4.28.02 ~ this weekend, ian, engel, john, and i spent friday in stuttgart, saturday in rothenburg, saturday night in heidelburg, and sunday in ludwigsburg. a fun little tour around the cities nearby. i would post pics and details, but i have to paint my nails and then go to bed. :P i'm pretty sure i lost to keith last week, but we both lost negative weight, so it's a matter of who gained back the most weight. hahaha. i'll send a postcard anyway. this week, though, i'm going to be good. :) pics from rothenburg (saturday): [1] sa-weet! italian ice cream place! [2] caught in the act. [3] rothenburg is famous for these fried dough ball things. personally, not a big fan. [1] the marketplatz in rothenburg. [2,3,4] the wall that surrounds the city. this really belongs on its own page. i'll do it later. :P sunday, we stopped in ludwigsburg on the way back to stuttgart. [1] map of the schloss. [2] ian and me in front of the main bldg. [3] the beautifully groomed gardens. [1] engel and ian being retardios while i was trying to take a picture of them. [2] then there was me. [1] there was a flower exhibit going on, and this table setting was just breathtaking. [2] apparently the rapunzel story originated here? [3] the sign says something like shout loudly, "rapunzel, throw thy hair down!" 4.26.02 ~ yikes. 18 killed in german school shooting. ..::::.. another good reason not to start smoking - hello, german people!! read this!! smoking's weight-control offset by heart attacks. ..::::.. oh, the woes of stanfurd students - squirrels invade stanfurd campus. puh-lease. apparently, we (cal) have more squirrels, and you don't hear us whining, do you? 4.25.02 ~ wow, i am soooo brain-fried. i'm getting old... 10pm conference calls are just not as easy as they used to be. anyway, 2 more worker bees arrived today - yay! help has arrived. so the funny thing is that means work should be getting busier now. last night, we saw a "sneak preview". in germany that means you buy a ticket, and they don't tell you what movie it is. you find out when you get into the theatre. the only thing you know is that the film is in the original version (usually english, but not always). we saw it at the ufa-palast in stuttgart-nord and ate at woody's (american / mexican? food) right next door. yum. too bad we didn't have time for the chocolate fondue. :( the movie was black hawk down. i'm not usually a big war movie fan, and this one was especially gory (almost as bad as saving private ryan) - but *drool* josh hartnett is really cute! i really have to see pearl harbor now. i think i have the dvd at home. hehe. and it's always good to learn something - i am so bad about wars / politics / history. ..::::.. i got a funny forward today (thanks doug). i usually hate forwards and don't even read them most of the time. this one said "send this to a smart woman who needs a laugh and to the guys you think can handle it", and man is it funny. i thought it was so funny, in fact, that i put it up here - man vs woman. 4.23.02 ~ from yahoo most emailed content - high protein diets dehydrate, ericsson to cut 17,000 jobs. i also heard josie is looking good in the april(?) edition of gq. ..::::.. just got back from a movie - in english! :) took maurice and cremin out to a little chill outing - we had dinner at this ghetto little kebab place (mmm... doner kebab) and then we saw panic room @ the corso movie theatre in vaihingen. the movie was ok, but going to a movie in english with popcorn, beer, and haagen dazs is unbelievable. :) 4.22.02 ~ the weather is finally getting nice again. ahh... springtime in europe. it doesn't get dark until 9 or so at night. the beer gardens are opening up. there are 4 official holidays in may. it's almost bikini season. people have vacation planned and are happy. 4.21.02 ~ ok, abercrombie finally pulled their shirts. dude, you friggin stanfurd students really need to take a chill pill. learn how to choose your protests wisely, you wannabe berkeley students! hahaha. did you notice that all of the protesters were *wearing* the shirts?? i wish i got one - too bad i'm in germany! anyone have an extra? ..::::.. footlocker.com coupon on the discounts page. hurry - valid until 4.21. that would be today. (thanks jeff). anyone have suggestions for good running shoes? ..::::.. i got the scorpion king winamp skin. kelly hu is quite pretty. too bad she is only on the equalizer, which i never have open. ..::::.. i need a baseball cap - i left mine at home. bad hair morning. :P ..::::.. i just got back from my massage. damn. i am sooo relaxed. it was only my second massage ever, and i can see now how people love getting massages so much. the funny thing was it was a dude. at least he spoke english. he explained to me what the process was and left me to get undressed. i was like... umm... do i get a towel or something? he laughs and hands me a towel. turns out he's a physical therapist too, so he told me how to work on my knees. he also told me that i have a lot of tension in my left shoulder, and my whole right side of my body is much stronger so i should work out my left side more. see the problem is two-fold. one, my left knee is worse than my right one, so i often don't use it as much. i also used to play volleyball, basketball, and badminton. all of those are one-arm sports, and in my case the right arm. he was massaging my left leg and basically told me it was mushy. hahah. he used to live in austral leg and basically told me it was mushy. hahah. he used to live in australia for a while, and i asked him if the people here are in better or worse shape than over there. he said the women here are in better shape, but the guys in australia (especially where he's from) are in better shape cuz of all the surfing there. he said the women here are super focused on appearance and pay lots of money for gym fees, makeup, and plastic surgery. he says all of the magazines only talk about how to lose weight - i said i wish i could read german. haha. then he goes... pshhh... you're not that bad. hahahah!!! ..::::.. at one of the restaurants downstairs, it's asparagus celebration time. you can get asparagus with potatoes for 12 euros, and then they suggest you can get a side of salmon, pork, or steak to go with it. dang, that better be some good asparagus. german asparagus is funny - it's white. they grow it under a cover so that it is more tender and they think more flavorful. i am skeptical - i like my asparagus crunchy and green. it also kind of scares me when the vegetable costs 3 times more than the meat. ..::::.. i've been feeling kind of consumeristic lately. i want a few expensive things. palm pilot (ipaq?), mp3 player, digital camera, tri-band cell phone. suggestions? ..::::.. mother's day is may 12. keep it in mind. 4.20.02 ~ warning: the following "mini" update is pure babble. topics: what i did today, food. so i realized today that if i ever want to be thin, i really need to change the way i live. i need to work out like this all of the time and eat less all of the time - not just for a few days or even a few weeks. that really sucks. i don't think i can hang. i love ice cream, candy, and bread way too much to give it up for life. tonight, i had moevenpick mango ice cream, and hooooooly tight miss sixty jeans, it's good. speaking of tight jeans, i bought a pair of diesel jeans today - super duper low rise, no back pockets, stretch. i look forward to the day when i look good in them - hah! milk here has so much more flavor for some reason. this morning, i made it to the gym half-asleep. then maurice and i went downtown and did some shopping. i bought a hella bunch of healthy / semi-healthy snacks and fruit since i have my fridge. all stores (clothing and grocery) close promptly at 4pm on saturday, and are not open at all on sunday. how can the consumer succesfully spend all of the money that they want to? it's ridiculous. so we went to play some pool at 4 (i actually played ok today), had dinner, and came back to the hotel. i really feel like i live here now - i know a lot of cool places to go, and i went grocery shopping today. ..::::.. i scheduled a massage for tomorrow - woo hoo! i figure after this past week of working out, i could use a good massage. so instead of the 20 minute one, i splurged and went for the 40 minute full-body masssage. ..::::.. i'm coming back to the us may 8 - may 19. i'm pretty excited. i planned it so i can be home for both my mom's bday and my sister's bday. am i good or what? ..::::.. they lost all 5 pairs of my white socks last time i did laundry in the hotel, so they said to go buy 5 pairs and they would reimburse me. so i got some niiiice socks - hehe. i don't have any real running socks, so i wasn't sure what kind to get. i got 5 different kinds, and i'm excited to try them out. watch out matt, this is going to give me the edge and i'm going to be helllla fast now. i also bought some powerbars today - powerbar *harvest* bars, to be specific. i need a class on nutrition - i have no idea what i'm supposed to eat. do these powerbar things have too much carbs or sugar in it?? i figure i'll give it a try. if they're nasty, i won't eat them anyway. haha. they are hecka expensive - don't know if it's just cuz i'm in germany, but they are about 2 bucks a piece. dang. and my socks were 10-12 bucks a pair. sheesh! ..::::.. i could eat forever, non stop. for ever and ever. i've found a few things that help me break the need to keep eating. taking a shower - having to soap down and then lotion every inch of your body makes you not want to add any more surface area. brushing my teeth - toothpaste flavor doesn't go so well with chocolate or peanuts or chips. watching mtv - every single female on that channel is super skinny. getting out of my room - almost every single german female is super skinny. going to the gym - when you're there, you can't just sit there, you *have* to work out. chewing gum - same effect as toothpaste. keep only healthy snacks at home, and keep them out of reach. talking on the phone with family or friends (too bad i don't have many) - this takes my mind off food and keeps my mouth occupied talking at least (well, most of the time). it's also nice to know that those people love me not matter how big my butt is. :) well, most of the time. now, if only i could follow my own advice - these caramel delights girl scout cookies are *awesome*! :) andy, you are evil. :P ..::::.. i'm watching mtv cribs. pam andersen has a beach house, a dog, and two kids. she has it decorated all pink and overly girly. she says she loves roses, and it is quite apparent. it makes me want to puke, but goes well with her fluffy pink ho-ey shoes. ick. and jewel's house is... interesting. she's got a lot of alaskan whale-bone art, and some really big candles. she's a bit of a spaz too. now it's "the road home" with desiny's child. wow, it's really great to see what these girls have gone through to get where they are. they have worked so hard and gone through so much. you go girls. i think i like michelle the best. but beyonce is no doubt the heart and soul of destiny's child. 4.19.02 ~ i lost to keith this week. :( he lost 4 pounds! i only lost 2.24. oh well, next week we start over and today is ice cream day - yay!! :) end of contest is may 24 - i get a 6 lb advantage. this w/e, i have no plans. hanging out in stuttgart again. next w/e, amsterdam. ..::::.. thank goodness i moved out before i became a full-on marina chick. :) (from chris) ..::::.. spent friday night in stuttgart today. apparently, today is some big event night where you can buy a pass for 10 euros and get into a whole bunch of clubs. you also get access to the bus system for getting around safely. so there were *tons* of people out tonight. we had dinner at the mash (mmm... speck, champignons, und knoblauch flammkuchen and cookies and cream und macadamia nut brittle haagen-dazs) and then went to the suite 212 bar. woah... my lungs hurt from being in there. my eyes are dry, and i have a huge headache. maybe it's cuz i'm from california, but i *hate* smoke. and that place has especially bad circulation. fyi guys, "do you have a lighter" is one of the worst pick-up lines - especially if the girl is not smoking and *hates* smoke. :P ..::::.. i missed the free jamba juice. and i'm missing these free ice cream days! (from amy) geeez... enjoy for me! :) free scoop night @ baskin robins is may 1st 6-10pm. see if your local store is participating. free cone day @ ben and jerry's is april 22. 4.18.02 ~ matt told me yesterday that he ran 5k in 24:55, so like a true jennycu i took it as a challenge. bring it on! riiiight... so today i tried it. before i tell you my time, let me preface this by saying a few things. (1) women's average running time is slower that guys'. (2) matt is tall and has long legs. (3) i've also been watching my weight so i have less "energy". (4) i just started running in the past few weeks. (5) running with 4 blisters on one foot is not fun. (6) those friggin germans need to learn about deoderant and air circulation - especially in the gym! ok ok... so at 4.25k i was at 22 minutes flat. i had to slow down cuz i was going to fall off the machine. then i sped back up and finished at 26:10. did i mention the 4 blisters and the lack of oxygen? :) well, it's better than yesterday's time. ..::::.. abercrombie racist against asians? a quote off a tshirt says, "Two Wongs Can Make It White", regarding the "Wong Brothers Laundry Service" shirt. hmm... yeah it's pretty bad. especially since all of their models are always white. j's roomate (terry) was quoted on the article - they are both pissed. 4.17.02 ~ so i've been asking for health / training / nutrition / weight loss / workout advice from everyone, and i've heard a bunch of different things - some conflicting, but mostly the same. (1) drink lots of water. (2) do aerobic exercise (try to get in at least half an hour 3-4 times a week) *and* strengthening (like weights - lots of reps, not too heavy). (3) cut out the candy (ahhh!!) and soda. (4) avoid simple carbs (white bread, sugar, etc.) after the afternoon. ..::::.. now the funny thing is that everyone seems to agree that my fear of getting hulk hoganette burly on my arms and legs is a silly one. *however*, i have lived with this body all my life - haha - and believe me, i bulk up quickly and it's very tough to get rid of. maybe it's cuz i'm asian and our muscles are built differently (something about short or long muscle fibers - i don't know). or maybe it's from doing so much sports all my life. so i figured being able to do a pull-up again would be fun and challenging, and as long as i only do one i shouldn't see a visible difference in my arms. w-r-o-n-g. all of a sudden (i started trying 2-3 days ago), i can do like 3-4 pull-ups (not in a row, but it was getting kinda fun and i was thinking maybe i could start rock climbing again) and now i look like a weight lifter!! ok ok, i am exaggerating, but you can see those... umm... what are those muscles called?... the front side of the wing? ok - google tells me it's called the subscapularis. whatever. it's icky and non-girly and not productive for my summertime-bikini-wearing initiative. so i am not going to do anymore pull-ups. :P i can definitely do my splits again - all the way with the left foot forward, almost all the way with the right foot forward, and not as great with both feet to the sides. ..::::.. today, i figured out how to work the machine so that you run by distance instead of time. hehe - yeah i'm a retard. anyway, i put in 5k, and i ran it in 27:44. it's so much easier to run when you have other things on your mind. then you don't think about the pain. :) umm... what's with the german women wearing the thong leotard things *over* their biker shorts?? can you say 80's?!?! ..::::.. there are these little boxes that you can plug headphones into on every cardio machine. you can change the channel and the volume (like in an airplane) - there are 6 tv's and 2 music-only channels. i was noticing how german it was while listening to kylie minogue and watching 2 soccer channels, who's the boss in german, and naked women dancing around a big tub of water. i couldn't see the other tv's from where i was running. and of course, everyone was watching soccer. haha. 4.15.02 ~ did you finish your taxes? don't know what i would do without turbotax.com. this year they have a direct debit option (not sure if they did last year), so they can suck the money directly out of your bank account. pretty nice. you know, i figured i lost *so* much money in the stock market that i wouldn't get robbed again by the irs. but no. ..::::.. tina @ volatile.org is the latest addition to my links list. :) ahhh... finally. a good source for all your jcrew coupon needs. this one expires today ~ E3N-2080 ..::::.. these office space audio clips gave me a good morning laugh. :) ..::::.. i've really settled into the hotel room this time. they gave me a fridge, so i have cold water, fruit, and my baby carrots that i like to snack on. i also actually *unpacked* my suitcase this time into the cabinets. they are also getting me a scale! woo hoo. they asked if i wanted a microwave or vcr, but i don't need either of those. ..::::.. finally... i uploaded some pics! :) (1) this is the outside of the porsche factory / sales floor / museum. see the little bridge between the buildings? you can watch the raw metal skeleton of the car passing through there. isn't it amazing? (2) this is the inside of the small (but free) porsche museum. i don't quite know how to appreciate these cars, but i figured some guys out there do. :) 4.14.02 ~ look at the date. do you realize what that means? i have one day to comlete and submit my taxes. wunderbar. i also have to complete my expense report by tomorrow. and i have other work to do. and i have to count my laundry. bleh. :P ..::::.. james bond's new car has been chosen - the aston martin vanquish. beauty, ain't it? i'm having this contest with keith to see who can lose the most weight by may 24 (he's getting married that day, so he wants to look like a stud muffin). :) i started running a lot, and lately i'm beginning to think about participating in a marathon. anyone wanna train with me? it's funny, cuz i though i was doing pretty well - 5k in about 30 minutes. and andy goes, "that's all? even george w can run 5k in 20 minutes!" sheesh. so i have some work to do. give me a break - i just started! ..::::.. it's been while since i've taken a silly online test, so... i'm a top 40 ho! :) (link from wahine, who seems to think i should try out for the amazing race yet again - you up for it, tam? you realize, we'd have to the be token biznotchy asian chicks right?) are you a ho? find out @ she's crafty 4.13.02 ~ so this is the first weekend that i've spent in stuttgart. i need to do some work, finish my taxes (yikes!), and relax a little. plus, i'm here by myself this week, so it's easy to just do nothing. oh, and i'm also broke from shopping this weekend! haha. :) ..::::.. friday night, i went to the grocery store and to play some billiards (pool) with martin. i suck. today, i met up with bj and went to the grocery store again and hung out downtown. he also took me to his office (porsche) and the museum there. it's a really small museum, but it's free to go in. i took a picture of the gt2 for my dad... wow, what a piece of art. pure beauty and what a machine! a few days ago at breakfast, i met this girl erin who is one day younger than me and from st. louis. martin and his friend joe took me and erin to the mash bar tonight. it was *way* too crowded, and so full of smoke that i'm going to need a lung transplant right away - any donors? i have to say german people just can *not* dress/dance/make cocktails. i'll just leave it at that. 4.12.02 ~ so if you watch the real world chicago, you know who cara is. the skinny chick with the long curly hair. a "jap" - jewish american princess, as tam (site temporarily down) affectionately calls her. anyway, she's hella skinny, and on the last episode she broke down crying when someone pinched her waist (pointing out how skinny she is), because she felt fat! and to reinforce this, why don't we put her on stuff magazine this month? damn. (from wahine) ..::::.. oh, i forgot to say that josie is on the april 2002 cover of glamour again (may not be on shelves anymore). ..::::.. oh, and you know i was complaining the other day that i'm never going to get married, never going to have a boyfriend, going to be an old maid, etc.... ok, maybe i didn't tell you. and then my dad goes, "don't worry, you can stay at home with me and mom." grrreat. anyway, this article just made me freak out - nytimes - "the baby bust.". apparently, "55 percent of 35-year-old career women are childless" - what??? ..::::.. gaddamit, looks like i'm too old to be a guess supermodel. crap. if you're between the ages of 14 and 21, you have until june 28th to enter the guess.com model search. it's where josie started making it big. seriously, i love the look of guess models - better than abercrombie, calvin klein, and even victoria's secret. 4.11.02 ~ i just got into stuttgart this morning (6am local time in stuttgart). here's the short bit i wrote before i fell asleep for the whole flight. and here is the snippet i wrote before i fell asleep on the way to detroit yesterday. :) ..::::.. someone introduced me to these zapps chips (made in louisiana). it looks pretty ghetto from the packaging, but bo dang, those are good chips. i tried the bbq flavor and it was awesome for the 2 minutes that the bag lasted. :) hehe. ..::::.. as nice as this hotel is, the bed just does *not* compare to my lovely bed at home, with my calvin klein bamboo sheets and duvet, and my awesome body pillow. ..::::.. there are a bunch of aids rides going on around the world. the europe one is happening june 30 - july 6, and it goes 500 miles from amsterdam to paris. i'm not going - are you kidding? i can barely walk the 2 blocks to work every day! hehe. but if you are interested, visit bethepeople.com. ..::::.. oooh, google released an api (soap) that allows 1000 queries a day. the possibilities are endless. ..::::.. this is just great... i really wanted to know how much i suck. things other people accomplished when they were your age. 4.9.02 ~ well, my stay here at home is officially over. i have less than an hour to start and finish packing before i have to leave for the airport. i got a lot of things done from my "to do" list - ate all my favorite chips, had a jamba juice, shopped till i dropped (clothes, shoes, and got a bigger luggage), got my hair done, visited the dentist, hung out with my family and dogs, and saw a couple of friends. i didn't get to see everyone i wanted to, and i didn't get enough time to sit out in the sun, but generally i had a very productive trip. 4.8.02 ~ it's 4am pst, and i can't sleep. i don't know if it's because i have a lot of work to do, or if it's because of the jet lag (i have been waking up at 7 every morning). i'm on a friggin modem, so it's really hard to get any work done... 19.2 kbps... yeah, baby. ..::::.. i *used* to have an amazon.com nextcard credit card, and i no longer do. long story short, i had a regular nextcard and an amazon.com one. i wanted to close out the regular one, but they closed out both at the same time, and they won't reinstate it. they said they are not taking new members. whatever. i also lost all my points. grrr. anyway, i am looking for a new credit card - any suggestions? i actually just applied for a sony card. ..::::.. this weekend passed so quickly. i arrived in san francisco late friday night, and i'm leaving tomorrow (tuesday) at noon. 3.5 days. 4.6.02 ~ haha... you know you have shopped too much when... the sales lady says to you, "if you only spend a few hundred more dollars, you can be a lifetime vip member and get 10% off in our store for life." ... and then you do it. *shaking head* being a consumer is so good in the good old us of a. have you seen the new westfield / valley fair shopping mall in san jose? wow. it's *so* big, in fact, that i have to go back tomorrow. :D ..::::.. daylight savings time... again. i lost an hour in europe already - that's two in one week! as if i have extra time on my hands... 4.5.02 ~ wow, that was quite an endeavor getting home. i hate delayed flights. anyway, i'm home and my doggy is just as cute as i left her, and i had a warm welcome from my family. unfortunately, i left my cell phone in germany, so i won't be able to get in touch easily with my friends - if you are reading this, call me at home or email me! because there were so few people (6) in the shuttle from stuttgart to detroit, i got to go in the cockpit! neato, eh? read about it in this update 4.2.02 ~ i have no time to find my own links anymore, so here are a couple from some nice people. :) ..::::.. free jamba juice! (thanks yvonne) ..::::.. sign up to be a tivo beta tester (thanks alex).