Sitting Spots 🪑

Hello! Crazy; it's a random blog post! In this day and age!! Wow!

There's been too much of an ongoing trend that I'll only post when negative things happen, so I thought I should also take time to document some positive updates!

I'm actually doing quite well right now. 🫶 Almost night and day from when I hit a low point in April this year which I talked about in my previous post with all my goals to "rehabilitate" my life.

Of course I haven't achieved all these goals but I've made good enough progress that it feels like a lot has been restored for me — both mentally and physically. :))) Overall I think I usually have something positive to feel about each day, and the negatives aren't on my mind too often. In fact, the intrusive voice in my brain that yaps at me about escapism might be currently asleep. I hope they have a good rest forever!

My heart hasn't sent me palpitations in half a year! And while my head nerve still bothers me, it's no longer disruptive to my life so..... dare I say, this is the closest to "normal" I've felt in a long time? I still definitely need to exercise more though.

-

Speaking of which: allow me to share about my day today! I had such a shockingly normal day LOL.

It started with a yummy brunch with some friends where I got a fried chicken & croffle and matcha latte. 😁 You can tell I'm doing well when I'm able to drink my beloved matcha lattes; my heart is in fine enough condition to handle it. 

Then we watched the movie Primetime starring Robert Pattinson! That man is killing it in all his movies lately. (SOMEBODY GET THESE BEGGARS OUT OF HERE-----) Anyway, the film was enjoyable and really well produced. Practically every single shot had stunning cinematography — lots of creative stuff done! Acting and writing were phenomenal. It's beautiful when you can tell that intention has been poured into every detail in the process of making art.

Afterwards we... split up and went home? at 3 PM? on a Sunday? LOL
No plans or obligations, when I'm healthy, not recovering from a major event, AND had no deadlines to meet or any urgent project to work towards.....?

This does not happen usually. 😆 Up until yesterday I'd been working on chorus battle things, helping out with timing all the singing lines, and prior to that recording my own lines. (Yes I'm participating in a chorus battle again after 6 years; super exciting!) But last night I'd finished my part and handed the files over to Fome to start mixing.

So I decided to take advantage of having free time while the sun was out, and looked up parks I could take a walk in!

Unfortunately I touch grass so infrequently that upon seeing a nicely placed bench with a scenic view, all I can think about is that one video about the most beautiful sitting spots in Genshin Impact LMAO.

I adore this video and the person who created it, who has many other videos showcasing and analyzing various architecture in Genshin! It's amazing how they're able to see and appreciate the world around them, even if it's just the 3D models in a game...

"The simplicity of sitting in genshin impact" by Beerevity

Just lovely how they describe these "sitting spots" as intentional places where the game allows you to slow down and be immersed in the atmosphere you've earned.

Genshin Impact is still my comfort game btw. Love it, I'm caught up on the story, almost done maxing out exploration, and it's wild that we're in the endgame now! We're in Snezhnaya — the last of the seven nations that we set out to adventure in! Here's a recent sitting spot I sat in where you can watch the trains go by. ☺️

Honestly I didn't intend for the themes of this post to come full circle but they somehow do.

Today was such a healthy, pleasant, carefree day that it even slowed down enough for me to immerse myself in scenic atmospheres and sit here for a while to write an entire blog post. Which I never do anymore. Because my world moves too fast. Because my head can't stay still. My quiet sitting spot is usually nonexistent.

I would love to get back into blogging more though, not just as a way for me to unwind and put thoughts into words — but also because I miss having much of my life and projects recorded to look back on, to reminisce, to remind myself of how far I've come, to preserve anything that sparks joy to me that I may forget about later. Hopefully my motivations and life fluctuations will align more often 🤞

-

Lastly, shout out to my friend Cody who accidentally triggered me into thinking a lot about this blog again... By pure coincidence he brought up journaling which led to me showing him this cursed site....... Now he knows too much about me and my darkest secrets, just like all of you kind folks on the internet that apparently read these for some reason. 😭 Thank you always!!

(A reference to my childhood magical protection spell from this post — and yes since my Grand Archive friends found out about my singing youtube channel they oftentimes call me that I HATE ITTTTTT LOL)

An Update!

I know that there are kind people that check up on me here and ones that read my previous post but respected my wish to not discuss it. ;u; If by chance I concerned anyone by not updating for a while, I wanted to say please forgive me and thank you. ❤️

Doing much better now physically and mentally and emotionally! I'm feeling healthier in every way.

At one point there was a little bit of a scare on account of my heart health—not too surprising since my heart has a history of acting up during periods of stress and not enough exercise... though my dramatic little ass did tell people I loved them before I went to bed that night, just in case lmfaaooooo. And as I said I'd do in my last post, I went to the doctor and found out I have somewhat high cholesterol.

So I've been eating much healthier. Sleeping and waking up earlier. My ankle is finally 100% healed!!!! Now I'm working out every day, learning a dance, jogging, being more active in general even in small ways. My energy levels are improved. Mood improved. Not feeling as weighed down by obligations as before. I feel empowered to take my time and to freely chase tiny happinesses and to make responsible decisions for my own wellbeing's sake and also hopefully give back more to the people that've taken care of me. ;v; Fighting fighting.

Please take care of yourself now. The holidays can be a rough time for many people, but I hope we can cherish our own existences and the time we have with which to spend finding meaningful things, big or small. Also I'm sending y'all love regardless of whether I'm at risk of cardiac arrest or not.

PS;; Guess who's been eating a lot of sushi lately because it's like the only remaining tasty thing that doesn't cause reflux or bad cholesterol kek

...March

March 8th:
Huhu again long time no blog; I've been busy but with enough free time to spend enjoying playing games and being with friends. ^^

Writing this—and the next post—as I'm on a plane to my first business trip since the pandemic! ✈️

After two years of the STEM youth events being virtual, finally we can go back to working with DSLR footage and not crappy webcams via Zoom... As a video editor I'm so tired of boxes hahaha. 🙏 It'll be mighty interesting with how strict the COVID restrictions are on-site; we're doing either a PCR or rapid test every day and not allowed to see anyone outside our bubble. We've expanded our team (with me as lead editor) so I'm really hoping to be able to sleep more than I've done in the past!!

---

March 16th:
Aaaaand then I got so busy on the trip that I never posted this from my iPhone notes.

I'm now on the plane heading home! 🛬

Exhausted but my heart is full. The first few nights I was so jetlagged I couldn't sleep, then afterwards I didn't sleep much from working late crazy nights and still having to wake up early to attend a shoot or take our daily COVID test...

My main job was editing a highlights video that was shown at the awards ceremony on the final day—comprised of all the interviews and footage our team filmed all week of the students' activities. It's a task that I take very seriously because it's how this super important week for these kids is immortalized and gives them an immediate perspective of how amazing their experience was. Everyone on the staff does their best to treat them like mini celebrities, since they've done so much to be celebrated, but I get the privilege of letting them see themselves framed like superstars which I think is quite special.

It's really, really touching to watch them watch the video. 🥺 Honestly makes all the exhaustion feel kinda worth it. It warmed my heart to hear their comments, clapping for each other, laughing at the funny parts, hugging each other and all the "awwww"ing.... And then at the end they applauded the video team and my boss FOR SOME REASON POINTED AT ME and gave me all the credit despite there being other team members too that did the filming and producing and assisting so the whole room turned and applauded me which was so mindblowing aaaaaaa I was insanely embarrassed!!! had no idea how to act!! but the recognition is gratifying. 😭😭 My team members also told me that I cut together an amazing story so I feel really happy about that.

There's so much energy, camaraderie, good food, and fun experiences from doing this in person that just can't be replicated to even a fraction during the virtual counterpart—and makes it possible to power through all the miserable things like stress and not sleeping.

Oh yeah, I pulled an all-nighter on the final night before the video was due lol. I'm sad about that because we expanded our team to prevent this... but we overlooked some things and there was also bad luck and a lot of troubleshooting and ugh....... I was pretty stressed the whole time and barely slept.

Anddddd then I never finished this post until now lmaolmaoalmaaooo my March continued to be busy stressful even after getting back but I think FINALLY... in April now I can take a breather! 🌸

(...until the next big business trip in May)

---

Photo dump after the cut because I guess why not:

Adventure Day! 🌱🍽 Photo Blog

Hello!! I went on an adventure today ☀️☀️ and want to re-live the full nostalgic experience of an adventure by blogging about it aaa

I'd like to write more about it later but basically for the past month I've been doing what I can to pull myself out of the lowest point of burnout I'd ever been through, and this week I finally, finally cleared my urgent work projects and felt comfortable taking time off from my job! It's my first time taking a proper break since September 2019 when I took a trip to Vancouver.....because even over the holidays I was always busy with big projects......and we're about to start another huge project in May.....so yeah...... I really fucking needed this.

My heart is so full. I wanted to go on an adventure for once—and not be holed up in my room anymore, spend time with a friend(s), be free from the shackles of computer monitors & eye strain headaches, emulate the excitement of travel without safety risks, and have so much fun that there was no room for me to worry about work or feel guilty about productivity—so badly... and we pretty much fulfilled all of that in one day and more. 💗 (tho i'll confess i did read and replied to one email which my boss chided me for lolololol ah i have a long way to go)

The day was spent with my friend Myst who—like myself—has had basically no risk of COVID exposure in over a week and we both live with our parents who are already vaccinated (+ we have a bit of immunity from our first doses), so we felt comfortable carpooling together and not socially distancing between us which was greatly refreshing. ;v;

For our adventure day we considered, let's see.... hiking (both of us: "nah"), a beachside city, or San Francisco... Both of the latter are about an hour's drive away and places we don't frequent but ultimately SF came out on top for the sole reason that it would have better food HAHAHAHAHA. And we happily continued with our philosophy of following our stomachs for the entire day! Literally my purpose in life to be honest!!!!!

And as we were driving home, we realized just how shocking it was the amount of experiences we had for a day with little plans... We had a lot of fun. :> I'd like to make myself remember that I was able to have a day full of so much enjoyment, tasty food, and good fortune and encounters—even as we're in a pandemic and after such a long period of. I don't even know how to describe it. Stress? Drought? Isolation? Bad vibes? Feeling unfulfilled? All of the above.

Simple Joys

 A little vignette about my heartwarming day:

I had my remaining wisdom teeth removed yesterday, and today I'm feeling much better and jobwork was light so decided I should go out and get some soft serve before the weekend crowds—except I guess the place I intended to go to (inside a supermarket) already had insane Friday crowds?! So I gave up there, did a search for what other soft serve places were nearby, and ended up getting this black sesame soft serve along with yummy taiyaki that I nibbled at slowly in teeny baby bites!

Usually whenever I get treats by myself these days, I eat sitting in my car or while driving home, but today... the weather was so perfect (we're clear of smoky skies right now!! though I hear the air gets worse again in a few days qq) and this outdoor plaza was really nice with open space and standing-height tables (am avoiding sitting in public as much as I can), so I just chilled out there while nibbling! I can't remember my last time doing something like that.

At the other end of the long table were two ladies who had the cutest 4 month old pooch called Elvis who looked like a little teddy bear 🥺!! I never spoke to them but it was easy to eavesdrop on the endless stream of people who stopped by to inquire about their pup, petted him, took pictures. Luckily the owners were super open to all of this attention and conversation—they were super friendly and so was Elvis who hopped around a lot! aaa what a cutie

The peak of all this conversation though was a family with a 5 year old girl who loudly declared to everyone that since her dad is allergic to cats, she's going to get a puppy!!! She has to get a puppy!! Then she screamed when Elvis licked something off the ground HAHAHA.

I had just stopped there to slowly eat my ice cream alone—at the time the area was completely empty—expecting to feel extremely awkward and self conscious, but I ended up smiling and laughing at all the things that were going on around me... I felt safe, the sky was blue, the air was nice. It was really nice—this sort of pleasantness I haven't experienced in a long time. It made me think that I don't pay attention to these sorts of simple joys of life often enough.

Then I went home and decided I wanted to go on a short walk to deliver a package that came to us but likely was meant for the house that's one digit off (we've had a few confused packages before but I've never done a delivery like this) and my mom decided to come with me since she speaks their household language which I don't—but... I think she had an ulterior motive as she kept expressing her admiration for the fruit tree in front of their house... to me and my dad in our home, to me while walking there, to the friendly person who answered the door and confirmed it was their package........ then we walked home with both of our hands literally spilling with freshly picked fruit. That made me smile too.

Cursed Cooking Pt. 2: Babby's First Cookies

If you need some context for how clueless and inexperienced I am with baking and cooking in general, I wrote about it on my last post heh heh..

I thought I'd attempt some cookies today as a pick-me-up—didn't expect for it to turn into a 5 hour long venture.....

Because anything I make would only be consumed by me and my parents, I seeked out a small batch recipe that could be made in a toaster oven..... I simply wanted to try out making something with whatever we already had in the house and I saw that some people on the internet successfully substituted cocoa powder with hot chocolate mix so decided to try that.... and also I didn't have the specific types of sugar and salt that the recipe listed so substituted those too orzzzz and don't have vanilla extract or chocolate chips so skipped those..... LOL BASICALLY I SET MYSELF UP FOR CURSED COOKIES; I knew from the start. Had no expectations and it still managed to surprise me.

I really shouldn't be allowed to make food without supervision.

I Just Made the Most Cursed Fake Churros Ever

So.... I basically have no experience making "fun food." In fact, I can't even say that I can cook—I can assist my parents via their direction and do the basics of the basics that require little thought or practice, enough to keep full and healthy. But crafting food for fun has never been of interest to anyone in this house... o<-< Things like desserts, baking, deep frying are pretty much uncharted territory for me. I've helped friends with measuring ingredients for cookies a few times in my lifetime probably!!

Last week, the Disney Parks churro tots recipe made waves in my work group chat and I thought, "That's so cool!!! Maybe someday when I get really bored in quarantine I'll think about giving that a try!"

A few days later, Denny also linked it to me (extremely impressed that he remembers that I like churros and Disney omfg) and I thought, "Dammit now I want these!! But no one would make them for me and I don't have the ingredients T___T..." Continued to have that on my mind for a few days as I kept missing the novelty of eating desserts and going out for treats with friends... Scoured the kitchen and discovered that we surprisingly have flour, butter, and an adequate amount of eggs hmmm....

I am not bored at all—there are actually too many things that I want or need to do—but at some point my mental priority switch was flipped and HERE I AM WANTING TO GIVE DESSERT-MAKING A TRY!!! Starting with the churros, fuck it!! How bad could it be!! How badly could this possibly go!!

So here's how things fell apart i m m e d i a t e l y:

> Recipe calls for piping bag with a star tip.
> Can't be bothered.
> What if I just roll the dough into balls instead? Lol it's probably fine

> Recipe calls for both cinnamon and cinnamon sugar.
> No cinnamon available for grocery pick-up.
> Settles for cinnamon sugar only. Can't make too much of a difference right?
> Crap, I waited a day and the cinnamon sugar sold out.
> WAIT WHAT IF I WENT A TOTALLY CREATIVE ROUTE......

✨ Thus the idea for Cinnamon Toast Crunch churro balls was born. ✨

Now, you, me, and everything feels like a lie... 🎶 Is it a dream? 💞

So in October, it was announced that my favorite k-pop group Lovelyz would be coming to LA for a concert in November! Somehow, both times they've ever had activities in America have been this year in LA..... and both times, the concerts were announced a cruel mere month prior. ToT Initially I was like, "WHAT I probably shouldn't yolo down to LA again for a concert," for maybe like...10 minutes before it became, "But why not?" As a member of their relatively small western fanbase, I'd definitely regret not being there to support my girls 💪! Y-you can always make money back anyway right? o(-(

Luckily it turned out to be a pretty wallet-friendly trip. ^^ The concert, which also featured JBJ95 and Heize, for whatever reason was free to attend?! I went with my friend Tiffany—who's my only irl Lovelinus friend—and also Myst who was heading to LA for her own playtime, so we made a roadtrip down together and shared a motel. It was a fun little weekend trip with good music, good food, and good friends!

As I mentioned, I've only ever known one person irl who's a Lovelyz fan, aside from Chiisana who likes them but isn't necessarily a Lovelinus. Even given that, Tiffany and I had never actually attended a concert together before. But on this trip I was introduced to two more wonderful friends who are Lovelinuses!!!! It was sooooo much fun and so refreshing to be around them and talk about our girls and for everyone to be on the same page without explanations and just being able to share our excitement and practice fanchants together! 💓

Thanks to these friends kindly waiting in line early—and no monetary restrictions—we were luckily able to have some amazing seats! Honestly so grateful; I owe them my life. The poor folks all the way in the back probably saw nothing as there were no cameras/screens.. But we were able to see the performers' expressions, so therefore they must've been able to see ours too! 🥰

And the moment I realized this...... that Lovelyz could see me, that I was now an existence known to my beloved idols that I'd only ever in these past 5 years been able to admire from afar, that my actions and support might really be felt by them directly, that I had the power to help them feel loved by their fans and give back to how much strength they've given us, that I was truly in that moment a representative of their American fanbase.......... I almost cried while they were performing.

It was a small concert with only 3 acts, but because of that we were treated to a long set with SIX WHOLE SONGS!! 😭 What an amazing experience....

One of the things I love the most about Lovelyz is that their title discography tells a whole story. It's brilliant and it's been so incredible to watch this beautifully thoughtful music project unfold.

Candy Jelly Love --- Crush
Hi~ --- Confession
Ah-Choo --- Friendzoned
Destiny --- Jealousy
WoW! --- Distance
Now, We --- FINALLY A MUTUAL LOVE!!!
Twinkle --- Exploring the relationship
That Day --- Break-up
Lost N Found --- Loneliness
Beautiful Days --- Reminiscence

KCON LA 2019 ✨ Photo Blog

💕💕💕 My fifth year attending KCON and I'm still impressed at how I almost always have a good time as long as the ticket wars don't kill me! This year's lineup included two of my favorite girl groups (IZ*ONE and LOONA) and just overall most things were really fun and reasonably well executed in my opinion! It's still insane that simply at the convention itself—before you even make it to the concerts—you can encounter a ton of idols, listen to their special talks, potentially interact with them. ;u; I find some panels pretty interesting and I really enjoy exploring the expo with all the free beauty and food samples and loads of unbelievably delicious sales!! It's just become a no-brainer for me to go every year LOL.

Artists that we saw this year!!!

💘 Owns my soul probably: IZ*ONE, LOONA

💕 Love~: fromis_9, SF9

🌸 Like: NU'EST, Mamamoo, Itzy, Seventeen

👌 I guess I like?: N.Flying, AB6IX

🔍 Interested in learning more: ATEEZ, Stray Kids

😊 Neutral: Momoland, Verivery

Just like me, this post is long and messy—sorry, not sorry.

Anime Expo '19 ✨

A few years ago I realized that my life essentially revolves around Anime Expo—it's a staple that guarantees a good time filled with love, that I can look forward to/work towards every year without fail, and motivates me to keep going. ❤️ Year 8 has now passed and it was a lottttt of fun! So now begins the "waiting for the next AX" phase lolol.

After last year's gargantuan turnout, this year had a much smaller youtaite crowd and in particular I didn't have as many non-local close friends that came. ;o; On the one hand, it meant I didn't get to meet up with as many people that I rarely get the opportunity to hang out with, but that was okay!!! Because my hotel group (+ our friends who became honorary members) spent so much time together that it felt like we became a big comfortable family. 😭 This makes me sooo happy.... I love them allllllll T____T What a good group of good boys and good girls and gremlins and ninja bros! Kind of funny though that we went all the way to the biggest annual weeaboo gathering to mostly spend time with 80% folks that we already can see in NorCal but ayy the bonding was priceless.

Fake it til you steak it

^__^ My last two weekends have been really great! Super fulfilling and I got to hang out with lots of different friends, while also making productive progress. One fun thing that happened was a party with kpop dance friends (and their kpop dance friends that I didn't know) and I was really happy that I was surprisingly outgoing, especially since I wasn't that familiar with everyone! I've been a bit more outgoing at work too I think and in general. Of course, I've been working a lot at trying to become more sociable and fun for a while, but now it feels different because I don't feel drained from it anymore? And I don't feel guilty about trying too hard. It's like I graduated from acting outgoing and have actually become somewhat outgoing. Yaaay! I hope I can continue being that social and open with my humor all the time lolol.

My whole week went pretty well actually! For once, I made it a habit to sleep early and have been balancing productivity and relaxation ;v; In my last post, I was struggling a lot with all my medical bullshit—but now I've taken care of a lot, made tons of successful phone calls, made a trip back to the hospital to make requests, am not scared of the steps I need to take in the next few weeks... I've crossed a few hurdles among what seems like endless hurdles, but I feel like I FUCKING CONQUERED SOMETHING. òдó)ᕗ

Yesterday I had a fun feast day with best friend Chiisana and boyfriend Fome—they cooked up some amaaaazing lemon pepper wings and ribeye steak ^q^ Some pictures that I took:

It's almost 4 AM

The neighbors are playing loud mariacchi music.

I'm burnt out from mixing....... and I really miss this ice cream I got in Santa Cruz with burnt marshmallow fluff on it. ;A; Mmmmmm life would be so much better with s'mores right now LOL.

This beauty!

(feat. Myst~)

[Phlog] Boston!

Blogger app is actually so incredibly inadequate. :/ Here goes writing all of this a second time.

So I'm in Boston now!!! (edit: was at time of writing) For a business trip! We're shooting interviews with our client's employees at their different branches for their 20th anniversary video, so we'll be flying out to Kansas City, Missouri too on Wednesday.

I had to wake up at 3:30 AM to leave at 4 for my 6 AM flight..... RIP........ o<-< I thought I could stay up working on cosplay til then since lately I've been working til that late anyway lol. The night before I slept at 6 AM, but I guess I was too sleep deprived to make it past 12:30 without sleepy headaches. @_@

Was able to nap a bit on the plane, and then I had a very productive flight!! 8D While watching two movies I've been meaning to see, I sewed the snap buttons and decorative buttons onto the wrist cuffs for my cosplay hehehe..

The first movie I watched was a Korean one called Beauty Inside that I've been interested in since I heard such a film was being produced. It's about a man whose appearance changes every time he sleeps--he may even wake up as a woman or a child. What makes him break out of his reclusive lifestyle for the first time is a woman (Han Hyojoo) whom he admires, connects well with, and of course falls in love with. Despite one story complaint, I enjoyed the film a lot and even teared up twice but I didn't want anyone on the plane to see me cry. QAQ Would watch it again! Beautiful cinematography, overall good acting, and an EPICCCC CAST for those that follow the Korean drama sphere. They lined up BASICALLY A LEGION of beloved actors and actresses to portray the different versions of the protagonist which was so fun! I loved so many of them TT TT!!! And Han Hyojoo was simply gorgeous in this; I can't explain entirely how much I adore her demeanor and expressions. She was so charming and smile so warm and character so diligent, smart, passionate, and genuine with some understandable flaws--even I couldn't help but admire and fall in love with her LOL. Aaaaah #goals

Then I watched The Intern starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, which I also enjoyed and found hilarious ;u; Very heartwarming, and I love seeing movies like this with empowering and successful women protagonists!!

Edit:

I didn't get to finish this post so I'm updating the next day 8D

Yesterday I was able to hang out with Pan/247th, which was fun! We basically had a sampler of Bostonian foods kekeke~ WE WERE DISGUSTINGLY FULL but /everything/ was delicious omg. 

FOOD BLOG, GO..!

Cool Things Picspam

So, cool things that happened during that Anaheim business trip I went on!!!

Free food!! (We only had a few meals that weren't the provided staff food.. but they were NICE meals and we get to bill them to the client *___*)
Look at thissssss THIS RARE PRIME RIB~ with a scallop and potato dish~ hshshshshs
And escargot with some mushroom and garlic mix. I can't explain the green foam...

Hotel room I had all to myself!! Others called it a cave because it's tucked away in the corner where it gets no sunlight LOL (it was scary)

It me!! I felt so official with my badge! Look I got a free lightsaber!!

Prettiness!

It me again beING EXCITED TO BE DONE WORKING AND GO TO DISNEYYY

You know what's really fucking awesome?
All of Disney's California Adventure was rented out for an evening for the conference's closing party.... SO. FUCKING. AWESOME.

Since there were only 4500 attendees, all of the rides had 5 minute (or shorter) lines! And all food and drinks were free! Servers waited along the street with trays of wine, beer, and soda! You could just go up and order a clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl without paying! I had two churros and cotton candy! No turkey legs though sadface.

LOOK AT HOW EMPTY HOLLYWOODLAND IS.

Fall Out Boy performed but honestly iwasaHilaryDuffkindofpreteen.......

The park still did their World of Color show, for which we got to be up close, and then there was a surprise addition at the end of it!!! *_______*

FINALLY.. Let's Catch Up!

I feel like blogging today~ ;u; I still haven't continued the Lovelyz MV with subs for fear of crying again HAHAHAHAHAHA but I'm feeling much better now! Something great happened already in the past hour since I wrote that post.

My laptop—which I only bought a year ago—decided to die after I brought it back from my Disneyland trip 2 weeks ago. I was pretty angry and offended (COME ON TECHNOLOGY WTF YOU DOING????) but I had hope that my files could be recovered at the very least. My dad who works in tech support was unable to do anything and ended up taking it to a computer repair shop. This is where everything goes to even more shit. The repair guy says there's apparently no data to be found on my harddrive. Ok fine. I made it clear that I wanted the laptop back if that were the case, and that they shouldn't reformat my laptop or reinstall Windows, which would wipe out all my files for sure. AND THEN my dad calls me while I'm at work.. to tell me the repair shop called.. and said, bad news...... that their software automatically reinstalls Windows if the repair fails......
Needless to say I was pissed as hell?! I had to put down my work and run to the bathroom for some angry sobbing.

Anyway, the rest of the story goes:
Repair shop ended up failing to reinstall Windows. (wao lol)
My dad refused to pay them. (thank god I would've been even more pissed)
My coworker was able to restore my files!!!!!!!!!!
My coworker is a miracle maker.

As I type, I'm copying all my resurrected files over! ^^ Waaaaa this is my one stroke of actual good luck this week!

So now I'll jump back in time to my "Let's Catch Up!" photo post that I had started a few weeks ago and will now be able to continue. :>

~timewarp~
~tacky animation effects~
~i saw what u had for dinner~
.
.
.

What the, I haven't been on my blog in well over a month..?! LOL.
If only there were some extra hours in the day, I would certainly dedicate them to blogging. There's so much I always want to post, but then I'm either busy or too exhausted, and I reach this point where I don't even know where to start...........
A month is a long ass time....

This is basically a selfie timeline lol.

I guess for starters! On November 1st, I went on my very first business trip!!!!! :DDD It was to San Diego! I had my own huge hotel room in the Grand Hyatt! I got to eat nice meals all paid for by the company!
In exchange, there was some stress and I was tired as hell, which I suppose is to be expected. We were creating videos for the event that happened (which I endearingly call CEO-con, or Annual CEO Speed Dating Event) so I was helping with handling audio during interviews and also edited little clips for the social media team to post.

The entire trip was spent with middle-aged folks who are experienced in the creative content production industry, so obviously I was awkward, couldn't fit in, and wasn't as competent. But honestly, it wasn't as bad as it could have been ^^ or would have been if it were me from years ago. Although I spent the trip without much confidence, now I'm believing in myself a bit more. ;^; I received some really kind words!! My colleagues said I did good work and that I'm smarter than the well-paid clients we worked for! And two people said that I'm very wise beyond my years.... ;____; I'm so flattered heee.

My hotel room, mug shot, yum but expensive sushi HEHEHEHE

Obligatory selfies because paid video editing in a seaside hotel room.

Funniest thing happened on the way back though. I booked a late returning flight so that I'd be able to hang out with Chiisana who goes to school an hour from San Diego. Before she took me to the airport, we were able to stop by New Port Beach, and that was incredibly pleasant and fun albeit short ;u;

So my flight's booked for 9:20 PM. Due to it being a smaller, non-isolated airport, there's a curfew at 10 PM to prevent noise complaints. .....
.........
You'd think they'd learn by now not to offer flights so close to their curfew.
The flight got CANCELLED because we couldn't take off in time LMAO. Our pilots were on an incoming flight that got delayed so much that they couldn't make it onto our plane before 10.
So I had to take the next day off from work, and generous goddess Chiisana came to pick me up, let me sleep over, and took me to the airport again the next day ;u; ... There were tons of stressful factors at the time but in hindsight, it turned out well!



Two Halloweens ago, friends and I walked around a mall giving out candy as a "reverse trick-or-treat," which unfortunately couldn't happen again. xD But I took charge of giving out candy at my house for the first time, which was cool! (My parents can't be bothered and I was too shy, so we usually avoid the holiday altogether.)

I couldn't think of an appropriate costume to wear to work so I ended up just wearing a tie and my dad's blazer and shoes, and called myself a businessman looooool.



I also dyed my hair again! My roots grew out a ton since June. Ended up going with Garnier Nutrisse Color Foam: 3UR Deep Ultra Intense Red for Dark Hair, which surprised me as a non-Asian brand bubble/foam dye.

(Not a good comparison because I didn't know lighting would change that great a deal from 2 PM to 4 PM lol)

Easy to use, very little run (or scent) after the initial rinse, didn't damage my hair, overall pretty good experience and I'd use this dye again! Only it didn't color my roots all that well, which could have been my fault. It's k.



Two weeks ago was my company-paid trip to Disneyland!! (This is the accounting job; not the video production one.) That was the greatest weekend ever, man. I mean since I'm an only child who lives in a very quiet and sometimes lonely house, I was pretty excited about the fact that a bunch of coworker friends and I rented a house from Airbnb to live in together ^___^ It was such a nice house too!!! I've always wanted to live in a house with stairs! I've always wanted to have a bunk bed and try sleeping on the top bunk! The carpet was so comfy I even fell asleep on it! And how nice was it to get to stay up playing board games with friends! And have late night pillow talks ;w;! I FEEL LIKE I'VE FULFILLED SO MANY CHILDHOOD DESIRES.
My body felt like death afterwards, but Disneyland was a blast! The upgraded Hyperspace Mountain IS SO FUCKING FUN. The weather was beautiful! Take me back. Take me now.

Here's me at my 'regular spot' on the stairs because I'm like 5.

I actually don't have any obligatory selfies from this trip. My only regret is that I wish I took pictures while at Disneyland. D: But on the road trip returning home, my coworker did take a bunch of dumb pictures on my camera LMAO.

 I got a push-pop at the gas station and loved it.

[Phlog] F♥♥D

A week ago, I hung out with Myst in Berkeley~ Then met up with others for dinner. And this is a food blog because we ate a lot LOL. (And are painfully predictable..)

Mango salmon rice bowl!

Tea!

A picture of my $1.25 ice cream with Myst taking a picture of her ice cream

Salmon Lovers sushi plate featuring Chiisana!

Sushi rolls!

Mango snow ice!

Slam on

This is the one high point of my day, and an UPWARDS SOARIN', HEAVEN SHAKIN' ONE IT IS.

My bossman at work.... gave the whole finance department free chunks of salmon sashimi!!!!!!!!!!!
IT'S BIGGER THAN MY FACE!!!

Thank you.
I would like to thank this salmon today.
This salmon is the real MVP. Or maybe bossman is. Salmon? Salmon.

I can't believe it.
I really, truly cannot believe it.
This is a dream don't wake me up lol

And then I became overly amused by the fact that I was taking crappy webcam pictures with a saran-wrapped plate of raw fish lmao.