today i go off on a daytrip with my work team for some bonding and girl-time. everyone has been working really hard and as a reward i've asked permission from the bosses to take today as a free day. we're all going to a fave summer spot just a couple of hours away from the city. we're going to have a buffet lunch at a garden retaurant and then some of them want to indulge in a spa massage. i would have wanted too except i got bruises from last saturday's kendo practice so a massage would be the opposite of relaxing. :P

i'll post pics when i get back. :)

work was half-day today so i went home to my new place to fix it a bit more (i will officially move in by end of november).

but first i napped in my new bed:

and then did some halloween-appropriate reading :P -- it's a Bridget Jones meets Buffy kind of story. hilarious!

then i happily put together my new dishrack

also fixed my cookbook shelf

and here's kurosaki-kun who volunteered to move in first so he could watch the place for me :P

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to KATAMARI!!! :D

now i'm off to do some spells and love charms :D :P

it's 3:47pm where i am now. i'm in the office trying to keep my eyes open.

i finished my work before lunch so i had a long lunch with the girls in my team and then we went on candy-shopping for tomorrow's trick-or-treat at the office.

i had hoped the walking around would energize me but i'm still very very sleepy.

it's because i slept at past 3AM, and was awake at 6AM, and couldn't go back to sleep. i went out with a friend last night because it was his birthday and we met for coffee before midnight and got home at around 230AM. :D

i'm thinking i'll sneak for home early and sleep or else i won't have the energy to go to the gym tonight. i'll go home to my condo first and have my nap there or else my mom would scold me about going out on a weeknight :P

hi everyone!

yes i've been awfully busy. but this time it's because i've been fixing things to move out on my own. i got a condo and finally got around to fixing it up. the kitchen just finished last week and here it is: :D

i picked my own designs and bought all the stuff myself because i have a limited budget. it's a pretty small space, but it'a all MINE. :P

how are you guys doing? *HUGS* to all :)

me! :D

i've been very busy at work and it has gotten SO BAD that a couple of weeks ago i burned out. like my brain flatlined and i couldn't produce anything. i had a long talk with my bosses and they didn't want things to get worse for me and they also didn't want me walking out for good so... they gave me a two-month sabbatical. hence i'll be work-free for two months starting aug 11. :D

meanwhile, i had my first shiai match at kendo last saturday -- i lost :P against my classmate who is the strongest in our batch, but at least i didn't make it easy for him to score the point :P

kendo practice is going along okay. practice has become more intense now that our class has been moved to join the seniors group.

my gaming has been much neglected for the past months and i'm only catching up the past few days. i'm playing Patapon, Crisis Core and .hack/G.U. Rebirth. my PS3 is broken again and i need to get it fixed again.

i now have a home theater system set up in my room so i've been watching a lot of movies lately :P a very dear friend *cough* helped me find a good second-hand system and he also helped put it all together. he's really sweet. :oops:

anyway, i can't promise to be around most of the time. i've got lots of stuff to fix now that work is going to be out of the way for a while. but i'll try to pop in more often.:)

hugs to all! :)

i'm going to reward myself with it after i complete a series of projects :D

thanks to all who responded to my rather general question about boys liking girls :P

i've asked a handful of guy friends and given them the "symptoms" and they all said that the "symptoms" indicated a non-platonic interest. i'm a hopeless skeptic when it comes to these things so unless the guy comes right out with it i would take every behavior with a spoonful of salt. :lol:

it's just a bit tough because he is a likeable guy :lol: and i think it's a bit tragic if i've been just delusional :lol:

these two guys go to kendo with me. the one on the right guards my bogu bag. the one on the left guards my... err. heart :lol: and hangs from my personal bag. i got them from hong kong last year.

well, a quick update given the one and a half months i've been away. the mcdreamy story didn't... come true. for a while there was all these possibilities and moments but, in the end, he just wanted to enjoy stuff that he feels will be hindered if he commits to a relationship. well, i know what i want and i don't want a half-hearted distracted kind of relationship. so i pulled myself back from faliing any more deeply, and decided i want to take care of myself properly this time. no more hanging around, wishing-hoping-dreaming. no more effortful contriving of situations. what the heck, if a guy really thinks i'm worth the time and the attention, i won't even have to lift a finger, right? :D

kendo has been both terrifying and fun. as i've said, we're now practicing doing some sparring - often with very senior members so i always get my a$$ kicked :lol: well, it's all part of the (painful) learning process :D

work has become a bit less insane. with just occasional intensely hazardous-to-health moments.

in games i'm playing Zelda and the Phantom Hourglass on DS, and i've been looking for Patapon. my sister and her boyfriend are addicted to it. :lol:

now i have a question (or two) for the boys (the girls can answer as well though :P ) :

1. do you guys discuss among yourselves if you're pursuing a girl? how does it work if you and let's say another friend likes the same girl?

2. how would you compare or diffferentiate the kind of attention and effort you give to a girl who is just a friend and a girl you are interested in?

thanks everybody! *HUGS LOTS*

i know, i know. i've been away for quite a while. :(

lots of stuff happening right now.

this is just a quick hello to let you guys know i'm still on the same plane of existence as you are :D

i'm off to kendo now. i'm already practicing with full armor and have already gotten taste of actual sparring.:? very tough! the girl population in the dojo has dwindled to about seven regulars (versus 5-6 times that of the boys).

see you again soon!

i finally ordered my bogu set from kendoshop.com

i paid $556.84 in total.

:?

oh my. this is serious.

i better not screw up. :lol:

and there went my gaming budget for the next six months :lol: