One week in paradise: Oahu and Big Island 2017

Tuesday

When I arrived in Honolulu to meet my mom, I landed an hour late because they had to fix the cargo area’s vent system after we had boarded. Unfortunately, her flight had arrived EARLY so she was sitting around at the car rental office for over two hours. Yikes! Our first stop was the Honolulu Cookie company near the airport. We bought our coworker gifts right away, so we wouldn’t have a deal with it later (great decision). Next, we visited Lin’s Hawaiian Market near Ala Moana. The snack selection was ridiculous! Karen recommended their furikake mix, so I bought three bags!! I also got some lilikoi flower, garlic chip, and spicy olive snacks. All very interesting. We had some time to kill, so I ordered melon snow. We shopped at Ward Center before heading to Aunty’s house for a wonderful, welcoming, Hawaiian dinner. She served lau lau, poke, poi, kalbi, and sweet bread with lilikoi butter. I was shocked at how well poi tastes when paired with kalbi. I was stuffed!

Wednesday

We ate breakfast at home, and had a nice chat with Aunty and Uncle. I had a local granola for breakfast—something healthy! We picked grandma up at home and ran errands with her. At the grocery store, we found li hing pineapple. It was REALLY delicious. For lunch, we ate at Fresh Catch. We shared three types of poke, crab stuffed ahi roll, and garlic chicken. The best poke of the three was a wasabi flavor. I liked it so much that I think it’s one of my favorite pokes!

After dropping grandma off, we shopped at Windward Mall. My mom checked out the farmer’s market and bought me some fresh papaya!!! I bought a few tank tops from Cookies, Know1, and Local Motion. Love those stores! We headed back to Kailua, where Cindee had arrived with her family for dinner. Aunty served hibachi steak, spareribs, and veggies. For dessert, we had haupia cake. So much good food.

Thursday

We ate breakfast at home again, which was the fresh papaya from the farmer’s market and some apple banana! We went to visit grandma, before heading to Ward Center for more shopping. I bought a cute one-piece bathing suit for my water adventures over the weekend. I was so fat, I couldn’t fit into any of the bikinis that I had at home. L My mom wanted to go to Barnes & Noble, so we stopped by Ala Moana and ended up browsing. For lunch, I ate Poke & Box. Their two-poke lunch is such a deal! And they have tempura ball toppings, which I had never seen before. I wish all poke places offered that topping.

We went back to grandma’s house for dinner because she had prepared a wonderful roast stew. Uncle Douglas brought Sicilian pizza and cannoli, and Aunty Edith brought more poke from Fresh Catch. Grandma showed us an old photo album, which I had never seen. There were a lot of great photos of my mom and everyone else! It was truly a delight to spend so much time with grandma this trip, and really sit down and chat with her about the past. I can see that she gets tired faster now because her attention fades after a few hours. It makes me appreciative that we could make the trip, and I can’t wait to visit again soon.

Friday

I flew to Kona bright and early! Yep, this trip was from Kailua to Kailua-Kona. We had a delicious breakfast and Frenchman’s before picking up dessert at Holy Donuts. We ordered a dozen and they were all good, but the real gems were the crème brulee donuts! Andrey had to work, so we had lunch in Waimea at Luna. Best zucchini pizza I’ve ever had. The crust was buttery and light. I LOVED IT! Andy and I ventured down the coast to Hilo. We stopped at Waipio Lookout and Laupāhoehoe Point to check out the scenery and take photos. We found a market on the way to Akaka Falls, where we ate the most delicious cinnamon bun ever. It was made with Hawaiian sweet bread! At Akaka Falls, we decided to jog about halfway through the hike. The drop was really impressive, and there were so many different types of gorgeous trees!!

After the long day of sightseeing, we had dinner in Hilo at Hawaiian Style Café. The wait was over an hour, but it was worth every minute. We shared a surf and turf dish, poke nachos, and tripe stew. There was SO MUCH food that we were stuffed! The mauna kea coffee was really yummy. After dinner, we drove through torrential rain down dark and deserted freeway to get back to Waimea. We still had time to kill when we go to Waimea, so we wandered around the KTA store. I loved walking through each aisle, especially at a new store! There was McDonald’s nearby, so we tried the guava pie. After Andy ordered it, he went to the bathroom and I opened it to take a bite. After my first (delicious) bite, the pie dropped back into the pie box and came out through the bottom. MY PIE WAS ON THE FLOOR!!!! I was laughing so hard that I almost peed in my pants. I told Andy what happened on my way into the bathroom, and by the time I came back out he had already bought a second one. HAHA. He didn’t like it, so I got to eat the rest. We finally picked Andrey up and headed home. Exhausting day!

Saturday

We began our day looking for food! After a few failed attempts and a trip to the chocolate store (where we had delicious chocolate turtle samples), we ate melona bars and butter mochi for breakfast in the car. We also stopped at Matsuyamas and picked up poke-stuffed inari. Legit hiking food! We drove to Rainbow Falls to check out the gorgeous views, and then we made our way to another scenic fall. I didn’t feel comfortable taking the local trail, but the guys convinced me to do it. The path was muddy and steep, the rocks were slippery, and by the time I got to the stream crossing I just decided that I wasn’t going to go any further. Andy and Andrey got to enjoy the rest of the waterfall hike while I sat in the stream. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t a great place to park my butt. Especially because that’s probably not a great place to be during a flash flood.  

We drove on to Hilo and picked up strawberry mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen. The strawberry mochi was even better than I expected, and I had some really high expectations due to the number of people who highly recommended it. For dinner, we ate at Café Pesto. The ginger calamari was very good, and the steak, fish, scallops, shrimp, and risotto were all delicious. After some wine, we stopped by Ross to pick up a blanket. Andy and Andrey ended up buying these matching shark shirts, but they didn’t have any in my size. DISAPPOINTING!

When we got to the Volcanoes National Park, we rented bicycles and poncho’ed up. Andrey shared a tandem with me, but the gears on the tandem bike didn’t work. So we had to pedal a whoooole lot. The ride up was not so bad, even though it was a bit windy. When we got to the top, we could see this beautiful, billowing blob of lava red. The shape was ever-changing and morphing as the lava was hitting the water. It was beautiful and almost emotional. Walking on the lava was also an interesting experience. To know that you’re walking on something that was LAVA is perplexing and makes you really think about how cool nature is. The ride back down actually had more uphill areas, and the rain really started pouring sideways. The wind picked up and it was so loud that I felt disoriented. I pedaled as hard as I could, and I was honestly miserable toward the end. I started thinking about Forrest, which I guess is my happy place? By the time we got to the bottom, I was totally beat. That was one of the most physically challenging things that I’ve experience in my adult life. We grabbed some food at Ken’s House of Pancakes, and the saimin made me feel a bit refreshed. We decided to head home and call it a night.

Sunday

We started the day with breakfast from Peaberry & Galette. The croissant sandwich was so freaking delicious. We drove to the Captain Cook area and rented our kayaks and snorkeling equipment. I was nervous to go out on the water because I can’t swim, I’ve never kayaked before, and I’ve never been out on open water without a boat before. The waves were crashing against the rocks, and it was really intimidating. Luckily, Andrey was in my kayak and he is basically a water angel. Once we got started, I realized that I LOVE the rowing part. I insisted on rowing all of the way, even when we didn’t need to row. When we turned the kayaks and started moving sideways with the waves, I felt seasick. I didn’t really have any options so we kept going to the snorkeling area by the Captain Cook monument. We stopped because we saw a group of dolphins! They were playing, spinning, and splashing around us. I got into the water to float with them, and we heard the high-pitched noises of the dolphins communicating. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I’ve never felt as close to nature as I did right then. Andrey really got close to them and started singing in the water. Dolphins are so cool! Andy and I both did not snorkel. I’m glad we went anyway because being with wild dolphins in sea water is probably not something I’ll get to experience again. For post-kayak food, we ate Da Poke Shack and it was glorious. By sunset, we were heading up to Mauna Kea observatory. Watching the sunset from mid-mountain was amazing and colorful. The higher we climbed, the colder it got. I was happy to buy a sweatshirt and t-shirt at the observatory store just to keep warm! The Asia tourists with their phone lights and cameras were annoyingly disruptive when we were trying to stargaze. If I could volunteer anywhere in Hawaii, I would work there to scold the tourists. Anyway, there were so many stars that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The night was crystal clear and we even saw Venus in one of the fancy telescopes. After the stargazing tour, we drove back to Kona and ate tacos at Oceans. I had a li hing margarita, which was my first alcoholic beverage of the trip. That must be a record!

Monday

Andy made eggs for breakfast, and we ate them with taro sweet bread. We headed to the pier, where we boarded our Big Island Duck Adventures tour! I love duck tours because they’re fun, comfortable, exciting, and you learn so much. This tour was sooo windy that I could barely keep my eyes open at time. Even with sunglasses on! We played trivia and our team, the geminis, certainly did not come close to winning. HAHA. The tour was fun anyway, and my favorite part was seeing the partially restored pond wall. The guides told us about how there was only one person who still had the skill of placing stones. I think that is something I would enjoy, like stuffing envelopes and grouting bathroom tile. After the tour, we headed to Waikoloa Beach to look for sea turtles. We eventually saw one!!! He was playing in the water by the shore. We went shopped the King and Queen shops, but Andrey was the only one who bought something. HAHA. Well, I did buy a melon icee. After checking out the beaches nearby, we had dinner at Holukoa Café. The dinner was bittersweet, because I knew I would be leaving shortly after. I had a spectacular time on the Big Island because Andrey was a fantastic host and Andy was obviously the best travel buddy. I usually feel stressed, rushed, and overwhelmed on vacations with big groups. Our trio was the perfect arrangement to enjoy everything at our own pace. This is THE MOST wholesome and active friends vacation I’ve ever taken. I can’t believe we experienced so much in so little time. I love how much they pushed me outside of my comfort zone. We made so many memories! I lava it. J

Sharks Stadium Series game + Real Escape (Time Travel) + Seattle takes over SF

Quite the whirlwind weekend in San Francisco! Matt and I flew in Thursday night, and got to join Beer Club with Alex and Andy. Nan and I also had a secret club meeting. But the first rule of secret club is you do not talk about secret club. We tried a few beers and chatted for a bit before heading home.

On Friday, Matt and I walked downtown to shop for clubbing clothes. Matt actually ended up buying a lot of clothing but nothing for clubbing! I couldn't find anything for clubbing either, but I bought a pair of jeans and a jacket. Meh, not bad. We had Sushirrito not once, BUT TWICE that day. I've been waiting forever to try it, and it was everything that I had been dreaming of!!!

Round 1:

Round 2:

In the evening, we met people up for dinner at Playground. This is basically our tradition to prepare for escape games, but I'm not sure how effective it is. The Time Travel Lab was not a success, unfortunately. But we were close to escaping again! We were on the last clue. YET AGAIN. This game was really exciting, and required more physical activity than the Mysterious Room game. I think the third time will be the charm. And we need Alan. And we probably shouldn't drink soju beforehand. 

We ended up going to Temple afterward. There was some kind of crazy traffic/street closure happening downtown and it took me FOREVER to get there via Lyft. My driver was really interesting thought, and we were chatting about hockey! It was pretty awesome. I actually wasn't sad to be late, LOL. Menie and Charles (and everyone else) were at Temple! It was SO FUN to party with everyone again... and I'm glad we went there because the music was on point. After the club, we headed back to Alex's to hang out. The Seattle people left early, but I ended up napping and then waking up to join the SF people in the AM. We didn't go home until around 6:00 AM. I don't know how they do it...

On Saturday, Alex and Andy picked me and Matt up to head to the STADIUM SERIES GAME!!! However, before we got to the freeway, Andy decided he didn't feel well enough to go. So we dropped him off at home. And then we headed to the STADIUM SERIES GAME AGAIN!! We tailgated for a few hours and caught the very end of the rally. 

It was so cold at night! And when we realized we were sitting in the section where the wind cuts through the stadium, we knew we had to buy more clothing. The game was relatively boring and low scoring, and sadly the Sharks lost. I did have tons of fun hanging out at that gorgeous Levi's stadium though! And of course, I was in great company. The celebrity performances during the breaks were... dated... but entertaining in their own ways. 

A photo of the newest Sharks fan in my life, in his new gear. 

And a photo of the oldest Sharks fan, in his old gear LOL.

By the time we got back to the city, we were just tired and hungry. We went to Tonight Soju and watched k-pop videos!!! What an awesome way to end an awesome day. I really wanted to see Sharkie at the game, and that was the only thing I was disappointed about. Oh well, next time.

On Sunday, Sean and Sarah came to Hayes Valley to meet us at Chantal Guillon. OMG their macarons are the best I've ever had! I got some for my coworkers too because I knew they'd enjoy them just as much. In retrospect, I wish I had bought more.

We also stopped by Blue Bottle to get my favorite iced coffee. Mmm! And the sun was shining, and all was good in the neighborhood. These are some of the moments that make miss San Francisco so much. 

The next stop was Japantown, where we had lunch at Ramen Shalalala. It was okay, I didn't love it. I don't think I'd eat there again. Before we left for the airport, we stopped by for some BBQ and QT at Alex's. It was really nice to sit down and chit chat with everyone before the weekend was over. I even got to see BEAR!! All of the Seattle folks looked exhausted. And I think we all were. Too much fun!!

Valentine's date 2015 (Canlis)

This year we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day early. Not because we're rebels, but because there were only two reservations at Canlis available this week... and they were not on Valentine's Day.

Did you catch it? I said Canlis. CANLIS!!! The restaurant that I've wanted try since before I even moved. The restaurant that has taken me 3 years to finally experience. The restaurant that one of my coworkers used to work for, and even she only has good things to say about. MATT TOOK ME TO CANLIS!!!

So after work we got all dressed up, and were on our merry way. The customer service was flawless Fah-law-less. As soon as we pulled up to the restaurant, the valets were ready to greet us and opened our doors. Immediately upon entering, a kind lady welcomed us and offered to take my jacket. We were seated in the lounge, where the lovely pianist was playing JAMS! And when I say jams, I mean songs that I hear on the radio and know the words to. Yes, I was definitely singing along. We were only in the lounge because we were 15 minutes early, but I could have stayed there longer. By the time we decided what drinks we wanted, we were seated at our table!

We decided to do the four course menu, and chose the foie gras, potato leek soup, oysters, and scallops for our first and second courses (in order). My favorite of the chosen starter courses was BY FAR the potato leek soup. It was absolutely delicious, and the crepe-like bacon-shaped piece with the creamy sauce and caviar.. WOW. All I can say is WOW. I was truly impressed. 

But BEFORE we even got our first and second dishes, we were served these lovely treats! The middle one was a grape coated with fancy things, the one to the right was a sea bass something, the one to the left was a tiny roll (warm) with a rich and creamy cheese filling, and all three of them were equally divine. Even the olive dinner rolls were served freshly toasted and so satisfying.

So for our main courses, we decided to both do the MUSCOVY DUCK FOR TWO, which was a 14-day dry-aged duck breast, roasted whole and accompanied by orange marmalade, fennel purée and chipollini onion brûlée. It was my idea to order it, but I'm sad to say that I didn't really enjoy it. I found the duck to be, yes, perfectly toasted and moist and beautiful; however, the meat was too gamey and greasy for me. It must have been my taste buds, because Matt loved the duck and devoured every last bit on his plate! We have the rest of my plate sitting in the fridge. Unfortunately, we were so excited about the duck that I forgot to take photos. GO FIGURE!

During dinner, we each had one drink and one glass of wine. Matt ordered the Yamazaki 12 year, which he enjoyed very much. I ordered a gin cocktail that was WAY too strong for me. I passed it along to Matt about halfway through, so I could enjoy my wine with dinner. For dessert, Matt chose a tart, and I chose the creme brulee. I thought that my creme brulee was good, but not phenomenal. Matt doesn't usually eat desserts but he sure ate all of that tart!

The whole night I was watching people, watching me. That means that the chefs, servers, hostesses, and valets all had eyes on the tables the whole night. And the service was .... just impeccable. The end of dinner was wrapped up with surprise macarons (espresso and red velvet) from a gorgeous wooden box, and a peanut butter jelly Canlis chocolate bar. They have their own chocolate bars! And it was so good that I couldn't stop myself from consuming most of the bar before remember to take a picture. The bar was so soft, the components so flavorful, and the textures perfectly balanced.

As we paid for our bill, we couldn't have been happier. Even though I didn't love my duck main course, I really loved almost everything else! The view of the city from the restaurant is quite the backdrop for a special night. The music, the staff, the ambiance... I had no complaints at all.

After leaving the table and walking toward the door, a lady popped out of the coat closet with my jacket right as I approached the front of the restaurant. And yes, the rumors are true; our car was indeed ready for us in the driveway as we exited the doors.

What a wonderful and perfect evening to celebrate Valentine's Day with Matt! I'm so glad we went to Canlis, and I feel wonderful that I have someone who I thoroughly enjoyed spending those moments with.

Fatty food and face paint at the Puyallup fair!

We went to the Puyallup fair again!

This year, we ate loaded waffle fries/tater tots, krusty pups, onion blossoms, deep fried oreos/snicker bar, and elephant ear. I forgot to get corn at the end of the night!!! I was saving it for last because I forgot to bring dental floss. SIGH. They also ran out of turkey leg, but I was definitely looking forward to that (and am now very disappointed).

Last year we didn't play any games, but this year we played the balloon dart game, the waffle ball in the bucket game, and the ring toss game. Sean won Matt a giant shark, but I sold it to some guy for some cash (no one actually wanted the giant stuffed animal). Matt won me a hedgehog stuffed animal, which I kept, and a mini duck toys for Forrest. JR conquered his fear of rides and went on the Zipper, but felt nauseous after (yikes!). We skipped the flower and farm animal exhibits, but I don't think we missed too much. The expo stations in the showplex were fun to walk through again! It was mostly (if not all) the same items as last year, but as we get one year older we are also interested in different things. For example, we watched an entire euro steam demo in awe because we take cleaning more seriously now. Last year we spent a lot of time sampling fatty dips and beef jerky, because I guess we were more into eating then. Go figure!

Matt, Sean, and I picked up Sarah on the way, and then met up with David and Jamie at the fair early on. JR and Chelsie joined us later. The best part of the night was the airbrush face paint!! And taking a photo with the giant button. I love airbrush face paint! I want to wear it every weekend, LOL. We ended up spending a whopping 6 hours at the fair. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang. We walked so much that my calves and my hips are sore today... how sad.

After the fair, we went to Matt's uncle's birthday party in Belltown. We celebrated briefly at Shorty's, but ended up bringing everyone back to the apartment to close out the night. We met so many interesting people! And Forrest was having a FIELD DAY with all of the new friends. What a little lovebug!

Christmas and a Space Needle NYE!

This year for Christmas, I got to spend a 3-day weekend one week prior to the holiday with my fambams and my friends in SF! I flew in on Thursday evening, and hung out with my Al Pals at a new club called Audio. The music was amazing and we had a RIDICULOUS time. I think that night is the most money I've ever spent at a club bar, but it was worth every dollar. And it really felt like back in the college era, except instead of going to Holy Cow we were around the corner from Holy Cow LOL. On Friday, I got to try the ramen wings! I approve. And then at night, I went to my mini middle school reunion and got to catch up with people I literally haven't seen in over ten years. It was really nice to see where people are now, and I'm glad to know that everyone has been successful in their careers and is looking good!

On Saturday, I tried to get a Sushirrito with P and Andy but they ran out of "everything".. whatever that means. We ended up getting dim sum, and then waiting in line at Golden Gate bakery for deeericious egg tarts! And then at night, I went to Huey's surprise birthday! I also got to catch up with Charles, I've really missed him! We still have the same wonderful chemistry, I'm guessing we always will (and I'm hoping he moves to Seattle next). We ended up at Bootie, and then back at Andy and Alex's apt to end the night. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Sunday morning I got to have lunch at Juban with my parents and my brother. We used to go to Juban A LOT because it was so close to home and the food was good. It seems that Juban has gone downhill because both the food and the service were lacking. We had a lot of laughs and catching up at lunch, and it was really nice.. not too much has changed since I've moved, which is the way I like it!

Matt and I spent Christmas day with his family, at his sister's house again. This time it was a smaller celebration (just immediately family + me) and we shared a cozy prime rib dinner. We even exchanged gifts!! I was never really into Christmas but seeing children now during the holidays opening gifts finally makes me understand. Spending holidays with Matt's family is wonderful, I'm so happy to be invited! <3 br="">
For New Years Eve this year, Matt and I decided to take advantage of our central location and watch the fireworks at the Space Needle! I'd never seen them in-person, and neither had a few others that we invited to join us. The fireworks were amazing and watching them on TV really just doesn't do them justice. We walked over to a diner and our first meal for 2014 together! The window said "Lucky 7" on it and we had seven people. 2014 might just be the most amazing year ever for all of us! Or perhaps... the luckiest? :)

Valentine's Day

Every year for the past decade I've been disappointed, infuriated, or distraught by Valentine's Day. This year, I genuinely did not care. And it just so happens that this year is when things changed for the better.

First of all, Victor gave me a Nike+ Fuel Band!!! This is perfect motivation to get me ready for Miami, and I JUST got a new membership to 24 hour fitness so I can go to the new Totem Lake location! The brand new machines are enticing, and with the Fuel Band I've never been more excited to work out. Best piece of jewelry ever.

Second, dinner at my fave Seattle restaurant! Seastar in Bellevue =) Two glasses of wine, my fave oyster sampler, pesto clams, dungeness crab cakes, scallop entrée, molten chocolate cake, creme brulee, lemon crisps, and one moscato dondarello later I am a spoiled and happy girl. I was so excited for the food that I forgot to take pictures of the first few courses, HAHA.

I'm in heaven.

I also sent my mom a card and chocolates for Valentine's Day but the cursed USPS lost it. I worked so hard on my calligraphy to make it!! Oh well, at least I took a picture of it so I can email it to her.

Fremont Mobile Food Rodeo

Today was the food truck rodeo in Fremont! It was really nice weather, thankfully. The best thing I had was the coconut shrimp wood-fired pizza. It was not too coconutty and the sauce was so delicious with the juicy shrimp. LOVED IT.

We also had a few other dishes that were alright. Nothing amazing though unfortunately.

Saw a dog with a mo'!

And a really cool mural I've never even noticed before!

Final Feasts & Farewells

Reality has just started to set in. I've made my final rounds of goodbyes over the past few days, and each one has taken a piece of me.

Last Friday I had dinner with the girls at Sotto Mare in North Beach! Janet, Rainbow, Amy, Cindy, and I were laughing through most of dinner. Catching up with each other and crazy stories - I had a blast. I wish I had hung out with them more before, and it's so stupid that I realize this now that I'm leaving.

Saturday night ended up being hot pot and movie night with Kevin and Janet. Everyone else seemed to be at Comicon or camping, so we had Thai Stick and watched Horrible Bosses. I really enjoyed hot pot, I thought it was a nice way to hang out my last weekend in SF. The movie wasn't so great, but everything else about the night was. And I got to try Teaway finally!

On Monday, I had Jack's Prime for lunch with Josh and we took our time with leisurely conversation. I really will miss my lunch buddy, and I can't believe we've known each other for so long. I remember when we were friends in high school, and oddly enough, I think our friendship is still exactly the same - definitely in a good way though.

For dinner, I met with Vinnie and Ryan at San Mateo Prime. We got there at 6:30 and stayed until 10:30, probably one of the longest dinners I've ever had! The time flew by and we reminisced from the days of high school, to the now work griefs, and finally the conversation turned to the future. I really am glad that we three kept in touch through the years. Vinnie and Ryan have always been great friends, and I truly appreciate having motivated and honest people in my life - they keep me grounded.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with my girl CARRIE!!!! Super excited for her, because she's 8 mo preggers and I HAD to see the bump. She was glowing and gorgeous, actually she was extra glowing and gorgeous because she usually is. We ate at Langkawi, but they didn't have the Fried Squid that day. SADFACE. Oh well, I was very happy that I got to see her, she's always been there for me and she's definitely one of my all time faves.

For dinner on Tuesday night, Albert, Calvin, Andrew, and I went to Red Crawfish. Andrew and Albert had never had crawfish before, GASP! They were in for quite the treat! It was nice to hang out with them, it's been literally years since the summers where we all saw each other everyday and hung out at Andrew's place. I miss those days, when we had pool parties and watched movies, made BBQ and burgers, and played games until the sun came up. I really miss that. Everyone is growing up and trying to find themselves, and at the same time none of our personalities have changed. Some for the better, some for the worst. It was really nice to catch up with those guys though.

Wednesday was my last day of work. I was excused by HR in the morning, but Neda planned a lunch party at Hokkaido for me so I stayed later in the day. The buffet was great, a nice change of scenery. I got to chat it up with my coworkers a bit more before having to say goodbye. It was a sad moment when I got into Gary's car with Rod and Jonathon, and one of them said "this is the last ride we'll take together." Those were some AWESOME coworkers. I had TONS of laughs and will take many fond memories of DeviceAnywhere. Even though I don't agree with a lot of things that I experienced at the company, I really appreciated my colleagues. I'm really glad I went to the Giant's game with them. Even though I hate baseball because it bores me to death, I somehow had a great time.

For dinner Wednesday night, I wanted to meet with Joe but he wouldn't be able to get into the city until late. Instead I met with the gang at Toyose. It was a night of forced speeches, and drinking. I managed to avoid making a lengthy speech, and I felt really awkward everytime I was repeatedly asked to make one. I'm not a public speaking person!! I'm the kind of person who prepares and memorizes my lines. We ended up playing a game in which people anonymously wrote down what they will miss most about me, and I'd guess who wrote each. I'm going to keep those little pieces of garbage forever. Even though some of them made me feel really misunderstood, I will accept them as they are, as I have done with my friends.

I was fine saying goodbye to everyone until the very last moment. When Andy and Alex dropped me off at home, and I realized I had to get out of Andy's car for probably the last time in a while, I started crying. And even now as I'm typing this, tears are rolling down my face. Through all of the irritating things that my friends do, and all of the times we clash, I really am thankful for them. I have the best friends a person could ask for, and it makes SF so hard to let go of. I wish I could take them all to Seattle with me, but my suitcase isn't big enough.

Today (Thursday) Cindy cut my hair in the morning and then we had lunch at Little Lucca's. This bitch is so crazy, she wouldn't let me pay for the food as a thank you for cutting my hair. She actually pushed me so she could give her card to the cashier. I love her. She's been there for me through tough times and she's one of the realest and sweetest people I know.

For dinner, I had lunch with my dad. HE BOUGHT ME A KINDLE!!!!!!! I'm so F'ING EXCITED TO USE IT!! But I won't, until I get to Seattle. I'm afraid if I take it out of the box it'll get damaged in the move. So I'd rather not! This dinner was longer than our usual, we talked a lot about what I'll be doing in Seattle and how I should go about housing, insurance, etc. I'm very glad that I got to catch up with him before leaving - now I feel like I've made a full round of goodbyes and can take off properly.

Twenty pounds later, I'm all packed up and ready to go. Leaving the city in a matter of hours and not quite sure what I'm getting myself into. I'll miss everything about SF, and home, and I'm hoping that this new adventure is worth leaving my whole life behind.

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.

Feeling Like A Fatty

I went to San Tung for dinner last night, it was my first time. Everything tastes so good in that gooey fried chicken sauce, like RIDICULOUSLY GOOD! I thought the crispy part of the chicken kind of tasted like pork rinds? V did the ordering, and we also got the potstickery things and the string beans. Those were delicious too, but probably because they came into contact with that secret sauce on my plate. SO- now I've seen what all the hype is about! The only thing that didn't look so good was the peanut noodles.

And THEN the night before that, I went to Joy Sushi in San Mateo with Dom & B and I don't think they liked it. Oh well, I still like it. LOL. And on top of that, yesterday for lunch I had Little Luccas with Julian. And on top of THAT last night for midnight snack I had In & Out.

ALL OF THE EATING AND NONE OF THE WORKING OUT!!!!!! Well, at least I got some studying done.

Spontaenous Soju & Catnapping

My friends showed up at my place and forced me out, damn them. Whenever this happens I wonder how they'll react the day I really don't come down LOL. We went to Playground where we were served corn with mayo as an appetizer, strange. The honey chicken was tasty, the potstickers were greasy. Everything seemed outrageously overpriced, but then again I don't usually eat at bars so I could be wrong. The Soju was yummy and I ended up having fun even though I started out a bit hostile.