Anny’s World

angelic
adj
-marked by utter benignity; resembling or befitting an angel or saint
-of or relating to angels
-having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub

Since I had lunch with Shelby today, I will write about her next…I am only using the word “angelic” to describe Shelby b/c she’s making me do it. If I could pick another word, I would say, “undercover.” At first glance, Shelby (like Marie) has everyone fooled. She appears to be the sweetest, nicest, angelic person in the world. When you get to know her better underneath, and especially when you add in a big dog named Boris into the picture, her edginess comes out. She’s tried to beat me in stubborness before but I think she failed many times…yes, once I even threw her backpack into my trunk so I can take her home after class (I did that to Marie once too.)

We’ve shared many many memories together, including:
-Taking Marketing classes together (Wedding Channel, Got Milk?, The Met, SF Giants…she’s witnessed my getting verbally abused by a fellow classmate for no apparent reason…”I think the Met should streamline their management and have one manager instead of two”…at least Jim was on our side!)
-Getting ready for Marie’s baby shower in her cold apartment (which wasn’t all that cold) and my getting shocked by Boris’ electric shocker…I guess my IQ is equal to Boris’
-Volunteering at JDRF, Philharmonia, SF Food Bank
-Going to eat at San Tung’s numerous times
-Sharing alternating weekends at Bridgeview (if you saw one of us, that means the other one was working.)
-Our countless lunches to Lee’s, Boudin’s, Oiishi, Siam’s Kitchen
-Hula Shows
-Planning for ATM Banking events
-Researches at the CLC and my bringing her her very first Philly Cheesteak from Cheeseteak Shop
-Her moving to 525 Market finally but then everyone else end up leaving
-Updating each other weekly, bi-weekly on each other’s lives
-The 7 Habits Bandwagon. We were part of the first graduating class and the class significantly made an impact to our lives and we officially became Alicia’s other two kids, always asking her about things like her pilot branch…

Okay, okay, in all honesty, Shelby is “angelic” for the following reasons:
-Today, she gave up her umbrella to Machu and ended up having to walk in the rain herself!
-When I first started my job at the new group, I was lacking in supplies, so Shelby MACed me some highlighters and sent me other supplies…(somehow this got around to the President of ATM Banking and when I visited once, he asked me if I was on the floor collecting more supplies…ummm…big mouth Marie!)
-She has been there for me listening to me through all these years. We’ve shared many disgruntled rantings about everything including certain meetings to certain people
-She is the ultimate mediator and listens to all sides while holding back biases without taking any sides. That is how she describes herself too and she actually holds herself to it! And I see that in her.

me·di·a·tor
n.
One that mediates, especially one that reconciles differences between disputants.

For everything that she has done, I am eternally grateful to her!

I pledge allegiance to the Stagecoach of Wells Fargo, and to The 150+ year History for which it stands, one Team under Dick, working, with products and services for all…okay, I just made this up.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m dedicating each entry to the people I’m going to be leaving behind in SF. This entry is for those who have pledge their allegiance to a great company. Some of these people have watched me grow up from an ‘intern’ to the person I am today.

WF is the #1 Private Employer in SF, with over 8,500 employees located in 14 buildings. We are the #1 Corporate Giver in SF 4 years in a row. That means that I get to work at a place where I can meet a lot of people and also be proud of what my company has done in the community and engage in activities to help the community too. B/c of WF, the Non-Profit that I am on the board of got 2 different checks this year:

The world is already small, but in the Wells Fargo World, it is even smaller…I would be walking down the street in Financial District and every two blocks I’d be running into a Wells Fargo team member. Then you start to realize that everyone is connected and all of us know each other. Or I always love the first time you meet one of your colleagues that you always send emails to or talk on the phone with and then the first time you actually meet them in person, you’re both so excited.

Of course, you get to network with people. When I was at ATM Banking and when we added Vietnamese on the ATMs, I sent an email to recruit internal Wells Fargo Vietnamese reviewers. A girl by the name of Tina Nguyen signed up to help me out. Ever since then, I see her like EVERYWHERE. And it turned out that she knew someone from Berkeley that I knew and then everyday, we keep finding out that we keep knowing the same people, it’s scary! We would always grab lunch and egg each other on that we would kick ass promoting Asian American Women in a corporate setting and that we would help the community as much as we can.
Lately, I keep having people come up to me saying, “Do you know Tina Nguyen?” That girl is just way too popular…

Best Friends…To measure our livelihood at Wells Fargo, every 1.5 years, we take the Gallup Q12 survey and one of the questions is “I have a best friend at work.” Every year, I always answer that question 5 (the highest rating.) You spend more time at work than with your friends. Your coworkers/colleagues become some of your closest friends. They can empathize with what you’re going through day in and day out. I hang out with my coworkers a lot outside work (they took me to practically every bar in SF; exposed me to tons of restaurants; we got to sail in SF Bay 3 times; did an ‘Amazing Race’-esque adventure in SF with GPS systems; attend 10 billion functions together; taught me so many life lessons; volunteered at countless organizations; etc.) Seriously, work is work. You can be anywhere doing work for anyone. The most important thing that determines your happiness (besides the paycheck) is the people who surround you at work everyday. I am glad and lucky to have a sincere, great, caring group of people.

Just this week, I get a box from my intercompany mail. It is from one of my previous coworkers, JoAnn. She knew I was leaving so sent me this tin can of Chinese tea with a note. My boss is so concerned with my not finding a job in LA that she offered to keep me on her payroll and she signed me up for this Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Program that she still wants me to attend in May even tho I’m leaving.

The list of things and people who make a difference in my working life everyday goes on and on…I can’t begin to list everything…

To all my coworkers, past and present, THANK YOU for making work all that bearable. You guys are what makes WF a great company to work for!

This is my fav picture of myself…

and as a joke, everyone did this to make fun of me…(I’m only putting some, but not all)

This month is Women’s History Month. So this Week shows the stuff that I get to do for Wells Fargo and with coworkers…I got to hear a lot of inspirational speeches from GREAT women who have gone through struggles with gender, race, domestic violence, balancing family and careers…I sat there listening to all those women, with tears of inspiration streaming down my eyes, and I vow to myself that I am going to become one of them one of these days…

Tuesday: NCBW, Madam CJ Walker Awards Luncheon…guess who I saw there:

Wednesday: KQED Women’s History Month Celebration, Hang out with Kathleen & Tina, Pick up Teddy, Dropped him off at 33’s

Thursday: SF International Asian American Film Festival…We watch “Journey from the Fall”. People absolutely have to watch this movie. It was about the fall of Saigon to communism and told about the people of Vietnam from the Vietnamese people standpoint (as opposed to from the American standpoint fighting in the Vietnam War.) It showed the repercussions of what war does to an individual, to a family, to different nations, and showed the human connection. It was a very powerful movie. Tina and I stayed and talked with the director.

I know this blog has tons of grammatical errors and is a conglomerate of many things…but hey, I didn’t get home until 1am last night, 2am the night before, and didn’t sleep until 3am Tuesday night…this week went by in a complete daze…I think I’m going crash so I can make it to Zen Center tomorrow…

“People may not remember what you said or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Happy Birthday Didi Steve!

I’m so lucky to have didi work on the same floor as me in ATM Banking and currently for SF Bay Region. It was really funny when he first came on the floor at ATM Banking. I knew he looked familiar so I told someone on his team that he looked familiar. The person on his team said, “he says he knows you too.” So, that day, I sent an email to dater, “Do you know a Steve Young?” And she told me it was one of Tommy’s friends. From then on, we would go downstairs to smoke (back in da days when I used to smoke). He would ask me to hook him up so I showed him a picture one time and the rest was history. He was on Cloud 9 with a certain absolute ravishing spunky densy.


Nowadays, whenever I don’t have anybody to eat lunch with, I’d give him a call and he’d go eat with me or walk downstairs with me to get food. Thanks Didi for always listening to me and my problems!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Here are pix from Pammy and my tahoe trip last weekend:
03.17.2006: Kirkwood

03.10.2006-03.11.2006: Candace’s Dinner, Karaoke, Cultural Celebration, T&T Dinner (The infamous oyster dinner…I’m shocked that I didn’t take that many pix…you can totally see my bra in some of the pix from 03.11)

Okay, I posted this on Girls Gone Zen also, but I wanted to post this on Anny’s World too because it describes what has been going through my mind lately…

Impermanence
n : the property of not existing for indefinitely long durations

Lately, random thoughts and memories of the past have entered my head. I was watching Cats and for some odd reason, I was thinking about my cruise to the Caribbean with my mom five years ago. Of course, I only remember certain moments of that trip and can’t remember it in its entirety. Then I think people come in and out of our lives so fast. We don’t know who will enter and leave. In 2005 and coming into 2006 and even before, we’ve definitely experienced this but more apparently in 2005. Last Saturday, I posted my bed to give away on Craigslist. I got a huge alarming amount of responses. On Sunday, someone came to pick up my bed. One minute I had a bed, the next minute I am sleeping on the floor with my sleeping bag and I’ve already forgotten what it feels like to be sleeping on a bed. My bed, which I will not see again, is only committed to memory now. Everything in past committed to memories now. We can try to remember each moment in time but we won’t be able to. We might remember some events and even when we do, we’ll remember bits and pieces.

At first glance, this feels scary because my life and time are passing by right before my eyes and I have no control of it.

But then, I start becoming nonchalant about each tiny event that happens to me thinking, “Oh, it’s going to pass anyways, so who cares…I’m not going to let this event affect my mood and emotions so I don’t really care.”

Finally, I realized that the nonchalant attitude is not the way to go either. It is good to not to be affected by each moment, (not to be unhappy, angry, disappointed) but at the same time, it is not good to be nonchalant (which is the opposite of being affected).

Basically, you have to conquer both sides of the extreme, to not be affected and to not be nonchalant. (Non-duality) You can conquer both with a certain cliché.

The cliché comes in handy: “Live each moment and treasure each moment as if it was your last…” You know what? Each moment in time is your last. Each moment in time will come to an end. Each moment in time is special. There are no two moments in time that are the same and thus it is always your last. Don’t let a particular moment in time affect your mood because it will come to an end so be less quick to anger or be sad or be scared, and at the same time, don’t be nonchalant because that moment in time only happens once and is special in every shape and form so treasure it.

You know, all of this comes at a time when I know I am leaving SF in 5 weeks. Last week’s lecture at the Zen Center was about living life to the fullest knowing that your life will eventually end. It can be applied to living life to the fullest knowing that your residency of 9 years at a place is about to end and applied to any moment in time.

I know that I have definitely taken all the adventures, fun, laughter, tears, events, situations, friends in the past 9 years for granted. I’ve had the time of my life and now all of it is engrained in memories, which 1 year, 5 years from now will randomly enter my head.

I do have 5 weeks left and I know I will make the most of it. The past few weeks have already been a blast and I am looking forward to each moment in the future. I am also grateful and treasure this current moment as I am writing this entry.

Chi·hua·hua
n.
A very small dog of a breed originating in Mexico, having pointed ears and a smooth coat.

Pom·er·a·ni·an
n.
Any of a breed of small dogs having long silky hair, a foxlike face, pointed ears, and a hairy tail curling over the back.

March 12th is Twin/Lil Sis & Ricky’s Bday. (I’ll hold off on Ricky’s posting for another entry.)

Twin/Lil Sis, aka Chihuahua, is another part of the Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest trio. Her traits include:
-Thinking Las Vegas is in California
-Thinking that there are no schools in Vegas
-Thinking that her dog is the King of Pomeranian, instead of the Japanese Spitz that it is:

-Telling people she’s 5 minutes away when she hasn’t even left her house yet
-Telling people that she has their presents at home, in the closet
-Dressing like me (hence she’s my twin)
-Adopting everyone to be her ‘big sis’ (don’t worry, I won’t tell 33)
-Playing drinking games (especially when her beer can is filled with water but everyone else is drinking vodka…and when you drink the chaser after her realizing that she has spit the alchohol back into the chaser…cough cough)
-Having trouble getting off lifts (I remember the time when she didn’t get off the lift and was still sitting on it when it was on its way down.)

Some crazy memories we’ve had: Vegas (when I put hello kitty alarm clock between her and nisha while they were sleeping), making her pledge class run around the entire East Bay for no reason the day before I-Day, her squirrel outfit and her wagging her tail saying “I’m so cute”

She has a huge heart for her friends and people close to her…when you’re down, she will be there to empathize with you to try to cheer you up and be there on your side to guy bash with you. She is one of the most prolific and greatest writers I know. She writes in a way that captures all of the details and emotions so painstaking well. And I’m proud of her for knowing how to put chains on her car in her last tahoe trip!!!

You know we love you for being you!!! We wouldn’t have all of the laughter and entertainment if not for you! Happy Bday Twin/Lil Sis!!!

a·li·en
adj.
-Owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign: alien residents.
n.
-An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen.

It just so happens that today is the Alien’s bday. Niece has had her citizenship revoked countless times for not knowing stuff like who Gavin Newsom or Steve Young are, but somehow being the nice friends we are, we always let her back into the country.

I am so glad to have Niece in my life (her big sis is my twin Kasumi). From going to formals with Gymnists to taking promiscuous pictures during those formals to attending concerts with teeny booper kids who were crying b/c a certain boy band wasn’t allowed to perform after a problem with PG&E and the “First Concerts” for her and stinky where proper concert behavior was exhibited, we have had some hilarious memories, all at each other’s expense.

Niece, like me, likes to fill her life with tons of noises (karate, jewelry making, singing, travelling) and is the go-to girl for any relationship/zodiac/horoscope advice. Not to mention she holds the title Queen of Gossip, hands down…she even owns a stamp of Gossip. If you want to know anything about anyone, she will tell you in exchange for more gossip. I will forever remember the graphic lesson she gave us the night of CinSan on our coffee table with a certain toy and napkin.

When hanging out with Niece, here are some tips:
-Remember where the car is parked
-All attention focused on her (we’ve came to the conclusion she is the attention whore)
-She is part of the Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest trio so excuse her ditziness

“Who’s the dummy now?”…no really…I think it’s still you…but since today’s your birthday, I’ll gladly be the dummy.

Happy Birthday Alien Niece!!! Just for today, I grant you citizenship

(This entry is stolen from Hoi Sum Tina)

Read Each One Carefully and Think About It a Second or Two

1. I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you..

2. No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won’t make you cry.

3. Just because someone doesn’ t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

4. A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

5. The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them

6. Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

7. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

8. Don’t waste your time on a man/woman, who isn’t willing to waste their time on you.

9. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.

10. Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.

11. There’s always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around.

12. Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you.

13. Don’t try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.

stub·born
adj.

1. Unreasonably, often perversely unyielding; bullheaded.
-Firmly resolved or determined; resolute. See Synonyms at obstinate.
-Characterized by perseverance; persistent.

I am an incredibly stubborn person, but 6 years ago, I met my match. When I first met her tho, on the surface, she seemed like this perfectly nice angel, but little did I know. During the summer of 2000 when I first started interning at Wells Fargo, I did a project for Marie and she took me to this Japanese restaurant. That was my first memory of her thinking that she was the nicest person in the world. Then, I got to know her and realized how stubborn and feisty she was, but it’s okay because deep down inside she has a big huge heart for everything she does and people she cares about. She’s taken care of me countless times, listened to me bitch about anything and everything, introduced me to dry fried chicken wings at San Tungs, garlic noodles at Crustaceans, the BEST noodle restaurant and ground pork over rice in Vancouver, Zeum, Bridgeview, San Francisco Food Bank, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, JDRF, HULA shows and Hawaiian Food.

She will go out of her way just to get me stuff that she knows I like (pork blood rice cubes, hello kitty, a shirt that says “San Francisco, Our City Mayor is cuter than your city mayor.”, carebears sweatshirt, a book about adopting babies from China).

And she lets me watch Ding.a.Ling and Leo and always pays me…and even during times when I don’t take the money, somehow the money ends up in my Bank of America account anyways (that’s illegal you know!!!) I give up.

On top of having the cutest kid in the whole world, she works ridiculously long hours and has even stayed 24 hours at work once! And she teaches me things like, “Don’t live to work, work to live” and “If you have a choice between taking bart, shuttle, or taxi home on the bank, take the taxi. No one’s going to come back and thank you for saving the bank $20.”

(Just so you know, I am completely BAWLING with tears falling down non-stop while writing this right now.)

I know I am definitely going to miss her, d.a.l., leo, and wilko!

Making wontons at their house: (Yes, my wontons were envelope-shaped)

I can’t believe he is walking now:

I knew him from day 1:

and now he’s Year 1 and almost 3 months:

02.20.2006: Dinner at Bakara (including pix of the underwear hoodrats…don’t ask me what we were doing…)
02.26.2006: Wonton Making at the Schutzendorf’s House