how long will I remain stuck here

35 days away now, and I’ll finally be leaving the Northern Kentucky area for good!!

Or not.

Damn, this lockdown sucks.

While I’m finally on the verge of moving to the new state, I still have no idea if I’d legally be allowed to move there by the end of May.

I had paid for Airbnb reservation for the first 32 days in the new city, and all my plans are set, ready to hand in my two-week notice to my manager...but all this would need to be postponed indefinitely if the governor of that state decides to prolong the temporary ban on vacation rentals.

I wish I had just moved to Houston TX in early 2019 instead of waiting around to see if Angie (or anyone whose beauty and intellect can match hers) can be found in Cincinnati area...because guess what: there is absolutely nobody else like her in here.

But there is no use regretting it.

At least I know what I want now. With the absence of any girlfriend figure in my life, I am okay with being single for the next several years IF I can get to fulfill my life calling by living near the sea again.

Somehow, the sea heals everything... My two recent trips to Mexico has proven that.

The sea is not a vacation place for me.
The sea is not a vacation place for me.

Let me repeat:
The sea is NOT a vacation place for me.

The sea is home!

Being so far away from the sea for so many years has made me indifferent to life in general...my mind and soul had been seeking for a place to settle down, thinking that it was because I wanted to move to Japan, or Indonesia, or Europe, etc.....but no, the answer has been staring at me all along....it's the sea.

So this is the time when the Japanese concept of gaman has to come into play: I just have to suck it up and remain stoic, at least in public.

I wish I could find that Angie-like figure who will be my life partner (wherever she is), but until that time comes, I just need to remain committed to my goals and keep myself accountable not just to my family and cats, but also to God.

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on Lockdown

It sucks, really.

I normally put myself under "voluntary quarantine" during Winter (because I fucking hate cold), but now that it's Spring, I still can't even go out because of the pandemic.

Anyway, I know for sure that life would have been a lot better if only Angie just gave me a chance.

I would've loooooved to be quarantined with her!

But alas, she has never wanted to go out with me.

My fault, really.

I should have just asked her to go out since the first day I talked with her back in mid-July 2018...back then I already felt it in my heart that she was the woman I wanted to marry.

And she still is.

I had wanted to marry her in summer 2018, and I still want to marry her today.

She is the one woman who got away, and to this day I still regret the fact that I did not just seize the day and simply asked her out back in summer 2018 instead of wasting my time on frivolous pursuits.

But oh well.

So now that I have other horizons in mind, what kind of woman do I want as a partner, really?

Well, she needs to be:

1. Catholic
2. Thalassophile (i.e. loves the sea)
3. Honest
4. Loves Japanese and/or French culture
5. Loves cats and dogs

Points no.1, 3, and 5 are easy to find among women in Cincinnati area.

Actually it's not that hard to find honest Catholic woman who loves animals.

Point 4 is a bit more challenging but not hard to find.

But as for point 2?

Yikes, no such luck.

Until this day, Angie is the only person who has ever fulfilled all five points of the above.

She is the only one who has ever fulfilled everything that I want in a wife.

But since Angie turned me down repeatedly, I kinda had no choice but look for "a second version" of Angie out there.

She becomes "the gold standard" that I compare every woman I meet since 2018.

Pathetic, huh?

I know...but I just don't see other women the same way since I met Angie haha.

Anyway, I'll probably live the rest of my life as a single man if I continue living in Cincinnati.

I had done a random survey of several female coworkers and friends of my age on what they think if one day their boyfriend/husband asked them to move to coastal area.

Or, if they're single, I ask them what they think about moving to coastal area.

Caveat: 

I don't have interest in any of them...my survey was purely to gauge the societal opinion of Midwestern women on moving to the coastal area

Do you know what they say?

It's either "Hmm I don't think so"

or "My family and friends are all in this area, how could I possibly move out of Ohio/Kentucky??"

or "Beach is nice and all, but I don't see myself living near the beach forever".

Yikes.

It was just before New Year's of 2020 that I finally found out that I had to move out of the Midwest area.

There is nothing wrong with women who like living in the Midwest, of course....this is totally their prerogative.

However, I cannot date or marry any of them.

Visiting the sea/ocean to sit at the beach and enjoy the sea breeze while listening to sea waves and cries of sea gull is something I want to look forward to every weekend.

Yes, every damn weekend. Not just "once-a-year-vacation" or "once-every-six-months trip" kind of bullshit.

I just don't envision myself having a life partner who does not want to live near the sea/ocean.

This has always been the case since 2006.

(I had only dated girls who were born in island countries for this very reason)



By moving to a coastal town, I could eliminate the need to ask for potential girlfriend in the future to move somewhere else...because there is no need to move anymore! She is already livin in a coastal area! Haha.

So yeah, I'm still looking forward to move to that coastal town I've been setting my eyes on.

Of course, I am not moving there for the sole reason of finding a girlfriend. I am not that stupid.

I am simply looking forward to be able to improve myself on skills that I have been working on while preparing myself to be a good potential husband, son-in-law, and probably even father.

Of course, I have been working on the self-improvement while still living in Northern KY area, BUT there is not much that I look forward to on weekends in Cincinnati.

In Cincinnati, it's either going with hiking club, or just go to bars.

Yikes.

No beach to visit here.

Plus, during winters in Cincinnati, I basically don't go out to socialize at all, so there's also the factor of winter.

It's only a matter of days now, and all this will be over and I can finally start my life anew.

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My second step in moving on

The following is an addendum to the message from three days ago which I will never send to her, but I feel worth emphasizing here...

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I know you will never read this blog post, Angie, but for what it's worth, I would've loved to marry you.

As God is my witness, I've never felt as strongly about anyone before.

Not even toward any of my ex-girlfriends.

I've never really wanted to just stop at dating you... I've always wanted to marry you.

I felt that on the first day we talked back in mid-July 2018.

And I still feel the same way until this very day.

I've had other crushes since then, since the day you turned down my invitation to go out with me last March, but honestly, I would've dropped my interest in any of them if only you had just said "Okay, I change my mind Thomas...I would love to go out with you!"

I waited and waited, but it never happened.

Oh well.

By January 2020, if I still haven't moved on from you....if I still check your Facebook profile everyday (just like I have been since July 2018), then I need to do the one thing I need to do to heal, which is to unfriend you from all my social media accounts.

Again, I will not be doing this out of anger or vengeance, but out of my need to heal.

My heart will never heal if I keep checking your social media profiles, ya know?

After you read the Facebook message I sent yesterday, I hope you go to sleep knowing that I will still be praying for your happiness, success and wellbeing, even if we're no longer "friends" on social media accounts.

One important lesson I have learned after being alive for 30 years is that true love means wanting the best for that person...even if that means I am no longer part of the equation.

May God keep you safe and warm this coming winter, Angie.

Please enjoy the beaches of the Philippines when you visit your family there again.

I don't really believe in reincarnation, but if it happens to be real and we both get reincarnated after we die, then I will look for your reincarnated soul.

I will find you and I will show you the kind of world I would have given to you if you had let me show it to you in the first place.

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My first step in moving on

Angie's birthday is coming up on the 26th.

Originally I wanted to send this message on her birthday itself, but I did not want to inundate her Facebook inbox with a long message on that day with my personal, selfish outpouring of love.

Just a little bit of context: I was in the middle of chatting with her about something else (on Facebook) when I sent her this following message...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know you’re probably busy, so let me cut to the chase. I would’ve loved to say this in person, but the timing was never right when we were still working together at [redacted] bc I was still in process of moving on from my ex back then.

I’ve had a crush on you since summer 2018. 

That's why I gave you those gifts out of the blue when I was still working there (you probably don't even remember abt them by now lol). I don’t give gifts to random friends, ya know?

After you turned down my invitation to go out with me last spring, I’ve been looking for other girls in Cincinnati area to replace your position in my heart. My feelings toward them kept fading away and...I found myself missing you again and again. They’re just not comparable to you.

It’s hard to find anyone whose elegance, intellect and interests even closely resembles you.

Not only you’re a sea-lover who is a devout Catholic, but you’re witty, have such a soothing voice, have a great taste in music, like Japanese culture, and very loving to your family members. 

Plus, both your parents come from different cultures and speak different languages (Cebuano, Tagalog, Canadian French) that I feel like I could learn a lot from them if I had gotten to know them closely as well.

So now you can add my name to the list of your admirers! 

Anyway…. I’m fully aware that you don’t feel the same way about me, and I’ve accepted that. 

I care enough for you that I wish the best kind of life for you, even if that means you’d rather focus on your studies or wait for someone else better to come along instead.

But before I move away from the [redacted] area, I’m wondering if I could give you one farewell gesture. I’d be honored if I could bake you a cake for your birthday next week, if that’s okay with you?

If not, that is fine, I only wanted to convey what I needed to say to you. Just remember that there is one more person out here who will be praying for you from afar, so that God always keeps you safe and that your dreams will be fulfilled in their due time.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been nearly 24 hours since I sent the message above and she still has not replied.

My guess is she probably never will.

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on Oktoberfest

Naaah, I didn't go!

Early Saturday morning, Kristin texted me if I wanted to go out with her to see the Oktoberfest downtown later in the afternoon.

Except that I already had a prior appointment for an event with the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus.

If she had texted me this two months ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity and cancelled any prior appointments I had that day just so that I could go out with her.

But no, I'm no longer willing to be someone's "backup plan" anymore.

And anyway, I'm already at peace with the way things are now.

(fingers crossed, because I'm currently in the middle of a huge "extracurricular project"...hahahaha)

A quick stalking session peek on her Facebook profile (which I have not had time to open since June, btw) did not show any trace of the guy she allegedly had met from the Bumble dating app.

Apparently she ended up not dating him anyway.

Sorry dear, you're too late. I hope everything works out well for you.

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What is going on?

Sometimes I ask myself, is it possible for us to be hanging out nonstop and stay platonic friends?

I found myself wondering about this after I realized that we both just started subscription to the same places, and it was a decision that we just took on the spot.

On some days we’d barely text each other but then we’d find ourselves having heart-to-heart conversation at her couch...afterwards, I would drive home from her place at around 10pm.

I mean, is this normal?

Would I end up developing feelings for her?

Because if I do, I know I am not ready to jump into a new relationship (yet).

I will only end up hurting her in the end, as since I know I don’t have the level of maturity that she has. And I’m still not entirely sure if I want to settle in this area (yet).

All of these things might change, though.

Who knows.

I'm still trying to find the best "niche" for me at the moment, in terms of hobbies, personality, and the kinds of people I want to surround myself with.

I’m playing it by ear for now, but I hope I can find some answers, soon.

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on Hot yoga

Yesterday would have been the day of Kristin's raincheck day for our second session of rock climbing, but I texted her that I was still wheezing from asthma. The most strenuous activity I could have done yesterday would have been yoga.

It was truly a disappointment for me because I really really wanted to go rock climbing again with her.

Which was why, to my surprise, she texted back that we can just go again next week...

And then she asked me if I wanted to do hot yoga with her that day.

Was that what I think it was?

It was!

For those who don't know, hot yoga is the type of yoga that is done in a steaming hot room set to a temperature of 104 F.

So after work, I drove to her apartment which was located a bit north from my office. Then she always offers my fave chocolate every time I come visit her place which was really nice!

Then we talked for a bit before we went together to the yoga studio. By the time we finished the hour-long yoga session, we were both so drenched wet that our shirts looked like they were soaked in a bucket of water! I changed shirt at the yoga studio though, because I did not want to stink her car with my sweat.

During the yoga session, I noticed how surprising with how much energy she has, considering the fact that the hours she spends doing surgery at the hospital is pretty brutal.

But for what it's worth, I am happy that she shares similar passions for bouldering, hiking, and yoga!

So after showering at her place, I asked her if she wanted to go to my alma mater's gym sometime next week, because over there we can do not just bouldering, but also swim afterwards.

She said she hasn't done swimming for a while, but she is definitely interested in going bouldering and swimming together, so this is something I am looking forward to!

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on Rock climbing for the first time

Last Friday I went bouldering and rock climbing at the climbing gym where I have a membership, and Kristin came with me because I have a free guest pass.

For those who don't know, the difference between the two activities is that bouldering requires no ropes (done on a shorter wall) while rock climbing does (because it is done on a much taller wall).

It was Kristin's first time in bouldering, and to my surprise she was pretty good at it as a beginner. Then we went rock climbing.

To enter the rock climbing area and use the rope and harness, we needed to be instructed first on how to belay (because one person would need to be climbing while the other belays the rope from the bottom).

She was better at tying the knots because of her surgical skills. It was probably the most strenuous exercise I had done all year, but I'm glad I did it with her!

She is good with her hands.

The next day (Saturday) was another day where the climbing gym gave away free guest passes for members. I asked Kristin if she could come, but she said she couldn't because she had other appointments.

So I decided, on a whim, to see the musical Singin in the Rain by myself. It was a lovely musical, actually!

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on Weekends

Yesterday marked exactly one month after I started my new job near downtown, and I have a few things to write here.

My commute to and from the office takes around 35 to 45 minutes each time, and I tend to either go to the gym to exercise a bit after work, because sitting on the desk for eight hours could be so dull sometimes.

Since I work on a Monday to Friday schedule (7:30-16:30) now, I check my Weather app daily and constantly wish for a sunny day outside on the weekends.

Because there has been a string of rainy weekends lately.

Which sucks.

In another news, Madeline (my most recent crush) had been somewhat avoiding me lately, presumably because she is being betrothed by her parents to someone else from her home country (which I won't name here, but it does have a population of 1.5 billion).

I was surprised that someone as highly educated as she is prefers to follow the tradition of her parents, especially since she has graduated with a doctorate degree after nine years of education in two separate states in the U.S.

But hey, that's her choice.

I was planning to bake a cake for her 30th birthday (which falls on the week after Mother's Day)...

However, with the excuses she makes to not hang out with me anymore, I grow tired of pursuing her already.

I just shrug and move on.

Anyway, still glad I discovered a new passion for baking though...my parents and sister are definitely delighted to try out my (usually) tasty baking experiments!

And maybe....just maybe, one day I'll find a special someone to bake a surprise birthday cake for!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So as of this point, I do not have a crush or love interest in anyone in particular.

For the first time since 2012, my heart is finally free from being hurt!

That being said, it is nice to finally have other friends to hang out with.

Just because I no longer hang out with Madeline does not mean I no longer look forward to my weekends.

If weather permits, I still hike with the hiking club every Saturday morning. Afterwards, I'd join some folks from the club hanging out at a nearby Starbucks.

The demographics of the hiking club tend to be 40 years old and above, so I do meet quite a sizable number of divorced people in our group.

It is amazing how much wisdom I gained by talking to some of them.

Maybe I'll share one of their stories in this blog sometime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, last weekend happened to be the nicest weekend I have had in a while.

I went with Kristin and her mother to see a live classical music concert near downtown.

Kristin's mother did not seem to be a huge fan of classical music, but she wanted to accompany us simply because she was visiting the U.S. for only a few weeks.

Kristin's family members live outside the country. And because of Kristin's work schedule at the hospital, her mother wants to maximize the time they spend with each other.

Kristin herself seemed to be very knowledgeable of classical composers despite barely playing a musical instrument, and I found myself impressed. Even her Spotify playlists were filled with classical music albums!

There is actually a reason why she knows so much about classical music, but I don't think I am at liberty to write down the things she told me (because it was a very personal reason). So I'll just leave it at that.

I'd love to go see a classical music concert with her again though.

So it is to my dismay that I found out that the Symphony Orchestra's season is coming to a close this week. They will commence their next season in September.

Oh well.

Nonetheless, this coming weekend the three of us are planning to go out again, to see the Asian food festival in downtown.

Unlike the previous years, I am looking forward to see this one because I finally have friends to go with, who happen to be people outside the family!

However, the weather forecast for this weekend does not seem good so far.

It is predicted to rain this coming Saturday and Sunday.

WHY.

I do hope that it would be limited to light showers only though...

Keeping my fingers crossed!

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on being grateful

At first, my folks told me to be grateful that I did not move to southern US, and I found this bitter truth hard to swallow.

I mean, why??? Why do I have to stay here in Cincinnati area when I had been planning to move for so long???

I woke up each morning with cold sweat on my back, wishing for a past that no longer matters.

Trying yoga helped to a certain extent, but when I was struck by bitterness and hurt that was so deep, sometimes even the best intentions failed to heal the pain in my heart.

Until one day, I found a reason to look forward to a new day each morning.

I am grateful for the new job that God had granted to me.

I am grateful for the new perspectives in life that I had gained after everything was said and done.

I am grateful that I had a chance to meet new folks to practice my small talk and confidence for the past two weeks.

And most of all, I am grateful that I chose to stay here in Cincinnati.

Otherwise, I would not have met you here :)

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It has been over a year...

...since I last updated this blog.

I'm dual-majoring in Computer Science and International Studies with minor concentration in French at my current university. With the number of credit hours I am taking (18 credit hours/semester), it does not seem like I'd have much free time anytime soon. I'm also the Vice President of the university's Badminton Club.

When I do have free time, I spend it working at my part time job (which I couldn't disclose here for privacy reasons). Or watch some show episodes on Netflix. Or communicating with my long-distance American girlfriend in Illinois.

My university, which is located at the northern part of Kentucky (as the name says), is where I spend most of my time these days.

It's a decent place to pursue education, though the drab colour of the buildings is reminiscent of that of prisons (these are other people's words, not mine).

Personally, I don't really care about the visual aspect. The quality of education is decent, the in-state tuition is affordable (around US$ 9,500 per annum), the students are awesome, the activities are vibrant, and most of the professors I've had are PhD-educated.

So...yeah, things are cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Majoring in Comp. Sci., now I realize what a mess this blog's HTML is. I shall fix it when I have time.

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Smile!

Nothing disappointed me more than the fact of knowing that she wouldn't be coming with us that time.

It means that it would be quite a while before I got to see her again.

Then when I finally did see her joining us recently, though only for a while, it seemed as if all my sorrows and problems ceased to exist.

We did not talk much.

But all the while, she became an object of fixation of mine.

And nothing else matters, as long as I could see that smile.

She has been haunting my nights like a dream, a nightmare that has been a recurring theme over the last several weeks.

A nightmare I find to be oddly delightful.

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Au revoir!

Now that the Maître family has moved to South Carolina, my family is going to miss them.

I first met the aged couple at church in November 2009. Most fellow churchgoers call them "the French couple", primarily because Mrs M. Maître is a Belgian citizen with a thick French accent, while Mr P. Maître is a dual French-US citizen with only a slight French accent.


The couple and I got along quickly, primarily because I can understand French. So at times Mrs M. Maître speak to me in French, though my replies came back in English.


Despite me having studied some French back in Indonesia, my very first introductions to French meals such as couscous and Bourdeaux wines came by when they invited me to their occasional dinners.


During those days when my mother and my sister haven't come to USA yet (in case you don't know, I spent around 15 months living by myself in USA, since Mom and my sis hadn't got enough money to come here), Mr P. Maître came and took me to the clinic and waited for me whenever I fell sick.


Then during the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, I asked them if I could come over to their house to watch football. I had no cable in my house because I never watch TV you see (except for playing my DVDs, Wii, and PS3). They welcomed me for all the Japanese and French matches, without hesitation.


In summers, I was also welcome to come to their house to swim in their rather-large pool.


When they decided to move to in a South Carolina town to be closer to one of their daughters, my family and some of their friends were rather saddened. They conducted a farewell party just two weeks ago by their pool, and there was quite a turnout. Though the Maître family do not belong to the elites of the town, it seemed like most people who have known them have a quite favourable opinion of them.

They are indeed, kindhearted souls.

Mr P. Maître told my family is the last time they will be moving, and alas, we have no idea when we will be seeing them again. The distance from my town to their town is around 640 miles away. We exchanged e-mails and Skype accounts, in case we want to communicate again online. However, they will always be remembered as good friends who have been there in times of need, and they shall be missed.

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My Grades in College so far...

Below is a list of all the classes I have taken in college, together with the number of credits and grade letters I have received for each of them!

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on Getting intellectual nourishment

Working as a librarian in the busiest public library branch in Kentucky has gained me nearly unlimited access to every single book that has ever been published in English since the 1930s, which is great considering that my very definition of a paradise includes reading a good novel with the company of a few friends.

Starting from the second week of March, I have decided to start posting my own reviews of some books I have read - either those in the distant past or those I came upon recently. This new project of mine has nothing to do with any classes I am taking at community college.

Quite the contrary, I have been dying of thirst for intellectual nourishment...and enrolling in a small-town community college sates me none of that.

Hence my book reviews, which I will faithfully post every Saturday.

The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who at the dawn of the 1980s promulgated the notion of “cultural capital”: the idea that aesthetic choices are an artifact of socioeconomic position. He documented a correlation between taste and class position: The scarcer or more difficult to access an aesthetic experience is –literary world very much included- the greater its ability to set us apart from those further down the social ladder. This kind of value is, in his analysis, the only real value that “refined” tastes have. My book review project would hopefully help me in fulfilling my own need for reaching that aesthetic ideals.

Most will be fiction, some will be non-fiction, depending on whatever genre I feel like reading at the time. As a general rule, I would never post reviews on chick-lit or horror or Christian fictions, though I may find exceptions every now and then.

Unlike my old project of translating Indonesian songs once a week, I will not take suggestions from anybody on what books I should read or review. I will review the books when I feel like it, but one thing for sure, I can promise you a book review for your weekends.

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Life!

Tomorrow (27 March) will be my last day of work as a cashier in the gas station.

Though in one part I am relieved not having to work on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or New Year's any longer, it still saddens me somehow, leaving the coworkers I have grown attached to during the last two years.

Hence I still shall come and see them every once in a while.

And starting Wednesday onward I shall become an ordinary college student with only 15 hours on my part-time librarian job.

Oh, Life.

How I've missed you so much!

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on Small towns

Living in the suburbs has plenty of perks.

For one, it is much safer than big cities. Unless I'm parking the car for the night, most of the time I leave my car doors unlocked. Nobody steals cars here.

But I'm afraid I've overstayed my welcome.

I have nothing against staying in Kentucky. It's just that I was raised as a city person. Living in a small town/suburbs like this gives me an endless sense of boredom. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking how beautiful life would be if I could just pack and move to some nice cities such as Washington DC.

Seriously, it's dull living here. No excitement, no nightlife, nothing. Unlike back in New York, you can't find Chinese restaurants open past midnight.

Even the McDonald's close at Midnight.

I need to move out!

Granted that everything goes according to plan, I am slated to graduate with a Bachelor degree from university in 2014. At the point of which I am thinking of resettling in Charlotte, NC or Savannah, GA...where the tropics and the beaches are always within reach.

Or even the birthplace of my sister...Richmond, VA.

Damn, I absolutely love that city!

An ideal one would be a city that's not too expensive to live in (in terms of housing and groceries), has a metro train system (I love commuting by train since it reminds me of Singapore) and does not speak Spanish.

This leaves most of Florida and Texas out of the equation.

Let's just see later, I guess.

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Isn't it wonderful?

So far, there were only two (or perhaps three?) Winter days in the Northern Kentucky region when we have snowy roads. Other than that, it mostly goes back and forth between rain and mildly cold weather. The temperature keeps hovering somewhere around 7 to 17 Celcius, on average.

It was as if Winter was never there in the first place. It kinda feels like South Carolina winters here... Short, mild, and lovely.

Which is the reason why I am more of an upbeat mood these days.

On a more personal note, I have been employed as a librarian now. Life can only get better.



Except for the fact that Valentine's day is two weeks away, and I still wish you were here.

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It's too late for swimming

The iPhone's weather app is showing a temperature of 13°C , which means it's too late for swimming now. It's a pity that none of us had the chance (nor the wills) to swim when it was still warm outside.


A friend suggested going to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH if we want to have an indoor waterpark experience. I guess I'll check the place out after the bills are paid for the month.




I have been blogwalking on some Indonesian blogs lately, and seeing some snapshots of Indonesian cuisine made my mouth water. Especially when it comes to my fave Indonesian meal of Martabak and Pempek Palembang (I blame this on Kimi! Oh by the way, I've put your link in my blogroll! ^^).


An Indonesian friend in California told me that even Indonesian restaurants in the country (which mostly converge in California, NY, and Texas) don't taste as original as the ones back in the tropics, particularly since their respective owners want to comfort more of the American people's tastebuds.


Shucks. I should make it a target to have an annual pilgrimage back to Singapore or Indonesia or even Netherlands to taste Indonesian food every once in a while.

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American Sign Language

I registered for the classes of ASL 101 and ASL 102 back-to-back as a foreign language requirement to complete my Associates. And in contrary to what most other people say, I think this is among the hardest languages I've studied, especially since I'm not adept in facial expressions.

As a result, I would have dropped my ASL 102 at the completion of 101 next month....if not for the highly-attractive young female professor who is teaching the class.

I love coming to this class. It is probably the first course where I have a perfect attendance (i.e., no skiving off classes).

Seriously, I do think that more universities should have a professor like her.

A slightly tall brunette-haired lady in her mid-20s, with a lithe figure, sweet complexion and always wears nice cardigans... ASL is probably the only class in my campus where male students don't doze at all throughout the lecture, not even for one minute. We just stare at those beautiful eyes, even if we don't understand one bit what the hell she's talking about.



So why did I decide to register for the class anyway?

(FYI, I had no knowledge of who the teacher was until the first day of class)

Because of the movie Orphan. Yes, that psycho-thriller movie about the adopted girl who ended up almost killing the entire family.

I rated the movie 4.0/5.0 in Flixster, and it was indeed one of the best movies in 2009. The movie has one of the characters, Max, who is a deaf-mute girl who communicates with her family using ASL.

It got me saying: Oh my, what a cute language!

I always have an adjective for different languages. While German is coarse, English is practical, Japanese is awesome, French is lovely and Chinese Mandarin is complicated, I'd say that ASL is cute.

I didn't know if I ended up liking ASL because I thought that the kid Max expressed the ASL well, or simply because I liked ASL for what it looks like. Anyway I ended up registering for these classes.

Little did I know that I would change my opinion of ASL later on. I should've known it.

But I don't regret taking this class. Why should I?

'post~script The professor — unfortunately — is happily married and has a toddler. Which kinda shucks, but that does not discourage males from looking at her anyway! Tsk tsk.. Shame on them! Haha.

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