Anyways... ROUND 2: I asked the girl if she wanted to see a movie this coming weekend, which of course is Valentine weekend. Couple of days later she replied she'll be in the area and sure, and asked whether she "should" invite her younger brother along.

Analysis: I think the "should" rather than "could" is significant here. Could would imply she wanted her brother along. Should implies she's wondering whether I intended to invite her brother as well (I know her brother).

Now, I like her brother. He's a junior in high school and probably under pressure from college apps and this might be a good break for him... heck, there's no way I can say no without sounding like a douche, so I don't really have a choice, do I?

So the good news is she's agreed to round 2. The bad news is I still don't know if she knows that I'm interested in her.

F-list: Should I buy chocolate for her? If so, basic, intermediate, or luxury?

Feels as if I've not updated in a long time.

Spoiler pic from latest Bleach chapter has me interested for the first time in many years, only because it involves Hitsugaya.

I feel that diligence in school and staying busy actually helps my writing process. I got a plot bunny today for a fic that I owe and owe Aoife-Hime that is actually not overdone meatloaf. Now, to put pen to the paper.

Law School Negotiations class is quite interesting: We talk about self-disclosure as key to effective communication and good relationships. Emotional self awareness, honest feedback, not making assumptions, etc, etc, etc. I think I really needed this class after the grueling first two years after UC Berkeley, where my self-esteem was shattered. Better late than never though.

Today's dinner (and likely dinner, and lunch, for the next three days):

Steamed mixed grain rice with black beans.

Cream stew (from Japanese cream stew pack) with Yukon potatoes, lamb stew, carrot, red onions, and loads of kale, which I'm eating for the first time in my life.

So now my question is: If I die from excessive anti-oxidation, can I sue the American Heart/Health Association for misleading me?

Aoife-Hime: I'm your backup Santa. Given the date, I might as well be your Valentine-elect, so please, request anything you like and I promise to have your fic in the amount of time Jack Bauer takes to save America.

Aimee Powell, a girl 1 year my senior in high school died in a car accident. She was an elementary school teacher and 25. She was killed when a 19-year old teen in a black Dodge Ram 1500 crossed the center divide and hit her head on. Her car was destroyed. The truck looked fine.

I remember that she was short, one of the best players on the team, pretty, and an upbeat person who smiled often. I did not know her very well, but our school is a really small community (60-80 per graduating class) so I know many are mourning her passing. I'm sad she's gone at such a young age, but I think she's gone to a better place.

Which reminds me: I really should not be wasting any time. Life can be short.

Ate out several times during the weekend, so this week I reigned in the wallet somewhat. On Martin Luther King's Day I hung out a bit more at Berkeley before making the hazardous drive across the Bay Bridge back home. A few more drives like this and I'll get the hang of the SF-Berkeley commute. Former roommate Wilson and his girlfriend Alexis dropped by to check out my flat. We then drove down to Ocean Beach to experience the weather. It was expectedly cold, and the wind blew shifting lines in the sand like you see on TV of hot desserts. Had the rain not dampened the beach, there would have been a sand storm. We had dinner at the super-Yelp restaurant San-Tung (I'm beginning to understand why Larry is sick of the place; it's where people end up at too often). Then split for the night.

I'm not driving down to Los Altos this weekend, which means I'll probably spend more time catching up reading. I'm undecided when I should call/contact That Girl again. Is 1 week too short an interval?

( Edit: Passive-Aggressive Projection Rant )

Sunday was relatively calm, but I awoke to a downpour Monday morning.

After the long day yesterday in Berkeley (I woke at 5:30AM), I enjoyed one of the soundest nights of sleep I've had since coming back from Taiwan... in a frat house. My friend is an officer and former president of Alpha Sigma Phi's chapter at UC Berkeley, housed in a gorgeous historic wooden mansion built 100 years ago. Surprisingly, the frat brothers (who include amongst their founding members former Chief Justice Earl Warren) take good care of the building, and the ground floor at least is kept in an immaculate state.

Sunday was clean up day, in which I lent a hand in the hustle and bustle. I slept in the vacant Card Room on the first floor facing Piedmont Street, Berkeley's frat row. I brought my own sleeping bag and pillow, and to my pleasant surprise, my friend had a inflatable queen-sized bed. I slept a good 8 hours straight.

I forgot to submit an assignment for a Negotiations class due Sunday, so I'll have to make that up today. I have a fic request to fill, and requests for me to update Lelouch of Britannia (fallow since August 1, last year) have been piling up. I also have to think about how/when I'm going to ask to meet this girl next time.

Am not looking forward to the drive back to San Francisco today.

Woke up at 5:15AM. Read about the Swiss luxury resort town of Gstaad. Got hungry, made myself a mushroom-spinach omelette. At 8AM I　rode my bike to the local European-styled open air grocer and found that they were selling special chocolates to raise money for Haiti (I bought a brick). I'm going up to Berkeley to visit friends, so I decided to come buy some gifts: For a girl, big shards of French Vanilla, dark bitter sweet, white, and Dutch milk chocolate. For a guy, Roasted Garlic Jack, Bella Vitano coated in peppercorns, and Asiago cheese with Basil and Olive Oil. All this chocolate and imported cheese for $17.

When I set out at 8 the sky was clear and sunny. When I came out of the store at 8:40 a thick fog had settled in. There are supposed to be 4 successive storms hitting the Bay Area starting tomorrow, which may dampen my lunch plans with a certain young lady. Some San Francisco neighborhoods are preparing in earnest for flooding.

The market (called the Milk Pail) also features lots of exotic ingredients at reasonable prices which I'm incorporating into my diet: Rutabaga, kale, fennel, parsnips, celeriac, etc. To go with the Arizona-New Orleans NFL playoff game today, I'm cooking Tori Nabe, or Japanese-styled Chicken Hot Pot: Spinach, cabbage, shitake, daikon, and chopped free-range chicken drumstick meat. These I purchased from Mitsuwa yesterday.

Soon I'll have to pick up Larry from the dealer, where he's having his Corolla checked out. Hopefully, I'll get some writing done today.

Got home from law school at 9PM and prepared to cook dinner/tomorrow's lunch from canned soup, dried noodle, cabbage, and frozen dumpling. My landlady happened to be in full Chinese-Restaurant-Founder Mode, cooking up a storm, and she gave me a big plate of soy-sauce stewed meats, added some chicken slices to my noodles, and gave me a small fried fish she'd just cleaned.

The effect of these gifts of home-cooking goes far beyond material satisfaction for my stomach and palate. It is extremely uplifting after a long day at law school, and I credit my Landlady with reducing my law school stress by a full 60%. The experience is also humbling; I realize I have it much, much better than most people: I pay below-market rent for above market standard accommodations. My landlady is a restaurant owner and great cook. I don't have to borrow or work in order to pay tuition. Yes, there are lots of things to be thankful for.

Woke up at 4AM today. Did some hours of reading. Got hungry for lunch around 10. Went and bought a 2 pound cooked wild crab from Lucky's. Crabs are in season now. Heated up and ate the entire crab clean with mouth and fingers, taking more than one and half hours. It was amazing.

Federal Income Tax class tomorrow at 9AM. Hopefully, my jet lag will wake me up early enough so I can read for it.

Ex-NBA player who had $86 million contract gets at least 18 months for killing with shotgun.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/11/nireland.robinson/index.html

North Ireland First Minister quits after politician wife's affair with 19 year old boy. Wife solicited money to help boy set up cafe.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/11/nireland.robinson/index.html

My only question is: Where's the cafe?

Woke up at 3:30AM today. Was all in all productive as I got into gear for relaunch of law school. Federal Income Tax at 9AM on Monday morning is brutal.

1. Waste less time on the internet. Say 90 minutes a day. The rest of the time I'll switch off the wireless card.
2. Eat more vegetables. 50/50 with meat. Preferably 2:1. Fruit doesn't count.
3. Play tennis/go to the gym 4 times a week.
4. Update Lelouch of Britannia once a month.

I would include finding a girlfriend, but since I don't know a concrete course of action for that, I'm going to leave it out. I know, that's the spirit, right?

Having an informal interview with a partner at Baker & Mckenzie, Taipei in 2 hours. Please send me prayer and good vibes.

There was little time for rest after arriving in Taipei. I napped for an hour after getting home and then it was dentist time (he's literally next door 5 feet away). Luckily no holes were found and I was out in 15 minutes.

The family then hoped on the Metro and headed to Beitou, the historic Onsen/hot springs resort area in Taiwan. The Japanese found hot springs a plenty there during their occupation and developed the place to their liking.

A short taxi ride later we arrived in front of the exclusive Villa 32 Onsen Resort. Two security personnel received us and reported our arrival. One of dad's close friends is a socialite who is an expert at quality living; he recommended the place. Villa 32 was built by one of his fellow socialites who wanted a location where he could entertain friends. The place was a private club but opened up to the public recently, with five hotel rooms ranging from 500-800 USD a night and a maximum guest capacity of 100 (including restaurant and all hot spring facilities). This number is rarely ever reached though. Typically, the ratio of employees to guests is maintained at about 1:1, and there are 70 employees.

Personalized service was a big deal: From the moment our family stepped onto the premises the staff guided us every step of the way, communicating via their Secret Service ear-mikes where we were and where we were headed to next. Employees, from the waiters to the locker room attendants, are all graduates from local culinary colleges that train cooks, bartenders, hotel managers, and other posts in the food/service industry.

Lunch was a slow, fancy affair. We were served a strawberry/melon juice, a crab meat/sea urchin jello kind of thing, bruschetta, shrimp and scallop appetizer, tomato-scallop consomme(sp?), and then halibut or rib eyed steak. The meal took 2 hrs, and we were advised to rest a bit before heading to the Baths. We were also given a tour by the manager of the hotel rooms. She told us that the Founder of Villa 32 was a man of high taste and was utterly uncompromising on aesthetics, which was why the small resort took 5 years to build. The two Japanese suites themselves took over 1 year to design to build. Dad mentioned that Villa 32 has an excellent international reputation amongst exclusive hotels, particularly within Asia. I was quite impressed.

Next was the bath. We elected the large, public pools (as opposed to private, smaller baths), since we preferred variety, open space, and the luxury of big baths. Guests can use the baths and related facilities for 4 hours. And the number of guests allowed in are monitored and regulated to avoid crowding. Including me, dad, and Larry, there were a dozen guests (on the men's side) in total. Crowding was not an issue. In our lockers we found towels, bathrobes, and slippers. The stylish shower stalls were stocked with imported French shampoo, conditioner, and body wash; in fact, down to the bottled water, all the toiletries were imported from France.

There were 8 large baths; 2 cold, 1 with water jet massage, 3 outdoors, ranging in controlled temperatures from 22 Celsius to 42.5 Celsius. The actual bath area was one huge continuous open space, and a balcony gave unfettered views of rising steam from a distant valley where people went to cook eggs in especially hot waters. We hung out there for 2 hours or so. While Larry and Dad took a nap in the napping room, I　chilled out in the Zen room. At around 5PM we headed off to mom's college reunion. Which was raucous and relatively unremarkable.

Per person, the lunch/bath package was 2500 NT (2000 NT on weekdays), or about 80 USD. Including drinks and the bottled water we had at lunch the total was closer to 100 USD. For the level of service and environment, it was well worth the price.

Am safe and sound inside my Taipei home. Leeching Wifi off some unsecured network. Touched down 5:30AM on a black Tarmac. The trip wasn't so bad. I managed to sleep half off the way, most of it after take off at midnight. Earplugs leftover from the Law School Exam (and Shooting Range) did their work superbly.

Also, EVA airways may be the best airline in the world. Why? Because in their personal on-board entertainment system, they featured a Gintama Best OP/ED collection.

Had several movie choices (the system allows you to pick and play and pause the ones you want), ended up watching Indiana Jones. Was not TERRIBLY impressed. On the way back I'll probably watch District 9. Larry watched the latest Final Destination, in all its uncensored gory glory.

Now I just have to re-establish contact with as many of my friends in Taiwan as possible.

Leaving for the airport at 10PM. 14 hours 15 minute flight to Taiwan departs 12:05AM December 25. Full flight. Me and bro got no aisle seats. I'll leave 5 minutes into Christmas day and arrive 6AM December 26. Spending entire Christmas on an airplane, gosh it sounds like a dumb idea. But Asians, what can you say.

See you guys on the other side of the Pacific.

Edit: 2 Hours after Touch down I have a dentist appointment. *#$&(1@#!!!! With the same Taiwan Dentists who raped my mouth this past summer. Jeebus save me.

Edit 2: Five hours after touch down I'm going to a expensive hot spring/spa called Villa 32 in Taipei. Nice.

The past few days have been extraordinarily unproductive, at least in terms of fic writing. Now, 15 hours from my flight, I'm only 1/3 through the Geass Fic I promised myself to post by Christmas Eve. Bleh.

Went to sleep at 3AM last night in an effort to begin adjusting to the new time zone. The plan failed when Larry called and woke me up at 9AM. I had planned to wake up at 11. I'll probably nap the rest of the day.

Merry Christmas, dearest F-list. And in case I do not post in time for New Year's, Happy New YEAR as well!

Tests done. Drove home from San Francisco today half-asleep listening to my newly burned CD, filled with songs from Bakemonogatari, Gintama, the Beatles, and some more obscure but excellent J-Pop groups like Scoobie Do and Yura Yura Teikoku. The first thing I did when I got home was drink coffee, else I was afraid I wouldn't make it till 10PM. The end of Finals, which lasted a period of over 2-3 weeks, probably expelled all the tension stored up in me; I feel like a rubber band that has lost its elasticity.

Going to go shopping. For the first time in 2 months, beer will be on the shopping list.

Received news amidst Finals that someone had plagiarized from my story again. I wasn't as upset as the first time; this time, I felt like I deserved it somewhat because I haven't updated in 5 months. I told my Deep Throat whistle blower to leave reviews on the offender's story calling him/her out. Not sure if this is the best way, but I'm no expert at Internet Diplomacy.

Flying to Taiwan on 1AM December 25. Woo-hoo. Flying back on the December 7. I should know the results of the BCS National Title Game before I get on the flight back, but mreh.

Things to do the next few days:
Pack a little for the trip to Taiwan (just a little, since we maintain homes there, the need won't be great).
Maybe take the car to get maintained.
Write.
Maybe play some GBA emulator games.
Maybe Shop for some Christmas Gifts for the family. (Thinking Electric Toothbrushes; any suggestions?).

Right now though I'm hungry and just waiting for the coffee to kick in.

Also, since I stupidly re-organized my f-list 3 months ago because the Hetalia-Community was spamming everything, I didn't realize until Aoife-Hime mentioned that there was a Christmas-Gift Exchange at Tsukimineshrine. Who will do one with me? It doesn't even have to be CCS, and you know I can write write for fandoms, even if I only got through 1/2-2/3 of the anime series (or season 1).

Heard there was a big earthquake in Taiwan today. Hope things are still standing, mostly.

Be back later guys, the coffee has kicked in.

Two days till Evidence. Crim Law beat my ass, and this is from the same Professor who has taught these courses for 30 years. Not looking forward to it.

Read half of "A Time to Kill" by John Grisham today after International Business Transactions finals was done. For a novel about topics so ugly--Rape, Murder, Racism, Lawyers--it is a hilarious novel. John Grisham's wit is extremely cut and dry and ironic. It's not fine literature, but it's enjoyable to read, and most of the time I love the humor, which was totally unexpected.

Taken from kawaiipinay:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often or ever) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph in your LJ and see what your friends come up with!

Last night was so cold I had trouble sleeping. I'll definitely seek out that new electric-blanket mom bought me next time I drive home.

Property Law Exam was a meat grinder. My head hurt more than usual after 3 hours of non-stop work. The good news is I know as the first of four exams this is the one I will be least prepared for. The bad news is that this was the one I was least prepared for. The other good news was that the consensus from the people I talked to was that the exam was a real grinder (meaning good curves), which is qualified by my uncertainty as to whether the people I was talking to were in the top percentiles which I'm trying to get into (Maybe we're the bunch at the wrong side of the hill).

Property law is so dense and convoluted I'm tempted to turn communist, where the only property law would be: "My land is your land, your land is my land, in Communist China, la la la la la~"

Crim Law is on Friday. I'm out of food, the room is turning into a mess, my goatee is becoming more pronounced. Clearly, when finals come around I become a bum.

I wish I had a GF who would massage my temples right now.

Saw someone shipping them on a Chinese forum. In a world without magical girls and boys, their story would have made a good Japanese TV drama.

The greatest questions in life:
3. Do aliens exist?
2. What is the meaning of life?
1. How do I get Rick Steve's job?

Spent Sunday watching Rick Steve's Europe on TV. Yesterday he was in Iran. Today he was in Munich (including the Disney Castle), France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway. And then he visited London, Burgundy, Rome, Paris, and some tiny Swiss town for Christmas. Apparently, when you're Rick Steves, you can spend Christmas in 7 countries simultaneously. Lucky Bastard.

Received a lovely gift fic today from mellowcandle, whom I asked to write Asagi/Koiwaii from Yotsubato! The difficulty of writing this pairing, we acknowledged, was hovering somewhere above Stick/Rock. Read it! It's really good.

http://community.livejournal.com/lchanfics/21092.html

( Finally, Pics of Thanksgiving... Food. )

Now time for finals.