25 Random Things About Me

Dear Readers,

I am sure a majority of you use facebook. There is this tag chain-letter (or should I call it a chain-tag note?) that is going around –> 25 Random Things About Me.

I love things like this!!! Waited for Vic to tag me (Thanks Vic!!) then Heather tagged me too! So took me a while to finally write it, anyways, here it is:

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25 Random Things About Me

1. My all time favourite hot beverage is – white hot chocolate. mmmmm…oh! I recently found out, that if you put 2 heaping spoons of sugar in a mug of milk. Pop that mug in the microwave for 1minute+ it tastes exactly like white hot chocolate!?!? Do you think thats what Second Cup and/or Starbucks do?HOW EVIL.

2. I like to eat really condensed things? Or rather, I can eat tablespoons of sweet things, like condensed milk..peanut butter…Nutella…yum..(Heather, I am going to make my own peanut butter this month!!! muahahahah)

 3. I’m afraid of death. I can’t sleep when I think about my parents getting older, I get extremely panicky. I’m getting anxious just writing this confession actually…

4. I’m not a fan of roller coasters / rides in general. but i WILL conquer that free-fall drop thing…one day..Thank you Grace for sitting with me on the Minecart ride and that space wheel thingy…man..that’s scary stuff…we’ll do the Abyss in 2010! (or 2011, depends on my bravery!)

5. I think my biggest insecurity is my cantonese. I hate the fact that I’m not fluent in it. And speaking like a non-native speaker really really bugs me. I hate speaking Chinese because I know I am so bad at it. Especially when some people (ALVIN) say things like, “wah-liao, can you not speak Chinese please?”

6. I grew up playing barbies. Ken is gross and his arms don’t bend. I like Derek much better. When the New Kids on the Block dolls came out, Donnie, Jordan, John and Joe were everyone’s boyfriends. Danny was the forever single ‘guy friend’ lol.

7. I love to dance. I really want to take up ballroom dancing. I dance in my room alot. Music blasting, dancing with Gizmo and Perdy, shouting out lyrics to songs, choregraphing my own music video..the whole works. (Though, I am no american idol candidate thats for sure.)

8. I’m a TV junkie. I miss Felicity, Buffy, Ally McBeal and the old skool 90210.

9. I’m really sensitive to smells, or at least used to be. There is this one restaurant in China Town…where I vomitted because of the smell when I was really really young. My aunts tell me, everytime they go to that restaurant, my grandma says, “This is the restaurant Stacy vomitted in, because its so smelly…” hahaha

10. I wanna be a host of a travel adventure show. Or compete in Amazing Race Asia!!!Andrea gave me the travel bug!!!

11. Up until recently, I was scared of going to the bathroom late at night. (and not turning on the light.) In primary school, the girls I went to school with…told me that at 12 midnight, if I went into the bathroom, pitch dark, and stared in the mirror, my past life would appear in the reflection. SCARY!!!

12. Speaking of scary…I hate Pinocchio! That is the most scary Disney movie! Think of it, you play..skip school. drink beer and become a DONKEY!?!? And then…you get eaten by a huge scary dark whale!?!?!ARgh, that fat red face man really freaks me out. hate it hate it hate it.

13. My favourite disney animation – tie between Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty. I just love musicals!

14. I have a public washroom phobia. Try my best to never go into a public washroom, and usually my dearest closest friends will check for me if stalls are clean. I think it all stems from my Great Wall of China trip when I was 4. I really needed to go badly, and my mom made me line up. Once we got to the stall, I saw a huge hole in the ground..ran out screaming!!!! lol

15. My brother Doug is a hip hop star!! Ghost Style (his stage name) Famous guy in HK! Vic is an air stewardess with Emirates!! both are living their dreams!! So happy and proud of them!! Hurray!!!

16. I dream every time I sleep. Everyone does, but I vividly remember all my dreams.

17. My most current ’secret’ admirer is extremely irritating. He lingers to watch me play tennis and laughs like a hyena. Two weeks ago, my coach teased him and told him to leave the court (because he usually just stands there and watches me play tennis for 15 minutes!!) I was quite happy that he left, then from a distance I hear his hyena laughter. And he is standing on the 1st floor looking down, against the fence laughing! “Goood shot Stacy!!! HeeHeeHaWHawhahahkakakekekek” eee shoot me now…

18. Boys are smelly, throw rocks at them? I’m 25 and never had a boyfriend.

19. I am really bad at gymnastics. To this day, I cannot do a somersault/forward roll.

20. I love being at home! Really happy with my decision to leave Singapore and be with my family. That’s one of my most cherished life purposes – to be around family and love ones, to care and be there for them.

21. I have a ridiculously freakish memory! I remember birthdays, numbers, random detailed facts. When I take in information, it just stays in my mind, even when it comes to studies. You know there are some people who study a subject, and then after exams it leaves their head? <–I’m not that type of person.

22. I can’t stand those cheesy action films – like Chuck Norris and Steven Segal, they drive me CRAZY!!!

23. I’m a germaphob, and keep my hand sanitizer close to me. I always scrub my hands/fingers/nails for 30 seconds with soap.

24. I’m good at keeping touch with friends. My dearest friendship with Mary has been 23 years and going strong! We’ve been friends since pre-school! Instant messaging/email can really do wonders. I have little friends in Bangkok, but I don’t feel it because I have solid friendships splattered all across the globe and we speak on a weekly basis. I love and miss you all.

25. I am living in the present! And this recent revelation has changed my life! try it!

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They aren’t really that random, I wish I was somehow more interesting,
Stacy

A day at the DMV – Bangkok Style

Dear Readers,

Thailand has a very weird strange tradition? not a tradition, more like a regulation. I received my first driver’s liscence (temporary) on December 24 2004,  December 24th 2005 received my 5 year liscence. And it expires February 20th 2009!

A 5 year liscence expiring in less than 5 years? (10 months earlier?)  Everyone’s driver’s liscence expires on their birthday!

Happy Birthday! Expose yourself to thousands of people and germs, waste a morning at the DMV! So sweet of them!

Mr. Celebrity advised me -> Stacy, don’t speak a WORD OF THAI. not a WORD.

The process for renewal for foreigners? We go there, show our passport, work permit, and queue for vision/reaction test. (and avoid the 1 hour training lesson – in Thai – for thai people)

I have to say, when you are renewing your 5 year old liscence, the ladies at the counter are not too happy about you not speaking a word of Thai. They spoke to me in Thai, (because I also look Thai) and I did the whole,

*blink twice* I’m sorry can you say that again? My what? my work permit? Ooh, here you go..
*blink twice again*No, I don’t speak any Thai, um..mao cow jai? (deliberately horrendous thai)

Anyhoo,  I was directed to room 16 for my vision/reaction test. I knocked on the door before I entered. Opened the door, and to my amazement, it is this um..6m x 7m room, with roughly 25 people? (So stupid of me to have knocked!)

There were small lanes for testing, first was the colour blind test, followed by a reaction test, then some dimension gauging test? and finally a peripheral vision test.

Colour Blind Test
This test was the standard colour chart test, a mixture of yellow, red and green dots, big and small – all combined in one huge circle. Then the testing lady, she is a real character, with her pointer stick – pointing at different circles and we are suppose to call out the colours. She moves at the speed of lighting, I think 10 colours in 30 seconds. For the Thai people she was much meaner, I had 4 motorcycle taxi drivers in front of me, and she was speaking loudly to them, “WHAT COLOUR! SAY IT AGAIN! CLEARER!! WHAT RED YELLOW RED YELLOW SAY THE COLOUR I POINT TO!” geeeeeeeeeeeeesh! We stood 5 road cones away, and when we passed that test she put out her palm and said, PAPER! and we would all scurry over for her signature.

Reaction Test
Surprise surprise, Mean Tester lady moved 2 steps to the left and she became our Reaction Test judge. I quickly read through the instructions when waiting, but during the test, she gives you no idea what to do. So if you weren’t paying attention earlier in the waiting halls, you basically are screwed.

Try to figure out from the situation what I had to do:

1. Box 4-5 meters distance from me- looks like a domino with 2 dots. One dot is red, and on the bottom is green.
2. To the side of the dots, is a LED light grading, green and red (bottom to top)
3. A plastic stool to sit on.
4. A simulation brake and accelerator pedal.
5. One mean lady sitting beside the box.

So I had no idea what to do, was stepping on the accelerator saw the red dot flash. Saw the LED lights zoom up from green to red. Looked at the lady, she wasn’t happy at all and told me to step on the brake when I see the red dot flash. Ahhh…I tried the 2nd time but I guess my reaction was slow, and plus I SLAMMED on the brake which she wasn’t very happy about that either…. But  3rd time is the charm! And I survived! yay!

Weird dimension visual test
This is also probably a very standard test, but looked quite ghetto. I basically have to alight one moving stick to a stationary stick. – Obstacles ==> Sticks are like Straws, Sticks are positioned 5 meters away, in a small box, and there is a old control –> Press green for forward, press red for backwards. I’m thinking…the stick is originally 20 cm away from eachother, and you have to match them.

But I passed it fairly easily! yay!! better than those motorcycle drivers! woohoo!

Peripheral Vision Test
This has got to be a germaphob’s worst nightmare. You have to put your nose in this mould thingy, and there are light boxes surrounding your head, and you are suppose to call out the colours you see.

Omg! I almost fainted when I saw all the 4 people in front of me put their noses in the thingy, and then it was MY TURN? And i kept on thinking, damN!!! i should had brought my facial wipes!
So…I did the test without putting my nose in the thing, just hovered 5cm outside the designated area…*shivers*

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After the test, I went back to the original counter, and said I didn’t understand Thai. The lady then ushered me inside a small 2 meter wide aisle, with a TV in the centre, and 4 wooden student chairs. THEY NOW UPGRADED AND HAVE ENGLISH VIDEOS TO WATCH!!! When the video stopped playing,  signed a book, and sent to collect my queuing number. The lady at the information counter didn’t believe that I passed all my tests and training (because I guess I took too short of a time?) she walked me back to the training room, and I was smiling as much as possible No!!! sorry! excuse me! I took the test already! watched the video already!!!

My queue number was 96, there were 24 people ahead of me. That translates to 1 hour worth of waiting time. I passed the time chatting to a very nice Scot couple, so time flew by very fast.

The final step of getting my driver’s liscence? My photo taking! Which was quite fun, because I figured, hey its the last phase, I can speak a little Thai…so joked around with the lady a bit. She let me retake my photo because in the first 2, my hair was a mess, and my shirt was slanted. But at the endof the day, both she and I decided to go for the disheveled look because I looked “sweeter” haha.

She also wanted to take my old driver’s liscence away from me, but I knew how much Greg wanted to keep mines (because its really horribly ugly, and he laughs everytime he sees it.) So I made a special request to keep my driver’s liscence, hopped over to the photocopy machine – 2 baht, gave her a copy and I was done!

Quite efficient and I was very impressed! My card was printed in colour, in 2 minutes!

All in all, I was at the Prakanong Transport Bureau ( I guess that’s what it’s called?) for THREE HOURS. Ugh..

That office was packed with people, can you imagine, all of us had roughly the same birthdays? (those renewing) I wonder if how many of those people had the same birthday as me…and how oddly different we all are…

Hmm…30 minutes into being 25, and absolutely loving it!
Stacy

Happy Birthday to me! Round 1

Dear Readers,

Dad calculated that I was born (according to the Chinese calendar) on January 19th, 一月十九日. Yesterday, he said to me, “Stacy, tomorrow is your birthday!!!”

Today is my Chinese Birthday! And next friday is my actual birthday, so thats 2 consecutive friday birthdays.

Nice! I guess if I was in Singapore that would mean 2 hard core party sessions, but this year in Bangkok, I feel just like lying in bed and doing homey things.

Instead, just spent my friday night lounging and watching October Road, then Privileged (Good new show to hook onto!)  And now I am seatdancing to the spice girls. Yay!

Anyways, my parents really love me and gave me exactly what I wanted for my birthday, a BLENDER!!! YAY!!!

This is a new and improved blender, with a dry grind accessory!! (Grinds dry ingredients) So I can make nicer oatmeal cookies!  This morning I was just thinking how there are 2 things I really want but can’t have – 1. Deep Fryer (banned from the house) and 2. a new blender.  !!!

I am easy to please, and extremely domesticated,
Stacy

Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear Readers,

Vic is leaving for Dubai tomorrow morning, so thought of baking her a batch of her favourite cookies to bring back home. You know, for all the exercise I do, I really must stop baking. Because its always a trial and error kinda thing, and I always sample if my cookie batch is going in the right direction, so at the end of it, I think I ate around 10 cookies. *faints*

Chocolate Chip Cookies a la Mrs. Field's

 

Secret behind Mrs. Field style cookies:
1. Brown Sugar, LOTS OF IT
2. I thought to make the batter more liquidity i’d add more butter, but it turns out MILK is the secret!
3. Baking soda is a must.

 

Alot of websites online give you a rough guideline for Mrs. Field’s cookies, so here is my rough guideline. I absolutely disagree with the recipe that says to add 5 cups of oatmeal. IF YOU TRY THAT RECIPE, you must grind the oats first.  

Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – for…
I actually don’t know how many batches I can make, but lets just say alot. At least 5 dozen.

• 2 cups of butter
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 2 cups of white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 cups of all purpose flour (The recipe I followed said to use 6 cups of flour! my test batch turned out to be cakey, so I say, start with 5 and work from there, add at your own discretion)
• 1 tsp of baking powder (again, the recipe I followed said to use 2tsps. I disagree entirely)
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1.5 tsp of baking soda
• milk (to gage the texture of the batter)

Directions: Sift the flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cream soften butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Combine with flour mixture.

These cookies are suppose to be ‘drop cookies’, so think along the lines of a  gooey sort of texture. <– The kind of cookie batch that needs you to have 2 teaspoons on hand, one to scoop the batter, the other to scrap off the first spoon and  drop the cookie dough on the cookie tray. If your dough is a bit thick and cakey, adding milk should do the trick. These cookies should go in the oven at 200C degrees, for 6-8 minutes, and left to cool for 10 after taking them out.

You want to take them out of the oven when they are 80% done.

They should look flat, OR initially come out fluffy, but after 10 minutes cooling, they flatten down.

Cookie tips:

- baking soda makes the cookies brown faster, and spread more
- white sugar makes the cookies spread more
- butter will give your cookies a more soft texture, if you are looking for hard cookies, go for less butter.

Each big size cookie is a whooping (whop-ing?) 296 calories,
*faints*

Live a little
Stacy

Realistic endings.

Dear Readers,

Hello. I forfeited a saturday night of clubbing for ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS! and absolutely loved it! Theodore is the cutest thing ever! This week has been a good movie week, everynight I am watching a good film – ZODIAC (really good), then The Incredible Hulk (with Edward Norton), and today I saw Becoming Jane (with Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy).

Argh!!! *spoiler alert* (Becoming Jane) 

*spoiler alert*

*spoiler alert*

I’m so upset that Jane Austen never marries! Her books are really wonderful (my fave being Sense and Sensibility) and all her main ladies get their man in the end, never realised that she never got hers! And to think he was *SUPER SPOILER ALERT* willing to throw everything away to live a life with her. In the end she leaves him because she understands all his responsibilities and obligations, and won’t let him give that up for her, because in the future she felt that he would hate her for it.

I was sitting on the sofa screaming, “NOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Argh!! Why can’t something work out? They both could go start their lives together and all things will fall into place, if not, they’d make it happen. Maybe I am too much of an idealist, but if I were Jane, I would go to Scotland, elope, write and make money. If you are with the love of your life, everything will fall into place, right?

But..you know Hollywood, may have romanticised Ms. Jane Austen’s love life a tad bit,  so I’ll have to get my hands on a Jane Austen biography to find out the real deal.

*sigh* anyways that ending really bothered me.

I’d run away with James McAvoy anyday,
Stacy