This is way past due, but I have made a new blog on wordpress.com.

The Watch Glass

I've exported several posts from my xanga to my wordpress, so only 3 or 4 posts are new content.

So, I recently had the pleasure of staying in a hotel as a result of my parents coming to visit me in college. The reason for their visit is lunar new year; I know that doesn't occur until next Sunday, but on the weekend of new year, the family spends time together. Since I am in college now, a fair number of hours away, I cannot partake of the celebration with my younger cousins at our grandparents' house this year; however, my parents still will be. (I really will miss the food they're going to have! I know it'll be absolutely delicious.)

It has been so long since I've stayed in a hotel. The responsibility of choosing one and booking a reservation was solely mine. Where I live currently, it seems that one of the cheaper hotels is the Doubletree hotel. (Or maybe I just didn't look hard enough.) In my opinion, it was a pretty good deal. The fanciness of the hotel was apparent from the second I stepped into the lobby. Of course, they had the standard high ceiling, marble floors, potted palm trees and indoor fountain. The fountain was what caught my attention the most; it was pretty large, taking up so much space that it served as a sort of partition, with a little waiting area in front, and a lounge area behind it. Maybe it's just me, but the fountain was mesmerizing. I could stand there for quite a while, watching how the water ran over the textured stone in rivulets, how one would flow into another, especially as they reached the bottom of the fountain.



And the lounge area behind:



The fountain itself has this kind of water action going on:


Pretty cool. (Amirite?)

Somehow, I had completely missed the fact that they give out “free” cookies while checking in (since it's mentioned on their website). This was a pretty pleasant surprise; and they were warm! (Warm, soft chocolate chip cookies? This hotel really knows how to please their customers.)

For the room itself, I was pretty happy with that, also. The comforter the used was nice and fluffy (I love fluffy blankets), as were the pillows (four per bed? Nice!). Not only that, the bed itself was also a sleep number bed; that was pretty fun to play around with for a while.



What's funny is that I had already tried the bed out and gotten under the covers by the time I took this picture. So I had to remake it in order for it to appear as if this was taken when I first got into the room. Looks good, right? D:



Even though we didn't use it, I noticed they also had a nice clock in the room, to which you could connect your iPod or mp3 player (the headphone jack is hidden behind it).





In the bathroom, they made everything look cool by folding the towels *and* the toilet paper in a fancy way.


(May I attract your attention to what appears to be cabinets at the bottom of the photo? Now see that gap in the top left corner of the center "cabinet"? I thought it was broken at first, until I found that I couldn't open any of them at all. There's also a gap in the bottom right corner, due to the way it's angled. After more curious fiddling with the middle panel, I found that I could at least move it to where it was vertical; however, I still couldn't slide it to where it appears to be a closed cabinet. In the vertical position, there's an opening along the right side of the "door."

What? You don't care?
Well, I thought it was cool! D:



Unfortunately, even with the fancy sleep number bed, I failed to get a good night's rest. Perhaps it was because my legs don't like to be restrained? (I failed to pull the edges of the covers from beneath the mattress before going to bed).

That's not all I did this weekend, though! I'm not such a boring person that the most exciting thing I can blog about is how amazing I think this one hotel is. A hotel so amazing that even their trash bags smell good. And before you think I should be sent to an insane asylum or wonder why you're reading my blog in the first place (which I think is a pretty good question, in any case), I only know because I forgot my pillow in the hotel room after we had already checked out, and when I went to pick it up later, the receptionist at the front desk wanted to put it in a bag to protect it (I guess) and could only find a trash bag. While running back to the car, I mashed the bag + pillow against my body to make it less cumbersome, and in doing so, got a wiff of the bag itself(because I know my pillow doesn't smell like that). I know, I know. Forgetting my pillow was pretty fail.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, my parents came to visit me. Of course, like every other time they've come to visit (which hasn't been that many, truthfully), they treat me out to some good Vietnamese food. Really, it's the only thing I've eaten this whole weekend, and boy, was it delicious!
After lunch yesterday, we went to the little Asian market nearby (and later along the way, Saigon Mall) and bought some food. After actually looking at the things I picked out (and they bought for me), I've noticed that I seem to really like lychee flavored things.


(But look, look! There's a bottle of passionfruit green tea on the right side. That counts for something, right?) The lychee flavored water comes in a clear plastic can! (Isn't that cooollll? Like transparent aluminum!)

The lychee jelly really brings back some memories (well, sorta). I haven't had these things in such a long time!

Anyway, after this trip, my parents took me to the mall. They've been wanting me to get new jeans ever since they saw the skinny jeans pair I bought during Christmas break. My mom said because they look to be warmer, but my sister told me what they said to her, and apparently, it's because the jeans I have now (which are somewhat baggy, since I intended them to be rather roomy in the legs) look unflattering on me. Gee, thanks, Mom.

I was never one to really enjoy clothes shopping for long amounts of time, and this time was no different. It's always troublesome to find pants especially, since I have to look for petite/short ones that are also in my size. My thighs are also somewhat big (for my stature), so when I do find pants that fit comfortably over my thighs, I know they'll be loose around the waist. I don't know if my calves are also bigger than normal for someone my size, or if it was just because I was previously athletic, but sometimes the most problematic part of the pants when trying on jeans are getting my calves to fit into the corresponding portion of jeans (of course, this only goes for skinny jeans).

For something so troublesome, it's only understandable that I don't do this frequently, either. The last time I went shopping for jeans was maybe sophomore year? Those jeans have lasted me pretty long, also. They're still in good condition, aside from the fact that they're frayed on the bottom (from being too long for my legs). I purposely bought those to be loose around my legs; after all, I don't want to have to wrestle my clothes on and off every time I change. Yeah, I know, I'm pretty lazy with my wardrobe. I didn't really start caring about what I wore until maybe junior or senior year of high school, and I wasn't much more inclined to worrying about whether this matched that. And since I shop so infrequently, it's good that I find a brand I know I will fit good (and what size fits well) that also lasts long, right? So, Levi's, thank you for making such dependable jeans.

Anyway, I eventually found two pairs of jeans that fit rather well and weren't too expensive (Levi's, huzzah!). My mom had originally wanted me to buy two pairs of jeans that were differently colored than the pair I bought during Christmas holiday (for more versatility with the rest of my wardrobe), but the black pair that I found looked somewhat awkward in particular area. Afterwards, we went to check in and relax a bit at the previously mentioned hotel-of-awesomeness before heading to church.

This morning, we went to eat again (moar Vietnamese food, heck yessss), and then my parents left (after going back to the hotel to pick up my pillow in the nicely fragranced trash bag). Earlier today, I took my jeans out of the Macy's bag so that I could take the tags off and whatnot and put them away. To my dismay, I found that the cashier failed to take off those magnetic buttons they put on clothes to (I suppose) deter thievery.


But I already paid for these jeans! Well, okay, my parents paid for them, but that's beside the point!

I suppose this means I have to go back to Macy's (or some clothing store, at least) to have it taken off. How troublesome. D;

I know it's not until next Sunday, but happy lunar new year!
For the Vietnamese people:
Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Wow, I think this is the first time I've ever had photos in a blog entry.

This is why I regard my friends so highly. Never having had a wealth of friends, and not wanting to be the kind of person that had tons of "friends" whom I would more consider acquaintances in that case, I treasure the ones I find. I try hard to maintain contact with them. I try hard to make the people I call friends (which, I suppose, might equate to the term "best friend" for others) happy and do things that please them. I feel that, for the people who already make me laugh so easily, care when I'm upset, are willing to help me when I need it, and do many other things which I cannot think of at the moment, the fact that I can make them happy automatically makes me happy. I do not like it when y'all are upset or stressed, especially if there's nothing I can do about it. It makes me feel useless.

I don't like not being able to see you guys much outside of classes because I feel like I might be forgotten about. That's why, that one time at the end of last semester, I hit Cameron when I saw him. Having not seen or really heard from him in a while, I was afraid that he might not consider me much of a friend anymore, and I was upset with both him and myself. Shouldn't I have put more effort into at least trying to talk to him regularly, as he should have? I realize that logic seems kind of stupid and perhaps paranoid. When I compare the friendships I have with all of you to what I see of the friendships you have with each other, I feel somewhat left out. And therefore, when I get to spend time with all of you, I feel privileged. Just being with you guys and watching you interact can make me happy because of that reason.

I suppose, in a way, when I find someone I call a friend, I become clingy and dependent upon them. At least, to me it seems this way. I restrain myself, though, or try, so that I don't become overbearing or annoying. If I have something to say that's important to me, but y'all don't have the time to talk anymore, I won't say it and keep you further. There's probably a good chance that I won't bring it up the next time we talk because I don't want to bother you with it. The only problem is that I then keep it pent up inside of me, and it might affect my behavior later on. I don't want to upset y'all, though, so if something's bothering me, I try not to let it show. I just want for you all to be happy and spend some time with me. And for that, I would do almost anything.

I have a hard time finding people I can talk to about such deep things easily. Even among my friends, there are only a few whom I am comfortable talking about serious matters with. But if you don't have the time, or the topic bothers you, even if it's rather important to me, I'll stop. I'm happy when I can find people whom I can confide in, and even happier when the people I trust can trust me enough to confide in me.

If, in the end, for some reason, I can't be friends with any of you anymore, I think I'll be able to handle being alone again.

Anything to make you happy.