Valentine's Day at the happiest place on Earth!

On Thursday evening, Matt and I flew to L.A. and went straight to Anaheim for the night. We got in near midnight, and barely had enough time to swing by the Anaheim In-N-Out burger. But, I made sure that we made it. =)

Our Valentine's Day Friday began with lunch at Healthy Junk -- the best vegan food I've EVER had. I inhaled the Portobello burger, the fish tacos were amazing, and even the fries were so good. The freshly-squeezed juice blends were the icing on the cake. The weather was gorgeous and we sat in the open air of the small plaza, watching Anaheim people go about their lunch breaks. It was the calm before the storm.. and by storm, I mean Disneyland. So we headed to the happiest place on Earth immediately after eating, and as we entered the parking lot there were tons of empty levels. We thought we'd hit the jackpot! Sadly, upon seeing the park entrance later, we realized that they must've just opened our lot as an overflow.. because there were crowds as far as the eye could see. You know you're getting "too old" for Disneyland, when waiting 90 minutes for a ride doesn't seem worth it. We really did enjoy walking around Cars Land, seeing the Iron Man room, shopping, eating turkey legs (yeah!!!!), and of course taking pictures! Our best picture was in front of a waterfall, when Matt made the photographer feel awkward and we couldn't stop laughing. Oh, memories!

Saturday started off with a beautiful wedding ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels which was overwhelming, majestic, and very impressive. The bride and groom looked so happy, and the officiant made a few jokes to keep the service entertaining. We had a short break before we reconvened at Palladio's for the reception. There was so much food! The program was so efficiently executed; I was thinking that's how all weddings should be! They started on time, transitioned to the next segments promptly, and everyone had a great time. I don't even know the couple and I cried during the slideshow -- moments from family and friends were so touching!

After checking out of our hotel on Sunday, we were quite tired and found ourselves at In-N-Out again.. this time in Glendale. We wandered around the shopping areas and visited Vape Theory nearby because we hadn't planned anything else out for the day. We got some super cute Superdry jackets and macarons! For early dinner, we had Hakata ramen at Shin-Sen-Gumi in Little Tokyo. I personally like the wavy noodles better, but Matt found out this trip that he likes the straight noodles better! Regardless of the noodles, the broth was fantastic. This meal provided redemption and more for our visit to Kanpai Ramen Friday night (it was so bad neither of us finished our food.. and Matt usually eats everything). After a satisfying warm meal on a cool L.A. evening, we drove up to the Griffith Observatory for the sunset. We had a pretty good time checking out the houses in the area, but we didn't make it all the way up the hill because of the traffic. Maybe next time?

Aside from our return flight getting delayed an hour, the trip was delightful. I was slightly concerned before we left, this being our first lone couple trip, because our relationship began with us already living together and in the back of my mind I'm still somewhat afraid that we'll get sick of each other one day. Or, rather, that he'll get sick of me. I mean.. I can barely stand myself so I can't expect anyone else to, right? LOL. It must be love.

I just got back from a last minute trip to SF -- you know, HAD to see my Sharks play at least once this season! Flew in Thursday afternoon and hung out with Julian in San Mateo. Got my ramen fix at Himawari because Santa Ramen had just closed. It almost worked out better though, cuz karaaagee chickennns! :)

Had some delicious french pastries at Santana Row with Julian <3 .="" class="separator" div="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Then met Alex up at the Firehouse in SJ before the game to have a pre-game pre-game! The game was fun, stuffed my face with nachos and sipped my beers. I SOO MISS SHARKS GAMES! HP Pavillion feels like home. Too bad we didn't win that night, or Saturday night, and too bad the Sharks got eliminated ..

On Friday I had lunch with my parents, then hung out on the rooftop at my brother's place. It was so gorgeous! Great time catching up, I'm glad everyone is healthy and doing well. I haven't seen them for a whole four months, but the time feels shorter to me. On Friday evening, I went to Alex's for dinner. His house feels like home too! His mom made me eat a lobster claw, my first lobster claw ever. It was seriously ridiculous. I got to watch Bear and Tupac play, it was kind of gross to eat around them with the fur flying but they're still too cute.

We went to Priscilla's birthday after, and she ended up in tears!! I think they were happy tears... I hope. Anyway, I'm really glad she enjoyed her birthday, she totally deserves it! And it was very nice to see Andy and Janet and other people I haven't seen in forever. Saturday I had dim sum with my mom and brother, and I sort of just lazed around until the Sharks game started. A disappointing finish led to a dinner of leftovers - seems fitting. Saturday night was Alesso at Ruby Skye, and I actually had MUCH MORE fun than I had anticipated. The music was great, but the company was greater! Felt good to be back, and my calves are still sore from jumping around with Loan. My crack of dawn flight Sunday morning was not fun at all. When I got back though, the weather was gorgeous. Matt and I decided to make use of the rooftop with some wine! We continued the drinking at Vic's for bbq, and the night ended around a fire with smores and perfect weather.

This past weekend could not have been better. Loving life!

LA Weekender

I just got back from LA! Was a short trip, but surprisingly I saw more of LA than I've seen my past trips combined ~

I flew in Saturday night (this is what happens when you book your flight two months in advance, and then change jobs) and Julian and I went straight to The Hat! Gosh, the pastrami is sooo greasy there, but soooo good. I felt mega guilty but it was definitely worth it. After eating, we went to Tony's surprise party! And boy was I in for a surprise. When I got there, I soon realized that 7 or 8 friends from SF had moved down to SoCal and all still hang out down there. So, it was like a party with more than half of the people from SF, in LA! That was weird!! But it was also great, to see so many familiar faces :) SO the drinking commenced, and there were lots of ridiculous, hilarious moments.

On Sunday, we went to Orochan to get ramen for lunch. MMmm it was good, I think I like their noodles better than Santa! We looked around in the Japantown area for a little bit and then we went to DISNEYLAND!!! I usually don't have all that much fun at Disneyland because I hate waiting, but since it was only two of us we didn't have to wait for anyone. And lucky us, the lines weren't long. We were able to get on Indiana Jones in 15 minutes, and Pirates in less than 10. We rode Tower of Terror for the first time, and OMG it was really terrifying. I couldn't believe how awesomely violent the ride was, I thought it was going to be really gentle because they put it in California Adventure next to the kiddie park..

We watched a bunch of shows and went through the animation museum. The zoetrope for Toy Story was so freakin' cool. I LOVED the Monsters Inc ride also. And we bought cool pirate swag :) We even stopped at the winery area and got a sweet buzz going. After drinking was TURKEY LEGS OF COURSE! And we ate them with salsa this time, I couldn't believe how TASTY IT WAS! I looooove turkey legs, NOMM! The weather was perfect, it was hot but there was always a breeze. We stayed until pretty late to watch the World of Color show, and it seriously took my breath away. The Pirates of the Caribbean segment and the Little Mermaid segments were my fave. But of course, it was ALL GOOD!

After Disneyland, we headed back to Hollywood and had a late dinner at Cafe Aroma. It was a snazzy place with a heated outdoor seating area and fantastic food. Their menu was huge and their desserts were awesome to the max. Before heading home, we drove around LA and looked at all of the different areas. I can't say that LA is very pretty, but it sure is lively. Even at 1:00AM on a Sunday night there seemed to be LOTS of nightlife still happening.

Sunday I got to check out Xino and it had SUCH a gorgeous view! We ate at a wine bar next door - the view and the weather were perfect, and we relaxed with our super rich food. The truffle fries were REALLY good there, but I didn't like everything else. The oysters though, were also good - and the wine was excellent.

After lunch we checked out Santa Monica and Venice Beach. We saw the canals, I recognized it from Valentine's Day where! The canals are so gorgeous.. now THAT'S somewhere I'd like to live one day. Everywhere else in LA just wasn't as amazing. We had Kbbq for dinner and everybody knows that korean food in LA is ALWAYS good. Yum, what a delicious trip! It was short but sweet, and it was a nice little mini-vaca. SO many good eats, love it!

The New Jay Oh Bee

So, the new job is officially fan-tas-tic! =) Much more fun than I had anticipated, and I don't know if I could ask for more. Well, more money, but you can always ask for more money. As far as coworkers, environment, management, and actual work goes, I seriously couldn't ask for much else! Great benefits, corporate discounts, company lunches, fully-stocked kitchens, and happy hour. OMG, it almost feels too good to be true.

And the work? I really enjoy the projects because they're so hands-on and I definitely get to see all of my effort in the final result. Right now we're between projects, so I'm learning how to code HTML and CSS. Yesterday, I made my own webpage! I'm learning tons about MS Office also - so many things I didn't know you could do in Excel. I'm already nearing the end of my second week, and I'm still excited!

There are so many lunch places to explore in San Mateo, and so much sunshine out there to bask in =) I met with Nick and Jon last week for Santa Ramen, YUM! I haven't had much free time but I've managed to get to HH a couple of evenings and went to Regina's birthday last Saturday. It's difficult going out, what with all of the waking up early and working at BMW on Saturdays still. Although, the commute really isn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I honestly don't mind the drive. I haven't decided how to decorate my cube yet, but I'm thinking frogs will be all I need!

Right now I'm packing for Seattle, I'm flying out after work tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have time to blog about my trip, got lots of fun activities planned and am sure I'll have plenty of pictures. SO much going on, so little time!!!

Farewells, For Now.

Yesterday we had a barbie at Coyote Point for Menie, because she's moving away - I was just starting to get used to having her around again... and here she goes leaving all over. Well, we had lots of fun anyway. For the most part, everything went well.

The pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon was sooo good. And I guess I never thought about it, but yesterday I learned that cinnamon is actually tree bark? Lots of good company, old friends and new, and delicious food. I got to use my activity mat and tanned while people played volleyball. I also made jello shots, and I'm pretty sure they were amazing - if nothing else, they were at the very least POTENT.

And then today I had brunch at Stacks with Julian. He is also leaving on Thursday to pursue his career. I'm so sad that he's moving away! We had a nice meal and then went to the driving range at Crystal Springs. It was a gorgeous day and there were animals out on the grass, so nice.

Afterward we hung out at his place for a bit, playing with the cats and chatting by the pool. I'm going to miss hanging out with him! This week will be sad, and I wish I could send other people away instead of them and keep my favorites around. But still, I'm excited for them both and wish them all of the best =)

Menie and I went for a late dinner with Ryan and Alan at Santa Ramen - I think this may be our last meal together for a while. And then we ran into some friends at Golden Island for dessert. Lots of funny moments throughout the night, those guys are hilarious. I'm sooo going to miss that crazy girl!

A Mad World

This post is comprised of two parts: 1) a brief recap, and 2) a reflection of my thoughts on humanity. Let's begin -

Thursday was V's b-day; we started HH at Moussey's and then all went to Trigger. Good company and great laughs. Friday was a quiet night in, to prepare for Saturday which was a busy day at work and then a potluck at Gary's immediately after. Again, good company, delicious food, and ridiculous conversation. The party continued at Mayes on Polk. Stalone's b-day at Brian's is where my night ended. I'm getting too old for the momentous partying.

Today, went to San Mateo for lunch, but ended up at Santoukka in San Jose because Santa Ramen was closed. Dawdled at Kinokuniya after, and was inspired to take up "felting". Proceeded to Joann's to no avail - apparently there are no craft kits for felting. Ended up at Ikea in Emeryville initially looking for curtains, and winding up with a stalk of bamboo in a vase, a toolkit, and a list of furniture to go back for. LOTS of ground covered on a funday Sunday, and many curiosities explored. I am now determined to re-furnish my room and fully utilize the air-space which I have left unappreciated for so long.

Okay, now the main course. I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird and, while I'll be the first to admit that this is a slow-moving text, I cannot deny that this novel is and always will be a classic. In the beginning, I understood the author's use of a child's perspective as a tool for framing the unspoken rules of goodness, equality, and morality. By the end, I realized that by viewing racism and prejudice through the eyes of a child and then have her innocent self become a victim of a malicious and vindictive attack, the author just pulls the thin sheet back and lets true human nature rear its ugly head.

This book does a fantastic job portraying the hypocrisy, ignorance, insensitivity, and bold-faced idiocy of racism. And the worst part is - in a general sense, I still see these same faults in the people around me as well as hints of them in myself. We may not be as openly racist now as we once were, but we've still got ways to go. How many times have you let an inappropriate remark go without speaking up or bothering to give a damn? I know I've had my share of experiences. The conclusion of the novel makes me angry, but in the end it all came full-circle. I'm glad I read this text, and I will try my best to be a wholesome and fair person not just most of the time, but ALL of the time. /rant

Back to Business

Saturday, my car wouldn't start. Great way to start the day, after waking up to breathing problems! After work, I came home to nap before Chad's farewell festivities. Quick stop at Bourbon & Branch (not as cool as I thought it would be), and fruitless waiting-in-line at Swig before we finally got to the Redwood Room. Coolest furniture ever! I stayed sober, had fun, and we got to see Chad off with such gusto. He really liked the picture box and the photo frame, and I'm glad we could get it together in time!

Sunday started at Cliffhouse with V and Charles. Our waiter was adorable! He had frowny eyes but was a happy guy - intriguing. The food was alright, but the view.. AMAZING. I went home for the play-off game. My brother bet on the Chargers with an 11-point spread, which actually seemed reasonable at the time, but the Jets won the game and I WON THE BET!! Afterward I watched Star Trek with Dom and Bryant. THE MOVIE IS SO GOOD! I'd enlist. We played Settlers after, which is frighteningly addicting, and then went clubbing later at night. I saw my friends' little sisters and brothers at Slide, gross.

Today, I got Himawari chicken (!!) with Brian and Ryan. We swapped out Rupert's battery at Ken's shop on the way back and ran more errands. It took forever to install my new battery because it's slightly taller than the factory, but we got it to work. Afterward, I went to Ryan's and got movies! Then I went to Alex's to watch the Shark's game. Oh man it was good, we won by a landslide. We switched back and forth with the Lakers game which was intense. I got to try Wii-Fit before coming home! I really like the skiing game =) I just realized that one of my headlights is out. Rupert is falling to pieces, but I'll put him back together just like humpty-dumpty!

Laughing Really Hard

Before I graduated from high school, I used to laugh so hard that I would fall to the floor. I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, and funny things would somehow happen ALL the time. Well, after years of less-enjoyable laughter, I'm starting to get it back.

Aside from experiencing a horrid allergic reaction which caused raccoon eyes and multiple consecutive days of Benadryl-induced coma, I've had a few notable moments this week:

Julian and I had lunch! We went to Santouka for ramen and the drive felt short because we were so busy catching up. On the way back, we were talking about horseback riding and ended up laughing so hard that by the time we calmed down, we realized that the car was between two lanes on 280 (I wasn't driving). That lifted my mood SOOOO much after being miserable for days with my swollen eyes. If we had crashed then and there, I would have definitely died happy.

I also caught the Warriors/Heat game and had AMAZING seats! We ended up with center court row 7 tickets, and the experience was such a stark contrast from what I'm used to. The Sideline Club seats have their own concession area, restrooms, walkways, and super-close parking. Gosh, how will I ever settle for regular tickets again? It just wouldn't be the same...

After work today, I had a hankering for panfried noodles and I dragged Brian to Lam's on Irving. It was such a funny situation - neither of us who speak Chinese arguing over who should try to order. We ended up ordering in English, and fortunately the lady who took our order understood. Brian told me a story about a girl we went to high school with falling down stairs and I thought I was going to die laughing, seriously. It's not as bad as it sounds. Well, okay, it is. I don't think he even told it right, but that probably made it even more funny.

Seattle - Day II (Saturday)

At around noon, we eventually crawled out of bed for some serious shopping! While we were waiting to leave, V and I were practicing being snakes and koalas on Menie's staircase.


The expedition started at Bellevue Square, and Menie kept missing the exit so we took the scenic route. Seattle seems to have a lot of tunnels, lots of opportunities for making wishes! We were at Bellevue for two hours, and V and I bought things we probably shouldn't have. But hey, we're on vaca! Charles was looking for a gift, but didn't find it. While V and I were waiting, we took some pictures at this cool Christmas setup in the mall!





Later, we headed to The Bravern, which is an upscale high-end retail center almost more pretentious than Santana Row. We did a walk through for another hour of shopping and decided to head back to the house for a nap. I have to say, that customer service in Seattle is superb - at least from what I've seen thus far. The staff that I encountered pretty much everywhere was friendly and helpful, even moreso than I've seen in SF!

We went to Samurai Noodle in Asia-town for dinner. Apparently, Chinatown, Koreatown, and Japantown are all in one area in Seattle? Anyway, the ramen wasn't bad - we were skeptical at first but we ended up enjoying our meal! We got dessert afterward at a Chinese bakery down the block, that was a nice treat.

When we got back to the house again, we sat at the table and just talked while enjoying sangria. I ended up needing to take a nap, and when V and Menie came upstairs to wake me up, Suie and Lorine were already downstairs. In my groggy state, I put my hand out to tell V to SNOOZE, and I accidentally poked her in the nose LOL. I did the same to Menie, but I knocked her over instead because she was making ridiculous alarm sounds.

The main event of the night was R Place, bar/club with three floors and fantastic decor. The music was excellent, they played everything we wanted to dance to and never repeated a song! The crowd was lively and gave off a really positive vibe, everyone was just having a good time. We met a bunch of new gay friends and had a blast dancing with them. I also fell in love with a gay go-go dancer - he was gorgeous. We were dancing for 3 straight hours, and I had a really great time. I'm so glad they dragged me out of bed! Club pictures in the next post, maybe!

Spontaneous Shopping & Santa (Ramen), ETC.

I recruited two gay boys, Andy & Kevin, to accompany me to Hillsdale in search of my New Years dress! We ate at Santa Ramen first and it was good, as expected. Then we proceeded to Nijiya for some ALOE DRINK! Ohh aloe, it's been too long..

Shopping went well, I ended up letting a gay employee at Express choose my dress because the boys were taking forever. A dress that I REALLY liked at Guess wasn't available in my size...sad panda. Side note: leave it to Kevin to try on heels at Guess. Oh god, those two were a handful. But all in all, I wasn't COMPLETELY satisfied with my new dress so...

Serramonte for more shopping! I bought a bunch of other items at the new store, and a jacket from Forever. I decided I should stop there, because I'm close to maxing out my credit card! All of the holiday travel arrangements are definitely adding up..

Later, I caught an HH date @ Palomino with Bo and Charles. We ate, drank, and were merry, and along the way decided to watch Avatar! First we went to Century 20 - sold out. Then we went to Metreon - sold out. I demanded that we watch a movie anyway! And Bo chose The Blind Side, such a great decision.

The movie was fantastic! Sandra Bullock did an amazing job playing her I-get-what-I-want role, and also exuding the commendable Christian efforts of the real woman who helped Oher. I didn't realize that this was a true story until the very end, and it made all the difference. THERE *IS* GOOD IN THIS WORLD!

Spontaneous Santouka & Santana (Row)

Spontaneity! Charles picked me up from work today, and then we went straight to SJ to meet Nicole, V, and Huey at Santouka! It's a ramen stand inside of a Japanese market - but this has its pros:

1. Huge parking lot
2. No waiting for a table
3. Efficient service, quick food prep

The food was amazing, I can't find the words. Magic in your mouth!! Their noodles were PERFECT, as was the soy broth - better than Santa Ramen and WELL worth the drive.

At some point we decided to go to Santana Row. At Nicole's, I borrowed a top and flats and then we hung out a bit to discuss the Seattle dilemma. Looks like Seattle may be a no-go, because of the chance of snow. Things are still up in the air..

Anyway, we went to Burberry and Gucci when we got to Santana Row. The things I'd buy if I were rich! First we hit Straits, but wanted to see other places so we went to V-Bar and Blowfish. V-bar was really chill and we were lucky enough to get a table as we walked in. Blowfish has YUMMY sushi!! Oi shi! And I liked my Hawaiian-themed drink. It was called Sweet Leilani.

This curly sugar thing came on Charles's dessert - I ate it. MMMM


Ramen and Santana Row was LOTS OF fun! We must go back! =)