’t remember everything we talked about. But his friends were talking up to me how great he is etc. My friends were telling me that his friends said he is pretty shy so I should make a move. It was all funny how they were all trying to match-make. But anyways, he eventually did make a move….it turned out such a FUN NYE that I didn’t expect J

I’m just so thankful for all wonderful friends that I have in New York for all the great times we all have together…..

Real True Friendships beyond cultural boundries

One of the many things I love about life is a beautiful friendship. Ever since I was a little girl, friends have been really important part of my life. I worship Friendship and it's my religion. But I was never really lucky with finding real true friends back in my own country. It was ALL about competition who got the No #1 prize at school. The school system over there gives top 10 students of the whole school prizes with an annual ceremony.

Well another chapter of my life, I came to U.S. for college. I found so many amazing people from all over the world. We did have cultural differences and language barriers but the friendship went beyond all those. And I met my BEST friend in my junior year. I would never thought we would be besties. He was annoyingly good looking, funny and smart but just wanted to hook up with every moving thing on campus. ( hehe RT, sorry for my awesome commercial about you!) I was too tiny to get his attention when we first met.

We became friends because he had to wait for me when we all had lunch together. I'm always a slow eater. Everyone left the table and I would still be chewing :) But within very short period, we became VERY CLOSE friends. We hanged out EVERY SINGLE DAY. He knocked my dorm room every afternoon after he finished studying. We'd be just laughing for HOURS in my room. ( some of my neighbors thought that we were having sex. :) ) And he wasn't just a fair-weather friend. Although I am almost always happy, I do have my down time. He WAS there for my down time. Well the only sad thing was that he was there only for a semester. I didn't think that our friendship would continue when we are apart. People get out of touch and it's normal. But we have been in touch ALL ALONG. Our friendship is REALLY true and real. We live across the continents - he lives in Brazil. All these years, we only reunited this summer for once. It was really like seeing a family. We were both SO HAPPY.

And a year ago or so, I met this really super awesome girl, AS, at work. I'd never thought she'd be my real friend either :) We had some train rides together and once she said ''I LOVE being single." I've never seen another female creature who's so happy being single. She is also from another continent of the world but the great thing is that she's still around. I think this will be also a lifetime friendship. And luckily, for the time being, we both love New York so much. We have great appetite for life and very similar ideals about love and friendship. Most important thing is that we have mutual trust in our friendship - even after we've gone thru unintentional hurtful things we said/did to each other, we'd always know that we are in the same side and want the best for each other.

It was kind of almost SO HARD to believe for me and trust in our friendship because in my experience with female friends back home, there are only two kinds of friends.
1. competitive friends ( who want to be close b/c you are the enemy in fact.)
2. butterfly friends ( who only want to be friends when they are single.)
I got hurt so many times. So becoming closer and closer with AS made me nervous many times. But now I've passed all those. I think she is my very FIRST closest female friend. We already said I LOVE you to each other and we mean it. :) VERY BEAUTIFUL thing.......

Friends with Ex?

When someone said “I love you’’, have you ever said ‘please don’t’? For Burmese people and most people here, once you broke up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you just cut out all the communications.

When I broke up with my 3 years boyfriend, I wanted to end it in very good terms. I wanted to be friends with him although I was really unhappy as his girlfriend. But the same time, I didn’t want him to be attached to me and didn't want to give him false hopes. He is really a great guy, the most intelligent and well-read guy I’ve ever known for his age. He’s a Princeton alum. Then, I started seeing someone just right before we broke up ( yeah I’m bad.)

Although I broke up with him, it was unbearable to see him in full of pain. So I sort of ended up continue seeing him while also seeing the new guy. I thought he would gradually get over me. And I was taking advantage of freedom of single life.

We broke up 2 years ago but my ex never really disappeared from my life. Some times, I did try to cut contact because I didn’t want him to be attached to me and not move on. Now that I think he’s very assured that I’ll never go back to him, I decided to be friends with him again. But whenever we hang out, he still treats me like we are still together and tells me he loves me. I told him ‘please don’t’.

It sounds awful but friendship is my religion and I really don’t want to abandon him from my life. I don’t have any romantic feelings and will never have them for sure. But our intellectual connection is really strong. I know that I don’t need him but I also don’t think I need to abandon him….

Now I wonder if this makes me afraid or wary of serious dating. I do have crushes on people every now and then. But I never want to date anyone seriously since after that serious relationship......

Change of Life!!

I'm a pretty simple creature. I do not own many things. I believe in minimalism and mostly buy things that are absolutely necessary. Most of my $$ goes to rent, dinning out and other social activities.

I did not have a cell phone until junior year in college when it got harder to not have a cell phone. I thought it would take me a longer time until I need a smart phone like everyone does. After recent frustrations with juggling things within very short time frame, I finally decided to acquire a smart phone!

I can't believe how this little device has changed my life! I wake up and before I can barely open my eyes, I start browsing news headlines on my phone. With my computer, I would have to open, get wireless connected, then go to browser, open my emails. With this little one, everything is just literally on my finger tip!!

Then I have my calendar and it will be sending me the remainders about today appointments, events etc. I will never have to call some friends to give me directions in the middle of the road. I frequently use dictionary. I like to know exact dictionary meanings of certain words. A lot of people "understand" words but when you ask them, they cannot always give you great, relevant examples. I now have Webster right on top of all other apps on my phone!

Instant access to my emails! which is great because I now have multiple assignments due and have been communicating heavily with my classmates and professors through emails. And I can have other entertainments such as netflix, youtube and facebook!

Yes, I'm loving it!

Importance of Healthy Mind

Most of us live in a life full of pressure, multiple deadlines, hassles and frustrations. I did mention before how I love living under pressure and living on the edge. But when your mind is constantly in an emergency mood, it reaches close to its limits and has to pay the price. Constantly stressful and exhausted mind can no longer help you perform under pressure and motivate you.

I've been exploiting both my body and mind so much. I do a zillion of things each week:
1. work that takes more than 50% of my energy as solving problems constantly while juggling to meet deadlines.
2. school - 2 or 3 assignments due each week, reading, group projects, research, news
3. job hunt - not much done lately
4.socializing - I do go out a lot- seeing friends, meeting new people etc. there are ALWAYS full of events and invites!
5. blogging - I love writing. So what can I do? Only less than half I wrote were posted on my blog:)
6. And lots of other non-productive activities - browsing internet, looking up news, facebook, emails, texting, eating, sleeping, thinking :)
7. swimming & running
8. other small personal errands

With all these things non-stop going on, before I noticed my stressful mind, I first noticed my MESSY room. It was awful just to even step into my room. All my clothes kept piling up on my bed. Lots of things were spread on my desk, chair, fridge, table. A lot of shoes, some boxes and trash were on the floor. Uncleaned dishes were also kept in the room and my mini-fridge. My washed clothes were still in laundry basket that no where to keep my unwashed clothes.
It was so OVERWHELMING just to think about cleaning that room. But I finally managed to pull myself together to clean the room.

Then I realized how all these so many things piled up in my mind and found myself very overwhelmed. Besides those regular things, I've got many more things came in my way- booking a trip home, registration for next semester, preparation for traveling, visa, gift shopping etc.

My mind started saying NO to everything I command. I need to study, read, think but the mind just stops working. I don't find myself very energetic, excited and hyper as I usually am. I suspect it is going to take a lot more than cleaning my room.

But I have a plan.
#1. Sleep
2. start working little by little on my very long to-do list

I think as in physical health, you don't value how important it is to have a healthy mind. I think it is very important to treat your mind very well as much as you treat your body. Everything has a limit it can take.