babychillax

2011-03-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

As some of you may know.. I had to make an emergency trip to Vietnam for my sister's funeral thing.
The last minute ticket plus visa cost me $1350 total. Everything was pretty last minute.. The week before I was busy with exams so I couldn't pack.
When Friday came around.. I had the stomach flu and was going through a fever as I mentioned in the previous entry.

Traveling with a stomach flu

It was such a BAD idea. I felt miserable. The whole weekend I kept having watery diarrhea.. I would say more than 20 times. I had to lug myself on Monday morning to the airport and force myself on. The whole ride to Dallas was horrible.. but the flight from Dallas to Tokyo KILLED me. I felt so bad for those traveling on the same plane with me. Let's just say that those who went after me weren't too happy. I went a total of 8 times on the plane and 5 times on land. It was BAD.

FCUK YOU!!

I was sooo scared to eat cuz everytime I ate.. I had to go. But either way.. I went so much.. at one point..
I didn't give a shit anymore (no pun intended). I got angry so I went to TGIF and ordered a steak and ate to my heart's content.
I'm like SCREW YOU DIARRHEA!! I'M GONNA SHIT THIS ALL OUT!!

I was so sad.. on the plane they served me a good 3 course meal but I couldn't enjoy myself..

Yea.. I got real acquainted with the bathroom.. I saw some funny looking ones in Japan too.
You can imagine the look ppl gave me when I pulled out my camera...

A Trip to the Hospital

Once again.. the first day of arriving in Vietnam.. the first thing I did was head to the hospital. My family joked about me being attached to the hospital in Vietnam because the first trip I made to Vietnam when I was 18.. I also had a bad case of food poisoning and went to the hospital too.

The Nurse Screwed Up

So the nurse was trying to find my vein.. but she was having a hard time locating it to infuse me with lactate ringer. First she poked a hole near my wrist area.. couldn't find it.. then she went towards near my upper arm.. she kept poking then finally she gave up and just left it there. She was like "I can't find your vein.. so I'll just leave it there and if anything happens.. just let me know.." I'm like.. wth does she mean by if anything happens?!?

2.5 hours later.. the IV bag wasn't really emptying.. the doctor thought it was strange so he came over to check my arm.. My right arm was SWOLLEN and tight while my left arm was normal. He panicked and stopped the infusion and switched areas.. so I got a third hole on the front side of my palm. The rest of the day.. my right arm looked like Popeyes.. while my left looked normal... I was SO angry!

Got my fortune told

Anyways.. I planned to meet up with Allyson to go to Dong Ky for massage. When she came to my house..
I was in the midst of something.. I felt kinda bad cuz she had to wait for like an hour for Bi to come and meet us up. Just for fun.. I got my fortune told. The guy made me pick a leaf from a plant and then he analyzed it.

Told me that in two years.. there's gonna be dramatic changes in my life. He said that everything will go pretty smoothly in everything I do.. the only problem is.. I need to grow some backbone and have more confidence in myself.

As for love life.. he said there are currently three guys who cares about me.. Two of them are nice and one of them is mean.. he said I shouldn't think too much.. just focus and know.. I need only one person.. Just focus on that one person because he will be my future husband. He said that in two years.. I will get married.. I'm like wth? That soon?!

He also said that in books and business planning and such.. I can critically think.. but when it comes to street smart and social life.. I'm pretty slow. HAHA greaaaat.

Nuong's Quang Nhau

This time around.. Minh and Nuong introduced me to a lot of their friends. I met a couple who ended up going clubbing with us a couple of times. I also met this really cute girl named Mi who was dating a Taeyang look alike with some FUNKY mohawk. He had balls. As for the rest.. I can't remember their names..

An Dong

I've never liked Che Ba Mau.. for the first time though.. I thought it was pretty good.

I stuck with fresh coconut juice and water bottles throughout..

You have NO IDEA how hard it was for me to find Tra Thai.. I tried to order it and the guy gave me Che Thai.
He never heard of Tra Thai.. I couldn't find it ANYWHERE..

Kem Bach Dang

I was craving for something like Sao.. nice cafe place with pretty ambient and ice cream!
Kem Bach Dang wasn't as pretty.. but the ice cream was REALLY good.

My mom's and Chu Dung's ice cream plate..

Mine.. tasted sooo yummy.

Walking to Cho Ben Thanh Night Shopping

I have to say.. I SUCK at bargaining. My mom's bf had to bargain for me. I did buy a lot of stuff..
but somehow if I did my own shopping.. I always get ripped off.
They can always tell that I'm an American with my bad Vietnamese pronunciation.

Seafood galore!

God.. I'm craving for the coconut snails.. :(

Mussels and Clams!

Sky Bar 3

Friday night went clubbing with Minh and his friends.. they played all house music but I liked it. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
There were some really decked out pretty girls.. I couldn't help but checked them out. They were all getting freaky deaky on the dance floor.
Couldn't take pictures cuz it's not allowed.. so I tried sneaky some of my friends.

Minh tried to give me E to try.. I'm like heeeeeeell freaking no... He was pretty persistent too.

Vincom Shopping Center

Trang took me to an EXPENSIVE shopping mall for Vietnam. They had LV.. Burberry stores.. Gucci..
I have no idea if she thought I was loaded or not being from America.. but boy I had to tell the girl to switch places cuz I couldn't buy anything there haha :(

God the food was sooooo good. I had rotisserie chicken and it tasted YUMMY.

Clubbing @Lavish

After getting our facials, nails and hair done.. we met up with Luan at Cho Ben Thanh to eat Bun Bo Hue. It was my first time hanging out with C's little brother by ourselves.. I thought it would have been awkward.. but it wasn't awkward at all.

I think he was pretty glad to have a familiar face around since he's been in Vietnam for a month already. He's currently studying abroad for a semester in Vietnam and Cambodia.. so C told me to meet up with him and keep him company. I felt sorry for the poor kid cuz we were SO LATE and he waited for us for 3 hours hungry.

So I told Trang to find us a place that played hip hop music. It was so hard since every club played house music.
She finally asked a friend who recommended Lavish for us.

Our plate of fruits and hookah..

At first I wasn't feeling the place cuz it was not as crowded as I would have liked it to be.. but later more ppl started coming.. and the place was banging..

I actually had A LOT of fun.. Hip hop was much easier to dance to and Trang enjoyed herself.

Luan also invited his white friend who was studying abroad as well named Alex.

Giang and I

Lots of peace sign going around here..

Cheers!

Trang and Mai KA

People getting rowdy...

Luan and Trang trying to down the bottle..

YUCK!

Trang's taking it slow HAHA

I was feeling pretty good myself.. I don't know if it's the environment or the people.. or the music.. but I was so happy it made me drink A LOT.

STEPHANE - FRENCH BOY

So I saw this cute tall french guy standing at the table next to us.. the whole time we kept eyeing each other.. finally I raised my glass to cheers to him and he leaned over and cheered me. Later he pulled me over and he said.. "Anh muon noi em dep qua." I was like umm.. his accent is weird.. I was like Do you speak English? And he was like oh you can speak English? I'm like yes.. I'm from US.. and he's like oh I'm from France..

Then he gave me his business card and kept saying he wanted to see me again.. I'm like we'll see..

The whole time we kept eyeing each other.. I was trying to move between two tables trying to entertain my friends and talking to him. Finally at one point.. my cousin pulled me away from him because she said Luan was right there and that I dated C.. it would be awkward for him since he didn't know we broke up yet. I was like awww party pooper. :( I could have had a french boy. huuhuhuu

Later for Luan's sake.. I took up the business card.. ripped it to pieces and threw it into the air..

Hookah

I didn't want to try it at first.. but Luan kept edging me on.. he's like try it try it.. I'm like is it bad for you? And he's like nooo.. not like cigarettes.. so I'm like fine.. I'm tried it.. and boy.. I kept smoking it the WHOLE night.. choked on the smoke a couple of times though.

Later Nuong closed her quang nhau and met up with us.
She was actually gonna stay home until we told her to come cuz there's a white boy here.. so she flew over FAST HAHA

Who knew she liked vanilla...

Trang and I had to take a couple of shots before we got a photo of us actually blowing the smoke out at the same time.. I couldn't blow out a long hard one though.. newbie

Drunken Americans

While getting out of the club.. we saw a whole gang of Viet American drunk guys running out of the club about to fight.. As we got into the taxi.. one of the drunk guys started cussing at Mai Ka.. when I walked around to get into the taxi.. the guy turned to me and was like "WTF you staring at bitch? You wanna fight? Come out here and suck my dick bitch! What chu staring at?!" I was so scared cuz he was banging on our door and cussing in English. I guess he didn't know I could understand. We tried to tell the taxi to move on but he didn't wanna run the guy over.. after like 5 minutes.. we finally broke free.. Thank God!

Tan Hai Van

After clubbing.. we all decided to head out for a midnight meal. Had to troop to 5 different places cuz they were closed and Trang's husband was looking for her. He was cussing at her and telling her to come home. Finally we ended up at Tan Hai Van where Luan met us and went upstairs to hide.

Had the whole second floor to ourselves and told the waiters not to let anyone upstairs in case Trang's husband was looking for her.

Luan and Trang drinking soy sauce..

Sunday Night

Clubbing at Oscar

The next night.. once again we went to get our hair and make up done. Couldn't go eat sushi with Luan as planned so we went clubbing instead.

Trang's husband's sister in law Hang was there.. she's from Seattle so she was pretty glad to have an English speaking person there haha.

Mai Ka's little sister Tien also met up with us.

Bi and I.. should have came the night before.. it was more fun.

I thought it was pretty amusing that every time we had to go to the bathroom.. there was a line of security guys to escort us there. I felt like the president :)

Heading to a different club

We weren't really feeling the music at the place.. so decided to go to a different one.
Trang said that they had a free bottle at this other club because the manager knows her and her husband since they used to always go clubbing.

The place was pretty much empty that night.. I couldn't tell if it's because it was a Sunday night or if it's because it was dying out.
But on a good note.. we got foood. I ate like there was no tomorrow. The manager was pretty nice and kept us entertained.

Trang and her husband.. he was getting REALLY tipsy.

I have NO IDEA why we were holding fries...

Getting rowdy on the dance floor.

Mai Ka's little sister Tien

Her outfit reminded me of a pilot.. pretty cute.

Ummm.. yea.. I have no idea what pose we were trying to do.. apparently.. I have a XO bottle dick?

Where art thou, iphone?

We were pretty much the last to leave. When we all got up.. I realized that my phone was missing. We all started looking around.. after like 15 minutes.. the DJ turned off the music and Minh called my cell.. but the bad thing was.. I had it on vibrate. I knew it must be somewhere in the club because I just used it like 15 minutes ago to call a friend. There was no way I could have dropped it. Trang said that she thinks one of the waiters took it when we weren't looking. But the manager denied it and no one fessed up. I was so angry and sad. We kept looking and looking until I finally gave up. Damn bastard who stole my phone.. ruined the whole night for me.

I was feeling pretty blue about losing my mom's iphone so my cousin took me out for a late night snack and drinking after. Her husband knocked out at the table while we ate. I couldn't enjoy myself cuz I was so angry.

BTW.. the bathroom was HORRIBLE.. It's one of those potty holes where you had to squat and pee.
God the stench was.. BARF. Ok.. don't wanna think about it.

After the midnight snack.. we all headed over to Trang's house to sleep. I was too scared to go back home.
Nuong and Trang drank till 9am the next morning. I fell asleep after an hour but woke up again at 6am cuz Trang was making weird farting noises.
I guess she was feeling PRETTY TIPSY. They were both slapping each others faces for fun. I'm like wth??

I woke up and chit chat with the girls a bit.. about love.. life.. etc.. Then we all went to bed at 9am.

I woke up at 12pm and got ready to go over to my grandma's house to get some beating. Boy.. it was bad.
My mom.. my grandma.. and my aunts all gathered and yelled at me for losing the phone. I was in big trouble.

Windows Cafe 4

Around 3pm.. I called up Luan and we all met up at Windows Cafe. This place reminded me of Sao.. I liked it.. Nice ambiance and setting.

I ordered the Windows Ice Cream Specialty.. it was YUMMY. My favorite flavor was bach ha.. don't know what that is in English.. tasted good with the bread.
I thought it was pretty amusing how they had Japan's flag on it.

Fancy Karaoke

After Windows Cafe.. I parted with Luan and we all went to some fancy karaoke place. The place was all decked out with glitters and glam. Each private room had a theme.. and we got to pick which one we liked. We wanted the Egyptian or the roman one but it was booked in advance. We ended up going to the casino one and switched midway.

Settling into our room. My cousin and I were doing some crazy dances.. the waiter thought we were weird..

Ordered some beef.. egg rolls and smoothies.. I didn't know that they charged for the peanuts and pistachios.. They just left it there and I started eating.. later my cousin told me they charge extra for those.. so we dumped the shells behind the sofa and made it look like it was untouched. LOL Bad girl!

Chow down! I ate SO much in VN it's not even funny. I ate till my stomach wanted to bust. Now that I'm back here in America..
I miss the food there so much. I ate out everyday and it was so cheap!

One More Try

Before we left.. the last song I sang was One More Try by Timmy T. When I came out to go to the bathroom.. one of the waiters asked me how come I've been singing in English. I said I was from the USA and that I was going back home that night.. and he was like ohhh.. wow.. and you're not at home packing?

Minh and I joked about when's the next time I'm coming back.
Told him that in two years when I graduate.. I'll come back and marry him LOL

Egg roll stuffed with fruits.. REALLY CREAMY.

Randomly took pictures with our waiter.. he could totally tell I'm not from around there...

At 8:30pm.. we headed back to my grandma house. Sat around outside Nuong's mini bar before we headed to the airport. Said my good byes and Minh bought me two milk teas.. been craving for it. I left at the same time as my aunt and we were both stopping in Japan for 8 hours.. but since she was Continental and I was American Airlines.. we couldn't travel together.

Shopping Frenzy in Japan

Waiting around Japan for 8 hours drove me crazy.. To kill time.. I went and exchange to Japanese yen and went gift shopping for my friends back in the US. Walk around for around comparing all the sweets they had. I couldn't pick! So I chose the ones with the pretty packaging or best sellers and also grabbed a couple of Japanese magazines. Those are expensive here in America.

The ride back home wasn't as bad. It felt pretty fast actually.. I don't know if it's because they had movies for me to watch or if its because I no longer had diarrhea. Either way.. I enjoyed myself. Only bad part was that my seat was next to the bathroom.. so I wake up to every flushing sound. I guess that's what I get for torturing them last time with my constant diarrhea.

C came to pick me up around 10pm and by then I was pooped tired. I miss Vietnam already.. especially the food. Maybe I'll go back this summer.. MAYBE.

2011-02-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not necessarily afraid of being alone..

You know what's worse than being alone?

The pain lies not in actually being alone.. the worst feeling is being with someone..
yet you still feel alone. I can't live like that. So what did I do.. I ended things right before Valentines Day.

Indeed it was hard.. but I couldn't be in a relationship that doesn't communicate. I couldn't be with someone who doesn't know what he wants.. someone who wasn't 100% sure that he wanted to be with me. I deserve better than that.

Many asked.. why did I ended it before Vday? Couldn't I wait till after Valentine's Day so that I wouldn't have to be alone? Maybe get a free meal?

I did it for myself.. It was a test for me.. to prove to myself that I'm not afraid of being alone. Many would sell themselves short because they wanna wait till after the holidays.. or their birthdays.. there's always a reason. I wanted to be stronger than that.. I don't need him.

You know what sucks though?

I worked so hard to plan Vday for him. I didn't know how to cook.. but I went on Youtube and searched for recipes.. been practicing a couple of days before Vday to get it perfect since I didn't want to kill him. Went out and bought candles and flowers.. set up the table all nice.. it was all for nothing.

Never in my life had I actually cooked a full meal all by myself for any guy.. especially a romantic one at it. It really SUCKED.

Great Expectations

Valentine's Day came.. it was hard. I had a reflective moment.

This seemed all too familiar.. then I remembered that scene of the old lady in Great Expectations sitting and waiting for her groom to come.. who never came.. all of the cakes.. decor.. and wedding was laid out to rotten over the years.. I felt her pain. Every time I walked out to my dining table.. the name plates killed me. My hard work.. staring right back at me. I didn't want to put it away.. but seeing it every morning was a sore eye.. even now.. I still haven't put it away...

Well part of me is no longer hopeful.. I leave it there to serve as a reminder of why I had ended things.
Let it be a sore eye.. face it head on and eventually.. that scar with numb and heal itself.

Good thing that day my good friend came over to keep me company. So all of the food didn't go to waste. I had to throw out the mash potatoes, crab meat and tomatoes though. I cooked Cripsy Salmon with roasted tomatoes and then served chocolate molten lava cake with ice cream and raspberry. Hopefully my friend enjoyed it.

It wasn't so bad. Deep down inside.. I knew he missed out.. and indeed he did. The next couple of days.. he kept calling me.. asking me to go eat and stuff.. at that point.. my feeling was numbed.. I no longer cared. Guys are so stupid.. why do you wait so late to realize things and then regret. Don't you understand that once you kill a girl's feelings.. she can never turn back?

You know.. I've never asked him for flowers.. gifts and chocolates.. what I wanted most was to have a romantic dinner and spend quality time with him.. which we rarely get. I wanted him to come home to a nice home cooked meal.. and give him the warm feeling of family.

So many people get caught up with the gifts and show.. they missed the meaning of Vday. For me.. I couldn't even get the simple task of spending it with the person I love.

One of the best Valentine's Day I could remember was last year. I got to spend it with the person I love.. I remembered him pulling out a bag from behind the car seat and it had a box of Godiva chocolates and a card. The card was one of the best present ever. I read it over so many times and ran my fingers across the words.. embedding it into my head. I never asked anything from him.. but he did it anyways.. it made it that much better. Honestly.. I didn't need anything because deep down inside.. I knew that he truly loved me and nothing could be better than that. I appreciated everything about him and everything he had given me..

Some of my best memories ever.

2011-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Come Undone

When I wanted to walk away with dignity.. you come barging into my life and disturbed my peace. You spit back the respect I had always given you and robbed me of my dignity. And when I'm at my lowest of the low.. with no one to talk to or anywhere to turn.. I begged for your help.. a word of comfort to ease my soul. Yet, never once could you ever really be there for me when I needed you most. Only at your own time or will. You damaged a girl inside and out.. walk away with no consequences only because you didn't want to lose a few hours of sleep. One day you will kill a person without even knowing it.. Only then I pray you could live with yourself.

2011-02-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

NAAP 10-Year Anniversary
On Jan 23rd I got invited to an Arabic Gala at Vlora on Newbury Street. Totally not Arabic but I decided to go and check it out.
Student tickets were $45 per person.. and we had a three course meal.. with a cake for dessert.

I gotta admit.. I felt a bit out of place being the only non-speaking arabic person there..
but I totally loved the decor and atmosphere.

Menu: 1. Tasting Platter: Arancini Sicillani, Watermelon Feta, Pan Roasted Zucchini with Garlic Yogurt
2. Mediterranean Chicken Kebab

Totally fell in love with this wall mural :)

The night started off with an ice breaker.. then onto mini speeches and dinner.. then we stopped midway for games & prizes
and finally the cake cutting and good old Arabic dancing.

Overall I had a really good unexpected evening and that night I ended up on XZ listening to Arabic love songs. LOL
Sorry if I tortured anyone that day -_-

Puerto Rican Girl in Town

Julie decided to come visit Boston from Springfield.. so we had a girls night out in Boston..

First night we went to chill at some bar.. I only stopped by to say hi for a bit.
The next day.. we all went out to Royale.. again.. I'm seriously getting tired of that place.

Got to meet two of Sharon's girlfriends.. they were pretty chill and cool.
I had a blast watching Sharon and Julie get their mack on :) Tee hee..

Anyways.. this past month.. we've had a total of how many snow storm already.. 4.. 5? Hey I'm not complaining (only becuz I'm not the one shoveling).. but hey I get snow days! YAy for me! :) Keep coming snow storms! I should invest in snow boots.. ear muffs and a thick jacket.. been sick lately and it's not helping that my coughs keep me up at night..

Vietnamese New Years... The Year of the Cat

So mom said that according to some newspaper.. this year is supposed to be my lucky year.. Can't wait.. come come come already!
Shit.. time to go clean the room before New Years come! Yikes!

2011-01-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hanh's First Visit to NYC

So I promised my baby cousin I'd take her out to NYC to celebrate her 21st bday when she comes to visit Boston.. so after a week in Beantown.. we hit up NYC from Thursday to Saturday...

Mad for Chicken

Hmmm.. my first Bon Chon? Is that what it's called?

Thanks PJ for letting us stay over.. you were a BIG help!

Ms. Train G - Nigguhwynn

Someone got thirsty... like really thirsty...

Third Floor Cafe - Thirsty Thursdays

Hanh's many escapades...

Circle

I've always wanted to check this place out.. heard it's mad koreans.. wasn't as bomb as it's cracked up to be..
but maybe cuz I went on a thursday.

Too many Jeffs...

I was totally having a blast checking out the guy in the white shirt putting his moves on two girls.. it was HILARIOUS!

The damn girl was soooo tipsy and buzzed.. I had to like support her weight throughout the night

Someone was having fun...

Day 2 Friday - Times Square

We slept the WHOLE morning.. didn't walk out till night time.. Hanh was VERY tired from the night before.. and I only had two hours of sleep..

Haru Hana

Ok.. I just had to say.. there were so many cuties in k-town!! Hanh's eyes were jumping from left to right..
4 of them approached us to get us to check out Eden.. the place was crap -_-

The Birth of Swan

The Pig Got Hungry

Amnesia Hiro.. yes again

After dinner.. Jeff and Susie met up with us in K-Town and the plan was to go to Amnesia.. His other friends later met us there but we couldn't get in due to unfortunate events (sorry guys).. so we ended up going to Hiro (always wanted to hit up this place on a Friday night).. Once again I was disappointed.. but I had fun anyways..

Bumped into one of D's friend J... so hung out with the group for the night..

The Birth of my New Nickname:

1. Got my first nickname by C.. (Grey) Swan or Bird (cuz of my fur jacket)
2. Hanh got her nick as Train G (Trang) Nigguhwynn (Nguyen- even though she's not a Nguyen)

D - Hanh - J - Me

Headed over to J's place for a late night after party...

Saturday Morning

D came to see me at J's place and we went out to eat at some Brunch place.. spent the whole day chilling with him then headed back home around 6pm...
It was definitely an eventful and emotional day.. Let's hope it doesn't happen again...

2010-12-28T12:23:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010

Sorry for the lack of updates. December's been quite hectic this year.. had a lot of visitors from Washington and Texas over.. plus with all the Christmas prep..it's been crazy.
But for the first time in a long time.. I actually felt the Christmas spirit this year.
Feels like I've been celebrating the holiday for the past two weeks with all the shopping for Christmas ornaments and presents.

Our first real Christmas tree in 10 years...

Thanks Chuong for helping me get all the decorations and etc. :)

My Lovelies

Miss them so much! We see each other like what.. once a year? :(

So this year, I've decided to throw a real Christmas dinner (lunch).. you know.. like a real xmas dinner since my mom and I don't really have that much family over here. Thank you for those who came.. I really do appreciate it.. and glad to have spent the holiday in laughter with you guys. You guys brought the warmth of the holiday into Christmas this year :)

Joey: Jeez Ngoc, I just noticed that the past two times I see you.. you're with a new guy.
What do you do.. get a new bf each year or something.. watch next year I come back.. I meet another guy.

-__- Jeez Joey, not like I want to...

Christmas 2010 Video

Special Thanks!

Before the party...

Thanks Anh Chuong for helping me with all the Christmas decorations and present shopping.
It meant a lot to me and my family for spending the holiday with us. Hopefully yours was good too. :)

A Friend from Washington

Kalvin finally came back to Boston to visit. We've known each other since like what? I was 13..
But honestly.. I feel like we haven't really had a good chance to actually spend time with each other one on one. So this time around.. I actually enjoyed it.

First night here, took him out to eat some oysters at Mccormicks with Anh Chuong and his friends.

We ate a WHOLE LOT... LIKE A LOT! Well actually.. I did. lol

Someone's got the asian glow. tee hee

Nikki and I

New York City - Statue of Liberty

Yea the amount of times I've been to NYC.. I actually never been to the Statue of Liberty..
I would definitely say it's a once in a lifetime thing.. never again.

Eating breakfast at the hotel in Cranford, NJ... traffic was a BITCH!

I feel like 60% of our time in NYC we were waiting in line.. in traffic.. at restaurants.. everywhere!

Hiro

Thanks Tony, Tom, and Jeff for taking care of me and my friends.. I really do appreciate it.
I had a blast.. you would know.. right Jeff? LOL

The Bostonians.. with a hint of Washington.. and NYC :)

How come I don't remember this....

Jeez Jeff.. this position is not possible.. I think it's the other way around. LOL

Good times :)

Crepes on Columbus

Walking to Crepes on Columbus.. I saw a really nice church I wanted to go to..
but it looked like a prisoner or insanity ward. Kalvin said maybe I belong there -_-

Waiting in line for like 2 hours.. it was ridiculous.. the food was definitely good though.

Kalvin.. Ron.. Jeff and I share our plates.. The salmon one was yummy.

I think we've come to the consensus that I do go on my phone a lot..

Agree? Agreed.

2010-12-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Beginnings of Dating

The first few months of dating is a bliss.. new passion.. new feelings.. new excitement of getting to know each other.. It's like a honeymoon phase and you don't get tired of each other.. just yet. However, if the cards aren't played right.. you're doomed.

Every little action you take lays out the foundation for the relationship. Some actions will gain you respect while others will earn the.. "Well.. she's easy.. therefore I can do whatever I want" attitude. This is the time when you guys feel each other out (not in the physical way) but to see how compatible you are and which areas need compromising or improvements. Some points need to be discussed and the rules, values or belief needs to be laid out so no one gets hurt. A little bickerment will pop out here and there. Overall, this phase is a test and trusts are being given and earned.

But you know what.. I hate this phase. The labels of boyfriend.. girlfriend.. just dating.. exclusive.. non-exclusive.. etc. I hate it. It's all too vague.. When it comes to rules and respect.. where does the line stop? What are the boundaries? Where does it start.. or continue? So because we're JUST dating.. does that mean I deserve less respect than the the status of a girlfriend? If that's how the dating scene is.. then that really sucks. I don't think you realize that what you do during the dating stage will carry its effects onto the more serious bf/gf stage. Although the status is important in determining if I have rights to certain things.. but the idea of respect will prevail. Just because I'm not a girlfriend doesn't mean you should become all touchy-feely with every girl you meet... in front of me. I have no right to say what you can or can't do.. but I do have the right to make certain impressions about you.

This is how I roll.. if you respect me.. I will respect you. Trust is earned.. not given. What you do during the dating phase will determine how I look at you. What you say, do or value will give me an idea of how you are as a person. When you do something that disrespects me.. I lose a little respect and trust in you. So in the future when you ask me.. "How come you don't trust me?" Well maybe you should do a little self evaluation and then not ask me why. Don't point fingers and blame because really.. my actions towards you will only be the result of how you treat me. I'm a pretty reasonable person.. if I feel that you're the type to know your limit and a person of morals and values.. I will be perfectly fine with you going out and doing your own thing. Have fun while you're at it. But if you make me lose trust in you.. I will be doubtful and question what you're capable of behind my back. I won't be a happy person. Plus, two can play at this game.. only I choose to not fool you. I don't believe in playing games.. cause that will only bring in more games. Also an eye for an eye makes the world blind. However, I do believe in compromise.. working hard for each other.. and respect.. just keep the basic core values and everything else will fall into place.

I really do hate this vague stage.. not knowing where I stand in your life... how you feel or what you want.. it's annoying me. If I don't know my status.. I can't make certain decisions or maybe even judgements. My judgements will always be counteracted by the fact that I'm not your girlfriend yet.. there I have no right.. and therefore you are not wrong.

However.. even if you're not wrong.. I will still have my opinions of you.. and right now.. they're making me lose some respect for you.

2010-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

Kayara's 21st Birthday
Foxwoods Casino

Been waiting for this day since forever -_-

Celebrated my good friend, Kara's 21st Birthday at Foxwoods Casino this past Friday..
Went to Shrine and got our boogey on :)

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!!

2010-11-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thin Line Between "Just Friends" and "More Than Friends"

Ah damn it. I did it again. Just when I started feeling happy and comfortable about having a good friendship with my best guy friend.. he just had to ruin it. Maybe it's my fault for allowing the "harmless jokes" or the occassional comments.. but last night he crossed the "friendship" line.

Lately we've been having late night conversations, while wine drinking and listening to classical music. Last night, I drank so much that I ended up puking and nearly passed out. My friend tried to help me up.. and tucked me into bed. I guess that's the moment when I felt the hesitation in him as he debated on whether or not to lean over and kiss me. I felt him move forward and was about to plant a kiss when I quickly dropped my head to the side, his lips barely grazing the tip of mine. In the midst of drunkeness and stupor.. I felt soooooo awkward, confused and angry.

We've been friends for 3.5 years.. and we're always alone. Never.. had he ever tried to pull a fast one on me. Why now!?

Good thing he didn't pester me.. cause I would hate to ruin the friendship.. while planning to slap him. Anyways.. he was pretty drunk himself.. so hopefully he won't remember that awkward moment. bummed *sighs* I'm doomed.

2010-11-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

Halloween Weekend in NYC

Oct. 29-30, 2010

Ever since last Halloween in NYC, I had so much fun that I told myself I'd come back this year.. Been waiting since forever.. what made me even super excited was that I get to meet Shawn for the first time! Woo hoo!

Friday night, I left Boston at 11pm and arrived in NYC Chinatown at 2:30am. Jeff and Linda came by to pick me up with a couple of their friends and we all went to eat. I was feeling a bit tired that day.. being up since 5am for lab.. so I feel bad for feeling pooped. Anyways.. after food..we headed back to Linda's place to crash. They were nice enough to let me stay. Thanks Linda!

The next day.. I woke up early and got ready to head out to meet Shawn. My battery kept running out so I couldn't call the rest of the gang which made planning even more difficult. I didn't know when Linda was planning to wake up.. or where Shawn would be.. so Jeff and I were pretty confused as to where we would tell everyone to meet up.

Around 3:30pm.. we all headed out to meet Shawn. Went to Di Fara for some NY Pizza.. which Jeff claims to be the best.. I still think pizza tastes like pizza. lol

Dumbo

Afterwards.. we all headed out to Dumbo to chill.. The weather got chilly towards the afternoon.. so what I thought would be a nice day turned out to be freezing cold. Oh well.. at least I numbed myself to prepare myself for that night when I wear my costume.. but maybe I didn't do such a good job.. ended up sick when I got back home to Boston.

Damn wind! COOOOLDDDDD!

Batman and ROBIN!

Jacques Torres Chocolate Galore!!

For all you sweet tooth!

Waiting around in the cold like fools.. or maybe I'm the only fool.. look what I'm wearing.. fashion kills. I deserve to be sick.

I honestly don't remember why we were laughing..
but this is my absolute favorite picture of the group.. totally captured the happy moment.

Love the lighting!

My other favorite picture by Geoff.. totally captured my random moment.

SHAWWWWN!!

My lovable korean kim chi! LOLOL

I think we were trying to figure out what to do next.

Lucky Strike

Around 10pm.. headed out to Lucky Strike. Kinda got confused as to which entrance to enter until Shawn came out to get me. The line wasn't as crazy as last year.. or maybe I came at the right time. Anyways.. the place was much bigger.. although I wouldn't exactly say it's the best spot. Overall.. I got to hang out with Shawn and bumped into a few friends.. so it was all good.

Jeff: What am I?
Me: Ummm... Bp.. (*thinking in my head.. blood pressure?)
Jeff: BP! Oil spill!
Me: OHH.. -_- (I hate school)

Jennnnnayyyy and I

Andrew trying to act all cool with his sunglasses lol

Iron Man!

Honestly.. I don't remember half the people I met.

Poor girl got reaaaaaally drunk later on. Shawn how many drinks did u feed her huh?!

Mad Hatter and Taeyang!

I didn't realized I lost my camera until I was trying to take a picture with Taeyang.. I think I might have lost it for a good hour and started freaking out.. I'm like oh hell no not again! I just got the camera! Lost my other one on my bday this year.. a new camera too.. I can't be that unlucky!

Luckily Shawn helped me get the camera back from this guy who found it on the ground.. WHEW!
I was so happy I could have kissed the guy! No.. not really.. but I was really happy!

Towards the end of the night.. D came in to see Jeff and surprised me when he popped out from behind. I was so happy to see him and gave him the tightest hug. Anyways.. after sharing photos with Jeff.. D drove me over to Japonais to meet up with Jeffrey, Linda and Aaron. Unfortunately Aaron already left. Boo!

Since D didn't have a ticket.. we just walked around outside until Jeff and Linda came out. While waiting.. D took me to some Big Daddy's Diner to eat. Ordered a looooong hot dog and tator tots that we ended up taking to go. Afterwards.. I said bye and hopped into the car with Jeff's friends, Tony and two other guys.. felt like a clown being stuffed in a mini car.. felt so bad for making him bear my weight. lol

The next day.. Jeff and Linda dropped me off in Chinatown to catch the 2pm bus. I was already feeling sad.. didn't wanna leave yet.

Overall I had a good weekend.. got to meet a lot of my friends.. and thank you for those who trooped out to Brooklyn to chill with us (Geoff and Ron). Also thanks Jeff and Linda for housing me... and sorry Aaron for missing out when you left.. next time!

Can't wait till next year!

2010-10-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

This Old House
three years ago...

Tonight, after two weeks of posting on Craigslist, my bed finally got sold. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic right now.. having to say goodbye to my old house this soon. We're currently in the process of moving to a new place. Today, a Vietnamese brother-sis from California, stopped by to pick up the bed. Who would have thought that last night was the last night I'd spent sleeping in it. Didn't really get to say good-bye. Is it even possible for a person to feel this attached to a bed? If I could feel this for an inanimate object.. imagine a person!

Been packing and moving things in bits.. trying to remember to take pictures of everything so I can have memories. One of the toughest things to do is picking what you want to throw out and what to keep. This house holds a lot of memories.. all the parties and random girls' night.. all the laughters and craziness.. It's been with me through thick and thin.. and seen all of my woes and sorrows from my past three ex's. Maybe this is a good time to restart my life over and leave everything behind. That would be hard to do since I'm so damn sentimental.

Anyways, after moving so much.. I made it a habit to document my current feelings to capture the moment. It's pretty interesting to look back and see what your expectations of a place was or how sad you used to feel.

I'm super excited about sleeping in my new bed and apartment. No more sharing with others.. even though I will be surrounded by old people. It's ok... can't always have everything. I'll post pictures of the new place up soon. Ta ta for now!

2010-10-23T12:35:00.001-07:00

Sexin' Up Xanga Zombie

The whole week, the girls and I had planned on going to Rumor this Friday to club. But yesterday, Sharon bailed out so Yi, Jenny and I decided to go bowling. Ania met up with us later and chilled around to say hi. After the arcade, the girls and I went back to my house to chill. Went on XZ since Alex said to keep him company.. so basically he and Lisa witnessed the daily lives of Alexia Pham haha.

Halloween Costume

I remember ever since prom of 2005, I saw this red dress from Cache that I really wanted.. but it was too expensive. So I ended up not buying it. The feathers and sequins on the dress looked really eye catching.. so now I have a thing for feathers. Anyways, for Halloween I always wanted a burlesque feather looking costume.. but buying it online was too expensive. It runs from about $150-$170. That's just the corset and feathers alone.. without the ruffled booty shorts, gloves and stockings.

So I figure.. hmm.. maybe I can make my own.. the tough part would be knowing how to sew it so it can have the nice cascade in the back. The trouble is.. it's gonna be hard to sew while wearing the dress at home. So I decided to ask Jenny to be my mannequin while I pinned and sewed her.. oops.. I meant the dress. Huiyi helped holding the feathers up for me. Anyways.. after poking myself for a couple of hours.. while Jenny bumped and grind on XZ.. I was done!

My Burlesque Costume

Of course this isn't as nice as the ones they sell online from those who actually know how to sew. But I put 3-4 hours of hard work into this! lol. Anyways.. Jenny got all freaky deaky with it on.. started harrassing us girls LOL. Feathers shed all over the place. This morning I woke up finding feathers in my hair. Looks like we had a naughty naughty night. LOL.

Corset $3.99 from Hot Topic, Feather boas from ebay for $25, Shorts (using my own), Gloves + Hat + Stockings from Buy Costumes.com for $23

Anyways.. more pictures of the dress later.. Halloween is just around the corner!

2010-10-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Too Much Love to Give

Sometimes I feel like I have so much love to give.. he's not used to it. Either he doesn't know how to handle it.. or doesn't know what to do with it.

In the beginning, I may be reserved with my feelings and cautious, but I noticed that once you break down my wall.. there's no inhibition. All the affection.. emotions and desires come pouring out in waves like water.. and I simply don't know how to stop it.

I guess what I truly want is a person who leaves behind all the games.. truly understand what soul mate means. What does it mean to love? Unconditional love? A timeless love. I just want to give.. give and give.. but before I can do that.. I need to trust and feel secure. A sense of stability in the relationship.

Unfortunately.. I don't know if I've found that yet.

2010-10-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Columbus Weekend

Right on time for the long weekend.. I got sick and so spent most of my time in bed or at home.. Didn't really feel like partying.. but definitely did plenty of shopping.

On Saturday.. I bumped into Yi and Yuen at South Shore Plaza.. small world.. I don't go there often.. but when I do.. I somehow always manage to bump into ppl I know.

Today I feel SUPER happy cuz I got pretty great deals on my stuff. Finally found a piece for my Halloween costume.. gonna start making it now.. prolli be cheaper than if I bought it.. I'll show you the before and after pictures later.

Anyways.. I've been looking for some black dress pants for interviews and found this one.. fits perfectly.. Original price was $119.. I got it for $5!! Yes! It's FIVE FUDGING DOLLARS!! That's like the price of a friggin Big Mac!

When I got out to the car.. I found a bag with a SNUGGIE blanket.. mom got it for me so I can keep warm while studying at my desk.. Who would've thought I'd own one of these? That's what I get for teasing Nick about it..

Also.. I finally got Nick's care package.. and opened it..
Took me two days.. didn't wanna open it.. I was saving it for later.. but couldn't hold it in any longer.

Here's the video you asked for, Nick.. half of it is in Vietnamese..
so you won't understand except the parts I translated for you.

Thanks, Nick!

P.S. For the rest of you.. I would avoid watching this lame video
unless you wanna see Mum and I laughing our arses off.

2010-10-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Where Dreams Are Made

"In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothing you can’t do, now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York,
New York, New York..."

As I hear those words, my chest tightens to a sense of familiarity.. New York, a place where dreams are made, a city that holds many possibilities..
I can never get sick of New York. The sound of it never fails to make my heart leap.. Inspirations creeping through.. Drawing me in like a magnet..
It's my drug. It's addictive and it's dangerous. I can't get enough of it.

Sometimes I can't tell if it's the city itself that I'm in love with.. or if it's him. Maybe I love the city so much because of the way he makes me feel.
Walking through the streets with him, I savored every minute of it. The lights.. the people.. the whole feel of the city. Like a little kid.. He loved feasting
my eyes with passion and watched as I glow from euphoria. He was my door to New York. My passion. My mentor.

My dreams for New York seemed possible when he's in it. We had plans, many plans.. we were supposed to conquer NYC together. Without him,
tackling New York by myself now doesn't seem as exciting. It pains me to realize this. I had always had this love for New York, but now every time I
hear the name.. it brings pain and aches to my heart. I can only think of what could have been.

I wonder if he feels the same about me. This really sucks.

New York is him. He is my New York.

2010-09-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

How the Vietnamese Roll
Suddenly I've been feeling all Vietnamese lately.

Anyways, this past weekend.. spent some time at a friend's house drinking and eating..
Then popped over to The Estate in Boston to get our freak on. :)

Chuong's House
I honestly hate drinking beer.. but I think ever since Texas.. my alcohol tolerance got better.. and now I prefer beer over hard liquor.. my tastes keep changing.. who knows.. maybe next time it'll be different.

They kept passing the beer around in the circle.. and the rule was.. whoever touches the glass have to drink.. stupidly.. I kept grabbing it to hand it to another person when they couldn't reach.. they tricked me into drinking a couple of times..

Good job, Ngoc..

The Estate
Some Asian chick pissed me off bad!
I was walking pass her when her feet slipped.. hit my leg and made me topple onto her..

So I got up and tried to help her up and check to see if she was ok.. She gave me the dirty look and as I walked away.. was grilling at me like I was the one who made her fall. Shouldn't even have asked if she was ok. hmph!

Thu kept screaming VIP!!
We were up on the stage dancing behind the DJ area..
supposedly they knew the promoters or some crap.

The place was sooo packed and HOTTT!!

Thu was sooooo drunk she nearly knocked me off the stage.. Kept falling onto people.. felt so bad.. I'm pretty sure we stepped on plenty of feet..

I felt pretty bad cuz one of my gf couldn't get in.. after waiting around for like an hour.. she left and went to Gypsy Bar.. funny thing is.. she was the one who asked me to come out...

Next time babe!

Last night.. didn't sleep till 7:30am..
was on XZ watching gay porn with a friend.

2010-09-25T12:40:00.001-07:00

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Ok this is my first vlog ever..
So be patient with me.. still a lot of things I gotta learn..

So I had to miss the Xanga BBQ for a family trip to Texas.
Spent two weeks with the cousins and family for some quality time in Houston/Galveston area.
Had a blast meeting a lot of new different people.

Tried out different places to eat such as Michiru, Sky Bar, Yamato.. ate tons of crawfish and seafood.. Lots of karaokeing and drinking.. Definitely build up my alcohol tolerance.

Oh and I cut my hair!! XD

I miss them so much!

2010-09-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Racing to the Finish Line
Six years to become a drug dealer..

Let's put it this way. Imagine a race with 300 students.. each running, crawling, sprinting and climbing our way to the finish line. We all want to graduate.. anticipating that day we get to hold a diploma in our hands. Sweating, stressing, and dying.. desperately trying to push our way through.. our muscles aching to the very core. There are obstacles.. many obstacles.. loops and such. People are going to play dirty.. trying to pull each other down.

Here I am.. trying to finish this lap.. the second to last lap. In my head, I know if I just make it through this year, there would be only one last lap to go. I'd hit the finish line.

"Just.. try.. to.. make it, Ngoc."

School's been quite stressful lately. It's only been the second week of school, but I feel miserable already. Each day in lab is like a living hell. This year, there's no bullshitting. You really gotta know what you're doing. You're like tested on everything you should know.

Maybe I'm just scared by the labs.. probably after graduation, I'll feel better? The upperclassmen said labs and real outside work is not the same. I don't know.. I just figured that maybe the amount of effort I put into pharmacy.. if I was doing something else.. I'd excel much more. Maybe dental.. it sounds fun right? It's just the drugs man.. they drive me insane.. I'm about to pop those pills myself. (No jk)

edited:

YOU KNOW WHAT.. FCUK THAT SHIT! I CAN DO IT!!

I'm gonna kick pharmacy in the fcukin balls!

I've been pretty MIA lately. My friends and XZ been asking where I've disappeared to. Sorry guys.. life's been hectic. Be patient with me.

P.S. I'm just really wondering.. how many people LIKE what they're doing.. with the exception of wonderland7386.. the girl loves her surgery. Does anyone actually go HELL YEAH when it comes to work? Or is a job just a job to bring home the bread?

2010-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

"Time"

Maybe if I could cheat on something, I'd choose to cheat on Time. It's playing games with me and I don't think my heart can take this much longer.

In my first relationship, Time came too soon and wanted me to grow up. My mind was moving too slow for it.. to make important life-changing decisions. My bf wanted to marry me, but my mind was too young to understand what the hell that really meant. We were both living in two different times of our lives to ever really connect and so he went away.

In my second relationship, Time came too slow. My mind moved too fast for my boyfriend.. I don't think he was ever ready to really settle. I wanted to be serious, but he was still exploring his possibilities. So in the end, I chased Time while he fell behind.

In my third relationship, my most recent, the timing just wasn't right. We both are in a critical moment of our lives, trying to put the pieces together that would determine our whole future. He's busy finalizing his last year in school and I'm trying to upkeep with my busy pharmacy schedule. We don't have "the Time" for each other. So once again.. I'm boyfriend-less.

I swear to you, Time..

The next time you try to bully me.. I'll make sure I'll be super ready.

2010-09-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ms. Boston Basks in the Glorious Sunlight
I'm slowly melting away in the hot, humid heat!

If you haven't noticed.. I've been MIA for these past two weeks.. been visiting family down in Texas.. it was pretty much a last minute thing.. so I missed out on the bbq.

Anyways, here's an update on what I've been up to. The first week in Texas, my older cousin Nhuy was away on a cruise so I pretty much chilled with random ppl and my younger baby cousins (Hanh, Thao, and Khanh). Everyone had school and work.. so they each had to alternate in keeping me entertained. I'd say they did a pretty good job. We've been partying it up till 4-5am every other night. haha!

Somebody was supposed to study.. lazy butt!

Jungle Cafe
The cuzzies and I decided to hit up Houston randomly one afternoon and met up with Chi Thu. She took us around the medical center and then stopped by Jungle Cafe for some desserts.

Being a sweet tooth, took me like 15 mins to decide on what to order.. I was eyeing all of the pretty decorated ones!

Mother shit.. I just realized I'm wearing the same outfit from the Xanga meet up.. haha. oh wells.

We kinda had to rush our eating cuz the place was closing.. I think we spent like half the time there admiring the cakes and snapping photos.

Boba House
After desserts, we all headed for some boba tea.. I had some strawberry banana smoothie and Hanh had cucumber melon.
I think we had too much sugar for the day because everyone started getting hyper.

Who said parking lots are just for cars?
We used it for some picture taking..lol

Don't ask.. cuz I won't tell..
No comment**

My shoe flew off midway..
I'll give you a dollar if you can locate the other shoe in the picture.. cuz I sure can't find it. haha

You know what.. all that jumping was a lot of exercise.. I was pooped!

Michiru Sushi Restaurant
The next day.. Thao took me out to Baybrook Mall area to eat at Michiru. After eating.. we stopped by the mall for a couple of hours for some hard core shopping. I didn't get anything though. bummer.

Appetizers
Spicy Tuna Salad (left), Tuna Tartare (middle), Shrimp Rock (right)

Entrees
Thao ordered a combo of 5 different types of sushi while I had a mango chicken with miso soup and california with egg rolls.

I really like the Rock Shrimp.. everything else was pretty much ok. The mango chicken was kinda ok.. I liked it better than Penang's.

How to Make Random Friends in a Strange Town
It was a random Tuesday night and my cousins and I decided to hit up Houston for some fun. We only wanted to get away from Galveston for a couple of hours.. Originally.. we wanted a chill night, sit somewhere and watch ppl walk by while sipping coffee.. but boy.. plans do change...

First, the girls and I stopped by Thao's work place to pick her up.. we waited around and ate for a bit. Richard bought us a sake bottle.. so we all cheered. When Thao got out.. she changed out of her kimono into her going out clothes and we set off to Houston. None of us had friends in Houston cuz the girls just moved there.. so we pretty much were up to making some friends that night.

Tools you'll need:
1. 3+ girls.. (2 ppl is not a crowd)
2. Strap on your going out clothes, make up, do your hair and put on some sexy heels!
3. Smile.. a lot.. be outgoing and friendly!
4. Look for friendly looking ppl.. and start up a convo with the group!

Oh btw.. please play it safe.. I don't want anyone getting kidnapped now..

P.S. Be careful about girlfriends and boyfriends.. you don't wanna get beaten up now.. just to make sure..
if there's another girl in the group.. always address HER first!

First we wanted to go to Chef Beignet.. but we didn't know how to get there.. so we asked these group of people eating at Fufu Restaurant on how to get there.

The guys told us to follow them and so we all headed over to the place together. Turns out the place was closed.. then the boys told us to go to Cafe101.

When we got there.. we saw these group of nicely dressed looking boys in suits and ties.. so Thao and I put on our friendliest smiles and went over to them.. I asked them for suggestions on places to go in Houston and somehow we all started up a conversation with them.

Next thing you know.. another car full of ppl pulled up next to us and asked us what we were up to. Apparently the two groups were friends and then they invited us to go to Roxy with them. The cute boys said they had to go somewhere first and would meet up with us later after clubbing. So we followed their friends to the club. Thao was like too bad we didn't get to take pictures with the cuties.. well at least she got their number haha.

Who would have thought that our random chill night would turn into drunken tipsy girls going wild. We didn't get home till 4am that night. Khanh had to wake up at 6:30am for school that morning.. she was a trooper.. Thao fell asleep in her math class.. I'm such a bad influence.. tee hee

To be continued...

P.S. Internet at the house was really slow.. so sorry for the lack of updates and MIA.. but I'm back in Boston now :)

2010-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thu's 23rd Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
Remember this photo.. it's everyone sober.. before the alcohol kicked in..

All I can say is that my night consisted of A LOT of pain and abuse from drunken girls...

I think my feet got stepped on at least 6 or 7 times.. and then Thu kept yelling into my face to slap her.. I wouldn't.. so she kept on yelling..
It was kinda funny cuz all the guys surrounding us were like watching us struggle as Thu kept grabbin my hand and screaming.. They were prolli like wtF as they watched us fall all over the place while I tried to hold her drunken body up with my skinny self.. It was definitely a night to remember...

Somehow her rose broke off.. I think she ate it

It started out with the boys buying us girls drinks...

And then ppl started getting tipsy...

Then finally GIRLS FULL BLOWN GONE WILD...

The SOBER ones

Yea.. some of the girls got pretty fcuked up.. but at least I did my job and got the bday girl wasted..
I sat in the car holding up her hair and grabbing a shopping bag as she puked..

P.S. No I didn't get any on me.

I swear I DON't <3 NYC

One of my college friend, Sanam was going away to Switzerland for graduate school.. so we decided to have one last outing with her before she left.
We all met up in NYC.. each staying at a different place.. luckily Aaron let me and Huiyi crash at his house. Thanks Aaron!

Friday- Huiyi, Dave, and I went to Vynl to eat.. Jeff gave us the recommendation so we decided to give it a try. Huiyi's Pad Thai was uber delicious.. I totally ate off of her haha..
After dinner.. we all walked around Forever21 in Times Sq where we later met up with Aaron. After going back to his apartment to drop off our things.. we headed back out to meet Dave at his friend's Jeff's condo in Park Ave.

Hung around for a bit.. playing beer pong and chit chatting.. BTW.. Huiyi totally lied when she said she sucked at beer pong.. she made in 80% of our cups.. Almost beat the boys...

Kun Jip in Koreatown

Third Floor Cafe

So after Kun Jip.. the girls wanted to find a place to lounge.. so we went to Maru.. but that night the place was pretty empty.. maybe we were too early.. so we headed back to Third Floor Cafe..
I hoped KK didn't feel too awkward with all the Koreans.. haha

Steph, Huiyi and I ordered some Watermelon soju while KK and Julie got some Black Berry wine..

The drinks sounded light.. but boy it knocked Huiyi up and gave her the asian glow.. I was perfectly sober..
walking her out back to Aaron's car when he came to pick us up. Little did I know.. my turn was next..

Sick to My Stomach.. No Literally

The next morning on Saturday.. while trying to go buy my hairspray at Stop&Shop.. the sick feeling in my stomach hit me hard.. it was half really funny and half miserable... It was my first hangover ever.. I had plans with Dave but I couldn't get out of bed.. thankfully Huiyi and Aaron was there to take care of me.. Cooked me some breakfast so I can have something to fill my emptiness.. I wanted to puke so badly and all that came out was just clear water.. and maybe acid.. I fell asleep on the table as I ate.. Huiyi got a good laugh..

The funny thing is.. the night before.. it was me who was carrying her out of the lounge.. I turned out to be the one with the hangover.. boy my body sure reacts slow..

Waiting to get into El Centro

El Centro Restaurant

It seems as though everyone at the table ordered quesadillas..
I got chicken.. and OJ.. weird mix.. I know.. It was pretty good..

A Night to Remember

When a Bostonian plans a NY event.. something bad is bound to happen.. so.. my friends are all Bostonians.. and I guess not many of us been clubbing to NY enough to know this..
I guess you could say that I was the only one who really knows the night scene out of the bunch.. and that's not very much..

I guess you could say.. the night consisted of a lot of waiting.

I warned the group that it'll be hard to get in after 12am.. but then I guess it didn't really hit them until we got to Kiss and Fly and couldn't get in.. which is perfectly understandable... it was 12:30 am and that place is known to be hard to get in without table... Dave later met up with us and then we all had to split to head out to our next destination.. We had no luck.

From 1:30am to 3:30am.. we jumped to like 5 or 6 different places.. Dave drove us to Circle to meet up with Jeff and Roger.. after a while.. we gave up..
So we all decided to head over to Jeff's condo to chill again.. Two more girls joined us..

But then Julie and Huiyi had to leave earlier because the boys to girls ratio were disproportionate and one of the couples was making out excessively on the sofa..I thought it was pretty funny how my wallet got stuck under them and I looked to Jeff in panic.

After sticking around for a bit.. Dave and I drove back to Queens.. indeed it was a tiring day.. I didn't get to sleep until 6am.. The next day.. Huiyi came back and we went headed out at 5am to Chinatown to eat.. didn't leave NYC until 9pm.. Once we got home.. mom came to pick us up and Huiyi slept over. The next day.. woke up early for my Sephora interview..

P.S. Sorry I haven't been replying to your messages and comments lately..
I've been hiding in my shell and acting all emo.. anyways.. just wanna say thanks for caring!

2010-08-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

I always knew I never had the face of a business woman..

Even when I was young.. the realization came early.. I wasn't my cousin.. now she was a real gangster.. she was the one who got me to buy her one bull dog sticker for $87.. she was also the one who bought a bag of candy for $1.. and sold each piece to us little kids for a quarter.. she was the shit.. the gangster.. the bully.. the manipulator who took our lunch money.. and I was never one to mess with her.

Heck.. One of my greatest memory was when I was 5 yrs old.. my mother left me in charge of a yard sale. It was my day.. my moment.. my big gig. I remembered laying out all my cool toys.. feeling proud that I was doing what grown ups do.. running my own business and what not.. being in charge of money. "Piece of cake", I thought.. this should be like playing "house" with my friends.. except with strangers.

I remembered that day was scorching hot.. God I hated the sun. Sat outside on the patio for hours. I was getting impatient.. No customers came by... not even to look or browse. I was a kid.. I didn't know about the art of shopping.. the psychology behind it.. the importance of displays and signs. One thing I did know though.. was the word "sale". I figured if it works wonders on my mom.. it would work for me. Honestly, I didn't understand the full theory and idea behind it. I figured.. just plastering a big fat sign that says "SALE" and making everything cheaper would work.. I didn't consider HOW MUCH cheaper.

Anyways.. within a couple of hours.. people started coming.. words were going around that I sold some pretty cheap ass toys.. and everyone in the neighborhood wanted in. I was feeling mighty good that my sale was going so well.. "Mama's gonna be proud", I thought. I was feeling so mighty and big that when I ran out of things to sell.. I started going into the house to look for more stuff.. I took out my mom's scarves and my dad's ties.. the vases and decor.. anything I thought my parents wouldn't miss.

When my mother realized what I had done.. boy was I in deep shit. They shooed everyone away and made me clean up the mess. When they made me pour out how much I made that day.. It didn't even add up to $5. I was selling things in nickles and dimes.. My dad cracked up badly.. he thought it was a pretty funny sight. After getting a whooping from my mom.. they never let me do a yard sale ever again.

Yea.. I never had the face of a business woman.. and surely I can never pull strings.. of course I know a lot more now.. but knowing and doing it are two different things. I can't get my game face on.. and I surely don't know how to be firm and say no. Sounds like a simple thing to do.. but yup.. it's definitely hard for me.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6_ZVZaff2aCsRof3nuUVXsHu0r0rr5aQoEebgaRU1CyGh9o4&t=1&usg=__S4yKfzEcD0ya_DX7AFyUlyG4Pdg=

2010-08-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

"He had only $10 in his pocket.. but gave me all $10..."
I was rich.. rich with love..

Last weekend, King was eager to take me on a stroll through Diamond District so that I can see how crazy those Jewish jewelers can get. I was quite fascinated by all those sparkly bling blings that was laid out.. contrasting against the black velvet background.

Since King just got out of work.. he was looking all spiffy in his pinstriped suit.. and I was this little lady skipping by his side, all giddy and happy.. with a plastered grin that spells.. "I just fell in love" or what not.

Within the first couple of minutes, I understood what he was talking about. It was insane the things those jewelers would come up with. One phrase that got me bawling in laughter was from some kid who had the balls to say, "Hey sir.. you in the pinstripe suit.. remember.. no finance, no romance!" For a split second, I thought I saw a strained look on King's face.. but when he saw me cracking up in laughter.. it turned into a grin.

I thought to myself.. Damn.. was he actually worried? I wanted to take his hand and squeeze it to let him know that he has nothing to worry about and that I was perfectly fine with the $20 he gave me for train ride.

It's true that girls do like the financial security and I can perfectly understand why he would worry.. It's New York for god' s sake.. A city where people would grab the next best thing that comes along.. a place where everyone's driven and seeking for more.. a place filled with millions of people with billions of options.

I didn't know how to explain to him that I appreciate everything he has given me.. Granted he's been quite generous with me.. but I didn't know how to explain to him that I know how to appreciate the value of a dollar. I know what it felt like.. being the luckiest girl alive when I used to date this guy who had only $10 in his pocket and he was willing to give me all $10. I was rich.. rich with love. I didn't know it at the time. I was the girl who wanted more.. seek more.. and dreamed more.. In the end.. I was left with nothing in my pocket.. and lost the one true thing that meant the most to me. Sometimes people don't get second chances.

That's why I wanted King to understand.. that I adore him.. I appreciate each time he thinks for me.. worries about me.. cares for me. My girlfriends can brag about their LV bags and Gucci wallets.. but at least I can say.. that my bf sits and worries all day.. whether I have enough money to eat.. and slips $20 in my purse so I won't be hungry. Now that's love.

I don't have to ask him for it. He understands that I'm a college student with no job. He automatically thinks about me.. about my well-being. It's true that when girls don't receive that type of attention.. they think they can fill that void with money and gifts.. and guys think they can shower a girl with brand name bags every once in a while and drop their boyfriend duties.. it doesn't work that way..

When you feel his sincerity and care.. there's not much else to really ask for.. cause you're already the luckiest girl in the world.

So I just want to remind the ladies.. sometimes fancy things don't mean shit.

2010-07-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

New York City Got X'd by Asians

From the perspective of a Bostonian intruder...

Alert! This past weekend.. there was an invasion of Xangans who took over New York City for the day.

Reported damages includes: Molestation of the infamous "Botero" statue at Columbus Circle Mall, loud obnoxious disturbances from a vuvuzela,
a series of eyes blinded by Mohawks and luggages.. and finally a number of traffic jams caused by a herd of Asians..

Please report any suspicious behaviors related to this intrusion at 1-800-XANGAZN. Thank you.

Friday, July 23rd - The Twins

I was running late.. the plan was to meet up with King at 4pm. I barely made it on the 12pm bus but it didn't help that there was traffic.
When I arrived, King told me he couldn't see me cuz it was too late. Damn C-buses. So I went ahead and made my way to the Bronx to meet up with Ryan.

When I arrived at 231st St Station.. I had to wait cuz I gave Ryan a late text notice. Standing around, I noticed a bunch of creepers trying to stare up my skirt..
Feeling a bit annoyed.. I popped into the nearest store (DD) and ordered a Coolata. When Ryan arrived, we made a long ass trip back to his place (up hills and multiple stairway). By the time we got to the place.. I was feeling a bit sweaty and pooped.

We rested for a while.. while waiting for Roger to swing by. The boys ordered some Chinese take out and alcohol before we headed out to Ryan's and Nate's twin friends. It was thundering real hard that night and when the rain subsided.. we headed out to Midtown.

Ryan introduced me to all his friends. I couldn't tell which one of Eric and which was Mark. The trick was to check out the type of shorts they were wearing.. one was Nike and the other was Adidas. While the boys were playing a game of Risk.. I went and got myself some Puerto Rican drink. Towards the end of the day.. Ryan passed out on the couch while Roger and I played beer pong. Got to enjoy the Manhattan view from their balcony. It was pretty nice. I wouldn't mind having a duplex like that except the studio bedroom had no privacy. We didn't head back home until like 5am.. almost slept over but I wanted to wake up early for the xanga meet up the next day. After showering and everything.. I didn't sleep till 6:30am.

Saturday, July 24th - The Epic Xanga Meet Up

The next morning, I woke up around 9:30am and headed out at 11. I forgot to bring something for the group.. and since I promised Alex I'd bring something.. I kinda got worried. Right when I got off the train.. I headed into the mall to find something to buy.. couldn't find a souvenir shop so I went out to one of the stands near the park and bought a $5 deck of cards. What a rip off. I saw a couple of Asian guys standing outside the mall holding up paper signs.. so I thought it was them. When I called Alex, found out they moved to the front entrance of the park.

Walking over to the group, I was getting pretty nervous. I was like... hmm.. I wonder if they'll like me? Would they be annoyed that I'm not a daily Xanga blogger? What if they ask me if I follow their blog? What if they start quizzing me?!

Those thoughts quickly went away right when I walked up to the group and introduced myself. Everyone greeted me pleasantly and they seemed pretty nervous themselves.

In the first batch I conversed with.. I finally got to meet davidmiya.. I felt a bit more at ease that I had someone who was also from Boston. As more and more ppl came, my nervousness slowly dissipates. I tried to walk up to most ppl and introduced myself.. asking everyone for their sns.. since I'm pretty bad at following their blogs to even know their names. The only Xangan I recognized was Cakalusa. Right when he walked up.. first thing I noticed was his mohawk. lol

The first half hour.. ppl were just busy introducing each other and asking for names/sn..
This was when I found out there was another Liz (nimbusthedragon) in the group.. and there was another Vietnamese, Kim (xkthily) ! haha

Alex came over and asked me if I wanted to record a video for his Xanga Secret project.. so I agreed. I was a bit confused when he told me to repeat the question and answer.. so I gave him a couple of blank stares and redos.

If you want to check out the video.. here it is.. made by roadlesstaken:

You can spot me at the beginning of the video and at 2:14..

While everyone was socializing.. Terri (JuiCyer) and I went to Duane Reade to buy trash bags for everyone to sit and tape for the name tags.. we ended up not using them. I carried it around the whole day until late night when Tina was feeling sick and I got excited pulling one of my trash bags out. They were like wth are you doing with a trash bag in your purse?

Gotta love Chris (verified_but_still_denied) and his ninja turtle outfit..

The group relocated to a grassy area near the rocks where people started rock climbing. A couple of girls got stuck in which the boys had to help them down.
This was when I wish I had pulled out my camera in time for (lCrAzYAzNl) Jeff's famous falling trip.

Jose's (stupid_systemus) looking mighty slick with his bandanna..

After the group photo.. we all headed to the mall to hide from the heat. Grabbed a free Dr. Pepper along the way.

Chillaxin' @ The Mall

I'm surprised the security guards didn't kick us out.
While standing around, a couple of more xangans joined in..

I felt bad for the "Botero" looking statue.. totally got harrassed by us kids.

Aaron made us do some "double takes" for his videos.. I'm a bit scared of how it'll turn out.. my horrible acting skills lol.. We'll just have to see..

Eating @ Whole Foods

Ppl started to get hungry.. so we all split up. Some went shopping.. while most went to eat..
I've never been inside Whole Foods.. didn't know they had a hot/cold bar. The lines to pay for the food were ridiculously long.

Lisa (Liera) and I

Photos: getyourownsandwich (middle) & R hia_pyrithea (right)

Heading out to Duet for some karaoke.. I lost some of the group along the way
and bumped into Slutburger_with_Cheese who came up with the nick "baby-TRex" for me.
I kinda liked the name.. I'll keep it in mind for future ref.

Karaoke Time @ Duet
We're so damn Asian.. it's not even funny.

I didn't sing of course.. even though MadmansLitany kept trying to convince me..
didn't want to break any eardrums.. I sung in the background though :)

Always on my phone.. Jeff tried to take an individual shot of each person..
but I kinda made it hard for him with my head down all the time..

Totally loved Flipguy310 and Sonychak's duet - Hero by Enrique

Guess what?! Linh_L (on the very right) goes to UMASS Amherst too!

Drinking Fest Outside the Karaoke Room
Someone's thirsty..

Oh btw.. did Jenny (rxglasshalffull) ever get her drink?

Sonychak Manwich

This would be a good beer advertising poster ad.

Photo: Nick (npr32486) (left) & AJ (Coffee_Kaioken) (right) & Sid (bodhiseeker)

Alex's Power Singing

The Infamous Brofist
Plus the fist pump..

The group ended the day with "Don't Stop Believing" and "Sweet Caroline"..

VaneDave's Comedy Show
@ Maui Tacos

Vanedave totally described some of my feelings about Xanga..
it's good to know I'm not the only one who feels like a dork for checking my blogs :)

I think I have a red shirt exactly like Raquel (Raquelhiggins005)..

On my phone again.. haha.. I made sure to turn my phone on silent..
didn't want a moment to cause interruptions like the drunk guy and phone calls.

Are we done yet? One more, one more!

Rockefeller Center
On our way to the Rockefeller Center.. I had a very unhappy phone conversation with the King.
Said he didn't want to see me this weekend.

Winnie?

Nintendo Store
Once again, I'm surprised that the security didn't kick us out. No one really bought anything except Alex..
We were totally crashing the Nintendo store.. took up all the seats and sat there.. socializing..

Alex: "That's not what they meant by training your pokemon Jeff.."

After we left the store, Terri led us in a circle to Magnolia Bakery.. didn't get to try one but the place sure smelled good.
This was when I got to see wonderland7386.. first thing I thought was.. wow.. I totally love her hair volume. HAHA

Drinking Party @SoHo
We all headed over to (Trigger821) Aaron's friend's place to crash for a couple of hours.
There were definitely a lot of groping and bromance (ahem: Alex + Chris).

For the most part.. I was feeling a bit conflicted cuz Ryan was still waiting for me in Koreatown..
King wanted to see me (didn't want him to get madder than he already was).. and I didn't want to leave the Xangan group yet..

The funnier thing was.. Alex.. Jeff and I were having a "Datingish" blog moment.. fessing up our relationship concerns... and then drunken Chris came up and tried to give Jeff advice.. he ended up passing out on the floor within the next hour. No I'm not talking about Cakalusa.

Here we have Cakalusa & ordinary_gir1 doing some stretches..

Videos by Sonychak and Cakalusa

Aspen Lounge
Finally, I decided to head out and meet King.. one of James' friend dropped me off.. which was pretty nice of him.. being that it was raining. King came to get me and I got to meet his friend Jeff. We tried to do a fast one of the security guard and slip by.. but he wouldn't let me.. said he was good at remembering faces and that I was definitely not there earlier. I figured it wouldn't work.. after all I'm in bright yellow with curly hair. Kinda hard to forget.

"You're trying to impress your girl or something?!"
For the most part.. I found a lounge seating area nearby and rested for an hour or two. I started getting thirsty and so King and I went to the bar area where Jeff was standing with his friends and ordered a coke. While waiting.. some drunk Korean guy came up to me and asked if I was with the group. I thought he was friends with Jeff so I replied yes.. I just met them. Then.. he asked if he could buy me a drink.. King turned around and said no.. she's with me. The drunk guy, ignoring him... asked again... saying "When he finish getting you a drink.. I'll buy you another one." King got mad and said once again.. "hey.. back off.. she's with me." The drunk guy got annoyed and started saying.. "What.. you're trying to act all tough to impress your girl huh?!" Started insulting him. King got mad and shoved him.. the guy shoved him back. I started panicking.. trying to stand between them two without getting sucker punched myself. I managed to push King to the side and then Jeff came up and was like what's wrong.. calm down man. Finally.. we were able to drag King outside the club to cool down a bit.. he was so heated.. pacing back and forth.. Next thing you know.. stupid drunk guy came out again.. boy I was scared for him.. when we were leaving.. King tried to pass by the drunk guy and swing a punch at him.. Luckily I was in the way and pushed him away..

After a while.. we all calmed down a bit and finally headed out to 50th and 6th for the famous chicken and rice. It was my first time seeing such a thing.. the line was pretty damn long.. I felt like a dork taking a picture of it in front of all the New Yorkers.. definitely know that I'm a tourist. I didn't get back home until 5:30am after chit chatting with King in the car.. Finally I got upstairs.. and found my friends playing beer pong. I didn't fall asleep until 7am..

It was a crazy and tiring day.. but I'm totally glad to meet everyone.. both girls and guys.

Sorry if I totally lagged your computer.. but this is mostly written for my friends who's been asking for details..
kinda got tired repeating myself.. so here it is!

Thanks Jeff, Aaron, Alex.. and Geoff (whotakethmycoke) for all the pictures! Anyone else I forgot to mention?

Sunday, July 25th - Goodbye, my friends!
Dim Sum in Chinatown
That morning I woke up at 9am.. panicking that I was going to be late for the dim sum.. Called Aaron and found out everyone else was going to be late.
At first Ryan was gonna join in with my group.. but then he was feeling way too tired from yday's beer pong. I didn't get to Chinatown till 1pm..

I have no idea what Ron was saying.. lol

Got to meet Terri's boyfriend.. didn't catch his name.. my bad..
It's Raining!
It was raining.. so Alex lends me his cap.. I have no idea which team that represents.. and I'm not even gonna ask..

Ice Cream Factory
Definitely try lychee one.. it's reaaaaaaaaaal good. I found my new favorite place!

Oh btw.. thanks Aaron for helping me out.. totally brought the wrong debit card.. next time I'll treat you to something!

Seaport Mall
Headed out to Seaport Mall to check out the bridge.. It would have been a lovely view if the sun was setting..
We were all just standing around talking about weirdos and thanks Alex for the creeper warning.. it turned out that I didn't record the whole thing.. just part of your last sentence and then me running..

We ended the day with a group hug and some farewell good byes.

It's like stuffing a mini car with clowns..

Farewell, my friend!
We're going to miss you guys..
As the boys walked out of the car.. I was like "hold it in you guys.. don't cry now.. don't turn back.. just keep moving forward!"

After dropping the boys off.. Jeff gave Tina and I a mini tour before heading over to Aaron's place. I was surprised by how clean his house was.. like.. really clean and slick!
Chilled around for a couple of hours while the boys gave me an introductory course on Xanga 101.

Debasaki
That night.. Heather (yokhom) met up with the group.. and we all went to eat at Debasaki..
Draven also made an appearance.. and that's when I got to meet the food guru Azriha.

From the outside.. you would never think there was a place like this.. I totally loved the decor and the food was great.

Gotta love the strawberry soju... and the Debasaki chicken was yum..
I wanted to grab some more.. but I held it in so the rest could have some.

Long Island Pier
After the groupie said good bye to Aaron and Tina.. we all headed out for some city scape viewing.
The view was gorgeous.. it was like a gigantic panoramic view of Manhattan..

Heather and I got to have some girl talk.. while getting to know each other.. Afterward.. we all headed over to Draven's den.

XZ Victims
Don't stay on Xanga for too long or you'll turn into this:

Draven had a log of everyone's photos that came to his house.. I was one of them..
The first thing that caught my eye walking in were the cool displays and lights..

I guess only they would understand the meaning of being in the same room web-camming each other.. haha.
I felt right at home.

That night Jeff, Alex, and Sonlay drove me home. I got stuck outside for a while trying to open the door..
luckily the boys were busy adjusting their GPS so they saw me and came out to help. It took Jeff one twist and it opened. I felt so useless.. haha.

Here.. feast your eyes with Sonychak's video:

Monday, July 26th - Ice cream is the comfort food for the soul
The next day.. I slept in a little bit. Everyone was posting their pictures and xanga entries..
I was a little behind and feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the notifications.

Later that day.. I met up with King around 4:30pm and went to eat at Qdoba.. then he took me up to his workplace up on the 31st floor
and the view was gorgeous. Hopefully one day.. I'll have a place like that of my own.. 30+ yrs.. give and take.

"Sir.. you in the pinstripe suit.. no finance, no romance!"
Afterward, he took me around the city.. pass the Diamond district where some kid was trying to get us to buy some jewelry..

After King dropped me off at the station.. I went to charge my phone at the mall and tried to find some towels for Ryan
cuz I ruined his.. called up Joanne and decided to meet her up since she was feeling down.

Jeff met up with us and we all headed to 50th & 6th for some chicken and rice before going to Ryan's.

Thanks Jeff for taking Joanne home!

Tuesday, July 27th - Adios, New York!
The next day.. I wanted to surprise King again.. so I tried to stop by his workplace.. I got lost again.. twice.. He had to come and get me.. Ate at Cafe Europa.. walked around some bookstores looking for pharmacy study guides and finally we headed out. King dropped me off at the nearest T station and I caught the 7pm bus back to Boston.

Overall it was a crazy and eventful weekend. I was feeling a bit nostalgic on my way home. I didn't know what this all meant to me.. What will happen from now on? How will I manage my time in NYC with 4 different groups from here on? How do I explain to my friends the meaning and significance of this weekend?

I don't think they'll ever get it. All I know is that.. I had a great time.. and I'm going to miss a lot of my favorite people.

The Wedding

2010-07-18T18:43:00.001-07:00

The Wedding that Never Happened.. or Did it?
My family was hired to do some construction work at this nice fancy hotel. We were in charged of remodeling a patio and backyard space. I was walking around making calculations and instructing ppl on what to do... when suddenly I turned to my left and saw a bunch of formerly dressed people making a commotion.

Slowly, I walked over to see what the noise and colorful dresses was about. It was a wedding. Partly intrigued by the tastefully decorated orange flower sprays and paper lanterns.. I made my way through the crowd. Then I saw them.. my ex's family. Everyone was dressed to the nines.. "Oh crap!" I thought. What should I do now? Run and hide? Suddenly, I saw C sitting by herself at the corner, staring at me with a puzzled look. I walked over and congratulated her on her big day.. wishing her love and happiness. She looked somewhat uncomfortable but still friendly. Out of the blue.. I felt compelled to explain myself and said, "I really wish I could be there for your big day.. I'm sorry things didn't work out between L and I.. But I wanted a serious relationship and I don't think he was ever ready for that. I hope you understand that everything's good between us. I mean well for you and the family." She then smiled and said she understood. I felt a little foolish for trying to explain. It's a break up, for god's sake.. and no break up would ever sound nice. No matter what I try to do.. there's no way to make it less ugly. I should just accept it.

The whole time.. I kept walking in and out of the wedding area.. trying to find my workers.. I was making his family a bit uncomfortable.. or annoyed.. I couldn't tell which. I was feeling a bit out of place.. knowing fully well that I was not welcomed. At one point, I saw his mom from a distance and debated on what to do. Wave? Come over and say hi? I didn't know. But she didn't look happy.. so I walked away. I thought I was being a bit rude. The second time around while I was walking out the door.. I saw his parents sitting side by side next to the entrance. So passing by.. I gave them a polite bow and said "Chao bac trai.. chao bac gai.." They didn't move. Silence. Ok.. mad awkward.. Feeling a bit hurt.. I tried again.. and this time added.. "Do you hate me? I'm really sorry that it didn't work out between me and your son. But.. I really did try.. and I actually liked you guys." I had nothing to lose.. mind as well get it over with. They responded no.. they didn't hate me.. I gave a sigh.. bowed.. and politely walked away. Let it go, Ngoc.. let it go.. it's over.

Boy, it hurts. I guess that might be the last time I'll get the chance of seeing them again...

Or so I thought.. then I woke up.. It was just a dream. Thank God.

I woke up feeling a bit reminiscent. I realized that his family really did have a wedding yesterday.. I haven't really been thinking much about it but I guess it's been in the back of my head. It's pretty sad. There was once a time that I was part of their family. I had cared for them and they for me. When I had a break up.. it wasn't just a single break.. I was breaking up with the whole family.. multiple break ups all in one. It killed me because I actually liked them. I had cried for days.. for him.. for them.. for me. That's the sucky thing about letting people enter your lives.. you take a risk of being hurt. I'm not so sure if the next time around.. I want to jump into getting to know the family so soon. I should take things slow.
Sometimes, you just gotta have a clean break. Anywhere in between would only hurt you and hurt others. I'm the type of person who puts my heart into things.. Even when I'm acting cold.. just know that deep down inside.. I still care and hurt.. for each and every person.

June/July Updates 2010

2010-07-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

A New Yorker's 1st Visit to Boston
July 9-July 11, 2010After weeks of planning, the King finally arrived in Boston. I came out to greet him at South Station around 1pm and then headed back to my house. We chilled around and then he got to meet the mom. After the greetings, I took him to JFK beach to chill for a couple of hours. Around 6pm, we headed out to Chinatown/Downtown area. He was quite surprised by how different NY was to Boston. Then again, we were out at the wrong time.

Since I always wanted to try out Marliave, we had our dinner there. The place was definitely not what I expected. I thought it would be a crappy place from the outside. It wasn't bad at all. They definitely played up the presentation with silverware and everything.

Marliave

I forgot to take some pictures with my camera.. so I stole these from the website. LOL.

I ordered rabbit meat and King ordered shrimp scampi. I never liked shrimp but the dish was good.
I also really enjoyed my mash potatoes and onion rings.
After dinner, we headed over to Newbury Street and I took King to Top of the Hub since he wanted to see the Boston view. Stupid me forgot my ID. We sat at the bar and he ordered a drink. The guy didn't let me sit since I didn't have my ID... so we left. Then we called up Dao and Phuong and went to Marina Bay. Walked around for a bit and then ordered drinks at the bar. Around 1 am.. we all headed back to my house so I can change and then headed out to Boston Bowl. King beat us the first round. I got so heated and put my game on. Ended up beating everyone on my second round. It was a good game and a close call though.

That night we knocked out. I tried to let him have my bed and I sleep on the couch. But he wouldn't have it and dragged me to the bed. He ended up sleeping on the floor next to my bed.

The whole morning, he kept waking me up.. scared that he overslept.. saying that it would be rude to sleep in being guest at my mom's house. I thought that was cute of him to worry. My mom took us to eat Dim Sum in Quincy. We were suppose to have buffet but the place changed. After grabbing coffee at DD.. they dropped us off and we hung out at JFK and then headed out to Newbury Street to find King a dress shirt for clubbing. I find it cute that he wanted to get me something so badly. I said no.. so we ended up going to eat instead.
Haru @ Prudential Center

After much debate.. we decided not to go cuz we wanted to spend last few hours with each other so we canceled. Went out to eat at Haru.

I really liked our waiter.. pretty friendlyish.. King ordering our sushi portion.

View from our table.. I think I annoyed ppl with my flashing.

This is the second time I really liked the tuna tartare.. the first was from Pigalle.. they're both really different but this one isnt bad at all..

My soft shell crab.. with watermelon.. such a weird combo..

Chicken katsu with some sort of egg plant.. broccoli and salad..

After dinner.. we walked around Prudential and then went to Shaws for some coffee. Then headed back home to chillax. Had some quality time just sitting back and watch comedy. I ended up falling asleep on him. The plan was to stay up all night.. but I was too tired. Next morning, mom, her friend and I went and dropped him off at South Station.

As I waited, the ticket guy looked at me and asked if I was coming. I said no. Then he said I can if I want.. he won't check my ticket. I said no thanks. Boy, I sure wanted to run and hop on.. But I controlled myself and watched the bus pull away and drove off. Boy, it broke my heart.

Sharon's Bday Celebration - July 4th Weekend

Last weekend, the girls and I celebrated Ms. Li's bday at Alibi. Huiyi and I arrived together and it took us quite a while trying to find the group.

We walked past them a couple of times until finally Sharon came out to grab us.

It's been a while since I last hung out with my girlies. Been hoarded with school.. work.. and family. So it was nice to have a Sex and the City night.

Bunny ears?

Is that Sharon and her "boyfriend" holding hands?! Since when is someone locked down?? hMm?

I left early that night cuz I was already feeling pooped. Collapsed in bed that night and had a gooood sleep.

Jenni's 21st Bday @Estate

Definitely a night to remember. South Dakota must have killed my tolerance or something. That night.. all it took was one shot.

During the day.. I didn't get to eat a full meal.. which was a BAD BAD idea. Thu came by my house with her Ashley and we all got picked up by Anh Si.

Honestly, I didn't plan to drink. But damn Thu bought me a tequila shot. I drank it and was fine.

For another 2 hours, I felt good. No dizziness.. no nausea.. nothing.

After dancing around for a bit.. I started to feel sick.. and went outside to get some air. Saw Anita and chilled with her for about 5-10mins.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of nausea hit me.. and ran back inside to find the bathroom.

I made my way into one of the stalls next to another one where people were crowding around cuz some girl passed out in there.

During my midst of sickness.. I heard the security guy call out to the girl and asked if she came with anyone and what her name was.

Darkness started hovering over me like someone slowly pulled blinds over my eyes. I couldn't see anything and started to panick. I held onto the door and steadied myself. Next thing you know I crouched over and knocked out sitting Vietnamese style. Even during my drunkeness.. I'm still a germaphobe.. boy I tried my best not to touch the toilet or the floor... and I didn't.

When I woke up.. I gathered myself up and yanked onto my purse. The metal chain broke off which got me sooo mad.. that was my favorite purse.

I felt a sting on my hand so I looked and realized I accidentally cut myself somehow.. no idea. I tried to contain myself and walk slowly out the stall and headed outside.

All the craziness happened while I was in a mess in the bathroom. I lost them for a good while.

As I walked out.. somehow I tripped and fell down a few step of stairs.. didn't hurt. At this point, I just wanted to get away from the crowdedness and noise and get fresh air. I didn't care if I was alone or get kidnapped cuz I just wanna berid of the nausea. But luckily, as I walked out.. Kara and Jenni saw me.. they sat me down and Kara ran back inside to grab the rest of the gang for me.

That night, King called in to check up on me.. since Kara worried him when she called him to ask where I was or if I had called him. Boy, was he mad.

I finally sobered up.

Never again will I drink on an empty stomach.. All it took was one shot. So damn embarrassing.

Stupid SD got my alcohol tolerance down.

Missing South Dakota & Family

Lately, I've been somewhat missing my vacation in SD. Everything was so peaceful and quiet.

I could sleep late into the day without waking up to police, ambulance sirens, and train station.

I miss walking around the neighborhood without worrying about being kidnapped.

Brother got so excited about driving mom on the ATV.

My last day at PharMerica internship. We were all having ice cream sundaes. Barb always brought in treats for us sweet tooth.

My nephew and I riding on the train ride at some furniture store.We were "pretending" to buy stuff and the damn kid almost gave us away to the salesman.

Sexy hats eh?

WaTiki Waterpark

Went to the waterpark with the family and friends. My nephew was dragging me everywhere.

I finally realized how old I was getting when I couldn't keep up with his high energy.

My brother and his wife. The whole time I was trying to get my sis-in-law to go into the toilet bowl slide. I felt kinda bad becuz we made her first experience horrible. I told her that I was scared of heights too but it wasn't bad. So she finally decided to try it once with me. I told Christian to sit in the front with me but he sat with his mom.

While going down.. somehow our tube got stuck for a second and I tried to hang on and push us to go forward in.. but Christian jerked our tube and we went in backwards down the bowl.. our tube ended up flying out of the slide and we hit the water backwards and drowned for a couple of seconds. She sure never trusted my word again. haha.

I also convinced her friend Oanh to go with us. She was soooo scared.. but luckily this time..

our weights balanced out on the float and we came out facing forward without flipping over. That was good.

All the kids in the jacuzzi.. nice hot and warm.

My last few days in SD, my family took me to Bear Country and Human Maze. We made out of the maze in 33 mins when it usually takes 45 mins to an hour. An lost his keychain that some girl gave to him so we had to go scavenger hunting for a couple of hours. Finally went back to Bear Country and found it in the parking lot. My last day, my nephew and I build a fort and slept in the living room for 2 days. When I was leaving, I knew he was sad cuz he kept trying to find excuses to hug me. He made me promise to write him a letter after we made my brother a Father's Day card.

Every now and then, my nephew would still call in to check in on me. We would talk for like an hour and he would repeat the same stories over and over again, forgetting that he already told me before. Boy, I do miss them.

Crazy Horse

2010-06-28T00:31:00.000-07:00

Volks March at Crazy Horse

My mom decided to come and visit one of the weekends beginning of June and the family decided to join in on the Volks March.
Boy it took a lot of convincing to get her to go. But we did it. After packing up some snacks and geared up in track clothes.. we all headed to the Crazy Horse.

We parked our car in a field and walked to the Starting line where we had to sign up for the march and state
whether we wanted a medal for finishing the whole march. So my nephew and I agreed.

My mom wasn't too happy when she realized how far the monument was.

Green fields make me happy!
I have no idea what happened here.

I swear.. my mom made us take a rest every 10-20 minutes..
I can't even remember how many time we stopped.

Instead of taking 3-4 hours of walking.. it took us about 6 hours cuz we kept stalling.

Throughout our march.. my nephew and I keep searching for a good walking stick & "wands" (yes.. he is very into Harry Potter).

Uhh.. is this man-made?

I found a hole just like the one from Alice in the Wonderland... I wonder if there's any rabbit.

I wanted to push one down sooo badly.. make all 5 topple over.. that would be so fun!

At one point.. my mom wanted to give up. So I told my brother to give his phone
to my mom so she can be distracted while walking. We joked about how my HTC Hd2 can't compare to his Droid.

At this point, we got halfway through the march. My mom was pretty mad when we saw the short cut.
Apparently, the ppl made us march is zigzags to make the march longer.

So peaceful.

Mushroom.. my mom said to pick it and eat it. Jokingly of course.

3/4 of the way.. my mom was really going to give up. She sat down and told us to go on ahead. We were so so so close and I didn't want her to miss out.
So I used reverse psychology and a bit of guilt trip and said ok let's not go. It worked.

My brother and sis in law had to hold her from both sides and basically drag her. lol
She bitched.. whined and complained. It was so worth it. haha

More stalling. We saw this couple who was roughing up their kid. The father yanked him by the collar and he started choking. So bad.

Almost there!

It was drizzling every few hours.. Thank god it wasn't pouring hard though.

Eating my sun flower seeds to keep my mind off of the distance and ache.

We saw some old lady cheating and took a ride up to the mountain. So unfair. But then again she's 80.

My mom was POOPED.

We made it!

All they have so far is the face.. the rest of the horse and arm are going to come much later.
But even my grand kids won't live to see it.

Scared of heights... no comment.

I actually bumped into 2 Vietnamese ladies.. it was very random. Of all places...

I was so nervous that my nephew would fall over.

The hole to carve out the arm pointing out on the horse.

Hiding from me...

It's amazing how long it took to carve out this much. But then again it's cuz it's not government funded.

The walk back was way much easier. My mom can finally walk by herself. lol

I have no idea where this came from.

I loved this scene.

When we saw the finish line.. My nephew and I got so happy and started running.

By the time we got home.. we were all so tired. No one cooked so we ended up at a Chinese-Vietnamese Buffet. Turns out the owner was Chinese who lived in Vietnam. I kept going for the king crab legs and the lady kinda kept giving me dirty looks. Hey.. I go for the good stuff.. get my money's worth. Sheesh.

Denver, CO.. Back to civilization!

2010-06-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Road Trip to Denver, Colorado
Memorial Day Weekend
Just an update.. I know.. I've been bad with my updates

Each year, my brother's family takes a road trip to Denver twice a year to stock up on Vietnamese food and nail supplies.
So the ppl there LOVE them every time they stop by. They'd go crazy with the shopping.
We had to pack light so that we'd have space to stock up in the back. This year, my sis's family and I made it for the Memorial Weekend trip.

Renaissance Hotel
After a 6 hour long trip, we finally arrived at our hotel at 12am. The place looked nice and the fireplace was warm and inviting.
Linda's had left early so they were already settled and sound asleep in their room.

Inside the hotel room, we were welcomed by a common living space.. and two french doors that opened into the bedroom.
Boy, I loved the bed.. white sheets can never go wrong with me.

The bathroom sink were stocked up with Aveda's shampoo, lotions and bath salts. I was totally feeling the marble sink counter.

The next morning, we all woke up and headed out. The nice thing about this hotel was that it's right across from Walmart and the mall. So of course the ladies decided to go clothes shopping after eating.

I loved the front entrance. Totally feeling the design.

I was a bit disappointed that the fireplace was not turned on. I wanted to capture a photo for memory..
get some design ideas for my future dream home. lol

My nephew working the arm chairs.

Dim Sum
The place opened around 9:30am. So Linda met up with us to get our grub on.
We were the first to get there. The whole restaurant was empty.. ppl didn't start coming in until an hour later.

Little Cody had fun checking out the fishes in the tank. I kinda lost my appetite watching them.

After a whole day of shopping.. we went to eat at a Pho Restaurant. I was pretty disappointed they didn't have Bun Mang Vit. After eating, we headed back to the hotel and went for a swim. I got a new swim suit.. and was totally eager to get into the jacuzzi outside. I had to wait for the 7 ppl to get out though.

After an hour at the swimming pool.. we headed back. I had to get a white robe shot.. lol

The next morning.. we packed up and checked out. We stopped by the Asian Market and shopped for food and nail supplies for their nail shop.
After eating at a Pho restaurant.. we headed back home.

On our way back.. we stopped by the outlet mall. I made my nephew model the Coach purses...
he was tortured.. I am known for being the aunt that made her nephew played barbies.

The ride back home was long and tiring. My ipod ran out of batteries so I couldn't listen to music to kill time. I slept throughout. I don't know how I did it back then.. taking 6-7 hour road trip from Galveston to New Orleans almost every 2 weeks.

The worst though was going from Boston to North Carolina.. never again.. 13 hours will only be a one time experience.

Hello, Cows.. Moos.. and All!

2010-05-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

Rapid City, South Dakota
In the middle of nowhere..

It's been two weeks since I've been here at my brother's place in SD. The area is pretty peaceful and quiet.. I wish I had this silence in Boston during finals week. It would definitely be better than my karaokeing Asian neighbors. Nice place to relax.

While my brother drove us up this hill to see his plot of land that he just bought for his future dream home..
we came by this field of cows.. and I just HAD to take a pic.

Besides that, my life's been pretty hectic with work and babysitting nephews. Linda and Ryan came here about a week ago with Cody. I started work too.. and it's soooo much better than retail pharmacy. PharMerica service 16 long term care facilities like nursing homes. So at least I don't have patient cursing at me or rushing my pace at work. The people are pretty nice too. I'm definitely reconsidering it.. income from retail work might not be worth the stress.

The living room common area.. with the kitchen and dining table. I'm taking a picture from upstairs looking down.

My temporary bedroom
Staying in one of the extra guest bedrooms. There's like 6 bedrooms in the house plus a down
stair bar with pool table and a theater room in the basement.

I had a hard time sleeping cuz of the mirror facing my bed at night. Plus my mom's superstitions doesn't help me.

I have a routine schedule every morning. Wake up at 6:30am to get ready and eat breakfast. Leave the house at 8am and work till 5pm. Lunch break at 12pm. Get home at 5:30pm.. play with lil hyper till 9pm. Squeeze in dinner between then. Finally, bed time at 10:30pm after shower and talking to D.

Here's a pic of Cu Bi waiting for the school bus in the morning.

Hyper much? Don't let the sleeping bear fool you.
The nephew.. when he's awake.. boy is he hyper. He's been draining my energy like crazy. It's so hard to keep the twerp entertained cuz he gets bored so easily. We have to switch up our games every hour. But I love spending time with him.. since I don't get to spend time with family much because they live so far away. I get excited every time my brother and sis-in-law comes home from work at 7 and I get sad when I accidentally over napped and they all went to bed before I can say hi.

I finally get to be a kid again.. which is always fun. I didn't realize I enjoyed half our games as much as him. With my brother's house.. it's a good place to play hide and seek. We played legos.. which I loved as a kid. Build up a whole army and battled each other by making catapults and flinging marbles at each other. He introduced this online wizard game to me.. which I'm trying to catch up to his level. On our down times.. we'll kick back and relax to a kid movie. I just watched Up.. which I thought was pretty cute and sad. I'm gonna make D watch it with me. hehe

Tonight.. the whole family is taking a 6hr trip to Denver.
My bro travels there twice a year to stock up on Vietnamese food and rice. Gonna stay there for 3 days since we don't have work on Memorial Day. Linda and Ryan already headed there this morning.. so we're gonna meet up with them later. I'll keep you guys updated. Ttyl!

Confidence

2010-05-12T08:58:00.001-07:00

A Woman's Confidence
Instead of striving for perfection.. now I celebrate who I am.. flaws and all.

I just realized that the older I get.. the more sexy and confident I feel. I'm not talking about just the physical aspect.. cuz I know I can look pretty busted on my down days.. but it's the state of mind. Maybe it came with age.. or maybe it's just the experience I've gone through in life. Instead of striving for perfection as I used to.. now I celebrate myself.. flaws and all.

I do realized that not everyone will be accepting of my cons.. but not everyone can be me. I am myself and will always be. Instead of playing catch up and getting a little ahead of myself... I work at my own pace and surround myself with people who appreciate my company and what I can bring to the table. But lately my confidence and happiness is reflecting to the outside and I'm pretty sure people can see it shining through. Makes my company even more pleasant to be around.

For 23 years.. I lived with myself.. I know all my dirty d's and the goody two shoes that I can be. I've broken a lot of rules.. so now I have nothing to really live up to except to just be myself. Now I'm just living through my days trying to enhance what I have. I've met someone who appreciates my company and have enough patience to deal with my craziness. Now more than ever.. I know what I want in life. I don't seek the same things as others.. what they view as being good doesn't really work for me.

I love who I am.. and will no longer scold myself for not being what others want me to be... nor will I hate myself for what I've done in the past. I've done my repentance and paid my dues. My past is who I am.. but my past is not who I will be.

I'm a sexy beast! hehe

Some questions are not meant to be asked.

2010-05-11T18:19:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, you shouldn't ask a question if you won't like the answer.
Don't seek if you'll hate what you find.
Last night, D asked me, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like with one of your male friends?" Shit, I thought.. how do I answer that? Let's see how do I word it nicely so it wouldn't hurt the poor boy. I answered him honestly and said yes.. I have.
I told him that sometimes I do wonder what it would be like if I was their girlfriend.. how would they talk to me.. would they be sweeter.. would it be different? But I'm a curious cat and my mind wonders about many things. For me.. wondering and wanting is two different things. Sometimes, I wonder what it would feel like dying.. but that doesn't mean I want to experience death. As for sexual thoughts, no I haven't. If I do have sexual thoughts.. I usually think about him. He wasn't too comforted by my answer. But what else can I say? He asked for the truth.. and I told him the truth.
Is it wrong for me to wonder about others? Sometimes, I can't control what I think!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like dating one of your friends while you're with someone?

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T10:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!
Fugakyu aka "Foo-Goo-Goo"

Last night I stayed up trying to think of a place for Mother's Day.. My mom can be quite tricky sometimes.
The thing about her is that she doesn't like American food.. unless it's buffet. At first I wanted to take her to a nice restaurant for fine dining.. but I knew she wouldn't like it and would complain that the food is not worth the money.. or that she can always cook better food at home.. So I decided to take her to an Asian place..

Since I've never been to Fugakyu and according to Yelp reviews.. the place has 4 stars with 471 feedbacks..
I decided to give it a try. Plus.. the fact that Huiyi said the place looks nice is a bonus.

My mom and I really liked the ambiance. The decor reminded me of Penang.. except it was much bigger and nicer. I was surprised that we got seats right away.. being that it was Mother's Day.. it wasn't empty.. but it wasn't jammed pack either. I invited my mom's friend to eat with us since they were out doing errands.. so he tagged along.

My mom thought the waitresses looked so adorable in their kimonos. Kinda made me want one myself. Our waitress was pretty cute with her freckles. I had no idea what nationality she was.. but when my mom was asking me "What's House Special" in Viet.. she answered us.. which was a bit surprising.. We later found out that her husband is Vietnamese.

I regretted not taking Huiyi's advice and reserve a big table. I wanted those booths.. but I felt kinda bad that we only had 3 people.. I didn't think it would be fair for the others to hog a nice spot. But it would have been cool.

What we ordered:
I ordered the Spicy Seafood Salad recommended by Huiyi and the waitress.. boy it was DELICIOUS.
One of my favorite. Totally gonna get it the next time around.

We decided to do the lunch specials since my mom doesn't like sushi. Before we even got there.. I already knew what I wanted.. Been craving for the Don Katsu that I tried in NYC with D. So I ended up getting the Pork Katsu. Mom ordered the beef teriyakki bento and her friend ordered the Fugakyu House Special. Out of the three.. I liked mine the best.

In the end.. I ordered a Green Tea ice cream. It was kinda funny cuz the waitress came back and filled my cup with hot green tea. So I got confused.. and wondered if she misheard me. So I decided to order a Red Bean ice cream. Then she came back with Green Tea ice cream.. so I got even more confused.. then she finally came back with Red Bean.. I ended up with 2 ice creams. -_-

Mommy & I
My phone camera's not that bad.. I returned my other Samsung camera cuz I'll always be a Canon lover at heart.
Can't do Samsung.. so gonna save up.. For the time being.. I'll just stick to my HTC.

We totally covered the water fountain.. LOL
My mom wanted to take a picture sitting down cuz she doesn't like the contrast between my height and hers. haha.
I like towered over her. I got it from my dad.

Overall.. I had a good time.. so I'm definitely going to come back..
Maybe I should take D here next time when he comes to visit.

So how was your Mother's Day?

HTC Hd2 Phone
So mom said I've been going crazy and stressing out about school. Guess her and her friend decided to treat me to a new phone. But I am no longer Verizon.. switched to Tmobile. But I have unlimited minutes and internet.. so feel free to bust my phone.

I feel like it's kinda a waste since I don't really know how to use all the available functions.
I'm having a hard time trying to add ebooks and download games and music. Don't know how to put it in. I'm so technologically challenged. lol I never really cared much for fancy phones though. Usually all I need is text.. call.. speakerphone and maybe a camera.. oh and games are a plus.

Would you rather have a nice phone but an "Okay" service..
or an "Okay" phone but good service?

Milly's 23rd Bday

2010-05-08T12:09:00.001-07:00

Olive Garden
Michelle's Early Birthday Celebration

Since I'm leaving to South Dakota next week, the group decided to celebrate Milly's birthday 2 weeks early this year.
Came up to visit me around finals week and went to Olive Garden.

The food at Olive Garden can be so filling. I can get full off of the appetizer. Didn't even finish my entree.

Had a bit of Moscato wine... it was delicious. Too bad they don't sell that exact type around here.

Milly's and Emma.. The girl is getting BIG. I told her parents that my nephew will line up to date her when she's 18. I don't think Alex will ever let her date period. LOL He said..all he asks is that she brings the boy home to meet him first.. then he'll be more willing.

"Don't laugh when you see me.. or else you'll owe me a drink", she said.
I had no idea what Kara had meant.. until I got to the place and saw her make up. I almost choked from laughing.. trying to hold it in. She reminded me of those Spanish Brooklyn girls. All she needed was big ass hoop earrings. lol

The Ladies
I guess this will be our last get together before I come back. South Dakota is going to be sooooo boring. -_-

One more week, then I'm off to South Dakota for my internship. I'm a bit nervous since it's been a while since I worked and I feel like now I really have to put my pharmacology knowledge to test. Living with my brother for a month will have lots of restraints too. He's prolli going to have lots of comments about what I wear. lol Oh well.. a brother will always be a brother.

He said he's going to teach me how to drive. I'm like YIKES.. I've seen him get impatient with my nephew. I hope he doesn't yell.. cuz I can't work under pressure. Don't laugh... I still haven't gotten my license yet. Boston subway system spoiled me rotten haha. How did I ever survive? I get nervous behind the wheel. Hopefully I won't run over any old ladies. But then again.. the most harm I can do in SD is run over a cow. It's so empty there.. perfect place to practice.

Wish me luck!

P.S. I know I've been MIA cuz of finals.. That last week was one of my craziest ever. Hopefully the next one won't be as bad. I nearly died. Lots of stress.. tears.. no eat.. barely slept. I'll prolli die at an early age before I even graduate. But starting summer.. I'll have more time to update. If work doesn't get in the way.

Tracie's Bday Weekend

2010-04-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

Lucky Star failed me twice!
I honestly don't know if I'll take a Chinatown bus again. Such a waste of time for $15.. should just pay that extra $5 and go on Bolt.
Had to wait an hour and half on highway for new bus to come pick us up. People were getting fed up.

Got to Chinatown around 9:30pm and headed to Koreatown to meet up with D. He dropped off his car in the garage and then we headed over to Third World Cafe for some drinks. Bumped into an old friends of his, John, who was dating a Filipino girl.. he made a joke about Koreans going for Non-Koreans nowadays and flashed me a smile. LOL.. great..

Got a Malibu Bay Breeze and a lemon drop shot.. somehow they gave it to us for free. Think cuz we tipped them well. After our drinks.. we headed out to Players to get our grub on. D was feeling hungry and I only had a Whopper the whole day.

When we walked in.. the security guy didn't check my ID.
Thought it was a sign that I was getting old until D told me he knew the guy. haha. Whew!

He ordered us some pork stuff with salad and french fries.
Something different from our typical Korean food. I liked it.

After dinner.. we stopped by Pink Berry to get some desserts. I've been telling D I wanted to treat him to some frozen yogurt.. since he never had any before. What kind of a Korean is he!? He liked it. I loved the mochi. Fed him while heading home.

Got stuck in traffic for a little bit. Tried testing out my camera while we were waiting.

The next day.. I waited around the house while D was working.
We headed out when he got home and went to Haru Hana in Koreatown for some sushi.

Haru Hana
I was supposed to meet up with Tracie at 10:30pm at Hiro.. so we had to hurry and rush our eating..

I kinda liked the decor there. It was cute.. too bad I couldn't take more pictures.. the flash was annoying me..
still can't work the camera yet and I didn't want to look too touristy. haha

Still waiting for our food... Whatever the hell that sauce is.. it was so damn goooood. I basically killed every tiny piece of it.
Would have licked the bowl if I could.

Spicy Tuna Sushi Roll
This thing had me chugging the damn glass of Green Tea. Apparently, I suck at eating spicy food even though I like it. And you would think after dating Hue.. I would get better at it.

This was definitely my most favorite. Kinda similar to the pork I ate the day before at Players except the outside was much crunchier.. paired with the sesame sauce.. voila! YUMMY!

Got myself some fried shrimp.. sweet potatoes and mushrooms.. tastes good with the sesame sauce.

We totally killed it. Or at least I did. I was so full by the end of the meal..

After our dinner.. we headed out to the car and sat there for a little bit to say goodbye.
Man it was hard. It's my least favorite part of the day. It breaks my heart each time I had to leave him.

Tracie's My Hiro

Got me a taxi to go to Hiro. Came right in time to see the whole gang waiting there in line.
After dropping off my luggage in Steph's car.. we headed inside.

Birthday girl and I.. this is a before picture of us when we were sober.. believe.. it did not last long. -_-

Jo got a glass of Malibu Bay Breeze.. I had my cup of lemon drop and Steph had Gin and Tonic.

Max and Tracie

It started with a kiss..

I gotta say. I feared for his life that night.. I forgot exactly what happened.. but at one point.. and turned around and saw him leaned in and planted one big ass kiss on Jo's cheeks.. We all paused there for a second in shock.. and next thing you know.. u saw Joanne's body and hands flying towards his neck.. choking the kid to death..

I had to jump in and hold Joanne back. Everyone was just laughing.. still in shock.. Jo and I was struggling and fell against these group of Asians who were looking at us weirdly. I gotta say.. he was one brave kid.. and actually survived that night haha.

Steph and her brother
It was my first time meeting him.

Our table.. we didn't even make use of this one. Everyone was hanging out at the other table.

That night.. Wade kepting pouring up drinks.. he filled my glass halfway up with Vodka and then some OJ.. paired up with some of Joanne's Malibu and my lemon drop.. I was knocked out. I don't know what's wrong with me.. on my bday... I drank a lot more.. Couldn't handle it that night.

Cover Guy and I
(Don't ask.. it's an inside joke)
Along with JT (Justin Timberlake)

Downstairs.. the group were dancing.. barely saw bday girl that night.. she was busy getting her grind on while I was running around trying to contain myself.. dodging Wade's drinks and stupid horny ass Indian guys..

The Girls

All Sweats and Balls

At one point.. I found myself caught in between Joanne.. our lounger.. and trapped under two Indian guys.. who was rubbing their ass and balls on my legs... and me trying to push them off.. One of them grabbed Steph and knocked her down onto me and went in from behind her.. Honestly.. I don't mind dancing.. but when the lines blur between dry humping and just fun dancing.. I get pretty pissed off.

Luckily, Max was there.. helped me out a couple of times whenever a creeper came close.. haha

In the middle of the night.. Ryan asked Jo and I to come out and help his guy friends in cuz they needed an equal girl to guy ratio. Next thing you know.. I had to come back out to help two other strangers in.. but they ended up ditching me cuz I took too long to come out. lol

Back upstairs.. I was getting pretty dizzy and feeling nausea. I could barely keep my eyes open. After visiting the bathroom.. I asked Steph to take me out to the car so I can rest. Was suppose to be a 30min break.. I ended up sleeping for an hour and 40mins.. Totally passed out. Jo said ppl were lookin for me and asking where I was.

When I finally woke up.. found Steph and Jo coming in. I was wide awake and then we all headed over to Koreatown.. yes.. again.. lol

Wanted to go to Pacha 32 but the wait was too long.. so we ended up eating somewhere else.

I absolutely love pickled stuff.. and damn Jo got me hooked onto Kim Chi.

Barely got to touch my food.. in the middle of the dinner.. I turned around and found out my bowl disappeared..
freakin ppl took it away before I could even finished it.

After dinner.. Steph drove Jo and I back to Brooklyn. We laid in bed till 8am talking.. and I think I fell asleep on her.. feel so bad.. Didn't wake up till 3:30pm.. Took the 6:30pm bus back to Boston and mom came to pick me up. It was a long tiring weekend.. and will not be my last. haha

Nitro vs Duck Egg

2010-04-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

Yankees vs Red Sox
I can't believe I just took that bet...

Of course being from Boston and he's from NY.. I let my pride get the best of me.. Oh please please Red Sox.. please win tonight!! I don't wanna ride on the Nitro roller coaster!! I'm scared of heights!!!

Shouldn't have taken the bet.. argh! FML

A lesson to remember

2010-04-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

My first horrible Ebay experience

Back in February, I was looking all over for a nice dress to wear on my birthday. I found a gorgeous satin, black vintage dress that looked clean cut and classic on Ebay. I bid and won, then made my payment on February 2, 2010. A few days later, Pay Pal sent me an email, stating that the item has been shipped out on Feb. 8 by Priority Mail (2-3 days) with a tracking number.

Almost two weeks had passed by and I haven't received it. I emailed the seller on Feb. 23 to ask about the item. The seller said she had sent out the item a long time ago and that she would look into it and will contact me back. In the meantime, I called USPS to ask about the package. They said the system showed that the shipping label has been printed but it didn't mean the item had actually been shipped. They said that there is nothing on the system that showed the item has even been registered. I contacted the seller again on Feb. 26 to tell her what happened and asked for a refund. She said she'll look into it some more and if nothing goes through, that she will refund me the money.

On March 10, the seller emailed me and said she still haven't seen anything and asked if I received the item yet. In my head, I was thinking 'Wtf is going on?? Why is she stalling??? Wasn't it clear that I probably would never receive the item?!'

To do or not to do...???

At this point, I still didn't understand why won't she just give me back my refund money. It's been more than a month and the deadline to resolve the issue though Ebay was coming close. Was she trying to string me along, making me thinking she'll look into it until it was too late to do anything?

Huiyi told me, "You gotta be firm. You said her rating is 100% positive... so threaten her that you'd leave a negative feedback if she doesn't give you a refund." But I figured, maybe I'll just be nice and give her some time. Maybe she'll come through.. don't want to ruin her spotless ratings.

I emailed her on March 21st and told her that I still haven't received the package and would like a refund. At this point, I was getting really tired with the way she was putting the issue off and the going back and forth.

No reply back. I started to panic. I emailed her again on March 30th, thinking maybe she was busy or was on a vacation so she couldn't reply. Gave her some time, yet no response back.

Finally, I gave her a call with the number she had given me a while back.. operator said "the phone number is temporarily disconnected". I panicked. Screw me.. I should have went through Ebay disputer a long time ago. Now the 45 days deadline had passed! FML!!

Sometimes, you just gotta be the bad guy...

In the end, I ended up giving her a negative feedback, thinking "Darn.. now she really won't give me the refund". My last hope was my credit card company. I filed a dispute, thinking maybe.. just maybe I'll get the money back..

An hour later.. I received an email from the seller saying that she had been crazy busy and was sorry for the whole ordeal. Said she just sent me a full complete refund and specifically asked me to revise the negative feedback.

I was like Wtf??????????? That's all it took?

Maybe Huiyi was right.. if I had threatened or scared her a bit.. maybe she wouldn't have taken her damn sweet time to issue me a refund. Took advantage of my nice-ness, damn her! Should have done that in the very beginning.

Lesson learned..

P.S. Remember to watch out for deadlines.. don't be too nice the next time around.

A Twenty Third Affair

2010-03-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to Me?
New York City, here I am!
It was a pretty chaotic day. The plan was to meet up everyone at South Station at 10am. Si and Kara called me last minute and said they weren't going. Huiyi missed the bus by like 2 mins.. so she had to catch the next one at 10:30am.. and I bumped into Sharon on the Fung Wah (Lucky Star was canceled). When we got to Chinatown, it was around 2:15pm.. Sharon and I separated so I could go to Williamsburg to get the keys and check in. First I was lost around C-town trying to find the damn station on Canal Street. I was so used going the Lucky Star way.

121 Henry Street Apt. 1
New York, NY 10002

When I got to Williamsburg.. it was around 3pm.. I walked around and around and around in circles trying to find the damn office. Turns out it was right next to the station. However, when I got there.. there was a note saying they moved the office to a new location. So there I went.. going around in circles again. Finally I found the office. When I got there.. I had to wait for a good 15 to 20 mins because this couple was arguing and complaining to the hotel representatives.. Finally the guy came over to me and let me check in. I asked him about the complimentary ride back to my hotel.. and he was like sorry that's for 4 nights min. only.. they I put on my puppy face and begged him to let me have the ride cuz I've been walking around all day. So he was like "ok.. just please don't tell my boss I did this!"

When I got to the place.. I got stuck outside for another 15 mins cuz I didn't know how to work the keys. Finally at 4:30pm I was able to get in.

Next Thu and Loc arrived with Grey Goose and my Moscato. Then finally, Sharon, Huiyi, Joanne, Kev, Joey and Michelle came.
Everyone went to pick a room and get situated while we wait for more ppl to come.

"So.. where's your lover boy?"
"What lover boy?"
"Iono.. your blow up doll lover boy?"

Room Service
166 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011

Around 6pm.. we all headed out to Room Service to get our grub on. The F line was running express.. so we had to switch over a couple of times.. feeling lost and touristy.
Kev and Joey went shopping.. Joanne went back home to get ready... and the rest went to eat. We had to walk six extra blocks to get to our place.

The place looked cute.. not as cute as I had hoped.. but cute enough.. there were stand alone doors served as dividers and the chandelier added a nice touch.
The food was pretty good.. the tuna tartare could be better.. but everyone seemed to enjoy their food.
I thought Loc's funky ass Room Service Pad Thai was interesting.

Thu was checking out the gay guys behind our table.. she said she saw them walking into the ladies room.
It kinda caused a whole mixed up confusion about which bathroom we were suppose to go in. Sharon ended up going to the men's room.

I felt bad for Loc cuz we had him snap away our pictures left and right. We should pay him by the hour haha.

Huiyi and I were checking out the waiters.. they were pretty cute.. except.. we couldn't tell if they were gay or not. LOL

Once we finished eating.. we all headed back to the hotel and got ready. D finally arrived and I introduced them to the boys. So they were all downstairs hitting it off about sports and drinking beer while us ladies stayed upstairs.

As usual.. snapping away with the cameras... who would have thought this would be my last few moments with my cam

Someone's trying to hide away from the camera.. haha

<3<3<3

My Moscato! Finally my love!
I swear I've been searching for this wine ever since my last trip to NYC with Tracie.. I know they sell it everywhere.. but there was a specific kind I wanted.
Thu and Loc got me the wine and so I decided to open it up to share with everyone. I think the ladies liked it.

The boys rejected the "light girly" drink and took the Grey Goose instead. LOL

"Happy Birthday, Ngoc!!" **Cheers**

Steph and the rest came by around 10:30 to pick up Sharon. The rest of us didn't leave until 11pm.
I was so scared that we wouldn't make it before 12am. Luckily we all did.

As Thu had said,
"Will you be my Hiro?"
There were 8 girls and 4 guys with us... more came later. Tracie had helped with the guest list a couple of nights before..
Told me to either mention Liz or Wade.. Turns out it was under Elizabeth.

"Are you on the guestlist?"
"Yes! Liz!"
"We don't have a Liz..."
"Ok fine.. umm.. Wade?"
"Ok.. you're in."

The first hour.. the place wasn't as packed yet. Ppl didn't start coming in until later.
D bought all 8 of us a shot of Patron.. You know me.. gotta have my Patron.

The music was kinda old school at first.. I didn't like the house trance music.. it didn't get hip hoppy until later..
which was good.. cuz that's when we all started getting tipsy. I know I did.

Milly and I were running around dancing together. Some Indian guy said he'd buy us a drinks until D came over.. and he gave us the death stare.. haha
But it was pretty funny seeing Milly all scandalous for one night.. I guess she did a good job being Ms. Kara for me for one day Let's feed her more Patron!

Tracie introduced me to Wade.. one of the promoters.. and thank god they took good care of us that night. We got a table and drinks and stuff..
I'm so thankful! I was scared the girls would die in their heels.. You're the best!

I think this was when Huiyi started feeling the alcohol and passed out on the sofa.. It's all good.

Miriam and Vicky came!

I honestly don't remember how much I drank that night. Every single person I met..
I was saying Happy Birthday to them and drank.. I remember that much.

Got to meet some cool ass ppl... Hank and my Vietnamese girls.

This is too funny!
Tom giving me a birthday lap dance.

Huiyi's caption: "The man and woman in this picture prefers not being identified for their behaviors that night.
Too bad this girl knows the lady in question. EXPOSE!"
LOL I'm so sorry, T! >_<

At this point, I think everyone was feeling frisky. Love Huiyi's face expression!

Girls gone wild night!

I think it was getting late.. we were all going haywired! Look at the expressions!

LOLOL! Thu and Loc.. no wonder they're a couple.. lol

Yea.. lots of middle fingers going on that night.. Kev was definitely feeling it.. I think if he drank anymore.. he would pass out.

I think Joey was like the only guy that actually danced.. everyone just drank.. Actually.. I think he and Kev went up to some Indian girls to hit on them. lol..
Get your mack on!

"Wait? Who are you??"
Everything was such a blur..
I was pretty out of it. I can't really remember the specific details that night. I remember glimpse.. moments bits and pieces.. but I can't connect how I got from point A to point B.. I can't even remember how ppl looked until I saw the pictures again. I couldn't even remember the promoters.. or even Paul who came to wish me a Happy Birthday. I'm horrible. But on a brighter note.. thanks everyone who came! I really do appreciate it!

"D.. I think I'm dizzy"
"Ok.. why don't you sit down?"
"D.. I think I'm dizzy"
"Yea I know.. stop dancing.. don't move"
"No D.. I think I'm dizzy"
LOL

Koreatown
"Where we first met..."
As usual.. went back to K-town to eat.. I swear.. that's like the spot every time we decide to go eat.. It was kinda funny watching Kev eat.. I don't know if he tried Korean food before or if he was drunk.. but he was pointing at everything asking what's this!? What's that? Is it good? I like free food! lol

We were all pretty tired. I swear half of us would fall asleep onto our plates.

By the time we were done.. there was still a lot of food left.. we were too damn tired to eat.

At this point.. this was when I found out I lost my camera. I don't know how it happened.. but boy did it hurt. It hurts like a bitch. It was only 3 months old. I bought it last time for New Years cuz I broke my first one. It was shiny spanking new.. I called Hiro a couple of times.. but no one found anything. I loved that camera.. it was so tiny and small.. that's what I get for buying a black one. D kept telling me to not worry about it. But I was pretty bummed..

Buh bye Canon SD780. I loved you.

"Fcuk Yeah!"
I'm good. lol. So rocker Thu!
I wonder how her hair fell apart.. where's the clip??

The next day.. we all woke up around 9:30am and got ready and cleaned up. Luckily I didn't have to troop back to the office to drop off my keys..
I just left it on the table and locked the door on our way out.

Sambucas
The next morning.. we all went to grab coffee and some breakfast.. While Huiyi, D and I went to eat at Sambucas.. the rest went to Dunkin Donuts and played ball.
I heard they killed em.. but Kev said they were 14 yrs olds. lol

Look what Thu caught! Street sign!

We all didn't leave until around 2-3pm. Had to wait around a bit for Milly's group to finish up eating and pick up their car from the garage. I didn't get back home till like 6 or 7pm.
It was a crazy fun weekend. I missed New York already. Boston is not big enough for me anymore.

Despite me losing my camera.. and saying good byes.. I am pretty happy for the moment. I had all my friends there.. except Kara and Si.. but everyone helped me make up for it. I was in NYC.. having a good time.. and I had friends who took good care of me. So overall.. it was a swell ass birthday!

Even though the Chinese signs says this year is my unlucky year.. let's hope my friends and family help me get through it. Tee hee hee.

I'm thankful.

Just wanna take the time out to say thank you guys for all the birthday wishes.. Thank you Julie for the Puerto Rico trip and letting me stay at your house..
Thank you for those who came out to NYC from Boston and RI.. and those in NYC.. Miriam, Vicky, Paul.. also.. thanks Huiyi, Michelle, Thu, Loc, Kev, and Joey for helping chip in for the hotel.. and thanks for the dinner at Room Service.. Thanks Thu and Loc for the Moscato and Grey Goose and the ride back home.. I appreciate it.
Thanks Tracie for doing the guest list.. and big thanks to Tom and Wade for the drinks, table and for taking care of our group at the club.. Thanks Steph and Chris for the restaurants and club suggestions.. Thanks D for the late night dinner, shots and the present.. and thanks Kara for my awesome white dress.. Thanks for all the old and new wonderful faces I've met this weekend..

Hope you all had a blast! =]

First Blog Award

2010-03-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Blog award:
Wow.. I'm pretty psyched.. I think this is my first award ever..
I feel so giddy and honored.. Thank you, Serena! I feel like such a kid! =]

- Post award on your blog

- Link the person who has given you the award

- Pass the award to 15 other blogs you've newly discovered

- Remember to contact the bloggers you've nominated.

I nominate these 15 blogs that I discovered:
1. Jupiter Heels
2. Swag Haven
3. The Versa Style
4. Chic in the Tropics
5. Extra Petite
6. Clever Memories
7. The Bliss List
8. The F World Online
9. Lainey Turns the Camera On
10. Asymmetricera
11. A Pinch of Style
12. Petite Elegant
13. Raspberry Jam
14. Good Girl Gone Blogged
15. Genetic Boi

This is in no particular order.

I wish I could nominate more.. there were a few more I wanted to pick but I tried to stick with those who doesn't seem to have this award already or is on the DL. lol
-_-

San Juan - Part 3

2010-03-21T15:53:00.001-07:00

Viejo San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
After the beach, we drove to Old San Juan to chill for the day.

Passed by some few old old buildings and fortress.. Too bad I didn't have time to go into the El Morro... I think that's what it's called.

Water Fountain in Old San Juan
This was where Xi and I later made a wish with "receipts" since Asian ppl can't afford nickels.. lol Let's hope I passed my exams..
Maybe the fountain God thinks we're too cheap and gonna fail me.

While walking around.. we passed by one of the alleyways near Nuyorican Cafe.. and caught a glimpse of the curly haired bouncer from the night before.. We started giggling a mile a minute when we realized he saw us too.. so embarrassing.. prolli thought we stalked him.

Blizz Frozen Yogurt
Our first stop was to get some frozen yogurt at Blizz. It tasted so good.. made me miss Yo Berry in Boston. Too bad they didn't have mochi.
The passion fruit was yummy.. yet sour.

After a failed attempt with my timer camera.. some girl offered to take a pic for us.

Julie and I shared one.. we totally killed it. I find it much more fun eating with ppl than alone.

After Blizz.. we walked around Old San Juan for a couple of hours.. stopping by gift shops and souvenirs places...

I saw a couple of Asians around.. thought that was pretty hilarious when they spoke Spanish.
Come on now.. an Asian.. speaking Spanish?

I really love these old colorful buildings..

Haitian Gallery???
I can't remember...
But I love the paintings though. Too bad I live too far away or else I would have bought one.

Old Churches
I'm not Christian.. but I have a thing for old churches.. I love the feeling of being in it.
Hopefully one day I'll get to go to those really big big old cathedrals.

Wall mural on our way in.

"You smoke cigar???"
Bought my first cigar ever. The man asked me if I smoked cigar.. looking all surprised.. I said nooo.. it's a gift for a friend.

"We have Dominican Republic.. and Puerto Rican cigars.."
"Which one do you recommend?"
"Puerto Rican.. of course!"

I loved this wooden door.. So I just had to take a pic with my new cigar.. haha

While walking.. I found a private alleyway in one of the buildings.. The door was semi opened.. So I snuck a picture..
I wonder what it looked like inside.. From the outside it looks pretty small.. but the buildings are more spacious than you think.

Found like 4/5 stray cats walking and lying around. I wanted to pet it so bad.

By this point.. the sun was going down and the shops were starting to close around 6pm in time for the clubs to start opening.

When Julie and I was walking passed this place, we saw this really nice colorful building with pretty looking magenta flowers contrasting against the color..
Our heart stopped.I so badly wanna live in one of these places.

Saw this tiny ass Smart car.. just had to take a picture of it. It was really tiny. Perfect for parallel parking in Boston.

At this point.. Julie was really craving for coffee and some snacks.

Raices
We finally found a place to eat.. stopped in to get our grub on.. I was pretty hungry cuz the last time we ate was morning at Julie's Gram's house.

I thought the decor was pretty creative and cute.. Felt pretty cozy.

My passion fruit drink with Julie's water. I swear I killed it. I was sooooo thirsty. Brain freeze!

Bathroom Sink
Weird looking water pump.. I had to push the lever for the stream of water to come out.

The woven seats kinda hurt a bit.. It was rubbing against my sunburn. At this point.. I started feeling itchy and pain..

I forgot what this was called.. but Julie said something fried plantines???

I liked it better in the sauce...

Mofongo
I had my first mofongo ever. It was good.. but the saltiness made me even more thirsty..
we order the salty garlic one instead of the Creole style.

After dinner.. we stopped by a coffee place and Julie ordered a $1.65 coffee.. Starbucks can't beat that. lol
The Asian boy working there was speaking Spanish.. Once again.. weird... but cool.

Old San Juan Nighttime
We got back to the house and got ready. That's when I noticed that I really had a sunburn.. Julie and her Grams had to rub lotion on my body.. It was painful showering.

First we stopped by Tio Danny's to check out the place.. we didn't really like the vibe.. even though the crowd was younger and hipper.. I didn't like the dark scenery and it was too crowded... So we went back to Nuyorican Cafe.. and guess who we saw again.. that cute curly haired bouncer that Julie was swooning over.. I nudge her to make a move again.. she said later..
"WHEN IS LATER, WOMAN??!!"

While standing at the bar.. I saw these Asian guys and some white girls ordering some shots.. so I asked them what drink is that.
They said Lemon drops.. next thing you know.. I made some Asian friends. lol. One is Korean from Jersey (Denny) and the other is Chinese from Virginia (Xi).They all came down from DC.
I swear Koreans love to drink or something.. he kept coming back with more beers and alcohol.. even when we were leaving.. Marc.. Xi and I chugged our beers.

I think Julie was getting tipsy.. after all they did buy us a couple of shots.. one after the other.. Thank god I wasn't feeling lightweight that day.

"Where are you from?"
"Boston.."
"Why is everyone from Boston!!?"

Turns out there were some white girls from Babson College.. they were pretty cute.. meet this adorable girl named Angela.. got her number.. she was so funny..
"If any of them try anything frisky with you.. you come and tell me.. You can come back to our hotel instead!"

I was so mad that my camera battery died and Julie forgot hers in the car.. Couldn't take a picture of everyone..

Julie teaching Xi how to salsa.. while Marc and I did our little hip moves.. lol

Xi introduced us to his friend Christian who was half white and half Mexican.. gave her a good time lol

It was kinda funny when Julie dropped her wine glass.. The bartender Ian came over to clean up.. and Xi was like "Run Liz Run! They're gonna think the Asians did it!"
I was like, "It's too late.. they recognized me.. I bought that drink for her.. plus.. I came here yday.. they recognized me by now."

MoAli and Marc
"Mo as in Mohammed Ali."
"Oooo so you're an Arab? I got some two cute Arabic girls for you..."
We exchanged numbers so I can put in a few good words for him.. haha.. BU medical student.. perfect for Nawal.. haha

Marc was so fun. we kept sneaking pictures of Julie and Christian.. and recommended me some fun places in NYC..

After 2 or 3 hours.. we all decided to go back to their hotel and hit up the downstairs club.. We getting to the hotel took a while since we were all just standing around in the alleyway in front of Nuyorican Cafe talking to ppl. I saw the curly haired PR bouncer again.. and this time.. I asked him to take a picture with me and Julie.. I just had to do it for her.. since she won't do it herself. Julie was a bit shocked and had on this happy girlish look. Turns out his name was Louise. So cute.. He gave me a kiss on the hands and cheek. Felt his rugged beard rub against my face.. LOL His friend gave me a kiss on the hand too.

By this time.. Julie was getting tipsy and talkative. She was talking to some guy and I walked up and told them straight out to exchange numbers.. so they did. I swear it was like another party in the alley. We had to pour our beers into cups cuz we weren't allowed to hold bottles outside. Christian and some other guy were doing the fishing move.Angela was drunk. We took some pictures with Ian.. and I told him sorry for dropping the glass.. he was like no no its ok! It's my job!

After we left the place.. the boys bought a cab for the other girls to go back.. and then the rest headed back to the hotel for some more clubbing. When we got there.. there was no one.. and the bathroom was flooded. So we just went up to watch the view and drink. Xi and I sat and played with the iPhone for a bit.. testing to see how weird our music taste can get.. When we went and got some ice.. stopped by outside the beach and there was a swimming pool. I dared Xi to jump in but he wouldn't. Bummer.

"I have to make sure I can get back to the parking lot at 5:30am to pick up the car and go straight to the airport in time for my flight at 7:30am!"
"Sure sure.. I promise.. if I have to paddle you back to America.. I will."

It was crazy.. I was totally pushing it.. We had to rush back to Old San Juan parking lot.. pick up the car.. and then straight to the airport.. no sleep. Christian fell asleep on the way and later Julie had to drop them back off at the hotel. It was one long crazy night..

Delayed. Delayed. Canceled.
Ok.. so my first stop was in Washington Dulles.. my flight got delayed cuz it was raining hard in NYC..

Then when I got to NYC around 5pm.. Boston was raining too hard so my flight got canceled for a couple of hours till 9pm... finally they announced that the runway instrument in Logan Airport broke down.. so there were no flights into Boston.. Basically.. I had to sleep at La Guardia airport for the night. I debated about taking the taxi to Chinatown and take the Fung Wah home.. but I only had $9 in my pocket.. and I didn't know if there were any train into Chinatown from there. Also.. the last bus was at 11pm.. I didn't know if I would make it.

The Terminal Part 2
Since my next flight in the morning was 10am.. I had 12 hours to kill. Well.. Like I promised some ppl.. I will do it The Terminal style.. the airport passed out cots and blankets and pillows for everyone to sleep. There were like 40-50 ppl in that long hallway.. all lined up the cots against the walls..

Homeless for the night. I felt like I was in boot camp. The girls were all taking pictures.. I thought it was hilarious that I was sleeping in the airport like it was my college dorm.

The cop and security guard came by and was like "Good night ladies!"

I swear this was the weirdest experience I've ever had.. what a crazy night.. at this point.. I was running on 48 hours of non-sleep.
In the middle of the night.. I woke up to go to the bathroom.. I nearly peed in my pants.. I told myself.. don't buy a house as big as an airport..
I DO NOT want to peed in my pants each time I try to make it to the bathroom.

The next morning.. I woke up around 6:30am.. and went back to B terminal to catch my flight.. I was on standby for 9am and got a ticket for 10am.. didn't make it to either. The runway instrument was still down and my flight got delayed till 12pm. Finally made it on the flight and got back to Boston around 1pm. I swear I was dead tired. Been up from the Saturday night partying straight through to the airport.. then flew out of PR at 7:30am Sunday morning and didn't get back till Monday midday.

This was definitely an experience to remember. I had such a great time though. Julie had fun. Met a lot of crazy interesting ppl.
Hopefully next Spring Break will be just as fun.. minus the sunburn and the flight delayed part.. and that Terminal camp out.. once is enough.