I went to their website and was definitely interested. I asked my friend who is also obsessed with spinning to go with me. We both reserved our bikes online and paid $30 (yeah it’s a bit EXPENSIVE) for our ride. I rented bike shoes because I heard that it’s just THAT much better. Wow, the bikes were like no other. Our instructor, Nicky, had to help me get clipped into the bike since the whole bike moves. I was under the impression that only the handle bars move, boy was I wrong! My first ride was a bit petrifying. I was glad I got bike shoes because at least I wouldn’t fall out off the bike. It was really difficult to stand and ride because you have to balance your entire body. Also, I had trouble doing the “turns”. The rest of the students seemed to be professional riders and they were pedaling so fast. I had a feeling they had almost no resistance on their bikes. There’s no way they could be spinning so quickly without sweating!

I went back to the studio once more because I thought that it was only $15 if you do a walk-in. To my disappointment, this only applies to classes before 7:30am and after 4:30pm. I had a different instructor who did more hill work (my forte) and I did get better with balancing on the bike. Soon after, I purchased a pair of Pearl Izumis for less than $40 on Sierra Post. I even found a special coupon so I could save even more. When my shoes finally arrived, I literally ran to the bike shop around the corner (right before they closed) so they could install the clips. I must agree, spinning with cycling shoes makes a big difference. It seems that I can pedal faster than when I wore regular sneakers. I heard that by wearing these shoes, you work more muscles. Who knows, at least I feel cool in my class since the majority of the spinners wear regular sneakers.

Less than 12 hours before my next spinning class. Hurrah! I need to find people who will go spinning with me at Ride The Zone. It’s just much more fun that way. I just don’t know how many of my friends are willing to pay $30 for a 45 min class. I guess we can go to an evening class to save 50%.

In other news, it’s officially March. I have survived two “snow storms” within a couple of weeks. I was disappointed both times that our office was still open while many of my friends’ offices were closed. Also, since the majority of my team lives in NJ, they all would be working from home. I felt that since I live in Manhattan and the subways were still running, I’d go into work. At least I was rewarded with tasty pizza from Angelo’s Pizza. I had a lovely February now that I think about it. I finally went to Tampa to visit the wonderful boyfriend for Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and Lunar New Year. It was a bit chilly (50s), but at least it was sunny for the most part. Lately, we’ve been cooking at least one meal from Cooking Light and even though it seems like a big mess while we’re cooking, our meals have turned out really good. I really enjoy cooking in a full-sized kitchen with plenty of counter space and regular sized appliances. It’s truly amazing how much more you appreciate things once you don’t have them anymore. For example, I love visiting the huge supermarkets in the suburbs now. There’s SO much variety and aisle space. These days you can buy anything at Publix/Stop & Shop. We found the Sriracha in the ethnic aisle. I even bought some low sodium Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix so I could use it when I’m in NYC. Of course no trip to Tampa is complete without a trip to Chick-fil-A and Target. It was definitely a relaxing weekend. Not to mention that I lost my iPhone at JFK and my wonderful and threatening boyfriend kept calling the guy who found my phone and told him to return it immediately (after he finally picked up) to TSA. Without him, some stranger would be trying to hack my iPhone and using it!

Another great thing about February is that I get my bonus during this time. It always feels like an eternity, but then when I do finally get my bonus, I think, “Wow, I can’t believe another year has passed.” It’s just ridiculous to know that I’ve been working in the real world for almost 6 years! Where did the time go? I still feel just as unaccomplished as I did when I graduated college. I’ve been working with my very knowledgeable mentor on my career plan. It scares me that I’ll be 30 very soon and where will I be in my career? Will I still be working a no experience non-managerial position? Some people are VPs by the time they’re 30! I’m worried that with all my indecisiveness, I’ll still be at the bottom of this very tall corporate ladder. Why can’t I just win the lotto and retire at the age of 30? That would be a great plan!

Anyway, I’m off to ponder about my future and whether I will be successful. Good night my few readers!

Work has been a bit busy in the past month. Our company has just reached technology independence so we are no longer out sourcing our development work, so it’s been a learning experience without depending on our consultants. We have maintenance releases that go out every few weeks. Lately, it’s been a bit difficult since everyone is new to the process and it has been frustrating. I hope that in 2010, our department will become more cohesive and organized! It’s something to definitely look forward to.

Oh, for Christmas, I ventured to Mosinee, Wisconsin to hang out with Jeff’s family. It was a really great trip. I got to look at all of Jeff’s baby pictures. So cute! Plus, I had a great time spending time with Jeff’s other love, Bailey (yellow lab). His parents were so generous and the food was delicious. I never ate so much cheese in such a short time span. Also, Jeff’s mom is a wonderful baker and had stacks and stacks of cookies waiting for me and Jeff when we arrived. I experienced my first bonfire in the snow. We went to real outdoors stores where there are aisles and aisles of hunting and fishing equipment. It really blew my mind. I really would love to go back to Wisconsin when the weather is better and it’s not a high of 20 degrees everyday.

I was lucky enough to see Jeff three weekends in a row. He finally agreed to being dragged to Flushing with me to experience his first shabu shabu. It was a little scary at first, but I think the dipping sauce won him over. He loved that he could create his own sauce. Naturally, he made his super spicy. He also liked my mom’s Kimchee broth better than his, so now we know what he’ll order next time we go. In this night of firsts, he also had his first shaved ice and liked it more than I like it! We also took him to Hong Kong Supermarket to wander the never ending aisles. It was such a lovely family event.

I wanted to wish both of my sisters a Happy Birthday! Diana’s birthday is actually today and Jessica’s is on Wednesday (1/27). I remember when I was little and I kept wishing I was born in January so I could celebrate my birthday the same time my sisters did. I was a bit jealous. I hated that whenever I tried to have a birthday party in July, none of my friends would be available since they would be away at summer camp or on vacation. I also could never bring munchkins to school celebrate my birthday. I do remember forcing my mom to buy munchkins so I could celebrate a month early in school. It still was never the same! Now, I’m more okay with my birthday. At least the weather is warm and we can go to the beach on my birthday. Can you winter babies do that? Haha!

I entered a Twitter contest to see JM in a private show at the Ed Sullivan Theatre. I did not expect myself to be selected, but the management company sent me a direct message on Twitter letting me know I won. Woohoo. I’m actually going to be heading there in an hour or so. So excited! I have been listening to the album non-stop and it’s taken some time for me to really enjoy it. I think my favorite songs off the album are:

Perfectly Lonely
Assassin
Heartbreak Warfare

The songs are pretty sad, I guess he’s writing about his heartbreak with all his girlfriends. If he plays “Not Myself” or even “Stop This Train” at tonight’s concert, I will be so happy.

To top off this amazing day, my wonderful boyfriend will be coming in from Florida tonight! We plan on having all his favorite foods in NYC during his weekend here. I plan on seeing “Precious” and crying my eyes out. I’m so excited for the weekend. Oh yes, he will be installing my NEW printer since I had two falling outs with both Staples and Kinkos/Fedex just last weekend. I won’t go into too much detail, but I recommend just going into Staples or Kinkos to do your own copying. Both times I did the print online option and when I arrived, neither vendor knew about my “order”. They actually did it while I was there. Originally in my order for Kinko’s I requested it to be stapled, but of course it wasn’t. I asked for a stapler and did it myself. To top it off, the employee asked me for my credit card. I told her I already paid online, but she said it didn’t go through. I reluctantly gave her my credit card and watched her charge me. After this debacle, I went to work and checked my bank account (Chase) and I saw two charges from Fedex. I called their customer service and totally yelled at an innocent guy. At least he credited me for the $7.90. Right? So this is why I’m getting my own printer thanks to my baby!! <3

Then next week I’m off to London for the first time in my life. YAY!

My family vacation was full of drama, but overall I enjoyed myself. I definitely appreciated being able to do this with 16+ other family members at my age. I know that I probably won’t have the chance to do this again in the future. Japan is truly a beautiful country. I was a bit frustrated with the Japanese’s desire of not speaking English. In fact, I think I made them scared whenever I asked anything in English. Oh well. I definitely need to go back to Tokyo because I only spent 2 days there. Grace and I were unable to figure out the monster subway/rail system there. Taiwan was so much more relaxing because we did not have to wake up at 7am every morning. The only reason I woke up early (8:30am) was so I could enjoy breakfast. I did my regular Japanese straight perm (soo relaxing) at my favorite hair salon. I even ventured out and did an eye examination. I got new glasses (with frames) and contacts for $234. That’s pretty amazing! The examination itself was $12. Not bad right? Instead of user the letter “E”, Taiwan uses the letter “C”. I’m not sure why though?

I decided to update my website because my cousin Jane mentioned to me that my site was down and that she was getting some kind of error message. I contacted my webhost, and they were able to restore my site. Also, “Anthony” fixed the permissioning of my files so it’d be like prone to hacking. Thanks to him, I can now upgrade my WordPress with the push of a button. It literally upgrades in 15 seconds! Amazing. I wonder if this was an enhancement for WordPress? I used to always get error messages when I tried to press the Upgrade button. Oh well.

Here are my vacation pictures. There’s over 500 so be prepared. Also, they are mostly of food.

Japan/Taipei 2009

Today I was officially on vacation, but my boss still called me. Oh well, I guess that means I am somewhat important on my team? Perhaps I will update this blog when I find internet in Japan. I will be taking a lot of pictures!

Ever since I’ve gotten my Banana Republic Visa Card, I’ve been buying a lot of clothes at my favorite business casual store. In fact, I’ve already received the $10 reward card twice! They keep sending me flyers telling me that I can become Luxe member when I spend $800. I checked and I’m more than halfway there. It’s sick I know.

Things I Bought Recently:
MacBook Pro 13″
Canon SD960
Numerous Banana Republic skirts/tops
Ann Taylor Loft shorts, tops and cardigan
H&M t-shirts
Banana Republic bag

I’ve been buying non-work clothes for my big family trip to Japan and Taiwan. I’m really excited! Less than 18 days until I go to Japan for 10 days! I imagine we’ll be walking everyday, so I will be wearing sneakers or comfy flats. I have asked my mom to buy OFF and sunblock because I know we’ll need it when we go to Kenting in Taiwan. I can’t wait for all the good food.

I MUST STOP SHOPPING until 8/20/09. Oh, the boyfriend and I saw 500 Days of Summer. It was really nice. It wasn’t your typical romantic comedy. I highly recommend it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is very talented. I knew it when I saw him in The Lookout.

I still managed to wake up early to go to my spinning class with my favorite teacher, Jess. I then relaxed for most of the day on Saturday. I snuck in a short nap. I then went out with my new roommate, her sister and cousin. They are all from Las Vegas, so I could barely keep up. My roomie and I left the bar at 3am, when they kicked us out. However, her sister and cousin (who are visiting), went on to another bar! I then found out today that they didn’t get back to the apartment until 7am. Crazy. I don’t know how they have the energy to stay out so late.

Today, I woke up around 8:30am and headed to the gym again. I came back, showered and napped. I was meeting friends for brunch at Alice’s Tea Cup for sandwiches, scones and tea. We had our favorite pumpkin and ham & cheese scones. We tried the strawberry and chocolate scone and it was delightful! I thought about buying two scones to bring home, but I controlled myself and only bought the ham & cheese scone.

Tonight, I took my roommate and her visitors to Chinatown for a “real” Chinese meal. We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown, New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe. I introduced them to soup dumplings. Yum. I couldn’t resist and ordered my favorite preserved vegetable with pork noodle soup. After our very large meal (we ordered so many dishes), we headed to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I think my favorite flavor is Taro there. I didn’t get ice cream because I wanted to get my passionfruit green tea.

We walked through Little Italy and then they headed to Times Square while I went back home. I was just in time to catch the Trueblood season premiere. Yay! Now, I must go to bed so I can wake up at the crack of dawn to go spinning with Jess again! I love her music. It really gets me going!

After a missed connection, I found the guy waiting outside our apartment building. He had no one else with him. He didn’t have a dolly either. I was worried just how he’d be able to bring this bookshelf home. He told me that he lived in the UWS so he was thinking about just taking a cab across town. My boyfriend was sweet enough to lend his electric screwdriver so the buyer could take apart the bookshelf. Jeff even helped him with some parts. I helped move all the pieces to the elevator. Then we waited outside the apartment for a SUV or minivan cab. We then helped him load the pieces into the SUV and said our goodbyes. I just find it so funny that this would probably only happen in NYC.

Another special NYC story was when Jeff and I returned from our dinner on Saturday night. We stepped onto the 6 train at Astor Place. To the left of the doors, sat a man who was sleeping. However, if you looked more closely, you’d see that his pants were halfway off. Also, his zipper was completely open. It looked like he peed in his pants too. There was mysterious liquid on the train floor. I could only assume it was pee. At Grand Central, I noticed that his pants had fallen off all the way and now we could see his boxers. He laid down on the bench. It was pretty disgusting. I think he was drooling too. Meanwhile, all the passengers just stared at him. Some people tried to ignore he was even there. I couldn’t help but look!

I am completely moved into my new room in the apartment. It’s so spacious. I even have room for a shelf. I could possibly put in a TV too! Crazy. Who would have thought? Also, my apartment is so clean now, thanks to Jeff. I did clean the fridge. It sparkles now. I wonder how long I’ll be able to maintain this? I really hope my new roommate isn’t crazy. Would it be weird if I slept with my room door locked? Now to think of it, I don’t think it even has a lock!