New Flickr Contacts

I got new Flickr contacts.

Brian (the white boy from Lancaster)
Ed (as in Osaka. Or manga boy)

Go to my Flickr profile to see their accounts.

Yama Sisters Back from SF

We're back from SF!
We packed up around 1pm before the rest of the group left for lunch. And we left the hotel by 2pm.

Sat drove most of the way down.
We stopped by Gilroy to smell the garlic and look for the tamale lady. No such luck. Sat didn't care for the Walmart restroom either. But we bought couple of boxer shorts for wearing around the house, drinks to keep us awake on the drive down & a place mat for Koge.


It looks a lot better than the place mat Ichigo brought home for Koge. I don't know where she found this ugly thing.


Since we couldn't get the tamales, we looked for another place to eat.
Sat saw a sign for a noodle place & made a crazy turn into a gas station until she found the restaurant. It's a Vietnamese cafe. We had some noodle soup thingies.

We made a restroom stop somewhere along the I-5 because Sat was frustrated with this dude who was driving a Mercedes SUV. He was driving relatively slow, but would speed up whenever we tried to pass him. Like 5 times. We went to a McD's to buy a sundae, but the service was so slow we left after waiting 10 mins (and they had served 2 people).

Then I drove the rest of the way down. Sat needed to pee before we got home, so we stopped by the McDs on National & Sawtelle (like 5 mins away from home). We were finally able to use our free Happy Meal coupon, but Sat ended up w/ the Robin toy. Boo!

And now we're back home.

Soon Tofu & Crab in SF

Today's lunch was Trader Joe's across the street.
Sat got spicy rolls, Brian got spring rolls, Shiz got strawberry mousse. I didn't feel like eating anything filling, since I've been snacking all day. And I was a bit constipated. You lose your appetite when you're backed up.

For dinner, we went to the same plaza we went w/ Fawn the night before & had soon tofu.
The lady took our order wrong, and I ended up with mild. Brian got his order right w/ spicy, but it was really really hot! Sat had kimchee bibim bop which was yummy.


Oh, here's a link to Brian's blog
http://ningyouni.blogspot.com/
He has his own report about dinner tonight.

Vince had promised us crab from Fisherman's Warf. And he came by around 10pm with a whole crab. Even tho we had dinner earlier, Sat & I slurped up the crab completely. Cleanest set of crab shells ever.

Tomorrow we head down to LA.

Arrived in SF Safely

Yama sisters arrived in the Bay Area safely.

It was a 7-1/2 hour drive. We stopped three times along the way.
In-N-Out in Valencia for lunch. McD somewhere before the cow zone for a restroom break. And COSTCO in Gilroy for gas + Walmart for food & toiletries.

We met up w/ Fawn and ate pho for dinner.
We were tempted by the tamale lady by Walmart & bought two chicken tamales. She was selling them out of her van. They were warm when we got them... but we didn't eat them right away, since we were planning to eat pho with Fawn. I bet they would have been yummy while they were warm.

We realized a lot of places outside of WLA is really hot during the day. Like Valencia. And the boondocks where McDs was. You can feel water evaporating from your arms.

Cow zone was smelly for Sat, but I was pretty okay with it. Maybe my nose is still stuffed up.

But Gilroy smelled like garlic heaven. It's like driving through an Italian restaurant. Mmmmmm.

This year feels like a mini vacation. Apparently I forgot to tell Prince that I was heading up, so it's like an unauthorized day off. But Dennis & Nidia knew... hmm. Oh well.

PS. Crown Plaza Hotel doesn't have Food Network or Animal Planet or TLC. Boo!
I guess I'll watch Discovery Channel and maybe a little bit of CNN for Anderson Cooper. His gray hair is hawt (I quote Dave).

Yama Sisters in San Francisco

Yama sisters are heading up to San Francisco tomorrow.

We're driving up.
Staying for two nights.
Then driving down.

We'll do everything to avoid a 50-year old man in a white SUV wearing a big gold medallion. *knock on wood*

And hopefully there are no bed bugs at the hotel we're staying at. *knock on wood*

じゅるる's Mistake

じゅるる didn't know how the princess' name is spelled.
So his brother's baby girl isn't named after the princess. But it's similar. "ah" instead of "ia."

Too bad.

New TV Season, Yay!

Being a TV junkie, I welcome the new TV season.
I wouldn't be so bored if we had cable, but Sat's not going for it. Especially during the off season. Of tennis, of course.

I watched a little bit of Heroes yesterday. Got bored & started playing Chocobo.

Dee said How I Met Your Mother was on last night. Barney's in love with Robin? Ewww. Ted proposed to his girlfriend? Who's he dating now? She hasn't watched Star Wars? See! There are plenty of geeky girls who haven't watched Star Wars!

Today was all about L&O SVU for the Yama sisters.
Sasami opted for Fringe. We watched the first episode w/ Dave & it was kinda gross.
Vu said to watch Fringe on hulu & watch Korean drama instead.

Tomorrow... Criminal Minds & Lipstick Jungle?
We'll just look forward to Survivor.

PS. My sinus infection (as diagnosed by Sasami's co-worker) is slowly getting better. My ears stopped popping after I took two doses of Sudafed. I forgot to take it tonight, though. But I still have a lot of mucus.

Dennis Car Broken

Dennis' car is in the shop because it stalls.

That's all the news I have about Dennis' car.

In other news, I'm learning to play「大きな古時計」on the ukulele.
Before I master it, I'll start learning "Edelweiss" too.

I'm available for weddings.

Super Mario Bros 3

Sat & Dave bought Super Mario Bros 3 for the Wii.
It's a download of the GameBoy version, or so it looks like from the lack of colors.

Sat's addicted to it.
And apparently Dave sucks at the game b/c he never had a Nintendo system before & hadn't played Super Mario Bros series. What!?

Meanwhile I was addicted to the Chocobo game on the Wii last week.
I'm currently leveling up each of my jobs. And fusing my weapons.

Damn these addictive simple games!

Steph Lost Her Phone

Steph emailed saying her cell phone died & she lost everyone's numbers.

If you have her number on your phone, send her an email or give her a call on your cell so she has it on memory.

No wonder we haven't heard from her in ages...

Shiz Sick

Damn.
I caught じゅるる's cold.

It's my fault cuz I was drinking out of the same cup.
I figured I never get sick around people who are sick, so why would I get sick this time?

In other news, じゅるる's brother is a proud father of a baby girl.
Her name might be a bit geeky... but no geekier than the people we saw at the John Williams concert. And it's a common name. It's the second baby girl I know with this name ^__^

じゅるる Sick

じゅるる and I were supposed to go to a concert at UCLA tonight, but he was feeling sick so we decided to stay home.

So I'm watching the Grizzly Man Diaries on Animal Planet. The foxes are so cute!

Vu's Birthday Adventure

The plan was to eat duck on Vu's birthday.
Sat, じゅるる and I get to Hop Woo, and there's a sign on the door.

"Temporarily closed"

Ack!
The guy said they're remodeling the kitchen and will reopen on Monday.
(BTW the guys talked to Sat like they knew her... does she go there that often?)

So we call up Vu (who was still on his way there) to make a change in plans.

Plan B: go eat ribs.

We head over to Mr. Cecil's, sit down and wait. And wait. And wait.
Both waiters asked if we were still waiting for the other person to arrive.
Yes, we replied sadly. We're very hungry.

Vu finally shows up, and we order quickly.
Rib and rib combo for me & Sat (we shared). Rib and rib combo for じゅるる & me (we shared too). And half rack of baby back ribs for Vu. And a side order of buffalo wings.


And we ate the whole thing!

Then we headed to the Westwood condo to eat cake from Vanille.


And then we played a little bit of WiiFit.

Dave Off to San Jose, Missing Vu's Birthday

Dave left for San Jose today.

To make sure he didn't miss his flight again, Sat drove him to LAX. There's no guarantee that he's not going to miss his flight on the way home though.

We were planning a mini birthday dinner for Vu (who's turning 33 on Saturday), but Dave will be missing that.

We'll just have delicious duck w/o him.

No, the rest of you aren't invited.
"Vu doesn't hang out with anyone else," Sat said.

But you're welcome to treat him out for delicious ribs or delicious clams or delicious anything-but-pork for his birthday. Wait, can he eat pork now?

Panda Working Again

When we went to the Hollywood Bowl, Panda told us that she got a new job.

Today was her first day at work.

She's doing the same thing as the last job... and the new workplace is really close to the old workplace (about 1 block away).

Hollywood Bowl Tchaikovsky Fireworks Spectacular Photos

Hollywood Bowl Tchaikovsky Fireworks Spectacular photos are up.
http://flickr.com/photos/shizpoo/sets/72157607069731031/

Featuring: Shiz, じゅるる, Erika, Sherwin, Dee & Panda.

Guest pass link for the photos will be sent via Evite.
If you weren't part of the original Evite... well, make me a contact on Flickr ^__^

Possibly a Bone Marrow Donor

I got a call from a Bone Marrow Donor Program staff.
Apparently I'm a possible match for someone who needs to get a bone marrow transplant.

I registered at the Tofu Festival in 2004, when Nancy's brother got sick & was looking for a donor. Apparently there aren't a lot of Asians registered for bone marrow donation compared to the number of people who need them transplanted.

So I gave them a drop of blood on a piece of cardboard paper.
And they told me they'll call me if I'm a match w/ anyone.

And so I got a call.

After going over the general procedure of how a bone marrow gets extracted from your body, Helen (the staffer) said I could think it over the weekend to see if I want to donate. I just gave my OK on the spot. It'll probably hurt a lot, but it's only temporary. Plus it'll give me more excuse to ditch work.

Then she went through a bunch of medical questions. I disclosed the lump removal surgery I had earlier this year, although it probably won't be a problem.

Now they're going to test the 4-year old drop of blood to see if I'm a perfect match. Something about testing to see if I match all six of some medical term I don't remember. The result will be ready in one week to three months.

Then I go into a lab for more testing. Probably to make sure I healthy enough to donate.

2nd Round of Hollywood Bowl

Tomorrow is the second round of Hollywood Bowl concert.
But the group is much smaller, so it'll be easier to take pictures.

Sat & Dave can't make it anymore, so Dee & Panda are coming instead.

There was one more I wanted to go to... the Sound of Music sing-along concert. Maybe next year.

My A/C Broke

I was driving down to Torrance, when my A/C died.

It wasn't hot anymore, so I didn't notice at first... but there was no noise coming out of the vents. I clicked the A/C lever back and forth, but nothing.

I think it died.

Argh... is my car telling me it wants to retire? I wasn't planning on buying a new car for another year or so.

This is the second time my A/C died in the middle of summer. The first time was when I was driving up north on the I-5 with Erikku and Jimmy or Daisuke from the cycling team for a cycling race. You know how hot it gets on the I-5 in the middle of the day? Yeah, we drove through that section that smells like cow poop without the A/C. We almost died on the way up.

We decided to drive back down late at night, so we wouldn't die from the heat.
That time, the coolant evaporated because the mechanic who worked on installing the A/C forgot to put the cap back on. If any of us died during that drive, could he have been arrested for gross negligence?

But I don't think coolant's the issue this time.

Maybe the wires short circuited.
I could only hope.

New Glasses

I broke my glasses last Friday, so I went to COSTCO to order a new pair.

I wear my glasses while I sleep, so I like to get titanium frames since they can be bent back into place multiple times without the metal breaking. But I couldn't find really good titanium glasses.

So I settled w/ a Guess frame with bendy arms.
But when I was ready to place my order, the COSTCO rep said the glasses are too small.

I didn't know glasses have sizes, but the number at the end of the SKU number is the width of the glasses.

Like this one is 46.
Too small for your fat head, he said.

I explained that I have bad eyes & need smaller lenses so they're not so heavy. And bulky along the edges.

But I relented and picked a pair that's a little bit wider.

This is the one I ordered.

The glasses are a wee bit bigger than those I've had before... hopefully the far edge (outer edge) isn't too thick. Or it'll make my face look curved through the glasses... and I don't like that. Bleah.

Vu & Dave Join WiiFit

While I was gone for the three day weekend, Vu and Dave joined the Yama Fama WiiFit family.

Apparently Vu scored high on the ski slalom and Dave scored high on the Table Tilt. I can't even get past Level 6 on that one!

Vu fixed the Wii wifi connection & now we can share Mii's with Ards and Dee.
We need to get new Miis of Allen & Steve next.