sydney blogging
Saturday, April 30, 2005
am posting this from an internet cafe in sydney!
we're flying back tonight. i'm coming home, lulu~ please wait for me.
will update... :)
lulu problems and going down under
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
lulu doesn't seem to like my cellphone modem at home. my posts are getting more sporadic. at least sprintpcs got rid of that $900 bill on my phone for the web charges! maybe i should get a high-speed connection here... (i'm just afraid that i would never leave the house then :)
we'll be flying out at noon today. a fun 10-hour flight to the land down under. see you guys on sunday! have a great week~
mochi ice cream and stone washing
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
i met up with an old friend (AH) for some late night bubbies last night. it's hard to say 'no' to mochi ice cream and coffee: even at 10:30pm. we haven't met in almost a year and i was surprised that we still clicked like old times. we had green tea, sakura and passion mochi's while making plans for indigo jazz, the nara yoshimoto art exhibit at the contemporary museum, and a maui trip in may (yes, another one). we had to squeeze in a lot of stuff cause she is leaving in june :(
after the coffee, she asked me to take her to the beach because it was a full moon and she needed to wash her magic stones under the moonlight for good luck. i got kinda excited. stone washing under the romantic full moon? sounds good to me~ but when we got to the hilton beach to my surprise, she proceeded to the shore to washed her magic stones. 'may i help?' i offered. she declined saying that it would rob her of the good luck. after the stones were washed, i persuaded her to sit on the beach with me and watch the silver clouds glow under the moonbeams. it was quite an interesting night...on a side note: i should've brought some stones for washing too, cause i scratched my front wheel rim on the curb while parking along the street in my haste. oh well~ until the next full moon :)
i shall call her: lulu
she came, and she was beautiful. my petite new notebook from dell: the inspiron 700m. i shall call her: lulu. i spent about 9 hours yesterday with setup and files transfers. this is the first official post. lulu says 'hi...' :)
night drive
Saturday, April 23, 2005
there's a beautiful full moon out tonight shedding light on the dark island sky. i think i'll go out for a late-night drive around the island after this post... anyone care to join me? we'll stop by starbucks :)
eating-neko: exciting new eats
shokudo / momomo / toraji
there's been a rush of great new japanese eateries cropping up here in honolulu. per KT's request, here's my must-eat list of exciting new eats in town. get ready for your next visit! the first one is shokudo near ala moana shopping center. a casual style japanese dining place that i still need to visit late night (they close at 2am). then there's momomo, a great imana's te-like izakaya (japanese drinking restaurant/pub) on waialae. the food and atmosphere was great! gotta visit this place again. next we have yakiniku toraji on kapahulu. a new korean/japanese yakiniku (bbq) restaurant from the famous chain in japan. and lastly, we have okonomiyaki kai across from the new walmart in town. a classy okonomiyai/izakaya place in town. i still have to visit toraji and kai too~ hope this helps, KT :)
neko has a chat
i had an interesting online session late friday night (at the office) when a few old and new friends popped up. first i noticed that MT was online! but she ignored my "hellos" all night and i was quite heartbroken. then a drunk AO was online and we had a fun chat reminiscing about the good old days. then WO in japan was online and we chat about her missing hawaii and her boyfriend. then CY was online telling me about her exciting lunch meeting with a bryan adams concert tech and free tickets. then Pickle was online and we had a short chat for the first time ever...
if you're ever bored on IM, look for me at: co0601@hotmail.com on MSN IM. cheers~
volcano getaways
CY sent me an email inquiring about cozy romantic accommodations near volcano national park on the big island here. it was for her friend who was getting married and wanted to honeymoon there. i recommended kilauea lodge (in volcano village) or volcano house inside the park right next to the crater. they both definitely make for a unique getaway. 
i had planned for kilauea lodge at one time (they have a great gourmet restaurant too), but settled for hilton waikaloa with the the airline rates instead (remember love?). waiting for the next volcano adventure here. oh well... it could happen.
check them out at:volcano house & kilauea lodge
sydney countdown
the countdown is on for the group sydney trip. 4 days and counting. tomorrow we'll be having our last sydney planning meeting before our flight on wednesday. tickets-check. visa-check. the must do list so far:
-sydney opera house tour
-sydney harbor boat tour
-sydney harbour bridge walk
-the rocks/circular quay stroll
-darling harbor stroll
-sydney aquarium at darling harbor
-featherdale wildlife park
still looking for a few good eating places. gotta try some kangaroo meat and aussie beer. any dining recommendations?
life on a screen
how many hours do you spend a day on the computer (at work/home)? how many hours a day do you spend watching tv? i've spent too much of 2005 on both. 8-9 hours a day of computers at work. 2 hours of tv at night. another 2-3 hours of blogging at home (actually i blog and watch tv both at the same time). sure it keeps me out of trouble and saves cash: but i need to get out more... i need a chick...
sprintpcs attacks!
my sprintpcs cellphone attacked me last thursday. we had a small power-outtage in the office and the wi-fi downstairs went down. i had to connect to the web with my cellphone for my personal notebook. at the end of the day, i received a text message from sprint saying that my phone service was disconnected. i called up customer service and found out that i got billed for over $500 for web services eventhough i had signed up for the unlimited web plan. it was some sort of computer glitch. i was on the line with 3 reps for about 45 minutes. they said this service inquiry would take 5-10 days, and temporarily credited my account to get it back online. i got home that night and had to check on my email (for the notebook shipment). on friday morning, i checked my sprint balance and it had jumped up to $900 because of the web charges! sprintpcs attacks again! consumers beware~
in a slump
i've been in a slump again this week. i can't seem to shake it off. a heavy weight pressing on my heart and shoulders, keeping my head down below the waters of life. i need to breathe... * exhales *
dream, plan, organize, focus, perform, let go.
anxious shopper
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
i've been checking my notebook's shipping status every 45 minutes today... it is in testing mode right now. am waiting for the boxing and shipping confirmation. why does the $89 overnight fedex fee take 5 days? do you ever get into this mode?
work dreams
i dreamed about work last night. a full work dream shift of looking over lines, checking the program, and checking balances. will i get over-time for this? WAKE.
say 'hello' to my little friend
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
i've been in quite a splurging mood this week. it started when i picked up 2 pairs of shoes at the kenneth cole outlet on sunday. on monday i spent the day helping AT with her digital camera purchase which got me looking at the dell website. and there she was: the inspiron 700m (on sale). my new love comes with a 12.1" truelife widescreen, 1.6 ghz pentium m processor with centrino tech, 40 gig harddrive, a cd/dvd-burner, a sd card reader, 5.5 hr batt, in a newly designed 4.1 lb package measuring only 11.7" x 8.5" x 1.5". love at first site. i think i'll call her: 'mayu' or 'laura' * sigh * it's such a slow month...
neko-airline needs customers :(
Sunday, April 17, 2005
there seems to be no customers on neko-airline this season (there were 3 great customers for most of last year). the neko-airline is full service and all inclusive: air, room, car, dining, drinks, coffee, movies, ice cream, love and hugs. but there seems to be no takers~ i had 2 quick customers earlier this year (CY and maui valentine), but no regular takers. not even for the neko-limo service...maybe we need to re-market the product or something (how about: come fly the lonely skies~ neko-airlines). any suggestions on this one?
yikes! part 2
that 6-inch centipede came back for another visit! this time it was crawling from the bedroom hallway. it moved towards the door (so i started to unlock it), but it had a change of heart and decided to hide out by my shoeboxes instead. great~ i just got some new shoes today too. i'm really not sure why i'm so freaked by the creature: i'm 5'7 166 lbs, the centipede is 6 inches and probably 1/10th of a pound in weight. but it does pack one heck of a bite! what to do, what to do~ * sigh * i wish i could call AT the super centipede killer... oh well.
coffeetalk punctuates the slow weekend...
and gets me (almost) ready for another work week. it'll be a busy work week this week with the bid awards. it was nice coffee/blogging here with good company. my slow weekend picked up a bit. but now my laptop battery is running out. that must mean that i've been here for 4 hours~ time flies when your having fun. i'm ready new week! are you? bansai!
eating neko: a food collage
an eating-neko food collage. yup, we've been eating too much! and i'm having too much fun with my camera-phone. a test for the locals/ex-pats: can you name all the fine dining establishments pictured here?
good writers are over-rated
there's always a lot of hoopla about good writers/bloggers. but not much is celebrated about good readers. what are the great writers without their readers? great readers and listeners are a rare find. someone that cares enough to read what you have to write and listen to what you have to say. i blog-post about 5-6 days a week, but only blog-read about 3-4 times. i need to be a better reader. let's give a hand to all those great readers out there! thank you~
eating-neko: sushi king
eating-neko late night dining adventures at sushi king. a small local-favorite located a few blocks from puck's alley. this japanese restuarant has a sushi bar and a full menu that includes an early bird/midnight special combo for $7.75. it closes at 2am. so last saturday after the movie, we went wild at sushi king. we had to sit on the counter because the place was wall-to-wall packed with lines running out the building. i couldn't resist the ala carte sushi at the counter. no chu-toro (fatty-tuna) tonight :( but the amae-ebi (sweet shrimp) was precious! in hawaii the amae-ebi is served with deep-fried shrimp heads real crunchy like chips. so we had 2 orders of amae-ebi followed up by 2 more orders of salmon and one order of maguro (tuna) plus the midnight special combo with unagi (fresh water eel). we was sooo full. i was quite impressed with the sushi cuts there: fresh, thick, and little rice. another late night winner~
the elegant earring
the girl with the elegant earring. sitting at the bar waiting for a movie at restaurant row. i took a quick pic of KN's earring. she has a really good taste for exotic earring fashion. and this one was no exception. not all ladies can pull off these ethnic designs. it must be that hippie-ness in her~
a 'just-because' gift
sunday's are always full of surprises. i dropped by the office today to pull a few reports and received a gift from a coworker there. it was a beautifully framed picture of a hawaiian airlines classic baggage tag from the early 60's (all hand-made). i was pretty surprised and happy. 'just-because' gifts are always the best gifts. i keep it next to my lamp in the bedroom. thanks, MC!
people by mother theresa
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centred;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and GOD.
It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Theresa
that's strange
i had more whites than colors in the laundry bag this week. it must be all those gym towels or something... have you ever noticed? :)
a slow weekend
Friday, April 15, 2005
it looks like a pretty slow weekend this week. absolutely no plans with anyone. no gym, no tree trimming, no coffee, no lunches, no dinners, no drinks, no clubbing with anyone. nothing. just me and coco curry tonight (my comfort food). so neko is going solo this weekend. it's kinda sad. but i need some time alone too i guess. maybe i'll get that oil change and wash for the car. maybe i'll visit my parents and hit the beach. maybe i'll go to the office...
only sweet CY is sharing some time with me tonight (and she's in tokyo). we have a chat session at midnight. thank you baby~
yikes!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
a 6-inch long centipede scuttled across the kitchen floor right in front of me just 2 minutes ago as i was grabbing some orange juice from the fridge! that sucker was huge! i reached out for my handy weapon: the abercombie sandal, but that was too light. i decide to grab my roommate's kenneth cole slides. i was ready to attack, when i saw the creature move straight for the closed front door. i unlocked the door, and cracked it open a bit. it slipped out into the darkness without incident... is this another sign? i'm not leaving dammit! let's just live together peacefully...
a big heart attack
i had a big heart attack at work today. it started with some small office bickering and ended with a database blowing-up on me. i tried to panic calmly, but it wasn't easy. i called IT for some back up, and we restored the database within 4 hours. another fun work day.
then i head out to the gym and parked next to a convertible bmw that was being jacked by some juveniles in the parking lot. it's been a strange day. let's see what tomorrow holds~ * sigh *
neko gets a call!
neko gets a call from sweet CY. it's been over 3 months since i heard your voice. thank you for the surprise, love :)
i'm a turtle. how about you?
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
last night at the ocean club, we were initiated into the ' aloha turtle club. ' what is the aloha turtle club? i still don't know myself, but i'm starting to like it. as a member in good standing, i can subscribe new turtles. so answer the questions below, and i'll make you a turtle :)
To become an official Turtle, you must first solve the following riddles:
1. What is it a man can do standing up, a woman sitting down, and a dog on three legs?
2. What is it that a cow has four of and a woman has only two of?
3. What is a four letter word ending in “K” that means the same as intercourse?
4. What is it on a man that is round, hard, and sticks so far out of his pajamas you can hang a hat on it?
Once you have solved the riddles, you can become a member of the Aloha Turtle Club. Govern yourself accordingly and procure new members.
As a member in good standing you can subscribe new Turtles as follows:
We assume all prospective turtles own a Jack Ass. On this assumption is the reason for the password. This password must be given if a fellow member ever asks you. “Are You a Turtle?” You MUST reply, “You Bet Your Sweet Ass I Am.” If you do not give the password in full because of embarrassment or some other reason, you forfeit a beverage of his or her choice. So always remember the password.
a neko bookshelf tour
welcome to the neko bookshelf tour! on the first shelf we'll find the heavy reading: history of the farside, japanese language text-books, the arnold schwarzenegger encyclopedia of body-building, a bunch of frommer's travel guides, my fiance and marriage visa book, and a bunch of computer books. on the second shelf we'll find the light reading: some stephen covey, some dalai lama, the bible, robert frost, haruki murakami, gabriel garcia marquez, louis de bernieres, alain de botton, shel silverstein, and other novels. on the middle shelf i have a small candle/incense garden with my CY photo album and hug-bears. on the top shelf we'll find the 100+ dvds and the 2 kitties. i had sooo much more books, but had to sacrifice alot of stuff everytime i move. it's hard slimming down to essentials~
some highlights of the tour include:
-the toy monkey from the ' windup toy shop' on melrose ave
-the 2 kitties from CY from tokyo
-the metal candleholder from SH from prague
-the YK starbucks 'break-up mug' from bangkok
i love the little things in life. everything's got a story... what's on your bookshelf?
when aussies attack
kissing nemo
3 cheers for miss L! this wild lass from perth sure knows how to party.
3 cheers for EN! it's a pleasure to celebrate another birthday with you~
3 cheers for KO! stepping-up like a pro and taking care of business as usual. it's great to see you in action, man!
platonic relationships?
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
pla`ton´ic (according to webster)
a. 1. of or pertaining to plato, or his philosophy, school, or opinions.
2. pure, passionless; nonsexual; philosophical.
platonic love
a pure, spiritual affection, subsisting between persons of opposite sex, unmixed with carnal desires, and regarding the mind only and its excellences; - a species of love for which plato was a warm advocate.
-------------------------
platonic relationships: do they exist?
a small heart attack
i had a small heart attack this morning as i was heading out to work. it seems that i had left my car passenger-side window open last night! it's not good to keep a honda open like this. i forgot to close the window after a long day of work and gym. i'm glad there was nothing valuable in the car and i have a security alarm/engine-immobilizer key thingy. but it's still kinda scary. i'm just lucky that i did this in waikele and not at my old place! it's a much nicer neighbohood here...
aching
my body is pretty achy from 4 continuous days of gym (friday to monday). the 6 sets of squats on sunday are killing my legs making me walk funny. i waddle around like frankenstien. i also re-injured my left elbow doing tricep pull-overs and hurt my right wrist from the computer touchpad. yup, i'm falling apart~ last night i woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep because of the heat and the aches. bengay is my new friend...
surfboard / desert dream
Monday, April 11, 2005
part1
i dreamed that i was in the back yard with KO looking at AO's 2 old surfboards. i picked up a board and saw that it was in bad shape. lots of dings and no fin. how much is a new 9-foot board i asked him? about $700-900 he answered. that's a lot of dough! i'll have to put off my surfing days til later i guess...
part2
am now in the desert with a girl. we are trying to cross it. there's nothing but sand, sand, sand everywhere. which way should we go? what should we do? all we could do was walk on. WAKE.
happy birthday CY!
Sunday, April 10, 2005
happy birthday CY (april 11)! to a most special girl with a most special heart. i cannot put my feelings for you into words, but i know that you can feel me. have a great birthday, love! have a great year~ we will meet again.
cleaning house
this blog started out as a true dream-blog two years ago. the name came from the first neko (cat) dream post. but the blog has grown and become much more fun and dynamic since i met you all out there (thank you!). i found my blog voice, look and fuel. since i came to the realization that: " hell, people are actually reading this stuff! " i decided to clean house a bit. so if you didn't read any of those stupid posts in 2004 previously: ha! i beat you! i cleaned house and wiped them out. quality control is of the essence. there's nothing but the best (of me) for you~ cheers!
weekend update
well, it's 9:14pm sunday, i'm back in my blogging seat at coffeetalk. it's a pretty busy tonight. another weekend done. here's an update of the previous weekend plans.
friday pm: starbucks with LW - check, gym with KO - check, chat with CY- check
saturday am: gym with ST- check, tree trimming (and watching 3 hrs of UFC) with ST - check, starbucks with SG - no time
saturday pm: feng shui lounge birthday party with the entire crew - check
sunday am: starbucks with KN - changed plans to gym with AM, beach with KN - changed plans to starbucks with AM
sunday pm: chat with RO? - no time, coffeetalk - check
i can't believe i missed a coffee this week! i'm off my game :( just goes to show that not all things will go as planned, but hey: life is good~
happy birthday EN!
happy birthday EN (april 8)! there are ladies that shop and party; and then there are ladies that shop and party like EN. a true club trooper, and the sweetest, coolest gal. we went to celebrate her birthday last night at feng shui ultralounge at the hyatt hotel in waikiki. the poor girl out-did herself with 8 shots and got sick, but she had a great time nonetheless. i spent much of the night trying to get all my peeps together, and the rest of the evening was dancing, dancing, dancing. we danced like there was no tomorrow. it was good to let go~ i think we were out on the floor for about 13 songs. ST had to come get us as everyone was leaving at 1:30. sing like there's no one watching and dance like there's no tomorrow! her birthday celebrations started on friday at work, and will continue to tuesday at oceans... (will update)
star watch
Saturday, April 09, 2005
i was so excited about the body fat percentages yesterday that i forgot to mention that we saw jasmine trias at the 24-hr fitness doing cardios! she was on american idol season 3 finals. so cute and petite. i voted for you 100 times on that show, woman~ oh well...
car tunes
Friday, April 08, 2005
forget the ipod! i got a mp3 player: my car! i get 180 watts of music from the 6-speaker sound system loaded with the stock 6-disc cd changer. it's not 10,000 songs, but hey~ i don't plan to drive that far! it's also funny that ever since i got my laptop last summer, i have not listened to the radio at all. i just head down to tower/borders to discover new artists/cds at the listening stations. today i happily re-loaded my entire deck with 6 new rocking albums. let's drive, baby :)
lifehouse - lifehouse
beck - guero
bright eyes - digital ash for a digital urn
moby - hotel
snow patrol - final straw
brand new - deja entendu
what tunes do you listen to on your drive? any new artists/albums?
progress or a mis-calculation?
i got a new bodyfat test at the gym today. my last test was on march 13th. at the last test i was 163 lbs with 21.5% body fat. today i was:
weight: 166.5 lbs
body fat: 16.5%
success! progress! or was it just a mistake? a mis-calculation? i had a different trainer measure me today. he did the usual 4-site pinch and used the same charts, but the numbers varied by 5% in just one month! on the plus side, we did work out harder this past month with 3-4 gym days a week. the diet is alittle more balanced with greens and we had only a few drinking nights. but it could be just a different pinch by a different trainer. should i get another test tomorrow morning? or just accept the new results? i think i'll take the 16.5%. looking forward to a sexy summer~ update in one month! :)
aloha friday!
hey we made it to another friday! yay! how's your weekend shaping up? here's mine:
friday pm: starbucks with LW, gym with KO, chat with CY
saturday am: gym with ST, tree trimming with ST, starbucks with SG
saturday pm: feng shui lounge birthday party with the entire crew
sunday am: starbucks with KN, beach with KN
sunday pm: chat with RO?, ' open '
darn. i can feel the monday creeping in already... we need another day to recover :( have a great weekend everyone!
new new year's resolutions
is it too late for some new new year's resolutions?
i hope not. i already broke my previous resolutions in the first week of january (i was on the evening news telling people that i broke: come to work early and save money resolutions). i'd like a do-over for the goals. let's try some new resolutions starting mid-april! a fresh start for a fresh spring~ you see, it was hard for me to get excited about 2005 given that my chinese horoscope already predicted a tough year ahead for work and romance. january and early february was promising, but when the official chinese new year went into effect: the fortune-tellers were right. i'm stuck. headache at work and no romance. so what to do, what to do?
my new resolution for 2005 will look like this:
1. travel (like there's no tomorrow)
i know that it's a short list, but what the heck: it's a slow year and i need some new distractions. i want to maximize my airline flight benefits this year and travel just for the sake of traveling. i want to wake up in a different timezone and drink coffee in a different city. 2005 will be the year of travel. 2004 was a pretty good year with san diego, kauai, san francisco, dallas, and tokyo. but 2005 will be better~ so far this year, i did maui in february and miami in march. i have sydney planned for april, san francisco planned for may, dallas planned for august, and bangkok planned for november. plus a big island visit in the fall with that comp-room at the mauna lani. i'd also really like to visit europe again, but i have no coffee partners there * sigh * :(
what would your new new year's resolutions be for 2005?
i will miss the sakura this year :(
Thursday, April 07, 2005
i will miss the sakura (cherry blossoms) in tokyo again this year :( and they look soo beautiful! thank you CY, for the photos. they look like soft white cotton candy floating in the branches. like soft snow in the spring. i will plan for a trip next year for sure! am still working on that sydney trip at the end of this month. will you drink sake with me in the park under the falling cherry blossoms next year?
no red slippers
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
ok. i lied. i couldn't find those red slippers...
but will these do? :)
