the legendary totoro at nikkei matsuri

after the 415k in san francisco, i made it to see kelly's girls dance at the nikkei matsuri festival in japantown. and as we were walking along the street, what do i see? totoro, the mythical creature from my neighbor totoro. after seeing the movie ages ago, i've been collecting totoro stuffed animals and in whatever else forms i can find him in. there is something so special about this gentle spirit that draws people to him and adores him. you could see the excitement in my face next to him. this, after running a 5k with the best time yet.

415k - my best time!

last week, i ran the across the bay 415k run. a bunch of us ladies signed up but it ended up just being me and laurie. i barely had any sleep the night before but got up early enough to get to the city and park by 7am. while most of the runners did the 12k, there was still a good amount doing the 5k with us. the run started with a steep hill which i ran up. looking back, i probably should have walked up that hill. the good thing about ending with the hill was going down and pushing me to speed up. so much that i finished 1st in my age group!

before the hill, i was huffing and puffing. i was tempted to stop and almost did. at one point, i felt really nauseous. then came the downhill. and at the end, what really helped with this kid (a boy about 12 or so) who just raced by me with nearly no effort. he literally had no fat on him, just skin and bones. i tried my hardest to beat him but alas, he got the best of me. as a result, i got #1!

oprah!

one of the perks of my work place was this. i finally got to see oprah winfrey live. after watching her for years on tv and figuring out how to get on her show in chicago, i finally got to see her. all i did was enter my name on a website and i got a ticket! even though this lecture was for students and geared towards students, it was such an amazing experience and i feel so fortunate to have been there.

the thing about oprah is that she is so personable. it feels relatable as if she is your friend and that's probably a big problem for her. after she finished speaking, about 20 people rushed the stage towards her. you could see the panic and fear in her face. i was a little scared for her and luckily, her body guard(s) whisked her away to safety. but you know, i never thought that i would get to see her in my lifetime. check!

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

no one is lost

venue: the fillmore
band: stars with leisure cruise
when: 5 march 2015 (thursday)
doors open at 7p

my 12th stars show (one where they opened for broken social scene) and the 3rd show with joe. corrie and arlo met us there. it was their first stars show. and i'm told, stars is arlo's new fav band! yay! i do love to spread the love of stars. they are so good and versatile that it is so easy to love them.

this new album is much different from the last two but i enjoy it very much. there's a song i absolutely love on this album. it's called look away and it reminds me very much of the beautiful south especially with both amy and torquil singing as they do on many of their songs. arlo mentioned that it reminded him of the housemartins who basically became the beautiful south. afterwards, joe and i hit tommy's joynt for our usual after concert snack. they don't do the combo pastrami and corned beef anymore. :(

i didn't know that the show was sold out but turns out, there was a fillmore poster for the show and i'm told they only make posters for sold out shows. this made my collection complete. yay!

the setlist:
1. from the night
2. ageless beauty
3. we don’t want your body
4. backlines
5. you keep coming up
6. a song is a weapon
7. this is the last time
8. hold on when you get love and let go when you give it
9. look away
10. dead hearts
11. trap door
12. one more night (your ex-lover remains dead)
13. elevator love letter
14. take me to the riot
15. your ex-lover is dead
16. no one is lost
encore: are you ok? & nothing i can do

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ turn it up!

408k "race to the row" in san jose

last sunday, i did my very first 8k (about 5 miles). i try to walk 10 miles/day but hadn't gone running in a while so i was a bit nervous about running from downtown (it started at the sap center) to santana row. but i surprised myself. i ran the entire run with kelly. we did really well!

they split it up and gave different names to two of the miles. the first was the memorial mile in honor of those who served our country. apparently, they bused veterans in uniform in and set them up along this mile. we tried to high-five all of them. it was pretty cool. after this mile, we ran the mariachi mile. they had a few mariachi bands throughout this mile. both of kelly's daughters ran their age group runs, so we all got medals. our celebratory meal was at yard house. it hit the spot!
the picture is me crossing the finish line. pretty cool, huh?

thao (solo)

venue: swedish american hall (upstairs from café du nord)
artist: thao (solo), the myanbirds and two other openings (sold out!) @noise pop
when: 23 february 2015 (tuesday)
doors open at 7:30p

last month, i saw thao nguyen perform live for the 6th time. we started off with dinner at l'ardoise and it was just as i remembered the last time i was there. while the first two openers were not very good. the third opening band, the myanbirds which was really just laura bernhenn, was pretty surprisingly fantastic. she did the whole looping thing with her vocals and all the different sounds she played on her keyboards. i was very impressed. i wouldn't mind seeing her on her own.

it is still amazing to watch thao. she's also got a witty and awesome personality. and even though there were three openers and it wasn't over until after midnight on a work day, it was worth not getting enough sleep over.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

finally... my dream closet

* back-dating *

clockwise from top left: before, elfa components, empty closet, and finally, full dream closet. these were taken about a week apart. it took some time before i got all the shoe drawers i needed to complete the closet. of course not all the shoes fit in the closet but it was fine for me. after this was finished, i just left the doors open so i could enjoy my new closet that i don't have to share with anyone else. ♥

mission peak x2

on new year's eve last year, someone (i can't remember who) decided it was would be a great idea to climb mission peak in the middle of the day. i'd never climbed mission peak so i had no idea what i was in for. and boy, was i out of shape. it was me, my sis, our friends from zurich, and our friend's 10 y/o niece. hey, if she was up for it, why wasn't i? if you've never been up there, know that it is very difficult. it is basically all up hill with very few non-climbing breaks in between. it actually says that it's challenging at the front gate. and if you go too late and return after the sun sets, apparently you'll come down to the police waiting to cite you. it's quite dangerous to be up there in the dark.

we lucked out and it was slightly over casted so the sun wasn't burning down on us. unlucky for us, it was quite windy. it was actually almost the perfect weather for that hike. it took a while but we made it up there. it was so windy that i lost my fitbit getting to the top. on the way down, we were almost swept away by a small twister. and i'd never been so close to cows before on that hike. luckily, i asked fitbit to replace my tracker and they did! i received it in time for my hot chocolate race.

the second time i went up mission peak was the day before our friend, thao, was going to back to zurich. nearly a month later. my sister didn't get back to us so this time, it was me, thao, and her sis. and we decided to go when it opened at 6:30a. believe it or not, it was packed on this sunday morning. everyone and their mothers were there, really. on the way to the top, the sun started to rise. it was a beautiful sight. the image of the clouds are 3 different photos that google photos stitched together automatically. on the way down, the sun was beating down behind us. and there were crowds of people wishing they were heading back down like us. with the exception of the crowds, we had a great hike.

chef's menu at rich table

*** more back-dating! ***

rich table is in hayes valley in sf. my best foodie friend and some friends of ours wanted to try it. we got there and got rockstar parking right in front. it was amazing! bites at rich table (from left to right, top to bottom): oysters, kale & beet chips, sardine chips w/ horseradish creme fraiche, beet marshmallows, dried porcini doughnuts & raclette, bone marrow madeleines, dirty hippie (savory panna cotta), something with escarole & burrata, and kampachi. highlights were the oysters, beet marshmallows, dried porcini doughnuts, and the dirty hippie. the dirty hippie was particularly good. it had different textures and flavors that were very complimentary. it was like a party in my mouth. plates (from left to right, etc): white bean curry poppadom, fois gras w/ pomegranates, king salmon collar w/ pomegranates, chitarra w/ dungeness crab, beets & octopus pasta, and new york steak w/ fried shallots. everything was pretty delicious in this category. the highlight might have to be the foie gras since we have been deprived of it here in california until recently.

and finally desserts: chocolate mint mousse with cookie layers, some lemony goodness, and chocolate bon bons. i think these speak for themselves, don't you?

running 5ks

in 2013, i did my first 5k with my bff. it was the turkey trot in downtown san jose. i was completely out of shape but persevered and walked/ran the 5k. after that in may last year, i ran for the mermaid 5k with my dear friend kelly.

in the same month, i ran the girls on the run 5k with kelly and her daughter again. we signed up for the ridiculous obstacle challenge 5k in august with a group of friends. the obstacles were based on the ones in the show wipe out. after the race, we went to a celebratory dinner with margaritas. in november before my 40th, we ran the inaugural 49ers rush 4.9k at the levi stadium. this was an exciting run because kelly was able to run the entire run all the way through. i actually walked the 5 miles from my place to the stadium, ran 3 miles, and walked back another 5 miles. i was a bit broken after that. and finished 2014 with the 10th anniversary of the turkey trot again with the bff.

2015 started with the hot chocolate 5k in san francisco running through golden gate park. after two weeks off of work and not being very active, i was concerned on how i would do. it wasn't so bad. i could run the slight inclines just fine. this run had the best swag.

we got a fleece jacket, a free hat (see picture), and some hot chocolate with fondue at the end! and went to the cliff house as our celebratory meal complete with a delicious bloody mary. next year, maybe we'll run the 15k. the next run will be our very first 8k! wish me luck!

jimmy's back

these are "kelsey" 4' heels by jimmy choo. they are glitter-coated leather straps climb a scintillating sandal perched on a slender mirrored heel. happy 40th to me!

congrats to brad & marie!

*** back-dating again! ***

yesterday, joe and i drove up to san rafael to see our old college friend, brad, marry his sweetheart marie. brad met marie in san francisco which she was here attending a program. i think that's how the story goes. when marie finished, she moved back to paris so brad followed her there. and after being together for 10 years, they came back here to get hitched. it was such a lovely and elegant summer wedding. the wedding took place at the falkirk cultural center in san rafael. it was so nice to see brad again. he looked the same!

i am planning to go to paris next summer for my 40th birthday so i asked brad if i could look him up when i am there. he said sure and hopefully i make it!

the speeches were all so tender and moving. there was a friend of theirs that translated all the speeches in french, and she did a wonderful job as it made me tear up the same (if not more) than the speeches made in english. it turns out that brad's mother is british and came here to marry his father, who is american. so when he decided to move to paris for love, they were all for it.

4th of july at the white house… no, really

when my lovely friend ying asked me if i wanted to spend the 4th of july at the white house, i said, why yes, i would. this, the day after purchasing a patio set for my balcony to watch the fireworks at the park across the street from my condo. while i really wanted to spend the 4th with my new neighbors at this bbq potluck, i had to break the news to them and let them down easy. needless to say, they were understanding.

the journey there was not as smooth as one would hope (my connecting flight to dc from dallas was canceled due to the tropical storms so i was stuck in dallas for a night), but it was all worth it. and yes, i did see the president! granted it was from a distance while waiting for popcorn without my camera or phone, it happened in a split second (okay, a little bit longer than that). i could see him wearing white and waving at us. it was quite exciting. the celebration was a lot of fun and i think we all felt very patriotic.

there was beer, wine, ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, and of course, commemorative cups! that was the best part. we got one of each color (blue & red) but i could see others totally hoarding them. i think i saw 20 cups at one table! as a government employee, she could only bring 2 guests and her office wasn't invited last year so chances are, she won't be invited next year. the security wasn't bad considering the scope of the event. even the transportation home wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. we took the metro and didn't make it into the first train but with some forcing and squeezing our way in like sardines, we made it into the second train. after a few stops, the train emptied out.

the next day, we headed into dc to have brunch with my friend stephanie and see her two babies. i think the last time i saw her was at her wedding back in 2008! i hadn't realized it was 6 years ago that i was last there. i used to visit more often.

anyway, there was the annual folklife festival that weekend. it was actually the last weekend for the festival so i lucked out. they highlighted two countries, kenya and china. showcased at the festival were food, culture, and their respective performance arts. there was a stage in a tent for each country with singing and dancing. it was fun and educational!

when asked what i wanted to do on my last day there, i looked up "things to do in manassas." and what was the #1 thing to do? the battlefield of manassas. why yes, please. it was fantastic! out here in california, we have missions to visit. on the east coast, they have battlefields! apparently, there were two battles at manassas. the history there is amazing yet unimaginable.

i had so much fun! and i hope to be back soon!

new order again!

venue: bill graham civic auditorium (sold out!)
band: new order & la roux (opening)
when: 11 july 2014 (friday)
doors open at 7p

for some reason, i keep thinking that i've only seen new order 3 times before this show but it was actually 4. i kept forgetting about the area one festival where they headlined. in any case, this is new order #5. this year, i went with 3 first-timers and that was very exciting for all. i snagged pre-sale tickets this year so we had lower balcony seats (section 213). the capacity of this venue is 7000 which is more than double the size of the fox theater in oakland (venue of the last show). it was a crazy sea of people below. and we received a surprise second encore which they never ever do. when i first saw them, they didn't even do an encore. we waited but nothing. ages ago, i'd read that they didn't play encores because it's not technically part of the show. but in recent years, they've become more and more generous with their time. despite not having played any songs off of technique, it was another amazing show. especially with tommy's joynt for snacks afterwards! yum!

here is the setlist from the show:
1. elegia
2. crystal
3. regret
4. singularity (new song!)
5. ceremony
6. age of consent
7. your silent face
8. california grass
9. bizarre love triangle
10. 5 8 6
11. plastic (another new song!)
12. true faith
13. the perfect kiss
14. blue monday
15. temptation
encore: atmosphere & love will tear us apart (both joy division)
surprise encore #2: san francisco (be sure to wear flowers in your hair)

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ another fine time.

this feeling's called glorious

and i don't need you or anyone
oh this feeling is glorious

i've got hope and hate
and i'm feeling kind of great
kind of great

lyrics from glorious by adorable.

love

look what i got in the mail the other day! for those who don't know, broken heart surgery is a new album in collaboration with adorable's pete fij and house of love's terry bickers. it is not released until july 7th but i have connections. :)

if you look closely at the image, my name is listed on the booklet 7 lines down. and one more thing, i am in love with this album. and you will be too because it's brilliant.

mermaid run & mother's day brunch

on saturday, kelly and i did our first 5k together. it was her first 5k, my second (having done the turkey trot last thanksgiving). her girls run the little mermaid run which we also did after our 5k. it was 1.5 miles. though it was very hot and dusty there, it was a lot of fun spending time with kelly and her lovely family. so much fun that i spent the next morning with them for mother's day sunday brunch before heading over to my parents' house and celebrating mother's day with my mom.

kelly and i have known one another since the 6th grade (that's 1986) and have been friends ever since. we got closer when we went to uc san diego together and have been inseparable since i moved back to the bay area in 2001. despite having moved down to LA, i still saw her regularly because of a long distance relationship i had with a boyfriend there.

luckily, she eventually moved back up here. and now, i live less than 15 minutes away from her. our friendship has always been very special to me and i am so grateful for her and her family.

and these girls who i absolutely adore, it's been wonderful to watch them grow.

technopop

venue: fox theater (sold out!)
band: kraftwerk
when: 24 march 2014 (monday)

last week, i went to my very first 3D concert at the fox theater. i wasn't sure what to expect when i was handed this red envelop with 3D glasses. it was innovative and surprisingly amazing. i couldn't take my eyes away from the show. even though their music reminds me of music from 80s video games, it was very advanced at the time as it is still super cool. the german quartet stood at consoles on stage, in matching outfits. but what you see beyond that in 3D, was really fantastic. all of which was choreographed with the music perfectly.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

glasvegas @ popscene

venue: rickshaw stop (popscene)
artist: glasvegas
when: 6 march 2014 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

yes, that's right. it says popscene up there. yes, it's been ages since i was there last. i don't even remember the last time i went dancing there. i certainly have yet to go to popscene while it's been at the rickshaw stop. the last time i went, it was still at 330 ritch. and i thought i was done.

but popscene is like an old friend who hasn't changed very much. even though the venue has changed and is better like a facelift sometimes is, it felt familiar and almost comforting. they still play the same music there, though much of it is new. i think the djs are the same. hard to believe i've been coming to popscene since i was 18.

unfortunately, glasvegas didn't come on until 11:30p. my friend had to leave at midnight and i wasn't sure i should stay much longer than that either. so what we saw and heard from them, we really enjoyed. the first thing that caught our attention about them is that the drummer is this badass woman. she not only rocked the drums while standing but she rocked the flock of seagulls 80's do too. we were very impressed by her.

they played a lot of songs from their latest album which i picked up on vinyl. very exciting. what else we noticed about this band was their front man, james allan. especially when he took off his jacket to reveal a shirt that was open at the sides and really nice arms to go with it. i don't remember him being especially sexy in their youtube videos. but from the second floor in the dark at the rickshaw stop, he was looking pretty hot. my friend concurred.

despite not really being able to understand most of it, i love love the scottish accent. that was a nice treat for me.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥