Looking Back (1 of 2)
i just realized, thanks to msn-ing, that it's (it was yesterday now, actually) friday the 13th. weird things happen during friday the 13th but oftentimes, good weird things. i don't know why i got this sudden urge to write and reflect. maybe because i had my review today... maybe because it's mid year (ooooops, where did 2008 go!?!?!)...
Looking back at the first half of 2008:
1. whirlwind (love) affair around the world. from singapore to taipei to new york to london to brighton. 6 hour time difference. good conversation. good company. lots of food (we are foodies!). great sex. comfort. passion. and i thought, love... allors, i thought i found my mr. big when i was not looking (!)... but it had to end... he told me that he does not know what he wants... i felt a different kind of happiness with him. but unfortunately, it's not yet the right time...
2. new places and experiences. kicked my ass to really start exploring more and not be too home-y. berlin, avoriaz, les gets, capetown, como, lake como, bellagio, varese, mendrisio, aosta, brighton... skiing, RG French Open, mountains, lakes, getting a swiss drivers license... and hopefully get the list up by end of 2008. have to start planning my summer checklist and start booking tickets...
3. new friends. thanks to the vulvs connection. started making more new friends in geneva, hk, singapore, manila, bangkok, paris, london. however, here are some geneva friends that helped me through the last year... carlo, a fellow country(wo)man, is my once-in-a-while-no-schedule-because-of-busy-housewife-life-with-french bf-lifestyle hang out vulvs. used to be my geneva tour guide but now his housewifey role makes it more difficult. another friend, nico, is my monday (+ one more day during the week... weekends are off-limits as he's spending it with his uber lawyer bf) date - gym. glass of rose. gossip. double (swiss) cheeseburger, fries, and salad. gossip. bottle of rose. gossip. coffee. he's my bff in ca va geneve! lol... another notable friend, diana, is my sunday night dinner date - gym. gossip. double (swiss) cheeseburger, fries, and salad. gossip. bottle (or two!) of rose. gossip. martini. too drunk to function. (this is what i replaced sunday's at st james with!) lol... i know that these friendships will last forever, beyond location, beyond timezones...
4. visitors. i've had a couple of visitors already from london and paris. hopefully get the numbers up by end of this year (even though i have ghetto accomodation in my ghetto-maison a geneve)! i know it's boring to visit geneve, but i'll try to entertain you as much as i can. sadly, no one visited me from asia yet. who wants to be first? ghetto-maison-jopa is open...
5. french. still awful but i can - order food, tell taxi where to go, ask for receipt, curse, say improper awful gross toilet words, translate pop hit lyrics (c'est incroyable!), and direct a porno movie (both gay and straight apparently!). who wants to teach me better french, svp...
6. tv addiction. though my tv is not working properly and i don't have cable, i've watched more tv than ever before. i finished series before they come out of dvd. thanks to foam's tutorial of mininova. and i got myself a 750GB external hard drive for that. what am i finishing next? xoxo...
7. i'm doing what i intended to do at work. of course, none of you will see it yet. i'm doing upstream stuff. and my baby gets born in 2009. it's like an elephant's pregnancy. i was heavily influenced by this industry when i was growing up and this was my dream - do my own parfum - from start to finish. now i'm doing it. question to self is - what's next then...
8. missing home, friends, family. i told myself not to go home (asia) too much. but went back last may to asia - hk, macau, bkk, singapore (unfortunately i wasn't able to visit manila, but i will soon) - and had a blast. i miss home, friends and family. but i have to finish what i've started here...
9. i'm still single. technically i've only been attached once. and my ex is someone very special to me. but can't be together and talked it through. we broke up 2 years ago. my friends will slap me when they read this. not because of my ex story (they all love my ex) but my use of the word 'technically'. lol. and i think i will continue to be single, unless there are any takers...
10. me, myself and i. having to spend time alone and actually being alone, i discover aspects about who jopa is. my boss said to me earlier in my work and development review (of course, being a truly diligent, row 1 student - i drafted everything including things he needs to do - and sent to him in advance for pre-reading) "you are very self aware, my friend. it gives me less work." LOL. thanks to geneva, i spend most of my time with me...
11. sleep. one good thing (not tonight though, the decaf i ordered must have been full-caffeine-laden-coffee) about geneva is the amount of sleep i get. lol. it's cold. it's dark. it's quiet. nothing much to do, especially on sundays (not this month though - thanks to euro08, some shops and department stores ***GASPS*** are open on sundays and open till 8pm ******TRIPLE GASPS******). so if any of you want to sleep more, you are most welcome to stay here and keep me company (bonus meals, wine, beer, and food if you are extra cute and cuddly)...
12. make peace. barring emotional outbursts and moments of weakness, i've made peace in the first half of 08 with geneva, who i am here, where i am, and what i need / want to do. it's hard. but the harder part is figuring out what's next. maybe i'm pressuring myself (again) too much to go on something different (or familiar....eeek!)? maybe i'm too focused? or maybe, i just haven't figured things out yet...
okay, time to sleep. next installment is my checklist of what to watch out for the balance of 2008... :-)
Looking back at the first half of 2008:
1. whirlwind (love) affair around the world. from singapore to taipei to new york to london to brighton. 6 hour time difference. good conversation. good company. lots of food (we are foodies!). great sex. comfort. passion. and i thought, love... allors, i thought i found my mr. big when i was not looking (!)... but it had to end... he told me that he does not know what he wants... i felt a different kind of happiness with him. but unfortunately, it's not yet the right time...
2. new places and experiences. kicked my ass to really start exploring more and not be too home-y. berlin, avoriaz, les gets, capetown, como, lake como, bellagio, varese, mendrisio, aosta, brighton... skiing, RG French Open, mountains, lakes, getting a swiss drivers license... and hopefully get the list up by end of 2008. have to start planning my summer checklist and start booking tickets...
3. new friends. thanks to the vulvs connection. started making more new friends in geneva, hk, singapore, manila, bangkok, paris, london. however, here are some geneva friends that helped me through the last year... carlo, a fellow country(wo)man, is my once-in-a-while-no-schedule-because-of-busy-housewife-life-with-french bf-lifestyle hang out vulvs. used to be my geneva tour guide but now his housewifey role makes it more difficult. another friend, nico, is my monday (+ one more day during the week... weekends are off-limits as he's spending it with his uber lawyer bf) date - gym. glass of rose. gossip. double (swiss) cheeseburger, fries, and salad. gossip. bottle of rose. gossip. coffee. he's my bff in ca va geneve! lol... another notable friend, diana, is my sunday night dinner date - gym. gossip. double (swiss) cheeseburger, fries, and salad. gossip. bottle (or two!) of rose. gossip. martini. too drunk to function. (this is what i replaced sunday's at st james with!) lol... i know that these friendships will last forever, beyond location, beyond timezones...
4. visitors. i've had a couple of visitors already from london and paris. hopefully get the numbers up by end of this year (even though i have ghetto accomodation in my ghetto-maison a geneve)! i know it's boring to visit geneve, but i'll try to entertain you as much as i can. sadly, no one visited me from asia yet. who wants to be first? ghetto-maison-jopa is open...
5. french. still awful but i can - order food, tell taxi where to go, ask for receipt, curse, say improper awful gross toilet words, translate pop hit lyrics (c'est incroyable!), and direct a porno movie (both gay and straight apparently!). who wants to teach me better french, svp...
6. tv addiction. though my tv is not working properly and i don't have cable, i've watched more tv than ever before. i finished series before they come out of dvd. thanks to foam's tutorial of mininova. and i got myself a 750GB external hard drive for that. what am i finishing next? xoxo...
7. i'm doing what i intended to do at work. of course, none of you will see it yet. i'm doing upstream stuff. and my baby gets born in 2009. it's like an elephant's pregnancy. i was heavily influenced by this industry when i was growing up and this was my dream - do my own parfum - from start to finish. now i'm doing it. question to self is - what's next then...
8. missing home, friends, family. i told myself not to go home (asia) too much. but went back last may to asia - hk, macau, bkk, singapore (unfortunately i wasn't able to visit manila, but i will soon) - and had a blast. i miss home, friends and family. but i have to finish what i've started here...
9. i'm still single. technically i've only been attached once. and my ex is someone very special to me. but can't be together and talked it through. we broke up 2 years ago. my friends will slap me when they read this. not because of my ex story (they all love my ex) but my use of the word 'technically'. lol. and i think i will continue to be single, unless there are any takers...
10. me, myself and i. having to spend time alone and actually being alone, i discover aspects about who jopa is. my boss said to me earlier in my work and development review (of course, being a truly diligent, row 1 student - i drafted everything including things he needs to do - and sent to him in advance for pre-reading) "you are very self aware, my friend. it gives me less work." LOL. thanks to geneva, i spend most of my time with me...
11. sleep. one good thing (not tonight though, the decaf i ordered must have been full-caffeine-laden-coffee) about geneva is the amount of sleep i get. lol. it's cold. it's dark. it's quiet. nothing much to do, especially on sundays (not this month though - thanks to euro08, some shops and department stores ***GASPS*** are open on sundays and open till 8pm ******TRIPLE GASPS******). so if any of you want to sleep more, you are most welcome to stay here and keep me company (bonus meals, wine, beer, and food if you are extra cute and cuddly)...
12. make peace. barring emotional outbursts and moments of weakness, i've made peace in the first half of 08 with geneva, who i am here, where i am, and what i need / want to do. it's hard. but the harder part is figuring out what's next. maybe i'm pressuring myself (again) too much to go on something different (or familiar....eeek!)? maybe i'm too focused? or maybe, i just haven't figured things out yet...
okay, time to sleep. next installment is my checklist of what to watch out for the balance of 2008... :-)