my deflowering of belle & sebastian

*** let the back-dating begin! ***

venue: the greek theater in berkeley
band: belle & sebastian with real estate and perfume cruise
when: 12 april 2015 (sunday)
show started at 4p

my lovely cousin's wife and childhood friend, nina was my date and witness to the deflowering. at this point, i've probably been to 200+ concerts and i'd yet gone to see belle & sebastian until now. i have always wanted to see belle & sebastian and they sound amazing live. the greek in berkeley is one of my favorite venues so it was super exciting to go.

we got there early and noticed all these random people, including kids, dressed up and all in white. once the show started, we began to recognize all the people in white were now on stage dancing with the band! i was super jealous. turns out, it was some sort of first 50 to sign up got this gig. the white attire would have been very appropriate for the deflowering of this experience. finally, i can say that i've seen them live. for someone who used to go to a show every week for years, catching one a month at this age has been a challenge.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
i didn't see it coming | make me dance | i want to surrender

diamond rings & omd (again)

venue: regency ballroom (sold out!)
band: omd with diamond rings
who: cousin lam & nina
when: 12 april 2013 (friday)
doors open at 8p

when i saw diamond rings open for stars at the fillmore, i was blown away. his energy was contagious, along with his music. it was an 80's throw back. i was thrown back. i was very excited to see that diamond rings opened up for omd. i'd never been to the regency ballroom and was unsure about what general admission tickets would look like since nowadays i prefer sitting to standing at concerts. luckily, others preferred standing. we were able to get seats next to the stage.

during the intermission, nina and i found our way to the merch table where diamond rings was doing a meet and greet. i was also interested in adding another record to my collection. it's also an excuse to talk to him. and he is so so pretty in person. i don't think the picture above does him justice.

you can tell that most of the audience was there to see omd as nina and i were basically the only ones dancing to diamond rings. i didn't care, i couldn't help myself. i saw omd for the first time in october of 2011. i had waited about 20 years to see them. not sure why i didn't see them sooner, it's not like they haven't had any albums out since sugar tax. in fact, they've had two albums after sugar tax before the tour of the show in 2011.

the show was fantastic. even more fantastic was going with my cousins. we all got up out of our seats and danced like it was 1989. the night was a great 80's throw back.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

food adventures: dixie with nina

i received a voucher for a 5-course dinner at the chef's table at dixie thanks to a very dear friend. i made reservations on the 5th and asked nina to join me. it was convenient since her office is near mine. we started with drinks and they gave us an option of eating in the main dining room with everyone else or in the kitchen at the "chef's table". this was a chef's table dinner so we opted for that. to my surprise, there was a table for six with no one there. even better! we had the kitchen to ourselves. it was like a private dinner party with the chef, joseph humphrey. he was kind and generous with his time. he told us everything about each course and more. he even busted out his laptop to show us a youtube video on the acorn grits. we enjoyed ourselves so much that we closed out the place. as a result, we received a personal tour of the kitchen and restaurant by mr. humphrey himself. we definitely have to go back!

diana's 30th

me with my dear dear cousins at xanh restaurant

happy 30th, diana! ♥

new york food!

after lewiston, debbie and i flew to jfk to hang out in new york city. we stayed in midtown close to hell's kitchen, i thought it would be a fun area for a first timer (my cousin's). we were there for a couple of days for shopping and eating. despite the sweltering heat (high 90's), we survived.

the first day, we came across some issues. baggage issues. apparently, our bags did not get transferred and were stuck in boston. they were not due to be delivered until the next morning. for dinner, we decided to go to becco for some italian which was conveniently located about two blocks away. they had this great prix fixe deal, all you can eat pasta, and $25 bottles of wine. we thought we were hungry enough but we were wrong. at least i was wrong. i could barely have a second helping. there were three different types, all but one was edible. the other two were bland and plain. honestly, we have much better italian food in north beach.

the next day, we ventured out for some shopping in the soho area. it was a lot of walking and a lot of sweating but hardly any buying. i was sorely disappointed. however, we coincidentally ran into debbie's friend, fred and his girlfriend kate, whom we were planning to meet up with anyway. after shopping, we met up with an old friend of mine, avi at barcelona bar in midtown. we had harry potter shots there. when avi asked what was in it, the bartender who was dressed as harry potter, answered 'magic.' for dinner, my cousin was in the mood for ramen. luckily, totto ramen was on the way back to our hotel. it was an hour wait but definitely worth it. as you can see below (in the center image), i had my ramen with avocado. it was mmm good.

clockwise from center: totto ramen in midtown; spring rolls, egg rolls, phở bánh mì and phở, all from nhà tôi in williamsburg.

on our last day, i thought it might be interesting to do something touristy, for debbie. we decided on going to the empire state building. i went to the empire state building previously in 2003 during my first trip to new york city. it was in february and freezing. i seem to only go during extreme weather. when i was there back in 2003, we went right before closing so there was really no line. this time, i was not so lucky. the wait was at least an hour and it was pretty packed. we managed to get some good pictures anyway. see my empire state building collage below. afterwards, we headed over to williamsburg in brooklyn to check fred's place, nhà tôi. as you can see in the food collage above, we had quite the feast. his specialty is the phở bánh mì. bascially, he puts the ingredients that you get in phở sans the noodles. it was quite delicious. so much so that i ate the entire thing plus some of the other dishes. the phở was quite hot to have in the heat we endured. his place is tiny and like an open stand, quite authentic feeling if you ask me. very good for people watching. we stayed for several hours hanging out with carl, the brooklyn artist and drinking margarita/mojito drinks. it was a tuesday during the summer and his shop was consistently busy. the next day, we left new york with a full stomach and money in my pocket from the lack of shopping!

new york... finally!

sorry for the delay... i've been quite busy.

this past summer (specifically at the end of july), i actually went on a summer vacation. it was the first real one since 2009. i went to new york for a wedding and a summer break. new york is not ideal for a summer vacation as it is excruciatingly hot. definitely not the weather for two spoiled, girly californians. i had a wedding to go to in lewiston, upstate new york. my dear dear muffin was getting hitched. and my lovely cousin came as my date.
lewiston is next to niagara falls. and we were very excited about seeing the falls. it was quite humid and cloudy at first, but the sun eventually came out and it was beautiful. we went on one of the tours and our bus broke down in the middle of the tour even though they promised we'd be through with the tour in time to get to the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. during the tour, we ran into ness and tahu who i haven't seen in ages! they too were coming for the wedding. if you look closely (or just click on the image with the terrapin point horseshoe falls sign) at the picture on the left, you'll see ness with her little ones and tahu walking along.
we eventually left the tour before it was over. at least we saw most of the sights.
the wedding was fabulous and conveniently located across the street from the hotel we were staying at. the after party was also a lot of fun. it was at a bar outside of the reception and next to the lake. the next day, debbie and i left for new york city. and the lovely bride and groom left for france very soon after.

birthday drinks & cupcakes @ xanh

two saturdays ago/the day before my birthday, i had a very last minute birthday celebration. i figured, i'd squeeze in some drinks with some friends & family after my sister cooked me a very yummy dinner. having it at xanh is always convenient as the only thing i had to take care of were cupcakes. i made strawberry and coconut cupcakes while my sister made my birthday dinner. i meant to take a picture of the cupcakes. the above collage include the few pics i got with my camera before the batteries died due to overwhelming flash use (and forgetting to recharge the batteries). there were boys thrown into the mix of ladies later. all in all, it was a very good birthday.

welcome luc "oba" ma!!

luc was born on election day, november 4th @ 10:31pm & weighing 7 lbs 15 oz. congrats to my cousins who are the proud parents of this sweet sweet baby.

office & popscene

venue: 330 ritch (popscene)
artist: office
who: nina, her friend kearny & will
when: 13 december 2007 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

last week, i went to popscene to see this band called office. they are from chicago. i'd heard them through a couple of cds joe (sorry ro!) had made for me. so when i saw that they were playing at popscene, i thought, i wanna go! my cousin nina had expressed wanting to go to popscene so i asked her to go. the last time we were there together was... wow, the night i met bernie back in september. crazy crazy. and a crazy night that was.

before popscene, i met up with my thyroid cancer sister, funie. she lives in oakland and since it's across the bridge to sf, it worked out perfect. i'd hang out with funie and meet nina for popscene after. funie & her friends decided on karaoke. this whole in the wall place where the clerk barely spoke english. luckily, funie is taiwanese and was able to speak with her for us. this place was like a hole in the wall. you could miss it if you weren't paying attention. there were 4 of us and the private rooms were $25/hour. more of their friends were supposed to show up but it was just us for a little over an hour. her friend erika and i sang and knew the same songs. it turned out that she was 32. funny. this place even had the song come go with me by expose. i haven't sang this song since middle school. ridiculous. what's even more ridiculous is the video my sister, cousin debbie & i made with this song. we had a dance routine and lip synced. debbie's brother lam was the mc. we also had matching outfits. it was so much fun. but alas, the video has gone missing. but i swear debbie & roger have it!

back to karaoke, i sang this song with erika. i didn't really know the words but oh my, i think debbie was only 10 y/o and we were singing songs about sex. then again, i think most of the songs from the 80s were about sex. i stayed there a little longer than i'd planned and didn't make it to popscene until close to 11 instead of 10. luckily, nina was with her friend kearny and they were waiting for me in their car. when i parked, this black civic parked in front of me. and who comes out of it? our long lost friend will! i didn't know he drove but i suspected it had something to do with his gf.

i met up with nina & kearny in line. ken, one of the bouncers (he's the one that asked me if i was chris's girl, if so, it was a shame because i was too fine for him! hahaha), he let us in for free on my birthday last month (with lisa & allen). i didn't really expect him to do it again this time. but then i see him whisper something to the cover chick and she stamps our hands without taking any $$. score! i need to bring him cookies the next time i go...

if you don't know, i absolutely love dancing at popscene. i get on this big natural dancing high. i suppose irish car bombs help too. but i have this big smile almost the entire time. funny, this is actually how bernie noticed me on the dance floor. anyway, i needed my dancing fix. we get on the dance floor and i see will over by the stage dancing by himself. as usual. normally, he would join us but he didn't and i felt bad for him so i went over to him. and we dance the entire night. we also chatted a bit on the dance floor. it was really nice. he's living with his gf now and no longer lives in the ghetto. hahah. he seems happy too which is great.

when office came on, we went and sat down in a booth. i didn't recognize any of the songs. i don't even think they played the two songs i knew. i was really disappointed. despite that, i still had tons of fun with nina, kearny & will. we stayed until closing and walked out with will. i spent the night at nina's and made it to work on time the next day. thanks nina!

rating: ♥

caroline's 23rd birthday & drunk dialing

my younger cousin turned 23 recently. it made me a little sad as i am ten years older than her. and i chose to be 23 for a good 8 or 9 years. now that i think about it more, i'm glad that i'm no longer in my 20s. i dare say i am even happy to be in my 30s. i choose the age 23 because it was one of the best years in my life. school was done, i travelled to europe, and thought i found the one i was going to marry and have babies with. it was truly the age of innocence for me. but now, who wants to be innocent at 33? pas moi!

last year at my cousin's party, i think i had 4 or 5 shots of vodka. i can't remember. then i had some plum wine or guinness. i mixed. and then it was all over for me. next thing i knew, i was waking up in my cousin's bedroom with her sleeping in the bed next to me. i suddenly saw flashes of yakking and what not. at first, i had no idea where i was. that's never good. this year, i told myself... i only want to get drunk enough to drunk dial bernie. so i stopped at 3 vodka shots. i planned on coming into work on sunday so i couldn't pass out anywhere but in my bed. i even texted him a warning message. possible drunk dialing tonight. he texted me back right away. he was going to bed soon so i had to call him soon. and i did. i can't remember a whole lot but it was nice hearing his voice and chatting with him. i'm a little smitten with him. clearly.

anyway, poor caroline got sick as did many others (including a 40 something y/o man who yakked everywhere). not me. i drove my mostly sober ass home. i even went to the office the next day. and hung out with a 4 y/o the entire day. having spent quality time with my dear cousins and their significant others (aka my cousin-in-laws & future cousins) is always such a joy despite how rare it is. it makes me really happy that i have such a lovely relationship with them. i'm also happy that bernie picked up when i drunk dialed him. heehee.

hot hot heat with chris

venue: 330 ritch (popscene)
artist: hot hot heat
who: alex & nina
when: 13 september 2007 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

last thursday, i went to popscene with alex (who hadn't been there for over a year) and cousin nina. it was popscene's 11th anniversary party so they had a special guest band, hot hot heat. we'd seen hot hot heat there before and it was a great show. we were really excited about seeing them again. the only thing i wasn't excited about was the line that would probably reach to the end of the block. as these kinds of bands do at such small venues. luckily, nina offered to wait in line for us at 9p. alex and i got there shortly after 9:30p and as usual, i tried flirting my way in to avoid the line. fortunately, the boys know me and it worked. they also know that i sort of have a thing with chris (not exactly sure what it is yet), with whom they tease me about, incessantly. i suppose i can't blame them. that's what i get for making out with him in public.

after waiting at the front and saying how scary the line is, they tell me, you don't have to worry about the line. i call nina up to the front. i asked jorge to get chris so i can say hi to him. jorge returns sans chris and tells me that chris told him to take care of me. what a sweetie. *sigh* meaning, chris is allowed two guests, there are 3 of us so it's a 3 for 1 deal on top of hopping the line. it was $13 for the 3 of us. that's actually cheaper cover than a regular popscene night! score!

we also got in before 10p! i love popscene... we go over to say hello to jessica, have some drinks with josh and then more drinks with jason. chris walked by a few times before i finally i was able to say thanks to him. he's really busy working and still, he sits down to chat with us. he's seriously the sexiest thing ever. i hadn't seen him since our date on labor day. i'm really itching for another make out session with him. but he's too busy. :( at one point, i surprised him from behind when i went over to have a little chat with jason about chris. and i got a few kisses out of him but i wanted more.

finally, chris gets the ok and we head to the back. we're a little less conspicuous about our making out these days. especially since he was working and all. i'm not sure if this was before or after hot hot heat came on. but i didn't recognize any of their songs until the end when they started playing the old stuff. we snagged a table in the back so we couldn't see much but we could hear them fine. i couldn't pay much attention with chris walking back and forth in front of me. after the band, we hit the dance floor. we were dancing as usual and there were these guys dancing near us. i was a little drunk and found myself dancing with this one guy. his name was bernie. he's 35 y/o and moving to new york. he said he lived in san francisco for 10 years. he told me he thought i was 24 but noticed that i knew the words to all the songs he knew. when i told him how old i was, it made sense to him. he also told me he thought i was the cutest thing. very sweet. he also told me that i danced very well. i don't even know how long we danced. i didn't notice anything around me, like chris. both alex and nina saw chris walk by as i danced with bernie.

it was late and we had to get going. so, alex got our coat check stuff and i was saying goodbye to bernie. he asked to see me again. gave me his card and phone number. he was really very sweet. after seeing bernie off, i looked for chris to say goodbye to him. just as i turned around, there he was, walking towards me. he pulled me inside the bar, asked me if i was drunk and we made out for a bit. i'm not sure if it was because i was a little drunk but he seemed really into it. i mean, he's usually into it but more than usual. it was nice. :D maybe seeing me dance with bernie was a good thing? anyhow, i don't know how long i was there with him but i heard the djs announce closing time. oh shit, it's 3am?!? alex wanted to leave by 1! so off i went. and off the three of us went to go home. except, we had to drop nina off at her friend's place and we got lost getting back on 101. we ended up by the golden gate and was finally on our way home. i think it was close to 4a when we got back to mt. view.

i got up around 7:30a and caught the train in mt. view. the train that i've been missing all week because i can't get my ass up early enough to get it at 7:45a in san jose. yet, on 3 hours of sleep (a wee nap), i made it into work on time. and i'm there all day. that is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

rating: ♥ ♥ (hot hot heat)
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (for chris)

my childhood dream come true...

on 07-07-07, a very lucky date for weddings and anything else, my cousin married my childhood friend. in 1984, we moved across the street to nina's family. she and her brother, morris, were the only kids our age in the neighborhood. we became inseparable. nina, my sis, me and sometimes morris. he was 7 y/o. there's only so much a 7 y/o boy can do with 3 girls older than him.

we spent countless days together playing together. then, we had this grand idea. she was the same age as our cousin. if they got married, she would be our cousin too! an upcoming birthday party was the opportune time to introduce them and in 20 years or so, they could get married and live happily ever after. we teased them, ruthlessly, as kids do. kids are cruel, right? we had no idea the effect it made. as a result, they avoided each other like the plague. until high school, somehow, they got together and started dating. it was on and off through the years and about 4-5 years ago, it was definitely on. and so, on july 7th, they married and she is now my cousin.

here is an "after & before" picture of me and lisa in our cheong- sams from our brother's wedding in 2000. the dresses are custom made to fit you perfectly. before the wedding, we had our dresses taken in 3+ inches. as you can see me in the b&w pic, i'm a total fatty. yuk. i was ~20lbs heavier. it's amazing what 7 years does to you. anyway, we wore these dresses to the morning ceremony. we were the only ones in chinese traditional dresses. everyone else wore ao dais (which are traditional vietnamese dresses). our dresses are so similar (mine is yellow-gold, hers is chartreuse with accents of each others fabrics. we were dubbed chinese twins.

the morning ceremony was a traditional vietnamese wedding with family and close friends only. there's a procession where the groom's family bears gifts to the bride's family. my dad was the groom's family representative, who is the head of the procession. i was holding the tray of liquor (to be given & drank with the bride's parents) next to him. it was wonderful to be a part of it. afterwards, we had the traditional chinese tea ceremony at the groom's parents' house. there, we caught up with nina's brother morris. we'd known him since he was 7 y/o. he's 29 now with a 5 y/o son, justin. who looks just like him. it was so nostalgic. we talked about playing house and watching cartoons. and their pet turtle who ended up in our backyard years after they moved.

about a month earlier, i found out that nina's so-called friend released herself from being the day coordinator. as i wanted to help out, i'd wholeheartedly volunteered to be their reception coordinator since they needed someone they could trust. i was the point of contact for everyone at the wedding. it was my job to make sure events were happening at the right time. it was my job to tell the dj to change the song because my cousin didn't like it. ok, i only had to do this once. haha. it was nice to have such power. and the whole event turned out awesome.

it was a lovely wedding. nina's family are good people. the food was pretty tasty despite being banquet food. they had gourmet cupcakes instead of a cake. and they were delightful.

as lisa and i were leaving, we saw nina's parents in the parking lot. her mom says to us, we're family now! it was such a sweet end to an enjoyable night.

more pics to come...

what happens in vegas, stays in vegas?

friday, june 1st
i took the day off to fly out to las vegas for my cousins' bachelor/bachelorette party. i started off my day with slight breezes in san jose, requiring a jacket. as soon as i step off the plane in vegas, i immediately had to start striping off whatever clothes i could. my cousins were shopping at the fashion show mall on the strip. so i shuttled it to treasure island across from the mall. it took like an hour after i arrived. ugh.

the last time i was in vegas, it was late 2000. with my ex, douglas, we stayed at the hilton off the strip and ended up leaving early due some reflux condition he was having. lame. i'd only ever been to vegas with him so i was ready to make new fond memories of vegas with my cousins. with whom i always have fun!

i finally meet up with them around 4:30ish. we're waiting for nina (my cousin-to-be) to check into her room. so we go to where she is staying and hang out until i hear from her. we end up at the house of blues downstairs in the bar with debbie, roger & lily. our waiter comes to our table and says, are we all 21 here? let's see some ids, as he looks straight at me. when he sees mine, he says, wow. and i say, thanks! and so, i order my first drink for the day. a mudslide. then roger joins us and orders a guinness. then a shot of baileys and irish whiskey so he can have a car bomb. you know i can't resist a car bomb. and i order one to join him. and then another. and it was time to head up to nina's room. we hung out for a bit there and i had some more guinness. then back to the cousins's room at the flamingo for a nap.

after our nap, we headed over to the venetian where this club tao is. roger's friend, nader (see below) knew some people at tao and helped hook us up with a vip area on the top floor.

after waiting for people and our vip hook up, we finally go in. our vip section was on the top floor next to the pool. we had two bottles of ketel one with cranberry juice and pineapple juice. our cocktail waitress did a good job keeping our cups filled, during which i'd been chatting it up with roger's friend nader. i don't remember much after my second cranberry vodka. i remember bits and pieces of walking down the stairs to get water with nader. he took very good care of me. what a sweet guy. roger came down to help me too. he's a great cousin-in-law. then, i remember not being let back into the club and getting sick. and going through the venetian, trying to walk upright but basically being carried through. then, there was the car. nader's car. he drove me back. andy met me downstairs at the flamingo. and then i passed out, waking up every so often to vomit.

sadly, i missed nina who showed up sometime after 12:30a. the next morning, roger mentioned that nader thought very highly of me. my response was "even after i got sick?" to which he responded, "yep, even after you threw up on his beige suede shoes!" omg, what a horrible first impression. but apparently, we all got sick. soon after, we got breakfast and i flew out to san diego in the afternoon. despite getting horrendously sick and passing out, i had a great time!

what a night!

born in the u.k.

venue: gamh
artist: badly drawn boy
who: cousins lam & nina
when: 23 march 2007 (friday)
doors open at 9p

i actually tried to see bdb back in 2003. i even went to the fillmore to get the tickets. when the day came, i found out it was the night before. i'd missed it. i put it down incorrectly in my planner. i was totally bummed. i'd been waiting for him to come back ever since.

if you've never heard of him but you saw the movie "about a boy" starring hugh grant, you probably won't remember the music. but he did the entire soundtrack. just him. which was the main reason for my seeing that movie. i ended up buying the dvd (if anyone wants to borrow it) because it turned out to be a pretty good film.

back to 2007, when i finally saw damon gough (aka bdb). it was quite thrilling and fulfilling. i went with lam and nina. before the show, we went to this cool irish pub across the street from where we parked. it was pretty good. i had the salmon special which was quite good. prices were great too. the only thing was, they only take cash and we were scrambling for $$. but we had enough for two beers and two dinners with a side of mac & cheese.

the music was great. he's got a really nice voice. only, it was a bit sleepy-folky towards the end. either that or i was just tired. for a few of his songs, he would tell the story behind it. it's nice when musicians divulge personal stories of their songs/lives. knowing how down-to-earth they are in real life makes them even cooler. he played his early hits such as around the block and the shining. i'm not too familiar with the new stuff.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

my lovely cousin

happy birthday caroline! i had too much fun. i can't believe you're already 22! where did the time go??

emily haines of metric

venue: café du nord (sold out)
artist: emily haines & the soft skeleton
who: betty, cousin lam & nina (again!)
when: 22 september 2006 (friday)
show starts at 9p, dinner reservations at 8:45p

yeah yeah, i'm back-dating but who cares...

i went to this show with my cousins lam & nina (future cousin) and betty. the great thing about café du nord is being able to get dinner reservations (with a $15 minimum) to get great seats. betty and i did this for trashcans back in 2004. the food is actually really good too. i had the steak entree we always end up spending more than $15/person but it's nice that we don't have to. and this time, it was lam's treat. thanks cousin! xoxo!

we got there a little late, they said to be there at least 30 minutes before your reservation but we didn't get there until close to 9p. which was fine because they hadn't even set up the tables yet. we had the same waitress as last time. i remember her because she was cool. we parked at the mortuary again, $10. it's just a block away. not bad considering parking in the castro is horrendous most of the time.

after getting settled with our dinner (we ordered at the bar), emily haines started the show soon after. the show was sold out and they added a late show at midnight so they got right to the point. she chatted us up more this time than she did at the metric show. her music is a lot more mellow than metric. it was like having her in my living room and just hanging out. she's got a great voice. it's really sultry and sexy. there was a picture show coordinating with the music. it was a nice artsy touch.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

congrats to new proud parents

welcome...

charlyse
lilia
celeste

born 31 august 2006 @ 4:31 am to proud parents, cousins debbie & roger
6.13 lbs, 19 inches, healthy & perfect!

congrats!! can't wait to see you guys!

happy 30th ben gibbard!!

venue: the greek theatre in berkeley (sold out)
artist: dcfc
who: betty, cousin lam & nina
when: 11 august 2006 (friday)
show starts at 7p

ok, i'm back dating. i wouldn't really be up this early on a saturday morning but i haven't been online for a while...

the opening bands were spoon and mates of state. i think we missed spoon but made it to mates of state. they seemed a bit 80's rock to me. but i've listened to some of their stuff and it's actually not bad.

i took pictures with my camera so i'll upload them shortly. the stage had props that were really visually appealing which we didn't get at the last show. if you've ever been to the greek in berkeley, you'll know that the acoustics is awesome. anywhere you sit gives you a pretty good view of the stage. there are tall trees surrounding the theatre so it feels really enclosed. they had these two little houses and these trees in the background that almost looked 3-dimensional. with the lights, it gave the impression of being in a forest. kinda.

the great thing about death cab is that they are just awesome live. it's almost flawless. and ben gibbard with his swaying. he really got into it too! he looks like he's shed some pounds. midway through the show, his band mate (don't know their names) announced that they were in the bay area 10 years ago on ben gibbard's birthday, 10 years ago that day. and that it was his 30th birthday! it was really a nice touch and for some strange reason, made the show even better.

lam & nina hadn't seen dcfc before and i know nina loves them. so, it was fun to go with them. great show. great company. awesome time.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

back log - the 4th, blocked tear duct, & a baby shower!

4th of july

i spent independence day at muffin's new pad with sir gb. they had a grill going out on their balcony which is on a corner and faces the street. so there's no one next to you. it was quite nice actually. getting there was a little bit of an adventure as my friends(betty & gillie) & i got lost getting to her apartment. the food was very yummy and i met some cool new people i could go dancing with. heehee. all in all, it was a nice low key event. we saw some fireworks but it doesn't seem to impress me like it used to. i just wasn't interested. i think the food was distracting me. food or fireworks? food or fireworks? i took food.

thanks muffin! ♥ it was great fun.

eye update

it's been nearly a year since i had my intubation, i went back to the opthalmologist last week for a check up. i thought i was just going to have surgery and get it over with. but there were some problems... he said i had three options. they are:

1- some sort of balloon intubation where they stick a tube inside my tear duct that is blown up to stretch the tear duct. but he said that procedure almost never works. so, scratch that.

2- do another intubation. last year, the tube was too tight and rather than leaving it in my eye for a few months, it was there for a few weeks. initially, i felt drainage so i was excited that it was working. but the tightness created problems. my eye started to get infected and my tear ducts were getting stretched and droopy.

3- the last option is surgery. he'd open up the side of my nose and make an incision to try to stretch out my tear ducts. the problem here is that my condition isn't that bad. and apparently not ideal for surgery. if i went through it, i would end up with a scar on my face, which is likely to become infected since the area we are dealing with isn't sterile (my nose) and that would make the scarring worse. plus, it may not even work! ugh.

we talked it over some more and i decided on doing the intubation again. i don't think i posted in detail the whole procedure. i guess i said it didn't hurt but it really did. in fact, it was a bit traumatizing. although, now that i've been through it, i know what to expect and it may not be so bad the second time around. so, the plan is to leave it in for 4 months instead of 3 weeks. the procedure is scheduled for august 2nd. wish me luck!

my cousin's baby shower

this past sunday, my cousins (proud parents-to-be debbie & roger) had a baby shower. they are expecting a baby girl. it's very very exciting. they got married last september and were together for over 9 years before that! as they are still attached at the hips, they have been very much in love for the entire time. it's refreshing to see that kind of love still exists.

i was asked to make tiramisu and cream puffs and bring drinks. well, i was a little overzealous with the alcohol. i bought a case of champagne and two bottles were barely touched. i spent most of saturday (until well in the am) trying to finish baking the cream puffs (baking them in my mini convection oven was 30 minutes for every 9-10 cream puff, i made 40) and the tiramisu. which was a total disaster! i had total of ten tubs of marscapone cheese. out of the ten, only two was good. the rest came out curdled. i'd never been so frustrated at 4am before. on two hours of sleep, i woke up early to get more marscapone cheese to make at least a batch of it for the shower. out of the four, i purchased that morning, only two worked. so i had 13 single servings of tiramisu for about 30 people. oh well. thank goodnes for my sister who came over to help me finish up with the cream puffs. the custard didn't turn out for that so we put cool whip inside with strawber- ries. oh yeah, i cut my thumb (while cutting the strawberries) and smashed my index finger closing a door on it. all on the same hand. at least it was my left hand.

there were fun games, good food, and great people. kelly was also there for it. she sat with us in our "winning" table. each one of us (even though i was the last one to win something) got picked for prize from a game. i will post more pics when i upload them from my camera. despite everything, i had a wonderful time!

they are a lovely couple and i'm so very excited for them! congrats debbie & roger! i ♥ you both!!

come dancing...

i called my sister on friday to see if she wanted to come dancing with me in the city. she accepted and we caught up with each other. it was really nice. i realize how much i need her. she's my little sister after all. we were so close at one point, it's really sad that we started to grow apart...

tonight, we went to the fragrance fair at nordstrom. she hadn't seen our cousin debbie in a while so that was a nice mini reunion as well. we had a good time shopping.

yesterday, i started my low-iodine diet. for those who know me, i am having my annual body scan on may 1st for my thyroid cancer. i didn't have to really do the diet last year but i did it for the first year. the thing with being on a diet is, when you are restricted to certain foods, that's all you seem to crave. i am not allowed dairy products on my diet amongst many other things. but i so want some brie and cheddar. i've been eating so much fruit, i'm not sure it's good to have so much. luckily, i can have wheat bread (no white) of which i really enjoy. i've been eating wheat toast with egg whites. sounds yummy, doesn't it? i have 7 more days on this damn diet. good thing, alcohol is allowed. i'm still buzzing from the pinot grigio tonight. heehee.

so i keep going back and forth with the ex thing. i miss him but i don't and not in a pathetic way if at all. i'm leaning towards not. but my heart still flutters a little when i see a picture of him or when i hear his voice on the phone. it's funny, he told me once that my taste in music was so rare in a girl. i seem to be finding the same thing being rare in men i meet, which seems to be one of my top ten if not my top non-negotiable trait. oh well, moving on...

which transitions to the next topic very well. usually, i'm an optimist. and even an incurable romantic, if i do say so myself. but after going to happy hour with a work colleague and discussing life over a few drinks, he brought up a very interesting point. what exactly is love? as a romantic, it's something of passion and is unconditional. when you know you can't live without someone. that's love. but as i've experienced, you can pretty much live without anyone and everyone, but yourself. love seems to be a very misconceived notion. i think many of us want to believe that you can just live on love. but that's not so. you really have to work at it. if you don't, you don't have love. you get hate. and some other unnecessary evil emotions. i've always thought that if i really loved someone, we could always work things out. but it just doesn't work that way. it's a two way street. if one of you don't want to work things out, the relationship is doomed and love is non-existent. rafal (my work colleague) makes a very interesting argument. he says...
i know how it feels to like someone
i know how it feels to really really like someone
i even know how it feels to hate someone
but, how does it feel to love somone?
it's something that people like shakespeare created in his stories and poems.
despite being an eternal optimist, i couldn't help but agree with him. maybe one hopes that they know what it is to love someone. maybe it's something that slaps you in the face. or, it might be something that creeps up on you. i know that i feel love and i don't know if i can explain it. i just know i feel it. well, i hope that i do because i don't think i could really be myself, without feeling love for my life and my surroundings in which i am more than thankful for.

one last thing, to my partner in crime... happy belated (yesterday) 31st birthday betty!! miss you tons!