子守

so, i was asked at work today to take care of the boss' son. his wife needed to go to the doctor's and the boss had a meeting. で、他には誰も居ないらしく、私が預かることに。he just turned 4, btw.

で、再確認させられたこと: 私、子供って結構苦手。何をしたらいいかわからない。i mean, i think little kids and babies are cute and all. but i seriously don't know how to treat them and play with them. it's worse when you can't communicate with them fully yet. どうやって機嫌取れっつぅんだよ！知らんし。

i offered to play with the little kid but he refused.... brat. so he just ended up sitting there watching a dvd while i did work. ま、楽っちゃあ楽だけどさ。but i seriously don't know what to do with them. ま、それも自分の子供があまり欲しくない理由の一部でもあるんだけどね。自分の子は他人の子を子守するのとは違うとは思うけど。でも。分からん。maybe i'll figure it out as a i grow up more??? i dunno... i feel like this is just something i'll never be good at. you can't help but feel sorry for the little sucker that's gonna end up as my child. lol

Currently listening to: 冬空のLove Song - ベッキー♯♪

Parking

trying to find parking in the parking structure at work is ridiculous. i mean, people around here park really horribly... 同じビルに勤めている人ばかりではない。there's a 24-hour fitness and people who use it park there as well. in addition, there are people that take the shuttle from here to get to the airport. だから、結構長期滞在している車もいる。so there are seriously all types of different drivers.

anyways, what's horrible is, there's a lot of difficulty finding parking spots becuase people can't park properly. there are so many cars that are parked so crooked that it's impossible to park next to it. 後はあからさまに線を跨いで2つのスペースを確保してるヤツとか。もうホント大変。空いてるけど、停めようが無い。勘弁して欲しいですな。

Currently listening to: Grenade - Bruno Mars

Moving & Duck House

today, the entire day was spent moving a bunch of stuff from our current house to our new one. 来週末には今の所を引き払わないといけないから、今週末中に大きいものを移動させておく事にした。we ended up moving two refridgerators, two sofas, an armchair, an dresser, and a bunch of other stuff in the garage. i think we did a good job. 腕が痛いけどね。ちょっとだけ。

もうホント一日掛りのことになっちゃった。お父さんが慎重な人だから、何をするにも時間が掛かる。he likes to try to figure out everything before he starts moving so it ends up taking a lot longer than it has to. lol. ま、でも、いい運動になったかな？

夜は北京ダックのお店に連れて行ってもらいましたぁ。the only time i've had peking duck was in japan 2 years ago. so i was really excited. i really like it and wanted to try it again. when we got into the restaurant and looked at the menu, it said that we needed to call an hour in advance in order to have the peking duck. どうしよう．．．って思ってたら、ウェートレスさんが注文できるって！キャンセルか何かだ出たみたい。ラッキー！in addition, we ordered fried rice, fried calamari, and sautee vegetables. イカと野菜は美味しかったけど、チャーハンがいまいち。って言うか、味が余りしなかった。lol.

the peking duck was pretty good. but i think i like the one i tried in japan better. maybe because it's catered to a japanese population whereas this one isn't. でも、そこそこ美味しかった。高いけどね。もうちょっと安かったらまた行こうかなって気になるかもね。

Currently listening to: Raise Your Glass - PINK

News

last night, i went out to eat with my roommates from college. we all went to the same middle school and high school so we've known each other for a relatively long time. で、皆で久し振りに集まってご飯することになったの。

内、一人は1年先輩で、その人から聞いた話。someone from our high school and in his year had died the day before. apparently, the other people knew him too but i didn't. あんまり先輩達と仲良くなかったからね。apperently, the guy that died was in a car whose driver was under the influence. drunk driving. and he wasn't wearing a seat belt. 馬鹿だよねぇって話をしてたの。何でベルトつけないかなぁ？当たり前なことなのにね。it's really sad. he could have survived had he put on his seat belt. で、運転手もうちの高校の先輩らしい。助かったけどの。but he's in jail. he'll probably get something for manslaughter. and dui. 自業自得だね。でも、身近でこういうこと聞くとツラいね。

Currently listening to: 桜坂 - 福山雅治

細かい上司

うちの上司は本当に細かい。he's just really nit picky about the smallest stuff... -__- 一緒に働いてるこっちが疲れる．．．

like the font of an e-mail. he wants me to use arial but i guess the default on my computer was times new roman. dude, even schools don't care if you use arial instead of times new roman and vice versa. they're practically the same thing. ウザイ。それだけど大騒ぎしないで欲しい。馬鹿じゃん？there are so many freakin' rules at this place for anything that you do that its practically impossible to get everything right on the first try. しかも、別に教育してもらってるわけでもないし。殆ど只資料の束を渡されて「やって」って言われるだけ。「あなたは頭いいからできるでしょ？前のとかを見たら」だって。フザケンナ。

and on top of that, he's really lax on time. like, he's never here when i get to work. i get to work at 10:30, and he's still not here... -__- usually comes in past noon. だから、暇なときの方が多い。することない。ひたすら携帯小説とかを読んでる。いい加減にして欲しい。だったら、勤務時間短くして欲しい。ま、減俸は困るけど。ugh, i really should find a new place.

Currently listening to: キレイだ - w-inds

青山カフェ

今日は日本語学校の友達とランチしてきました。it took us a while to decide where to eat but we finally decided on a place called Aoyama Cafe. なんか、UCCコーヒーのお店らしいです。

お店についてメニューを見たら、先ず気になったのが、英語と中国語しかなかったこと。i mean, it is supposed to be a japanese cafe but there was not japanese whatsoever. weird... でも、種類は豊富でしたね。いまいちピンとくるやつは無かったけど．．．i ended up getting their spicy creme pasta with prawns. ん～ん。微妙。辛くないし、クリームも美味しくなかった。残念な結果でしたね。it looked really promising too. but i guess because there are so many chinese people in the area, it's geared more towards that kind of crowd. *sigh*

ま、でもコーヒーは美味しかったみたい。さすがUCC. i got their iced tea since i don't like coffee and it was pretty good. nothing fancy about it tho. ま、もう行くことは無いでしょう。

Currently listening to: 噛むとフニャン feat. ASTRO - 佐々木希

Busy Busy

today was quite busy. でも、充実してたね。今日は朝からお父さんと姉とで飲茶食べに行った。a place called Sea Harbor Seafood on Rosemead. it's a pretty big place and it's always been packed so i've always been interested but since it's so busy, i've never had the chance to try it out. だから、朝の10時に開くのを知って、それぐらいに行こうという話しになりました。

ついたのは10時ちょっと過ぎ。でも、もうそこそこ入ってた。the place was an order before hand type place and so, there were no carts milling around... :( i like seeing what's on the carts as i order for dim sum so that was kinda saddening. ま、でも、とりあえず色々注文してみた。シュウマイ、ハーガオ、ちまき、お粥、などなど。they were all pretty good. 基本は薄味みたい。でも、おいしかった。but, it's a bit pricey. i mean, there are some pretty good dim sum places that are really cheap. so it makes it seem even more expensive. ま、でも、超お腹一杯になりました。

afterwards, we had to go to ikea to do an exchange so we could finish with the kitchen cabinets. man, the house is taking a lot longer than expected to complete. もうホント早くして欲しい。時間掛かりすぎ。we are seriously almost done. but it's still doubtful as to whether or not we can move in by the end of january.... i hate that construction company with a passion!

and tonight, i had a bbq at a friends place. it's been a while since i've been to her house but her mom remembered me :) she's such a nice lady. ちょっと何を言ってるか分かりづらいけど．．．but yea, it was fun. i saw some people from high school that i haven't seen in a while and we talked about stuff. でも、やっぱりいつも遊んでる面子じゃないから、ちょっと浮いたかな。だから少し早く帰ってきたけどね。

but overall, it was a nice day. got to spend some quality time with friends and family. 母が居ないとこうも違うもんだと痛感しましたね。後半年くらい日本に居ればいいのに．．．

Currently listening to: No Strings Attached - N'Sync

TRAFFIICCCCC

man, driving to and from work is a pain. seriously. 朝はそれほどでもないけど、帰りが大変。いくら少し遅めだとは言え、あまり渋滞は解消されてないから、やっぱり結構混む。and driving in traffic is a pain. esp. because i tend to be a bit undecisive about which lane to stick to. lol. 大きい車だからなるべく一つのレーンに納まりたいんだけど、、、

今日はちょっと早く退社させてもらった。って言っても、6時前ぐらい。and of course, traffic was horrible.... 帰るまで1時間15分くらい掛かったかな？it was really bad. the 105 was packed all the way through. and the sad part is, it's not like there's been an accident or anything. it's just traffic. そういうのが一番イヤだね。

これからは運転が大変そうです。

Currently listening to: エメラルド - ベッキー♯♪

「ガクちゃん」

母のお客様の中に、「ガクちゃん」とあだ名を付けられた人がいます。それはただ単純に日本の歌手の「ＧＡＣＫＴ」に似ているから。雰囲気が。

so, this guy, he's actually really hot too. 顔もちょっとコワイ感じのイケメンだし、体も結構いい。細マッチョっていうの？超好みです。and he's really stylish. plus, he's fluent in English since he practically grew up here and in Japanese as well since he went to college in Japan. crazy, huh? しかも、仕事が出来る。出張とかにしょっちゅう行かされてるし、最近マイ・ホームを買ったって言うから、そこそこ貰ってるみたい。plus, he's a really good husband, apparently. he helps out a lot around the house and does a lot of his stuff by himself. いいよねぇ。もう、完璧に近いかも。

so, the thing is, i just talked to him on the phone right now on behalf of my mom. OMG!!! ヤバイくらいにイイ。低い感じがね。ugh. seriously, too bad he's taken... 非常に残念。ま、別に独身であろうとチャンス無さそうだけどね。 :(

Currently listening to: さくらドロップス - 宇多田ヒカル

初！フカヒレ

tonight, we went out to dinner at Sea Empress in Gardena since my grandma and my mom are leaving for Japan tomorrow. で、父がどうせならフカヒレを食べようと言い出した。初めてだから超ワクワク。
we decided to get the shark fin soup with crab meat. since my mom doesn't like it, we got a different soup as well. 感動でしたね。ウマ過ぎでした。and according to my grandma, it had a lot of shark fin in it. hehe. 本当に美味しかった。さすが世界三大珍味。

other than that, we also got live prawns. those things were GINORMOUS!! すっごい食べ応えがある。おっきいから結構ボリュームもあり、二匹食べたらそこそこお腹一杯に。しかも、フカヒレスープも飲んでるし。we ended up taking quite a bit back home. guess i'll be eating the leftovers for lunch and dinner for a while.

Currently listening to: Respect - Aretha Franklin

初出勤

so, i started working today. it's for a friend of my parents so it's not something that's really nerve-racking or anything. ま、でも、日本人だから少しやりにくいかも？ルールとか色々細かいしうるさいし。he says there's nothing to be uptight about but that's obviously not true. 一応仕事だし？

well, i didn't really do much today. just some basic work on excel and some e-mail writings. nothing fancy. i guess this is still the "training" mode so he can't ask me to do anything difficult and if i finish and he's busy, there's nothing for me to do. 何か、前の図書館みたいにネットばっかりしてない自分に少し驚き。確かに最近家でもあまりネットしてないしね。代わりにずっと携帯小説読んでたね。ハマってます。but yea, there's a lot of free time to just do nothing. plus, i get an hour for lunch so that's also a lot of time.

commute is going to be hell tho. takes a little less than an hour to get to work. -__- 長いよね。運転疲れるなぁ。ugh. but i have no other choice. oh, and the stupid guy decreased my work hours and wages.... で、母にそれ言ったら、ブツブツ文句言われた。知らんし！自分がお勧めしたんだからいいじゃん。文句言うなら、直接雇い主に言ってくれ。バァーカ。はぁ。今日は色々と疲れた。

Currently listening to: Truth - 嵐

Kitchen Cabinets

man, tonight was spent building kitchen cabinets for the house from ikea with my dad. 建築会社に頼むとお金が要るから、自分達でやることに。ホント、ケチくさいとこ。ま、それはいいとして、ほとんど父と二人でしたのだけど、一応母と姉と祖母もついてきた。意味無いのに…案の定、母はほとんど何もせず、文句ばかり。ugh. it's so annoying. she's of no use yet she insists on tagging along... she's just really annoying. and my dad. he insists on figuring out how all the pieces will fit before starting. だから、作り始めるまでが長い。いつまでも説明書とにらめっこ。バカみたい。。。if you just start the way ikea tells you to, it's really not too difficult. everyone just seems to love to make things time consuming. ま、でも、一応ひとつ作るのに、一時間ぐらいしかかからなかったけどね。ikea makes it really easy so it wasn't so bad.

in the end, we ended up making most of the cabinets and we'll be finishing up on sunday. そんなに時間かからないと思うけどね。早く終わらせないとね。

Currently listening to: Addicted to You - 宇多田ヒカル

面接

今日は仕事の面接に行ってきました。ま、仕事って言っても母の知人の手伝いだけなんだけど。しかも、その人って超細かくて大変らしい。my dad is the one that initially knew him and he's worked with him before and definitely did not recommend him. lol. 気が重いなぁ。but i really need to work so for now, i'm stuck.

anyways, had to drive out all the way to palos verdes at first to help my mom. then, going back, went along this really scenic route. it was really pretty with the ocean and stuff. でも、結構捲いてる道で、気をつけないといけないところだったから、あんまりゆっくり見れなかったね。交通量も結構あったし。ま、一人で感動しながら運転してたね。（笑）

so, met up with my employer around noon. talked for a while and then decided to go for lunch. その面接の内容が変でしたね。ま、学歴や特技など、普通のことも聞かれたけど、血液型とか、イヤな事とか、なんか、関係なさそうなこともいっぱい聞かれた。and man, this guy talks a lot! この先が思いやられる．．．しかも、来週の月曜からはもう仕事だって。*sigh*お昼はインド料理をゴチになりました。結構インド料理とは縁が無くて、ほとんど食べたことがない。it wasn't so bad. the curry was actually pretty good. (it was a buffet). but the salad dressing was yogurt based and that was a bit gross. but other than that, it was decent. the naan was actually really good. :) また、挑戦してみたいな。

Currently listening to: Mine - Taylor Swift

Desert Springs

went all the way to desert springs today for a one-night stay with the family. 超疲れた。片道2時間運転して、向こうについてしたことといえば、ショッピングのみ。バカらしい。it was raining on the way to. not all the way through. there were some parts were there was no rain, and other parts drizzle, and other parts with heavy rain. that made driving a lot more difficult. しかも、ほとんど始めて行くような道だから、大変。and of course, there are lots of a-hole drivers out there that you have to watch out for. 帰りは帰りで時間が丁度夕焼け時で、太陽に向かって走るから、眩しいの何の。driving was a real pain...
and seriously, all we did there was shopping. -__- キライなんだよねぇ、買い物。疲れるだけ。メッチャ歩くし。but my mom loves shopping so that's pretty much all we did. the scenery was really nice tho. 最初の日は雨だったから、あんまり何も見えなかったけど、帰りの今日は超晴天だったため、山とかめちゃめちゃきれいでしたね。

since it was such a long drive, decided to take some cds along. 今、あんまり無くて、とりあえず、ほとんどひたすらバンプ聞いてたね。昔はすっごい好きだったね。今でも結構好きだけど。i think bump of chicken has some really good music. i think i was listening to their album jupiter. really good. well, i guess there was some plus to the trip. rediscovered awesome music.
Currently listening to: ハルジオン - BUMP OF CHICKEN

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

it's 2011!! 明けましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いいたします。

today was spent leisurely. was able to spend the day with the bf. he actually took a day off of work for me!! :) ありがとうございます！at night, the bf and i were able to go out so we decided to go to golf n' stuff. it's in downey. どこ行こうか散々迷った挙句、彼の妹がそこを進めてたのを思い出し、行くことに。especially since its new years and there are are few places open, we decided to give it a shot.
it was actually a really interesting place. it had an arcade, mini golf, and some rides. そこそこ充実した品揃え。しかも、値段は結構お手ごろ。で、寒いけど、そんな寒空の下でミニゴルフをすることに。楽しかったよ♪ they have like four different courses you can choose from but towards the end, we were just going every which way, ignoring the courses. lol. あんまり時間はなかったけど、楽しめたね。また機会があったらいってみたいかな。

Currently listening to: 声を聞かせて - BIG BANG