Great decade. I graduated HS to start off and now I'm a man.
Hard to believe Y2K was 10 yr ago, 9/11 was almost 9 yr ago, and my whole college life has passed me by. It's been really the defining decade of my life. I really felt college shaped me into the man I am today. I made great diverse friends, reconnected w/my HS friends and continue to live a happy, healthy, joyous life.
The last decade was filled w/predetermined goals I always took for granted, like graduating HS and getting a job. What I didn't plan well was my new goals after I accomplished them. This decade I think is a perfect lift off for planning and creating goals for myself in order to be a better and more productive person.
Most of all, I plan on not wasting as much time anymore. Sometimes I sit in front of the TV and computer and just surf facebook, twitter, cardplayer.com, espn.com, gmail, and other things just to burn time. I'll even play minesweeper, hearts and solitaire to pass time...
NO MORE! I'm going to start working on personal projects, business ideas, reading for work, reading training materials, and trying to find ways to improve myself.
I also plan to use more moisturizer, as my skin is very dry and plan to plan to go to sleep 30 min earlier so I have more time to apply moisturizer and maybe floss more and do more cleanly things to keep my skin/body healthy.
I'm looking forward to develop into a master flirt too. I am doing very well in the articulation department. I can hold conversations, I can start them well, I just don't really close well. I need to find that mortal kombat killer instinct. I don't mean I'm just going to try to hit up girls and never call. I plan on fostering relationships casual and/or serious as I really love learning more about girls of different cultures and backgrounds. I think everyone who has a serious counter part before they are 25 is just really missing out. I think most people strive for love, but I don't think people who are "in love" really know if they are or not... life's all about sample size and 1/5 is just not enough. What do I know, maybe i'm just bitter.
There should be some follow up to this post, I just wanted to get something out so I can tell you what happened NYE!
Here's to the next 10 years!!!
12.31.2009
Toronto!!
Our flight to Toronto went fairly smoothly; we were only delayed 30 min at EWR and actually landed 2 min early at YYR... who would've guessed that's the airport code for Toronto? I think they give Canada all the Y prefixes which blows for them haha
All through the weekend we ate at pretty nice restaurants. Mark spends a lot of damn money! There was Maki Sushi, a really interesting all you can eat Japanese place. This is not just crappy sushi; we're talkin hand rolls, regular appetizers, sashimi, udon, yaki soba, rice dishes, teriyaki, & pretty much any type of japanese food you want!!! It was only $20 a person which is sick.
We also checked out a place called Bourbon St.. Mark asked if we had Bourbon St. in the US and I joked no, but we have Bourbon St... like the one in Louisianna (I kill myself and no one else). It was a very good american food/steak place. My sister and I got a cajun pasta dish and some chicken dish to split half and half. That's a favorite of mine. On dates, w/fam, I usually try to order something both (all) people like and split so we all get a nice variety... i guess it's more chinese culture to share?
The first Friday night we were there, we ate a DELICIOUS thanksgiving dinner (even though it was xmas). It really was so so good; kudos to Uncle Peter the Canadian Cook!!! He made roast potatoes to die for... mashed potatoes may have been the best I've had (he adds a bit of mayo I think). He also marinated and prepared a turkey frmo 9AM til dinner around 8PM. There was cranberry sauce, 2 types of salmon teriyaki that Auntie Esther made, some veggies, good stuffing, asparagus and some turkey gravy. If there's anything I missed, I'm sorry, but that was a huge huge dinner and I stuffed myself. We topped it off w/some pumpkin pie.
That night before we went out, we opened presents. My sister hooked up Stanford t's for each of the boys. I hooked up Dennis w/this black velvet Le Tigre blazer that he loved. We also got both sets aunts/uncles a pilsner glass and mug from Stanford each. Everyone really loved their gifts.
Before you think we hosed Mark, we were planning to get him 2 bottles of liquor from Duty free. We had foudn out he likes Vodka, so we were gonna get some goose and a bottle of this really cool looking saki, but we were there too close to our flight time, and they refused to serve us!!!! The guy said we'd be able to buy it in Canada, but NOPE!!! We also couldnt' even get any on the way back to the US since there was the freaking heightened security and we went to some small 3 gate terminal corner.
After presents, we went out to Toronto's downtown area. Right when Mark said let's look for parking I reached in my pocket and realized I pulled a "forgot my ID" for the 2nd time in my life (1st time was w/Martin after a similar 45 min ride). I can't believe out of Mark, Dennis and Amy no one showed outright anger over this. I sheepishly admitted it and berated myself at least 4 times on the way home. After I fetched the ID, we tried a sports bar around Richmond Hill, but it was closed and
we gave up.
We snowboarded Saturday; it was really a great day to snowboard. It sleeted/rained in the morning (we woke up around 930) and got there around 1030. There were NOT a lot of people around, so we were gettin in a lot of runs on clear ski lifts. Thank god too because i was teaching my sister snowboarding for the first time.
My sister has skiied and hated it in the past, so she tried boarding. She really enjoyed it much to my enjoyment. We both felt I was an excellent teacher, as she was able to do "falling leaf" down the smallest non-bunny slope (we didn't realize there was a smaller bunny slope to the one we were on) 3 runs in. It was sick!!!
In the afternoon after lunch, she tried toe which was more of a disaster and then tried linking as she got overconfident. She fell a lot. She did come with us down an actual part of the mountain (kudos), and did fairly well; extremely well for a beginner.
That night we just rented Pelham 123 (Denzel/Travolta) and played some rockband.
We went Boxing Sunday... not punching boxing, but shopping boxing, as in Canadian boxing day (week). It's basically Black Friday, but after xmas... really weird. We went to Easton Center and I only bought 1 black shirt w/white stripes from Club Monaco. We walked around the whole day around Toronto. It was tiring. We did, however, get Mark a nice gift; a 4:20 clock and Uno Extreme which came to good ues the following morning as we played for 15-30 min to kill time and relax.
Monday we ate Mongolian; the line was ABSURDLY long for the mongolian barbecue, so amy, aunt esther and I just got regular buffet and shaved ice. Pretty good, but not worth goin all the way to Pacific mall to check out. We did get to the airport very early and then...
The freakign guy who lit himself on fire screwed us on the flight back. We had to get to the airport like 3 hours early just to make sure the extra security didn't F us over. Our flight got pushed back, but i got on the standby list w/my sister. Unfortuantely, she doesn't get priority while travelling w/me since my elite status is not high enough. I got on the earlier flight, and she did not. They made me make a decision if I wanted to use that flight because they'd have to move mine or my replacement's bags to the earlier flight... so w/an hour to go, I decided to give up my standby spot as i had gotten on the earlier flight.
Not 10 min after I did that, (there had been 5 people total on the wait list, and i was 2nd, so 3 people neeeded to get tickets for my sister to get one), 5 total people got tickets!!!!! I coudln't believe it, I was on tilt; I went up to the desk to ask and she said they didn't give tickets to the people on the standby list, they gave them to people coming in from other flights because those peopel get priority... I kind of calmed down.
Anyway, we waited another hour and started boarding. The new policy for international flights entering the US detailed that for the last hour, no one could get out of his seat, so since our flight was only 1 hour, once the door closed, NO ONE COULD STAND UP... meaning NO ONE COULD USE THE BATHROOM THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. SO MUCH PRESSURE! Before they closed the door I rushed to the front even though I didn't need to go, JUST IN CASE. There is a line of people behind you and every second you take is another second we delay take off!!! You think that's not pressure?!!?!
Luckily, I didn't need the bathroom and we got home safely.
All through the weekend we ate at pretty nice restaurants. Mark spends a lot of damn money! There was Maki Sushi, a really interesting all you can eat Japanese place. This is not just crappy sushi; we're talkin hand rolls, regular appetizers, sashimi, udon, yaki soba, rice dishes, teriyaki, & pretty much any type of japanese food you want!!! It was only $20 a person which is sick.
We also checked out a place called Bourbon St.. Mark asked if we had Bourbon St. in the US and I joked no, but we have Bourbon St... like the one in Louisianna (I kill myself and no one else). It was a very good american food/steak place. My sister and I got a cajun pasta dish and some chicken dish to split half and half. That's a favorite of mine. On dates, w/fam, I usually try to order something both (all) people like and split so we all get a nice variety... i guess it's more chinese culture to share?
The first Friday night we were there, we ate a DELICIOUS thanksgiving dinner (even though it was xmas). It really was so so good; kudos to Uncle Peter the Canadian Cook!!! He made roast potatoes to die for... mashed potatoes may have been the best I've had (he adds a bit of mayo I think). He also marinated and prepared a turkey frmo 9AM til dinner around 8PM. There was cranberry sauce, 2 types of salmon teriyaki that Auntie Esther made, some veggies, good stuffing, asparagus and some turkey gravy. If there's anything I missed, I'm sorry, but that was a huge huge dinner and I stuffed myself. We topped it off w/some pumpkin pie.
That night before we went out, we opened presents. My sister hooked up Stanford t's for each of the boys. I hooked up Dennis w/this black velvet Le Tigre blazer that he loved. We also got both sets aunts/uncles a pilsner glass and mug from Stanford each. Everyone really loved their gifts.
Before you think we hosed Mark, we were planning to get him 2 bottles of liquor from Duty free. We had foudn out he likes Vodka, so we were gonna get some goose and a bottle of this really cool looking saki, but we were there too close to our flight time, and they refused to serve us!!!! The guy said we'd be able to buy it in Canada, but NOPE!!! We also couldnt' even get any on the way back to the US since there was the freaking heightened security and we went to some small 3 gate terminal corner.
After presents, we went out to Toronto's downtown area. Right when Mark said let's look for parking I reached in my pocket and realized I pulled a "forgot my ID" for the 2nd time in my life (1st time was w/Martin after a similar 45 min ride). I can't believe out of Mark, Dennis and Amy no one showed outright anger over this. I sheepishly admitted it and berated myself at least 4 times on the way home. After I fetched the ID, we tried a sports bar around Richmond Hill, but it was closed and
we gave up.
We snowboarded Saturday; it was really a great day to snowboard. It sleeted/rained in the morning (we woke up around 930) and got there around 1030. There were NOT a lot of people around, so we were gettin in a lot of runs on clear ski lifts. Thank god too because i was teaching my sister snowboarding for the first time.
My sister has skiied and hated it in the past, so she tried boarding. She really enjoyed it much to my enjoyment. We both felt I was an excellent teacher, as she was able to do "falling leaf" down the smallest non-bunny slope (we didn't realize there was a smaller bunny slope to the one we were on) 3 runs in. It was sick!!!
In the afternoon after lunch, she tried toe which was more of a disaster and then tried linking as she got overconfident. She fell a lot. She did come with us down an actual part of the mountain (kudos), and did fairly well; extremely well for a beginner.
That night we just rented Pelham 123 (Denzel/Travolta) and played some rockband.
We went Boxing Sunday... not punching boxing, but shopping boxing, as in Canadian boxing day (week). It's basically Black Friday, but after xmas... really weird. We went to Easton Center and I only bought 1 black shirt w/white stripes from Club Monaco. We walked around the whole day around Toronto. It was tiring. We did, however, get Mark a nice gift; a 4:20 clock and Uno Extreme which came to good ues the following morning as we played for 15-30 min to kill time and relax.
Monday we ate Mongolian; the line was ABSURDLY long for the mongolian barbecue, so amy, aunt esther and I just got regular buffet and shaved ice. Pretty good, but not worth goin all the way to Pacific mall to check out. We did get to the airport very early and then...
The freakign guy who lit himself on fire screwed us on the flight back. We had to get to the airport like 3 hours early just to make sure the extra security didn't F us over. Our flight got pushed back, but i got on the standby list w/my sister. Unfortuantely, she doesn't get priority while travelling w/me since my elite status is not high enough. I got on the earlier flight, and she did not. They made me make a decision if I wanted to use that flight because they'd have to move mine or my replacement's bags to the earlier flight... so w/an hour to go, I decided to give up my standby spot as i had gotten on the earlier flight.
Not 10 min after I did that, (there had been 5 people total on the wait list, and i was 2nd, so 3 people neeeded to get tickets for my sister to get one), 5 total people got tickets!!!!! I coudln't believe it, I was on tilt; I went up to the desk to ask and she said they didn't give tickets to the people on the standby list, they gave them to people coming in from other flights because those peopel get priority... I kind of calmed down.
Anyway, we waited another hour and started boarding. The new policy for international flights entering the US detailed that for the last hour, no one could get out of his seat, so since our flight was only 1 hour, once the door closed, NO ONE COULD STAND UP... meaning NO ONE COULD USE THE BATHROOM THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. SO MUCH PRESSURE! Before they closed the door I rushed to the front even though I didn't need to go, JUST IN CASE. There is a line of people behind you and every second you take is another second we delay take off!!! You think that's not pressure?!!?!
Luckily, I didn't need the bathroom and we got home safely.
Flying through a Snowstorm
Saturday we woke up to a clear day, but it was supposed to snow. Sylvana checked her flight that afternoon out of Newark, and it had already been cancelled. Since she had a flight the next day at midnight from SFO to Taiwan she started looking online and found a Jet Blue flight out of JFK (the ONLY one that was not cancelled). She booked it and still had a contingency plan in case that one didn't take off. She changed the northwest flight from Newark to Sunday. It started snowing and we set off around 230 to get to JFK for her 6:58 flight. We started to drive, but it was snowing pretty hard, so I decided to take public transportation. I called Daigo to confirm the trip details.
First we went NJT to Penn Station ($27.50 for a round trip and one one way). Then connected to the LIRR to Jamaica; it cost me about +$20 dollars because I bought peak tickets even though it was not peak (round trip and one way)!!!! From Jamaica, we took a $5 air tran to the airport. We got there about an hour and a half before and she got through security.
I went back to Jamaica to wait for her flight to take off to make the most efficient use of time possible. I had to pay for the airtran back AT jamaica, so it made the most sense to wait there. She told me she got on the plane, and I hopped through the turnstyle and tried to make the next LIRR back to Penn station.
As I was riding NJT back to Metro park, she alerted me they had NOT taken off yet!!!I started to worry, but I was already on the last leg of the trip back, so I could just sit and wait. She said they were unable to get back to the gate because of the snow, and they weren't taking off (Shades of the other jet blue flight where people were stuck on a plane for 10 hours!). Fortuntaely for us, Sylvana took off around 11 (not bad). They eventually got in the air, and she sent me a text while I was asleep that she'd made it. Luckily for her, she was able to catch her flight on Sunday from SFO to Taiwan.
First we went NJT to Penn Station ($27.50 for a round trip and one one way). Then connected to the LIRR to Jamaica; it cost me about +$20 dollars because I bought peak tickets even though it was not peak (round trip and one way)!!!! From Jamaica, we took a $5 air tran to the airport. We got there about an hour and a half before and she got through security.
I went back to Jamaica to wait for her flight to take off to make the most efficient use of time possible. I had to pay for the airtran back AT jamaica, so it made the most sense to wait there. She told me she got on the plane, and I hopped through the turnstyle and tried to make the next LIRR back to Penn station.
As I was riding NJT back to Metro park, she alerted me they had NOT taken off yet!!!I started to worry, but I was already on the last leg of the trip back, so I could just sit and wait. She said they were unable to get back to the gate because of the snow, and they weren't taking off (Shades of the other jet blue flight where people were stuck on a plane for 10 hours!). Fortuntaely for us, Sylvana took off around 11 (not bad). They eventually got in the air, and she sent me a text while I was asleep that she'd made it. Luckily for her, she was able to catch her flight on Sunday from SFO to Taiwan.
12.23.2009
Tennis
Monday night Syl made my family some food; it was delicious. There were mushrooms, potatoes w/some spices, noodles and some squid. It was really really good. It was paired w/my dad's beef; I forget what portion; it was bangin.
Tuesday morning we played tennis; there was no one at the desk of WTT (my old tennis club). I planned to get Sylvana a tennis racquet for xmas, so she could use it while we played. Since there was no one there, We looked at the racquets and I noticed one that was perfect for her; big frame and light. It was only $50 (regular price $90), so I called Corey in (he works there) and he made the sale. She looked surprised and pumped. We immediately went out and played for about an hour. We played drop game for about 25 min which was a lot of fun; she actually was pretty good at it. I think Sylvana is actually pretty athletic.
That night we went to NYC for a belly dance show; we first got Chicken & Rice and brought it to Gav's place to eat and hang. We planned to check out SoHo, but then didn't have enough time, so we went w/gav to his tailor which was right near Stanton station where I was a month and a half ago. This tailor was supposed to be nasty. They're all dominican who work there. While Gav got his suit fitted up, we went to check out some stores.
Eventually we just got dropped off at Je'Bon restaurant (I've been once, great sushi) and we walked over to Veniero's to get a slice of cheesecake and some strawberry type dessert. Both were freaking delicious after we missed the train at midnight and had to wait an hour.
We walked back in the 20 degree weather and checked out the japanese place next door; I got some not so great ramen.
The belly dance show was suppsoed to start at 730 and it ended up starting around 930. It was pretty interesting; there were some really athletic girls, all of them smiled the entire time and were pretty solid entertainers. I even made eye contact and talked to one of them ebfore the went out. Kind of flirted you know?
One of the dancers was this dude Tariq and he was pretty nasty. He had all the ladies screaming and it was madd funny. It was pretty entertaining and the place was freaking packed. To get there you had to walk to the back of the restaurant and go downstairs. There were a lot of women there, but only maybe 3 cute women aside from the dancers (about 4/8 cute dancers).
Thursday was more shopping at woodbury; I got madd stuff including a pair of D&G Shades, almost a pair of Pumas, and a new pair of True Religions w/the flap pockets (kind of annoying, but look good).
We drove from NY to Mountain lakes as I had a tennis match that night. While I played my usual mixed doubles, Sylvana was madd bored for 2.5 hr. We ate at TGIF and watched the football game; colts beat the Jags.
Saturday we went to NYC in the afternoon and she bought me a ben sherman grey thin tie w/shield icons and stripes; pretty nice xmas gift. We also ate at Vanessa's dumpling hwich was AWESOME as always.
We hung w/albert (and his friend isaac) and rahul at McManus's. We just bs'ed and Al told me about his most recent dating escapade and how it's going well. I love hearing about dating experiences in general and comparing notes. It's a great way to learn and divulge information.
I think this was very convoluted, but I had to get the post out!
Tuesday morning we played tennis; there was no one at the desk of WTT (my old tennis club). I planned to get Sylvana a tennis racquet for xmas, so she could use it while we played. Since there was no one there, We looked at the racquets and I noticed one that was perfect for her; big frame and light. It was only $50 (regular price $90), so I called Corey in (he works there) and he made the sale. She looked surprised and pumped. We immediately went out and played for about an hour. We played drop game for about 25 min which was a lot of fun; she actually was pretty good at it. I think Sylvana is actually pretty athletic.
That night we went to NYC for a belly dance show; we first got Chicken & Rice and brought it to Gav's place to eat and hang. We planned to check out SoHo, but then didn't have enough time, so we went w/gav to his tailor which was right near Stanton station where I was a month and a half ago. This tailor was supposed to be nasty. They're all dominican who work there. While Gav got his suit fitted up, we went to check out some stores.
Eventually we just got dropped off at Je'Bon restaurant (I've been once, great sushi) and we walked over to Veniero's to get a slice of cheesecake and some strawberry type dessert. Both were freaking delicious after we missed the train at midnight and had to wait an hour.
We walked back in the 20 degree weather and checked out the japanese place next door; I got some not so great ramen.
The belly dance show was suppsoed to start at 730 and it ended up starting around 930. It was pretty interesting; there were some really athletic girls, all of them smiled the entire time and were pretty solid entertainers. I even made eye contact and talked to one of them ebfore the went out. Kind of flirted you know?
One of the dancers was this dude Tariq and he was pretty nasty. He had all the ladies screaming and it was madd funny. It was pretty entertaining and the place was freaking packed. To get there you had to walk to the back of the restaurant and go downstairs. There were a lot of women there, but only maybe 3 cute women aside from the dancers (about 4/8 cute dancers).
Thursday was more shopping at woodbury; I got madd stuff including a pair of D&G Shades, almost a pair of Pumas, and a new pair of True Religions w/the flap pockets (kind of annoying, but look good).
We drove from NY to Mountain lakes as I had a tennis match that night. While I played my usual mixed doubles, Sylvana was madd bored for 2.5 hr. We ate at TGIF and watched the football game; colts beat the Jags.
Saturday we went to NYC in the afternoon and she bought me a ben sherman grey thin tie w/shield icons and stripes; pretty nice xmas gift. We also ate at Vanessa's dumpling hwich was AWESOME as always.
We hung w/albert (and his friend isaac) and rahul at McManus's. We just bs'ed and Al told me about his most recent dating escapade and how it's going well. I love hearing about dating experiences in general and comparing notes. It's a great way to learn and divulge information.
I think this was very convoluted, but I had to get the post out!
12.22.2009
Lots of shopping and football
THe last couple weeks have been a lot of shopping and fun. I was at Jersey Gardens walkin around on Saturday, and went to Dinner in the city w/Syl on Sunday. We hit up this place in the city whose name I forget; it was a mexican place. I rocked my Jacobs jersey and we got free queso dip for it because the owner loves the Giants. We met up w/her friends from class, Diego, Julia, Yung Gan, and her teacher Mrs. Shockey!!!! No relation. It was delicious food; we had goat belly tacos, and chicken enchiladas. There were these donut like things we dipped in light chocolate which were ok; pretty unhealthy.
Monday I hung out w/Ebin; we went to the mall I think called riverside up north. It was pretty pretty nice. I checked out Ferragamo and saw a really nice watch that I was thinkin about buying; it was 1.8k but was quartz; ouch. Automatic is way better and it's 3.5k :(.
I gave him his gift; I used my amex points to get him a $50 Nike gift card and 2 $50 PF Changs gift cards because he loves chinese food. We actually went to PF's for dinner that day and he really enjoyed it. I tried again to brush up his chopstick skills. It was tough, but we laughed together which is what's important.
Later I watched MNF w/Daigo and Syl at Chilis, then went over to North Brunswick bowling lanes and couldn't get a lane because they had JUST closed down the cash registers and we got there right at 11. DAMN!!
Monday I hung out w/Ebin; we went to the mall I think called riverside up north. It was pretty pretty nice. I checked out Ferragamo and saw a really nice watch that I was thinkin about buying; it was 1.8k but was quartz; ouch. Automatic is way better and it's 3.5k :(.
I gave him his gift; I used my amex points to get him a $50 Nike gift card and 2 $50 PF Changs gift cards because he loves chinese food. We actually went to PF's for dinner that day and he really enjoyed it. I tried again to brush up his chopstick skills. It was tough, but we laughed together which is what's important.
Later I watched MNF w/Daigo and Syl at Chilis, then went over to North Brunswick bowling lanes and couldn't get a lane because they had JUST closed down the cash registers and we got there right at 11. DAMN!!
12.15.2009
biggest fantasy comeback of all time!!!
I devote all Sundays to football. I watch and sweat the games for fantasy and giants purposes.
To set this up, my team is (I think) the best in the league; I have at least 5 RBs that could start for any team. The ones I sit include Forte, Mendenhall and Snelling (this week). I have Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson w/Crab backing them up, then McNabb and Vernon Davis. I've been cycling D's and my kicker, but I got a stalwart in Bironas now that Tennessee's good.
Last week I squared off against a Decent team of Warner, Ricky Will, Thomas Jones, hines ward, andre johnson, roy williams, Dallas Clark and good D and Kicker. The problem was, 60/100 weeks I'd win, but w/the matchups, i was not happy. I thought I'd lose the QB battle by 5, be even w/both RBs and dominate the flex as I had Jamaal Charles (I ended up sitting benson vs. Minny) and he had hines ward. We'd split the 1st WR and I'd destroy him at WR2 w/calvin goin up against Roy will. We'd also split TE, DST and K.
After Thursday's game I was up 6-2. Mendenhall had a poor poor game against Cleveland. I now HATE Mike Tomlin. He F'd me w/the throw to Hines ward a couple weeks ago on 3rd down up 2 scores on the 3 yard line. Then he reFUSES to run Mendenhall over 20 times in a cold game in Cleveland. Thankfully Hines ward was questionable and didn't do ANYTHING in the game.
Unfortuantely after 30 min of the 1PM games sunday I was down 50 as Andre Johnson had about 27 in the 1st half, Ricky had a TD and Dallas clark had 2 TDs. I decided to fake concede in an email to the league at that point. Then Calvin and Moss continue to crap the bed and combine for 1 total point and I'm offically down 50 after the games as Jamaal Charles made a big comeback to keep me down by that much.
I stormed out of the house and went to NYC w/Sylvana. I refused to watch anymore as I was on tilt. After eating dinner I checked my team scores and I came back to around 34 down. Titans D and Bironas combined for 42 which is what Moss/Calvin usually do. Luckily it was the other way around this time.
McNabb decided to do very well and destroy the GMen and leave TDs on the board as Celek coudlnt' get in on the 1 (Vick vultured) and Leonard weaver ran in another.
I found myself down 12 goin into Cards/niners on monday night meaning V diddy vs. Warner who just had a HUGE game, but I like niners D. The problem was no Nate Clements. Best case scenario, 3 TDs for VD and an ok 10 point game for warner which would give me a close win.
I watched w/Syl and Daigo at Chili's in North Brunswick. VD scored the first TD (vultured from Frank Gore). Warner was playing Terrible; he had 2 picks and then a fumble recovered by the niners. At that point I was Tied!!!
For ther est of the game, Warner inched ahead by a point or 2, then w/4 min left, niners were tryin to run the clock out and V diddy caught a HUGE 3rd down for 12 yards for 1 more point. They had been running it EVERY DOWN. All I needed was more running and I would win outright.
Unfortuantely that stopped and the 49ers were up 2 scores... Justin told me what that meant... prevent Zone. THe punt came and Warner started the march by throwing a slant to Boldin which he took for 15 yards. Fortunately HE GOT STRIPPED!!!!!!!! If they had continue the drive i would've surely lost. Now the niners sat on the ball and I came out victorious!!! It would be a win by 1!!!
10 min after the game ended, the stats added 7 more yards to Warner's total to get him another point. Now Eric was up 1 and we were sure, there would be an adjustemnt for a fumble by warner. This means I'd win by tie because my bench beat his.
I went to sleep feeling good!!!!!!!
To set this up, my team is (I think) the best in the league; I have at least 5 RBs that could start for any team. The ones I sit include Forte, Mendenhall and Snelling (this week). I have Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson w/Crab backing them up, then McNabb and Vernon Davis. I've been cycling D's and my kicker, but I got a stalwart in Bironas now that Tennessee's good.
Last week I squared off against a Decent team of Warner, Ricky Will, Thomas Jones, hines ward, andre johnson, roy williams, Dallas Clark and good D and Kicker. The problem was, 60/100 weeks I'd win, but w/the matchups, i was not happy. I thought I'd lose the QB battle by 5, be even w/both RBs and dominate the flex as I had Jamaal Charles (I ended up sitting benson vs. Minny) and he had hines ward. We'd split the 1st WR and I'd destroy him at WR2 w/calvin goin up against Roy will. We'd also split TE, DST and K.
After Thursday's game I was up 6-2. Mendenhall had a poor poor game against Cleveland. I now HATE Mike Tomlin. He F'd me w/the throw to Hines ward a couple weeks ago on 3rd down up 2 scores on the 3 yard line. Then he reFUSES to run Mendenhall over 20 times in a cold game in Cleveland. Thankfully Hines ward was questionable and didn't do ANYTHING in the game.
Unfortuantely after 30 min of the 1PM games sunday I was down 50 as Andre Johnson had about 27 in the 1st half, Ricky had a TD and Dallas clark had 2 TDs. I decided to fake concede in an email to the league at that point. Then Calvin and Moss continue to crap the bed and combine for 1 total point and I'm offically down 50 after the games as Jamaal Charles made a big comeback to keep me down by that much.
I stormed out of the house and went to NYC w/Sylvana. I refused to watch anymore as I was on tilt. After eating dinner I checked my team scores and I came back to around 34 down. Titans D and Bironas combined for 42 which is what Moss/Calvin usually do. Luckily it was the other way around this time.
McNabb decided to do very well and destroy the GMen and leave TDs on the board as Celek coudlnt' get in on the 1 (Vick vultured) and Leonard weaver ran in another.
I found myself down 12 goin into Cards/niners on monday night meaning V diddy vs. Warner who just had a HUGE game, but I like niners D. The problem was no Nate Clements. Best case scenario, 3 TDs for VD and an ok 10 point game for warner which would give me a close win.
I watched w/Syl and Daigo at Chili's in North Brunswick. VD scored the first TD (vultured from Frank Gore). Warner was playing Terrible; he had 2 picks and then a fumble recovered by the niners. At that point I was Tied!!!
For ther est of the game, Warner inched ahead by a point or 2, then w/4 min left, niners were tryin to run the clock out and V diddy caught a HUGE 3rd down for 12 yards for 1 more point. They had been running it EVERY DOWN. All I needed was more running and I would win outright.
Unfortuantely that stopped and the 49ers were up 2 scores... Justin told me what that meant... prevent Zone. THe punt came and Warner started the march by throwing a slant to Boldin which he took for 15 yards. Fortunately HE GOT STRIPPED!!!!!!!! If they had continue the drive i would've surely lost. Now the niners sat on the ball and I came out victorious!!! It would be a win by 1!!!
10 min after the game ended, the stats added 7 more yards to Warner's total to get him another point. Now Eric was up 1 and we were sure, there would be an adjustemnt for a fumble by warner. This means I'd win by tie because my bench beat his.
I went to sleep feeling good!!!!!!!
12.08.2009
Condolences to the Z Family
Yesterday I was in Trenton to fix my computer and went to Pat's house after work; I found out the day before his father passed away and made a point to go over there. I actually would've gone over there anyway since it's like 10 min from his house. We haevn't hung out in a while. He was my 1st roommate @ TCNJ in Centennial hall. Great times there.
I drove over to his house from the Trenton Access Branch for Stanley and was lookin for a grocery store or supermarket to find some flowers for his mom; unfortunately I didnt' find any and almost gave up. Believe it or not, I looked over to the left at this small plaza mall thinking to myself, "it would be amazing if there was a flower shop here." AND THERE IT WAS!!!! Simcoxs flowers.
I walked in and immediately greeted the employees; one walked over and asked what kind of asian I was and when I told her to guess, she got it right on the money! She then asked me to name what she was and I said "some kinda spanish" not really... that's a family guy joke, I said latina. She told me no, but good guess, she was actually English, but many people guess she's puerto rican.
I did ask them what I should get for a family with a passing; they said orchids are nice because they last long and are beautiful. I had never gotten stuff for this occassion, so I wasn't sure what qualified as a good gift. It almost sounded like this plant was a representation of the deceased person which to me sounded morbid. I did, though, end up getting the orchids; they were a nice purple color and about $20 which I thought was perfect. They looked very nice and I happily sat them between my legs as I drove the 2 blocks to his place.
I got in, and hung out. Mrs. Z was around and Ryan came back to the hosue as well ffrom work. Luckily for me, his mom loved the flowers and that just makes me happy that I could do something positive in light of their tough times. We later played The Show and my Mets won in extra innings vs. brewers.
I want to take this blog to send out my sincerest condolences to Pat and his family.
I drove over to his house from the Trenton Access Branch for Stanley and was lookin for a grocery store or supermarket to find some flowers for his mom; unfortunately I didnt' find any and almost gave up. Believe it or not, I looked over to the left at this small plaza mall thinking to myself, "it would be amazing if there was a flower shop here." AND THERE IT WAS!!!! Simcoxs flowers.
I walked in and immediately greeted the employees; one walked over and asked what kind of asian I was and when I told her to guess, she got it right on the money! She then asked me to name what she was and I said "some kinda spanish" not really... that's a family guy joke, I said latina. She told me no, but good guess, she was actually English, but many people guess she's puerto rican.
I did ask them what I should get for a family with a passing; they said orchids are nice because they last long and are beautiful. I had never gotten stuff for this occassion, so I wasn't sure what qualified as a good gift. It almost sounded like this plant was a representation of the deceased person which to me sounded morbid. I did, though, end up getting the orchids; they were a nice purple color and about $20 which I thought was perfect. They looked very nice and I happily sat them between my legs as I drove the 2 blocks to his place.
I got in, and hung out. Mrs. Z was around and Ryan came back to the hosue as well ffrom work. Luckily for me, his mom loved the flowers and that just makes me happy that I could do something positive in light of their tough times. We later played The Show and my Mets won in extra innings vs. brewers.
I want to take this blog to send out my sincerest condolences to Pat and his family.
12.07.2009
Writing a Book
I got the idea on the flight home from SFO to write a memoir of my life. I've always liked (maybe more like didn't mind) listening to people talk about their problems and try to think of ways to make them feel better or solutions to those problems. I feel that there have been situations in my life that would be considered semi-tough where I made certain decisions to break through and conquer fears and insecurity.
I would use these allusions and key in on a specific way to deal with problems for each one. I sat on the plane next to a lady who edits pre-published books, and she said unless you're famous, people probably won't care about what you did in your life which I found probably true. Maybe I won't sell any, but I think it would be a good project for my psychological state, and be something I can be proud of finishing.
Right now I've been home a lot and doing some work, but I'd like to have some personal goals outside of doing well in poker, and other semi-meaningless things. It would be good to get my creative juices flowing outside of work and again, I need a project to get me moving in a productive direction.
I would use these allusions and key in on a specific way to deal with problems for each one. I sat on the plane next to a lady who edits pre-published books, and she said unless you're famous, people probably won't care about what you did in your life which I found probably true. Maybe I won't sell any, but I think it would be a good project for my psychological state, and be something I can be proud of finishing.
Right now I've been home a lot and doing some work, but I'd like to have some personal goals outside of doing well in poker, and other semi-meaningless things. It would be good to get my creative juices flowing outside of work and again, I need a project to get me moving in a productive direction.
Fight Night
I went to the movies Friday night; freaking cost 17.50 a ticket on Fandango and then a $2 convenience charge on top of it!!! Couldn't believe I spent $39 and hadn't even saw the movie yet!
Friday I left my house around 4 so I could meet up hopefully earlier than 7:15 (the showtime) in the city. I ended up getting to the Patel Bro's house (where I dropped off some stuff for later in the weekend) around 4:50 and chilled w/Rishi for a bit before he went to pick up his Cowboy/Giants tickets for Sunday. I gate 51'd over to Port Authority and slowly walked to the Theater near Penn Station. I got a hot dog on the way as I planned to eat w/Rishi, but he had to bounce, so I was VERY hungry. I got to the theater around 6:25, 5 min early and my friend was on the bus about to arrive. We went up and chilled for 30 min before the movie. Surprisingly, my friend bought the food which was big. I had to save the seats so she went to check out the food as she was hungry. She bought me a water and some sour patch kids (a sucker for junk food, she is).
I found out why the movie cost $17.50; it was in IMAX 3d!!!!! We got these cool glasses that were comfortable (for my size 8 head). The previews were SICK! YOU MUST SEE AVATAR IN IMAX 3D it's a MUST! We saw a Christmas Carol and it was a solid movie. Imax 3d made it good; I think if it were a regular movie wouldn't have been as interesting.
We took the NQR over to Union Square and tried to hit up Blue Fish Grill at Brooke's recommendation, but it was an hour wait so we went next door to Heartland Brewery, one of my friend's favs. We got a decent spinach artichoke dip, Wild Mushroom Ravioli that was very very good, and a decent but weird tasting Tuna Burger. It had ginger and wasabi sauce just like it was semi cooked sushi on a burger (no rice). I also did a bad thing and tried the raspberry cider. I drank about half and was pretty toasty; so much so that by the end of the time I was struggling to stay awake and feeling VERY rude yawning behind my hands on my face like I was playing poker. Thankfully my friend either didn't mind or was oblivious to it (which i find hard to believe).
After dinner ended around 11, we walked over to Underbar (Across U Square); I thought it'd be a perfect chill spot, but there were a lot of people dressed up like it was Happy Hour and she wasn't feelin it, so we texted all of our friends to see what was poppin (nothing from my side). We met up w/her friend and her beau and walked around tryin to find places to go.
We settled on Crash Mansion or BLVD. We tried BLVD, but my friend seemed hesitant and said it looked like it was all dudes goin in. I didn't understand why that would be bad for her, so we just went up to get in. She asked the bouncer what was up w/the inside and he said it's ok, not many peeps. She kept inquiring and finally I realized she was asking if it was a homosexual party; WHICH IT ENDED UP BEING!!! I coudln't believe I didn't notice ahha.
We left and walked over to another place whos name I don't know. We just went in for a drink and heard decent music; the 4 of us slithered through the crowd and nestled in right behind the DJ who was dancin and rockin his head; madd funny. I picked up the drinks for everyone (after definitely thinking if I should or not, but I figured what the hell) after the couple didn't offer anything. It ended up being only $14 because they got 2 kamikazes and we got a water and a ginger ale since they were out of ciders (can you guess who had the water?). We chilled for a hot second; we just discussed the movie we saw and random other stuff.
We eventually left and walked over on my friend's request to Katra which I have been to once before w/my great friend neha. It was good music but PACKED on the 1st floor whic hI had never experienced before. We went downstairs and it was MADD LOUD but less people, worse music. We danced for a bit and I noticed she wouldn't dance into me; it felt weird. I would grab her hands sometimes and pull her in, but she'd never give me her weight.
At around 2:30 she seemed bored and I was a bit frustrated as the music wasn't getting as good and I wasn't getting great vibe. We ended up leaving arm in arm. I asked if she was takin subway or cab up the 100+ streets to her place uptown, and she said she'd figure it out. I went for the Path as I knew she didn't need me to stay over (but i just made sure by asking her if she was safe to go home as anyone would do). She said if I didn't feel safe, I would take a cab.
We went to the BDFV and took it up to 34 as that was the only place I knew to get on a path (unfortunately we were downtown so I had to pass a couple path stations to get there... if the path left 34 by 5 min I would've made it had I known of other stations!!!). We crossed our fingers and got in the subway.
When I got to Herald square I quickly jumped out after realizing it was my stop and got a poor cheek turn. I rushed to the Path station and woudln't you know it, I asked the dude next to me if he knew when the train last came and he said he missed by a second 2 min ago!!! I thought i'd have to wait an hour, but it was only 30 more minutes. I befriended the man and he actually worked for the NBA; he saved my name as "NBA Tix Ken" in his phone for when he gets free tix and doesn't have anyone to give em to!!!! That's networking people!!!
When I got out of the station I got a text saying my friend got home, so we had a bit of back and forth as I took a cab to my car near the patel bros. She fell asleep and I drove home soaking in the long but very nice night!
Friday I left my house around 4 so I could meet up hopefully earlier than 7:15 (the showtime) in the city. I ended up getting to the Patel Bro's house (where I dropped off some stuff for later in the weekend) around 4:50 and chilled w/Rishi for a bit before he went to pick up his Cowboy/Giants tickets for Sunday. I gate 51'd over to Port Authority and slowly walked to the Theater near Penn Station. I got a hot dog on the way as I planned to eat w/Rishi, but he had to bounce, so I was VERY hungry. I got to the theater around 6:25, 5 min early and my friend was on the bus about to arrive. We went up and chilled for 30 min before the movie. Surprisingly, my friend bought the food which was big. I had to save the seats so she went to check out the food as she was hungry. She bought me a water and some sour patch kids (a sucker for junk food, she is).
I found out why the movie cost $17.50; it was in IMAX 3d!!!!! We got these cool glasses that were comfortable (for my size 8 head). The previews were SICK! YOU MUST SEE AVATAR IN IMAX 3D it's a MUST! We saw a Christmas Carol and it was a solid movie. Imax 3d made it good; I think if it were a regular movie wouldn't have been as interesting.
We took the NQR over to Union Square and tried to hit up Blue Fish Grill at Brooke's recommendation, but it was an hour wait so we went next door to Heartland Brewery, one of my friend's favs. We got a decent spinach artichoke dip, Wild Mushroom Ravioli that was very very good, and a decent but weird tasting Tuna Burger. It had ginger and wasabi sauce just like it was semi cooked sushi on a burger (no rice). I also did a bad thing and tried the raspberry cider. I drank about half and was pretty toasty; so much so that by the end of the time I was struggling to stay awake and feeling VERY rude yawning behind my hands on my face like I was playing poker. Thankfully my friend either didn't mind or was oblivious to it (which i find hard to believe).
After dinner ended around 11, we walked over to Underbar (Across U Square); I thought it'd be a perfect chill spot, but there were a lot of people dressed up like it was Happy Hour and she wasn't feelin it, so we texted all of our friends to see what was poppin (nothing from my side). We met up w/her friend and her beau and walked around tryin to find places to go.
We settled on Crash Mansion or BLVD. We tried BLVD, but my friend seemed hesitant and said it looked like it was all dudes goin in. I didn't understand why that would be bad for her, so we just went up to get in. She asked the bouncer what was up w/the inside and he said it's ok, not many peeps. She kept inquiring and finally I realized she was asking if it was a homosexual party; WHICH IT ENDED UP BEING!!! I coudln't believe I didn't notice ahha.
We left and walked over to another place whos name I don't know. We just went in for a drink and heard decent music; the 4 of us slithered through the crowd and nestled in right behind the DJ who was dancin and rockin his head; madd funny. I picked up the drinks for everyone (after definitely thinking if I should or not, but I figured what the hell) after the couple didn't offer anything. It ended up being only $14 because they got 2 kamikazes and we got a water and a ginger ale since they were out of ciders (can you guess who had the water?). We chilled for a hot second; we just discussed the movie we saw and random other stuff.
We eventually left and walked over on my friend's request to Katra which I have been to once before w/my great friend neha. It was good music but PACKED on the 1st floor whic hI had never experienced before. We went downstairs and it was MADD LOUD but less people, worse music. We danced for a bit and I noticed she wouldn't dance into me; it felt weird. I would grab her hands sometimes and pull her in, but she'd never give me her weight.
At around 2:30 she seemed bored and I was a bit frustrated as the music wasn't getting as good and I wasn't getting great vibe. We ended up leaving arm in arm. I asked if she was takin subway or cab up the 100+ streets to her place uptown, and she said she'd figure it out. I went for the Path as I knew she didn't need me to stay over (but i just made sure by asking her if she was safe to go home as anyone would do). She said if I didn't feel safe, I would take a cab.
We went to the BDFV and took it up to 34 as that was the only place I knew to get on a path (unfortunately we were downtown so I had to pass a couple path stations to get there... if the path left 34 by 5 min I would've made it had I known of other stations!!!). We crossed our fingers and got in the subway.
When I got to Herald square I quickly jumped out after realizing it was my stop and got a poor cheek turn. I rushed to the Path station and woudln't you know it, I asked the dude next to me if he knew when the train last came and he said he missed by a second 2 min ago!!! I thought i'd have to wait an hour, but it was only 30 more minutes. I befriended the man and he actually worked for the NBA; he saved my name as "NBA Tix Ken" in his phone for when he gets free tix and doesn't have anyone to give em to!!!! That's networking people!!!
When I got out of the station I got a text saying my friend got home, so we had a bit of back and forth as I took a cab to my car near the patel bros. She fell asleep and I drove home soaking in the long but very nice night!
12.03.2009
Flight back
We woke up and missed the 10AM shuttle cuz of me; we had a nice indian driver who bs'ed w/my mom and dad talkin about picking up heavy luggage.
We got to the front of the line to check in and for some reason I was the only one on my reservation when I swiped my card; I had to swipe my parents' credit card and for some reason they had to pay for the checked luggage they had. I called over the agent and he said they don't get to check bags free. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him I had just called the Elite hotline before our trip to confirm that yes, in fact, the checked baggage of anyone traveling on a confirmation with me (an elite member) is free.
The lady walking around came up to us as the guy was checking the free/not free status of the bags and asked me why do you think it's free? I was about to get in her face, but the guy told her to stop and that it was in fact free.
We stepped through security in the quick elite line and walked to the gate. They called my parents over to the gate; I watched the luggage. A minute later, my dad came over and told me to sort out the details of what was going on. When I got there, I saw that they changed my mom's new 26d aisle seat to a 18b middle seat. The gate agent explained that a family had been sitting there, she had opened up seats in that aisle and we had taken them when they were supposed to be for a family, so she just took them back for the family. I was getting tilted, but my mom just said if you put her back in the original 28F window seat in my dad's aisle, no problem. Unfortunately for Continental, the lady refused saying she can't just "change seats". I said, "WHAT?!?! You just CHANGED that seat?!?!?!" She said she did not; she just returned them to the original owners. I asked her if she didn't change it, then how did we have a ticket w/26d, and now our ticket says 18b... does that not constitute a change??? COMICAL!!! I started laughing. I said, "You need to call the guy in seat 26f up here and tell him he's returning his seat to the original owner. She said, she couldn't do that; basically telling me she refused to help.
"Well then I guess we'll just have to call up the continental elite hotline and see what they think about this situation we have," I said while I pulled out my phone. Immediately she started trying to figure out ways to help. Fortunately for her, my mom said she could just take the middle seat next to my dad, so an easy solution was found. The person in the seat next to my dad just switched w/my mom to get closer. We were able to avoid a skirmish, but I still am obviously going to write in about how rude the agent was.
Our flight was ok; there was a very sarcastic, but funny (in the beginning of the flight) flight attendant who made some jokes. He then became exceedingly rude. I found out after the flight that at one point my dad stood up to let my mom out of the seat and bumped into the dude as he was quickly pulling the service cart out of the back of the plane. My dad immediately said sorry and the dude apparently stared his ass down w/some sort of death look and just kind off went about his way. Apparently the dude thought he had bought a ticket for the plane and that my dad was serving him. That dude's about to get fired; so enjoy that last paycheck buddy.
It really amazes me that some people in customer service based jobs can feel the need to be rude and obnoxious to customers that are paying for services by these employees' companies that pay their salaries. He should've known whose dad he was F'ing with. Now he's gonna be out of a job once I find time to make a call to the elite hotline. Enjoy that buddy.
The rest of the flight was fairly enjoyiable for me. I watched "Post Grad," a movie about a girl who just graduated trying to find a job and love, when love is right under her nose. The 2nd movie was Julie /Julia, the one about cooking. It was pretty good, but the ending was kind of ehhhhh... it just seemed to end in a point of time that was unplanned.
Unfortunately after the flight landed and after our bags came out (since I"m elite they come out WAY before other people's bags), we found out my aunt got a ticket for parking on the shoulder before the terminal. What is everyone's take on this? I kind of agree that she should've gotten a ticket because its' obvious when cops are all over the place telling people to get off the curb. Maybe that's just me though.
We got home and ate a nice dinner of pork chops and I drove home. It was a long long day.
We got to the front of the line to check in and for some reason I was the only one on my reservation when I swiped my card; I had to swipe my parents' credit card and for some reason they had to pay for the checked luggage they had. I called over the agent and he said they don't get to check bags free. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him I had just called the Elite hotline before our trip to confirm that yes, in fact, the checked baggage of anyone traveling on a confirmation with me (an elite member) is free.
The lady walking around came up to us as the guy was checking the free/not free status of the bags and asked me why do you think it's free? I was about to get in her face, but the guy told her to stop and that it was in fact free.
We stepped through security in the quick elite line and walked to the gate. They called my parents over to the gate; I watched the luggage. A minute later, my dad came over and told me to sort out the details of what was going on. When I got there, I saw that they changed my mom's new 26d aisle seat to a 18b middle seat. The gate agent explained that a family had been sitting there, she had opened up seats in that aisle and we had taken them when they were supposed to be for a family, so she just took them back for the family. I was getting tilted, but my mom just said if you put her back in the original 28F window seat in my dad's aisle, no problem. Unfortunately for Continental, the lady refused saying she can't just "change seats". I said, "WHAT?!?! You just CHANGED that seat?!?!?!" She said she did not; she just returned them to the original owners. I asked her if she didn't change it, then how did we have a ticket w/26d, and now our ticket says 18b... does that not constitute a change??? COMICAL!!! I started laughing. I said, "You need to call the guy in seat 26f up here and tell him he's returning his seat to the original owner. She said, she couldn't do that; basically telling me she refused to help.
"Well then I guess we'll just have to call up the continental elite hotline and see what they think about this situation we have," I said while I pulled out my phone. Immediately she started trying to figure out ways to help. Fortunately for her, my mom said she could just take the middle seat next to my dad, so an easy solution was found. The person in the seat next to my dad just switched w/my mom to get closer. We were able to avoid a skirmish, but I still am obviously going to write in about how rude the agent was.
Our flight was ok; there was a very sarcastic, but funny (in the beginning of the flight) flight attendant who made some jokes. He then became exceedingly rude. I found out after the flight that at one point my dad stood up to let my mom out of the seat and bumped into the dude as he was quickly pulling the service cart out of the back of the plane. My dad immediately said sorry and the dude apparently stared his ass down w/some sort of death look and just kind off went about his way. Apparently the dude thought he had bought a ticket for the plane and that my dad was serving him. That dude's about to get fired; so enjoy that last paycheck buddy.
It really amazes me that some people in customer service based jobs can feel the need to be rude and obnoxious to customers that are paying for services by these employees' companies that pay their salaries. He should've known whose dad he was F'ing with. Now he's gonna be out of a job once I find time to make a call to the elite hotline. Enjoy that buddy.
The rest of the flight was fairly enjoyiable for me. I watched "Post Grad," a movie about a girl who just graduated trying to find a job and love, when love is right under her nose. The 2nd movie was Julie /Julia, the one about cooking. It was pretty good, but the ending was kind of ehhhhh... it just seemed to end in a point of time that was unplanned.
Unfortunately after the flight landed and after our bags came out (since I"m elite they come out WAY before other people's bags), we found out my aunt got a ticket for parking on the shoulder before the terminal. What is everyone's take on this? I kind of agree that she should've gotten a ticket because its' obvious when cops are all over the place telling people to get off the curb. Maybe that's just me though.
We got home and ate a nice dinner of pork chops and I drove home. It was a long long day.
11.30.2009
Exploring No Cal
Our first full day of No Cal we headed down to Monterey & Carmel By The Sea, CA which is home of 17 mile drive, a beautiful scenic route along the Pacific Ocean that is adjacent to Pebble Beach Golf Course. We took a picture on the 1st hole and walked through the lounge to view the ocean and the 18th green. Really beautiful!
Wednesday, my parents checked out Sylvana's place and walked around Santa Clara U. There wasn't much else that day, we just relaxed and reduced Jet Lag.
Thurs we had Thanksgiving day buffet lunch at Stanford which was really really delicious. My sister registered us; it was mainly for international students. It was open seating (not reserved) which was nice because students would sit next to people they didn't know at times and be able to meet people. We sat at a table w/an MBA student from Egypt and a Music student from Belgium. I told him I knew what "Hey Lekker Stuk" meant (That's danish, look it up), and he was very pleased with that to say the least. They served all you can eat delicious turkey, green salad which was fresh, very good mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and there were bottles of snapple iced tea and water. For dessert they served pumpkin or apple pie (you were only allowed 1 slice of either). Apple pie was standard and good, the pumpkin pie (I took some of my mom's) was standard, so not great (I'm not a big fan).
At night we drove over to MacArthur park to have a thanksgiving night buffet dinner. Turkey was decent; they had really good pork. The roast beef was not great. They had very good mac n cheese, green beans, cranberry sauce, shrimp, smoked salmon, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and other things i forget. It was a really really good meal and i really stuffed myself. I even had 2 sips of that mamosa or something, Orange juice mixed w/champagne (not really a fan).
Later that night Syl and I went to Yi's place and hung w/a load of Taiwanese people. Nothing really was going on so we eventually bounced (we took home some of peggy's tiramisu, but then i found out it was purchased, not created).
Black Friday was a chill day; we planned on shopping all day, but didn't get around to it. We went to Great Mall (an outlet) really late around 9PM after playing a lot of mah jong. I was only able to get my sister some cheap stanford clothing from the nike outlet. I got my mom a small polo, but it ended up being too small for her (uncomfortably) so I had to return it.
Saturday we walked around Stanford to shop and went to the bookstore and got my parents gifts for xmas. We got my dad this Cardinal windbreaker (Nike StormFit which is sick material). We got my mom a white Columbia reversible bubble vest. Both were stanford attire, so they SHOULD be pumped. I'm not sure if my dad will like the windbreaker, but he doesnt' really have one so it should be useful in spring.
That night we planned to go to the Stanford/ND game, but when I looked for tickets the night before, they were only selling single seats, so I didn't bother to set it up for me, Syl and My sis. My sis could've gotten an ID for me, but prob not sylvana. Annoyingly, that game was sick and Toby Gerhart scored like 16 TDs to win and get Charlie Weis fired. We also were attempting to check out the Warriors/Lakers game, but didn't feel like going eventually. I really don't like watching NBA games unless they are really close up. I've been to a Wizards/Cavs playoff games sitting in the rafters and it just wasn't engaging for me at all.
Instead, Syl and I got massages. I passed out during mine, and when I woke up, she said it wasn't very impressive. All in it cost about 24 total. It was funny because the guy gave me $5 bills at the end, and I told him to give me 1s. I wasn't tryin to tip more than 20%... you crazy?!?!?! What do we think about >20% tip for massages?
Sunday We planned to go to niners game but then sylvana had to finish a job app so i just stayed in and watched. My team is up 28 w/MNF to go. For me to lose, Shockey and colston must outscore Moss by 28.... I ended up winning!!!
Wednesday, my parents checked out Sylvana's place and walked around Santa Clara U. There wasn't much else that day, we just relaxed and reduced Jet Lag.
Thurs we had Thanksgiving day buffet lunch at Stanford which was really really delicious. My sister registered us; it was mainly for international students. It was open seating (not reserved) which was nice because students would sit next to people they didn't know at times and be able to meet people. We sat at a table w/an MBA student from Egypt and a Music student from Belgium. I told him I knew what "Hey Lekker Stuk" meant (That's danish, look it up), and he was very pleased with that to say the least. They served all you can eat delicious turkey, green salad which was fresh, very good mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and there were bottles of snapple iced tea and water. For dessert they served pumpkin or apple pie (you were only allowed 1 slice of either). Apple pie was standard and good, the pumpkin pie (I took some of my mom's) was standard, so not great (I'm not a big fan).
At night we drove over to MacArthur park to have a thanksgiving night buffet dinner. Turkey was decent; they had really good pork. The roast beef was not great. They had very good mac n cheese, green beans, cranberry sauce, shrimp, smoked salmon, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and other things i forget. It was a really really good meal and i really stuffed myself. I even had 2 sips of that mamosa or something, Orange juice mixed w/champagne (not really a fan).
Later that night Syl and I went to Yi's place and hung w/a load of Taiwanese people. Nothing really was going on so we eventually bounced (we took home some of peggy's tiramisu, but then i found out it was purchased, not created).
Black Friday was a chill day; we planned on shopping all day, but didn't get around to it. We went to Great Mall (an outlet) really late around 9PM after playing a lot of mah jong. I was only able to get my sister some cheap stanford clothing from the nike outlet. I got my mom a small polo, but it ended up being too small for her (uncomfortably) so I had to return it.
Saturday we walked around Stanford to shop and went to the bookstore and got my parents gifts for xmas. We got my dad this Cardinal windbreaker (Nike StormFit which is sick material). We got my mom a white Columbia reversible bubble vest. Both were stanford attire, so they SHOULD be pumped. I'm not sure if my dad will like the windbreaker, but he doesnt' really have one so it should be useful in spring.
That night we planned to go to the Stanford/ND game, but when I looked for tickets the night before, they were only selling single seats, so I didn't bother to set it up for me, Syl and My sis. My sis could've gotten an ID for me, but prob not sylvana. Annoyingly, that game was sick and Toby Gerhart scored like 16 TDs to win and get Charlie Weis fired. We also were attempting to check out the Warriors/Lakers game, but didn't feel like going eventually. I really don't like watching NBA games unless they are really close up. I've been to a Wizards/Cavs playoff games sitting in the rafters and it just wasn't engaging for me at all.
Instead, Syl and I got massages. I passed out during mine, and when I woke up, she said it wasn't very impressive. All in it cost about 24 total. It was funny because the guy gave me $5 bills at the end, and I told him to give me 1s. I wasn't tryin to tip more than 20%... you crazy?!?!?! What do we think about >20% tip for massages?
Sunday We planned to go to niners game but then sylvana had to finish a job app so i just stayed in and watched. My team is up 28 w/MNF to go. For me to lose, Shockey and colston must outscore Moss by 28.... I ended up winning!!!
Going Back to Cali Cali
So Sunday night I returned home to sleep; I was to leave w/my fam from Princeton to go to EWR together with my Aunt driving us there.
We breezed through check in and security as I am elite on Continental. I ate half a wrap at 7:30AM which tasted decent (good salsa). The flight took a long 5.5 hrs. It was an old plane where passengers shared a small TV screen from above (wack). Continental was not impressive this time, althought the food served (omlet in a wrap casing) was pretty good and unexpected as they told us there was only going to be a snack provided. I did my usual Airline magazine Sudoku and passed out for a half hour. Then I did some more sudoku and watched "4 Christmases" with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon which was suprisingly funny. I like Reese Witherspoon; I am surprised she did something like this.
When we touched down, we immediately got all of our luggage and we waited about an hour for my sister to show up. We immedaitely headed to In N Out to get lunch and relaxed at her place at Stanford for a while.
Sylvana came through and my dad decided to stay behind, shower and rest while we went to Napa to check out the sites. Unfortunately we got there around 5 and everything was closed and we didn't know where to go (nor did my mom or me drink). We turned around and went back home; perfect timing as we met rush hour traffic.
It was a tough day and when we got back home I think we may have hit up Scott's Seafood in Palo Alto. It was freaking delicious. When we got back to Sylvana's place in Santa Clara I went to sleep immediately; I was exhausted. My back was done from sitting in the back seat of the car for 3 hours after the 5.5 hr flight.
We breezed through check in and security as I am elite on Continental. I ate half a wrap at 7:30AM which tasted decent (good salsa). The flight took a long 5.5 hrs. It was an old plane where passengers shared a small TV screen from above (wack). Continental was not impressive this time, althought the food served (omlet in a wrap casing) was pretty good and unexpected as they told us there was only going to be a snack provided. I did my usual Airline magazine Sudoku and passed out for a half hour. Then I did some more sudoku and watched "4 Christmases" with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon which was suprisingly funny. I like Reese Witherspoon; I am surprised she did something like this.
When we touched down, we immediately got all of our luggage and we waited about an hour for my sister to show up. We immedaitely headed to In N Out to get lunch and relaxed at her place at Stanford for a while.
Sylvana came through and my dad decided to stay behind, shower and rest while we went to Napa to check out the sites. Unfortunately we got there around 5 and everything was closed and we didn't know where to go (nor did my mom or me drink). We turned around and went back home; perfect timing as we met rush hour traffic.
It was a tough day and when we got back home I think we may have hit up Scott's Seafood in Palo Alto. It was freaking delicious. When we got back to Sylvana's place in Santa Clara I went to sleep immediately; I was exhausted. My back was done from sitting in the back seat of the car for 3 hours after the 5.5 hr flight.
11.22.2009
On fire for the early weekend
I completed a trade early in the week w/daigo to get calvin Johnson and give away shonn greene and an 8th round pick; I felt it was a pretty equal trade as I am selling out for this year while he can stockpile keepers and picks for next year. I'm pleased because Calvin ended up helping me win big over Mitch last week.
Thursday night we went to LA and talked to coco. Went to NB after; finally stepped up and talked to a girl named olga randomly at Knight Club. My friend thought she was feelin him dance wise, but I could tell she was bored so I decided to just say what's up and engage her. I messed up when her friend came over; i tried to find a way to engage both, but I couldn't get her attention. Eventually Olga bounced cuz her friends moved. Oh well.
Friday went to hang w/Rishi who got acl surgery; we just chilled around and I later went to Hobo. 340 grille was EMPTY so we went over to another place near it with a lot of people. We walked in and the ladies were aplenty. We did a lap and hung out on the side. I walked through with Kunal and noticed the blonde lookin at me, so I gave her the Kodak. She gave it back and looked away; I Felt she didn't want to be bothered so I was about to leave, but a group of 3 girls asked for a pic to be taken; I obliged, then turned aroudn to see the blonde staring AGAIN. I decided to talk and found her name was Marissa; she seemed a bit shy and I kept tryin to pry her open w/some questions, but alas it wasn't gonna happen; she shut down because she was kind of drunk I guess (and not interested). Later I had an ADAMS discussion with Kunal; we just discussed how it came about and why it was so great; obviously he loved it.
Saturday morning I went into NYC and had a delicious brunch at Bourbosa. There was great convo; I actually found out we both actually ask wait staff for pointers on what to eat which is amazing hahaha. Andy freaking hates when I do that.
Afterwards I played ball with Anand. We drove to Secaucus Rec Center only to find rec ball all day on the schedule. We passed a court outdoors with a couple younger kids playing so we stopped and joined them. There were a couple good kids and it was fun. I had a real sick drop step but missed the layup that had everyone saying OOOOO, but yeah no points. I'm happy I completed the move really well though.
Later that night we set up poker w/rat and Mit. I got aces; Anand bet into me, I pushed all in post flop with only mit to really worry about. Mit folds, so I am comfortable; Anand says "you act well" and I decide to flip my cards over for some reason. We all wondered what I was doing as Anand didn't even call yet. Wow.
Later, I picked up jacks, smooth called, waited for a raise and went all in for about 12. Got Amit and Mit both to call and my js held against 2 KQs for a $40 pot!!!
After a bit I went to NYC to meet up w/Neha @ Solas. There were a lot of people around. I met Bhrina's friend Priya who was slammin and saw Melinda, Krishna, Jeff and others.
Sunday did nasty in Fantasy. Big win over Mitch to put me over .500!!! I'm really just worried about Eric now as we are tied (I have the tie breaker) for the final playoff spot. If I win out I can possibly get a bye if Mitch loses out, but that's doubtful. We'll see.
Thursday night we went to LA and talked to coco. Went to NB after; finally stepped up and talked to a girl named olga randomly at Knight Club. My friend thought she was feelin him dance wise, but I could tell she was bored so I decided to just say what's up and engage her. I messed up when her friend came over; i tried to find a way to engage both, but I couldn't get her attention. Eventually Olga bounced cuz her friends moved. Oh well.
Friday went to hang w/Rishi who got acl surgery; we just chilled around and I later went to Hobo. 340 grille was EMPTY so we went over to another place near it with a lot of people. We walked in and the ladies were aplenty. We did a lap and hung out on the side. I walked through with Kunal and noticed the blonde lookin at me, so I gave her the Kodak. She gave it back and looked away; I Felt she didn't want to be bothered so I was about to leave, but a group of 3 girls asked for a pic to be taken; I obliged, then turned aroudn to see the blonde staring AGAIN. I decided to talk and found her name was Marissa; she seemed a bit shy and I kept tryin to pry her open w/some questions, but alas it wasn't gonna happen; she shut down because she was kind of drunk I guess (and not interested). Later I had an ADAMS discussion with Kunal; we just discussed how it came about and why it was so great; obviously he loved it.
Saturday morning I went into NYC and had a delicious brunch at Bourbosa. There was great convo; I actually found out we both actually ask wait staff for pointers on what to eat which is amazing hahaha. Andy freaking hates when I do that.
Afterwards I played ball with Anand. We drove to Secaucus Rec Center only to find rec ball all day on the schedule. We passed a court outdoors with a couple younger kids playing so we stopped and joined them. There were a couple good kids and it was fun. I had a real sick drop step but missed the layup that had everyone saying OOOOO, but yeah no points. I'm happy I completed the move really well though.
Later that night we set up poker w/rat and Mit. I got aces; Anand bet into me, I pushed all in post flop with only mit to really worry about. Mit folds, so I am comfortable; Anand says "you act well" and I decide to flip my cards over for some reason. We all wondered what I was doing as Anand didn't even call yet. Wow.
Later, I picked up jacks, smooth called, waited for a raise and went all in for about 12. Got Amit and Mit both to call and my js held against 2 KQs for a $40 pot!!!
After a bit I went to NYC to meet up w/Neha @ Solas. There were a lot of people around. I met Bhrina's friend Priya who was slammin and saw Melinda, Krishna, Jeff and others.
Sunday did nasty in Fantasy. Big win over Mitch to put me over .500!!! I'm really just worried about Eric now as we are tied (I have the tie breaker) for the final playoff spot. If I win out I can possibly get a bye if Mitch loses out, but that's doubtful. We'll see.
11.18.2009
James Ndiileh Kamara
So I was working and checked what Martin was doing for later; he didn't respond for a while, but I received a text; he said, "sorry for not getting back to you, but Laura just gave birth to my son."
WOW!!!!!!!!! I immediately asked if I could go see and drove over to Robert Wood Johnson. I got there and had to wait a bit for Laura to clean up and went w/Martin down to the 2nd floor to check out the baby. Unfortunately I couldln't go into the room since I wasn't a parent. I could see through the glass. Little James's torso looked like a juicy juice can of juice w/appendages. He looked really weak and very red. Martin picked him up and he looked annoyed. What a cute creature!!!! It was just really really cool. I couldn't believe my eyes.
We went back and Laura was chillin. I was frightened to be around her because I thought she'd be weak, but she was really just chillin drinkin a coke. I thought she'd be weak, f'd up or something, but she was fine! We just talked; her mom was there. I was the first non family person there!!! Actually aside from Martin and Laura, her mom was the only other person who was there!!!
We just spoke for a while and then moved Laura to her 2nd floor room. I had to leave w/in the next 15 min to get to Mountain lakes for a tennis match, so I was hoping they allowed the baby to come hang w/Laura... I'd be able to see it face to face and possibly hold it (although I must say I was extremely frightened... he looked extremely weak!!!!)
We went over to check w/the nurse, but she said he just took a bath, so it'd be another 30 min. We went back and I decided to leave. Literally 2 min after I left, Martin texts me and says "they just brought him in dude" HAHAHAHA YEAH RIGHT!!!!
Anyway, I just really wanted to share that because it was so special. It was the youngest person I've literally ever seen. It was a top 5 moment in my life I think. I can't imagine what it would feel like when/if I have a kid.
Martin said he was holding Laura's leg up and even cut the umbilical cord. I think I'd pass out before I could actually help.
WOW!!!!!!!!! I immediately asked if I could go see and drove over to Robert Wood Johnson. I got there and had to wait a bit for Laura to clean up and went w/Martin down to the 2nd floor to check out the baby. Unfortunately I couldln't go into the room since I wasn't a parent. I could see through the glass. Little James's torso looked like a juicy juice can of juice w/appendages. He looked really weak and very red. Martin picked him up and he looked annoyed. What a cute creature!!!! It was just really really cool. I couldn't believe my eyes.
We went back and Laura was chillin. I was frightened to be around her because I thought she'd be weak, but she was really just chillin drinkin a coke. I thought she'd be weak, f'd up or something, but she was fine! We just talked; her mom was there. I was the first non family person there!!! Actually aside from Martin and Laura, her mom was the only other person who was there!!!
We just spoke for a while and then moved Laura to her 2nd floor room. I had to leave w/in the next 15 min to get to Mountain lakes for a tennis match, so I was hoping they allowed the baby to come hang w/Laura... I'd be able to see it face to face and possibly hold it (although I must say I was extremely frightened... he looked extremely weak!!!!)
We went over to check w/the nurse, but she said he just took a bath, so it'd be another 30 min. We went back and I decided to leave. Literally 2 min after I left, Martin texts me and says "they just brought him in dude" HAHAHAHA YEAH RIGHT!!!!
Anyway, I just really wanted to share that because it was so special. It was the youngest person I've literally ever seen. It was a top 5 moment in my life I think. I can't imagine what it would feel like when/if I have a kid.
Martin said he was holding Laura's leg up and even cut the umbilical cord. I think I'd pass out before I could actually help.
11.15.2009
2 weeks in the making
So it's been 2 weeks since the last posting subject. I've been working very hard and it's been unfortuante fantasy/health wise.
In fantasy, I came up with one of the biggest tease losses possible. I went into the final game Monday night w/a 2 point disadvantage. I had Road Rash and Denver D facing Big Ben. I needed to beat him by 3 because I didn't have the bench tiebreaker. I was following the game on espn gamecast since I was at my parents' house w/o ESPN. During the game I was ahead but not very comfortably; Aakash's team was always w/in 6 points meaning a Big Ben TD would swing the lead in Aakash's favor as he'd get 6 points and I'd lose at least 3 on defense most likely. I went into the 4th quarter with a sweat, and w/about 6 min left in the game, the Broncos punted; the Steelers went 2 downs w/o gaining significant yardage. They faced a 3rd and long. I'm feeling really good w/a 3 and out here as they'd punt the ball and maybe Denver eats up a lot of clock, then Pitt gets it back and runs the ball no matter what (they're up 2 scores right now, or 10 points).
Road Rash decides to rip up the middle for 34 yd and promptly leave the game for a set of downs. Moore gains them another 1st down so now I'm comfortably ahead (I'm thinking they'll continue running which they do). Again we get to a 3rd and long; same situation only this time I'm more comfortable w/a bigger 9ish point lead. Road Rash rips another 18 yd gain to the 3 yd line. Now I'm thinking I'm up 11, the best he can do with a TD is 6 points and a max 4 point swing for defense, so I think 99% I've won, but still interested in what happens (I'd love a RR TD right here to seal it and run up the score). Rash gets stuffed on first and second down. On 3rd and 4 I'm really comfortable. Pitt needs to run the clock out, so they'll rush on 3rd down then kick a FG or just run it again. The worst that happens is they miss and Denver gets the ball down 2 at their own 1 yd line.
I see TD flash on the gamecast screen and notice no Rushing TD for mendenhall; I look over and there is a passing TD to Hines Ward. Not very pleased, but still pretty excited that I should be up 1 and heading into a last min where Denver will keep the ball, and if Pitt gets it back, they will knee for victory.
I alt tab over to the espn fantasy scores and see that somehow I'm TIED WITH AAKASH?!?!?!?! I checked the scoring and somehow I lose 5 points for the jump from 27 points to 28 points given up by defense which means 6 + 5 = 11 and now I'm tied. There is basically no way I can win anymore as Pitt offfense will not run any more plays. I couldn't believe it. I went back to recalculate 3-4 times just in case there'd be an adjustment the following day... nope.
On tilt, I decided to call Justin. During this call, he explained that yes they threw it on 3rd down up 2 (HOW CAN YOU DO THIS), and the Jaworski even said he'd kneel w/Ben on 2nd down just so the clock would run out. He also informed me that Road Rash actaully looked like he fumbled on 2nd down, but the refs ruled him down. The replay showed he may have, but there was no clear evidence; Denver even challenged and the play was upheld. It was explained to me that basically if the call on the field was a fumble, it woudl've stayed a fumble for insufficient evidence!!!! So if that happened? I would've freaking won the game because i'd get -3 from RR and +3 from Denver D. Wow, unbelievable.
Health wise I started becoming really tired and having trouble sleeping. My right eye has been pulsating later in the 2nd week because of too much screen watching. I've been watching a lot of football after work and lots of computer screens during work. I've been tryin to get more sleep over the weekends, but it just is too enticing to go out and see friends I haven't seen in a while!
Last Friday I went to Morristown w/Dano... We rolled up in Sona 13 and I noticed lots of people staring at us, some even pointing. I was wondering if there was something on my face or if people were making fun of me; Dano seemed pumped thinking chicks knew him from somewhere, so I thought maybe that's it. Then I passed on table and a dude was smiling; I gave him the head nod and he started chanting, "MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP!!!!" That's when I realized people thought I was (or looked like) hideki matsui, the most recent World Series MVP.
We continued to do laps and another guy came up to me and chanted; then said, "Sorry man I had to." I definitely for the record, DO NOT MIND if people do this. It's all in good fun I think ,and who cares if people don't know what type of asian I am... I'm chinese, Matsui is Japanese, but it's no big deal.
Actually, Nisha's friend Kristina was around w/her friends and coworkers. Tanya was there who was at Nisha's wedding; only after I was reintroduced did I feel her face was familiar. We all chilled for a while. I had been walking around and getting some looks from random people, but basically wasn't very aggressive. I learned though that night that eye contact is VERY VERY IMportant. You should always hold eye contact and smile big at the ladies.
Saturday I went to Alex's surprise party that Ashley set up. I kinda f'd it up by parking outside his house (him and Jimmy notice any cars... so he said yeah i didn't know why that black accord was there). Then I went to NYC to celebrate Rajul's bday. Hung w/a lot of girls that I know which was real cool; big time dance party at M1-5 in Soho area. It was a hueg place; only problem was that the music wasn't very loud. It was fun, and I left at 330AM ish and drove home.
Sunday just watched football at my place and sweated a big time fantasy loss.
This week just been chillin. Been cooking more; just noodles/marinara and either chicken or shrimp. Been very good; also cooked my first scrambled eggs!
This weekend went to play poker; made a really tight fold of AK; won money w/qs and repopped a Straight and flush draw w/a pair on turn and took a small pot down. Played really tight. The most significant news was when someone who had just shown down Kings and bet 3 streets and got called then reraised to $60 preflop and then went all in when my friend checked to him in position. Before my friend made the call, the guy pretipped the dealer 5 bucks with some chips (he covered my friend by about $150. My friend ended up making a semi loose call w/js over pair and OSD; the guy flipped over Kings, ran it 3 times, and all 3 times it held. Oddly, when you run it three times, I learned you don't reshuffle after the turn/river come out. I feel this is defintiely better for someone who has less hcance ot win, as more than likely the 1st two times do not have his outs, the 3rd time will have subtracted 4 non-outs from the total cards remaining which improves his odds of winning. Very weird.
Me and Pat hung out @ harvest moon later in NB and met up w/caroline and her friends. We just chilled and caught up before leaving around 2AM.
Saturday I went to lunch Hibachi w/Justin/Andrea. We went to Arirang but it was closed; we left and went to Benihana in Short Hills; it was very good and they hooked it up for me which is definitely appreciated. Later went home, played poker and went out to meet w/Anna's friend Dave.
We met up at Stanton Social in Lower East Side for a late dinner (I had a slice of pizza beforehand as I thought it would be just chillin). We got all different types of stuff, seafood tacos, other weird delicious appetizers (one was empanadas). We walked to La Caverna about 4 blocks away, my go to place, w/him and his 3 coworkers. It was madd fun as usual; great music and great people. Danced all night and eventually dropped him off aroudn 330 and got home at 4. Great time.
I miss my buddy neha!!!
In fantasy, I came up with one of the biggest tease losses possible. I went into the final game Monday night w/a 2 point disadvantage. I had Road Rash and Denver D facing Big Ben. I needed to beat him by 3 because I didn't have the bench tiebreaker. I was following the game on espn gamecast since I was at my parents' house w/o ESPN. During the game I was ahead but not very comfortably; Aakash's team was always w/in 6 points meaning a Big Ben TD would swing the lead in Aakash's favor as he'd get 6 points and I'd lose at least 3 on defense most likely. I went into the 4th quarter with a sweat, and w/about 6 min left in the game, the Broncos punted; the Steelers went 2 downs w/o gaining significant yardage. They faced a 3rd and long. I'm feeling really good w/a 3 and out here as they'd punt the ball and maybe Denver eats up a lot of clock, then Pitt gets it back and runs the ball no matter what (they're up 2 scores right now, or 10 points).
Road Rash decides to rip up the middle for 34 yd and promptly leave the game for a set of downs. Moore gains them another 1st down so now I'm comfortably ahead (I'm thinking they'll continue running which they do). Again we get to a 3rd and long; same situation only this time I'm more comfortable w/a bigger 9ish point lead. Road Rash rips another 18 yd gain to the 3 yd line. Now I'm thinking I'm up 11, the best he can do with a TD is 6 points and a max 4 point swing for defense, so I think 99% I've won, but still interested in what happens (I'd love a RR TD right here to seal it and run up the score). Rash gets stuffed on first and second down. On 3rd and 4 I'm really comfortable. Pitt needs to run the clock out, so they'll rush on 3rd down then kick a FG or just run it again. The worst that happens is they miss and Denver gets the ball down 2 at their own 1 yd line.
I see TD flash on the gamecast screen and notice no Rushing TD for mendenhall; I look over and there is a passing TD to Hines Ward. Not very pleased, but still pretty excited that I should be up 1 and heading into a last min where Denver will keep the ball, and if Pitt gets it back, they will knee for victory.
I alt tab over to the espn fantasy scores and see that somehow I'm TIED WITH AAKASH?!?!?!?! I checked the scoring and somehow I lose 5 points for the jump from 27 points to 28 points given up by defense which means 6 + 5 = 11 and now I'm tied. There is basically no way I can win anymore as Pitt offfense will not run any more plays. I couldn't believe it. I went back to recalculate 3-4 times just in case there'd be an adjustment the following day... nope.
On tilt, I decided to call Justin. During this call, he explained that yes they threw it on 3rd down up 2 (HOW CAN YOU DO THIS), and the Jaworski even said he'd kneel w/Ben on 2nd down just so the clock would run out. He also informed me that Road Rash actaully looked like he fumbled on 2nd down, but the refs ruled him down. The replay showed he may have, but there was no clear evidence; Denver even challenged and the play was upheld. It was explained to me that basically if the call on the field was a fumble, it woudl've stayed a fumble for insufficient evidence!!!! So if that happened? I would've freaking won the game because i'd get -3 from RR and +3 from Denver D. Wow, unbelievable.
Health wise I started becoming really tired and having trouble sleeping. My right eye has been pulsating later in the 2nd week because of too much screen watching. I've been watching a lot of football after work and lots of computer screens during work. I've been tryin to get more sleep over the weekends, but it just is too enticing to go out and see friends I haven't seen in a while!
Last Friday I went to Morristown w/Dano... We rolled up in Sona 13 and I noticed lots of people staring at us, some even pointing. I was wondering if there was something on my face or if people were making fun of me; Dano seemed pumped thinking chicks knew him from somewhere, so I thought maybe that's it. Then I passed on table and a dude was smiling; I gave him the head nod and he started chanting, "MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP!!!!" That's when I realized people thought I was (or looked like) hideki matsui, the most recent World Series MVP.
We continued to do laps and another guy came up to me and chanted; then said, "Sorry man I had to." I definitely for the record, DO NOT MIND if people do this. It's all in good fun I think ,and who cares if people don't know what type of asian I am... I'm chinese, Matsui is Japanese, but it's no big deal.
Actually, Nisha's friend Kristina was around w/her friends and coworkers. Tanya was there who was at Nisha's wedding; only after I was reintroduced did I feel her face was familiar. We all chilled for a while. I had been walking around and getting some looks from random people, but basically wasn't very aggressive. I learned though that night that eye contact is VERY VERY IMportant. You should always hold eye contact and smile big at the ladies.
Saturday I went to Alex's surprise party that Ashley set up. I kinda f'd it up by parking outside his house (him and Jimmy notice any cars... so he said yeah i didn't know why that black accord was there). Then I went to NYC to celebrate Rajul's bday. Hung w/a lot of girls that I know which was real cool; big time dance party at M1-5 in Soho area. It was a hueg place; only problem was that the music wasn't very loud. It was fun, and I left at 330AM ish and drove home.
Sunday just watched football at my place and sweated a big time fantasy loss.
This week just been chillin. Been cooking more; just noodles/marinara and either chicken or shrimp. Been very good; also cooked my first scrambled eggs!
This weekend went to play poker; made a really tight fold of AK; won money w/qs and repopped a Straight and flush draw w/a pair on turn and took a small pot down. Played really tight. The most significant news was when someone who had just shown down Kings and bet 3 streets and got called then reraised to $60 preflop and then went all in when my friend checked to him in position. Before my friend made the call, the guy pretipped the dealer 5 bucks with some chips (he covered my friend by about $150. My friend ended up making a semi loose call w/js over pair and OSD; the guy flipped over Kings, ran it 3 times, and all 3 times it held. Oddly, when you run it three times, I learned you don't reshuffle after the turn/river come out. I feel this is defintiely better for someone who has less hcance ot win, as more than likely the 1st two times do not have his outs, the 3rd time will have subtracted 4 non-outs from the total cards remaining which improves his odds of winning. Very weird.
Me and Pat hung out @ harvest moon later in NB and met up w/caroline and her friends. We just chilled and caught up before leaving around 2AM.
Saturday I went to lunch Hibachi w/Justin/Andrea. We went to Arirang but it was closed; we left and went to Benihana in Short Hills; it was very good and they hooked it up for me which is definitely appreciated. Later went home, played poker and went out to meet w/Anna's friend Dave.
We met up at Stanton Social in Lower East Side for a late dinner (I had a slice of pizza beforehand as I thought it would be just chillin). We got all different types of stuff, seafood tacos, other weird delicious appetizers (one was empanadas). We walked to La Caverna about 4 blocks away, my go to place, w/him and his 3 coworkers. It was madd fun as usual; great music and great people. Danced all night and eventually dropped him off aroudn 330 and got home at 4. Great time.
I miss my buddy neha!!!
11.04.2009
Leaving SC
Tuesday morning we set out and got to SFO w/in 30 min. It was a bit sad to leave such a beautiful coast and Syl, but I got on the flight and 6 hr later I was in NJ.
I was unhappy that there was directv was in service. Why would I be unhappy about DirecTV? You get no free movies and had to pay for the service ($6) so obviously i didn't pay. The way to Cal there were plenty of movies to choose from and a selection of TV shows all on demand. That made it worse. I decided just to do some sudoku and listen to music.
The food was ok, there was this weird bbq turkey sandwich... I actually ate the leftovers of my aisle mate which some would say is disgusting (I call that economical hahahaa).
I talked w/a dude who went to raiders game w/his son (a jets fan) and he said there were no problems; they had a lot of fun and they made it out alive (his son wore a freaking jets jersey).
So when we touched down again, my computer bag came out literally first, then the 2nd checked bag came like 25 min later. How does that happen both times on my trip... pretty annoying. My dad was pickin me up, so it was a bit more annoying since we couldn't just leave immediately; he had to wait around for me which sucked for him.
I was unhappy that there was directv was in service. Why would I be unhappy about DirecTV? You get no free movies and had to pay for the service ($6) so obviously i didn't pay. The way to Cal there were plenty of movies to choose from and a selection of TV shows all on demand. That made it worse. I decided just to do some sudoku and listen to music.
The food was ok, there was this weird bbq turkey sandwich... I actually ate the leftovers of my aisle mate which some would say is disgusting (I call that economical hahahaa).
I talked w/a dude who went to raiders game w/his son (a jets fan) and he said there were no problems; they had a lot of fun and they made it out alive (his son wore a freaking jets jersey).
So when we touched down again, my computer bag came out literally first, then the 2nd checked bag came like 25 min later. How does that happen both times on my trip... pretty annoying. My dad was pickin me up, so it was a bit more annoying since we couldn't just leave immediately; he had to wait around for me which sucked for him.
Football in PT
(Pictures will come soon)
For football this week on the west side, I woke up at the unfortunate time of 9:30AM. Games started at 10AM and we unfortunately saw Carolina play someone (a terrible game). We decided not to go to the Raiders/Jets game because Joyce said peopel get stabbed there every year... more on that later.
During the 1PM games, we decided to leave and find food. The only place open on Sunday at 3 was "Thaibodia" a thai restaurant (we decided not to eat at Yi's bbq cuz they only prepared steak) the place was bangin. Delicious green curry and pad see ew.
After that we went w/the crew to get yogurt that was really good (kind of buffet style; lots of different flavors (maybe 12); you also have the choice to add items like candy, marshmallows, fruit, and other stuff (A LOT OF STUFF). We then went to Yi's place to watch baseball/football, but got teased into mah jong but no one played since they all have class.
We bounced then went to Dave and busters to play bball and video games. Syl is actaully pretty nasty freak at bball games... actaul shooting involved. I only got a 12 on the long shooting which is pitiful. It's far as hell!!! Actually the bouncer at the front hooked us up; Sylvana didn't bring her ID so he just let us in cuz i told him we just came to do basketball. Promised no drinking; he said if he sees us drinking we're out immediately. I profusely thanked him.
Monday was quick round of work then went to the outlet mall where I got new true religions!! Kinda simple back, just a stitched plain U; not real happy w/it, but they are comfortable and other people liked them. What you think???
For football this week on the west side, I woke up at the unfortunate time of 9:30AM. Games started at 10AM and we unfortunately saw Carolina play someone (a terrible game). We decided not to go to the Raiders/Jets game because Joyce said peopel get stabbed there every year... more on that later.
During the 1PM games, we decided to leave and find food. The only place open on Sunday at 3 was "Thaibodia" a thai restaurant (we decided not to eat at Yi's bbq cuz they only prepared steak) the place was bangin. Delicious green curry and pad see ew.
After that we went w/the crew to get yogurt that was really good (kind of buffet style; lots of different flavors (maybe 12); you also have the choice to add items like candy, marshmallows, fruit, and other stuff (A LOT OF STUFF). We then went to Yi's place to watch baseball/football, but got teased into mah jong but no one played since they all have class.
We bounced then went to Dave and busters to play bball and video games. Syl is actaully pretty nasty freak at bball games... actaul shooting involved. I only got a 12 on the long shooting which is pitiful. It's far as hell!!! Actually the bouncer at the front hooked us up; Sylvana didn't bring her ID so he just let us in cuz i told him we just came to do basketball. Promised no drinking; he said if he sees us drinking we're out immediately. I profusely thanked him.
Monday was quick round of work then went to the outlet mall where I got new true religions!! Kinda simple back, just a stitched plain U; not real happy w/it, but they are comfortable and other people liked them. What you think???
The San Francisco Treat
Saturday morning we woke up and went to SCU to play some tennis. It was Syl's 1st time, so I taught her some basics and she kept some balls in play which was nice. The courts were actually full when we got there, but the nike camp instructor hooked us up w/a court by taking some kids off after they played some competitive points w/each other. There were some decent kids there but I hope I'd wreck them all; who knows.After that we picked up Peggy and went over to eat at this chinese restaurant that was AMAZING... just close to authentic food; we had big sesame steamed bread, this chow fun that was made of beans with chicken and cucumbers w/peanut sauce (bangin albeit cold), some beef wrapped in a steamed bun (decent but not great, very dry), and the last thing I remember was the dumplings w/peanut sauce and hot sauce (very good). The tea was even good. We went to Valley Fair, a BIG ASS Mall, so Peggy could do some shopping at Sephora while we just really tooled around and got some Jamba Juice.
Here's a question for you; if you're w/someone you're dating and a friend tags along, is the guy expected to pay for everyone? It's not that I really care much, but for some reason I paid for everyone and no one even asked to pay something... no one gave me the opportunity to shoot them down which I found odd. Not at Jamba Juice nor at the Chinese restaurant. I dunno; something to think about.
Later we found out Valley fair (around the corner from Santana Row, a downtown area w/shops and restaurants) literally was a 5 min drive from Peggy's house which was 5 min from Syl's house.
We kind of relaxed then set off for a night in San Fran. We headed to Tadich Grille; door to door we made it in like 50 minutes which was awesome; straight shot north up 101. This place was freaking PACKED. We asked for a seat and the restaurant said 45 min, but the host (is this called maiter D?) told us we could wait behind the stools at the bar for people to get up which WOULD be faster.
We quickly scurried through the mobb of people in the very thin walkway on the right side of the restaurant (the first seafood restaurant in SF). There were 2 1 seaters open and I just told sylvana to sit in one of them closest to the front door to wait for someone to get up as the lady looked like she was finishing; she immediately told us she was leaving w/in 10 min and we were PUMPED!WE chatted w/her and she notified us that this restaurant was in fact BANGIN. Whe nshe left we ordered this raw platter that was decent; the real important fact was that it opened my mind up to Dungeness crab; that crab was straight bangin.
The waitor was very nice and he took all my talking and questions and we ended up w/the seabass special and a seafood curry; let me tell you, seabass continues to be my favorite food. If prepared well (and i've not run into too many that aren't) it is likea stick of butter; you can cut through it and the taste although a bit faint is just sooo sooo fresh and delicious... i really dont' know how to describe it.
The seafood curry was awesome too; Syl didnt' like it much so we pulled the ol' switcheroo and I demolished the rest of the curry while she did her thing w/the bass. The bread they gave out wasn't so great... it was cold sourdough, but it was really good w/the curry.
Later we walked around SF and checked out Fluid (I was there 4-5 yr ago in my PwC training and lost my burberry blazer there) which seemed poppin, but wasn't open yet at 945, so we walked to some other place whose name was cool, but I forgot it (it's pictured). That was supposed to be a hip hop club, but it was $20 cover so we passed and walked back to fluid. Unfortunately the line stretched around the building at this point and we waited about 8-10 min to get to the front. We were notified there was a cover, but we walked through to the foyer and were greeted by a dude w/a curtain behind him where you enter the club; I saw some people inside, and asked if i could check if there were a lot of people. Dude said no which surprised me. Why would you say no? If there ARE people you just open it up, let someone see and they'll proceed, the only thing that saying no got him was a nice view of our backsides as I immediately was tilted and left... he knew better than to let me look cuz eh would've only made about 40+another 25 on drinks probably.
We walked around and I called Bhrina to see if she's around (neha's old roommate who moved to SF). She was tryin to do something small and was chillin at her apt, so on the way to our car, I tried her again to get the address to punch into the GPS; she was MIA, so I just started leaving. I somehow drove right by andy's place on the way back out of the city and wouldn't you know it, I got the text back from Bhrina as we were on the bridge out of SF. We didn't turn back around.
We drove all the way back and went to bed... I was anxious to get in a full day of football starting at 10AM (PT)!!!!!!!
10.29.2009
Santa Clara
So Thursday was my first full day in Santa Clara. I worked all day while Sylvana studied. Sylvana's place is pretty quaint and nice. There is a TV room, a connected dining room. The kitchen connects to the dining room and is fairly big w/granite tops and stone tiles. Her roommate Joyce owns the place and has the master bed/bathroom to the left of the TV room while Sylvana occupies the guest bedroom and the full bathroom on the right. We ate lunch at home w/Joyce. Sylvana cooked and kind of got tilted when Joyce asked how we met. I was surprised by this question because I expected Sylvana to at least mention something about who I am to her roommate. I responded with a "our parents are friends (and didn't mention the dating part)". She didn't speak to me for a while and I slept after work until her first class. 
We got to her school and we walked around to check out the sites. I saw that they have a really SICK library... it is HUGE and they have computer stations with 24 inch screens. There also is an automatic book finder; you just type in a book name and apparently the robot goes and finds a book in the stacks... really cool! After I dropped her off; and went home, I did some more work and watched some TV. Joyce came back and I explained to her the deal between me and Syl. Later I picked Syl up to go to her friends' place and explained the deal to her; she seemed MUCH better post explanation.We ate some interesting anchovie and other thing dish made by her friend who doesn't cook professionally, but her cooking is professional (do you understand this?). The friends also made a pack of spicy ramen for me (it was freaking spicy). The best part of the night is when we broke out the Mah Jong!!!! I love playing; last time I played was in Shenzhen, China. My dad is trying to get into it, and I love the game. It's too bad you need 4 people to play.
We started off w/me Carol, Yi and Sylvana playing. I had a helper and we went at it. I wasn't having any luck for the first hour or 2. After my helper left, I won 2/3 games!!! Mah Jong is really like poker. You get 16 tiles and just try to get trips or 3 card straights. It's a lot of fun, but it's not as skilled as poker; I think you need more luck.
On the way back (their place was in San Jose), we drove to 101 and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a medium sized building that said "Bay 101" on it. I know of this casino that's somewhere in NO Cal that is called Bay 101, so I just figured we could go check it out. The cool thing about Sylvana is that she was fine w/checking it out even though she was dead tired. We went in and walked around. They were playing some weird ass blackjack, so we walked in/walked out and left. 
Friday I worked and ate at my first vegan restaurant, The Loving Hut for lunch. It was pretty bangin!!!!! Fake fish is pretty good. We had make your own spring rolls w/the vegan fish, noodles and glass looking wrap (very tasty, looked like thai spring rolls). We also had this rice salad type deal that was good and I ordered a chow fun (poorly made because it was fried so it was not good).
We used Yelp to find a mexican place for dinner and went to Viva Tacqueria which was close to Syl's place. We had torta (spanish sandwich) for the first time in my life. I chose chorizo cuz i love it so much; unfortunately it turned the torta into a hamburger which was disappointing. The Camarones Diablo (spicy shrimp) was BANGING. It was so freaking good; while you wait you also get free tortilla chips and salsa. Great deal! 
Later that day we decided to check out downtown San Jose; it was a freaking ghost town for the first couple blocks especially near the HP Pavilion which is the home of the San Jose Sharks hockey team (the building looked nice). We rolled into the heart of downtown and there WERE people around. We found parking and walked around to check places out. It was livestock night at this pub on a corner, so we walked by and went to Mission as the guy outside persuaded us to go in (free cover). We did a Bay 101, in/out and the guy told us the Loft was a good place to check out w/dancing. We immediately went there and the music was bumpin. I was having a great time but noticed Sylvana going through the motions. I quickly decided to leave and was kind of on tilt for some reason. After going outside I asked her why she wasn't having fun; she said it wasn't ideal. I asked her what Ideal was, and she said it was just based on a feeling. She then said the reason she didn't have fun was because she held her bag and jacket. I berated her for not telling me to hold it for her. We decided to check out farenheit which was super wack; barely any people and terrible DJ. On our way out, we noticed people NOT being let in (all dudes). Still there was max 30 people inside; how do they make money?!?!?!
On our way back home we decided to hit up Garden City Casino... big mistake. They had a poker room, but since Sylvana was around, I went to play blackjack. What WACK BJ Rules. Every hand you play you must put an extra $1 that goes to the casino (you don't win anything for it). A person from "corporate" sits w/a huge boatload of chips and distributes winnings. The dealer deals cards and collects the initial bets. It's a really weird system. Oh yeah... BJ is paid out 6:5. How horrible is that?!?!?! No advantage and it's 6:5. I actually was up $4, then went down $75 before we left.We planned to hit up SF on Saturday... more to come.
10.26.2009
SF to SC
During the day wednesday I worked and went out to grab a bite from Safeway. I also tried to get my pic taken near the water, but some asian lady coulnd't figure out how to take pictures... it was so weird. She wouldn't hold the camera still, she'd just move it around and then say no. It was such a weird thing. All she had to do was hold the top button and she coudln't do it. I coudln't believe it. Needless to say I was on tilt.After work I walked around the AT&T ballpark and its surroundings. It is a nice area; I took some pictures near the ballpark of McCovey Cove and the fishing walkway behind the stadium; it was beautiful! Lots of people finishing out there.
I got a bagel omlet as a snack before dinner; egg, jack, tomato and avocado!!! It was awesome (Bagel Bakery). I tried to get Andy to go to this mexican place near his house, but being the picky eater he is, he said no. Instead he went against Erin's wishes of being a vegetarian and suggested Moes, a burger place. We drove down there; instantly found parking and walked in (looked like a deserted poorman's Johnny Rockets. I got a burger w/barbecue sauce that was amazing!!! So tangy and sweet while Trills and Erin both got bacon cheeseburgers they said were good. We also shared some fries that were delic and a chicken pita whose chicken was grilled to perfection.
I took one out of the 2 pitas to Santa Clara with me. We left Moes and watched some Man against food (DC edition for old times sake). We also watched the beginning of so you think you can dance. I had to go though, so I ran down to the Caltrain station to buy a ticket.
Luckily the train hadn't come yet; a lot of people were waiting and it seemed the train was late. We found out there was a bomb scare in one of the Caltrain stations, so the train was late. When we got on, we were informed we'd have to get out at San bruno, take a shuttle bus to san mateo (or vice versa) and get back on to resume the rest of the trip. Pretty annoying. I had a lot of bags and decided to check out the 2nd level of the double decker cars (I was above the bike rack car; an entire car's 1st floor just had ties for bikes). It was a bitch getting up through the skinny stairwell. There literally was only space for my body.
After about 30 min I found out the situation was resolved so we definitely didn't need to get off and get back on at 2 different stops. An hour and 40 min after departure, I finally got off at Santa Clara and waited 5 min for Sylvana to get to the station in her new Mazda 3. Pretty nice car! It was my toy for the week. Handled very well, very smooth, and light so it accelerated from a stop very well.
We just went back to her place and chilled for the night.
10.21.2009
I'm Going Going, Back Back, to Cali Cali
I woke up at 4:45AM on Tuesday morning and showered. I planned to go to the deli, but my cab was supposed to show at 5:15, so I waited. Unfortuantely he came around 5:30 so there was no time. We took 22E and unfortunately they decided to have construction at 5:30AM!!??!?? So we got stuck and I got to the airport (WITH 2 bags to check!!!) at 6:15AM, 45 min before my flight. Luckily before leaving my house I checked in and input 2 pieces of luggage. Since I'm a flirt on Continental, I don't need to worry about ANY fees. I showed up and quickly checked luggage outside. I rushed in and got to the elite security line and went through w/in 3 min. The only hold up was the money clip I forgot about. I walked straight to the gate w/o food and unfortuntaely I had to check a 3rd bag because everyone was in the plane and there was no overhead space. After rearranging a few things, I got in and sat next to an Israeli guy I chatted up. He told me to go to some island called Eilat off Israel. He said that place is amazing... and the ladies dont' like wearing clothes hahaha.
The flight was not so comfortable, but we had on demand TV so i watched the 1st 2 episodes of HIMYM, The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation (same show as the office but just a chick instead of a guy manager... I didn't really care for it, except for the indian guy aziz who is hilarious.)
The flight was hot and stuffy basically the entire time. I did some sudoku and banged out a category 5. When we finally touched down I had to wait for bags to come out from Check in, but luckily I had to wait for my sister to get out of class to pick me up, so the long wait wasn't for naught. My 2 checked bags came out first since I'm elite, but the bag I had to check before i got on the plane at the actual gate came out sooooooooo much later... they didn't note it was an elite bag. When it finally came literally 25 min later, I sat down and signed on to tweet and facebook as there wasn't enough time to fire up a poker game.
When she arrived, she for some reason parked in the middle of the crosswalk while madd people were behind her; so many people were pissed, but I just put my stuff in the car in spite of it and we bounced. We headed straight to in n out which tastes REALLY GOOD and really fresh. By the way, tax in CA is >9%. That's pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
My sister's dorm at Stanford is really a nasty freeeeak. I walked her to class and almost got ran over by bikes in a main intersection (they actually have bike circles that bikers have to abide by traffic wise. My sister went to class in basically an enclosed gazebo, and i headed to the cactus garden (interesting cacti) and the Stanford mall. All the walking took about 2 hours; so as I walked back and passed my sister's class, she came out to get me.
The walk home covered the athletic track field and tennis courts. Stanford has NCAA champions and other worldy feats posted up as placques near each of its athletic facilities with respect to each sport. These were so cool as we saw all world records by track athletes and Major Tennis Champions in Tennis. I wanted to see the tower, but we'll do that in November when I'm back w/my parents.We went to dinner later w/Ja Ling at Mantra, an indian restaurant w/50% off the entire menu before 6:30. We freaking ordered madd food and it came out to like 90 total. It was awesome!!!! The food there was delicious. We got naan and other dishes I forget. There was some big ass piece of ravioli that was kinda like quiche shaped and maybe tasted like one (I forgot how quiche tastes).
After dinner we went direct to the Palo Alto Caltrain station. I hopped out of the car, went to the ticket kiosk and attempted to buy tix. I heard the train coming and saw the light, but for some reason the machine wasn't reading my AMEX. I tried twice and started to panic. I quickly swiped my MC and thank god it worked (also thank god I looked at a schedule and how fares work, so I knew I'd have to pay per zones). I rushed onto the train and relaxed for the next 45 min to Trizz's place.
When I got out, I literally walked half a block and met Andy and his dog Kody. He took him out for a bathroom break because apparently, when Kody gets excited, he pees allllll over the place. It's really sick because Andy lives 3 blocks from AT&T park where the SF Giants play, has a mini full bball court in his apt. complex, a big hot tub, and overall the apt is really nice (he can even see the ballpark from his window!!!). When I went up, I greeted Erin who had recently baked cookies that were freaking delicious. We hung out for a bit and eventually went to bed as they had to get up for work the next day, while I had to work from their apartment.
10.18.2009
Hangin with Rajul
I don't even remember what I did thursday which means I probably did nothing. Friday I was planning to hit up philly, but again got kinda nexted by Brooke, so I stayed around NJ. I went out to NYC to hang w/Rajul and was pleasantly surprised to see Neha there. I also met her friend Celenia, Rajul's bro, and his friend (I believe his name was paul). La Caverna was nice, great music as usual, with the one techno/trance set in the middle which is bearable at best. Hangin w/Rajul is always a pleasure of mine, especially at a club w/good vibe/music.Saturday I hit up the Big Brothers Big Sisters Casino Night specifically to play in the poker tourney for charity. Hanley called me up right as the event was starting, but eventually didn't show up cuz of work. I met a couple people there (Forget the company's name, but their director of recruiting, saw their CEO, met the CEO of BBBS, Rebecca and Brian from BBBS, and alot more random people who were all really nice. The casino night was surprisingly fun and packed w/people. Mostly people playing the casino games (there were tickets at the end you accumulated w/your winnings to put into raffles to win prizes. One dude won all this wine (a couple prizes). I didn't have any raffle tickets but I stayed just to hang out, and there were these food baskets that looked delicious.
I came in 7th out of around 18 people in the tournament, and unfortunately only top 5 were prizes!!! I made a nice all in bluff on the river of the 4th hand of the tourney to get a lot of chips. I picked up aces once and got a guy to fold the flop, but the rest of the time just really passive and folding. At the final table I was severely short and couldn't get anything going. I waite too long for all ins, and the guy to my right, CL kept raising w/at least an ace, so I had to fold, coudln't ship. I finally shipped w/10 high or so and couldn't suck out. A couple hands before my bust out, two people were all in and both had similar stack sizes, so one person would basically be out when they lost; except they both flipped over Aces, and no one sucked out on a free roll.
After I walked out, I tried Hanley, but to no avail, so I decided to just go home and sleep early (i.e. play online poker for a little).
Sunday we went to Fox And Hound. I went to the mall to get some Lindt Chocolates for Sylvana. She had requested Raspberry, so I got a bag of those truffles as well as a bag of mint and a bar of chili chocolate. I'll let you know how that is.
As I walked over to the bar from inside the mall (I parked in Nordstrom under the parking deck), I got stopped/held up by the israeli hadn creme people. I told the guy that my mom works for J&J and he asked me, "really... your mom works at J&J and you have dry skin all over the place?" Damn he got me.
After another 10 min I finally just said look, I don't spend money; and he let me go. F&H is a great place to watch football. I watched w/Daigo, Matt and his friends. It was a lot of fun albeit the Giants lost. My fantasy team did ok, Randy moss scored 3 TD's in a quarter in a losing effort. I spilled a glass of water and the waitress came back w/a cup w/a rubber top on it... hahaha Got me!Daigo was straight depressed; his fantasy team blows, his jets team did terrible, and his 1 out of 2 suicide picks lost. Felt bad for him at the end of the day!
10.15.2009
Victorious Tie?
We only play 2 sets max in the tennis league; you get a point for any set you are up 2 games or more (that you don't win) and a tie if not. My results in the tennis match were as follows: 2-6, 5-5 in doubles and 3-6 6-3 in singles. Doubles with Tina is usually fun, and this time was no different. I was playing like (pardon my 40 yr old virgin french) really a nasty freeeeak. My serve was decent on the deuce side and soso on the ad side (I struggled all night w/my mid box or wider slice serve on that side); I even threw in 3-4 double faults which is unusual for me. In doubles when I got to net, I couldln't miss any volleys (well most; there were some that I would chunk into the net like the good ol' days). I remember in the 2nd set I hit a big serve down the T on the ad side to the better of the opponents; he hit a looping shot he coudln't get much pace on because of the serve placement and I just banged a backhand volley with authority into the corner for a winner. That felt so so good.
Well doubles started out ok, w/the 2 better players holding; unfortunately Tina struggling with her serve toss all day coudlnt' hold, so we were down 1-3. We couldn't break either of the 2 guys so we lost the first set pretty quickly. I started taking more chances in the 2nd set so we ran out to a 5-2 start basically the exact opposite of the 1st set, but unfortuantely, for some reason we couldn't close them out. We lost 3 straight (COUDLNT EVEN HOLD MY SERVE!!!!) so we ended up tying :( Not only is that my first tie in a doubles set, it's my first loss of a set as well!!!! I NEVER get broken in doubles in that league!!!
Singles started out well. We both held the 1st service game, I held my 2nd service game and broke his. Although I was up, I was a bit nervous because anytime I'd hit a ball to the middle, short or decently deep, he'd just flick a forehand or backhand to a corner, then hit the next shot for a winner to the other side.
We both held once more, and the wheels came off. During his last hold he got me running a bit and I really ran (no pun intended) out of gas! I remember the thought going through my head, "this whole match may be over soon". The wheels came off and the set was over.
I regrouped by getting a drink and a rest (we don't have changeovers). I came out in the 2nd set determined to do something, although I lost confidence. I went all day to his backhand for my serve. I mixed in serve/volley and staying back well and held serve twice. During his 2nd service game I noticed he was shanking shots and missing w/a lot more frequency. I kept it up and just won the next 4 gamesto put the set away. We ended up tying, and I was extreeeeemely tired.
The night of sleep was AMAZING...
10.13.2009
Fresh wave of new
Have you ever found it difficult to motivate yourself to do something? If not, you must be very ambitious. I have been trying to clean my mess of a nightstand for over a couple years; I've tried to become a more organized person; I've tried to find that thing I like to do that's actually somehow productive. All of these things I've really failed at.My new thing that I started in July is to make a weekly list of goals that I'll put up places for me to see to remind me. This really helps. I love crossing things out on the list and accomplishing goals. I'm not 100% great at this yet though; my dresser remains unorganized and other things remain unchanged, but slowly, it is working. I have always believed tangible things are more easily communicated, and this list of goals (instead of telling myself then forgetting) again, really helps.
I wanted to ask everyone what they think of the new picture that's up on my blog. I thought the first picture on top of Black Butte Mountain was really cool and perfect for the blog. The 2nd picture of Lake Superior was just too big (don't know how to photoshop, nor do I know if I have the appropriate software to pull this off). I really like my current picture because it doesn't look like a normal pic w/normal facial expressions. I also really like the way the light hits me and the wall. The reflection off the wall really looks unique. It was taken by Sylvana, so there's a shoutout, on the 7 train back from Flushing I believe. I"m playing MarioKart on her DS (freaking love that thing).
I'm going to play an actual tennis match for the first time in probably 8 months. Last time I played w/Daigo was a bunch of 11 point baseline games. I'm excited because I think we play a terrible team and I get to play doubles w/my favorite PwC lefty. She's a very solid doubles player and doubles is VERY fun if you dominate w/a partner who knows what she's doing.
I wanted to write about other things but forgot what they were. I'm going to go clean up my bookshelf... anything to avoid cleaning this night stand.
10.12.2009
(Un)Eventful Weekend
Friday I hit some golf balls w/martin and amassed 79 strokes over 9 holes (DONT ASK). I basically couldn't find at least 3 balls and hit one straight into the water because I underestimated how far I could hit. Hole #2 there was water at around 130 yards and I selected 8 iron to lay up before the water since I was scared I coudln't hit over; and it dropped right in. Great. I did have a nice one putt on 9 to "salvage" the day. I also had a bogey on 7 I believe which felt really good. I hit 3 solid shots there.After I got home, I showered and went up to the Patel Bro's to go to "Feel Good" in secaucus. From what I was told, this is a place with tons of ripe, saucy latina chicks that are waiting to be plucked. Unfortunately we got there, and it was disco night with chicks over 35. It was nice hanging w/Rat, Priya, Ak and their friends. I still could've pushed it w/some chicks there but decided not to cuz I'm a bitch.
Saturday I chilled at home and continued research for a folding table. I called up Office depot, staples and home depot and found that staples had the cheapest one for $50. Office Depot had a plastic table for $80 so it looked like Staples would get my business. My mom and I decided to drive over to office depot first since it's closer and I'd like to see the merchandise before i see the actual one that I want to buy at Staples in case it was better. The table at Office depot was nice, but the price was too high; right when we were about to leave, my mom said wait, it's on clearance for $52. Sure enough, there was a hyper yellow sticker on the floor of the display. I didn't understand why it woudlnt' be advertised better, but who cares right?! I looked and they had a "wooden" folding table advertised too. I called up Staples and asked if it was the same one; sure enough it was. So I walked out of the store w/a 40% off folding table!!!!!
I showered and drove up to Neha's for a night cap. We were planning to go to D'or near her place for a party, but ended up going out first w/her friend Mona and her husband to a post wedding party at Arctica (some sports bar lounge). There were really really cute indian girls there... but all of them had about $30k+ on their ring fingers. Yeah... all taken. We were there for a while catchin up w/Mona, and eventually left around 1230 to go to D'or... Unfortuantely there was a line, and when we finally got to the end of it, there was a $25 cover. We decided to just walk a block to her place and go to bed since we were both tired and both not tryin to pay money in a recession haha.
Sunday morning I woke up and drove daigo and I back to my place for impending poker game/football. He dominated me 2-0 in heads up poker action. 1/2 blinds and 350 unit starting stack. I had him extremely short and i reraised him all in on the river when he had a set; unfortuantely I was losing every step of the way. It seems liek I'd be dominating earlier rounds and he'd just come back to win; it was frustrating.
The Giants really just dominated the raiders. JaMarcus Russell and the raiders just are a terrible team. I discussed w/Daigo and there just are enormous amoutns of bad teams... Browns, Bills, Bucs, Cowboys, Chiefs, Raiders, Redskins... can we even add the titans in there??? It's tough to say how good the Giants are because they've been on cruise control against their opponents that are all pretty terrible.
I ended up winning my fantasy football matchup for the day (after adjustments today I am up 2). If tehre are no other adjustments, I will be above .500 for the first time in 3 years. IT's been a LOOOOONG TIME to say the least. All the bad luck from years past has turned around the last 3 weeks which is nice. I've been riding the Cedric The Entertainer train for the entire year; he popped 20 points up on the Ravens and became the first running back in 39 games to rush for over 100 yds against that nasty defense.In poker I just performed horribly. The first big hand that came up, I was getting bored and decided to smooth call raise from UTG w/kjo. Rat raised to my left and 2 guys called; I reraised from 1 to 4 and amit patel went all in. He seemed pretty calm and answered my questions just w/a I don't care it's ur decision to call or not. I decided to call 10 more since he was short and he showed me aces.
Later I think i was crusiing aroudn $10 and lost all my money on a hand i forgot. After a rebuy, I hit a straight on the river to take a lot of money from daigo (aroudn $10). Then an ill fated hand where I limped in w/aj UTG; Anand raised from BB and I called. Flopped 2 aces; he checked, I bet and he called. Anand is really aggressive so I thought if i checked the turn he'd try to steal the pot on the river; that's exactly what happened. He checked, I Checked the turn and then he put $10 in on the river; I instashoved about 10 more and he was insta all in w/a boat that he made on the river. In retrospect the shove may be dumb because in a good game I prob only get called w/better hands (maybe w/ace rag trips). Then again in this game people call w/unusual things and I rarely go all in w/o the goods, so who knows. I lost around $15 there. Then the last hand I limped in the SB w/95o flopped top/bottom pair, bet small, got raised by amit and insta shoved. He instacalled w/top pair and ISD and hit it on the river to win.
All in all a pretty uneventful weekend, but I chilled w/rat twice which is extremely rare nowadays.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)