A New Favorite

I watched a lot of movies this past weekend. One of them was "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which of course was really funny. Another one, I can add to my tiny list of favorites. One called "She's So Lovely," directed by Nick Cassavetes. Let me give you my version of a quick description...

sean penn. robin wright penn. john travolta. james gandolfini. harry dean stanton...

a crazy, pregnant woman. literally missing husband. she smokes and drinks. gets beaten up and possibly raped by next door neighbor. finds husband at the bar. husband is furious and wants to know who fucked her up. she doesn't tell him, fearing he might end up in jail for life. he goes ballistic and ends up shooting someone anyway. they are crazy for each other. he ends up in a mental institution for a while. she remarries and has two more children. he gets released. she still loves him. she has a big decision to make between the two men in her life. who will she choose?

Sorry it's not the best summary I can offer. Believe me, if I gave a proper one, I would write way too much. The plot may not be the best, but the acting was astonishing. It's not a well-known movie either, so if it pops up somewhere, just watch it! You will laugh. For now, watch this dance scene. "It's De Lovely."

Spring Break 08

I actually went somewhere for Spring Break this
year. That's very rare for me. And no, I didn't
go to Cancun to get shit-faced drunk and show
boobage to the whole island. Not my thang. I
did, however, go to Lake Tahoe for the first time.
I went snowboarding with a couple of friends and
a few new people from Miami. I had a lot of fun
hangin' out with everyone. Snowboarding was a
different story. Let's just say I took in a lot of
damage. It was probably one of the most frust-
rating activities I've ever done in my life. It
made me angry 90% of the time. I just had no
control over my board. The first day, I swear I
was going down the hill at about 50mph. I could
not stop. I would either get pissed or laugh at
myself when I fell. I laughed 'cause I imagined
what I looked like going down that slope at high
speed. I imagined peoples' reactions as I busted
my ass several times. At least, the snow was
soft that day. The second day was something
else. The snow was hard and icy and it was
windy. I didn't have a ski mask, so my face was
getting attacked by the ice pieces flying through
the rough wind. The hill us girls went on that
day was a little scarier 'cause there were no
barriers on the side making it slightly more
dangerous. I gave up a lot quicker and walked
down the hill the first time. The second time
I snowboarded down a smaller hill at high
speed again and fell super hard on my back.
Now that was a pain that confirmed I was over
it. I was hurting so much I was lying in the
snow for about two minutes. When I got up, I
realized there were blood spots on the snow
where my back was. I found out later that the
blood was mine and I totally effed up my lower
back. It was all scraped and inflamed. Nice!
Don't get me wrong...if I knew how to snow-
board, I would probably have a blast. The
nightlife was more chill and relaxing. We had
decent dinners at a buffet and Hard Rock Cafe
both nights at Harvey's Casino. When we left
Lake Tahoe, we stopped by Sacramento for a
couple of hours before we drove back to San
Francisco. We decided to do a little sightseeing
with the girls from Miami. We went up to the
tourist spot near the Golden Gate Bridge to get
some amazing photos of the view. The crazy
thing is...I've never been up there and I've lived
in the City all my life. I do appreciate my home-
town more nowadays. Afterwards, we drove
down Lombard and ate dinner at Bubba Gump
at Pier 39. (Someone was crushin' on the wait-
ress that night haha.) Lalaine and I got back to
San Jose pretty late. I was exhausted and I had
a midterm at 9am the next morning. Oy! Until
now, I'm still a little sore.

On our way to the Heavenly Resort in Lake Tahoe


KaayJaay


The first day: I look 4 feet tall in this pic...Lalaine and her cool gear

The gals: Me, Lalaine, Melissa, and Karla (the two from Miami)

The guys: Mell, Chad, Brandon, and Julius

The second day: after my final fall. Looking very Asian.

Going down on the Heavenly Gondola...pretty high up there!

Also where we met cool LA-ians Thomas (Ryan Gosling look-alike) and Sheila.

Matt and Mell...mmm potato skins.

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe

Miami friends

In Harvey's Casino...the night we sang Disney tunes in the van

The view from our condo the morning of our last day


Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Um...I don't know

On our drive back home

The main six overlooking the Bay and the Golden Gate.

Can you tell I'm freezin' up there?

Poster status...you could see my house from there

Which one needs to use the military bathroom?

Creepy...in one of the bunker rooms

City by the Bay

Imagine being on the other end of the line...Posing on the bridge

I like how I'm the only normal one in the center of a random picture...Great background!

Looks like those professional school dance photos.

Asian Forrest Gumps

Dinner at Bubba Gump at Pier 39...this is how you get the waiter/waitress' attention

Muse - Map of the Problematique

It's a kick ass song! Ultimate music that will make you want to drive faster. I really want to see these guys live!

Movie Stills: On the set of "Milk"

The Original Rainbow Gay Pride Flag

We are the extra extras

The set in front of City Hall

Myself and Zheena (future movie star)

The "real" extras...very retro

A blurry Emile Hirsch as "Cleve Jones"

"Cleve Jones" and "Harvey Milk"

Wonder if he can play us a little jig...

Sean Penn getting ready to shoot another take

Denis O'Hare as "John Briggs"

Another of Sean ("Harvey Milk")

I like this one - Christina, Myself, and Zheena

Me trying to tell you that I have back pain

It's ridiculous how close we are

Sean's stand-in preparing for the parade scene

Last shot of the day

It was the first movie role for all of us as extras.

Now Zheena can start her movie resume. Look

out for her in the future on the big screen. In

the meantime, we will look for ourselves during

"Harvey Milk's" speech in front of City Hall;

when the movie hits the theatres. Haha.

My Acting Debut

There have been a couple of experiences in my
life so far that I would put in a book of unforget-
table moments. One event was one of the best
concerts I have ever been to...The Civic Tour
with Good Charlotte and New Found Glory on
May 31, 2003. Lalaine and I (and 18 other fans)
got to spend the whole set onstage with NFG. It
was pretty crazy and awesome. It didn't even
feel like we were standing in front of thousands
of people. The last song was wild 'cause we got
to move around on stage, but I just kept hiding
behind people to avoid looking like a jumping
monkey. My leg started cramping too, so I was
scared of falling and making an ass out of myself.
Nonetheless, I felt very lucky to be chosen from
the thousands. Anyway, although that concert
was fantastic, this post is not about it.

Recently, I took an opportunity to be a part of a
movie that's set in my hometown. It is about
Harvey Milk, who was the first open gay man to
run for office in San Francisco, and the story of
his life leading up to his assassination. Sean Penn
plays Harvey Milk and the supporting cast in-
cludes Josh Brolin, James Franco, and Emile
Hirsch. I originally thought I would check out
the movie set to see James Franco 'cause I am a
fan of his. Then I realized that I would be part-
icipating for the wrong reasons. I didn't feel right
the more I thought about it. I was about to back
down on it because I felt bad. The experience of
being part of a movie was more appealing to me,
so I decided to do it. Plus, Ms. Christina Atienza
asked me to accompany her. I mean, think about
it...how many people can say that they have
been in a movie? I know we're only (unpaid)
extras, but it is like driving. It's a privilege.

March 9, 2008- I got up really early to commute
from San Jose to the City before the call time of
the shoot. I met up with Christina and Zheena,
whom I haven't seen in literally a year. Ohh I
missed them cheecas! It was nice catching up
on the way to Civic Center. When we got there
we didn't see many people there. We saw a
marching band and a stage propped up. We
ended up across the street from the City Hall,
where all the other extras were. More and more
people came as time passed. The "real" extras
came out as well with their legit 70s gear. I
really felt like I was in the 70s, which by the way,
is a decade that I liked learning about. The actual
extras represented a strong group of homo-
sexuals, same-sex couples, and transgenders.
Some of the apparel was interesting to see. The
whole atmosphere was interesting because a past
decade was brought back to life. Appearances.
Old automobiles. Scenery. There was even an old
Muni bus. Everything about the set was pretty
cool. One of the extras was dancing around shirt-
less with no music and doing pushups. Crazy!
Before they started filming, a Sean Penn stand-in
tested out the mike and the main guy who gave
us instructions for the scenes spoke to us about
our job as extra extras. Sean Penn came out and
that's when I thought 'This is real now. We're
making a movie.' It was surreal seeing all the
actors and crew involved. Zheena pointed out
Emile Hirsch, whom I barely recognized 'cause
he was sporting a huge curly afro and ginormous
spectacles. He was Napoleon Dyamite's groovy
twin. Maybe his uncle from the 70s. During the
shoot, we all ended up near the stage mixed in
with the real extras. All three of us were pretty
close to the front center. It was weird seeing
Sean Penn standing in front us as he delivered
his infamous speech. We shot several takes. It
was tiring. Weird right? I had no idea I was going
to have back pains just standing in a crowd clap-
ping and cheering for "Mr.Milk". Sean did an im-
pressive job. It seemed like it didn't take him
that much effort to perform a victorious speech.
I observed live that he is a good actor. I also
have to mention that in between takes, there
was a lady carrying an umbrella over his head
the whole time. I would take that job any day.
Haha. Emile Hirsch didn't seem to have to do
much for his part 'cause he was sitting around
most of the time. Oh yeah, James Franco finished
filming his scenes, so he wasn't there. Ah well.
The second scene they shot was one where
Harvey Milk sat atop a Volvo as he paraded down
the street in front of City Hall, with his supporters
cheering him on. That scene didn't require too
many takes. During this time, all three of us were
hungry, so we decided to take a break from the
shoot to grab some BK. We had the intention of
coming back. Of course, when we do come back
to the shoot, our biggest fear bit us in our asses.
A majority of the crowd was gone. The crew was
condensed and the stage was taken apart.
However, Sean Penn was still filming a scene in
which he walks out of the City Hall and comments
on another person's remark. We stood across the
street to watch. It didn't last long. After they
finished, Christina and Zheena were on a mission
to look for Emile Hirsch. We walked around City
Hall and sat on the street for a while. At one
point, Christina recognized someone who looked
like Sean. Surprise! It was him walking on the
street leading to the City Hall's entrance. We
were too scared to approach him. I personally
didn't want to interrupt whatever he was doing
'cause he looked like he was in a hurry. When he
came out of the City Hall, he left in a car. The
man's got things to do. No need to bother him.
We didn't find Emile either, so we called it a day.
The overall experience was draining, but
fascinating. The whole process was fun. It was
an eye-opener for me. I enjoyed everything
about it...especially all the observations I took
in. Definitely a learning experience. If an opp-
ortunity like that comes your way, I say do it!
I would do it again no doubt. Just let me know
where to sign up!

Oh by the way, what was up with the laughing
fest on the BART, Christina? Sean Penn is after
you.