Monday, February 28, 2011

Stinky Pinky!!!!

What is Stinky Pinky, you ask? It's a game that Alex introduced to us earlier today, which involves riddles with rhyming answers. The answer to each hint should be two words that rhyme with each other. He heard it on Loveline, in case this sounds familiar to anyone. SO we started playing, and it is SOOOO FUN. The best one thus far I think is Andy's "A Priscilla from HK" - Fobby Bobby. Only a select few would get that though. While I was in the shower I was thinking of new ones. I'd like to share them with anyone who reads my blog, and if you post your guesses I'll let you know if they are correct. They are in order from easiest to most difficult:

#1: A type of alcoholic beverage
_ _ _ _ / _ _ _

#2: A specific self-defense, handheld weaponry
_ _ _ _ / _ _ _

#3: A place to write about your pet
_ _ _ / _ _ _ _

#4: Garment specialist for the Navy
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _

#5: Tool for handling undergarments
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _

#6: A covering for fruit
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Snippety Snips - Supplementary S-log!

So now that I've had an iPhone for a while, I've started taking pictures with it when I'm too lazy to take out my real camera - or when I'm not going anywhere special and don't have my camera on me. Also, since I caved in a month ago and finally downloaded iTunes, my phone was updated and I am suddenly able to take screenshots.

Okay, so iProducts aren't so bad. But still don't call me an iPhone user. Even though I am, don't you dare call me an iPhone user. Anyhow, as you can imagine I've amassed a collection of notable, but not necessarily blog-worthy moments.

So why not start a mini-blog! Or a supplementary snippet blog? Let's smang it, and call it a slog. Here we go: http://snippetlogstardatex.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Seattle Seattle

I don't think I fully understand the meaning of "vacation." From what I can tell, the vacations that other people take are very relaxing and therapeutic. But my vacations seem to send me home absolutely exhausted!

On Friday evening, Brian & co. drove me to the airport, where I could have missed my flight if it wasn't delayed 90 MINUTES! Thanks for small blessings? Anyhow, even though the airport was swamped with other delayees, it could have been worse. I met a couple on their way to Portland and had a hilarious conversation with them during our eternalong wait for a Pastrami Reuben. Which is a terrible choice of food for the airport - way too messy. Earlier in the day on Friday, I got some troubling news. And the extra time at the airport helped me shake it off a bit. I didn't want it to ruin my trip, and even though it lingered a bit I was able to put my thoughts in order while I waited to board.

I finally did get to Seattle. And when I landed I was totally wired because I had coffee on the plane LOL. Victor picked me up! :) And I couldn't stop talking! But we had to wait for the girls from Switzerland to land because their flight got delayed too. :( By the time we were all pickeded upped, it was too late to go anywhere crazy. We ended up at a Korean bar where we ate and drank, and everyone knew Victor's name LOL. Two of his friends that I'd met when he was here in San Francisco showed up shortly after. We didn't stay that long though, and I was so glad to get back to the house and just chill. We ended up drinking more and staying up super late, and I was def glad when it was time for bed.

On Saturday we had dim sum, and then went back to the house to hang out. The girls were speaking Swiss German. Man, there is something about German that just sounds awesome! After catching up on Jersey Shore, we went to the Space Needle and to Westlake for touristy things. The girls went shopping while Victor and I went to eat, and then we all went back home. For dinner we had Thai food - the Thai food in Seattle is a lot better than the Thai food I've had in SF. King of Thai is SO garbage. Blehk. We ended up being too tired to go out (not my fault), so we stayed at Vic's place and people came over to party. There was a whole fiasco about trying to get alcohol, and I will probably never like the idea of government-controlled liquor. I guess I'm spoiled by my easy access to alcohol. <3 SF. We played one of the Kinect dance games, OMG SO FUN!! GRREAT workout! I want ~

Sunday we had lunch at Vic's parents' house. For the very first time in my life I wrapped a spring roll - I'm pretty much a natural. We went shopping again after, spent a lot of time wandering around this store called Fireworks? Or Fireflies? and it had all kinds of cool knick-knacks. I WISH WE HAD THOSE HERE!!! We dropped the girls off at the airport, and drove around for a bit. We stopped to get Trophy's cupcakes and FRAN'S CHOCOLATES!!! YUM yum :D Later for dinner, we ended up at a cute little neighborhood joint called Lynn's Bistro. I ordered swordfish, which I DON'T like but I always order because it sounds cool. I think this happened at Bouchon in Vegas last time. Sigh. Anyway, everything else was really good :) Chicken Liver Pate nommmmmmmmmmmmm. We had a cozy movie night and I FINALLY WATCHED TOY STORY 3! The movie was soooo well written, I laughed and smiled and giggled. The new characters are absodorable. I see why it's up for an Academy Award!

Monday was a lazy Sunday. We went to lunch at Elliot's. O, M, G. The food was SO good! The spicy crab and corn chowder...... ... .... UuUuUUber delicious. That might have been the favorite segment of my trip! The rest of the day we just hung out. I was exhausted! Matt came over for a bit and it was good to see him again. The last time I saw him he was rolling around in a melted chocolate bar!! By 7 I was off to the airport, and I got home around midnight. GEEZ it was hard to wake up for work today. The trip was fun, although I wish I hadn't been so tired. I'll blame it on PMS and stress. Seattle isn't as gorgeous in the winter as it is in the summer, but it still kind of is. Lots of good eats, lively company, smiles all around.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Reno, Vegas Junior.

Over the past few weeks, people who had originally confirmed for Reno began to drop like flies. And so, by the time Friday came around it was only Alex, My, Ya and myself heading East. This weekend I was really looking forward to line-dancing, gambling, and working out in Reno. As it turns out, we did little to none of what I planned for.

When we got to Reno on Friday, we stopped at Walmart to pick up party supplies before checking in at Grand Sierra. Upon arrival, we settled into our cowboy-themed hotel rooms and the party began. We were supposed to go to the Mustangs Dance Hall that night, but as it turns out it wasn't a club at all. No, it was a stage in the Johnny Rocket food court. What a BUST! And to top that, their line-dancing night was Thursday.. go figure. We ended up having a super-crazy pretzel party in my room, and it was SO fun. I don't even think line-dancing could have topped the pretzel party. Insanity. We also wandered around the hotel and visited another room before ending up in the casino. While the others went to the tables I sat down at a slot machine nearby and started jamming buttons. I put in $20 and ended up with $38. It was already 3, and I was exhausted, so I called it a night.



Saturday morning was less painful than it should have been, thanks to hydration! On our way out of the casino, Alex and I realized that everyone on the trip with us was in couples! And to top that off, we ran into Jimmy and his girlfriend in the parking lot. While it was coincidence, it wasn't surprising - I totally called it! The night before, I said I BET WE'RE GOING TO SEE AT LEAST ONE PERSON WE KNOW HERE!

For lunch, we went to Hiroba sushi buffet! There we spotted Anh Yong from Arrested Development! I tried to secretly take a picture of him but I couldn't get a good one. The sushi was delicious, and totally worth the wait. I felt guilty because we wasted about 2 rolls, totally over-ambitious. After sushi, we went to get more party supplies - PRETZELS! When we got back to the hotel room we caught the "Hole In The Wall" tv show and it was freakin' hilarious. We made a run to Costco to pick up some things and then it was time for dinner.



We had made up our minds to try Zozo's Ristorante, but when we got there they were completely sold out for the night, WOW. We have to go the next time we're in Reno. Instead we had Kinders BBQ, which was still yum. After Kinders, we went to Nu Yalk pizza because we passed it on the way to Zozo's and we thought the name was funny. That was THE BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER HAD. Alex described it as "pizza on a cracker" - the crust was paperthin and soooo crunchy, I looove thin-crust pizza and that was the thinnest crust I've had to date. Stopping there was a great idea.


When we got back to the hotel, other folks were just going to dinner at one of the restaurants downstairs. I'm glad we didn't go as they ended up having a terrible experience. Anyhoo, to kill time we played the "who do you think is most likely to..." game and that was pretty fun. Later, when the others finished their dinner, we went to Jewell's room and started partying. I ended up not being able to hang with the big kids, and went back to my room to sleep around midnight.

Sunday morning we checked out. We were heading to some bakery/breakfast place in Reno, but we turned around when we decided to eat Boiling Crab instead. On the freeway, we saw a billboard sign for Tahoe Burgers. A few minutes later, we exited to get gas and ended up right next to Tahoe Burgers. We decided to try it! The burger and curly fries were tasty, definitely a step up from what I would normally consider fast food. We hit the road, and two hours later we were at Boiling Crab in Sacramento. It was what I'd expected it to be, delicious! I love me some whole shrimps, shell and all :) We hit the road again and hours later (traffic) we were back in the Bay Area. We stopped at Church's Chicken when we dropped My and Ya off, and then headed back to the city.

In summary, this trip was everything I didn't expect it to be. I didn't do any of the things I was planning to do but I ended up having a fantastic time. There were SO MANY funny moments, in the car ride there and back, that I will probably remember and giggle at years from now. Alex and I had some really interesting conversations at the hotel and on the way back to the city. Even though I ate a lot instead of working out, the food was well worth it. This trip ended up being spontaneity at its best, from the pretzel party to the Nu Yalk pizza, to Tahoe Burgers and everything in between.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Good deeds, good health.

I feel like a million bucks.

This morning, Andy and I woke up at 7-something AM and dragged our asses to volunteer at the Edgewood Center for Children and Families. I remembered, painfully, how much I do NOT miss waking up before 9:00AM on Saturdays. This was my first time doing volunteer work voluntarily (other times I've volunteered for events were actually requirements for clubs in high school) and I think it was long overdue. Though I'm not entirely to blame - I wanted to volunteer before but I used to work Saturdays at BMW!

Anyhoo, the Edgewood Center is a system for abused/troubled adolescents and they offer a plethora of supportive/reformative services. The organization is celebrating 160 years of service, and it was a great feeling to know that I participated in such a well-established, life changing program. The work was much less labor-intensive than I'd expected - I had anticipated an assembly-line type setup. But actually, we were split up amongst cottages so I only worked with Andy and another lady volunteer. We had a big, sunny kitchen to ourselves where we prepared eggs, hash browns, toast and fruit for breakfast.

I had quite an outstanding time preparing the oranges and toasting the toast. In fact, I can't think of any better way to have spent this Saturday morning! When breakfast was served, we were encouraged to interact with the children. This was a new kind of social interaction for me (children), and I didn't know how to connect on their level. One of them though, was pretty excited to tell me about the Tony Hawk game and Karate Kid 3 - neither of which I know anything about. He also told me that I look like a snowboarder girl. It was certainly an interesting conversation, if not a successful one?

I'm going back when my schedule permits, it was an incredible experience and I'm glad I could spare a few hours of my time to help disadvantaged children.

Also, I went to the doctor yesterday and got my annual check up - everything is all good in the hood (although I have been feeling a strange numbness or poor circulation in my feet). And speaking of hoods, Klaus also went to the doctor yesterday and got his 15k service. He too is all good in the hood. We're all good. In the hood.

I must say, this New Year, and also Chinese New Year have both gotten off to a spectacular start.