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Monday, June 22, 2009

Success!

Who knew five weeks would pass by so quickly? In a blink of an eye, I am back in Berkeley taking summer classes. Luckily, the apartment I'm staying at is in a great location on north side of campus.

I survived my first day of ochem lecture and ochem lab. Only eight more weeks to go! This is my attempt to look at this situation in a positive attitude so I'll be able to get survive the next two months. The first exam is in two weeks from Wednesday. The second one is three weeks after that and the last exam is another three weeks later.

For some odd reason, I'm looking forward to spending the summer here at Berkeley, mainly because I have such great friends that make life much more enjoyable. A quick trip to IKEA turns into an excursion looking for decorative items. Yes, my two friends spent over $100 on decorations for their new apartment. A fifth of that was spent on wall stickers. Only they can manage to do such a thing. :D

After summer session is over, I have one week to recuperate and prepare to move back up for the fall semester. Here's to the next eight weeks!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Last Week

This is my last week of summer since I start summer classes at Berkeley next Monday. So I've been rushing around trying to accomplish things before I leave like cooking, running errands, doing last minute shopping, etc.

On Sunday, I went to the Santa Clara International Invitational to see Michael Phelps and other Olympians. Kirsty Coventry, Ryan Lochte, and many Cal swimmers were competing as well. Two big security guards followed Michael Phelps wherever he went. There were rumors that he would sign autographs, but unfortunately did not. They didn't even allow cameras around him, so we ended up taking photos from behind the fence. In addition, from what we heard, people don't have a very good impression of him.
Kirsty Conventry, Zimbabwean Olympic gold-medalist in 200m backstroke (world record holder)
400m backstroke - Michael Phelps is in Lane 6, the one with the white swimcap
Ryan Lochte doing an interview afterwinning the 400m backstroke
Michael Phelps getting checked
Cal swimmers - GO BEARS!

Since summer started, I've been meaning to cook, but have been too lazy. However, today for dinner, I made Italian Baked Chicken with Rotini. This was adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' recipe, Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina, that I found on Food Network's database. The dish turned out very successful and tasted very good too. Hopefully I'll be able to do more cooking in the next couple of days.
I'm heading up Friday evening/night. There is still things left to do. Laundry needs to be washed; my clothes need to packed once they're washed. Finish packing my possessions to bring up. This time I am limiting myself and bringing much less than what I brought back home. Let's hope I don't fill up another van moving back at the end of the summer.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

And All Shall Know the Wonder (Again)

A few days ago, to my surprise, I found out that SPRING AWAKENING IS COMING TO SAN JOSE! Something that I did not think was possible is now coming true!! It is coming to the Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown San Jose from October 28th to November 1st. I am definitely going to see it when it comes.

After AMTSJ closed its doors last year, I thought that it would take a while for musicals to return to San Jose. But I did not have to wait for long! Luckily, the Nederlander Organization worked with Team San Jose to bring Broadway tours to the city. The organization operates theaters in New York City, San Diego, Los Angeles, and many other cities across the nation. The inaugural season includes MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT, SPRING AWAKENING, RIVERDANCE, AVENUE Q, and LEGALLY BLONDE. Although the shows will only be playing for a week each, it is a start and I am hoping that attendance and demand will increase thus resulting in longer stays.

Because of the rarity of Broadway tours in San Jose and the closure of AMT, my hopes of Spring Awakening coming to San Jose, let alone Bay Area, were slim. After I learned about this news, I called all my friends to notify them of the good news and to hopefully bring them along.

Trends

Looking at the dates of my previous posts, I've noticed that I have a habit of posting at the beginning of the month and at the end of the month. Rarely in the days in between. I don't have a clue why that happens, but it does. Today happens to be in the middle of the month which breaks a pattern. Hopefully I'll post more often in the future.

Anyways, it's been four weeks since my last final. I can't wrap my mind around that, but considering that I stayed in Berkeley for most of the first week and I was gone to LA for another week, it makes sense. Since my return from LA, I have been able to hang out with many of my friends. There have been many (and I mean MANY) trips to the mall... visited The Tech Museum, watched The Hangover (more on this later), dined at Buca di Beppo (YUM!), and reminisced at the park on the swings.

For me, summer ends in less than a week. I return back to Berkeley on Friday/Saturday because classes start bright and early on Monday. I'll need the few days to adjust and hang out before the madness starts again. Ironically, I am looking forward to spending the summer in Berkeley, but not that excited about taking another organic chemistry course. From what people have told me, the campus is much more empty than during the regular academic semester. It'll be a nice change of pace. In addition, I am excited to spend time with my friends and hopefully be able to accomplish all we have planned including visits to the city, cooking, among other things.