small claims court. a place where i never thought i would be but that is where i found myself this morning along with my four ex-roomates. we sued the landlord of the house we were renting for our security deposit. all five of us sitting in a row and the only ones wearing suits. i felt like we were in ally mcbeal or something. the outcome…we ended up not even having to go up to the judge to present our case. before any hearings take place, the deputy tells everyone to go outside and exchange evidence so there's no "surprises" and to try to come to a compromise on our own. surprisingly, we did and got what we asked for. the owner backed down and agreed to our terms. a shame too since we were so prepared with exhibits and everything. not only that but i'm certain we would of won for sure...he claimed he had pictures of damages…he didn't. this certainly was a very enlightening experience for me. a couple things I learned:

one. it pays to not let others dick you over. if it were just me, i probably would of just let him keep the entire deposit and not pursued it and complained about it to my friends
two. never accept the first counter-offer. the owner went from nothing to $800 to $1,000 to $1,500 and a final settlement of $2,000. good thing some of my roomates had balls and wanted to keep pursuing it
three. i'm very fickle. i'd make a horrible juror
four. there's some funny looking people at small claims
five. getting dressed up and wearing a suit sometimes is fun

i can't really claim much credit for this win though. my roomates were the ones who took care of the subpoena, researched various laws and how small claims court works. they basically did everything and i put in my occassional two cents. oh well, i am the asian in the group.

boba. my favorite drink of all time. i could have one everyday if possible. i go through my frequent buyer cards like nothing and a perfect cup of boba can make my day. when the boba is not too soft and a little chewy and the milk tea is not too sweet but just...perfect. i love the big straws, the sealed lids (genius), slurping up the boba, all the different flavors to choose from (although i have to admit, i'm pretty boring and stick with the same ones over and over), the way you have to forcefully puncture your straw the first time into the lid or else you'll get little leaks. i love everything about it.

but now, i have to give it up. for at least two months until my trip to china and taiwan. why? because it's fattening and no good for you. i'm trying to start a workout regimen and vu said that 80% of being in shape is not how much you workout but what you eat. i mentioned this to chris and he said the first thing i needed to get rid of is fast food (which is fine with me since i don't eat it all that much anyways) and boba. if i had known i wouldn't be able to have boba for so long i would of stocked up last week. drank myself silly till i was sick of it.

my one exception though will be for green teahouse when i visit san diego. they have bigger cups than normal places so i must take advantage. i love boba.

there was a 5.2 earthquake last night and like the true californian that i am, i just continued sitting on my couch expecting it to be over any second. but then after it kept on shaking even more the thought of ducking and covering came to me but then i didn't know where to go. the table in the tv room is glass so that would of been no good. i thought maybe a doorway but again, didn't know where to go. of course once i thought about all this the shaking had stopped but i remember learning in my natural disasters class in college that anywhere along the san andres fault is a disaster waiting to happen. great. this coupled with the fact that the earthquake may have just been a precursor to a larger one coming ahead was enough to send me to my bed at 10:15pm with the door locked and the lights on waiting for the worst. being home alone is great sometimes but last night was the pits.

it's amazing how you can be surrounded by friends and yet feel more lonely than ever. and these days, that is exactly how i feel. ever since the day i've felt as if some part of me was missing and i'm still searching for a way or just something...anything... to heal it. but slowly i've come to realize over the past week or so that what i'm looking for will never be found. perhaps i shouldn't say never. one never knows. of course some times are better than others but yet, it's always there. a void that can never be replaced. i find myself in situations where i want to be around people but at the same time i don't. i merely just want their presence. i find myself daydreaming about what ifs and what could have been. i lived in a fantasy world where nothing changed but deep down, i blocked it out. my rock and my stability are gone...and i was never able to realize or appreciate it. that's the hardest part.

i've always wondered what the proper etiquette was for keeping old memorabilia from ex-boyfriends. some people i know just throw everything away which blew my mind because that's some pretty nice gifts there. girls normally receive some type of jewelry like a necklace or bracelet during the relationship and to just throw it away? it's still perfectly good. me...i keep everything. it doesn't even have to be jewelry. one of my favorites was when stan and i finally won the lifesize porky pig from the arcade. it took us forever. going everyday after school just to get our free tokens and playing the same game over and over again. but it was all worth it. of course now it just takes up space in the bathroom but who cares...i get a smile everytime i look at it (remember, if you ever come to visit in san diego, do not pick it up by the head...only under the armpits!)

i keep everything i've accumulated over the years in a box and sometimes if i'm bored i'll go through it and it brings back memories of how cheesy and foolhardy i used to be. not to say all that much has changed over the years.

i went to the doctor yesterday. i have tonsilitis. so now i'm on antibiotics and this syrup thing that knocks me out. i like it...i sleep much better. you should try it adam. i was supposed to get something else to numb my throat so i can swallow better but the pharmacy ran out...oh well...i need to eat less anyways.

i've never felt so horrible or tired after a vacation. it all started when i fell on my way to pizza house my last night in michigan tearing my jeans and got a scrape on my knee. it wasn't very big, evidenced by the fact that chris started laughing when he saw it after hearing all my complaining, but it hurt and it throbbed. a lot. i had trouble tying my shoes, kneeling and walked with a limp for a couple days. then while in kansas i woke up one morning with a 103 degree fever and my whole body ached and i was sweating like crazy. so i drowned myself in advil, took a cold shower and it went away after a couple of hours. then i developed this swollen lump on my neck which still hasn't gone away and it hurts when i swallow. i think i'll make a doctor's appt soon.

chris took me to gardner, kansas today...the place where he grew up. as we're driving by his old neighborhood he kept going wow...this and that wasn't here before. it's so developed now and as i'm looking i just see trees and haystacks and maybe one house every once in a great while. this is developed? then he started telling me how him and his brother used to walk or bike down this 5 mile road just for the hell of it. as you can imagine, there's not much to do in a town like gardner. the funnier thing was when he took me to the next town which is literally like four or five blocks long. you can stand in the middle of the street and look one way and see where the town starts and then turn your head and see where the town ends. there's only one cop, one bar and no malls or movie theatres to its name. i just can't imagine growing up in a town like this. the pace of life here is so slow...i get all antsy just being here. everyone drives 15 mph less than the speed limit and it drives me nuts. and their idea of bad traffic is hilarious in itself...i'm thinking come to cali and see what real rush hour traffic is like. this only further solidifies that california really is the dream place to be.

so i'm playing monopoly with chris and his mom while his dad keeps bringing over different kinds of meat for me to try. elk, deer, buffalo and frog legs. if i had to pick i'd say buffalo was my favorite but i'd rather just stick with regular meat. then he brings over these hush puppies...hush puppies? what are those? i've heard of them but never actually seen or ate one before. chris said it was made out of cornmeal so not wanting to be rude, i try some and they're actually quite good. so i eat some more and as we're sitting down to dinner he kept asking me which one is your favorite? i say buffalo first and then hush puppies. he asked me again...which one is your favorite and i'm thinking didn't you just ask me this? his next words are those aren't really hush puppies they're turkey balls. i freeze. what?? please tell me you're kidding. all the while chris and his parents are dying laughing and i'm still trying to figure out if he's kidding or not. then i take another look at the so called hush puppies and why yes, they're round. i didn't quite know what to do...i had eaten about 10 of them already. so now i can say i've had turkey balls. great. well, all i can say is chris better becareful when we go to china this summer...they do eat some pretty weird stuff over there. maybe jon and i can gang up on him together.

dancemix is over. there's not much more to say that others haven't blogged about. it was nuts how many people flew in. even james and victor was there. i was back in the college mode of sleeping at 7am and waking up in the afternoon...it was great. we basically crammed everything in the weekend i was there. after-party which was a little weird since it's been a while since i've gone to a college one and a fight actually broke out right in front of me while i was waiting in line for the bathroom...lame...didn't really appreciate getting hit either, karaoke with 20+ people crammed into a room...it got so hot i had trouble breathing for a while there but watching martin was worth it...he's hilarious. the only thing was i wished i got a chance to talk to people more. there were so many people all the time you kind of just waved and said hi across the room and that's about the extent of it. i did get to go to connie and chrissy's restaurant for lunch..the bread really is the best i've had in a long time. plus it was nice just to hang out with everyone who had flown out to cali during xmas last year with the exception of suave louis of course...pulled quite a little suprise by showing up. my trip was over way too soon but at least i'm on vacation for another week...off to the land of toto again.

vi took me on my first motorcycle ride today. at first i was scared out of my mind and had butterflies especially when i only wanted to go around the block but we ended up going on the real roads and the freeway even. i felt like we were in a bike club or something because there was me and vi, yuan, lon and rob all on bikes. my favorite part is when we go really fast on a straight-away and my least was when vi started doing s turns for no reason and when we had to lean a lot turning right. i think i screamed a little too loudly and held on a little too tight cause vi said he had trouble breathing but hey, it was my first time. and for some reason, whenever he would brake, i'd knock my helmet against his. oh well…i’ll do better next time.

this weekend was lots of fun though. i finally got a chance to hang out with carolyn and enid and had a girl’s nite out and got caught up with all that’s been going on. vi’s been up here for the past week for training (although he gets out in time to take a nap in the afternoon before i’m even off work…not very much training i’d say) so it was nice having someone over since vu’s been in portland for work. but he came back thursday for the weekend, loc drove up from la and a couple of his friends flew in from seattle just to hang out. it was like a big sleepover weekend. it was great. saturday we went to space 550, the theme was bikini girls due to spring break…it wasn’t that impressive but then again, i'm not a guy. the bathroom and coat check lines were ridiculous, tons of asians of course…we’re just everywhere up here…

then sunday we had a bbq and then at night everybody left. i hate the feeling when you’re surrounded by a ton of ppl and then boom…everyone’s gone. the house is too quiet, i don’t know quite what to do with myself so daniel came over and we watched this horrible chinese movie that vi rented.

and oh, one more thing, there was this guy over the weekend who recently proposed to his girlfriend a couple of months ago…she had a fat engagement ring. it was the nicest i’ve seen…two point something carats total and really shiny. he was telling me how he had to sell his bike and his professional pool table to buy it…and i’m thinking, if i was a guy would i do that? is it worth it? i mean, here she has so much money on one little finger when he could have had more toys to play with. i guess that’s one downer to being a guy. i think if it was me i’d go for the toys but who knows. All the girls were oohing and aahing over her ring though…that must of made him and her feel good.

i can't sleep...this sucks. so i decided that maybe if i blog i'll get tired more easily. daniel came over last night and we were bored so we decided to play with this kit that reads your blood sugar level for people with diabetes. i got it from one of my clients and i was kinda curious as to how their product worked. basically there's this contraption with a needle on the end and you prick yourself and put the blood on the test strip and then boom, your glucose level appears. the selling factor is that it's painless and you don't need as much blood as other testing kits. however, i think there's something wrong with me because it didn't work...not enough blood came out. it worked for daniel pretty quickly though. we tried it three times on my right arm and then twice on my left arm. now that i think back on it it seems pretty dumb to prick yourself over and over again. oh well...it was entertaining...i just hope i don't get little scars.

friday night me, yuan and tri drove down to fullerton...the purpose? club rubber...but we ended up not even going. turned out it was the 6th anniversay that night and it was packed...by 10pm they had reached max capacity and shooed everyone away so we just went back to vi and eric's place and partied there. it was pretty dope complete with laser lights and a fog machine.

but what i really wanted to blog about was these cafes they took me to. first off, this entire weekend was a sausage fest. 13 or so guys and me. so saturday we went to these two coffeehouses where basically the girls wear nothing and walk around serving you drinks. the first one we went to, cafe lu i think, the girls were wearing white bras, white shirt, white skirts, white underwear. see-through everything. they reminded me of those ghosts in scary chinese movies where they always have long black hair, pale faces and red lips...i thought the waitresses were going to take their heads off and start brushing their hair or something. scary.

and then the second place we went to the girls were wearing bikini tops and see through short short white skirts. i just couldn't fathom it...the cafe was basically filled with all guys and all they do is sit around, play chinese chess and stare at these girls. isn't there better things to do with your time? although the green bean shake was really good. i've learned that guys are so easily pleased...i honestly thought i was going to get knocked in the head more than once by this one girl's huge boob job. but it was pretty interesting...i've determined that the only prerequisite you need for working at these places is long hair, big boobs and the ability to walk with huge heels.

this guy is great...i've never heard of a heeby guy and sheebie girl before...i'm still not sure i would be able to identify them but at least i know they exist now.

i called in sick to work today, something that i'm hoping chrissy did too since she's way sicker than i am. i woke up feeling horrible and with a little prodding from tri i decided to just stay home and rest. felt a little guilty at first since it is busy season and we're not really supposed to ever be sick but since my senior had given me permission if i got any worse i figure why not. but then as the day went on i felt much better. have you ever noticed how your cough and fever is always worst right when you wake up? anyways, i realized that staying home all day while everyone else is off working is not very fun. i was bored as hell, watched a ton of tv, slept so much that it was giving me headaches and finally towards the end of the night i was dying to just get out of the house so i went to vicky and clayton's houswarming which was nice since i hadn't seen a lot of those people for a long time. in the future, maybe i should take some pointers from jon on the art of sleeping in and doing nothing. ha...what a low blow on my part :)

the client that i'm on this week is in san francisco. the city city. the commute up takes about 2 hours which is ridiculous. at first it's not so bad driving up but then after i realize that i've listened to an entire cd and then some and i'm still not there...i start getting annoyed. which is about the time i hit embarcadero and the one way streets, the bus and carpool only lanes, the confusing cable car and the pedestrians who won't let me turn. yes i know they have the right of way but there's just so many of them. plus, as if it wasn't hard enough trying to make sure i'm going the right way while reading the street signs and my yahoo maps all at the same time.

it's only my second day here but i just can't see why anyone would want to live in the city. yes it's nice being able to just walk out and grab lunch but parking is horrible, especially if you can't parallel park too well, and it's expensive ($20 dollars a day!). the streets smell like pee and are full of bums, although as i was playing don't step on the cracks with myself, i noticed that the sidewalks have glitter imbedded in them which makes it look quite nice in the sunlight. and i noticed that the business people dress a lot nicer here than in san jose and a lot of girls wear the dark rimmed glasses to make them look smarter...which i decided actually does work. maybe i should invest in a pair. but i'm so glad i chose san jose when i was trying to decide which city to live in and i'm perfectly content with coming up to the city every once in a while to shop around and then at night for the clubs.

friday night i went to go watch paul oakenfold at the backbeat with daniel, curtis and sanford. i've noticed recently that my clubbing circle has shrunk. enormously. everyone else is either burned out or just want to chill...which is good and everything but for some reason, recently, i've been wanting to go every weekend. i'm just glad the "party crew" is always up to go...otherwise where would i be? it was my first time to the backbeat and i was pleasantly surprised that there was such a nice club in san jose complete with plush walls. the even better part is that it is less than 20 minutes from my house. i was pretty excited all week to go watch him since everytime i've seen him dj at past events he's been pretty dope but for some reason, i wasn't all that impressed this time. maybe my expectations were too high since everyone else seemed to enjoy it but i left a little disappointed. but to make up for it, the night was really fun. the place was pretty packed but not too crowded to where there was no room to dance. so definitely well worth it.

then yesterday enid and i went on a shopping spree...or to put it more correctly i went on a shopping spree. enid's my shopping buddy and i love going with her since we like the same stores and she's very honest in giving opinions. plus she knows my style and what i would wear so it's great. i think every single time we've gone together i always end up spending more with the exception of maybe just once. there's just too many cute things out there but this time, i felt pretty guilty afterwards since i know i really should be saving my money for more important things and i tried to come up with a justification for spending so much but i couldn't. so now i'm debating whether i should return most of it but i really don't want to. if it makes any difference, most of the stuff was on sale. i figure it will be my gift to myself for busy season...but then i thought that was what my trip to michigan and kansas was for. dilemma dilemma.

i'm being a sheep once again but after seeing it on jon, james and greg's site...i just had to see. what does this mean?




Which Star-Crossed Marvel Lover Are You?

i passed! the cpa exam...well, not passed completely. only two parts but that's good enough for me. i still can't believe it. after waiting three months and then some for the scores to come...it was driving me nuts. plus, it didn't help that enid and chris both found out that they passed before i did so i'd feel even more like a dufus if i didn't. talk about pressure.

i guess all those weekends flying down to la and waiting and studying at the airport paid off. i have to admit i was really nervous before i found out since i actually studied this time and i kept thinking, what if i didn't study enough? i shouldn't have slacked off towards the end. or since i'm not in that "study" mode anymore can i still do it? plus, you know how after an exam everyone talks about the answers and i thought for sure i messed up. but the hard part is out of the way now and up next, tax in may...what a great day :)

i am s-o-r-e...but it was well worth it. i haven't had this much fun snowboarding in such a long time. everything was perfect...saturday, it was nice and sunny and the snow was pretty good too. and then that night it started snowing so we woke up to fresh powder. it was so great...my s turns were finally coming together, falling didn't really hurt and everybody stayed together on the mountain. and curtis and i along with everyone else even went down a double black. and let me just say, vi and his brother andy are dope. they got so much air on their jumps and i was thorougly impressed. i wish i could do that.

the nights were fun too. there were 23 people in the cabin and i felt like i was in an extended version of real world or something...everywhere i went there was people. people in the bedrooms, in the sauna, in the hot tub. everywhere. we played this game called the statue of love which became a little x-rated but was funny. and as we were playing mafia i was trying to tell them about kaiser soze and the doctor but i think i just got myself confused as well.

all in all, a terrific weekend. i'm so glad i got to go. and i think i even got a little tan on my face. if only i didn't have to work today, then it would of been perfect.

last night vu and I had our first sleepover party. vi came up from la in the afternoon and then jay, linda, liz and kevin came up later that night and all slept over. the occasion? snowboarding at tahoe of course. I can’t wait…my first time this entire season. at first, when vu told me that jay and some of his friends were going to spend the night I thought for sure it was going to be a sausage sleepover but nope…surprisingly it wasn’t and another thing that was surprising was that we had all gone to san diego state. anyways, i’m all packed and got my board and boots in the car, my earmuffs (two different pairs! i can’t wait to wear them…they’re very cute) and i’m all set to go. i just hope there’s good snow…and then curtis and i are off for the drive up. It should be dope.

i proceeded to lock me and chris, who flew in from kansas, out of my place saturday night. the front door has one of those locks that as soon as you twist the handle on the inside, the door opens but lo and behold, if you close it, it remains locked. who knew? so there we were, tired as hell with no way to get back in. i felt terrible. i called everyone who i thought might have a key and of course, the one person that does (yuan) is on his way to go snowboarding. so chris takes out his credit card and starts trying to open the door while i try to take the screen off the window to see if it's unlocked when two policemen walk by...and don't say anything. hm...that certainly makes me feel safe. so finally, i told chris that this one window was vu's bedroom and just as he's about to go climb up on the roof to try to get in, he realizes that it's actually the neighbor's house. oops. but everything turned out all right as chris proceeded to climb up on the roof to the other window (while i'm holding the water coolor for him to step on hoping i don't make him fall) and thankfully it was unlocked and he could crawl in...all this without anyone calling the cops or anything.

but anyways, i also discovered that i don't think i know how to smoke properly. chris and i stopped by a cigar shop one night and as he was buying one the salesman says why don't you get one too? so you can join him to smoke? they come in different flavors. so i'm like uh...all right and picked out a cute skinny vanilla one. on the way out, he said remember to not inhale. not inhale? how is that possible? as i tried to smoke it later that night, after our little locked out situation, i realized that i didn't know how to puff without inhaling. but then i don't think i was inhaling properly either since i didn't feel anything? the only good part was that the vanilla tasted sweet if you licked your lips afterwards. i decided that cigar smoking is gross. even worse than cigarette smoking, it's all the bad parts times ten. smelly hair, clothes, fingers. yuck. not worth it.

i went to go to a recruiting event yesterday at berkeley with david (who is so proud of cal it amazes me...cal license plate, cal jersey, cal hat, still goes to all the games...) and two other people. it was for the asian business association. i've never actually gone to one where i had to present and i hate giving oral presentations. flashback to speech class in college...just not me. it certainly didn't help when i showed up that i saw students in suits all dressed up and a formal looking powerpoint to boot. the minute i get there david is giving me instructions on what to say, stuff to mention and with butterflies in my stomache i tried to remember everything but i had no idea what to say. the only good thing was that there were other people up there with me. i'm not even quite sure i made sense...i rambled a lot i know...talked fast, made some futile attempts at jokes and after a little while up there, i was like hey, this isn't so bad...it's actually kind of fun because amazingly, they actually seemed to be listening. or at least they did a good job pretending to be.

but i think my favorite part was after we spoke and they came up to talk to us. i remember when i was going through recruiting i hated having to be the one to initiate conversation and it was a little weird being on the other side but it was fun talking to all these random people. a lot of them were freshman which amazed me that they were so young and already attending these things and i passed out my card to whoever asked...it was pretty fun. i'm glad david asked me to do it.

afterwards, david treated us all to steve's bbq at the food court and even got us boba. it was a nice little capper to my evening.

so yesterday i asked vu to help me plug in my tv so i can get cable only to get the response, oh, you don't have cable in your room, it all flows through to the family room (my translation of what he said...something about satellites and so on...who knows). i could feel the horror flowing through me...what? no cable? what will i do? but then i thought this is actually a positive thing because that means i can read more and i actually have quite a few books my aunt gave me that i wanted to read. but then...after getting sick of unpacking i went downstairs to watch tv only to find that he has OVER 500 channels! i couldn't believe it. it took me forever to figure out how to use the remote. and he even has sex in the city. he has five different hbo channels. who ever heard of such a thing? i think i was in tv heaven last night.

i'm not homeless anymore. gone are the days of living out of a suitcase and staying at hsin's last week and then my aunt's this past weekend. i have officially moved into vu's townhouse now. tonight will be my first night there. you know, i was thinking earlier today, since i've moved here, i've lived in an apartment, a house and now a townhouse...all different kinds. random thought. but anyways, saturday my mom, my aunt, tri, yuan and xuan all helped me to move my stuff into my room. it was great...we were done in about a hour...this is definitely my easiest move yet. actually chris will probably say every move was easy for me but that's what muscles are for i say.

i also decided that cleaning someone else's bathroom, espeically the toilet, is horrible. the bathroom is just not a sanitary place. i cleaned the entire thing...sink, toilet, and i even got down on my hands and knees to scrub the floor. i think my mom was pretty impressed with my diligence :)

my mom is here visiting for the weekend and i'm actually really happy. i was looking forward to it all week. we'll probably end up not doing anything but i do know this...for dinner tonight i was eating homecooked chinese meals and nicely cut-up apples and pears which is basically all i really wanted. and as i am blogging, evonne is making me my favorite cake with cookies n' cream ice cream. yum yum. i am a very content girl right now.

so i'm at work today and my co-worker wanted to see a picture of my twin. the only one i had on my laptop was this picture taken by james in new york last summer. the next words i hear is awwwwwww you two look so adorable. adorable? that's not a word used to describe two people in their 20's. and then this one girl goes hey, your brother is pretty cute as far as i can tell from this picture. to which i answer no no no...it's just the fish lens distorting our features. i find it very strange whenever someone thinks jon is "hot". ok, maybe not hot...that would be exaggerating a little too much. but it brought back memories of the first time i watched jon perform with funktion at michigan. afterwards, all these girls, one in particular, came up to me going your brother is sooooo cute...can you introduce me? very weird i tell you. i do know that he has the height thing going for him though...besides that it's all a big mystery...at least to me.

i've literally taken over hsin's bedroom for this week. seeing how i'm homeless right now, hsin was kind enough to let me stay at his place. what service i tell you. he lets me sleep in his bed (imagine, i'm the one inconveniencing him and he's left to sleep on the floor in the living room where it's freezing). i hog his cable modem the minute i get back from work, i strew my clothes and essentials everywhere, and the other day i came home not feeling too well and he was kind enough to bring dinner up to his own room for me. he even went out to get my clothes from my car! amazing...not only that but every night so far, there's been dinner waiting for me when i get back. and he has tivo too which i think is the greatest. i'm a huge tv junkie in case you didn't know. i can totally get used to this...maybe i should be homeless and work in oakland more often.

what a great weekend...the gang made it up here around 3am (it only took them four hours!!! james is nuts) and after a couple hours sleep, we all got up and helped me move (oh wait, did i say all? i mean everyone except victor who slept through the entire thing only to wake up and say "i didn't know you were moving, you should of woken me up. sure, we believe you). the rest of us picked up the u-haul, loaded, unloaded, and dropped the u-haul back all by 11am. i don't think i've ever seen a group be so efficient. then it was off to lunch where james sweated like a pig eating his very spicy beef noodle soup. besides that we mainly just bummed around, went to the skatepark where i fell asleep on karina's shoulder while she was talking to me and then watched american pie 2 at vu's (yes vu, we used your couch and tv without permission). then it was off to enid's bday dinner at an italian restaurant but the table was so long that we were kind of off by ourselves so we kept amused with my izone. (you'll have to put them on your webster jon).

then while everyone else from the dinner went off to karaoke we were off to club nv in the city to meet up with nancy's friends. i haven't been to one of those all out asian parties in a while and the one hour wait in the freezing cold reminded me again of why i hate lines. but it was pretty fun playing fmk with james and karina. victor, you should of been there. the club itself was pretty dope but way too crowded. the music started off being really good hip-hop but then turned into techno which i felt kind of bad for james since he would get all excited when a good song came up but then once it started going boom boom boom, he ended up just standing there and watching most of the night. but as it turned out we had karina to amuse us. i won't go into details but she was hilarious. very memorable.

and i kept to my resolution of not drinking. not even one sip. i haven't gone clubbing where i was sober in a while and i must say, it dawned on me how sleazy clubbing really is. watching guys hit on girls who have no clue what is going on and seeing everyone, girls mainly, throwing up everywhere...on the floor, in the bathroom...so not sanitary. towards the end of the night, i was ready to leave and as i was watching drunk people spill out of the club, i kept thinking this is what i was like just last week. very embarrassing.

afterwards, we went to one of nancy's friend's place in berkeley to spend the night. his place was VERY clean and he even made potstickers and pasta for us. james was about ready to take him home. and it was nice being able to shower in a bathroom with a door...instead of hiding behind a towel as we were doing in my room. then in the morning we went to chinatown in sf and ate dim sum which was the one thing james had been wanting to do. but the true highlight was me, karina and nancy all bought pj's together. gnk we call them. and you'll only get to see them if you're lucky enough to be at a sleepover with all three of us :)

then we drove back to my place to pack up everyone's stuff since they had to leave only to find that james locked his keys in his car. yes, i admit it...i secretly did it on purpose so they could stay longer...i'm not sure what he did but it was pretty funny watching him and nancy take turns being in the trunk trying to use a coat hanger to open the door with victor calling out directions.

all in all...a perfect weekend...just what i needed. and yes, i know i blogged a lot...too much perhaps but i was in the mood. i dedicate this blog to jon who must be so proud of me right now. enjoy.

so i just finished packing and i'd say i did pretty good for cramming it all in to one night. basically i just stuffed everything into trash bags and i figure i can worry about it later. i really do hate moving...it seems i accumulate more and more stuff each time. anyways, now i'm waiting for hsin to show up and then in a couple hours james, nancy, karina and victor will be joining us. i can't wait...i've been looking forward to it all week. i must say, i'm actually pretty surprised they're coming up. i didn't really expect them to say yes since in essence they'll be driving 10 hours roundtrip and they'll only get to stay for about a day and a half. but i'm definitely not complaining AND to top it all off, they're even going to help me move. i really do have the greatest friends.thanks guys!!!

i went to a chinese deli for dinner today and since i didn't know how to say what i wanted i ordered in english. right away i noticed that the guy at the counter was pretty rude to me which i kind of brushed off because come on, we all know that once you get into an all asian setting, the people are so rude. just think 99 ranch and chinatown. i wonder why that is. anyways, as i was waiting for my food, this white guy walks in and as he was waiting for his take-out, the workers starting talking about him and about how clueless and lost he seemed. and i will admit, he did look a little out of place ordering his pearl milk tea but i thought it was pretty rude for them to talk about him like that. let's see...i really can't remember what the point of my story is...i'm not even sure i had one but it was just something i noticed on the way home from work today. i guess it's a good thing that chris is starting to learn chinese so at least he has a little chance of sticking up for himself.

i am never drinking again. yesterday i went out to celebrate jimmy and sanford's birthday and somehow i ended up blacking out before both of them. i'm not even sure why...one minute, i was talking to my friends and feeling fine and then the next minute i wake up in my bed. one of the only things i do remember is my roomate saying george, there's 15 people downstairs and they're being really loud. to which i answer, i'm drunk. sorry.

i guess that's what hard liquor does to you. but i've pretty much decided no more hard drinking for me. the feeling the next day is just not worth it. i woke up with a horrible hangover, threw up almost promptly and then later again at david's place. curtis and sanford ended up staying the night and daniel was stuck taking care of us again. curtis did show me a picture of sanford lying in the bushes at the gas station on the way home and a picture of my pt cruiser covered with sanford's throw up on one side. not very pretty.

but don't worry, i did take it in for a car wash but it's still not completely gone. so this coming weekend, when james, victor, karina and maybe hong or nancy and whoever else come up to visit, no drinking for me. i gladly volunteer to be the designated driver although i was the dd yesterday too and we all saw how great that turned out to be.

hm...you might be wondering, how is she blogging so late when she doesn't even have a computer at home? ok, you're probably not but that is besides the point. the point is i am still here...at work...at the client...and i'm just now about to pack up to go home...only to come back at 9am and review with the partner. as i sit here, trying to think up of something intelligent and semi-coherent to write for a memo, i realized that i have basically been in this conference room all last week. yes, saturday and sunday included. the upside though is that i may get to take friday off and have a nice relaxing three day weekend. i hope so anyways.

it's been pretty interesting this past week at work because my entire audit team is asian as well as my client. my team is made up of someone from china, taiwan (that's me), singapore and hong kong. i never thought i'd be using so much mandarin at work but i have to say, i am so glad my parents made me go to chinese school. i just wish i had paid more attention instead of cheating off of everybody and making magazines during class. another thing i realized is that i think i'd really love working in asia somewhere. i'd love it even more if there were real toilets. anyways, i digress. i'm not quite sure how to describe it but the experience with working with all asians is very different than all of my other engagements. i feel a lot more comfortable and more free to ask questions or what not. i just wish my chinese was better. maybe i should buy chinese tapes like chris did...i'm always surprised at how much he's learned and how quickly he remembers the words.

but this entire week has been filled with boba almost everyday, yummy chinese food and my client just took us to dim sum. i guess this makes up for having to work 7 days this week just a little bit.

i hope everyone watched the season finale of survivor last night. it was great! only because ethan won of course....i so wanted him to win and i was cringing in my seat because i thought for sure by a fluke that kim would win. i thought the ceremonial cleansing was a little cheesy but otherwise, i was satisfied. this is the first season where i've watched almost every single episode and it seems like next season will be even better. no rations whatsoever. the thing that really took me by surprise was the final tribal council. i seriously could not tell it was filmed inside a studio. i thought maybe because ethan's hair was shorter and kim didn't seem as skinny but i still wasn't entirely positive until the cameras panned out and i saw the audience. i was shocked at how well they could re-create the entire setting.

and oh, i was a little surprised at how bitter kelly was at the end but it was interesting to watch someone i went to high school with. so...if you're not a fan yet and don't watch it, you can start next season. the end of february. i even had enid teach me how to program with the vcr she lent me just so i can tape survivor and tempation island (which resumes next thursday night by the way). i'm not a tv junkie...really i'm not.

i am so not a morning person. regardless of what time i go to bed, it takes me forever to wake up in the mornings. i hit snooze forever. sometimes i'll even turn off my alarm all together since it's so loud and then set the alarm on my cell phone since it's quieter. so pathetic. i wish i could just sleep in till whenever i wanted to and just stroll on it to work.

with busy season now officially started, i feel tired already. it's only been a couple days mind you. just thinking about the minimum 11 hour work days and the working on weekends makes me wish it was over already. somehow, i'm dreading it so much more this year. probably because i was a newbie last year and basically all you hear about when you go through recruiting is "be prepared to work a lot of hours." being the little eager beaver that i was, i was expecting and even sort of looking forward to the late nights. you hear people talk about i had to work till 2am yesterday or i worked a 80 hour week (david chen!) and my reaction last year was wow...and now, after been in the "corporate world" a little over a year, all i can say is sucks to be you, in a sympathetic way of course.

sabrina, my roomate who's also an auditor was doing a physical inventory observation until 3:30am friday night. i went out for dinner, went clubbing, came home and i was STILL home earlier than her. go figure.

chris flew in on friday from kansas and is staying until tomorrow morning. friday night we went clubbing first at this place in sunnyvale called the forum. it was perhaps one of the worst clubs i've ever been to. the venue itself was pretty nice but there were only about 50 people and they were old. i saw some lady in her 40's and a man in a suit. plus it was so freaking cold in there that i didn't feel like dancing or anything. the dj was even wearing a huge bubble jacket. the music itself was horrible too. cher and britney's "i'm a slave 4 you" with
s l o w techo beats. very weird. so then we decided to go to limelight just 5 minutes away and i've decided i really like that place. each time i've gone it's been pretty good. there was actually a crowd, good music and they even had laser lights.

then saturday we went over to enid's for hot pot and i burnt some dreamcast games. besides that, we haven't really done all that much. pretty similar to what i did in san diego. eat, drive from one place to the next, sleep, watch tv and movies. i did decide though that i need to start stocking up on controllers and guns for my dreamcast. i'm afraid that since sega doesn't make them anymore it'll be really hard to find in the future. i've never had a game system entirely for myself. i do remember i had a super nintendo once but i never got to use it since jon hogged it all the time.

my new car for the moment: a chrysler pt cruizer in metallic blue. enid noted yesterday that it looked like a hearst which i suppose it does a little but it's pretty cute. definitely way better than the jeep classic. that was a piece of junk...

while i was on vacation in san diego, my car was hit!! parked at my cousin's apartment complex of all places. apparently some lady was trying to park and decided to step out of her car, while it was in reverse , to get out to adjust her side mirror on the passenger side. the moment she got out, the car started rolling backwards and she jumped into her car to try to stop it. but of course, instead of hitting the brakes, she hit the gas pedal. zooming her car right into my parked car. hello?!?! but at least she was nice enough to leave a note. it's not all so bad though. i get a new rear bumper (i think that's what it is called) and there were a couple scratches from me on there already.

the best part is that since my car isn't driveable and is pretty damaged, i get to drive a rental car! vu took me yesterday to go pick one up and it was so much fun. it's like buying a new car for a while. i was trying to decide between the ford explorer (the big kind) or a jeep cherokee classic and i finally decided on the jeep. not so much for the looks but more so because it was smaller. how fun.

so i've decided that i'm going to get a new rental car every week. the sales guy said i could too. can you imagine? a whole month or so of driving different types of cars? and it's free too...that's the best part :)

my week of fun is officially over. connie, chrissy, michelle, jon and james all left to go visit lynn and i'm here at home waiting for my ride to the airport. tomorrow morning "normal" life resumes. having had gone to sleep close to 5-6am every night and waking up at 2pm, i'm hoping to just be functional this week. surprisingly, as everyone left i had this wave of loneliness sweep over me. jon will be leaving friday and my mom will be gone next month and then there will be me by myself. of course they've both been gone lots of times before but it feels very different this time.

on a happier note, last night was a lot of fun. james fell asleep snoring wearing a nice blank white hanes t-shirt. being we were all so bored, jon came up with the idea to sign our names on his shirt...deemed mission impossible. everyone got to sign their names except for victor because james woke up and for another reason too (he couldn't get out of his sleeping bag...hee hee). it was hilarious. the mission was all caught on tape too and it was a nice definitely a nice capper to this entire week.

so here i am sitting at home in san diego while everyone else is still sleeping at james's. victor and i rushed back this morning...him because he had personal stuff to take care of and me for lunch with college buddies. after waking up bleary eyed on little sleep and rushing home to get ready, i come to find my lunch was canceled. what to do what to do.

the past couple days were spent with the michigan people. at one point standing outside of le prive, a korean club in la, there were 8 michiganers and me. nuts. but that night was a lot of fun, not to mention just about everybody went. as soon as we picked up helen from the airport we were off to what is the nicest club i've ever been to. of course, rooms there are a minimum of $1,200 so they better be. i admit, drank a little more than i wanted to, but then again, who didn't? almost felt like throwing up but was stopped by james's admonishing tone "you better not throw up on my bed!" so i was safe. ate in monterey park (yum yum) and overall, a great night. no fights, puking or people getting sick. that was friday.

sat slept in at sagging monk's (just watched the warnerpalooza video recently, hence the name) where everyone was packed in like sardines. and this was before jon and michelle even got there. i got the bed amazingly, who knows why but i think james felt bad for me since i wasn't feeling well and then we were off to san diego. played some win lose or draw where i did pretty good i must say and then after hong came up with the brilliant idea of a bonfire. fun fun fun. anna made smores for everyone while i helped to eat it. and we saw the seals at la jolla cove too.

besides that, our times were mostly spent driving back and forth and just lounging (as what everyone calls it i've noticed). and oh, cranium and mafia last night too. i really don't see the appeal of mafia...maybe it's because i suck so badly. but i was psycho killer in the first game and won. not out of strategy mind you but more out of sheer luck. eric and anna are probably are at the airport right now but we still have new years eve with everyone else...although helen's leaving us today too.

but happy new year's everyone :)

i've been home for about 5 days now and i must say, i haven't done very much. i think the highlight was yesterday when victor invited me to go watch the lakers game (with jon as the third wheel of course) and we all got to sit in the box. it was my second time at a nba game and i'm really glad i went. the lakers were down 13 points when we got there and went on to win in the last quarter much to jon's disappointment. and this time, i could actually see the ball and the pretty dunks. pretty? can i use that word to describe basketball? anyways, i remember the first time i went to a nba game with my dad and some other people i can't remember. it was the lakers against the clippers and we were sitting in the nosebleed section and the players looked like little ants and it was so boring that we all fell asleep and left early.

besides that, i've mostly been sleeping late, waking up late, and eating way more than i really should. james, victor and adam have basically been over every night playing scrabble and win lose or draw. one night i went to bed, was woken up at 6am by james only to find that they were still drawing. nuts. and oh, i must mention the monopoly game where hong and i dominated the team of jon and babbs. it was a crowning moment for me before we went off to fumari's.

the michigan people finally arrived today after missing their flight...not sure how yet but i'll ask when i see them. hopefully i'll be able to go snowbarding soon...i need to practice my "s" turns.

i just went to use the restroom at work and the toilet seat was heated!!! what a nice surprise on a friday :)

since i'm bored here at work today i decided to take the career assessment test that jon took. i thought his results sounded pretty accurate so being the curious person i am, i wanted to see what it would say about me. lo and behold, i come to find that my number one vocation would be customer service: clerical, copying, and sending....what the hell? i'm good at being a copy girl? i've intelligently concluded that the test is bs...and i wasn't really paying attention to all the questions so my results must have been skewed. of course, seeing how it seems as if there are layoffs every couple weeks now, at least i know there's a job waiting for me at kinko's. copying anyone?

oh no! this is horrible. after making fun of jon's result on the art test i take it to only find out that i too am the same one. the horror! the horror! by the way, this does not mean i am a sheep...james forced me to take it.

If I were a work of art, I would be Edvard Münch's The Scream. I express the subconscious troubles and anxieties of the world. I hold my head and let loose the primal terror of my innermost fears, surrounded by a lurid landscape which reflects my feeble grasp on reality. Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

i helped chris move this past weekend. into an apt in hollywood. just a couple blocks from the chinese mann theatre and the kodak theatre. let me just say this first...moving sucks. i definitely recommend hiring someone. we loaded all his stuff once, unloaded it twice and unpacked all in one day and the next day my arm muscles were so sore. i could barely raise my arms over my head. but i was very helpful...even i surprised myself. i lifted all the heavy boxes and made many a trips up and down without complaining once.

i did notice though that hollywood itself is pretty dirty. and the people are weird. the first thing i noticed was all the stores with trashy lingerie and stripper boots for sale. one after the other it just keeps going. and the majority of the guys had funky glasses and dyed hair and tattoos everywhere. very intimidating i must say. i even saw an asian guy with a mohawk which threw me for a loop. but the clincher was when chris and i got into the elevator with a girl in a wig, high ass ponytail and knee high boots and only when she spoke did i realize that it was actually a he. quite a trip i tell you.

but his complex has lots of wannabe actors and actresses which equal good looking people. and i can attest to this myself. i didn't see so many hot guys but i saw a couple girls. and he lives close to sunset which should be fun for the clubbing scene every once in a while.

and oh. another important note. i bought a sega dreamcast. tetris and ddr here i come. and i finally finally watched harry potter. those that had read the book were disappointed so maybe my expectations were low or something but i ended up really liking it. so go watch if you can.

my first blog in a while. although it's only been a couple weeks i feel as if much more time has gone by. especially the trip to china. it certainly was a lot better than i thought but i still felt like i was there forever. and now, after a few days to recuperate in san diego, i am back at work up north. i figure it's better than sitting at home doing nothing.

this past week has passed by in a blur. i've become a sleeping machine. i never knew it would take me so long to get over my jet-lag. this past weekend i slept from 6am to 4pm and then monday back to work was disastrous. i couldn't wake up, walked around the office like a zombie and basically just sat in my cubicle staring at my screen. then tuesday i called in sick mainly because i couldn't wake up again and my tummy hurt. i do remember calling my hr mgr to tell him i wouldn't be in but i can't remember what i said to him. that's how tired i was. not good.

and every night when i go home, i just sleep. but then i wake up at 8pm and can't fall asleep till late. what a vicious cycle. so i finally decided to take some tylenol pm to help me sleep but it's not working. i need something stronger. maybe nyquil...but i am getting a little better. at least i try to convince myself that i am.

the cpa exam is tomorrow. surprisingly, i'm actually pretty nervous about it. maybe it's because i actually studied this time and if i don't pass, i'll be pretty upset. of course i can always take it again but just the thought of doing more questions (i can't even tell you how many questions i've done. well over a couple thousand i know that) makes me nauseated. or what if i haven't studied enough? i certainly didn't study as much as i would have liked but i started to burn out towards the end. finally just had to go clubbing this past saturday to get studying off my mind. i will be pretty happy when it's over though. so wish me luck everyone! but don't cross your fingers too much, i heard that's bad luck too.

there's this radio station here where every morning they make crank calls to random people just for the fun of it. i'm not sure why but it really bothers me. i find it so disrespectful. in fact, i get so upset sometimes that i'm tempted to email and tell them exactly what i think. but i haven't come up with anything good to write yet. hence no email. at the same time, i love listening to howard stern who many people find offensive. in fact, i sat in my car when i got to work for an extra 15 minutes just so i can finish listening to him talk about his weekend with his gf, john stamos, and rebecca romijn-stamos. my favorite is when he interviews famous people but a close second is when the playmates come on and play trivia games.

i just remember this one episode a couple years back where he had two playmates on. he asked what the center of the universe was, who was the president at that time, and some other random question. of course none of them knew the answers but when howard started asking about different types of champagne, the different models of porsches and designer clothing, they knew them all! i just sat there in my pj's shaking my head in disbelief. it really is funny though. try watching it sometime.

i went to aerobics class last night and i must say, i was very impressed with some of the people. there was this one girl that was 7 months pregnant and she still comes to the gym faithfully 2-3 times a week. then there was another woman that was pretty hefty who did the entire step class on the floor. i just think anyone who puts in the effort of working out should be commended. it's a hard rhythmn to get yourself into. but i think i was most impressed with the girl next to me. she was skinny as hell, even skinnier than grace which i didn't think was possible, but she was fit and toned like crazy. she had a 6-pack, actual arm muscles that were defined, and was hopping over her step like no tomorrow. so i've pretty much decided that being fit and toned is much better than being skinny skinny. and don't ask me why i paid so much attention. i think i was just in awe that such a tiny little girl could be so strong.

joe told me about this website that posts demands artists make in their dressing rooms when performing. why is it that when someone becomes famous they suddenly become self-absorbed and narcissistic? it raises the meaning of diva to a whole new level. i mean, on top of the millions they're being paid to perform, expecting evian water at room temperature? cristal? champagne glasses? asking the crew to provide boxer shorts and socks? no wait. white cotton crew socks and cotton boxer shorts. i don't care who you are. nobody should be catered to like this. pretty sickening if you ask me.

i've been told that i'm unable to make life decisions. which is very true. i put all important choices on hold since i know that inevitably i'll change my mind later anyways. i'm very fickle. and i hate to commit to things because i like to have the option of having an "out". so far this hasn't really been a problem but i find that as i get older it almost becomes a necessity for me to decide where i want my life to go knowing that these decisions will impact me forever. call me melodramatic maybe. i think my problem is that i have a set timeline in my head of when certain events should happen. and when something comes along to jolt that reality for me i start getting squeamish. i have my "comfort zone" and it's very hard for me to step outside of that but i think i need to at times. do something that isn't always conventional and what everyone expects from me. i'm usually seen, at least to my parents, as the reliable one and the one who has followed the path most asian parents expect. go to college, graduate and get a good job. they don't really expect me to do ruffle the feathers back home. but then the question is if i'd really be able to do it when the situations arises. i guess i'll just have to wait and see.

sidetrack: due to jon's rare free time, he found this code that allows you to add comments to each post. and james was so nice to add it for me in my favorite color. blue. i'm not sure what the purpose of it is since i thought that was what the guestbook was for but james persuaded me that it was a necessity. and from reading other people's blogs i noticed that it has now become a phenomenon. this is yet again why jon is the king of blogging...let's add another notch to his belt.

i think i've finally found one trait, if you can call it that, to having more guy friends than girls. they always expect me to hook them up with my girlfriends. "hook me up" they say. i just remember when i had a housewarming party a couple months back, the girls said yes right away. the guys, not all of them mind you but most i'd say, asked are there going to be any cute girls there? so of course comes my automatic response now. they're taken. but i wonder, does this mean that if i didn't have any cute gf's they wouldn't come to my housewarming? of course i'm exaggerating (at least i think i am since they did show up) but why are guys like that? i never ask them if they have any cute friends. so once and for all, sorry guys. i don't have that many girlfriends and most are taken anyways. but don't worry, if i meet anyone new i'll be sure to add your name to my growing list to introduce you to her.

it's always awkward when a guy asks for your number. assuming he is sober of course. on the one hand, i do have to give him props for even asking in the first place because if i was a guy, i probably wouldn't have the balls to ask and be single forever. on the other, i don't really want to. people tell me to just say no but that's so mean and i'd feel bad. then there's the other option to just say that i have a boyfriend but that's also weird. it automatically assumes that the guy is asking for your number because he's "interested" but what if he's not? i've been told i'm naive but still...i'd feel silly. i used to give out my email address thinking there's no way they'd actually email but lo and behold they do. but still, not responding i guess is a little better. at least i don't have to do it to their face. but i think the best way to handle it i've found is to just give them a fake number. they won't know the difference and everybody wins because i won't have to say no and he feels like he got a number for the night. very chicken of me i know but i just can't help it.

i watched the lion king this past weekend with chris in la. contrary to what everyone told me, neither of us really liked it. first off, it was way too long. 3 hours and even before intermission came i was ready for it to be over. the singing wasn't all that great. nor the acting. i think it's more of a musical for kids and i'm still trying to figure out why it won a tony for best musical. not to say that it was horrible, don't get me wrong, it was good but sort of a letdown since we bought our tickets so long ago and i've been waiting and waiting for the day to come. it's definitely my least favorite out of all the muscials that i've seen. the only good parts i thought was when the adult nala (the female cub) came on and sang. she was really good. and then the animals. the opening number was "circle of life" and i was really impressed with the giraffes and especially the elephant but it all went downhill from there. but i'm still glad i saw it just because there was so much hype surrounding it.

next up is "o" at the bellagio hopefully. tickets are awfully expensive though. $120! chris saw it about a month ago and said it was amazing so we'll have to see. but we usually have the same taste in this type of stuff so maybe it'll redeem the lion king for me.

i heard today that 90% of americans support the war against terrorism. however, i'm willing to bet that after a few months, that percentage is going to drop. it really angers me when i hear of anti-war protests taking place around the country. here are amercian soldiers, many of whom haven’t even seen their 21st bday, who are willing to fight and die for our country. all so that we don’t have to live our everyday lives in fear of the next terrorist attack and so that future generations can feel the same sense of security we all experienced before september 11th.

it’s still amazing to me that there’s a war going on right now and yet my life is still relatively normal. not to say that the attacks haven’t affected me in any way. in fact, i'd say just the opposite. i feel more unsafe and anxious now, just waiting to see when and where the next terrorist attack is going to take place. i hate this feeling of helplessness but there's not much else i can do except wait.

i hope everyone realizes the sacrifices those individuals in the military are making and show their support regardless of what their opinion is on whether we should or should not go to war.

why is that everytime i buy shoes it seems so comfortable at the store but once worn in public it hurts my feet like hell. what's going on? it must be a conspiracy. this is demonstrated by the six, yes six band-aids on my feet today. three on each foot. this can be verified by asking caro since she's sharing an office with me. not only do i have band-aids on the sore spots i encountered walking to the office but i also put one where i think there is a possibility for me to get a boo boo. preventive bandaging i call it. even with all this precaution, my shoes still kind of hurt. what a bummer.

i plunged my very first toilet yesterday. i finally finally figured out what the problem was. it's my michael graves plunger from target. bought because it matched perfectly with the blue rug in my bathroom but it's not very functional i've decided. the rubber is too darn soft so it turns inside out when you try to use it. no good at all. frustrated i borrowed my roomate's plunger, an ordinary black sturdy one, and it worked! what a sense of accomplishment i felt. so, the lesson learned from this experience? choose functionality over design. or you can be like me, just borrow someone else's ugly plunger.

on another note, i've been donating a can of campbell's chunky soup everyday. it's very easy. i think everyone should do it. it's not a lot but i figure every little bit helps.

enid and i were talking about weddings at lunch today since one of my friends (i've known her since sophomore year in high school) is getting married next month in san diego. now i'm not even close to one of those girls who has their entire wedding planned out and i definitely don't want to get married anytime soon but i can't help thinking how cool it would be if jon and i got married at the same time. enid agreed that it would be very cute. besides the twin thing, i think it makes sense economically too seeing how expensive weddings are these days. we basically have all the same friends except for my college and san jose ones (since jon never wants to hang out with us), i'm pretty sure i've met most of his close friends from michigan, all the aunts and uncles we've met when we were younger would have to be invited too of course, and guests would only have to fly out once. i'm not too sure jon would go for that though. still...it's cute no?

i just read jon's blog and it amazes me how he remembers all this stuff when we were younger. alison la placa? i actually do remember meeting her and i think i still have her autographed picture back home but i never would of thought she was the boss from friends. she looks really different from what i remember. and writing her a fan mail? how funny. i never would of thought jon would do a thing like that. i guess you do learn something new everyday. and oh, one more thing...i never knew jon was so anal about sanitation. my mom has done her job a little too well i'd say.

chris pointed out yesterday that it's a good thing i don't live by myself and after thinking about it for a bit, i have to agree. besides the boredom factor and that i'd probably never be home anyways, i'm not very handy with tools (who knew hammering nails would be so hard), don't know how to work a plunger (but i'm working on that), and i get scared too easily. but most importantly, i can't cook. my shelf at home is full of cereal, niblets, and canned soup. chicken noodle and chicken with rice being my favorite. the only item i have in the fridge is my milk for......my cereal of course. and oh, my potstickers from costco (yum yum). that's it. but don't worry, if you come visit i'll try to make you ma po tofu and egg flower soup out of a box. it's very easy from what i've seen. maybe there is hope after all.

my self-discipline these past few days on studying has been really good. even i surprised myself. i've been getting in some studying everyday and it may be my nerdiness coming out but i actually like doing questions. not that the material is all that interesting (come on now, i am an auditor) but i like learning about it. seeing how many i can get right and hoping that the info i've learned will stay in my brain for at least another month. of course it's only been about a week and i didn't realize just how much material there is to learn but still...it's a start. so thanks to all of you who constantly nagged me about studying, especially enid and chris. it seems like it's working.

as i am writing this blog i'm chit chatting with jimmy on aim. it really is a wonderful thing. he's currenly in brussels now after having been pulled out of lebanon. i always think how cool it would be to have a job like his, moving to a different country every three months but in reality i don't know if i'd be able to do it. i'm not sure how attractive living out of a suitcase and in hotels is for me. i like having a permanent residence and it's also too much alone time for me. i like to be constantly busy.

it's funny because i think i talk to him more now than when he lived in the states. although by the time he finally comes back we may all be in southern cali. james, victor, hong, nancy and grace are already there. jon for sure will be there by then. and hopefully i will too. i think by that time i'll definitely have my fill of san jose. wow. i hope jon's head doesn't explode with happiness.

it took me about 1 1/2 hrs to get to work today. and i only live 8 miles away. horrendous california traffic. enough said.

so i'm sitting at lunch today with caro, sanford and vu and the topic of strange things to eat came up. of course the usual that i've heard before: pig blood, monkey brains, snake sperm...all of which i proudly say i've never tried before and don't think i ever will. the one that took the cake though was bear claws. bear claws! who the hell eats those? and not just any old bears, sun bears (which are an endangered spieces by the way). apparently vu had one in vietnam among other things (pig brains being one of them). it cost $500 dollars for one claw and get this, they even have the bears in cages in the back for you to choose from. yuck.

caro brought up the fact that some people eat 3 day old mice. and i think it was vu that mentioned rats are cut open w/ their entrails taken out and stuffed with pork and then deep fried so all the hair falls out and it just looks like a dumpling. and sanford has heard of experiments being done where they cut off some nerve in mice so they won't feel pain and then just cut them open while they're alive to see the heart pumping and the blood rushing through their body.

and we call ourselves human? after this conversation i found myself questioning if the chicken in my rice was actually chicken. it's a wonder i didn't get sick. all very gross i'm sure but it bothered me so much i just had to blog about it. enjoy.

i must say i'm very impressed and touched by the patriotism going around these days. flags hanging above freeways and on cars, the song "god bless the usa" blaring from radios, the sudden insurgence of applications to the military. just at a time when one thought the word patriotism was lost in the vocabulary. sabrina came home last night from a pedicure with a flag painted on her toes. and jen had fireworks painted on hers. a flag is hanging outside our front door. next is a bedsheet painted red, white and blue to be hung outside kristi's window. but i think the story that tops them all is when someone got a tattoo of the flag on his arm with the word patriot written above it. now that's pride in your country wouldn't you say?

it's not even 5pm yet but i feel as if this day has just dragged on and on and on...and then on some more. i'm blogging so i obviously didn't make it to vegas. after my flight was canceled for the fourth time i took it as a sign. oh well. it would of been nice to stay at the venetian and go watch mystere at treasure island. maybe i should flee somewhere too. i wish.....

let's just say that i almost had a nervous breakdown when i couldn't get through to jon. my roomate came in and said, "i think you should call your brother. someone just bombed the world trade center." at that moment i had no idea what was going on and was just waking up. knowing how close he lived, horrible thoughts rushed through my head while i dialed like crazy. finally i called james to get hong's number and discovered that he was ok. although i didn't get to actually talk to him till a lot later and only for a little bit, it was good enough.

i think yesterday i was just in shock at what was happening and today the reality of it is settling in. even driving to work today the mood everywhere is depressing. the radio shows, news, people walking on the streets. i keep thinking that it's just a bad dream but one look at the tv throws me back into reality. i was talking to james yesterday about how weird it is that we were just there two weeks ago. and even have pictures of the wtc and just like that, it's now gone.

i'm even supposed to fly to vegas tonight. james told me about the flight numbers corresponding to the days which freaked me out so we'll see.....

23. gone and over with but it was definitely one of the best bdays i've ever had. it started out with dinner in our own room at korean bbq. in case you're curious as to the different tables. roomies (kristi, sabrina, jen, armen). pwc (joe, sanford, curtis, kim). san diego (binh, jean, yuan, lon, vu). pwc/hawaii (carolyn, jimmy, enid, sally, vicky, clayton). and then there was the whatevers table (me, hsin, daniel, e-ming, ryan, jacquelyn). everyone immediately started buying me drinks and the whole night i just kept going from table to table. i can't even recount how much i drank but i lost count after 10. all this before karaoke too. it's after this point that everything gets a little hazy.

enid and carolyn brought in my cake, turned off the lights, and everyone sang. but sad to say, i don't remember the cake coming out, nor the singing, or even cutting the first piece or blowing out the candles. i'm sure it's safe to say that my wish isn't coming true. i do remember someone saying "watch out. she's pretty dangerous with that knife." and i do vaguely remember calling jon (and no, i was not drunk and did not forget about calling you....i was waiting until midnite my time) and apparently i talked to victor for a bit too. but everyone took a lot of pictures so i'm sure that will refresh my memory some.

then it was off to karaoke. i only remember myself singing two songs. ricky martin's "livin' la vida loca" with my roomies and "a whole new world" with yuan (sorry jon). to sum it up....i threw up once in the bathroom and passed out on the floor (thanks for trying to lay out all those tissues daniel) and had to be carried out. from there my friends tell me that curtis, who so unselfishly sacrificed himself to get me drunk, and i were both passed out on carolyn's lap. the good friends that i have decided this would be the perfect kodak moment so everyone posed for pictures with me.

needless to say i had the biggest hangover the next day and i discovered a mysterious black and blue on my leg. but it was all worth it in the end. even hitting my head on the sidewalk and passing out yet again. but don't worry guys, i don't have a bump.

i've pretty much determined that i will be getting very drunk tonight. it seems that everyone's top priority is for me to get wasted. curtis is even going home with me after work so he can take me to the restaurant. all so i don't need to drive. i've even been told to pack an overnight bag and to take a lot of pictures for those who can't come. considering i often puke and black out once i've gone beyond my limit, my mantra for tonight will be to "regulate my alcohol consumption". i've been repeating this over and over to my friends this week but the only response i get is laughter. i'm not even a big drinker but i'm certainly getting the chance to work on my tolerance level between new york and tonight. after this my poor liver may need to take a break for a while.

it seems like everyone around me is starting to study for the cpa. i don't know why but i have no motivation at all. i haven't even cracked open the book or answered one question. i used to consider myself a pretty good student back in college but now, i struggle to concentrate for more than 30 minutes at a time. everyone tells me to get it out of the way since i'll have less and less time to study. all this i already know but it does nothing for my motivation. so what if i fail? i'll just take it next time is pretty much my thinking at this point. my friends have been pretty good about getting on my ass about studying but i'd just much rather sit around and do nothing at work. you'd be amazed at how good i've gotten at doing nothing these days. i guess i'm hoping that a stroke of brilliance will strike me and i'll magically remember everything i've learned in college. wishful thinking i'm sure.

i had dinner with jack last night at this place called zao noodle bar in palo alto and then had gelato for dessert. yum yum. even though we don't really talk all that much, i know inevitably that every few months one of us will call to check in with the other and get together for dinner. i'm always surprised at how well he's able to understand what i'm talking about and his ability to make me see things from another point of view. little things that i never would have thought of but once he explains it, it all suddenly seems to make more sense. it's good we have these little talks because it certainly helps me see situations from another point of view.

recently i've been trying to hang out with friends that i normally don't see. daniel tonight. lunch with josh next week. and then with helen in a couple weeks. it's amazing because even though i've been in san jose for a year now, i've never hung out with josh yet and only seen helen once. i'm trying to work on that but everyone's schedule is so hectic these days. the upside is that i like being busy.

two of my friends put their pics of new york up. james and victor. aren't scanners and digital cameras great?

another mini-vacation gone. this time i went down to san diego with three of my friends from san jose and then met up with hailin and chris there. gosh, i love that city. i find that the longer i'm in the professional world, the more i try to plan mini trips. i'm already trying to think of where i can go next before busy season starts again.

what is there to say? san diego is perfect. we basically did everything that we had planned on doing without too much fuss. zoo, la jolla cove (i tried to find the beach but didn't know where to go. and i've lived there since i was 6?), homecooked meal, saw james and victor (who only came to eat the sea bass i'm sure), dave & buster's with college friends, swimming, mah-jong, dim sum at emerald, and boba drinks at green teahouse. my mom even had a surprise bday cake for me while she played the piano.

the only downside? i got a speeding ticket on the day we were leaving. go figure.

advice: if you feel in a rut, go shopping. i must say, it was very therapeutic for me last night. i bought three purses in less than 30 minutes. but i have a justification for each so it's ok.

got my pictures back from my new york trip.
a couple observations:

1) i was pretty drunk at bar xvi
2) asians really do turn RED (esp. steve, hong, jon, victor). very noticeable
3) palak must be my pseudo buddy. she's in half my pics
4) who took all the pictures? i'm in almost every single one
5) the ever famous pic of me hugging jon from behind came out pretty good. he's actually smiling
6) jon and pz kind of look alike. you have to see the picture

i have been so out of it this week. as if everyone around me is going about their daily lives ie. school, work while i stand motionless watching them. detached from reality. when people talk to me, i zone out and can't remember what they said minutes later. at work, talking to my mgr i just nod and afterwards can barely remember what it is i'm supposed to do. i feel like each day is just passing by but there is no purpose. no goal. what am i working towards? cpa? not really. why is it that society values degrees, certifications, more abbreviations next to your name so much? i liked it so much better in college when i knew what my objective was. a very clear goal. to get good grades and find a good job. now that has been accomplished what's next?

i feel as if time is running out for me to decide what it is i want to do in life. but yet everyone tells me i'm still young. then why is that i feel the need to make decisions, life decisions now instead of just letting life take its course and see where i end up? someone once told me that college REALLY is the best years of your life and and it's only after graduation that we are able to realize it. i'm beginning to think that may be true.

the week in new york has officially come to an end. i must say, i was in a bit of depression last night when i came back to san jose. after a week of clubbing, karaoking, meeting awesome people, watching mafia ( i know, i suck), having late night conversations, playing ps2 like crazy, times square, swimming, soiree at amit's, getting a buddy and eating my peanuts...how can work even compare? i am so glad jon convinced me to come out and i'm going to have to make another effort to visit again. hopefully not in a year this time. although i think everyone should come out to cali. follow hong's lead!

trying to get home last night was craziness. first, i had trouble checking in my luggage so i was literally sprinting through the airport with just a couple minutes to spare before they closed the gate. after i'm all sweaty the pilot tells us that we won't be able to take off for another hour. one hour! of just sitting on the plane with no a/c. can it get any worse? apparently it can because i was surrounded, yes surrounded by babies. crabby ones. there was one in my row, next to me, and in front and behind of me. to top it all off, the one behind started crying and kicking the seat and threw up. so there i was, with a seat close to the bathroom, a baby who had thrown up and no a/c. it's a good thing i was so tired from my week that i passed out.

the good thing about clubbing with all of jon's friends is that their connection is dance. everyone dances. i guess their taste in music must have rubbed off on me because i was listening to hip hop last night and this morning on my way to work. anyone who knows me knows that i am all about techno. but i dug up some old cd's that jon had burnt for me and have a much better appreciation for them now. i guess from now on you can come looking for me in the hip-hop room.

and of course, a special thanks to hong (to make you feel special). am so glad you're coming back to sd although i'm hardly ever there but still....the first step in the master plan as amit and i were discussing.

all in all, i had an awesome week in new york. thanks everyone.

i actually woke up today with a slight headache. my first in a long time. ahhh, the wonders of advil.

i don't know why my time below isn't right but it's actually three hours later than it really says. anyways, here i am. just back from a night of clubbing at this one place called cheetah's. i guess my tolerance must have gone WAY down because i am tipsy as hell and i already ate a hot dog and a filet o fish. tonight was the first night in over two years (?) that i got to go out with jon, james and victor. so much fun. and to think that earlier in the night i was feeling too tired to dance. how can i ever be too tired to dance?

tomorrow is my last night here and i'm sure it'll be a while before i get to hang out with all the michigan people again and i always get this sad feeling when i think about it. i mean, i have known most of these people since freshman year in college and i've met so many new people on this trip too. i'm sure tomorrow will be tons of fun whatever we do.

it's now about 3:30pm contrary to what the clock might say below. i've been up all night with only 30 minutes of sleep. and i'm still not even tired. it's like once i get into this type of environment i'm able to stay awake forever but when i'm in san jose, nights like these are very rare. i feel as if i'm in college again.

i went into chinatown yesterday for some boba (cali is way better), killed some time walking around the city, saw little italy and parts of soho and then went karaoking for about two hours. there were about 15 of us and i haven't gone with such a large group in a really long time and i totally forgot how much fun it is. and of course, mafia afterwards till about 8am. nuts. who knew i had it in me to stay awake for so long. i'm like the energizer bunny....i just keep going and going and going.

i actually got to see times square yesterday. pretty dope. tons of lights and so many people. i definitely think new york would be a great place to visit but not to live. at least not for me. hopping on and off the subway at first was fun since it was my first time but after a while, it was just normal. and walking around town, i so noticed the expressionless faces and rudeness of new yorkers. oh well. i also had dessert at cafe lalo which was the cafe featured in you've got mail. so good but the place itself looked a lot smaller than the movie. i guess cameras can do that.

we were up playing this game called mafia last night tlil 5am. for those who don't know, it's basically a game based on how well you can lie and fool the other person. crazy. i suck at this game. i'm so easy to read and i get so nervous anytime i'm the mafia or cop that i prefer to just sit and watch. by doing that, you can tell a lot about the people you're playing with. i'm sure we'll be playing again soon and maybe i'll get better but i doubt it.

i have arrived. the lair of the master of blogging. aka jon. since i've arrived, we've only left the apartment once. to the mall across the street to grab lunch. i think we're all just perfectly content for the first couple days to relax and hang out with friends. it amazes me how many of jon's friends from michigan are in new york now. it's as if they travel in packs and all decided to move to new york together. my trip here so far has been almost exactly like when i visited jon in college. same friends just different location.

on another note, did you know that it is illegal to pump your own gas in new jersey? who knows why. but the good thing is that no tip is required. AND there is no sales tax. i've deemed it the mecca of shopping. i'm sure over time the amount would add up to a new pair of shoes.

countdown to new york. two more days. for some reason, i don't seem to be as excited as jon, victor or james. maybe it just hasn't hit me yet? i'm sure once i get there it'll all come to me. after all, it's probably going to be a lot like when i used to go visit jon in michigan. late nights, countless calories (but not this time), karaoking, clubbing and whatever activities jon dreams up of. of course this time james and victor will both be there which is nice since i haven't really hung out with them in a long time. i've pretty much determined that i have no say in where we go during the week. with the 20+ people that will be there, i'm sure my opinions won't matter too much. maybe i can pull the but i'm jon's twin thing? yeah, like that will work. we all know jon has no pull although i hear he's pretty good at organizing big outings now. i mean, it IS what he does right?

so what have i accomplished this week at work you ask? not much i'd say. i learned how to play minesweeper, mah-jong the 3 fan way and lost a lot of money on blackjack. it's nice to know that i'm contributing so much while sitting here twiddling my thumbs in my cube. now the movie office space makes so much more sense. at least i'll make up for it during busy season.

i guess i won't be attending my high school 5 year reunion. i'll be in new york at that time visiting jon. very fitting i think considering we both hated high school. although when i was talking to one of my classmates earlier i found myself very curious as to who was doing what, where they were living and who had changed the most. very superficial stuff.

at first when i heard about the reunion there was no way i was going to go but then after some thought and talking to chris, i decided that it would be nice if i went to see how everyone has changed or not changed. i guess after talking to chris i realized that even though high school wasn't a good experience for me, i would regret not going later on down the road. granted i'll be in ny but there's always the 10 year reunion coming up....

my first day back at work. it's always the hardest especially when i had such a good vacation. who knew i would have so much fun in kansas. i did everything that i thought i was going to do and more. i met chris's family and friends, ate more than i have in a very long time, and surprisingly am really interested in hunting. not myself per say but i really liked seeing the animals on the walls. never seen them before. my favorite is the muskrat. so so cute! too bad i forgot to take a picture but i do have one of me with a bobcat on my arm.

and of course, i tried water-skiing. i was only able to try it three times before my arms got too tired and sad to say, i wasn't able to stand. but i was oh so close. at least that's what chris told me to make me feel better. of course it doesn't help that he can slalom ski like crazy and was able to get on the wakeboard on his first try. but then again, i've never grown up around a lake. and unbelieveably, i was incredibly sore the next day and still am now. i didn't even get up! on another note, a report to all people, no fish nibbled on my legs. although an alligator was spotted in the lake a couple weeks before we went. no joke, the "crocodile hunter" was even there.

i'd have to say that i had the most fun when we were hanging out with his parents and when we went to go visit his brother's family. all the other events, wedding, going to the bars with his friends were fun but i'd much rather just sit around and talk or watch movies. i loved my trip to kansas. i betcha no one, including me, would of thought i'd say love and kansas in the same sentence. who knew.....

I’m off to Kansas tomorrow. The land of Toto. I’m actually pretty excited. Chris has planned out a lot of activities for us. Meeting his parents, eating PLENTY (seafood salad, rib-eye steak, chocolate pie, chocolate chewies and much much more I’m sure), going to a wedding, going out to the “plaza” with his friends, and water-skiing. My first time for everything. I must say that I think I’m more nervous about the water-skiing. What if I don’t have enough upper arm strength to hold on? What if the fish nibble on my legs? Or worse, I fall and my bathing suit comes off? All very dumb questions I’m sure but oh well. It’ll be fun regardless.

I found out today that one of my close friends (I’ve known her since I was 6) is engaged! It came as a total shock to me. I guess mainly because she’s the first out of my close circle and she’s only a year older than me. Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s getting married right away but just the thought of it makes me excited. There was a time when I couldn’t even imagine us being in college much less graduated, working and now engaged. Wow. What a great surprise.

i decided i'm going to start saving for two things. one, a vacation to fiji or somewhere exotic and two, a miniature bulldog. they are the cutest. except they're so expensive but well worth the money. they're exactly what i want in a dog. cute, short hair, and nice. plus, can't you just see me walking my bulldog? now i just need to come up with a name.

my friend emailed me this game "fobionair" today. a knock-off of who wants to be a millionaire with fob questions. the thing that i thought was so hilarious was that my boyfriend knew almost all the answers. he actually did better than me and enid (whom i consider to be one of my fobbiest friends just because she came over when she was in the teens). he knew all about red envelopes and the ever most important boba drinks. i guess i have done my job a little too well when my boyfriend from KANSAS knows more than me. and yes, he's white.

i went to go watch one of my cousins sing in a choir this past weekend. i find that the older i get, the more and more i enjoy going to family events. there was also this little boy singing that was so cute with chubby cheeks and well, chubby everything. if i have kids one day, i'd definitely want them to have chubby cheeks. that is just so cute. i mean, look at my baby pictures. i was a fat kid but hey, at least everyone liked to pinch my cheeks.

so i'm reading jon's blog and he mentioned the sheep that poops. they are so cute! i love them. i'm thinking about maybe buying one of each and giving them to people. maybe you'll be one of the lucky few. where can i purchase them at or do i have to get them online?? of course, if i get all three sets online, i get a free popping eye elephant!

jon, you have way too much time on your hands. you really need to get a job or a hobby or something. i sort of read your groove culture column hence the statement. want to know what i've been doing this entire week? reviewing over 2,000 lease agreements for work. yup. that's right. i have seen enough leases to last me a couple busy seasons and it's still going and going and going.......

i went to go watch rent last night with chris. i wasn't sure what to expect but it was way better than anything i thought. the singing was amazing and of course, i cried. now i just need to get the cd. beforehand, we went for dinner at morton's and although my entree wasn't as good as i thought it would be (i should just stick with rib-eye steaks from now on) the dessert was amazing. chocolate souffle. overall, a great night with chris.

guess what? i don't have to move! our owners are giving us a 6 month lease so i don't have to worry about moving again till january. dope is it not? on a sadder note, i'm still at work and i wanna go home.....(jon, remember the song from pinnochio?)

sat night, went to a club called ibiza hotel. an old hotel that was converted to a club. the set up was so dope. nothing like i imagined. anyone can rent out the rooms and the sliding door opens up onto the party on the lawn. think melrose place. so in addition to the main club, there are mini parties going on in every room or people just chilling. the room we hung out in had a big bed covered with rose petals and candles everywhere although never a good idea with drunk people around. to top it all off, there's even a pool and jacuzzi.

everyone agreed it was one of the best venues we've seen in the bay area. the only thing that would have made it more perfect was if the music was better. but hey, next time we can just rent a room and bring our our cd's.

on the rave reviews of jon, went to go watch the fast and the furious last night. maybe my expectations were too high (thanks jon) but still...overall it was pretty enjoyable. kept me awake at least. kind of reminded me of when i used to go to races in san diego. of course they weren't nearly as big or the cars as nice. but then again, it is a movie. and what is it w/ all movies making asians look dumb and cheesy? no wonder everyone thinks of us as dorks.

i found out over the weekend that i'm moving again. the owners want to move back in so we need to be out by july 31st. for someone who has never moved much before, i'm certainly getting good practice of packing and unpacking now.