New Beginnings

The new year has started great so far. It is only the second
day, but I spent the whole weekend in good company.
Surrounded by family and awesome friends. Lalaine,
Christina, and I tried a new restaurant on Clement called Q.
Their food was delicota. We all shared our plates so we each
had a taste of their mac and cheese with tater tots, their
angus burger, and their salmon burger. Every dish was equally
good. I just found out that this place was featured in an
episode of "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," so my word is for real.

After our meal, we walked down the street to get some dessert
at Toy Boat. This place has a mixture of desserts, sandwiches,
and vintage toys. Inside, it looks like an old-fashioned diner. It
is small and the booths are not very spacious, but that's okay.
Lalaine had a tiramisu and Christina and I shared a New York
cheesecake. That thing looked like a big slice of cheese. It was
decent. Overall, it's a nice place to chill and have a snack.

We met up with Alvin, Rich, and Tiff for drinks on Geary at this
place called Buckshot. It's a cool place to hang out and play
games with friends, but it was a little loud on this night. We
stepped into a heavy rock night I guess. I wanted to hang out
at a low-key place, so we migrated to Fizzee's down the street.
This place was definitely more laid-back and embodied a
Cheers-like vibe. The Asian bartenders were all very friendly
and accommodating. There were a couple of drinks that I tried
for the first time like a Snake Bite, a French Kiss, and an
Amaretto Sour. All tasty in their own ways. Eric H., Bobby, and
his lady friend also hung out with us for a bit there. Some
played pinball and the rest hung out at the bar and chit-
chatted, such as myself.

The first night of the year was a happy one for me; and I only
hope that sets the tone for the rest of the year. I have new
goals, a new internship, and a new attitude to take on in 2011.
I'm looking forward to some good changes, growth, and a lot
of learning.

Counting Down To 2011 With The Family

End of the year message

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS!!! CHEERS TO 2011!

A Bittersweet Christmas Week

Merry Christmas everyone! I know it's practically New Year's Eve,
but I just haven't had the chance to hop on the computer lately. It's
been a very merry and not-so-merry past week. The winter sick-
ness caught up with me and I ended up having to spend my days on
the couch. Except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which was
weird. I thought I was getting better, but the day after Christmas I
felt like so much SHIT. I guess my immune system decided to liter-
ally give me a two day break so I could revel in the excitement that
comes with my favorite holiday. I ended up missing out on my friends'
after-Christmas potluck/party. I was sooo looking forward to it, but
for some reason, I was feeling dizzy and I had this huge headache. It
was the worst feeling. I remember I kept thinking, 'My equilibrium is
out of whack.' The last thing I ever want to feel is dizzy, so it sucked
big time! Seriously, one of my new year's resolutions is to take better
care of myself so that I feel physically healthier. I'm tired of feeling
shitty and feeling how unhealthy I really am.

Christmas was pretty chill this year. As usual, I went to my uncle's
house in the city and we did all of our traditional stuff like take family
pics in front of the tree; and then the kids individually call and pass
out the presents. I mainly got clothes and money. I've been wanting
noise-isolating, crisp-sounding headphones so I used some of the
money to get myself a good pair at Best Buy. I did my research first
and picked a high-rated model and brand. I read good reviews from
different sources, so I stuck with it. I've only had it for a day and I've
just been sitting around enjoying my music and how good it sounds.
So, if you're looking for a good set of headphones, I recommend the
Sennheiser HD203. It even got higher ratings than some Bose and
Monster Beats models. You can score too like I did 'cause I got it on
sale and it was SO much cheaper than those big brands.

Andres the Giant

Speaking of baseball, I met my first Giant... Andres Torres!!!
He did a signing at Lefty's in Burlingame and Lalaine and I
decided to go. He's done a pretty spectacular job throughout
the season, despite brief struggles and unfortunate health
conditions. He was the perfect Giant to meet first and he was
sooo nice and generous to all the fans. I was really nervous
about this meeting mainly because I didn't know what I was
going to say to him. I wanted to congratulate him again on his
World Series win, but that didn't happen. I didn't really say
much and he was the one who asked if I wanted a picture haha.
I ended up wishing him happy holidays and of course, Lalaine
had to laugh about that one. I have a reputation for saying the
most random things in the most polite manner when I meet
someone famous. I can't help it!

Btw... he's holding the ball he signed for me.

Before Andres, I had a chance to see Tim Lincecum up close,
but I didn't really meet him. It was a weird situation that
happened after a night game. The guy actually left and then
came back. Christina and I like to joke around that he came
back for a toothpick since he had one in his mouth when we
saw him. As he was driving to leave again, he actually pulled
over to sign some autographs for the fans who were still
waiting around. I didn't rush to get one because I was feeling
a bit of disbelief and I tend to hold back when a famous person
is around. I wanted Christina to meet him for sure since she
did have a goal to give him a CD that was supposed to be a
birthday present. It was her chance and she accomplished it.
I think it would be pretty cool knowing that your favorite
player has a CD that you put together. It would be even cooler
if he dug the CD so much, he constantly listens to it; which I
hope is the case. Christina's one lucky gal!

Let's Try This Again

This is my first post in 2010 and the year is almost over. I can never
keep up with this blog. I always pop up once every year since I first
started blogging for school purposes, promising that I will update
and post on the daily. I just can't do it. I barely use the internet now
since I only really check my emails. I guess I came back to the blogger
world so that I can keep myself in tune with the web more often. It's
been four years since I started posting thoughtless entries about
different topics and elements of geography; and I almost immediately
incorporated special events, memorable moments, and random
thoughts of my own life. The posts have helped me visually remember
a good chunk of my college life. Now, I am almost beyond that stage
and am ready to take on what the real world has in store for me.

Some updates...
After living in San Jose for 6 years, I moved back to Daly City since
I'm pretty much done taking classes. It's not the best place to live,
but I gotta call someplace a home. I just have to knock out two
internships and my school career will be over. I am sooo happy I
don't have to think about finals anymore. I would be incredibly
stressed at this very moment.

I am dealing with a different kind of stress these days as a commuter.
It is not easy, but I still work at school to earn some income. It's really
not benefiting me since most of my money goes to transportation. Why
am I still there?

I have devoted a lot of time to a new interest this year: baseball.
Religiously Giants baseball. Of course, I'm gonna root for my
hometown team and their season turned out to be an amazing
and sensational one. They freakin' won the World Series! Following
them since the first month of the season, it never crossed my mind
that the team was gonna go all the way. It was definitely a journey.
I'm glad that I was able to join this ride up until its historic end.
Not very many things can excite me more than Giants baseball.
I am forever a fan!

Looking onward to the next post!

Nein! Nein! Nein!

Yeah, I know that it means "no," but it does sound like "nine" and we all know what today is. Maybe I'm just obsessed with the movie "Inglorious Basterds." If you have not seen it, I recommend it to you. That is, of course, if you are not someone who gets tremendously offended and/or grossed out by the Tarantino violence. It may just be one of my favorite movies. I know this because I would not mind watching it again; and there are very few movies I feel that way for.

So, what does it mean when these same-three-number dates pop up? Do we get luck? Do we get bad luck? I kinda like to look on the bright side, so I'm hoping good things come with these hyped-up days. I'm sure they are just like any other day, but we can all dream a little about a bunch of numbers. I was in Vegas when it was 7/7/07. I was freshly 21 and in the perfect place for such a date...and what exactly happened? No big bucks that's for sure. What happened today? I overslept and missed my first class. Yet, here I am being optimistic thinking about these same-three-number dates. They have to mean something. Otherwise, everyone wouldn't be talking about it so much. We only have three more years in our generation's lifetime to celebrate and rave about these dates. Maybe I will do something completely outrageous in the last year.

Going back to the movie...if you have seen it, enjoy this song and you will know that the GAME IS ON! GRR! Click here to hear the music

If I had a Twitter...

I would've "tweeted" something like this...

"Just saw a new Snuggie commercial on TV. Why the f--- are these people raising
the roof every time they are shown dancing? Reeally hip guys... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVrnKBHQBKQ&feature=related"

Whale Wars

Yesterday, my roommate Albert and I were letting T.V. distract us from final exam focus. He put the channel on Animal Planet, which was showing an episode of "Whale Wars." I have never heard of the show before, but watching the last fifteen minutes of the episode was so intense, my curiosity got the best of me. I researched the show online and found that they are going to premiere the second season soon, which is apparently "more dangerous, drama-filled, and controversial than ever," according to its website. To sum up what I have seen so far: the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is out at sea on " The Steve Irwin" trying to locate a Japanese whaling fleet. The Japanese fleet claim they are whaling for research purposes, but the Sea Shepherds think otherwise. Because the Sea Shepherds strongly believe in saving the whale species, they are trying to track down the fleet to try and stop them. When I started watching, two members of the Sea Shepherd were being held captive after hopping aboard one of the Japanese vessels. It was scary because you could see how frightened they were. The other reality shows have nothing on this; this is as real as it can get. It is kind of like watching pirates fight for whales. It pains me to watch the Japanese fleet slaughter whales. The strange part is when they do it, some of the crew members are carrying handwritten signs saying "We are doing it for research." It is all really mind-boggling. I really want to see the outcome in the second season, which premieres on June 5th. I saw the commercial and they were throwing certain types of bombs on each others' vessels. Too intense.