NY Day 1 - posted by Darwin ;)

Time Square


49th and 5th ave - SATC billboard


Serendipity III


Inside Serendipity, we had their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate

Merry Christmas

It's the season of giving and sharing.. I hope you have a merry one too.. Lots of love!!!

~Mitzi

P.S.

I won't be able to update my blog for a week or so.. coz we're on our way to NY!!! Our flight is 840 tonight at Burbank to Vegas then we'll fly to New York and we'll get there hopefully around 6am-ish (Dec 27) I don't know if I'd survive without access to the internet in a week... hehehe I hope the free wifi hotspots in Manhattan that I printed do exist.. Pray for our safe trip..

Signing off...

It's Mah Day...

Yeah it is.. It's my Birthday!!! Usually, I don't go to work on my birthday but I had to, coz I have a scheduled meeting with AT&T for the VoIP solution they're offering (too bad). Anyways, everyone greeted me at work and we had pizza for lunch (no cake to blow??? huhuhuhu) Darwin called me around 3pm-ish coz his mom told him that he needs to accompany his uncle to the airport. We're supposed to have dinner that night and he'd meet me at my apartment. I told him there's no problem with that since we met last night naman and he was the first one who greeted me at exactly 12MN (how sweet...) When I was about to leave, he told me that I can go with him to the airport and we'll have dinner at the valley afterwards. I went home first to change coz I looked so harrased on my outfit and I need to look good on my birthday. Took the freeway and to my surprise, it's empty (Thank God). I arrived at 7pm-ish and Darwin is still sleeping.. he looks so tired and I feel sorry for him. We hugged. After a few minutes, we left his pad and went to his uncle's apartment to get the car. We're not going to the airport anymore, instead we'll just drop his uncle's car at Burbank... so we need to convoy.. Darwin on his uncle's car while I drive his Acura. We met his uncle then we looked for a place to eat. We choose PF Chang's.. I've never been there so it's another first for me.. The ambience is really nice. I like the color of the lights and it's effect on the antique display on the wall. We got a seat after 5 or so minutes. I had shrimp (my fave) and Darwin ordered mongolian beef. The food tastes good. Everything's perfect... just the way I want it to be..

Movie Marathon

Saturday, I'm not in the mood to go out so we stayed at home the whole day and watched DVD. Darwin rented Blade 1 and 2 in preparation to watch Blade Trinity. Blade 1 is boring while the sequel is more entertaining coz it has a lot of fight scenes.. But it wasn't that good for Darwin so we didn't watch the 3rd movie installment.

Went to Fry's Topanga to buy an SD card for my brother and to check the Portable DVD player that I want to give Darwin for Christmas. He doesn't want it, neither the 200GB hard drive that I secretly researched and almost purchased. It's hard to think of a good gift for him coz he's so picky.. Went to Circuit City then Nordstrom rack afterwards to do more shopping.. I need to buy warm clothes for our NY trip. On our way home, he asked me if I want to see the light decors in Woodland Hills coz I told him weeks ago that I wanna see one.. Since we're already there, we went to the so called "Candy Lane". A lot of cars are going to that direction so I guess this is something famous.. We got stuck so we decided to leave that place and have dinner (since we're pretty hungry). We ate at Jerry's Famous Deli in Ventura. I had short baby backribs and Darwin ordered corned beef. After dinner, we went back to Candy lane. The christmas light designs are really beautiful. But we have to cut it short coz we'll hear Simbang Gabi at St. Genevieve in the morning the next day.

Sunday, Bishop Solis held the mass at St. Genevieve. He's the 1st Filipino bishop of LA County and his homily strucked me. He's a good speaker. We are breakfast after the mass. It is sponspored by one of the parishian and we had pandesal, corned beef, egg and lugaw. A lot of people were there and took pictures of Bishop Solis. Too bad I dont have my camera with me coz I had the battery charged last night. Watched Collateral at my brother's portable DVD player while doing laundry (mostly comforter) before I send it to the PI.

Christmas Party @ Byblos, West LA

It's my 2nd Christmas party with the company I'm with right now and it was held in West LA. Byblos is pretty near from my place (2 miles) and it's 2 blocks away from Westside Pavilion. It's a fine dining restaurant in Westwood. We have a long table reserved and Lani and Brack were already there when I arrived at 9pm-ish. Archie, Obi and his wife, Ida, arrived in a short while. Ida told me that she saw my website and it's nice.. She had fun looking at it coz there's lot of picture.. I told her the site wasn't updated since I got here in the US. We ordered cocktails at the bar and Archie gave me Apple Martini. The drink is too strong for me that's why I asked for Midori sour (it's my fave). When Fred (our boss) arrived, he ordered appetizer and it tastes really good.. It's something new coz I never tried Mediterranean type of food before.. The DJ started playing loud Mediterranean music and group of ladies went to the dance floor. We danced too and Fred told me.. this is the "Puff Daddy" of Persian.. hehehe He's funny.. He danced with his beautiful wife while I danced with the girls.. Janet and Cynthia.. Got tired so I returned to my seat and the main dish arrived... it's Kabbab. I remember our Christmas party last year, we ordered by ourselves and I got the most expensive entree... Filet Mignon. I have something in mind that night too.. it's Lamb Chops but Fred already ordered for everyone. I guess his bill sky rocketed last year and he doesn't want to do the same mistake again.. hehehe

I had a great time. I wasn't able to see the belly dancers to their thing though coz I left a little bit early with Archie and Obi. I think we're the only Asians in that restaurant.. it's mostly Armanian.


Lani and her cousin, Brack, me, Janet and Thom


Cynthia on her Santa costume and me


The lovely couple, Simin and her boyfriend


Amy, Nicole and Azy (Fred's wife)


The newly hired Fred in Purchasing, Fred (our boss) and Amy


The Noypis.. Obi, Ida and Archie

Gift Basket

Just got this beautiful gift from Smarter.com, one of our contacts that provide product advertisement on the net. I thanked Joanna after opening the holiday basket with lots of goodies..

Wala lng.. tuwa lng ako... hehehe (babaw!!!)

Ice skating @ Pershing Square

I never tried ice skating before so it's another first for me. I'm kinda excited and somewhat scared to do it.. Scared of falling.. Mads (the planner) called me to check if I already left. We're suppose to meet at 730pm but I'm still infront of my computer checking mapquest and figuring out how to get there. I'm afraid I might get lost coz there's a lot of one way street at Downtown LA. Well, Mads hasn't left either so it's ok. The other guys were there already and Ollie called asking where I am. I took the freeway instead of side street because it's pass rush hour already.. I was wrong, there's still plenty of cars at I-10. Mads and I were late (as usual).. I got there at around 8pm-ish just in time for the next batch to start. I met old faces again, some are Tins friends. Most of the time I'm with Ollie and Mads goofing around. They patiently thought me how to ice skate and I can say I learned how to skate the "right" way. I never fell and I learned to balance on my own.

The rink is pretty small and it's too crowded. They should limit the number of people to skate coz almost everyone is just walking, not gliding.. The fee for an hour ice skating is eight bucks and validated parking is five bucks (not free mind you). It's a rip-off!!! Mads told us that the skating rink in Pasadena has more room so we might go there on our next skating gimmick..

After ice skating, we had our drawing for our Kris Kringle and group picture taking. I wont be present on our Christmas party though coz it's set on Dec 25 and Im out of town that weekend.

The gang (from left) Tins, John, Mitzi, Ollie, Mads and Allen.


I took this shot on our way to the parking lot.

Cold December

Ooooh, it's freezing here in South Cali. It's been like this since Monday and I'm currently wearing the thickest top I have in my closet and my bubble jacket. Wazzup? It's all pressure on me. I'm in-charge (temporarily) of the IT Department since yesterday because my boss already resigned. She was offered a job that's near her place and she told me it's a good career move for her. I got emotional when I hugged her the last time. She taught me a lot of things about the business and I carpool(ed) with her for a month when I had a problem with my daily commute. She'll be missed. We had a meeting earlier and our CEO told us about his plans.. that his gonna get a new voicemail system and is leaning towards VoIP to cut costs on calls. He wants to integrate all our system and make it paperless..I can say we're already 80% paperless.

Last week, the day before Thanksgiving (Wed), I was sick and I didn't go to work. I watched the first season of Arrested Development dvd with Darwin and that series is really funny. It's somewhat like Malcomn in the Middle and Parker Lewis. Nov 25 (Thu), we had lunch at A&W seafood restaurant then watched National Treasure at Northridge. The movie is ok and it's way better than Da Vinci Code (I'm not done with the audiobook yet though.. hehehe) After the movie, we visited Darwin's mom and had a short chit-chat. Nov 26 (Fri), woke up really early for the "After-Thanksgiving-shopping-galore".. It's the busiest shopping day of the year here in the US coz almost everything is on sale (except those iPods!!! hmph) We first went to Best Buy at 4:30am coz Darwin wants to get the Toshiba laptop that on sale for $500 (almost 40% off). The store opened at 6am but we weren't able to get a laptop flyer =( After Best Best, we headed to Comp USA then Circuit City but didn't get any either. We ate breakfast at McDo then went to Fry's after. I bought blank CDs. Nov 28 (Sun), hear mass then watched Seinfeld DVDs. We had boneless bangus for dinner.. yummy!!! Nov 30 (Tue), started my web project for my soon-to-be part-time job (cross fingers)

DECEMBER!!! Last night, had a date with Darwin at Versailles in Encino then watched Kill Bill vol.2 when we got home but wasn't able to finish it. We'll continue it tonight though.. Good night

Thanksgiving Weekend

I spent the weekend with my relatives at Bakersfield. They picked me up from my apartment last Friday at around 2pm-ish. We ate at Chowking for lunch and I ordered Halo-Halo and Siopao while my uncle is doing grocery at Seafood City. It's a 2hour drive to Bakersfield and I slept all throughout maybe because I was so tired with the early bird shopping Darwin and I had earlier. It's Tita Imee's birthday last Friday so there's a lot of guests, food and of course drinks. I get a chance to meet with AJ's friends again, Melissa and Rizza and we had interesting chit-chats while drinking Alize Gold Passion. After a few drinks, we decided to leave and headed to downtown Bakersfield. They told me that it's their time to show me around. We met up with Yohan and drove around the city. I cant believe there's also bars and clubs in Bakersfield coz everytime I go there, I only hit the mall.. But it's nothing compared to the colorful and lively LA. That's fosho! We got home just in time for videoke but I'm not in the mood to sing. I stayed with my cousin instead at their den to setup his new iPod.

Saturday, woke up at 10-ish and I was so lazy. The weather is really bad. It's raining and windy.. We had aroscaldo and palabok for breakfast and that just saved the day of laziness. We're supposed to go malling but I stayed home instead and started reformating my cousin's computer. At 4pm-ish, we attended the house blessing of Tita Ding, one of my aunt's friends. Pigged out again, chit-chats about "kikay" stuffs and had margarita. We left early coz AJ's sick and I feel like hitting the bed already.

Another weekend without Darwin and I missed him terribly. Got 2 missed calls from him because I was busy uploading mp3s from my cousin's PC to my iPod. I called him and it's a nice 30-minute talk and it's one of those long phone conversation we had. The longest was 2-hours when we're still dating.. Can someone beat that? hahaha

Sunday, left Bakersfield at 8am-ish and said goodbyes. Here's a picture with my cute cousins taken before I left.

The Grand Canyon

Left LA at 8pm, we stopped at Barstow to pump gas and drink some coffee, played Wheel of Fortune slot machine at Primm Casino (it's an hour away from Vegas) and we won. Woohoo!!! I dont want to gamble that night but Darwin insisted. He inserted a $5 bill and as I see his credits decreasing, I cheered.. SPIN A WHEEL!!! We got one spin a wheel and it stopped at $25 hoping it would be $1000. But the probability to get $1000 is very slim. Atleast our $5 turned into $30. We're both jumping for joy on our way to the parking lot. I forgot how cold it was and how sleepy I am. We arrived in Vegas at 1am, took a hot shower then slept.

The next day, we left at 6am for Arizona. I told Darwin to take freeway 93 going south but the only freeway he knows in Vegas is I-15. The directions I got from mapquest doesn't connect from 15 because I searched the site not specifying the exact address as a starting point. My reason was.. I dont know his uncle's home address.. As I was thinking on what to do next, I should have taken one of the hotel's address as the point of origin.. I just kept quiet coz I know the trip is not well planned.. I have the itinerary and all but I missed the "how to get there" map. What I have is very generic from the Grand Canyon Explorer He told me it's ok and he hugged me.. We ate breakfast at McDonalds and took 15 north and we finally saw 93 south. I was really relieved.

We passed by Hoover Dam and it's not what I really expected.. I thought it's really big like what I saw in the movie, "Fools Rush In". The Nevada and Arizona "line" is not there as what was depicted on the movie. Darwin told me that that scene was shot on a different location. Some Hollywood magic. There's a clock tower for Nevada and Arizona since Arizona uses mountain time. The dam is under construction and we need to slow down a bit. The drive after the dam is very loooong. We stopped over at Kingsman to pump gas and do some stretching then we took 40 East to Williams. We listened to Darwin's mp3 collection in shuffle mode and when "Silvertoes" by Parokya ni Edgar played, both of us laughed.. If you listen closely to the lyrics and how they wrote it, it's really funny.. I hate "feeling" girls especially those who I know and looks like "Ogie Diaz".. hahaha (Forces... more kwento later) We reached Williams at 10am and the Kaibab National forest is breathtaking.. after 2 hours of driving and just seeing plain desert, finally there's life in here.





It's another hour drive to the Grand Canyon from William and both of us were wondering where the canyon is.. The entrance fee is $20 and the forest ranger gave us a map. We ate lunch at Market Place and we both had fried chicken with mushed potato and biscuit.. yummy!! While eating, we planned where to go first coz there's so many points to go to like Yavapai Pt., Angel Pt., Mather Pt., etc. It's freezing up there and the it's foggy that's why the shots are not that clear. They say it's best to go there during summer. A picture paints a thousand words.. Here goes...

At Bright Angel trailhead






At Yavapai point, the view is great here






We left the Canyon at 2:30pm and drove back to Vegas. We took it for 4hours only since we already know where we're going to. The only delay we had is the incident at Hoover dam because the car that's infront of us is very slow. I think he's doing it in purpose. We ate buffet dinner at Seafood Village in Rio and it's really good and VERY expensive. I had two prime rib!!! Imagine that.. I was very full.







Went to Venetian to walk and take pictures. We went to Alladin afterwards and played Wheel of Fortune slot machine again, but this time we lost.. $60. I wont play that ever!!! I had Cosmopolitan for cocktails while playing it. Went home at 11pm. Tired and exhausted.







This is too long.. I will continue this... laterz =)

Maah Week

Arizona... here we come!!! Darwin and I will go to Grand Canyon this weekend. Just got the Sony T11 camera with 256MB memory stick pro duo that I bought yesterday.. Expect lots of pictures on my next entry =)

Here's a quick rundown on what happened this week..

Last Monday, I cleaned my room and had laundry.. mostly housekeeping. I love cleaning and making sure everything is organized.. Darwin told me that I'm weird coz I love cleaning.. who doesn't want to have a clean room? hehehe One time I cleaned his room and all his things were re-organized and he had a hard time looking for the receipt that he needs for reimbursement, his books and some magazines =) Well, he is used to it right now. =) Tuesday, met Darwin and we watched "Before Sunset"... Oh, I still get so connected with the characters.. they are so REAL.. kileeg pa rin =) Gave my Casio Exilim to his uncle since he's going back to the PI. It's for my mom and it will get there this weekend. Wednesday, grocery for our out of town trip and for my dinner that night.. I had Ralph's roasted chix.. yum! Thursday, went to Fry's to buy the Sandisk memory stick pro duo for the Sony T11 camera, watched "The Elf" but wasn't able to finish it.. got sleepy! ZZZzzzZZZ.. Today.. I'm excited!!! 3 more hours and I'm outta here!!!

Headsprung

Last Saturday, we woke up really late and had we brunch at Goldilocks. After lunch, we went to Beverly Center to shop.. I didn't buy anything though but Im really eyeing on that Channel sunglasses.. LOL. I was really tired and I cant walk anymore so we decided to go back to my apartment and rest. We were caught in traffic for 45minutes and AJ got really pissed. He doesnt want to live in the city daw.. hehehe While resting, we watched "How to Loose A guy in 10 days". The guys slept after the movie and AJ accompanied me to Starbucks to hangout. I got a call from Ollie that there's a mini-show in LA. The band is Anapolis and there's a also a comedy show by JoJo who is really.. REALLY corny.. almost all his jokes came from forwarded emails.. It was fun though coz AJ and Rizza participated.. I finally met Tins boyfriend. John and she's with Miguez too.. I met her last year at Freestyle's concert in Grand Coliseum.

Me, Tins, John, Miguez and Ollie at the Anapolis mini-concert in LA



After the show, we went to 3rd St Promenade to eat at Hooters. We got there before the kitchen closes (that's 2am) and we ordered the big platter and some fries.. The guys were really drooling over the hooter girls...



The girls at Hooters


With our "rude" waitress


The hooter girls sings for AJ (it's not really his bday)


Sunday, met Darwin and he looks really tired.. He went to Mammoth to snowboard with the gang last Saturday and it's a back-n-forth trip.. We're supposed to go to mass but we just rest. Left at 3pm to go to the Hiphop class in East LA and Darwin accompanied me coz I might get lost (so sweet of you sweetie). It was fun, learned two routines and the song is Headsprung.. Oooh, that really shaked my booty.. hehehe Mads, Ollie and I were giggling at the back coz we're having a hard time following our instructor.. But she's good.. and entertaining.. Bought dinner at Kalesa Grill then went back home.

Clubbin at The Highlands

My cousin and his friends are visiting for the weekend. They got lost on their way to my apartment maybe because I dont know how to give directions or AJ is not listening to what Im saying. LOL They arrived at around 930pm and they rest for a while then changed for clubbin outfit. The plan was to go Century Club but since it's Latino night there on Fridays, we decided to go to The Highlands instead. The line was really long when we got there (even at 12mn - yeah.. coz we're caught in traffic). MTV is there to offially release Eminem's new album. There crowd are mostly white and armanians... you can see small groups of Asians.. What I like in Highlands is their lounge area at the 2nd floor coz they play old school and you can sit and relax and it's not that crowded. The club is open until 3am but we decided to leave 30 minutes before coz they played Salsa which Im not really into..

Rizza, Melissa and Me


AJ, Yohan and Rizza


I just took a shower and I still feel dizzy.. Need to go back to my bed and sleep.. ZZZzzzZZZ

Oh... Don't beg...

There are lot of good movies lined up this month, there's After the Sunset, Bridget Jones 2 and National Treasure which I'll definitely NOT miss. Last Wednesday, I watched "The Incredibles" with Darwin, Sher, Chai, Jannie and her brother at Burbank. It's really funny and the computer animation is SUPERB. Thanks to one of Pixar's animator who is a Filipina.. it looks so REAL talga.. A must see for all ages!!! The movie has similarities with the Bond movie... like Edna aka "E" who is a gadget-master same as "Q". She's quite a character.. my fave line of her is "Oh... Don't BEG" LOL. It's surprising to see that the theatre is full on a Wednesday night. Oh.. and we got free popcorn!



Yesterday I took my pea coat that I had dry-cleaned. I thought I wouldn't be able make it coz they close at 7pm. I called the store and I asked if they can wait 5 more minutes before they close coz I'll be late. They're nice enough to accomodate my request. Went to Fashion Square then ate In-n-Out for dinner coz I was really craving for their cheese burger.

Darwin bought the Before Sunset dvd at Fry's and we're supposed to watch it last night but both of us are too tired and sleepy na. ZZZzzzZZZZ

Pamper Day

Yeah!!! Last Saturday, I went to the salon to get a haircut coz I look "losyang" na with my mega long hair in chok-chok.. LOL I told Linda (my hairstylist) that I want it layered-shoulder-length-cut.. As we were chatting, I asked if they do artificial french tip.. I want it coz it's easy to maintain and it avoids chipped or broken nails.. From what I heard you can go back to repair it and you'll just add $5. They dont do artificial french tip but I still had my nails done.. It's a nice relaxing experience and it's my first in the US.. got a massage too coz in the PI I dont get it.. I feel so pampered talga...





Friday, Darwin and I watched Around the World in 80 Days with Sherwin and it's very hilarious.. Sherwin noticed my giggle and it's weird daw.. hahaha After the movie, I had combination fried rice for dinner. I've been craving for Thai food since last week... I learned how to play poker (thanks sweetie) and I won.. hmmm Beginner's Luck!

Sunday, coffee at Starbucks and had brunch with Roanne at Midori sushi.. Dejavu! I was so full again with all that rolls and sushi.. Went to Fashion Square afterwards to walk and window shop. Mass at 5pm then rest.

If Only...

Last night, Darwin and I watched "The Grudge" at 3rd Street Promenade. I already warned him that I become violent if i watch horror movies... I might bite or drastically pull his shirt just to cover my eyes. And I did.. He's telling me.. "Ano nakakatakot dun?" or he'll scare me everytime I look at him with what the kid does.. Waaah!!! with his mouth wide open.. Instead of getting scared.. I can't help but laugh.. It's the first time we watched a horror flick together coz I know he's not into it.. We saw a lot of flaws on the movie (SPOILERS!!!)... like how come the sister of Mike looks so scared already when it's the first time they see the house.. or why Bill Pullman jumped from his apartment right after he saw his stalker... It's nothing compared to "The Others" and "What Lies Beneath" that gave me sleepless nights and tickled my brain a bit.

I can feel Christmas coming already. Christmas lights & decors, chilly weather, and the coffee aroma that smells so good. What makes it perfect is that I'm walking with someone I want to be with.. I'm happy.. and I think he is too (check his blog)... I dont want this year to end yet. I guess I'm scared.. scared of what life has to offer me in 2005.. If only I could stop time I'd do it... I'd do it.

Love is what I need to help me know my name...

What an amazing line!!!

This song struck me when Darwin played it on his iPod on repeat mode. He likes it.. now I like it too... It's a DEEP song and as I was surfing for its lyrics on the web, I found a site that actually analyzed the song. It's at phoenixcentre.com.

Love's Divine
Album: Seal IV
Artist: Seal

Then the rainstorm came over me
And I felt my spirit break
I had lost all of my belief you see
And realized my mistake
But time through a prayer to me
And all around me became still

I need love, love's divine
Please forgive me now I see that I've been blind
Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name

Through the rainstorm came sanctuary
And I felt my spirit fly
I had found all of my reality
I realized what it takes

'Cause I need love, love's divine
Please forgive me now I see that I've been blind
Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name

Oh I don't bend [don't bend], don't break [don't break]
Show me how to live and promise me you won't forsake
'Cause love can help me know my name

Well I try to say there's nothing wrong
But inside I felt me lying all along
But the message here was plain to see
Believe me…

'Cause I need love, love's divine
Please forgive me now I see that I've been blind
Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name

Oh I, don't bend [don't bend], don't break [don't break]
Show me how to live and promise me you won't forsake
'Cause love can help me know my name

Love can help me know my name.

Trick or Treat?!?

Yesterday, we went to Glendale to eat at Max's.. I'm craving for their crispy chicken.. But when we got there, the wait is long and it will take an hour to be seated. NO WAY!!! I'm so hungry.. I can eat anything and I want now.. LOL We headed to the mall and as we're lookin for Carl's Jr., Darwin saw a poster with fried chicken on it.. Without second thoughts, we ate there.. I forgot the name but it's at the food court.. A lot of cute kids on their unique costume are all over the place. Obviously, it's Halloween. The one that I like most is the one with the Angel outfit. If ever I'll attend a costume party (which I havn't been to any yet..) I want to be an Angel.. haha boring ano..

Hear mass at 5pm... Bought candies at Walgreens just in case kids knock at our door.. Grocery at Seafood city then cooked kare-kare for dinner.. While cooking, I called mom.. They just got home from Dad's mausoleum.. (Eternal rest grant unto dad's soul, Oh Lord.. And let perpetual light shine upon him.. May he rest in peace.. Amen) I was able to talk to DJ and MM. DJ's asking for his gift coz he's gonna be 24 on Nov. 7.. I told him kiss na lng.. LOL.. MM told me that the PDA she got is very useful for her.. =) JC is working that day so I didnt get the chance to get upates on him.. The 25-minute phone card is not enough but atleast I was able to hear from them again. It's nice to get in touch through email and chat but it's still different if you're talking over the phone.. I miss them soo much..

Watched Shark Tale at Universal Citywalk last Friday.. It's hilarious and a must see for all ages.. Lenny is really cute and he sounds like a homo-shark.. hahaha The day after that, Darwin and I went to the California Auto show in Anaheim. I get to see a closer look on the Scion xA but I fell in love with Toyota Prius and Hammer H3 which will be out on 2006.







After the car show, we hanged out at The Block.. I didnt see any shops that I'm interested in.. Got tired and hungry so I had churizo and we rested at some Boba place. It's like Zagu in the PI and we call it Black pearl back home instead of Boba.. It doesn't have that much of flavors though.. like Cookies n Creme or Buko Pandan that I really like.. We headed home to rest. When it's time for dinner, we decided to eat sushi at Midori in Sherman Oaks. I wanted to play pool after sushi but Darwin is not into it. We had coffee at Borders instead and I read Cosmo until the store closed.

That's it!

Shall We Dance?

I just got home after watching "Shall We Dance?" at The Grove with my college friends Mads, Ollie and her bf Jun.. The movie is a chick flick, and there's this scene that really made me shiver. It's the time when John Clark (Richard Gere) came up the escalator in that tux with the red rose for his wife (Susan Sarandon). WOW!!! I almost cried.. The song that's played on that scene is perfect too..



One thing to look out on that movie... My name's up there!!! hehehe Ollie said loudly.. "Hey, that's your name oh!" Yeah, that's the dance studio and it was shown 3x.. It's no biggie.. hehehe



After the movie, we chat some more infront of the dancing fountain... Mads gave me Jon's Xmas gift from last year and she said FINALLY!! LOL.. So Jon, I got it na... thanks!

So-So

Thank God it's sunny again.. Last night, there's a storm in Southern California and it's stronger than last week.. I feel bad everytime it rains.. It's cold, I can't go out or stay longer outside. After work, the cloud is REALLY dark and heavy and I'm having second thoughts of going to the library after pumping gas at Arco in Venice/Overland. I remember back home, we have gas boys that will pump gas for you, clean your windshield, add air on your tires, and all you have to do is give 5 pesos tip.. But here you have to do it by yourself.. I remember the first time I pumped gas, I secretly copied what the lady beside me is doing.. HAHAHA That was really funny.. Anyways, I still went to Palms Public Library in Overland/National to renew the Cisco book. I was in hurry like someone's chasing me because I dont wanna get the car wet.. hahaha I was even worried on the car than myself gettin wet.. I'm just lazy to have it carwashed again. I just had it washed last week though so it's still sparkling clean..

The other night, I did some grocery then went straight home to sleep. I was so tired after the Vegas trip and that looong dreamy sleep helped a lot.

Tonight, I still dont know if I'm gonna go to the valley or just go to the beach.. Santa Monica beach is just 10minutes from my apartment... It would be romantic if I walk with someone but if I'm gonna be alone, I might just go to the mall and shop some more for winter clothes.. =)

Fabulous Vegas

It was a looong 5 hours drive to Vegas because of the traffic (rush hour... Friday night...) and a 10-minute stop over at Barstow for some Starbucks coffee to keep us up and do some stretching. We're goofing around and testing the new Sony Cybershot T11 when this lady staff from Starbucks approached us and told us that taking pictures is not allowed inside... Hmmm is that her own policy?? and I've never heard anything like that before.. inggit lng cguro.. hehehe



Reached Vegas at 2am. First stop was Tito Abet's place (Darwin's uncle) were we stayed the whole weekend (thanks!!), then we headed to the strip. The Botanical Conservatory of Bellagio is a jaw dropper because it contains exotic plants and flowers. I heard that the garden changes every season and the theme this season is Halloween..



We met the gang at Treasure Island and they're already playing Pai Gow. Everyone seems bored maybe because they're loosing or maybe they are just tired.. Bet is $25 per game... I played slots machine and video Black Jack instead because it's 25c per game only. While we're playing, a cocktail waitress approached us for a FREE drink... I had Cosmopolitan while Darwin had Midori sour.. I didn't pass the age test again coz she asked for my ID. Good thing I have it with me or else I wont have my drink.. hehehehe Left the casino at 4am then headed to eat Breakfast Buffet.. yum-yum!!!



Slept for 4hours only.. The next day, we went to the outlet store and I got Armani tops, knee high boots, and Nike slip-ons... and of course, everything's on SALE!!! Met the gang again coz they want to do some shopping for their loved ones.. like Raff bought an expensive Coach bag for his wife... He even told me that he wants to take a plane and go home coz it doesnt feel complete without his wife around... Naks! Totoo kya yun? hehehe

I got too tired and hungry after shopping so I asked Darwin if we can eat since it's already 3pm.. WE went to MGM coz the buffet there is delicious but when we got there.. it's close already.. For every casino, they have a gimmick and here in MGM, it's lion habitat wherein you can have a close enconter with a lion cub.. it's soooo cute. We decided to eat at New York, New York since it's just across the street... Ofcourse, you wouldn't pass the chance of taking pictures while walking coz the view is just great!!!














After late lunch, we met the gang again at MGM and gambled some more.. I lost $40.. but it was fun,, you'd here me cheering for myself and saying YES!!! everytime I win...I also have an MGM Players Club card that tracks my points now, like I'm gonna be at Vegas all the time hehehe.. I played Black Jack again with Darwin on my side. I told him he can play with the guys but he'd prefer to play a 25c game than $25 Pai Gow.. hehehe We didnt get any FREE cocktails this time so we decided to walk and check what MGM has to offer..I noticed that everyone's in Hawaiian Outfit.. there's a party goin' on at one of the conference rooms... maybe...just being an MGM member, we'd have that privilege too.. you know get invited on some of their events.. hehehe

We had dinner at some sushi place that's not on the strip. I thought there's no life outside the strip.. like it's all sand out there... hehehe.. I don't really eat sushi so I just ordered Tempura.. We had fun inside that resto and the chef showed us some of his tricks. Then Jannie had a RIGHT timing to ask the chef if he can take a picture of us and post it on their wall.. She's been waiting for this moment and ofcourse he said YES!!! Now... we're part of their collage.. NICE! The rolls are delicious... dragon roll, caterpillar roll, california roll (my special request), etc and we have HOT sake too.. it tastes like Tequila..











We went back to Tito Abet's place to rest but I ended up sleeping.. I'm really exhausted.. It was a very looong day but it was fun coz I was able to do shopping and sightseeing.. but most of all.. I'm with my sweetie.. He's so patient showing me all those nice spots.. Thanks talaga =) He went back with the gang. At around 3am, I woke up as Darwin enters the guest room and I took a shower.. Oooh, I need that too.. We chat for a while then slept..

The next day, we ate tapsilog that Tita Emmie prepared for breakfast. yum-yum! Went to Best Buy to accompany Tito Arthur (Darwin's uncle too) in buying LCD flat panel TV. It's backordered so he'd get it on Nov18. We kidded that we'll be back just to check out the new TV on the 18th.. hehehe Tita Cara (wife of Tito Arthur) is telling me that Ace is waiting for me.. he calls me Twin, the other one is Jill.. We had some snack on their condo we went back to Tito Abet's place to say good-byes..



We stopped at Primms outlet store to do some shopping and I got an Old Navy corduroy jacket that I've been longing to have. Darwin wants to have coffee but the line at Starbucks is too long.. We decided to get it some other place.. Darwin drove all the way to Barstow, I had Subway for lunch while he went to Starbucks... but the line is long again.. He took a nap while I was eating then I bought coffee for him at Chevron's cafe. I offered to drive to LA so he can rest. Poor sweetie.. He's really tired.. Traffic is too bad when we reached Victorville. Another stop over at Wendy's and Darwin drove this time. We checked Phil Jackson's "The Last Season" at Barne's but it's sold out!!! Dinner at home then rest..

We missed the Sunday mass... Bawi na lang next week... Thanks for the safe trip!!!