Tuesday, July 26, 2005


Fifteen Things

It's summertime. It's hot. Nothing's really going on. So here's a blog filler of sorts for the time being...

Things I’m Happy About:
  1. Starbucks finally offering Green Tea Frappuccino over here! I know it’s been available for years in Asia (and maybe some states), but we just got it about a month ago. Not that I haven’t had it before…my local Japanese market carries it own version.
  2. My friend Steve is back from Australia bearing presents! Yippee! And maybe now I have someone to come with to check out this band this coming Thursday night. Right Steve?
  3. Our still unnamed band will be going into the studio this Sunday to records some songs. Finally. Who knows, we may come out with a band name as well.
  4. Jamba Juice's Mango-A-Go-Go. If I had my way, I’d have one everyday, but alas…at $4.00 a pop, it’s a weekend splurge, like Starbucks.
  5. Reading new comments on a blog post.
  6. My mom making me food this weekend (my request was arroz caldo and adobo).
  7. Getting a facial at Bliss this Saturday. I love their basic facials with oxygen mask. I have $50 gift cert, still not enough to cover it, but at least it’ll be partly paid for.
  8. Sa wakas! After years of trying on Seven jeans and not finding a pair that fit properly, I finally found a pair last Saturday and bought it! With a gift certificate to boot! So I didn’t even have to shell out money for them! It’s like I got them for free! Of course, I do have to pay for alterations (see #5 below).
  9. This new Spanish joint near work that offer $4 combos with a drink. So that’s rice and beans, a side salad, an entrée, and a drink for only $4! Can’t beat that!
  10. Ice cream. I swear, I eat at least a pint a week.
  11. Paul Newman's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups....*drool* my new discovery and favorite chocolate.
  12. A nice big, hot bowl of pho bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup).
  13. Reading a really good book like Harry Potter Book 6.
  14. Getting paid and knowing you have money (at least until you pay the bills).
  15. Knowing there’s only 3 full months to go before I go on my Italian holiday!

Things I Get Annoyed About:

  1. When people don’t e-mail back. When people e-mail me, I respond promptly. I have some friends who don’t. I know its’ part of their “charm” whatever, and yes I accept them fault and all. But then I hear from them maybe a week later, 2 weeks later, 3 weeks later about something else completely disregarding what I e-mailed about. No courtesy. I know I should be used to it, but it still annoys me.
  2. People who talk in movie theaters; people who leave their cell phones on in theaters; people who answer their phone in theaters; people who bring young kids to movies that are clearly PG-13 or R-rated and let their kids talk or fidget around!
  3. People who say “what happened?” if they can’t hear something you said. Nothing freaking happened. Say “excuse me” or “pardon”. Not freaking “what happened”.
  4. People who give you dumb unsolicited advice. I just don’t dig it. Like for example, some lady told me "when you get to your office, you should fix your skirt." Hello...as if I'm not aware that my skirt was moving around all that time.
  5. The fact that I have to get almost every single pair of pants hemmed. It’s shitty being short. Even the petite pants I get need to be hemmed about an inch!
  6. This 90+ weather we’re having at the moment. Not cool.
  7. That I still haven’t hauled my ass to the gym. I’m a fat tub of lard.
  8. My hair falling out. I’m surprised I’m not already bald. Sigh.
  9. Telemarketers calling my cell phone.
  10. Migraines. Since it’s so darn hot, I’ve been waking up almost everyday with a freaking migraine. It kills. Migraines make me nauseated and cranky.
  11. The fact that I’m not just photogenic. Hell, I look downright busted in a lot of pictures I take. It sucks. I’m only lucky that my wedding photos didn’t come out all nasty.
  12. The fact that the band is progressing ever so slowly.
  13. Washing dishes.
  14. People who are kuripot. And I'm not talking about money issues.
  15. Netflix saying that they didn’t receive a DVD that I mailed back.

Song of the Day:

Jumping Someone Else’s Train by The Cure

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POSTED BY KAT AT 7/26/2005 03:13:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS



Wednesday, July 20, 2005


Pictures from the Cruise and Random Wednesday Blurbs

Cruise Pictures: I uploaded pictures from my cruise. Rather than post them up (since I was too lazy to fix them up), I thought I’d just share my album online. So please click here if you’d like to take a look at my cruise pictures. I haven't fixed them in anyway, but they are relatively clear. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.

Financial Woes: So my bank called me yesterday. They personally called me to tell me that I did not have enough money in my account to cover a $125 debit that was being posted to my account (this was an automatic amount subtracted from my checking to be transferred to my savings account). The guy basically asked me to put more money into the account, otherwise, they’d be forced to charge me an overdraft fee of $30 (not to mention put my account into the red). I told him “I can’t do anything. I don’t get paid until Thursday midnight and I have no money to put into the account.” How sad huh? I swear, I had more money when I was in high school and college. The bank guy sounded like he felt bad for me (that, or he was repressing a chuckle) and said, “well we’ll give you until 12:30 pm to see if you can deposit more funds.” Mind you, this conversation was at 12:15 pm. Even if I did have money to deposit, it was highly unlikely that I could get to the bank in time to deposit anything! So I had no choice, told him I’m broke, and that is that. Gawd…where did my money go? Well I know exactly where it went. Bills, BBQ supplies, and nothing else. Sheeeyt.

Harry Potter rocks! Yeah, despite my efforts to “pace it out,” I finished reading Half-Blood Prince the day after I got it. I received my copy by owl early in the morning of July 16th. I only got a chance to read Chapter 1 since I was hosting the BBQ the whole day. Then on Sunday, I lounged after church and found myself already halfway through. But it’s not like sped-read my way through it. I savored every single sentence, paragraph, and chapter. I even took breaks to eat dinner and watch TV. As I read, I burst out laughing a lot, but was relatively sad throughout the last ¼ of the book. Oh, so sad!! But there were definitely some cool parts. I really, really should’ve waited longer before I started reading it. Out of all the books, I can definitely say this one had the least action going on. It’s very subtle, but still good. My favorite is still Book 3: Prisoner of Azkaban, followed by Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. I’m so sad that the next book will be the last…unless of course Harry goes to Hogwarts Grad School (or if we follow his adventures if he does end up to be an Auror!)

Fitness Issues: So I haven’t been to the gym since coming back from holiday. On the plus side, I did go to the gym while on the cruise. I’ve been meaning to do walking as my new form of cardio, but I want to do it in the morning. It’s really hard to get up early, and it’s too darn hot to walk in the afternoon. I guess I should just force my arse to go back to the gym. Yuck.

Cooking and Eating Out: I haven’t cooked a single meal for almost 2 weeks now. Poor hubs. We’ve been living off take out, leftovers from mom, and leftovers from the BBQ. Today, I vow to cook some vegetables, and then have the hubs grill some salmon steaks or porkchops for dinner. Then this weekend, I’ll cook up some dishes so we can eat them for the rest of the week. I’ve just been so tired. When I get home, all I do is lounge on the couch, watch TV, read, and veg. I'm such a lazy arse.

Song of the Day:
Dub Be Good To Me by Beats International
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POSTED BY KAT AT 7/20/2005 02:11:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS



Sunday, July 17, 2005


Housewarming and Hold 'Em BBQ

The hubs and I hosted our first big summer BBQ yesterday. Dubbed the 'Housewarming' and Texas Hold 'Em BBQ,' it was the first time we invited a huge group of folks to a summer BBQ in our backyard (even though we moved into our home 2 years ago). The BBQ started at 3:30 pm and we had the following menu: burgers, hotdogs, pancit bihon, soy & honey glazed chicken wings (which I made), mini-quiches hors d' oeuvres, potato salad, chips & salsa, and a slew of desserts that guests contributed. And of course, we had several round of Texas Hold 'Em going!

We had a fun time even though we had to constantly warn everyone about the "dips" in our backyard. When we moved in, the previous owner had just uprooted a tree and left several potholes in the front part of our yard. We haven't fully filled it in yet and guests had to skip over parts of the lawn and watch out so they didn't trip. Talk about a lawsuit in the making! This is why we made sure to yell "watch out for the dips" to every person that arrived. Hopefully by our next big BBQ, we'll have the soil re-tilled.

I think it was a hit considering we had about 40+ people in attendance, and that the last guests didn't leave until after 11 pm!

Some pictures:

The BBQ Spread
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Hubs, the Grillmaster
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Some of the first guests to arrive...(Mike, Michelle, and Ade)
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Rol, Baby Alex, and Juan the Godfather
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Luke and Trish
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Guests Reunited!
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Hubs' College Crew
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My Law School Crew plus Alex
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Just the Ladies (check out my tan from the cruise!)
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More of the hubs' college crew (though we've all known each other for a while now)
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Cool Gifts I received I thought I'd post:

Check out this snazzy clutch that my friends Roops and Annie gave me:
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Girlie gave me a gorgeous pink wallet:
by Photobucket.com">

Bryan gave me the chic-est box of chocolates I've ever seen from Vosges Haut Chocolat!
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My friend Trish gave me not only the new Shakira CD that I've been dying for, but the Gossip Girl Boxed Set as well! Also, check out the best birthday card ever from my friend Alina!
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Can you tell it was a great day?

Song of the Day:

En Tus Pupilas by Shakira
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POSTED BY KAT AT 7/17/2005 03:39:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS



Friday, July 15, 2005


HARRY POTTER!!!

UPDATE 7.18.05: I seem to have finished the book yesterday.

I’m such a Harry Potter fan that I’m actually writing a whole entry about the upcoming book! I ordered mine ages ago and should be getting it in the mail tomorrow, July 16, 2005 as promised by Amazon.com. A couple of years ago, I actually attended a midnight book party for Order of the Phoenix. I went with my younger brother and I wore a Harry Potter shirt and glasses. Well, that was complete chaos! Never again! As much as I love HP, I hate crowds and whiny folks in bookstores!

I’m so excited for the Half-Blood Prince to come out! Each time an HP book rolls out, I always try to pace myself and read it sparingly so it’ll last longer. It never works. I polished off Order of the Phoenix in 3 nights (I really tried to slow down). This time, I’ll try to read only 4 chapters a night and maybe I can stretch the book to a week! After all, this is supposedly the second to the last volume of the HP series....*sniffle*

Harry Potter rocks! Yeah, I'm a nerd.

In a somewhat related note, I'm also super-excited for the Chronicles of Narnia flick! Doesn't it look like the coolest fantasy movie since Lord of the Rings?! I'm re-reading them after HP!

Song of the Day:

La Tortura by Shakira
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POSTED BY KAT AT 7/15/2005 03:43:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS



Monday, July 11, 2005


Birthday Post

I turned 29 on July 9th. It's the last year where I can say "I'm in my twenties." I celebrated my birthday with my family while on a cruise (as mentioned in an earlier post). The cruise went very well and I had a very relaxing time. The only slight glitch was we didn't get to go to Cozumel, Mexico and Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Our ship took a slight detour due to Hurricane Dennis and we had to sail to the Bahamas in order to avoid its path. Other than that, we had a fabulous time. I took tons of photos, however I'm currently too lazy to fix it up in any way, shape, or form! I'll be posting them soon.

Aside from treating me to a cruise (as well as treating my brother Eric whose birthday is on July 10th), my uber-generous parents gave me some beautiful jewelry as well. Thanks mom and dad for everything!

Turning a year older always makes you think of what you've done with your life thus far. I think I'm come a long way over the years. I've definitely changed as I got older, and definitely figured out my sense of "self." I like to think of myself as being less judgmental, less materialistic, and less selfish over the years.

For a while, I floundered and forgot my true interests at heart. I remember when I was in my early twenties and absolutely obsessed with trying to look "good" whenever I went to parties. I tried to blend in with all the girls at the parties and ended up wearing a lot of stuff that I have since gotten rid of. I didn't look "hoochie" mind you, but I did wear shirts that said "POLO" on it plus the customary black pants and black boots that all the Asian chicks used to wear at parties. I had a bad self-image, dumbed myself down a few times (so as not to appear smart), and ended up with people who only brought me down.

Then I realized I had no one to impress but myself. As I got older, I mellowed out and figured out what was truly important in my life. I got rid of the people who didn't enrich my life, found my own sense of style (which is a mix of everything, including the nice stuff and the cheap stuff), do the things I love to do, and just live my life on a day to day basis and share it with the people I love. Now, I can go confidently in the direction of my dreams.... Which is not to say that I don't make mistakes!

I definitely still have a lot to learn and still have a lot of goals to accomplish – but life is all about the journey, isn't it?

Some random numbers (as inspired by my friend Ray):

Countries visited - 17 (Belize, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Spain; plus the following islands: Aruba, Bahamas, Curacao, Puerto Rico, St. John, St. Maarten, St. Thomas)
U.S. States visited – 25 (Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington)
Years spent in school – about 19
University degrees – 2 (B.A. and J.D.)
Jobs since graduating from law school - 2
Time spent in current job – 1 year and 9 months
Times I've almost resigned - 0
Starting salary of first job - $35K
Years Married - 4 years and 1 month
Cars owned - 0
Houses owned - 1
Guitars owned - 5
Rental Homes/Apartments lived in – 14
Hours spent on planes - easily in the thousands
Weddings attended – about 12 (including mine)
Bridal parties I've been in – 3 (as flower girl!)
Times I’ve been a bridesmaid - 0
Most shots in one night - 6
Times I've been hospitalized - 1
Bones broken - 0 *knock on wood*
Times I've been in love - 2
Times I've had my heart broken - 1
Times I’ve bounced a check this year – 5
Times I’ve been in a concert/show – 30+ (Bloc Party, The Bravery, The Cure (5x), De La Soul, Depeche Mode (2x), The Jets, Lush, Menudo, Mos Def, Guns n Roses, Interpol (3x), Lollapalooza (2x), Metallica, Shakira, Souls of Mischief, U2, WHFestival, etc.
Times I’ve felt financially secure – 0
Credit card debt – definitely in the thousands!
Years blogging - 2 years and 4 months

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes!

Song of the Day:
La Tortura by Shakira
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POSTED BY KAT AT 7/11/2005 10:29:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS






who is kat?

a wanna-be rockstar with mediocre guitar skills | mom to rockstar baby | guitarist in a band | 30 but not grown-up | this is all about my musings. music. motherhood. and mayhem.

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