Proof that we've buried the hatchet - celebrating the 4th with all dignitaries from the Mother Country...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City. So first off - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!! I actually had this day off last year, so this is the first time the Bull's EVER worked on the 4th of July. But Wild Card and Dr. Appel, fret not - I was a MACHINE in the office. :-)

And in a funny note from today - so the Bull goes to the Harbourfront Starbucks to experience his twice weekly crap shoot (Mondays and Fridays - all I can afford at $4.60 a cup) of getting either a) a brilliant cup of joe or b) utter DONKEY TRASH, and there's the usual girl at the till. She says, "Cup of coffee with hazelnut and hot milk, yeah?", and I nod, accepting the fact that I've got about a .00000001% chance of getting a drinkable cup of coffee given that there's a newbie who takes my cup. But no sooner is the gal about to START WITH THE MILK IN THE CUP than the gal at the till grabs the cup from her and says, "No, no, lah - for him is coffee then 4 pump, then hot milk, lo." She then proceeds to make a perfect cup - IT WAS AWESOME. I am now convinced that Harbourfront Starbucks "can can, lah!"

Also, I started practicing Mandarin and Taiwanese today in the office. You see, the girls have typed up a few phrases, and I tried saying a few of them today in the office. Amidst the cackling, I remember the following quotes:

Tiffanie: "That's really bad, man. You should just bring off pictures or do hand signals."

Nancy: "You sound like my grandmother. Only really angry."

Sophia: "I think you have hard time, yeah. I think you just make motion. No talk."

Tiffanie (again): "I have no idea what you just said, man. They gonna be afraid of you. I would love to see how people respond to you."

So tonight was a blast, as Team Taylor wanted to celebrate our nation's independence by dressing in our American garb and going to a truly American place. The outfits weren't terribly creative, but I hadn't rocked my UNC gear in awhile and so it was high time to break out the alma mater colors. The American location, however, was FABULOUS. Where did we go? Well, I'm glad you asked...

It wasn't TGI Friday's. It wasn't Hard Rock (which is English, anyway). Instead, we went to the new Boardroom of small businesses (according to Michael Scott). We went somwhere Pam Beasley can truly feel God's presence. We went to the location that hosts "The Dundees" every year. That's right, ladies and gentlemen - we rocked...wait for it...wait for it...CHILI'S, BABY!!!!! Did someone say baby back riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiibs? I want my baby back...

So yes, I realize that it's a bit odd to celebrate 4th of July in a Mexican joint drinking Corona (Rice - they had Rusty's AND MGD, but at $13 a bottle, I just couldn't do it) with 2 Englishmen, a gal from Wales, and a gal from Scotland, but it was a blast. Anne Marie came along as well (just back from a 4 week trip to Oz and Kiwiland - she was STRANDED in Queenstown for 1.5 weeks due to the ash cloud - what a place to be stuck!), and we spent a solid 3 hours chillin' and trading stories about college, life in America (T-bone, I rattled on and ON about PK), and enjoying the bottomless chips (for $7 and a table of 7 people, that wasn't bad - it was just the $52 buckets of Corona that killed us...details). All in all, it was a rousing success.

Tomorrow JT and I are saying that we're rising with the chickens to go for a run - we'll see how that goes (says the blogger working on his second glass of Bailey's - mum, you gotta try Hazelnut or Mint Chocolate - I predict you make it 2 whole sips before you can't feel your teeth...).

Now I know that Muffin owes you news of Pulau Aur (and the GREATEST STORY EVER) and I owe you the recap of Bangkok (also known as the Hangover Unrated), but that will just have to keep until tomorrow. All good things to those who wait, no?

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny