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fy showed up to the bus stop this morning wearing another new outfit. i put a hand on her back and commented on her fresh attire. i also asked about the mouse she saw in her apartment because i read her QQ blog and noticed she made the post in the middle of the night. when i got up this morning it was still dark, a combination of shrinking daylight and the fact that it might rain soon. people scrambled onto the big bus to escape the imminent rain. i ended up taking the medium bus however. i was this close to zeng fei, but couldn't muster the courage to switch seats so i could sit next to her. i must enjoy torturing myself like this. i drowned out my futility with some supremes. it felt like every single song was written just for me. where did our love go. you can't hurry love. i'm gonna make you love me. someday we'll be together. even i'm coming out which i usually associate as a gay anthem.

i was afraid to see yuwei after her insane tirade last night. i went to go apologize again and she looked like nothing happened. maybe she's bipolar? she was all smiles and gave me the bag of chestnuts she got for me last night but never gave me because she thought i ditched her because i didn't pick up the phone when she called. these chestnuts were better quality, no dark stains, but they seem like they might've been boiled first before roasting, and only lightly roasted at that. of course i shared some with fy.

the work days seem a little bit shorter with my new supply of celestial seasoning herbal teas. those familiar tastes remind me of home.

i finally got paid today, my second paycheck. i found out through an automated text message from my bank. it was written in chinese but i could read the numbers. it seemed everyone got paid today, which sent loren into a panic because he didn't yet, even though the company sent him an e-mail saying they did almost a week ago. "your big salary takes longer to process," fengya chided. then she was guessing people's salaries. she asked if loren made more than RMB$20k/month and he shook his head. she said that yangyi makes RMB$12k/month, but when i asked her how she knew, she said she guessed. i thought the going rate in the office was RMB$5k/month, but apparently there are people who make more (people like me).

they gave out thick winter comforters for all the new employees, which included me. the e-mail was written in chinese however, and i was able to figure out the meaning via google translate, but i also confirmed it with fy.

fy left the office to have dinner with some friends. i ate the office dinner with the usual dining crowd. having gone to bed hungry a few times, suddenly the office food doesn't seem all that bad. at the very least i can't just throw everything out, i have to eat something. in the past few days i've been soaking my rice with some of the soup to make a rice porridge, which makes everything a little bit tastier.

i dropped off my things when i got back home but went back outside again with my dSLR. it'd been raining, and the glistening night time scene made for good photography. i also went to the ICBC bank and took out some cash for the weekend. i heard the maximum you can withdraw per day is RMB$2000, but that may be untrue because i saw an option for RMB$5000.

afterwards i went to the chongbai supermarket (actually the vanguard supermarket, but i call it the chongbai because it's below the chongbai department store) to buy some more things: food for the road, things like jerky and dried fruits and nuts; another set of hangers (i have 4 sets now for 32 hangers, i should be all set); cough drops; rice bowls and porcelain soup spoons; and a new bathroom entrance rug (RMB$12) to replace the filthy one the previous tenant left behind.

i came home and fixed myself a bowl of jiuniang tanyuan soup with eggs. i was just going to have one bowl but made too much so i ended up with 2 bowls.

i'm hoping to go to bed before midnight!