Need-to-Knows

Enough with the boring "Getting to Know You" stuff.  Here are random things about me.  I'll keep adding to this as I find out more about myself.  :)


1. I like staying at hotels.
Because they have softer pillows, more comfortable mattresses, and better blankets than my own bed.  And I like cranking the A/C up and wrapping the comforter around me.  :)  Hotels may not always have free wifi but as long as the TV has cable, I'm good.

2. I took a bus across the continental United States twice.  Los Angeles to New York City.
I have clocked in serious mileage with Greyhound.  It was an experience.  Definitely one off the bucket list.

3. I love the grocery store.
It is my favorite store.  The book store comes close second.  I like walking the aisles even though I'm not looking for anything.

4. My favorite words are WOMB and BEQUEATH... and Führer.
Just say it... woooooomb.  When BradSkars said it on Generation Kill, it further cemented my love of the word.  As for "bequeath"... well, when I heard it on The Borgias, I thought it was the sexiest word ever.  And Führer?  I just love saying it... complete with the German accent.

5. I like buying notebooks but I don't use them that much.
It does not matter if it has a pretty cover or good paper.  I certainly like looking at notebooks at the supplies store.  I remember a year in high school where ALL my notebooks had a Lord of the Rings theme.  And all my bags have notebooks or notepads.

6. I do not know how to ride a bike.
I never graduated from the training wheels.  Maybe I'm just scared?  I don't know.  But when I look at a bike, I think it's doable.  *shrugs*  I'll just walk.

7. I love snow.
I know, I know.  I'm from Southern California, snow is novelty for me.  Blah-blah-blah.  No.  I genuinely love snow.  Now, could living with it for some time change my opinion of it?  I doubt it.  I love snow.

8. I am a certified SCUBA diver...
I got my license in 2007 with CMAS.  I don't dive as often as I want though.  But when needed, it's there.

9. ... One of my biggest fears is drowning.
See what I did there?  Numbers 8 & 9 totally go together.  Sorta.  My worst lucid dreams - nightmares, really - often are about falling or sinking or drowning.  I remember at one dive, I was 50ft. underwater and I looked up.  I saw the surface glittering above me and I felt a pang of fear for a split second.  And to run out of air while so deep underwater?  It terrifies me.  I actually ran out of air at 12ft. one time.  It was just the practice pool but I had 0 in the tank.  Hopefully, when my time comes, it's not going to be drowning.

10. Another one of my fears: shards of glass.
Little pieces of glass getting into everything.  Under your skin, splinters, shreds everything.  It sends a not so good chill down my spine.  I got into a car accident last July 2011 and I was so scared that I got glass in my mouth and my eye, I couldn't even cry.

11. To round of the fears: zombie-pocalypse.
Don't you dare laugh.  I mean, imagine looking out your window one fine day and see a horde of undead swaying and moaning on the street!  And you're the only one alive.  How will you survive?  Damn, I can't.

12. Food quirk: I don't touch my food.
Well, it doesn't mean that I 100% wouldn't.  But as much as possible, as soon as it touches my plate, my hands don't touch it anymore.  If I have to, this is what I do: touch food - food into mouth - wipe fingers.  Over and over again.  And what's stranger?  Other people can touch my food, no problem.  Even if it's on my plate already.  But not me.

13. I like keeping lists.
I always list things down.  Bucket lists, download lists, book/movie/show lists... you name it, I probably have a list for it.  And I have to physically write them down.  None of this digital listing shit.

14. I rarely get star struck.
If you've been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you'd know that I've met my share of Hollywood and Broadway stars.  And I got to be honest, I'm usually not starstruck by them.  Sure, it changes the way I watch movies/shows -- it took me a month before I could watch Generation Kill again after meeting Jon Huertas in person -- but I could still have a decent and perfectly sane conversation with them.  I'm not one of those insano batshitcrazy fans who feel like they're entitled because they run a community about that actor or they traveled far and wide just to meet them.  Fans are fans.  We all are human beings.  But I have my moments.

15. I may have a photographic memory.
Or at the very least, a really - REALLY - good one.  Just as long as I read or clearly hear something, there is a very good chance that I will be able to recall that when needed.  It has come in handy so many times, especially at work.  I wish it worked better for school but I think it requires a bit of concentration and a lot of interest for it to be most effective.  When reading, I am able to remember which side of the book I've read a passage or item.  It's a little intimidating to some people but I welcome this "gift".

16. I sing in eight/nine languages.
English, Tagalog, Italian, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.  I can learn more.  Languages are quite easy for me.  I know one song in Serbian.  Does that count?  LOL. 

17. I like/love makeup.
Specifically... LIPSTICKS.  I'm not one of those women who pile on the rouge and powder every single day. In fact, I go with little to no makeup more than the full show.  I just like having access to many different shades.  And I am slightly obsessed with completing lipstick collections from certain brands like Wet n Wild and my lovely love, Etude House.  For the possibility of makeup-related posts in the future, here's my beauty profile: click.

18.  I can't sleep while in transit.
No matter how tired or sleepy I am, if the vehicle is moving... I'm not going to get any sleep.  I've been on 17-hour plane rides and 5-day road trips and the only times that I was able to get some shut-eye were when the bus broke down at Utah and the lengthy stopovers.

19. I hate getting lipstick marks on the edge of a mug/cup/glass.
And that's kind of unavoidable for someone who loves lip color as much as I do but I don't like it.  I either wipe it off as soon as I take a drink or turn the cup another way if it is paper or styrofoam.  But I love it when I get lip color on straws.


20. I was born on the day of the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.
Yes, on the exact date.  Wikipedia it and you'll know when I was born.  Kind of fitting that 25 years later, I'm learning Korean language.

21.  I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows inside of 17 hours
From that moment I paid for it (on the opening day, no less), through meals, and "studying".

22. I have watched Moulin Rouge every New Year's Eve for... almost 10 years now.
It all started when HBO premiered it for TV viewing back-to-back.  I watched it twice in a row during that NYE and every year since.

23. I've loved languages ever since I was little.  
I started out with Japanese in grade school, Mandarin Chinese in high school, Spanish and French in college, and now I'm learning Korean.  I can pick up words here and there for Japanese and French.  I can recognize some Chinese characters.  I read Spanish better than speaking it.  And as for Korean... well, that's where I made most improvement.

24. I went to the same performance arts workshop as 2NE1's 박산다라, Center for Pop Music Philippines.
This is one of the reasons why she's my bias. 


25. Some years ago, I marathon'd Criminal Minds from season 1, episode 1 to the latest episode of what was then season 6 over the course of 9 days.  
My mom was with me.  We haven't missed an episode since.

26. I have an awful sense of direction.  
I get more confused if you give me directions with actual direction words - North, South, East, West, etc.  I operate with landmarks better.  Walk straight until you see the RiteAid and turn left.

27. There was a time when I knew all the words to Stan by Eminem, Rollin and My Generation by Limp Bizkit.  
I can still mime to them now but give me a few listens and I think I can still do it.  But I still do know all the words to In the End by Linkin Park.

28. I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Generation Kill by Evan Wright, and The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien at least once every year.
I don't know when exactly this "tradition" started.  I just love these three books so damn much that I don't mind re-reading them over and over.

29. I "appeared" in The Playbill Broadway Yearbook, Sixth Annual Edition. 
See for yourself.  Under the American Idiot entry.

30. Orange is my favorite color.  
If you don't know already

31. 나는 윈순 잠이에요. I am left-handed.
And I wold not have it any other way.