Thursday, June 28, 2007

Ghost

Something is living in my apartment besides myself. A ghost. I can't believe this happens after all these time that I've been living in this cosy little place. How did I find out?

First, my planner went missing mysteriously. I was happily scribbling on it before I left the apartment to Hawaii. I am almost 100% sure I didn't take it with me because I had another travel notebook with me. When I returned from Hawaii, I was first occupied with my Candyman, then Armin's White Party before I packed up and left for Tasmania. I didn't go anywhere that I would possibly bring my planner. Now it has gone missing.

Then, last night I was folding my laundry, mainly towels and pyjamas. Half way through I had to leave my apartment to meet up with the boys for drinks. I left everything on the bed and there was a big pile of cleaned PJs on the bed. I came home after midnight, smashed, put everything aside before I passed out on my bed. Tonight, after my shower, I was wanting to wear this particular PJs and I realized they had went missing. Look, it's a big pile of clothes we're talking about. I've looked everywhere: the bathroom, laundry area, laundry basket, under the bed, kitchen cabinets, fridge and balcony.

If there is no ghost, where are my planner and clothes?
My junk station, f*cking embarrassing, I know!

Try Harder

While I was at the bar tonight for the first time, I've got one hell of a bad pick-up line...

"You are gorgeous!"
"Thank you..." I gave him a smile.
"You look like my wife," my eyes went one-and-a-half size bigger before he said "who has passed away"
"Huhhhh??!!"

I was dumbfounded.

I look like someone who's dead now? Thank you very much.

I grabbed my drinks and returned to my "sane" friends. For f*ck's sake...!

LL is overrated!

These men that I've not seen for a whole four weeks...

"Hey Lynn, how are you?"
"Never better, how are you??"
"We're good. How was holiday?"
"It was awesome!!!"
"You look well and..."
"You won't believe it but Jetstar was better than I've expected!!!"
"What??? LynnLum and Jetstar?? Are we gonna get a headline tomorrow?!

"Boys, LynnLum is overrated!"

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Hawaii: Japanese Rules

You might for a second thought you've landed in Japan instead of Honolulu when you first get to Waikiki. Booklets were printed in Japanese; retail signage in Japanese; Japanese restaurants everywhere; even the ABC Stores was named ABC for a Japanese reason.

ABC Store is brand of convenient store in Hawaii, you see them at every corner. Everywhere, literally. It's very common for you to see three ABC on the same row of shops. ABC monopolizes the convenient store business, in fact, they are the only one in Hawaii. No 7-11 at all. They sells a wide range of products, I say it is very much like the Watson in Asia. Reason behind the name was it is the easiest for the Japanese to pronounce *shake head*

According to Jessie, she heard that the Japanese has always been treated differently from other tourists. They get all the privileges like a dollar less for tours or coach rides; it was a norm for them to not tip when tipping in the States is non-negotiable; discount vouchers at shopping malls and others that we've not heard of. I've proven it true myself as one day as I was getting off the trolley (their version of our tram) at Ala Moana, this Japanese lady was giving out vouchers to Japanese only but not the Caucasians. She thought I was one of the Jap so I got one too and it was for you to redeem a free mug at one of the retail without even having to spend a single cent. What can I say?

That was all okay but what really annoyed me was the staff at DFS. For f*ck's sake, you're the Duty Free Shop that deals with tourists from all over the world, I would have expected them to speak decent English but hell, no! More than half of their staffs were all Japanese and they no-speak-English, nihon-go dake! Well, hello.

On the other hand, thanks to massive amount of Japanese visitors and residents, I have to give my thumbs up for their Japanese cuisine. Very authentic at most that we've tried. Of course, they are not 100% like what I've tasted in Japan but they are pretty good, a lot of them are better than Melbourne's. We were pampered with the varieties of ramen from many of the restaurants that specialize in ramen in Honolulu, that is something Melbourne doesn't have enough.Big Island and Maui have much less Japanese in comparison to Honolulu. I would say Honolulu is the larger version of Gold Coast and Cairns but with way better Japanese fare. The Japs just love their beaches, don't they?

Sansei is the best I've eaten on the entire trip and it is worth a mention. They call themselves a seafood restaurant and sushi bar but they basically serve modern Japanese with a wicked twist. Every single dish that we ordered was fabulous except for the pasta that we ordered at the end, probably because I was already stuffed.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Seven on Friday

First of all, I have to thanks all my friends on Friday for all the efforts in getting me smashed, then took care of me. To all of you out there who had bought Lynn a drink or two, big thank you. To DJ Coming, thanks for taking me home although I still don't have the faintest idea to how I ended up hitching a ride from you. Thanks to the absinthes.

I was broke hence I told myself that I won't be going out after a few drinks before and after dinner. Look, Leesa was in town and we needed to catch up. After my last drinks with her and Milyn, I talked myself into going to Seven with Jev and the Twins for an hour. For crying out loud, Lynn, what made you believed that you'll only made a 60-minute appearance?

As naive as I could be, I did think I was only going to make a short stint at the club and returned to my home sweet home. I even had some notes put aside for me to take the cab. I got there, didn't like the music, didn't like the crowd but was delighted to see one too many familiar faces. Drinks after drinks, vodkas after absinthes, whiskies after I-can't-remember-what-shit. The next thing I knew was bumping in to DJ Coming, then fast forwarded to hopping in to his car, fast forwarded again to getting off the car.

Woke up with too many questions about the night before. Strange messages were sitting in my phone. I somehow figured out that I had given out my number to some people that I don't remember now (Jo has picture to prove, hhmmpph...). I realized I've lost an hour's memory, plus a camera with 100+ pictures within that few hours in the club. I have a group of super-camwhore friends, my god! Thanks to digital development that resulted in irresponsible clicking. Anyone with cramped fore finger? Or a tan from the flashes?
A few of my favourite. Special thanks to Jo
who was taking heaps of candid shots of us.
I love candid shots! Lynn's outfit by Hua!

Hawaii - Big Foot

I don't have a diver's license. The scuba divings I've done were all introductory dives accompanied by instructors. I wore what I was provided with and followed the instructor to wherever he was leading us to. The one at Cairns was very much like a money-making trip where the instructor baby-sitted you under water, made sure you're comfortable and when necessary, you can hold on to him and he would dragged you around. There were underwater photographer who took pictures for you and sold it to you at 10 times of its cost, or probably more.

The one I did in Maui wasn't like that. We got to the office, got a short briefing, got our wetsuit fitted, as well as mask and fins. Got up the boat, oxygen tanks, open sea, down we went. Instructor in front, we followed almost at your own pace. No one was to hold your hands and if you were slow, you were slow. Don't worry, he eventually would turned back to check on you. Being the scary cat that I was, I refused to be slow and be the last, afraid that I was going to get lost. Thank god Jevon was a sweetie who had constantly kept an eye on me.

On the second dive, Jev ran out of oxygen so he had to return while myself and another two Korean girls had carried on our underwater adventure. Being a klutz like I always am, I got a coral cut. I felt the cut on top of my left foot but there was nothing much I could do but to keep going. I totally had forgotten about it until when I was up on the boat again, the gentleman next to me tapped on my shoulder and told me I was bleeding and asked if I was all right.

Call me stupid but the first thing that came across my mind was... "I'm not having my period, what blood?!" Then I looked down and saw a trail of blood. Oh my god, then I could felt the pain. Captain gave me some tissues and told me that I would be fine. Was that all he could offer, what the f*ck!?

When we were on land at the office, one of the staff was nice enough to get the first aid box, sprayed some disinfectant and gave me a band-aid. For the next couple of days, I had been putting on tea tree oil - the only aid I have in my toiletries when I travel. Of course, we were all having so much fun and couldn't give a damn about getting some proper medication, thinking that Lynn is a tough healthy girl whose wound could've healed by itself.

That night, I was even on heels to go for a Japanese seafood dinner and partied the whole night. Got to speak to a bouncer outside of the restaurant who noticed my bandage and warned me to take care of it, as well as to see a doctor if it swells up as coral cuts could be very serious. So much for not taking others' advice.

By time we returned to Honolulu, my foot was huge and it started to worry me a little. Just a little. Got some antibiotic cream from ABC Store as well as some proper bandages. I knew it would be fine, NOT!To cut a very long story short, my foot caught a few ladies attention while we were visiting the Polynesian Cultural Centre. One of them is a daughter of a pharmacist and she warned me how serious my foot could get, that I should see a doctor as it wasn't looking good, that she knew of cases where you've to be hospitalized. Another lady called for first aid to check on me *faint* I was then, seriously worried, and embarrassed at the same time having half of the tour group scrutinizing my foot. The medical officer who cleaned my wound and put on a new bandage advised me to get a wheelchair as I shouldn't be doing too much walking. Heck, I wasn't going to be seen on a wheelchair when I could walk, it didn't go with my outfit for Christ's sake!My foot didn't get better that night and to ease my worries, I had decided to skip the round-island tour the following day and made a visit to the doctor instead. Got a shot on the butt and got put on a course of antibiotics for 10 days. You know me, hadn't touched these shit for ages but at times like this, I had to succumb to it *sigh*Not only that, the doctor had to give me a long lecture on how I shouldn't have waited that long to see a doctor; on how dangerous it was; that coral cuts were common but it wasn't common for someone who waited that long to seek professional help; that I could've ended up in the hospital. Geez... how would I know when my would was healing well except for the swell; how would I know when I felt perfectly fine without a temperature.

Sleazebag was concerned but was a little sarcastic at the same time, saying things like I should've worn something beneath my fins but excuse me, I was the beginner! Violet said I shouldn't have touched the corals but hello, it was the other way round, they touched me! Bad luck. I was dumb enough to have traveled without insurance this time and I had to forked out about 300 bucks on consultation and medication. Fantastic!

Well, money can't buy health but it helped me bought recovery. In hindsight, my foot did look terrible three weeks ago. Just imagine how bad it could get if I didn't go to the doctor. Quarantine at Australian custom?

Oh Boy...

72%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle2 - Online Dating


Online Dating

Mingle2 - Online Dating

Another day's gone. Pleasantly unproductive. Guess I still work better at night.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Stay Away, Liars!

Say what you want about me concluding things before I should but I believe in my instinct. To top that off, I'm a female who is sometimes being called the psycho b*tch. I won't change my mind, until you prove me wrong!

I cannot live with people who lie full stop

I've always tell you this same theory - if you have cheated on me and be honest with me and beg for forgiveness, you have a 50-50 chance plus I can still take you as my friend. If you have cheated on me and put in more effort to make up lies while thinking that I'm the dumb b*tch who will buy your stories, you should start packing up before I burn down your house. I probably will forgive you after. I don't usually hold on to my grudge.

I solemnly pray that my life will be free of liars from now on. They belong to another world with each other and not in my beautifully crafted bubble world.

Good morning Sunday. Goodbye liar.
Lucky Lynn in Hua dress. Picture courtesy of Cool Jo.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Lost in a Mess

One thing that I'm reeaaally good at doing - procrastinating. F*cking great!

Been doing nothing for the past six hours except for making some baked pasta. The last thing I want is to die at home, alone and hungry. Writing wasn't an option because I was running out of idea. I cannot think of an ending for my fiction story. Going out isn't an option because I'm dead broke and I've spent money last night.

I, however, have a few other options:
1) Clean up my apartment
2) Call Eleana and whine about nothing
3) Go out with LAMB and his dad (no spending guaranteed)
4) Go back to sleep

I am sometimes amazed by my tolerance for my disgustingly topsy-turvy apartment. This state of my apartment has given a whole new meaning to messy. It's above and beyond that. It is sickening. The fact that I'm living in this and am able to ignore it even when I've so much time in hand for me to procrastinate is horrifying.

For f*ck's sake, it's only a one-bedroom, how hard is that? I'm sure it'll be easier than to locate my lost diary. Yes, I managed to have lost my diary within this tiny apartment of mine. I'm a little lost since it went missing. I'm a little lost. I know there's no point blaming on the diary but I need a reason here, so let me be!

Even my fingers aren't doing their job well. This is not good.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Hawaii - Jetstar International to Honolulu

All right folks, where have I been missing to. My first desitination - Hawaii! Despite many complaints on our budget airline Jetstar by the public, me and my friends would have to give our thumbs up to their seats that were more spacious than MAS or SIA; and their quite good looking crews who bizarrely are all asians. Note: I doubt it was only my route as we were heading to Honolulu not Osaka or Kuala Lumpur.

Yes, there was an hour delay during departure but with the comfy seats, good service and the company of my friends, it didn't really bother me. The fact that the flight was only three-quarter full allowed us to double our spaces, exactly what we needed for the 10-hour flight.

They do provide you with free entertainment on the common TV screen and if you want more than that, pay the 12 bucks and get your own personal entertainment set, which I don't think it was expensive at all for less than 1.5 dollars an hour. Food weren't served but you have a choice to purchase from them or bring your own food. I have never really enjoyed airlines meal so bringing my choice of food wasn't a bad idea afterall. Water and hot water were given out unlimitedly free, as well as ear phones. It really wasn't that bad.

Like with all other long flights, I made myself as comfortable as possible in my trekkies and home singlet; lavendar scented eye-shade; eye-mask and face moisturizer; my pillows and blanket, etc. All I did was sleep, got up and eat, read, eat, tried to sleep, eat, chatted with friends, eat... If I stayed on the plane for another few hours, I could've easily gain a kg, geez...

Returned flight was on time and I was quick + greedy enough to have had four seats to myself. Hence once the flight had taken off, I popped my antibiotics that knocked me out for the next four hours on that quite spacious four leather seaters. As to why I was on medication, short story but will talk about it next time.I'm giving Jetstar a pass with credit here!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Highs and Lows

The heaters at home that I did not use at all last winter have been pushed to work excessively this couple of days - and I've only been home for the last 3 days. This winter is colder than the last two and I'm loving it. I can't help but to wonder if this is a sign for me? My last winter in Melbourne and God is giving me what I've always been longing for, as well as to make full use of my heaters, electric blankets and winter jackets for my last time?

Moving along...

What happens when your fever is over?


You get going in life!

You don't think straight when you're having the fever, the high. Erm... it is more like you can't rather than don't. You're delusional. The temperature has to come down, of course. What happens is when it drops and you gain your consciousness once again, you are sunk into this emotional down because your body has been fighting so hard for you.

Reality re-emerges and you know what? Sometimes, reality is the biggest b*tch! I'm one who doesn't buy the idea of reality as it is only a version of life that you choose to believe. When your belief strays, others think you're living in your own bubble. I live in my own bubble at most times, my fantasy world. Like Pat and Violet would say "Lynn has a movie in her mind". Nevertheless, I do have to get a break from my bubble sometimes.

Perhaps it is the cold in Melbourne that forces my temperature to drop and shoo my fever away. Or it's just one of those time where I have to step out of my bubble and get some fresh air. It can be very disheartening but there are some things that you just cannot change. God's sense of humour has come to a new high and we shall just appreciate it and have a good laugh. Just allow me to say one more time before this gibberish ends...

Life is not fair. I'm not complaining as I always believe, life is not suppose to be fair.

I believe I'll regain my energy once I've eaten enough supplements and food. Life still goes on and I am not afraid of being hit by another fever. That will only mean that I'm still alive and kicking.
In a very figure forgiving Hua top

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Another One of Those...

I've lost count of how many times I've been tagged. What's worse was I thought I've already done this yet I had not. I've time to kill (although I've heaps of work in hand to be accomplished) and I'm still feeling rather lazy to write about my holidays, so here you go...

4 Jobs I’ve had in my life

1. My daddy's girl
2. Model
3. Slave for an advertising agency
4. Bummer

4 movies I can watch over and over again
1. Love Actually
2. The Holiday
3. Lost in Time
4. Turn Left, Turn Right

4 Places I’ve been on Vacation

1. Hawaii
2. Bangkok
3. Hong Kong
4. Shanghai

4 Of my Favorite Dishes
1. BBQ Chicken Wings
2. Most dishes from Shoya
3. Dim Sum
4. Everything from Vue de Monde

4 Places I would like to Visit
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. New York
4. Argentina

4 Most overused Words
1. Really?
2. Are you serious?
3. I don't remember.
4. I was drunk!

4 TV Shows I love to Watch
1. Sex and the City
2. Friends
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. TVB series

4 Bloggers I am Tagging
1. Stephanie
2. Tracy
3. Wi-Liam
4. Suanne

Monday, June 18, 2007

Happy Father's Day

It was Father's Day in Asia yesterday.

As I was swamped in the cold and boredom in Tasmania, Candyman reminded me about the occasion and volunteered to arrange the gift for my dad. Candyman became the best from the second best when he had decided to deliver them in person in a taxi.

He is sweet like a chocolate coated candyman. My candyman!

Dad and mum were happy with the little surprise. I was more than happy and was surprised with the idea. What I was wishing for was to be able to be home with them, having tea and touring my house while talking about me for an hour or so.

Candyman, I remember what I've promised - a big big kiss when I see you. Can someone tell me when will that be?
When my Mr20 is more than 20!

Miss Me Yet?

Aloha folks!

I'm back and I'm lost. I came back, and I went away, and now I'm back again. I've been to places, many new different places, as many of you already knew. I guess it'll take me forever to give you a full report and since forever is overrated, I shall just take my own sweet time.

Apartment is in a shocking state - two huge suitcases in the middle of living room. Boxes of newly shopped and delivered goods. Over-flowing laundry basket. New gems that I've hunted down and the most horrible thing - unpaid bills!

Caught up with Jev for lunch today and I suspect I've brought the cold back with me from Tassie. It was definitely too cold to be dining alfresco and Melbourne isn't any warmer than down south. I have some plans tonight so I shall layer myself up and have some fun. Can't wait!

Since I'm still lost and lazy, I shall just end this with the tanned lazy Lynn in Hua design.
Before Armin's White Party