Relax! Just do it

Almost there folks.

This is the last stretch before we head to the hills for a much needed holiday.

It has been driving me insane, not going anywhere in September. At the moment we are planning to head to our favourite country but no definite plans yet. Now, for those who know me, this is making me nervous. We have to decide pretty soon, ne?

Still for now , Angel is in the stages of planning our Thursday night gathering. It will be a nice change to be in Kiulap cos I think I will be freaked out by the traffic in Gadong. Sigh.. it's the ' I want to spend all my pay as quickly as possible' week. I swear these people seem to go mad shopping once salary is out. It is basically impossible to go shopping unless you love the smell of many bodies and the sensation of being crushed.

Ok.. enough of whinging about mad crowds. I can't believe it is nearly the end of the year. Woohoo.. these haksaengs of mine are still in holiday mode. They are not taking revision seriously yet. I am definitely not looking forward to Paper 1. Probably will be screaming in anger and yelling 'you bakas! pabo !'

I have nothing of importance for my chingus to read. I thought I better update before I receive any complaints

And yes, Mrs Danny ~ I also dunno where these namjas are hiding. Let's find them together!

가 자 !!

Korean National Day Celebration

Last night I went to a function at Empire. Honestly, I was kinda freaked out by it and was contemplating whether or not to go. I don't do well in official functions.

Anyhow, I managed to get there.First I had to pick Celine from Brunei Hotel. Then we went to my grandmom's where we waited for Julie. Julie came in like a whirlwind, changed and we zoomed off at 715. Bear in mind, the invitation was at 730.

Telling Celine to hang on, Julie became Lewis Hamilton the Second. We overtook quite a few embassy cars and consoled ourselves with the fact that most of the ambassadors were running a bit late.

Parked the car and walked quickly to the Indera Kayangan Ballroom. The Ambassador and his wife were standing at the door and greeting everyone. It was funny that he mistook me for a UBD student.

There were quite a few people there. Lots of Koreans with their families.

We saw Louie and Snow. A new friend was introduced to Julie. He was a Korean fella who could speak Cantonese. Quite amazing. His Cantonese was heaps better than mine and as Julie says, at least he could be understood.

There was a speech by the ambassador and after that , it was food time. Sorry no pictures ladies. Too embarrassing to be snapping when there were so many people there.

WE headed straight for the Korean food booth and nicked the pancake, bulgogi , kimbab and kimchi. Dunno why but I have been craving kimchi for a while.

We chatted with Snow and asked about Korean stuff. Good news was that he said it was possible to arrange a tour for us over there. Hmm.. gonna explore that option as we want to wander on our own. Hopefully he can help us with tickets and accommodation. *crosses fingers*

At the end of the night, after a majority of the people have left, there was a lot of tapau -ing happenning. You could see the ladies busily packing the leftovers into their containers. Incidentally, all the Korean ladies were in their beautiful hanboks. It was a wow. Even my songsaengnim was in a hanbok.

Before we left, we were given a goodie bag with a Korean fan , keychain and guide book. I think they are repackaging themselves as Sparkling Korea , no more Dynamic Korea.

To sum it up, there were no really good looking guys there but a few cute ones. (hehe) All of them were quite tall and I realised that there are actually quite a few Korean guys in Brunei. Makes me wonder where they are hiding.

Steamboat / Grill at Chocofairy's

It was another fantastic night at Chocofairy's house. She graciously offered the use if her place for a potluck steamboat and grill.

The entire gang came and there were ton's and ton's of food. Chocofairy's brother made some longan tofu for dessert. We also had oreo batik and tapak kuda from Miss Lexus and Angel brought her yummy yummy Japanese cotton baked cheescake.. LOL... I am starting with the dessert.

We had a wide variety of food but the highlight for me was the lettuce / cabbage that Miss Racer brought. LOL>. It was quite funny but understood as she was in a rush to come over.

After stuffing our faces with food, we proceeded to the fireworks. It was great of Miss K to bring along some fireworks and I could see Miss Racer's face light up at the prospect of lightning the mini bombs. The fireworks were really beautiful and Mrs Danny got some pretty good clips of the fireworks in the sky.

Then it was the mini fireworks that everyone played with. I was seriously thinking about the amount of smoke that these little things emit. It was like a smoking session gone bad.

Satisfied after fireworks, we went in to watch the DVD of Chocofairy's wedding. The video producers are actually quite good. I enjoyed the DVD as it had bits with us being a little nutty. Loved the part where one of the best men had to dress up as a girl and with lipstick on, he had to plant a smacker on the groom.

The night ended quite late and by the time we got home it was already past twelve. So tired then le.

Morning - Wordplay, Afternoon - 6 periods ~ I was wiped out at the end of the night.

A New Day!

It's back to work for us educators today. Frankly, I felt it was a waste cos there weren't that many students at school and when I asked their friends, the reply I got was 'Beraya'

Although it was an easy day for me (only one class!) but I was darn busy preparing revision notes. Before I knew it, it was time to go home.

So now I am home, all by myself . Chatting with my chingus. Sorry ladies, my brain not able to function. I cannot think of anything to blog about.

Read something funny though..

Top 10 worst pick-up lines

By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates Devastatingly beautiful dates, sumptuous excursions and scintillating conversations are all benefits of the single life but contrary to popular belief, there is a downside to being relationship-free: The torture of being subjected to stale, decades-old, pick-up lines is penance for all that fun. In a survey taken across a range of age groups, geographical borders and lifestyles, we have compiled the top 10 worst pick-up lines that have sullied the ears of singles everywhere:

1. "What's your sign?"
The epitome of cheese, this line, which has been around since the Beatles came to America, ranks as the very worst line in dating history. The fact that it's still in use says a lot about the decay of our society's standards and the glaring desperation of some singles.

2. "Pardon me, I seem to have lost my phone number, can I borrow yours?"
Maybe this was funny around 1910 or 1915 — back when the telephone was a novel appliance. It does not inspire smiles now, only scared and doomed looks.

3. "You must be a broom because you're sweeping me off my feet."
Maybe your dad used this one on your mom and for nostalgia's sake, you're bringing it out again. Nostalgia does not get you dates, only pity. "I actually had a guy say this to me during happy hour," says Kim, a vivacious flight attendant who gets her share of pick-up lines. "I didn't hold it against him because I don't know how much he'd had to drink and he was cute. But if he hadn't been cute, I would have dodged him."

4. "Do you have a license? Because you're driving me crazy."
Caution! Watching too many stupid teen movies impairs your judgement. This probably sounded clever to the person who swiped it from an Annette and Frankie beach party flick.

5. "I gotta thirst and baby, you look like my Gatorade."
Generally, comparing potential dates to food or drinks is not a winning move. "I had a guy use this one on me and I rolled my eyes and walked way," says Susan, a marketing representative who doesn't usually go for lines. "But a couple of weeks later, I saw this hot guy at the gym and I used that same line and it worked! I guess there are gender preferences when it comes to lines. He was really flattered, where I was insulted when it was used on me."

6. "Are you lost? Because heaven's a long way from here."
Maybe angels like this one, real women don't.

7. "Are you religious? Because you're the answer to all my prayers."
Prayer is something that anyone who uses this tacky line desperately needs.

8. "Can I take your picture? I want Santa to know exactly what I want for Christmas."
This line is popular with both men and women who think references to Santa are cute and charming, which are qualities that they never possess personally.

9. "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?"
"A stunning woman I had been staring at used this on me," says Mark, a tawny-haired, gregarious copywriter. "I know it's an old one but it took guts to say it. I'm afraid I happily fell for it."

10. "Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?"
A personal favorite, this one takes a certain amount of arrogance, as well as delusion, to pull off.

Well, it takes guts to use these lines. I will look for the best pick up lines too... Keep reading!

Coffee Prince Cafe!

Now for those of you who have watched this show, there is actually a cafe under this name opening.

Riding the Wave of Popularity for Drama “Coffee Prince,” Cafe Launches in Hongdae
MBC embarks on franchise; first store of opens in Hongdae’s “Theater Chu” on the 20th

Before the hit drama Coffee Prince Store #1’s popularity has a chance to subside, a real-life “Coffee Prince” will be reopened. Entering the new franchise venture is a team from MBC Global business headquarters; the flagship first location will open on the 20th in Hongdae.

At the outset, MBC had announced its intention to open the business if the drama met with success, which has now become a reality. In the past, there were the Dae Jang Geum Restaurant and Samsoon’s Bakery, but those enterprises were undertaken in response to success of the dramas, which left insufficient time to prepare and plan properly, and the projects flopped.

On the 18th and 19th, models wearing the uniforms like those in the drama will be there to advertise the opening, along with baristas performing latte art. The cafe plans to differentiate itself from other coffee chains by using specially imported Spanish coffee beans and premier espresso; it’ll also be selling coffee, wine, waffles, cakes etc.

If the first store does well, plans are to open the second and third locations in Cheongdam, Ilsan and other neighborhoods.

(Fyi, the pic on the left is, as we all recognize, from the shooting location. The article doesn’t indicate whether the real cafe is where the drama filmed — I’m thinking it probably isn’t the same place. The map below, however, does indicate its location in Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood. Thanks to the bloggers whose sites I stole these pics from; alas I forget which ones they were!)

Even got map!

Mian Haeyo Chingus

Sorry ladies, at the moment no time to blog on issues. Currently madly trying to complete revision papers for my kids. Sigh.. exam starts on 1st so I got to plan one week express revision.

Well.. I have time to cut and paste the lyrics to the song 'Prima Donna' bu FT Island, my toy boys. LOL...

F.T.Island - 프리마돈나(Primmadonna) - Diva

This is all only my own business
I really don't have a good reason to date with a girlfriend
Just because my life's focus is only me

And please don't think that this is easier to done than I said
And have a world where all guys could chat with each other them

However me, who once was like that, has changed completly
That girl is my Primadonna
And at me, grows a new man stage
So this girl has appeared and became me a hero

Oh Oh ~ My Primadonna
Walking with your ballerina's manner
When I hear her charmer voice
So my beating heart seems as I was smiling for her

Primadonna
All we need is only a happy ending
The strong reflectors inside my eyes will glows up
And don't matter even if my friends make fun about me because I'll still keep loving her
Ballerina ~ Ballerina ~

Some elder guy has told me that a woman's heart is completly hollow
And I believed that just the man's love could lasted always

However me, who once was like that, has changed completly
She act so different in some ways and opinions
All my friends tell me every single morning that I became a great fool

Oh Oh ~ My Primadonna this girl glows me from behind
And I wanna kiss her all the days
I believe that she probably would smell like a sweet flower, my Primadonna
I wish to be her great and eternal fool boy
And when she opens her mouth it is like a beautiful poetry
Even if they tell me that I become a completely crazy guy ~

La La La La -
I only has lived on this crazy world, and it was just a little portion of all that happiness
Please find out your love

Oh Oh ~ My Primadonna
Walking with your ballerina's manner
When I hear her charmer voice
So my beating heart seems as I was smiling for her

Primadonna
All we need is only a happy ending
The strong reflectors inside my eyes will glows up
And don't matter even if my friends make fun about me because I'll still keep loving her

Primadonna all we need is only a happy ending
Primadonna I could not see anyone but only she
Primadonna Primadonna Primadonna

I think the English translation is pretty bad but well it is cut and paste...

Too choosy?

Setting the Bar Too High by Evan Mark Kurtz

Are you sabotaging your dating options?

Last year, I met two women at a Halloween party. Both were in their mid-30s and were kind, passionate and intelligent. And yet I fear that they will remain single for a lot longer than they desire. Why? Because of all the arbitrary rules they've set up for what Mr. Right is supposed to be like. I asked one woman for further clarification.

"Of course, he has to be attractive, thoughtful and successful, but there are a few other things that are really important to me, which are kind of hard to find."

I leaned in, wanting to hear more.

"Well, first of all, I'm Jewish, so that's a deal breaker right there."

OK, I thought. Jews only make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but preserving a religious tradition is a very common desire.

I asked her what else she was looking for.

"He needs to be as passionate about animals as I am," she said. "I own two dogs, I volunteer for the Humane Society, and I want a guy who feels the same as I do. If there is a stray dog at the side of the freeway, I want him to stop whatever he's doing to pick the dog up and bring it to an animal shelter."

A cute, kind, ambitious, Jewish animal activist. Of course. There have to be at least...six of those in the greater Los Angeles area. But five of them are women. And the one man is already married. So I've got two women dressed as French maids who are wondering when Prince Charmingstein will arrive with three leashes and a 4 karat ring in hand.

Talk about a fairy tale.

Limiting our options with a narrow search

We all have dreams. We all have standards. We all have ideas about how it's supposed to look. But when we remain trapped in our fantasies, reality suffers. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the online dating space.

Because of the perception of choice -- just pop in some search criteria and dial up a spouse! -- we think we're being open to lots of people.

In fact, we're narrowing our search far greater than we do in "real" life.

In real life, if you start talking to someone at a party who is intriguing, you'll probably get a phone number and set up a date. You may not find out until later that he's a different religion, or political party. This is exactly what happened to me. I set my online search criteria for a 25- to 36-year-old Jewish liberal with a graduate degree. I remained single for the greater part of eight years. Then I went to a party eight months ago and met a woman who is 37, Catholic and Republican. We've been together ever since.

The moral of the story is that none of us knows anything.

What we think we want merely serves in limiting our options. For example, I've got a male dating-coaching client who is 24 and runs a multimillion-dollar corporation. He never got a college degree, so he wouldn't appear in many women's educational searches. Too bad for them. I've got a female client who is 64 and still goes hiking, fishing and skiing. She's beautiful, youthful and vibrant, and completely off the radar for most men. It's a shame, isn't it?

Are you too picky? Take the test.

Look through 100 profiles on Yahoo! Personals and ask yourself the following questions:

1. How many did you find attractive?
2. How many met your criteria: age, height, weight, income, smoking, religion, etc.?
3. How many wrote interesting profiles that would make you think they'd be compelling conversation on a date?
4. What percentage of your online dates do you "click" with in real life?

Multiply all of those numbers together and you'll see that the number of people who meet your requirements is probably less than 5 percent. That's right. Out of 100 people online, only five are even dateable.

So out of those five, how many of them will love your family and appreciate your quirks? How many of them have the same long-term relationship goals as you? Most importantly, how many of the five think that you are cute enough, thin enough, young enough, rich enough, smart enough, kind enough and interesting enough? Probably not too many.

So what does all this mean? Are we doomed to a life of solitude and loneliness? No. We might have to adjust our perspective a bit, though.

First of all, it reminds us how hard it is to find somebody special. Signing up for online dating for a month in hopes of falling in love is pretty much the equivalent of signing up for the gym for a month in hopes of becoming Mr. Universe.

Second, it reminds us not to be so narrow-minded in our searches. In order to expand our options beyond, say, 1 in 100 people, we need to open up our age range, our height range, our body types, to people we might not have considered otherwise. Until we give others a chance, what hope do we have that they will give us a chance?

Interesting, hehe...

Pissed off!!

I am so pissed! Lost all the stuff I wrote just now! Arghh! That's it/. not blogging for a while until I cool down or have more time.. I had spent more than half an hour on my response!!

*&^%$#$^&*(

Can Men and Women be friends?

CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE FRIENDS?
Psychology Today

OVERCOMING SEX
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it may explain at least one of their shared beliefs: Men and women can't be real friends. Blame the sexual tension that almost inevitably exists between any red-blooded, heterosexual man and woman. Point to the jealousy that plagues many rational people when a significant other befriends someone of the opposite sex. Boil it down to the inherent differences between the sexes. It just can't be done. Right?
Wrong, say relationship experts. "The belief that men and women can't be friends comes from another era in which women were at home and men were in the workplace, and the only way they could get together was for romance," explains Linda Sapadin, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in Valley Stream, New York. "Now they work together and have sports interests together and socialize together." This cultural shift is encouraging psychologists, sociologists and communications experts to put forth a new message: Though it may be tricky, men and women can successfully become close friends. What's more, there are good reasons for them to do so.
Society has long singled out romance as the prototypical male-female relationship because it spawns babies and keeps the life cycle going; cross-sex friendship, as researchers call it, has been either ignored or trivialized. We have rules for how to act in romantic relationships (flirt, date, get married, have kids) and even same-sex friendships (boys relate by doing activities together, girls by talking and sharing). But there are so few platonic male-female friendships on display in our culture that we're at a loss to even define these relationships.
Part of this confusion stems from the media. A certain 1989 film starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal convinced a nation of moviegoers that sex always comes between men and women, making true friendship impossible. "When Harry Met Sally set the potential for male-female friendship back about 25 years," says Michael Monsour, Ph.D., assistant professor of communications at the University of Colorado at Denver . Television hasn't helped either. "Almost every time you see a male-female friendship, it winds up turning into romance," Monsour notes. Think Sam and Diane or Chandler and Monica. These cultural images are hard to overcome, he says. It's no wonder we expect that men and women are always on the road to romance.
But that's only one of the major barriers. In 1989, Don O'Meara, Ph.D., a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati-Raymond Walters College, published a landmark study in the journal Sex Roles on the top impediments to cross-sex friendship. "I started my research because one of my best friends is a woman," says O'Meara. "She said, 'Do you think anyone else has the incredible friendship we do?'" He decided to find out, and after reviewing the scant existing research dating back to only 1974, O'Meara identified the following four challenges to male-female friendship: defining it, dealing with sexual attraction, seeing each other as equals and facing people's responses to the relationship. A few years later, he added a fifth: meeting in the first place.
CHALLENGE #1
Defining the Relationship: Friends or lovers?
Platonic love does exist, O'Meara asserts, and a study of 20 pairs of friends published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships lends credence to the notion. In it, Heidi Reeder, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Boise State University, confirms that "friendship attraction" or a connection devoid of lust, is a bona fide type of bond that people experience. Distinguishing between romantic, sexual and friendly feelings, however, can be exceedingly difficult.
"People don't know what feelings are appropriate toward the opposite sex, unless they're what our culture defines as appropriate," says O'Meara. "You know you love someone and enjoy them as a person, but not enough to date or marry them. What does this mean?"
CHALLENGE #2
Overcoming Attraction: Let's talk about sex
The reality that sexual attraction could suddenly enter the equation of a cross-sex friendship uninvited is always lurking in the background. A simple, platonic hug could instantaneously take on a more amorous meaning. "You're trying to do a friend-friend thing," says O'Meara, "but the male-female parts of you get in the way." Unwelcome or not, the attraction is difficult to ignore.
In a major 1988 study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Sapadin asked more than 150 professional men and women what they liked and disliked about their cross-sex friendships. Topping women's list of dislikes: sexual tension. Men, on the other hand, more frequently replied that sexual attraction was a prime reason for initiating a friendship, and that it could even deepen a friendship. Either way, 62 percent of all subjects reported that sexual tension was present in their cross-sex friendships.
CHALLENGE #3
Establishing Equality: The power play
Friendship should be a pairing of equals. But, O'Meara says, "in a culture where men have always been more equal than women, male dominance, prestige and power is baggage that both men and women are likely to bring to a relationship." Women are at risk of subconsciously adopting a more submissive role in cross-sex friendships, he says, although that is slowly changing as society begins to treat both genders more equally.
CHALLENGE #4
The Public Eye: Dealing with doubters
Society may not be entirely ready for friendships between men and women that have no sexual subtext. People with close friends of the opposite sex are often barraged with nudging, winking and skepticism: "Are you really just friends?" This is especially true, says O'Meara, of older adults, who grew up when men and women were off-limits to each other until marriage.
CHALLENGE #5
The Meeting Place: Finding friends
As the workplace and other social arenas become increasingly open to women, the sexes are mingling more and more. Still, men and women continue to have surprisingly few opportunities to interact.
"Boys and girls form their own gender groups in elementary school," explains Monsour. "They learn their own ways of relating to each other. So when they do get together, inspired by puberty, they see each other as dating partners because they've never really known each other as friends." A surprisingly major factor in this phenomenon is the kids' own innate interest in children who act like they do. Called "voluntary gender segregation," it continues into adulthood. "You see it at cocktail parties," says Monsour. "Men go off to one corner, and women go to another."
These obstacles may seem numerous and formidable, but male-female friendship is becoming not only a possibility but also a necessity. If men and women are to work, play and coexist in modern society, researchers believe men and women must learn to understand and communicate with each other. To that end, social scientists like Sapadin, Monsour and O'Meara have begun studying how to do just that. The field of research is still in its infancy, but they are now beginning to understand some basic truths about male-female friendship:
RESEARCHERS tell us that men and women can be friends. But do we really believe them? A survey of more than 1,450 members of the match.com dating site revealed that we're an optimistic bunch:
1. Do you believe men and women can be platonic friends?
Yes: 83%
No: 11%
Unsure: 6%
2. Have you had a platonic friendship that crossed the line and became romantic or sexual?
Yes: 62%
No: 36%
Unsure: 2%
3. Who is more likely to misinterpret the intimacy of friendship for sexual desire?
Men: 64%
Women: 25%
Unsure: 11%
4. Is it possible to fall in love with someone who first enters your life as a friend?
Yes: 94%
No: 4%
Unsure: 2%
5. Do you hope that when you do fall in love, your partner will have started out as your friend?
Yes: 71%
No: 9%
Unsure: 20%
6. Who is better at keeping sex out of a platonic relationship?
Men: 13%
Women: 67%
Unsure: 20%

Men and Food

Okay.. a sort of addition to Mrs Danny's story.

Last night we had dinner at I-Lotus as a farewell to Moni. I swear that we are a motley bunch of teachers. We were excitedly taking photos of each other and kinda neglected the photos of food there.

Suddenly, there was a blackout and Mrs Danny spotted a guy at the buffet. It was kinda cute how he used his mobile light to check out the food cos it was pitch black,

When the lights came on, lo and behold, we saw the guy again. I never realised that Mrs Danny had a fetish for untucked shirts! I wanted to be the one to untuck his shirt but then again, he didn't really 'rock' my boat. I had to admit he was not bad looking.

Moving on, after all the food and pictures we ambled outside for another phot op. It was like a departmental photo taking session. All were very stiff. Where were the free poses??!!

Sharp eyed Mrs Danny spotted him again and we posed where Miss Racer and ButterflyAngel tried to take a photo of him. Sadly it was too dark and far to get a clear shot.

Okay... Mr Yummy whoever you are , you were in a gold Camry KM **** . Please contact us whenever you are free.....

Here's Jen with her claws to top it off!