Haunted Hallow's Eve

Happy Halloween everyone or rather have a HAUNTED Halloween! Haha. Most people in my office are dressed up today and Google is throwing a huge party this afternoon. YAY!

Well, last weekend was a success! Flora came and visited and we did fun things like play board games and watch TV. HAHA. I'm only half kidding. Friday, I picked Flora and Derrick up from the airport and brought them to Google, where we stayed for the entire afternoon. I gave them the tour and then we just sat around and talked until TGIF! I made them drink sangria with me and introduced them to other Googlers. Later, Derrick's friend, Tim, joined us for dinner at Amber India, which I've been meaning to try. Even though we waited almost an hour, the food was pretty delicious especially the Butter Chicken (very similar to Chicken Tikka Masala). I wanted to take Flora to Santana Row afterwards, but we were full and lazy. We played Catch Phrase and called it a night.

Saturday was more of an adventure. We woke up and ate an early lunch at The Counter at Santana Row before going to the Winchester Mystery House! So, it's not a spooky, haunted house, but it's just a weird house. The tour lasted more than an hour and we were told that we walked more than a mile. Craziness. Later on, we watched the pathetic Cal game at the local sports bar and headed up to SF in costume! We ended up at a house party and then walked the streets of SF, scouring for bars. We were at Holy Cow, then Icon. All in all, a completely wild night of crazy costumes. Don't make me show you a costume of GEO!!!

Sunday was pretty boring. We ate at PALACE Korean BBQ Buffet (for the 3rd time this month) and then we played Scene It at my apartment. I took Flora and Derrick to the airport later and that was the end of, yet another, albeit fun, weekend.

Drumroll, Please

FLORA is finally coming to visit this weekend. She'll be staying with MOI! How exciting. This is the first time in 2+ years that Flora has been in the Bay Area. Craziness. Anyways, it should be an event-packed weekend. I'm picking Flora and Derrick up at San Jose Airport tomorrow at 2ish and then I'm taking them to Google! I swear that they came earlier just to see Google. I'll let them stick around while I finish my work up. Friday night agenda is South Bay. I think we're going to a party or two in the area. Nothing too crazy now. We have to save energy for the next day. So, Saturday, the plan is to hang out in SF. There are a few parties going on at night, so we'll be decked out in our costumes for that! And then, Sunday, we'll probably just stick around South Bay again. Maybe a little Valley Fair, some Santana Row before they take off to sucky SoCal again.

I'll update with many pictures (hopefully).

Mid-Week Blues

It's Wednesday and I have a case of the mid-week blues. Bleh. Apparently, I look "tired and haggard", so maybe some sleep will do me some good. I just threw this picture because we're holding big mugs of beers and that usually cheers me up. That was from last week's Thursday (GASP!) night excursion to Dave & Buster's in Milpitas. A whole lotta fun... I miss those carefree nights.

Anyways, I'm approaching my last day at Google. It's coming at me fast, so I'm doing the whole job search thing again. I'm feeling rushed, but at the same time, I don't really need a job right away, so I should really chill out. No one is really hiring at this timIe in the year and when I do start, I'll have only a couple of weeks before I take off to HK!!! So, it'll be ok to take a month off then go on vacation. I just want to have a job by the time I get back!!! Help!!!

Abbreviated Matchbox

Matchbox Twenty was at Google today!!! They talked about their new album and how they're using new technology to sell albums. Blah blah blah. But, they DID perform some good songs... acoustic versions of "Push" and "How Far We've Come"! I can't stop listening to them now...

Lazy Weekend

I spent almost the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing. Nothing but relaxation at its finest. How lucky am I!!! I surprisingly stayed in Friday and Saturday night! Instead of partying, clubbing, drinking, socializing, etc., I went through a How I Met Your Mother Season 2 dvd marathon. Hehe. Sadly, I didn't finish yet because I just kept falling asleep really early. Slightly pathetic. Good news though, I was mildly productive this weekend.

Stef and Ruby let me tag along their dinner date at Cascal's in Mountain View. The best tapas place in the South Bay. No joke. We had sangria, but not normal boring red wine sangria, but SPARKLING wine sangria. It was seriously delicious and just tasted like fruit soda. Very very dangerous if you ask me. After dinner, we just came back to the apartment and watched Harry Potter on the Disney channel. Sidenote: did you hear that Dumbledore is GAY? That's awesome. I like how J.K. Rowling puts so much thought into her characters. I guess that explains a lot. I <3 Harry Potter!!! Anyways, when the movie ended around 11pm, I just got into bed with my laptop and HIMYM dvds and started to watching. It wasn't before long that I just passed out. Craziness.

On Saturday, I got up bright and early to drive to SF for my third attempt at getting a haircut at Oxenrose. Third time really is the charm and yes, I finally got a nice haircut. It's not drastic, so you might not even notice it. Fine with me. I was getting mad split ends and it was getting to thick and heavy to handle. Jenelle gave me some long layers and some movement. She was very nice and talked to me the entire time. A real talker. Haha. Afterwards, I met up with Christina and Pam for a short but sweet shopping excursion in Union Square before we hit up LaBelle Spa for massages! It was my first time and definitely very painful. I am even a bit sore today. I don't know if I am a massage person. I don't really like being touched (if I got a male masseuse, I would've freaked out and left) and I'm really ticklish, which my masseuse noticed right away. Pam's masseuse suggested that she do yoga to stretch out the knots in her back. I think that's all I need, is to do some yoga instead of having someone elbow in the back every so often. Yoga is probably more productive.

I got home around dinnertime and was starving. So, we went to Palace BBQ Buffet. It was about a 40 minute wait, but well worth it. I stuffed my face with my favorite Korean meats and now I will not have a Korean BBQ craving for the next month. YAY! So you can imagine that after dinner, I just had meat coma and was useless for the rest of the night.

There you have it... what an exciting weekend! It looks like Sunday will really just be an extension of Saturday night. That equals me napping all day. Hehe.

***Oooh, this post marks the most posts for the month of October since I started this blog! Excellent! See??? I do update this thing!***

Shopaholic at Work

Is this not the most adorable dress EVER (by ever, I mean this season)!?! Should I buy it and wear it every day??? I think so.

Bubble Fest

Were you at Oktoberfest this past weekend? Because you probably were. It was damn crowded. This was my first Oktoberfest experience and honestly, it didn't wow me. Now, there might never be another in the future. Sad. Well, we got up to SF around noonish and promptly got into the Fort Mason Center after waiting in line for 15 minutes. Because of the token system, it took us another 30 minutes to get some beers and some German hot dogs AKA bratwursts. We met up with so crazy people, namely Bill Umoff (who sits next to me daily in our cubicle of terror). There was a bit of German music and dancing, but mostly people (a younger crowd really) were standing on tables and drinking. It was just ok. I got really sleepy after drinking a beer. I almost wanted to put my head down on the table because I was tired, or really because I was a little bored. We left in the late afternoon and headed over to Union Square for a shopping good time.

Later that night, we met up with the Berkeley gang for Jen's birthday dinner at Osha on Embarcadero. It was pretty good Thai food, but terrible service. Go there if you enjoy being neglected during dinner. I'm serious. But I had a really good Thai Milk-tini. Yum. Speaking of alcohol, we got Jen drunk to the point she was yelling obscenities at strangers. Awesome. In case you don't know, Jen talks really loudly and honestly when she drinks a lot. Ask me and I'll maybe share some stories. We ended up at Bubble Lounge after dinner, which was suuuper crowded because I guess a lot of people were celebrating birthdays. It was too crowded to even get drinks. I think I drank 1 or 2 Bellinis. Yum again. And sooo bubbly-icious. I was sooo tired that we left around 1ish and I almost fell asleep at the wheel while driving back to Sunnytown.

I'm old and can't stay out too late. Tru dat.

"Bowling with Stanley" Night

Last night was "Bowling with Stanley" night and I did not bowl with Stanley. Instead, I bowled with others and watched Stanley bowl. Haha. I played 2 games. The first, I got a low score in the 70s, but the second game, I got 108! I bowled over 100!!! Only rockstars do that. That must make me a rockstar. Ohhh yeah. For the record, Chris bowled in the 30s in the first game and maybe over 70, the second game. Mwaaahahahaha. I rule.

Hmmm... I need to take more pictures again. Proof is very necessary.

Caramel Latte May Equal Death

Yesterday afternoon, I had a nice Caramel Latte. I also forgot there was a shot of espresso in that little killer. Within an hour, I was wired, like heart racing and short of breath. Then, I proceeded to feel nauseous, get a headache, and not much later, I crashed... mentally and physically. I felt better after eating a full dinner, but later at night, I could not sleep until 2:30am.

Lesson: espresso shots (or espresso shot for that matter) should not be ingested after noon. Lame.

"Never hope more than you work."

I was the last person in the office on Friday. Why? Because work is life. And if you want a life, you must work for it. Sad, but true.

Anyways, Will came to visit on Friday night. So, we went out to dinner in downtown Mountain View. We didn't go anywhere special, just the usual bar/restaurant. The sucky thing was that the bar ran out of beer and all they had was Coors Light, Miller Light, or Heineken Light... something stupid like that. After dinner, Will crashed my apartment and infiltrated my new laptop. JUST LIKE OLD TIMES WHEN HE STOLE INTERNET FROM US. Hehe. Old habits die hard. After William left to hang out with Oakland, I headed over to Dan and Jeremy's where they were having a party where they duct tape 40s to your hands. Thank goodness I arrived late and everyone was too drunk to notice that I wasn't drinking. I stayed there for a bit and left before all the chaos ensued. I'm boring and went to be semi-early.

The next morning, I woke up semi-early (haha!) to drive to SF to get a haircut at one of my favorite salons, Oxenrose. Too bad I hit a bad accident on 101N and got to the city 40 minutes after my appointment time. It was also Fleet Week(end) and the city was majorly congested with over-eager tourists and my parents, who were dying to see the Blue Angels. I thought I could console myself by going shopping in Union Square, but I went home practically empty-handed. What a disappointment. Later, I broke not one, but two things: a bottle of bright pink nail polish on my bathroom floor and my cell phone on the sidewalk next to the gelato shop. Well, it's fine now: the nail polish in the trash and the cell phone with a battery jolt.

Chris and I had dinner at Cascal on Castro St. in Mountain View and it was reeeally good. I definitely recommend it. They have excellent sangria and delightful tapas. Yum. Afterwards, we met up with some people in the Mission (in SF). Lany finally came out of hiding after midnight and sat/drank with us till closing. He almost convinced me to eat a bacon-wrapped hot dog from a street vendor. It was pretty disgusting, but I imagine it to be delicious after a long night of drinking.

Need MSG

I cooked dinner for myself last night and it was DELICIOUS. Ok, I'm joking. It was really bland. How do you make your food un-bland? Add salt? Add MSG? Minus taste buds? I really really really (I do mean really) need to take some cooking classes or something. Otherwise I would for sure die of starvation in the near future. Either that or I'd eat out a lot and be broke and fat. Two things that I don't want to be when I grow up.

Anyways, on Fridays, I like to bitch and moan about Grey's Anatomy and how it was such a terrible show last night. Yet, I will continue to watch it every week for the rest of the season. Today is no exception. I'm not a fan of the whole George and Izzie storyline. The "moment" they had last night was just awkward. Ehhh. And why is new girl/Meredith's sister so annoying? Stop staring at people. Freak. Haha. So, Meredith doesn't want to be with Derek because she thinks he'll leave her like her dad did? Issues. The issues are getting blander than usual, much like my cooking. Sad.

New Laptop

I don't think that I mentioned that I finally got a new laptop a week or so ago and it's my new favorite accessory. I love love LOVE it to death. It's both cute and functional --- the best of both worlds! I wanted a MacBook, but my HP is just as good. Hey... it's a Special Edition! Only bad thing is that it is loaded with Microsoft Vista and takes fooorever and a day to load when I turn it on. Other than that, I have no complaints yet. But, I mean, I don't use it for anything rigorous (i.e. programming, gaming, other crazy stuff). I just use it for the internet, storing some pictures, organizing my music library, and... actually, that's it. Yeah, I guess I really don't need that DUAL PROCESSOR. Mwahahaha.

Anyways, it's been kinda detrimental to my sleep because I just stay up later and later nowadays chatting and watching full episodes of TV shows that I missed. Like tonight, I'm going to watch Pushing Daisies and Private Practice and Gossip Girl that I missed last night due to the Top Chef Finale. Haha. I'm psycho. But, Hung prevailed and is THE Top Chef. Fancy knifework and cutthroat competitiveness wins the game. I need to learn from that.

Monday Night Cleaning?

Having a roommate means you're rarely home alone, but yesterday night, I had the apartment all to myself. And surprisingly, I enjoyed myself. I made myself a nice little dinner, watched my TV shows, and best of all, CLEANED. I mopped the floors and by mopping, I mean I used the Swiffer. I vacuumed. I did laundry. WooHOO. I got a lot done. I also organized my desk and my closet. I think tonight I might even clean my bathroom! How exciting does that sound?!?!?!

Ok, enough. Before all my readers blacklist me and my blog, let's move on to a different topic. So, I lost the football pool again. This is twice in a row after having an amazing and bet-free first week. Dang. See, this is what happens when you're apprehensive to bet, you win. And when you try for the real thing, you'll always lose. It was a rough week. I picked 5 wins. But, so did Chris. Mwahahaha. Loser. I guess I'll keep playing $5 this coming week. Another $5 down the drain. I'm a gambling addict already.

Have a good Tuesday --- the week is slowly but surely approaching FRIDAY!

♫ Crash - Dave Matthews Band

Had a nice quiet weekend before the start of October (which, btw, I'm freaking out about). I left work at 5pm exactly on Friday to catch an early showing of Eastern Promises. It was raw and violent. Quite expected. You'll like it if you like History of Violence, Viggo Mortensen, or movies about the Russian mob. I thought it had a decent story. I met up with Christina and Pam at Dessert Republic in San Mateo later that night for crepes, egg waffles, girl talk, etc. It was Christina's actual birthday. This just means I'm next. The next to turn 24!!! Cringe.

Saturday was a fun day. Chris and I had all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ at Palace on El Camino. I showed off my grilling skills. How awesome am I? We left smelling like smoke and played a round of 18-hole miniature golf. Guess who dominated? ME. Was there any doubt? MWAHAHAHA. We went to the Dave Matthews Band Concert that night at Shoreline. And although I really don't listen to a lot of DMB, it was a really fun concert. Sold out too! They did a lot of special effects with the lighting and a lot of instrumental/acoustic interludes. Oooh la la.

Sunday was the usual. I went back to Dublin meaning I ate Chinese food and napped on the couch all day. ALL DAY!!! Boring smoring. But, it was the last day of September so I was lazy.

Happy October! Halloween is just around the corner...