#Foxxifailed

When I was 19, I was cool, or so I thought.  I was also a dork, so I came about with an online alias, FoxxiDork.  Recently, FoxxiDork came about to embarrassed the heck out of me, as follow:

 Skype Work Conference Chat:
.....

[7/3/2013 2:55:30 PM]  Co-worker #1: I have reached out to Coworker #2
[7/3/2013 2:56:04 PM] Co-worker #1: she has escalated the issue and will get back to us soon
[7/3/2013 2:56:28 PM]  Co-worker #1: also, who is foxxidork?
[7/3/2013 2:57:09 PM]  Co-worker #3: good, foxxidork? I do not know
[7/3/2013 2:57:20 PM] Co-worker #3: where does that come from?
[7/3/2013 2:57:40 PM] Co-worker #1: well there are 3 of us in this chat
[7/3/2013 2:58:01 PM] Anna Nguyen: Oh god, this is really embarrassing
[7/3/2013 2:58:23 PM] Anna Nguyen: It's Anna.  I guess this is how it shows up to people not on my contact
[7/3/2013 2:58:32 PM] Co-worker #1: lol
[7/3/2013 2:58:38 PM] Co-worker #1: yes it is
[7/3/2013 2:58:44 PM] Co-worker #3: ah je
[7/3/2013 2:59:27 PM] Anna Nguyen: Yeah, it's not one of the brightests point of my day.
[7/3/2013 2:59:33 PM] Anna Nguyen: have a good day guys.
[7/3/2013 2:59:56 PM] *** Anna Nguyen has left ***

Lesson of the decade.  When you enter the work force, make a new Skype name.  #foxxidorkfailed.

And so We Meet Again...

So I have fell off the blogging bandwagon.  Why? If only I knew.  All it took was one day.  One day led to two days, and then three, and then about a month and some later, I realized something is missing.  Something that I really enjoy to do.  Today will rectify my blogging gone awry.

Well, not all was lost in my time astrayed.  I was very productive in other aspects including this amazing project, www.much-o.com, which I hope to debut in November or December.  I can't wait to share this with the world.  It was inspired by my journeys and my encounters with awesome and creative minds.

Mean while working on that project, I have also been working on myself.  Working on oneself is dramatic and freaking long journey of ups and downs.  And right now it's in its down
cycle, pushing its way back up (I hope).  This down cycle consist of me getting discouraged and in turn I panic in confusion, not know what to do with my life.  The enormity of such awareness makes me feel so vulnerable.  But through much examination, I perceive that this is a good thing.  To be confuse in life is a good thing.  It allows me to question, "WHY?" Why do I do the things that I do? How do I get what I desire and aspire? What can I offer the world? Yadah Yadah, dah, and more life related questions.

These life pondering questions can go on indefinitely.  However, what I can conclude from this experience is that, life can be confusing and it should be confusing.  Because if I have it all figured out, I maybe doing something wrong...

Stay positive and continue to ask questions.

In the mean while, I still am stopping to smell the roses:

Best mother ever - her last few days visiting in Austin

Some Happy Hour studs

The best fortune I have ever gotten in my life!

Swimming Beauty

A happy Michelada that I wish I can swim in!

You can't tell,  or maybe you can, but I was getting ready for some Salsa-dancing.  No action pictures, unfortunately. 

My nature's medication

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GOOOOOOODDDD NIGHT!

              

STOP BEING A CONCEITED B*&TCH!

To preface, I rarely ever write about anything negative.  It's just unnecessary waste of energy.  Unfortunately, it is one of those days, so here goes some wasted energy.

You know what I don't get? Conceited people.  God, they kill me.  They indeed sucks the life force out of me.

Scenario one, super-market, hair flipping bit*ch.  I was walking down an aisle to grab and item, and there is this huge cart blocking the very item I am reaching for.  I tried to push the cart aside so I can grab the item.  Instead of the cart owner running over to move the cart.  The cart owner looked at me, looked away, flipping her hair.  Aghhh, I can just scream at such facial disdain.

Scenario two, newly introduced people, especially bit*chy/@sshole co-workers.  I seriously go out of my way to make people feel welcome.  I know how it is being a new person.  I especially know how it is being the outsider.  So it boggles me when a new colleague rolls their eyes at me when all I'm trying to do is make them feel received.  Aghhhh, I can just bitch slap such rudeness.

Scenario three, conceited people, who thinks the world revolves around them.  This kills me the most.    Ugggh Uhhhhhh. *snapping my fingers in a Z-formation*.  Why do you think the world is here to cater to you? why? It is not pretty.

Our individualistic society place so much emphasis on being by ourselves.  We push others away and only celebrate our own successes.  We don't instinctively see ourselves as a part of the larger whole. We are only significant through our connection to other people.  No human ever exist in isolation.  So play nice.  Play kind.  STOP BEING CONCEITED.

A Birthday and... Fire-jumping?

Yes, this post is coming a week late, since it is about this past last weekend's adventure.  Yes, I have been enjoying my mother's awesome company.  Yes, I have neglect other aspects of life, i.e. this blog. Anywho, moving on, this past weekend was a field of jumping fiery fun...and yes a whole lot of relaz-ing.  And again, a lot of gratitude, realizations, and cakes.

The cake was in celebration of a close friend of mine's birthday. With much reason to celebrate, we headed off for some camping by the lake, Canyon Lake, TX.  It was a nice shift in space and scenery from Austin.  It was a nice staycation.  About an hour away from Austin, with scenery similar to lakes in California.  What I was so fond of was standing by the shore, and having the 'waves' hitting my feet, while having my dog swimming and fetching in the 'ocean'-lake.  I had this imagery when I was younger, and standing there was semi-deja-vu.  Instead of a beach in California, it was at a lake in Texas.  Instead of another dog I had, I have my wonderful Austin.  Everything seems  in its right places.  Couple that with my group of friends and S'more, it was weekend-tastic.  -- Now I just need a jeep wrangler to complete that image I had in mind. And a surfboard.  And this... and that...  I kid, I kid.  The image and experience was close enough.

               

Maybe you do get everything you have ever wished for! Just need stop and appreciate the..... Cheeeesseee.  We all know how much I love cheese.

Good Day folks!

Istanbul: A little smitten

Blue Mosque Expedition

I rarely ever say I want to return to a place with such adamant passion -- Istanbul broke all that.  I wasn't able to stay that long in Istanbul this past trip.  2 days to be exact - a day coming to Tanzania, and a day before coming to Morocco.  But somehow two days in  Istanbul was enough that makes me want to return for a longer visit.  

Old city, view from my hostel

Corn nut, steet cart/vendor

I landed kind of tired and not wanting to give a care, as I had such a short time frame in Istanbul.  I knew I wanted to see the Old City, so I booked a hostel close-by, took a quick shower after getting there and headed out to greet the city.  I walked around snapping pictures.  Flirted a few with a couple guys around the shops - amazing how flirting is a great bargaining tool.  Then around four-five o'clock a siren went off signifying that it was  prayer time.  I was eating roasted corn at a bench nearby, and I can't emphasize how amazing this moment was to me. It was one of the few time, where I get to experience this gratefulness. This thankfulness, that I was lucky enough to be there.  To exist in that country and that moment.  That is a wonderful feeling.

As the day progressed, I met more people.  Chatted some more with the locals.  One thing became very apparent, the Istanbul men were very suave and gallant.  No shyness at all, and almost every single Istanbul male I encountered asked if I can take a tea with them.  I always came up with some excuses to decline their offer, but still very nice to get sought after like you are some sort of a prize.

Playing Chess, drinking tea

I played a bunch of classic games, chess and backgammon, with another traveling friends I met there.  And again, while sitting in a hookah cafe, drinking coffee, playing games, I got this surge of emotion, urging me to appreciate that moment.  I suppose coming from Kilimanjaro, where I used all my time and effort in the physical feat of climbing, to Instanbul, I was able to sit back and just appreciate my good fortune was mind-blowingly beautitul.





I was so smitten by this enlightenment that I chart my next trip to stop in Istanbul again for a longer visit.  Truly smitten by this space that is Istanbul.

No reason, just pretty lighting!

The intricacy is just mind-blowing!

Spring in full bloom!

A shop owner urging me to buy this hat... uhhh

My Momma is Coming

Of all the people I love, like, care for, and all synonyms for adoration, most in this world, my mom comes out on top.  Tomorrow my mom is coming from California to Austin to visit me.  For some odd reason, I've been so nervous.  Not because she's scary, but because it is the first time she'll be visiting her adult-daughter.  Adult-adult, not the 18-years-old college-kid-adult.

Let me describe my mother to you.  She's a wonderful, beautiful, lady - inside and out.  Even now that she is in her 60s, she is still very feminine, shy but yet controlled.  Yes, menopause did not spare her, but for someone in her 60s, I think she is still very beautiful.

All the wonder that she is to me, she is also very conservative.  The lady does not like color, and like much less in my taste - I adore color.  I still remember as a teenager, "wear this... black makes you look thinner," she would say.  This is why I'm scared.  We are polar opposites in taste.  She likes stability, I like exciting-flow.  She does not see the point in travel at a young age, and all I have been doing is travel.  Oh, for the love of all that is pleasant, she does not even know I drink.

Ahhh, sigh*, I have been back and forth cleaning my apartment and typing a couple of lines on this blog, hoping to calm my nerve.  I did not realize the degree of anxiety  this woman, whom I love so much, would be able to induce on my central nervous system.  A woman, whom I spent the majority of my life with.  The woman whom brought me to life.  Mom, why?

I love you... But you scare me.

My mom and I.  Yes, she is very light.  No, I am not adopted.

What is Your Happiness?

When asked, what do we want out of life? The majority of the population will say - "To be Happy," according to a bunch*1 of Social Psychology Researchers.   For different people, happiness can be different things. For some, happiness can be sitting in - our backyard.  Our new car.  Our relationship.  At the current moment, my happiness sits in getting lost.  Do not get me wrong, I treasure all the things in my life - my family, all my friends, my pet, my bike, my apartment, my job, etc,.  Luckily, I have a very good base, thus allowing  me to treasure the moments when none of those things exist - in other words, spread my wings and fly.

There is this quote, 

“Travel. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things- air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky- all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” -- Cesare Pavese

This encompasses everything that I feel when I say I like getting lost - when I detach myself, when I travel.  When I travel, it allow my senses to heighten and to try to make sense of everything; the taste, the smell, the culture, the people.  The person who I had built up at home is essential, but she is no longer important.  Nobody knows who she is, what she has accomplished, where she has been.  All of a sudden, she, me, I am, myself is nothing but an observer, a student, an absorb-er -- a present individual.  That to me is happiness.

One happy moment: Machu Picchu

Although, sometimes those happiness churns into horrific memories when I have to witness poverty.  Yet, I have accept that this is the world.  It encompasses both, heart-stoppingly beautiful spaces and heart-stoppingly horrific places.  Both moments remains with me, it changes my perspective on life in ways I cannot imagine.  The moment when I get to sit and watch the sunrise, follows by endless wandering around ancient city of Machu Picchu.  Or when I get to meet people, who I am so interested in getting to know, only to be saddens that we will have to part.  These fragments, these moments makes up my entire journey and it shapes in me in many ways and many days to come.

These moments are my true happiness.   When I sit in traffic in Tanzania or the square in Cusco, and appreciating every moment that I was lucky enough to be there.  How happy am I...

... What is your true happiness?




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*1 yes, 'a bunch-' very scientific - But seriously, Martin Saligman, Sonja Lyubomirsky, to name a few.