Archive for the year 2004
Old Journals
Posted on August 21, 2004 by Ching under Family, Life.
I’ve been reading through some of my old journal entries.. Man, they were good! I wonder what happened to my flair for writing? I used to tell such vivid, entertaining stories.. Now I merely recount the days’ events as they pass.
And to think that I had to code HTML by hand in those days. There was no Blogger back then so I had to code the navigation into the pages and everything. Each time I would post a new entry, I would have to manually go back to the previous one and create a next link so that the reader could navigate between the entries without having to return to the table of contents. It was tedious, to say the least. But to maintain such quality of writing under the given circumstances that I impress myself even reading it today? That’s an accomplishment.
I never understood why people were reading about my life before. I guess I took it for granted. Now it’s clear. It was the way in which I wrote. I don’t have the same number of readers today because the writing is just not the same. Either that or my life just isn’t as interesting. After all, I’m now just a boring, old wife (ahh, to be young again). But then, that was before the digital explosion when I couldn’t post as many pictures because I would have to scan them and upload them, and that took forever since these were the days of dial-up…
Perhaps I was forced to write in an eloquent and colorful way to convey the moment or experience that I was trying to share because I didn’t have any pictures to show? Now that I have the ability to post hundreds of photos within seconds I don’t feel compelled to be as descriptive.. Sounds like a reasonable explanation..
I don’t know if I will ever be able to bring the old Chingay back. I have grown and evolved. Of course, sometimes changes aren’t always good. In this case, the difference is that I don’t write as well as I used to (this could be Brian rubbing off on me, too — just kidding, baby). I may just post some of my old journal entries, a select few, to give you a taste of what life was like living with conservative Filipino parents and a rebellious teenage sister in a suburban Kansas environment.
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South Padre 1998
Posted on August 21, 2004 by Ching under Life.
Here are some pictures that we took in South Padre during 1998 spring break. I didn’t even know I still had these pictures! I still can’t believe I found them. Good thing I checked the floppies before reformatting them.
BTW, if you’ve known me since my chingay.com days then you’ve probably seen these pictures already. They were originally part of the photo albums. I wasn’t very organized then (still not) so when I lost the hosting for my website I just kind of lost track of all the pictures.
But now they’re back! Yay! Enjoy!
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Movie Update
Posted on August 18, 2004 by Ching under Movies.
The last two movies we watched through Netflix are The Big Bounce and Miracle. The Big Bounce was kind of boring but it had some cool people in it: Gary Sinise, Morgan Freeman and Owen Wilson. I don’t know what it is about Gary Sinise, but I love him. And, of course, Owen Wilson is really hot in that goofy/dorky/slacker kind of way. The girl who plays the lead (not sure what her name is) kind of reminds me of Bridget Fonda’s character in Jackie Brown. Despite her walking around semi-naked for the entire movie, there wasn’t really enough story or sex to keep me interested. I almost fell asleep and was finally relieved when the movie ended. The only redeeming value of the movie was that Nancy got what she deserved in the end, which is nothing! And Jack ends up with the girl in #9, who is a minor character, not really that hot but is kind of sweet. I can totally relate to her character, the one that no one really notices.
Miracle, on the other hand was really good. I don’t know why I never wanted to see it in the theaters. After all, I love Kurt Russell. And I’m totally crushing on Jimmy Craig right now. He’s probably 50 now, but I still want to meet him. He was awesome! Of course, I wouldn’t mind meeting Eddie Cahill, the guy who played his character, either. He’s a cutie! Â
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Anniversary Weekend
Posted on August 17, 2004 by Ching under Life, Movies, Relationship.
Here’s a play-by-play of our anniversary weekend as promised..
We wake up pretty early on Saturday to make our 9 AM appointment at Healing Waters for our couples massage. It was really relaxing up until it was time to pay. Our damage? $200 or so because I got talked into buying this pain relief cream that is $33 an ounce. Ouch!
While there, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for my Brazillian bikini wax. The lady wanted to schedule me for next Saturday, but I was like whoa! I need at least two to three weeks. I’m not quite ready. For those who are not privy to these things, the hair has to be a least 1/4″ long in order for the wax and strips to be able to grasp it. If it’s too short, it’s just pointless.
She schedules me for September 11. How perfect! I told Brian, this will be my own personal contribution to the anti-terrorism cause. Too bad it’s not tax deductible. Okay, bad joke.
Anyway, after Healing Waters we stop by QuikTrip for some gas and sodas, and then we were off to Country Club Plaza. Brian got this bug up his butt a third of the way down there and he decides to let me drive. As you all know, I don’t know how to drive stick shift so I was naturally very nervous. We had to switch back when we ran into some road construction because we were afraid that I would be unable to keep up with the sporatic up-shifting and down-shifting. Through this whole process we miss our Emporia exit. We end up going through Topeka to get to KC which is not only the more time consuming route but also the more expensive one because you have to pay toll while on the turnpike. I would have chalked it up to taking the scenic route but there isn’t really much scenery to make up for the mishap.
Through my excellent navigation skills, I managed to get us from I-70 East to 169 South to 56/Shawnee Mission Parkway. I was going to have him take 635 according to the map, but it was closed so I had to improvise. Once we get to Shawnee Mission Parkway it was a piece of cake. We found Sheraton Suites, which is right on the edge of the Plaza, relatively easily. We arrived almost an hour later than anticipated (we would’ve arrived sooner had we not missed the correct exit) but we still arrived an hour before the official 3 PM check-in time.&nsbp; We take a chance and check-in, anyway. The awesome part? Our suite was ready.
Once we got to our room, I started unpacking. Of course, Brian was messing around. Sheraton Suites is rather family oriented. Brian and I came to this conclusion because they offer Nintendo on both TVs. Brian wanted to try it but, at $6.95 an hour, I had to put my foot down. We just had sex instead. And then we took a nap.
When we woke up around 5 PM Brian wanted to eat because it would be 9:30 PM before we could dine at Kona Grill. They were completely booked from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM so the earliest that we could make our reservations for was 9:30 PM. We had some room service, then changed to go swim. Most of the time was actually spent in the whirlpool because Brian didn’t like the cold water and would rather cook in the jacuzzi. After wards, we came back to our room to take a shower and have more sex.
As planned, we had dinner at Kona Grill and then left to go to The Cheesecake Factory for our dessert. The funny part was that as we were leaving Kona, we always go through the circular door together and this official-looking dude followed right behind us and reprimanded us for going at the same time. He said that we must enter or exit the revolving door only one at a time next time. And then he promptly tells us that he is joking. Gullible me totally believed him. Brian couldn’t care less. We had a good laugh about it though. That was all one could do because he was tall and might’ve kicked our ass if we didn’t find his prank funny. Anyway, it probably made his day that his joke finally worked on someone.
The Cheesecake Factory was great except they gave me tiramisu cheesecake instead of regular tiramisu. We couldn’t fault them, though, because we weren’t specific and it was an easy assumption to make. Of course, they would assume I wanted the cheesecake kind. That is, after all, their specialty.
While walking back to the hotel we passed by Latté Land again. The coffee shop always cracks me up because it’s where all the bikers hang out at the Plaza and Brian and I have fondly dubbed it the yuppie biker bar. Across the street at Classic Cup Sidewalk Cafe were three DeLoreans done up like the car in Back to the Future. It was pretty cool so we felt compelled to cross the street and take some pictures.
We finally made it back to the hotel and decided to make it an early night. No sex this time because I had quite a bit to drink during our dining extravaganza and liquor always makes me kind of sluggish and sleepy.
The next day we woke up, packed and got ready. We checked out early and decided to have lunch at Houston’s. Best fries you will ever find anywhere. Then we hit Armani Exchange (favorite store) for some shopping. Got a couple of tops for me and a micro-cord blazer for Brian. It’s a nice one that we got on sale for $99.99, not a bad deal at all. I wanted to hit bebe, but Brian convinced me that the displays were gaudy so we didn’t go in. Only Armani Exchange benefited from our moolah during our abbreviated shopping excursion. Such a shame too because it was the final day of the Missouri tax-free week. We could’ve totally taken advantage!
The way home was much less complicated than the way up. There is no way to get lost. I was so confident that Brian had a handle on things that I just took a nap. When we arrived in Wichita, we stopped by his parents’ house to pick up our mail and then we went to see Alien vs. Predator. How could I be a bad wife when I agree to watch AVP as our anniversary movie, even though Little Black Book is showing. All I gotta say is that Brian better recognize all these compromises because I will collect one day!
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Hooked on Lambic
Posted on August 12, 2004 by Ching under Life.
I’m not much of a beer drinker so I was totally surprised about my newly acquired affinity for lambic. If I were to drink any kind of beer, I would definitely go the fruit beer route. Up until recently, I didn’t even know such a thing existed. To me, beer was beer. Beer is yucky. And that was that.
But then, I got introduced to Lindemans Peche (peach) Lambic at Erin’s lingerie shower. It tasted more like really fruity champagne than beer. It’s yummy. I was hooked.
Last Saturday while celebrating Ashley’s birthday, we all went to Old Chicago as one of our stops. I took advantage of the opportunity to try another variety, Lindemans Framboise (raspberry) Lambic. It’s really yummy, too. It kind of reminds me of Welch’s Sparkling Red Grape which Brian and I both love. We’ve had to explore the world of non-alcoholic beverages, since Brian can’t really drink.
I’m just astounded that beer (something that I despise) could be so delicious. Anyway, Brian and I went to the liquor store today and got me a 750 ml bottle of Peche (they were out of Framboise). It’s so much cheaper at the liquor store than at restaurants! I wish they sold ’em in six-packs, though.
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