Do You Believe In Fairy Tales?

When German Chris told me that he was gonna be in Korea in the week I was to have a holiday from work. There was no way I was gonna pass up a chance to see my best mate from Starbucks again after 18months... hell I even pushed back a hot date this week in order to be able to pop over the Eastern Sea in time - I missed the fool THAT much! (>_<)

He's going over to plan his wedding. Chris and Yoona have been together for as long as I've known them. And as long as I've known them, they've always been practically married anyways. And coz of that, I've always teased them about how when they do, they're doomed etc. etc. Now normally when I tease a person about something, they get defensive - that kinda reaction is usually due to some truth in what I'm teasing about and therefore taps into the insecurity circuits. I do it coz I'm mean and cruel like that. (O.-)

But when I poke fun at Chris's commitment to Yoona he doesn't get awkward or defensive at all. He takes it and tells me about the life they're gonna have together and his plans and hopes for the future.

It's his conviction and his honesty in all his statements that tell me how I know the man is not afraid at all. At 24 years old, he know's exactly what he has, and how lucky he is to have it. None of this dreamy "I *heart* her 4ever" stuff - 'tis The Real Thing, warts and all.

And that, to me, is amazing. Chris told me once that he knew he and Yoona were Meant To Be coz of all the random things in the world that had to have happened to get them together. His family had moved from Germany to England for his father's job. They have since moved back to Germany but Chris stayed behind. Yoona had moved from Korea to England to study. They both happened to work part time at Burger King... of all places... and the rest is history.

Its amazing to me coz while I can definitely see the scope of a love story in the making that spans 3 countries across 2 continents... my logical-assed brain can't help but point out that actually, this kinda thing is not all that uncommon. Million-to-one chances happen everyday, and coz of this, I no longer get amazed by it. One of the drawbacks of having a goddamn-logical-assed brain is that it refuses to accept the magic. Grrr...

I'm one of those sods that needs to know and experience all the options. Chris isn't, and while admittedly he started his life a bit earlier than me, he still has this purity in his decisions that I still can't achieve. In the 5yrs I've known him there's never been any doubt in him about the path he and Yoona are walking together. That's faith.

And that makes him one of the bravest luckiest sonafabitches I know.

Love ya buddy! Cya in Germany, September!

Impulse #1

BRB. Off to Korea.

Goodies! IV

One of my sweetest school managers gave me this really classy bag of goodies yesterday for my birthday.

Can ya guess what it is yet?!

 

I guess I really am pretty well cared for out here.

It's probably one of the fanciest wrapped bag of exotic groceries I've ever seen in my life; Camembert cheese, tinned fruit salad and beef jerky... Oh yeaaaa - I'm not too sure what kinda diet she thinks I have, but it's uncanny that she got all my essential food groups covered....... =P

And finally, I made two impulse buys this weekend... remember that R/C Ding Dong copter I passed in a toy shop last week?

...that was Impulse #2.....

It's quite simple really...

For some reason, the question I get asked most by people back home is whether I've found a girlfriend out here yet. And for some reason, they're always surprised when I tell them I haven't. After all, everyone else who comes out here seems to have no trouble at all in finding a partner (or two).

So this is what happens - the girls I've met out here generally tend to fall into one or more of the following areas:

- I'm attracted to them in that way, but they're not attracted to me in that way.
- They're attracted to me in that way, but I'm not attracted to them in that way.
- I'm attracted to them in that way, but I cannot talk to them either literally or figuratively or both.
- I can talk to them either literally or figuratively or both, but I'm not attracted to them in that way.
- I can talk to them either literally or figuratively or both, but they're attracted to someone else in that way.

(There's overlap there, but Meh, I don't care =P )

It's been commented a bunch of times that my approach to life is pretty flippant and free-spirited. Actually, I see it more as a direct result of the fact that its hard to take anything seriously when you're dealt a deck as brimming with juicy ironicness as the above. Comes with a wicked sense of humour too!

See - and so it's not so surprising after all is it? o(^-^)o

謝謝你的愛 (^_^)v

Today I enter my 7th year in a row of turning 19years old. Must be some kinda record...

Actually I just wanted to post up a bunch of pics which show just how much people love me... use the one day I'm legitimately allowed to bask in the glow of my own self-awesome-ness. Hee! (^_^)b

So this is what my lil brother sent me...

Although why is it that Shireen gets the one with the heart in it?? (¬_¬)

Facebook is crazy - with old skeletons coming outta nowhere and bringing out deep-dark-long-buried-traumatic-childhood-memories back into the glaring light of consciousness. *whimpers*
On the other hand, it does make for a pretty cool looking Wall-view. I mean there're names from my primary school, secondary school, college, uni, as well as a bunch of my old different jobs in the past, oh and family, all in one place saying Happy Birthday to Me Me Me!!!

And this is just Facebook... there's also the emails, letters, etc...
Woohoo! I guess I'm doing something right then eh? *gloat gloat gloat*

Thanks Everyone!
*I rock!* (^____^)

(Tomorrow, the Self-Depreciating-Snarktastic-Brian shoves the Narcissistic-Egomaniac-Brian back into his hole and normal service resumes.)

Eh?!

I've just noticed that some of the hair on my arms have split ends. That can't be normal...

(o_O)

Toy Shop

Nostalgia's pretty magic init? (^_^)

This one is for Ray and Bart, the pic doesn't show just how big this thing is... its big.
 

This one is for everyone else... an actual flying R/C Ding Dong in copter hat.

So. Very. Tempted. (>_<)

Manual

The Downshift:

The ball of the right foot pushes down on the brake pedal firmly but not harshly. Just before the speedo bleeds down enough, two things will happen simultaneously. The left foot moves onto the clutch and starts to disengage the drive from the wheels. Meanwhile, the right foot will pivot about its contact point with the brake pedal - the foot adjusting itself so that either its heel, or any point along its right side can make contact with the face of the accelerator.

During this right foot wiggling about action, the required braking pressure is never disrupted. When the clutch reaches the floor, the left hand notches the gear one down. Once gear is in place, again, two things will happen simultaneously. The left foot immediately begins to raise up, while the right foot - still keeping correct pressure on the brakes - does a tap on the accelerator, blipping up the revs in the engine.

Instinct born out of experience times the two actions so that the clutch connects the wheels back with the engine at the precise point when the revs match the rotation of the wheels. The car doesn't even shudder. The braking speed is reached, the left foot is fully off the clutch, the right foot lets go of the brake, and goes back on the accelerator. The revs never leave the powerband.

All of the above takes place in under two seconds.

Holy gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd I miss my car! (>___<)

Know Your Audience...

Dad also came to visit last week, and since Fathers Day is just around the corner (And the fact that this is the first time most of the family has been together in one place in a year and a half) - my sister and I decided to take the man out to a nice meal in a nice restaurant.

We took him to this place which served Kobe Beef - as in the beef where the cows are fed beer and massaged and all that jazz. The past customers of the restaurant we went to; includes a coupla American Presidents, and the Japanese Prime Minister. So it was pretty swish. Actually it was fricken amazing. The food, the setting, the staff, the clientele, the price.

We looked at my Dad at the end of the meal and he was all "It was good, but nothing special, my BBQ steaks are just as nice" Hehe! He wouldn't be Dad any other way.

The next day, we happened to pass a 100yen store (The Japan equivalent of Poundland, except at current exchange its more like 40p-land) and the man popped in and got ridiculously excited at the fact that you can buy pocket-umbrella's for 40p... He started going on about how he's gonna buy loads, one for the car, one for work, one for home(?!) I dunno.

*sigh*

We shoulda known: Take the man to a privileged restaurant where very few people in the world will get to see and experienced and he'll think "Meh".
Show him something perfectly ordinary but at bulk-prices and he'll dance a jig.

Our Dad is Chinese after all. (^_^)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25941&l=ccd60&id=539715383

Gimme Attention!

I'm a pretty deep sleeper - my family can testify to the fact that I can sleep though a jackhammer wacking about outside the window. So much so that I need at least 3 alarms set to go off continuously for about an hour before I actually start hearing them. Back in England my alarms would wake everyone else at the other end of the house first before getting me up.

And yet I've always seemed to wake up to the sms/email alert of my phones no matter how deep the sleep. Back in the day - that soft single beep text alert tone from my old Nokia was possibly the most comforting sound in the world, and way more powerful than all the alarms in the world.

*bip*