"No, I'm not watching a parade"

This is what I had to say about a dozen times when I told people that I was going to watch The Police in Macau.

Apparently, most people in Hong Kong do not know who or what The Police are and assumed I am schlepping to the neighboring S.A.R. to watch a parade or a performance of a chorale of peace officers.

So I try to explain who The Police are... "You know, Sting?"

I get a blank stare.

This got me thinking. The Chinese probably think the Beatles are insects. Poor John Lennon. Guess he wasn't as popular as he thought he was.

==============

P.S. The concert was magnificent. It was everything I had hoped for.

Boris Comes to Town

So my favorite couple in the world "BoRis" has come to visit me in Hang Kang.

I call them "Boris" ala Brangelina and Tomcat and Bennifer (i.e. a combination of their names).

But I think Boris beats them all. For starters, Boris is made up of two very successful men.

Bo splits his time between Manila and Paris, and Ris is based out of Singapore, Ho Chi Min and later this year, Tokyo. Ang galing, diba? And not only are they great individually, they're amazing together. Here's my favortie Boris story: one time, Ris is on his way to Singapore for business. As is their custom, they call each other after flights. Ris calls Bo, thinking he is in Manila. Bo says, "Ok, thanks for letting me know you're there."

Bo then surprises Ris at the Sing arrival terminal.

Diba?!?!?!

Boris.

*Sigh.*

Anyway...

So the three of us have been going around town, shopping, eating and watching the fireworks. We criticize strangers and laugh at ourselves (and the other way around).

It's been an absolutely fabulous weekend.

Spring cleaning gone unnoticed

Today I did some much needed spring cleaning. I went through those mountains of paper in my office (if you've been to my office either in Manila or HK, you know what I'm talking about) and sorted the piles into "throw" and "keep" documents.

So I threw out about a box and half of old drafts, mark-ups, emails and whatnot that have accumulated in my room. After the deed was done, I sat behind my desk, grinning like an idiot, hoping people would notice.

Of course no one did.

Although people did ask why I was grinning like an idiot.

The Sentimental Reader

One of my (oh so many) quirks is that I can't start a new book without finishing the one I'm currently reading.

As you can imagine, this policy can get highly annoying sometimes. Because every so often I get stuck.

Recently I was stuck reading "Dog Fight" by this fellow called Michael Knight. The collection of short stories was strong as a whole, and I recommend the book to the six people left on this planet who enjoy reading stories, but I got caught in of the low points of a story I couldn't relate to and got stuck.

For six weeks.

But over the weekend I promised myself I'd get out of my reading rut and I did. I finished Dog Fight and am now on to Dan Chaon's "You Remind Me of Me". Hopefully it will take me less than six weeks to get through it.

Sometimes people ask what kind of books I read. Well, I read anything, really, though in the last few years I have preferred younger authors talking about 30 something angst (oh, what a stretch for me). I don't think I'm a serious reader since I can go for weeks, sometimes even months at a time without reading anything, but I'd like to think I am a "sentimental" reader.

Someone who reads to reflect, to think. To pause.

Real weekends are fun!

I haven't had a real weekend in three weeks.

You know, one where you stay home, watch a couple of French movies, read a book and go to the gym?

I've forgotten how enjoyable they are.

8 minutes 10 seconds

I'll be under 8 minutes in no time.

8 minutes 29 seconds

I'm on my way....

I miss the gym

I never thought I'd ever say that, but here I am saying just that.

It's been a week since I've hit the gym. Work has been tsunami like.

I cannot wait to cut out and get on the treadmill.

I think I may have gone mad.

Recovering Alcoholic

As most of you know, I am a person who knows how to enjoy a drink. I did though, for some time (4 and half months) stop drinking altogether. Mostly to prove a point to myself -- that I can stop and start drinking whenever I please.

Point made. And to bring home the point further, I've started up again. (And the crowd goes wild!)

I have a couple of personal rules though - I can only imbibe during weekends and only if I've been to the gym three times that week. Otherwise, it's soda water. The lousy thing with alcohol is that it makes you fat. There's no going around (pun intended) this fact. And if want to keep the 20+lbs I've lost (shameless self-promotion) off, well, I can't drink like I used to.

I came to discover a lot of things when I was "on the wagon". And one of the more obvious points is that a night out without alcohol is just about as interesting as watching a box of hair. And while I remember everything that happens during an evening of cold sobriety, there really isn't much to write home about. We had dinner. Discussed office politics and weather. Went home.

But throw in a bottle of wine and well... (my father reads this blog).

What I found unbelievably hilarious (but sweet) was the "reverse intervention" that my friends tried to pull a couple of weeks into the whole "not drinking" phase. Two of my best friends literally sat me down, took my hand, looked into my eyes and asked me what was wrong. The people who knew me were not happy for me, they were worried about me.

Insightful bunch.

Don't worry guys, am on my way back.

I am 87% of the woman I used to be

I've lost about 13% of my body weight since September, and while I'm still shrinking, am not losing any more weight.

Except for a handful of people at the office who are also battling the fight against the bulge, no one has noticed at The Firm. There are over a hundred people here and about 4 have commented on my weight loss.

This led me to think -- people *really* don't notice. I think most people take a mental picture of you at your first meeting, and the picture is soldered in the brain, regardless of whatever you do to change your appearance. At that first meeting, you can be anything -- fat or thin; bald or with hair like Rupunzel's. The mental picture is taken, and everything else (preconceptions, judgments, attributed stereotype behavior) follows.

Everyone thinks I'm overweight (and admittedly, I still am) and regardless of how much weight I lose, people will always think I'm overweight. That's just how the brain works.

Thank goodness I don't care what people think about my appearance.

Then or now.