Too Much Time Off

Can it be? I've been relaxing for the past 2+ weeks now. And it really feels longer than that. How strange that it was the exact opposite when I was working. Haha. I have a lot more free time now, but I still rarely update this blog. Sorry. Well, I guess now is a good time as ever to start being more proactive in posting! I know I did a quick Thanksgiving update the other day, but here is a more detailed recap of the holiday weekend.

We had a Mini-Thanksgiving at the apartment on Tuesday night and I cooked! Yes! Ok, so there was no turkey, but I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes! Awesome!!! Here's how it turned out:

Sorry that the picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea. It was MEEEATY meatloaf! People came over and there was wine. Ohhh good times.

I went home to Dublin (yes, Ireland... NOT) on Wednesday afternoon, hoping to beat traffic. I was partially successful. The traffic was only bad on 680N and it only took me about an hour. That's pretty reasonable considering that last year, it took me about 2 hours because I left at normal rush hour hour. I had long ago promised Christina that I'd go to Tommy T's with her that night. Why? To see comedian Dat Phan perform! This was my second time at one of his events and it was only slightly different. We had dinner and drinks there while waiting for the show to start. And for some reason, Christina thought it'd be funny to say it was my birthday so that I'd end up onstage, making a fool of myself. She did make that happen. I'll leave that story for another day. Or never. Anyways, Dat Phan wasn't bad, just a bit repetitive for me (and only me).

Early Thursday morning (AKA Thanksgiving), Christina and I went to Hacienda to continue our yearly tradition of watching a movie on Thanksgiving. We ended up seeing Enchanted and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Yes, I know it's a movie for children, but it's also a love story for adults! I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up and would recommend every girl bring their boyfriend to see it. I tried to get Chris to see it, but he wouldn't have it. What a lucky girl I am. Haha... I kid.

Thanksgiving dinner was fun --- and mostly the same as I detailed in my previous post. Read that, again if you must.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent relaxing and with the family. I attempted to go shopping at 5am for the Black Friday sales, but I really didn't find anything worth buying. I don't really need to get Christmas presents for anyone. I mean, the people that I do intend to get gifts for, I have some ideas in mind already. So, I didn't buy much on Friday and actually went home around 9am. The rest of the day was really lazy. I lounged around the house with my brother and did other random stuff like play Mario Tennis on GameCube. We had dinner at Macau Cafe, a new Chinese place in Dublin... can you believe that there is an ASIAN mall in Dublin now? Asians are taking over. Ohhh yeah.

Saturday was just as dull. Chris and I ate buffet for lunch at Passage to India. It was pretty good, but it's like how I feel about Palace BBQ Buffet... I am now sick of Indian food for the rest of the year. We also went to Palo Alto and played with Chris' new Garmin GPS system! At night, we went to downtown San Jose and were serendipitously surprised that Christmas in the Park was going on. They turned downtown San Jose into a carnival with rides and food and lots of Christmas tree displays. So festive!

Now, Sunday was more exciting. I convinced Chris to go with me to the SF Auto Show. And I was dumb and thought there would be a lot of traffic, so we took BART from Milbrae to the city. What a bad idea... it took us extra long and there wasn't any noticeable traffic in SF. Lame. Back on topic, the event was really fun because you get to "sit" in the cars and play with the features. I'm now convinced that I need a new car. On the top of my list is the Prius because you really can't beat its efficient gas mileage. I also loved the new 2008 Honda Accord. It's sooo nice... reminds me of the Acura TL. I sat in it for like 10 minutes and it was love. LOVE! Now I need to work on getting loan and finding a good deal on a car... yikes.

So there's that: a really detailed account of my life. This week is going by slowly as well. I spent all of Monday just catching up with random things and the rest of the week is up in the air! I am starting to feel the effects of being not busy. I feel lazy times 100. Ugh.

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. I had a good one. We had 12 people at our house for a Chinese-American fusion Thanksgiving. Woot! Seriously, we had turkey and mashed potatoes. But, we also had pork chop rice and Portuguese curry! Haha. We also had a dessert sampler --- pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and fruit tart! I love Thanksgiving. After dinner, we played some Taboo and watched The Incredibles.

The only bad part was that I forgot to take any pictures, so the only memory of the night I have will be in my mind and on this blog. Oh well.

♫ Swallowed In The Sea - Coldplay

You cut me down a tree and brought it back to me
And that's what made me see where I was going wrong
You put me on a shelf and kept me for yourself
I can only blame myself, you can only blame me

And I could write a song, a hundred miles long
Well that's where I belong and you belong with me
And I could write it down or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found or swallowed in the sea

You put me on a line and hung me out to dry
And darling that's when I decided to go see you
You cut me down to size and opened up my eyes
Made me realize what I could not see

And I could write a book, the one they'll say that shook
The world and then it took, it took it back from me
And I could write it down or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found and you'll cme back to me
Not swallowed in the sea

And I could write a song, a hundred miles long
Well that's where I belong and you belong with me
The streets you're walking on, a thousand houses long
Well that's where I belong and you belong with me

Oh what good is it to live with nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive, not loving all you see
Are the streets you're walking on, a thousand houses long
Well that's where I belong and you belong with me
Not swallowed in the sea

You belong with me, not swallowed in the sea
Yeah you belong with me, not swallowed in the sea

What's Next

Thank you all well-wishers! I didn't realize I had so many friends. Haha. But, Birthday Week 2007 is officially OVER. Now, let's go back to normalcy where I don't matter. Yay! Haha. All joking aside. It has been a tumultuous and boring week. I know those adjective hardly belong in the same sentence, but I think that it really describes my week well.

This past week was boring as hell. I never knew relaxing and taking a vacation from work could be so dull. I watched more TV and slept more than I ever did all... my life? No, that's a stretch, but definitely more than I can remember doing this past year. So, I'm very well-rested, but I also got sick... just a cold/cough. How is that possible? My body is acting up because I'm not busy!!! The germs finally take center stage. Haha. Awesome.

Ok, now a recap. Wednesday, I went home to the Dublin (Ireland, of course) and had a nice lunchy lunch with Christina at Abba Gourmet Cal-Italian Grill (yes, the longest restaurant name ever, but I remember because I yelped it... ohhh I'm cool). It was decent (but only 2 stars on Yelp, sorry): I had a tri tip sandwich and Christina had the BST --- bacon, sprouts, tomato, with a fried egg. Yum. And weird. If it sounds interesting, I'll take you. For the rest of the day, I lounged, relaxed, did laundry, etc. Come nighttime, my parents took me to our favorite local Japanese hangout, Tomo in Pleasanton. Food was delightful as usual. I mostly ate sushi and shared a tempura appetizer with my mom. Omg. I had blue fin tuna sushi and the fish practically melted in my mouth. Well worth the extra bucks! After dinner, we just went home to eat cake (yum!) and open presents (woot!). And that was the end of another anniversary of my birth. Sigh.

Skip Thursday and on to Friday. I had my first post-Google Google lunch! I hoarded as much food as I possibly could and it was fantastic! Hehe. I miss everyone sooo much!!! <3 <3 <3!!! Anyways, at night, Chris took me out to dinner for my birthday after a week-long power struggle. Haha. I kid. Maybe. Well, we went to Straits at Santana Row. The wait was a tad ridiculous, but we dealt with it and the food kinda made up for it. The service was slow, of course, but we ordered Roti, Potong Kari Ayam ( Sinaporean yellow curry with chicken, carrots, and potatoes), Origami Seabass (steamed fish with wine sauce), Chicken-flavored Rice and Molten Chocolate Cake for dessert! Yay! The food was pretty good. Let's just say we were pleased and satisfied. After dinner, we went to Sino for a bit, but it was loud and crowded and yeah... old people don't like environments like these. So, instead, we went to Blockbuster, rented Knocked Up (yes, I'm the last person on Earth to see it), and I fell asleep before it was over. NICE.

Saturday was a little more exciting. Chris and I went to see Beowulf in the afternoon. It was pretty good for a rated R cartoon! Haha. Angelina Jolie was very naked in it. And there was a lot of bloody violence. Especially for a cartoon. At night, I drove up to meet with Christina and Pam at Asia SF! What a surprise! We got bar seats, which were incidentally RIGHT in front for the "show". The food was good, but the girls/guys were really fun. They're completely into it and love the attention. Most of them had fake boobs, fake hair, and some fake butts! All in all, a good place to go for birthdays, bachelorette parties, and other semi-special events.

Ok, I'm tired of updating. The week is over. OVER. Now, let's get on with life. God, how depressing.

When A Door Closes...

another one opens?

A lot has happened since I last blogged. Sorry. I know I disappointed my many many readers. But, it's been one thing after another after another... never ending. Until now.

Ok, for starters, my last day at Google was last Friday. I can't believe that I've been there for a year already! I'm made a ton of friends that I will miss dearly. Hopefully, I'll do my part and keep in touch with everybody. I actually already miss them... I guess that happens when you see people every day for months. Oh well. I guess now I will just have to spend more time talking to them online.

Anyways, on Friday, we started drinking champagne early in the morning. It was so festive. I think almost everyone came by and joined in on the fun. A group of us left work early and went to the lovely SportsPage for happy hour. It was nice that so many people showed up to say goodbye. Well, not goodbye, but see you less often than every day. :-( I think I will miss Billy and Phuong the most as they were my next cube neighbors. And now when I laugh aloud at home at a funny joke or something, no one will notice. After happy hour, we headed over to downtown Mountain View's Tied House for dinner. More beers! So much that I was too tired to go out afterwards. How old am I? Lesson: drinking champagne in the morning usually leads to a headache in the afternoon/night. Boo.

Saturday was almost the same story. Chris and I went to Valley Fair during the day, which was slightly a mistake because the mall is starting to get really packed nowadays. Parking was limited and the crowds of people was almost too much to bear. I'm going to stop going to the mall on the weekends. Instead, with my new free time, I will go to the mall on the weekdays. Aha! Later in the afternoon, Lany and Young came over early to watch the USC @ Cal game. We had a buncha "bar" snacks and watched as Cal lost yet another game. Lesson: Cal is a tease and will always be a tease. Heartbreaking.

Anyways, we went out to dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy in Santana Row to celebrate my upcoming birthday. I think it was sort of a mistake because we ate family-style. Calamari, spinach-artichoke dip, caesar salad, spinach salad, chicken parmesan, spaghetti with meatballs, salmon, rigatoni with chicken and mushroom, tiramisu, apple cobbler, AND a nice cake from Stef! I mean, there were 11 people and we stuffed our faces, but I still ended up with like 12 boxes of leftovers. So, I'm thinking it was a mistake because we went to V Bar afterwards and all of us were too full to drink and/or get drunk. Sad. We ended up back at the apartment because we were lazy and tired and mostly, full. Lesson: overeating is not conducive to partying. Puke. Haha, jk.

Sunday was pleasant. I did not wake up hungover. I woke up still full. Ridiculous. I spent most of the day just lounging around and cleaning. Those are 2 of my favorite pastimes. Yes, I said cleaning. I happen to be a neat freak... almost like Monica on Friends, not as psychotic though. However, Chris and I had dinner at Pho Saigon next to Cupertino Village last night and it has quickly become our new favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Well, for pho at least.

So, we're now at today... my first day of freedom. It's been well spent, doing what I have wanted to do for a long time now... nothing. I don't want to fall in a habit of being lazy, so today will be my only day of rest before I start doing things. Things like job searching, volunteering, studying for the GMATs, etc. Don't worry, I'll make time for watching DVDs and chatting online. :-)

One more week till Thanksgiving!!!

Can It Be?

Is it November already?!!??! Yes, because we drank through October. Haha. No seriously. Yesterday was Halloween and because of that, we celebrated it Google-style with Googleween. This is just the biggest costume party that I've ever gone to... I would say that it was comparable to Castro! Here is a picture of the stage where the costume contest was held. I think I snapped this shot right when a big group of Googlers dressed as the Secret Service was up on stage...

Didn't I say it was a massive party? And most people were in costume!!! Some highlights... a human LAVA lamp, a Mii, lots of Marios and Luigis, Vanilla Ice, some Facebook pages, a nerd or two, Spider-Pig, SHarry Potter (!!!), etc. Oh yeah and there was someone dressed as Michael Vick with stuffed animal dogs as props. Lame. ;-)

Let me say that I had so much to drink at work during the day that I had to take a nap before going out later that night. We ended up at Pasha, a low-key Mediterranean joint for a private party. Very chill. The music was aiiite, so we got our dance on. The mime got drunk and threw up... many times. That was fun.

Well, time to say goodbye (until next year) to our costumes!