We all have stuff to do. Like, a life update.

We just need to find time and energy to do it.

안녕하세요, 여러분! 오렌만이다! 잘지내요?

See, I haven't forgotten my Korean.  XD  It was a HUGE help when my mom and I spent 2 16-hour days in Seoul back in April/May.  Yeah, I know, it's been a month since our trip and I still haven't said anything about it.  I'm lazy.  Sue me.

But I do have a ton of stuff to say about the experience.  And a lot of great pictures.  Being able to read and sort of speak Korean was definitely an advantage while playing tourist in Seoul.  It did give me a good deal of anxiety but we survived.  If you ask me today, would I do an extended layover in Seoul again?  Heck yeah, I would!

경복궁

It was awesome going back home to Manila as always but I don't think I can ever live there again.  As much as I love the people, the food, and the malls... it's the heat that I can't stand.  My first night there, I was reduced to TEARS.  It was so hot that I cried in misery.  That might sound over-the-top but I've never had that happen to me before.  And I was raised there.  It's ridiculous.

But going back to my childhood bedroom was quite magical.  Even as a kid, I collected ORIGINAL CDs of my favorite groups, which at that time were Westlife and F4.  I knew I had a VCD of F4's Hong Kong concert somewhere in there.  It is now so hard to find, even online.  I was glad to find it.  I think I squealed out loud when I did.  I also took with me my first Nancy Drew title, Sign of the Twisted Candles, as well as two of my absolute favorites, The Ringmaster's Secret and The Secret of Mirror Bay.  How much do I love Mirror Bay?  I dreamt about it.

The other books that made the trip were the CSI book tie-ins that I didn't know I had.  I don't have them all but I've accumulated quite a bit.  My brother gave me the whole collection of the original 56 Nancy Drew mysteries in mobi format but I still want to collect all of them. ;-)

Ever since my trip, I got a new job.  It is literally walking distance from where I live.  No joke.  I now work at a medical management office.  It's been good so far.  I'm still learning to ropes and there are a LOT of ropes to learn.  I don't have the same freedom to use the computer for pleasure as my previous job, thus the severe lack of posts on both blogs.  *sadface*  Therefore, the backlog is getting quite overwhelming.  Although I haven't been reading a lot since the commute by public transport has been essentially taken out of my day.  I've been missing out on a lot of book blog memes.  *even sadder face*

I've also chopped off about 12 inches of hair while in the Philippines.  Getting a hair cut here will cost you $25 plus but mine was a mere $3, converted.  I just re-colored it Light Intense Auburn yesterday.  It's going to stay that way for as long as I like it.  I found that red hair suits me.

청계천

What else is new?  Hmm...  (I want to put as much stuff here as kind of a backlog list lol. A cheat sheet!)

Ah, for my final hurrah before going back to the workforce, we went to JPL, Jet Propulsion Laboratory here in Pasadena.  I've been to the Kennedy Space Center years ago and JPL is like, just in my backyard and it took me this long to go there.  It was awesome.  I saw Space Shuttle Endeavour not too long ago and all this space goodness just takes me back to my childhood.  I never read a single Sweet Valley High book but I could watch science shows about outer space for days.

Pasadena, we have a problem.

Two weeks ago, I went to my first book signing in a long time.  (Probably my only one this year lol.)  It was for Diana Gabaldon's new book in the Outlander series, Written in my Own Heart's Blood.  If you've been following my book blog, you'd know that I'm a newbie fan of this series.  The new book in the 8th in the series and I've barely made a dent in the second.  I planned to do that during my trip but... the in-flight entertainment was just too good.  But I live and work in the area so why the hell not.  (I actually bought my ticket months before so this wasn't an impulse buy.)



I usually have great luck with these kinds of things.  When I finished reading The Jane Austen Book Club, the author Karen Joy Fowler had a book signing about a week after that.  I go through 6 seasons of Criminal Minds in one go and Joe Mantegna gets his Hollywood star the next month.

But the total opposite happened to me with Sherlock.  But that's for another post.

I recently watched the latest Star Trek movie Into Darkness.  I'm more of a Star Wars fan but I know more Trek characters by name.  I was so-so with the first reboot so I wasn't really into watching the next one.  Until I became a Benedict Cumberbatch fan.  I won't go as far as calling myself a Cumber-bitch, no not yet, but dang... can that man act the shit out of anything.  I know first hand how his VOICE sounds like when it's inches away from you (yes, and I survived).  He wasn't the Khan I had in my head but his performance was breathtaking.  And his hair was perfect.  He just makes everything perfect.  I did sort of live tweet the movie as I was watching it lol.  Chekov is still my always favorite, btw.

And to complete this incoherent mishmash of a life update, I went to Raging Waters in San Dimas last week!  I cannot remember the last time that I went swimming at a pool/place that is not my backyard.  And it was a TON of fun!  I really want to go again before the season ends!


So that is it.  I think I'll do a couple of retro posts when inspiration strikes.  My brother is coming back to the US on the 28th so I canNOT wait for that.

Life has been good lately.  2014 is just coasting by.  It's finally, officially summer.  Bring on the heat!