Running away and joining the circus

I decided that my jobless life in the US has turned my brain into mush so I decided I need to continue with my education. So I went to Trapeze School. Yep, trapeze. Like hang on a swing high up and swing and flip and hang upside down.

If you've seen Sex and the City, you'd know what I'm talking about. Carrie did it. I guess thats where Afton got the idea and so since she's the eager beaver, she organised it and was kind enough to bring me along =) See? Laziness does achieve things... you wait til someone else do all the work cos they needed it done, and you go along for the ride!

So we showed up, signed a waiver so that the school wont be accountable if we die, and then get a harness strapped to our waist. By harness i just mean a thich canvas strap thats strapped tight around our waists/ribs (after that strap, Afton and i both agreed that we wont be having no corset under our wedding dresses!).
One of the instructor than pulled the 3 new ppl over and gave us the 5 min crash course and off we went. We climbed up the top and had some nervous starts, but by the 2nd or 3rd go, i was feeling pretty good about it all. The instructor would point out after each go what we've done wrong or what we can improve on. And almost everytime, they were telling me that when i did the knee hang (hanging upside down with the back of my knees hanging on the bar), i wasnt using the back of my knees but instead was using my calves, which is way harder and requires more energy and not to mention, more dangerous cos i could easily slip off. I try to correct it, but you're really only up there for about 30 secs each go and there's a lot to keep in mind.

So towards the end of the class, we advance to catch. that is, one of the instructor gets on another swing and catches us from there went we swing over. The most crucial thing is the timing. Cos we were all doing the same routine as we've been doing but if the timing is off, the instructor wont be able to catch us.

We had two go's for the catch. I failed both time. First time, i was over eager and couldnt even get into the knee hang position in order to go to the next step for the catch. Second time, the timing was just a little bit off so i made contact with the instructors' arms but wasnt in a good enough position for him to hang on to me.

Finally, to finish off the class, we had another go at the original routine. I've done pretty well all thru class, being able to finish my routine and land safely in the nets. However, my mistake of not using the back of my knees and using my calves finally caught up to me. When i did the knee hang, I must've been too tired since its the end fo the class, and i couldnt grip tight enough and i slipped off. Thank god for the harness, otherwise i think i would've crashed into the platform!!

But all in all, I had a lot of fun and would love to do it again. Even though I'm hurting all over today, I still thought it was well worth it. So i guess i'm only a correct knee hang away from running away and joining the circus!

I'm engaged!!!!

Got engaged last night. Michele popped the question at a nearby park, where there's a river and a small castle. made me feel a bit like a princess, being proposed to next to a castle =)
["so he's your knight in shining t-shirt?" - kelvin said to me after i told him i felt like a princess. hehe]

I know we've all heard that question a quizillion times on tv, movies etc, but when it was the man i love who said it to me, it felt like the most special question ever

so this morning, i went into the city to the jeweller where michele got the ring from so he can resize it for me. it was a bit too big. and the jeweller is this old jewish guy, very nice guy. he was asking me about how it went and saying congratulations. i mean, its great to hear well wishing from friends and family, but when its from a stranger and he was so sincere, it just makes it that much better =)

when michele called his sister Carm to let her know we're engaged, she turned around and told her girls that Uncle Mikey is engaged. and Marissa, aged 7, called out., "To who?!". so cute!

Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls

And you asked me what I want this year
And I'll try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe
We'll find better days

'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
Designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe
We'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
'Cause tonight's the night
The world begins again

I need someplace simple where we could live
And something only you could give
And that's faith and trust and peace
while we're Alive

And the one poor child who saved this world
There's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll
Find better days

First dead body... hopefully the last

Coming home from DC, on our way from where the bus dropped us, back to Grand Central to catch our train home, we had to catch the subway and when we were at Time Square subway station, we walked passed an area fenced off with police tape and in plain view, laid a body. The white cloth was covering his body but his feet were jutting out. Just for everyone to see. I suppose it wasnt really anything the police could do to block the view. And it happens to be a busy spot cos there was a ball game just finished and ppl were all over and passing the area and of cos, everyone tried to stop and look.

My first dead body. And of cos, hoping it to be last. But ... Is it bad that I live in a city that people becomes so blase about a dead man in a busy subway station? Is it bad that I wasnt affected by it at all cos I've seen it on Law & Order a million times and have come to expect such a thing from NYC?

It's Vegas baby!!! VEGAS!!!!!

its been several weeks since we were in vegas for the weekend. i havent written about it cos i just dont have the vocabulary to describe what vegas was like to me. it was damn amazing, i was in awe at it all. the thing is, this man-made city called America's playground (i think) its just so bizaare and wonderful at the same time that i dont really know how to describe it

all i know is that i had an absolute blast and i'll DEFINITELY go back. hopefully like at least once a year!! =)

should just keep my big mouth shut shouldnt i?

dunno what happened specifically, but have a pretty good idea. i said some things mainly to vent, to someone whom i thought i could trust. they decided to pass it on and add some salt and vinegar to it so it made me sound like an even bigger bitch then i actually am.

its been a week and no replies yet so i should just stop letting it bother me and move on. and i have bigger problems, much bigger problems which makes my chest tighten and eyes well up every time i think about it.

yea, i don't think i want to talk to anyone anymore. not even to vent. my big mouth just gets me in shit, knee deep, everytime. i should do a law degree so that everything i say can have a disclaimer type thing to it so i can never be held liable.

however... at my ripe old age, i think i know in my heart that i'm not going to change. i'm going to voice my opinion as i've done always. and most probably offending ppl along the way even though i never mean to. its just who i am. people are always going to interpret what i say however they want. ... i just wished i could care less what others thinks... i really wish i could

Major League next year? ... maybe not

Just went to a batting cage to hit a few. First time at one of those. I think it really doesn’t get much more American than batting at a batting cage =)

I only try the cages that were pitching out softballs, which comes out on an arch i.e. much slower and easier to see cos the ball is bigger than a baseball. There were cages which were pitching different speed of baseballs and the fast one is FAST!! Its hard to imagine a person can pitch at that speed and its even harder to imagine a person and see such a ball coming and be able to hit it. I guess that’s why they call it … professional baseball :P

I did alright though. Made contact on most of the balls. Hands got a bit sore, from the vibration that is sent thru the bat when it hits the bat a little off centre, which is more often than not for an amateur like me. But it was a lot of fun nonetheless

It was a lot of fun. Like I said, very American. Funnily enough, I feel like I’m experiencing American culture more when I’m at the batting cage than I did when I was in its capital, Washington DC hehehe

San Francisco

Was in San Francisco for a week, checked out all the usual tourist stuff. Its really a nice city. Well nice architecture, city lay out, not so nice are the crazy and homeless people which seem to be around every corner. The highlights were hanging on the side of the cable cars, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting the quaint little town Sausalito, and visiting Alcatraz.

We went to the cable car museum and learnt how those things work around the city. There are cables running around the city, and the drivers of the cable cars control them by using the levers to grip the cables. The tighter the grip, the faster the cars are being dragged along with the moving cables under the surface of the roads. I believe the cables move at about 9mph. It’s fascinating to find out how they run on such a simple concept. And such an environmentally friendly concept.

The tour on Alcatraz was amazing. The tour guide said it best, “people visit Alcatraz have a kind of morbid curiosity about how others have suffered”. I know I certainly do. Just being there, looking in the cells, stepping into a few, hearing how prison life was, and feeling the cold chill from the surrounding waters, I’ve learnt for a fact that I’m 200% positive that I would never survive in prison.

While I was in San Francisco, I kept trying to think whether I’ve been there before. I know I’ve been there for like a day, when we had to catch a flight at night, and we walked around Chinatown during the day. But the rest of the city looked and felt so familiar that I want to say I’ve been there for longer than a day. But I seriously cant think when I have, if I have, been there… its funny how a place can feel so familiar but you don’t have any more specific memories of it