Are two years of college almost over? Come May 14th, I will be done with another year at UC Berkeley. This year was not any easier than the one before and it will only get tougher.
Reflecting back, these last two years have been somewhat of a blur. So much has happened, but I can recall so little in detail. There are those notable college milestones like getting the first A in a class, failing an first exam for the first time, failing a class for the first time, but there are also those funny, random, odd moments that occur in between. It's those little things that have been clouded over by struggles, personal battles, and other seemingly more important concerns.
Time passes so quickly that there are times I can't even remember how it passed. Zoom. And once it hits me, the weekend has ended, it's 9pm Sunday evening and I haven't finished any of my work. Not even my math assignment due the next morning at 8am. There are so many times when I can't even wake up that early to attend math discussion.
This semester, I've had math discussion three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) at 8am on the other side of campus. Because I'm not much of a morning person (even though I like to think of myself as one), my attendance has not been spectacular especially since I've slept through most of them and missed at least four or five quizzes in the past month or so. There are mornings when my friend will call to wake me up at 7:30am...and I will pick up the phone, mumble a few words, go back to sleep, wake up at 11am and freak the fuck out. More than once have I wondered if he called or not and then check my call records to see that I actually picked up.
My sleep schedule has been turned on its head. There are times when I'm in Etcheverry until 2am working on my group final project or a weekly assignment for my engineering graphic design class. Sleepless nights and missed quizzes, all for a three-unit class. Is it worth? I'm not sure. Most days I don't get to bed until 5am, but it's an improvement from my all-nighters from last semester. I'm getting some sleep, but not getting all my work done. My lack of sleep affects my mood and my mood in turn changes my motivation.
Because of the design class, I've pulled so many late nighters for the group project and assignment. I've spent 14 out of the last 24 hours in that building finishing up the engineering drawings for our project. We were there from 9pm until 5am. It didn't help that a few group members were gone either out of the town for the weekend or out partying (?!?!?!) instead. I have pretty much lived in that building this semester slaving away for things that are worth so little points. I have to strive to earn as many points as I can, and at the same time not disappoint my teammates who are working just as hard.
In these past two years, my personal standards have gone down the drain. There are entire days when I have no desire to attend lecture or discussion. Looking through my notes, my attendance was impeccable before spring break. But after the onslaught of the second wave of midterms, I had no motivation to learn. With no parent to supervise what I'm doing, it makes it easier for me to slack off.
In high school, I was able to get so much done. I was able to participate in so much. The first thing after I got home was to watch TV and then promptly work on my math assignment. I was able to get my homework done relatively early and sleep at a decent hour around midnight or so. Granted this was partly because my mom would always check up on me to see if I was finishing up.
In college, it is much easier because I have to look out after myself. If I am not keeping up, then I am the one falling behind. There is no person to hold my hand to make sure I finish all that I need to do. I am still learning to be more independent and find that spark to drive me through the toughest material because my response to any concepts or material relatively challenging is to give up and to come back to it which rarely happens. Those trouble spots build up and I fall more and more behind.
My lack of interest in the classes I'm taking might be a contributing factor to my performance in the classes. Some material which I have already learned still seems foreign and new. This is a good indication that mechanical engineering or engineering in general might not be a good idea. However, a part of me wants to tough it out for just one more semester and see if things change for the better. But I need to make sure that it doesn't hurt me in the long run. There is still time this semester to improve and catch up on all that I missed.
One more week. There is one more week for me to learn four weeks of math material and also review the rest I've already forgotten. I must push through and do well. There is still so much left to do that requires my attention like housing (which I still haven't found yet), but I must find a balance to things and manage it all. I can't let my worrying about housing get in the way of my studying. There is still time.
Here's to the last two weeks of the school year. One week of studying and one week of exams. After that, it will be time to party...or rather get ready for summer school.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Back at Berkeley
A month has passed since my last post. Time sure does fly. So much has happened since then; the most significant being the start of a new academic year. As mentioned in my previous posts, summer was spent back in Berkeley taking summer classes, most specifically, organic chemistry. It has been a tough battle, but I was victorious the second time around. I used knowledge from the first encounter to my benefit, so it was slightly easier the second time around. Especially since the professor whittled down the material to the basics.
Anyways, I have been back in Berkeley for a week now. This year, I am living in campus housing: a double in Unit 2 Griffiths. The living conditions haven't been too shabby. My bed is currently lofted (it was like that when I got there), but I am most likely unlofting it. I am paranoid of injuring myself while climbing up and down to my bed when I am half-awake or half-asleep. Still need to talk to my roommate about that. And things are going pretty well with my roommate. He's fairly quiet. This past week, I've been so extremely busy with Welcome Week events, so I haven't been in the room all that much. I feel really bad for leaving him and not interacting with him much. This will change after this week is over. I hope.
This year, there is still empty space left in my closet and drawers! I've learned my lesson from last year and minimized what I brought to school. Let's hope it stays this way and I don't accumulate too much more stuff. It set me aback when moving out that I filled the entire Honda Odyssey with stuff from my dorm room. There was no free space besides a seat for the driver and a passenger. I am NOT going to let that happen again. This is just one of MANY things I learned from my experience at Berkeley this past year.
This year, I am looking forward to:
Anyways, I have been back in Berkeley for a week now. This year, I am living in campus housing: a double in Unit 2 Griffiths. The living conditions haven't been too shabby. My bed is currently lofted (it was like that when I got there), but I am most likely unlofting it. I am paranoid of injuring myself while climbing up and down to my bed when I am half-awake or half-asleep. Still need to talk to my roommate about that. And things are going pretty well with my roommate. He's fairly quiet. This past week, I've been so extremely busy with Welcome Week events, so I haven't been in the room all that much. I feel really bad for leaving him and not interacting with him much. This will change after this week is over. I hope.
This year, there is still empty space left in my closet and drawers! I've learned my lesson from last year and minimized what I brought to school. Let's hope it stays this way and I don't accumulate too much more stuff. It set me aback when moving out that I filled the entire Honda Odyssey with stuff from my dorm room. There was no free space besides a seat for the driver and a passenger. I am NOT going to let that happen again. This is just one of MANY things I learned from my experience at Berkeley this past year.
This year, I am looking forward to:
- more food options (not necessarily BETTER food though)
- using my meal points to get Peet's
- meeting my floor mates and hopefully getting along with them
- Theater 119: Asian/American Performance Across Media!
- taking more courses for my Acting and Performance Studies minor
- my technical courses (even though they're not THAT interesting, my professors seem to know what they're doing)
Things to be missed:
- late night at Foothill (still haven't tried steak plate)
- an ice machine, especially on hot days
On the other hand, there are things not to be missed:
- long treks up many flights of stairs, to and from Foothill to class, meetings, and any other event
- the lack of food options on North side (Foothill area)
- crappy food at Foothill
There is probably much more I'm missing on these lists...forgive me. I still need to finalize my class schedule for this semester. It depends on the lone class that I'm wait listed for. Once I get off the waiting list, everything will fall into place. For once, I am looking forward to taking my technical courses because all of my professors seem like they know what they're doing. In addition, they're all fairly interesting, especially my Asian/American Performance professor/class. In development...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Luck of the Draw
Last Wednesday after finishing up my ochem midterm, I decided to trek it over to the city and take the day off. I thought I might as well lotto for Wicked since I would already be around the area. Promptly at 5:30pm (since it was an 8pm show), I headed over to the theater, got my slip of paper and filled it out. All this time, I was on the phone with my friend Christina, informing her of what was happening. (She had won the lotto a week and a half earlier.) I placed my slip in the box and lingered until 6pm rolled around.
The time came and the usher drew out the names one by one, pausing for several minutes in between each pick. The lucky people bought two tickets each and soon only single seats were left. Many people refused the single seats because they wanted to sit next to their friends and family, but I didn't mind. It gave me one more chance of winning. All of a sudden, I heard the usher call my name. Christina had told me to let her know if I won. Without thinking, I yelled out "I WON THE LOTTO!" and jumped up and down to some laughter and chuckle, but I didn't care. This was my first time lotto-ing and I had won!! My mind was totally unprepared since I wasn't expecting to win the lotto. I paid my $25 and received my ticket. It was mind boggling to think that I would be watching the show that night. Most of my friends had all seen the show the previous weekend because of the July 4th discount, and this was my chance. I had seen the show for the first time back in March with my two friends.
The show was still spectacular the second time around. My seat was L 21 in the side orchestra. I wasn't able to see the action in upstage right, but then again, not much action occurs in that area. This time I saw the Teal Wicks as Elphaba and Glinda standby, Natalie Daradich in the lead roles. Last time it was Kendra Kassebaum and Vicki Noon. In addition, the understudies went on for Madame Morrible (Fiama Fricano) and midwife (Laura Dysarczyck). I like how Natalie has a higher voice than Kendra, but Kendra's a little more perky and "blonde" as Glinda. Teal was a great Elphaba; she has a fantastic voice, but I prefer Vicki. I don't know if it's because I saw Vicki as Elphaba first...
After both our experiences lotto-ing, Christina and I came to the conclusion that there's a phenomenon known as "solo luck". She lotto-ed for many times in groups for Wicked, but never won. However, the one time that she lottos out of the blue by herself, she wins. The same thing happened for me; I lotto-ed without any plans in mind and happened to win. So we think that there is a force or luck that helps you win when you go alone. This is just our speculation, but I don't know how well our theory holds up. :)
Did I mention that I received a button that says "I won the WICKED lottery!" for winning the lotto?
The time came and the usher drew out the names one by one, pausing for several minutes in between each pick. The lucky people bought two tickets each and soon only single seats were left. Many people refused the single seats because they wanted to sit next to their friends and family, but I didn't mind. It gave me one more chance of winning. All of a sudden, I heard the usher call my name. Christina had told me to let her know if I won. Without thinking, I yelled out "I WON THE LOTTO!" and jumped up and down to some laughter and chuckle, but I didn't care. This was my first time lotto-ing and I had won!! My mind was totally unprepared since I wasn't expecting to win the lotto. I paid my $25 and received my ticket. It was mind boggling to think that I would be watching the show that night. Most of my friends had all seen the show the previous weekend because of the July 4th discount, and this was my chance. I had seen the show for the first time back in March with my two friends.
The show was still spectacular the second time around. My seat was L 21 in the side orchestra. I wasn't able to see the action in upstage right, but then again, not much action occurs in that area. This time I saw the Teal Wicks as Elphaba and Glinda standby, Natalie Daradich in the lead roles. Last time it was Kendra Kassebaum and Vicki Noon. In addition, the understudies went on for Madame Morrible (Fiama Fricano) and midwife (Laura Dysarczyck). I like how Natalie has a higher voice than Kendra, but Kendra's a little more perky and "blonde" as Glinda. Teal was a great Elphaba; she has a fantastic voice, but I prefer Vicki. I don't know if it's because I saw Vicki as Elphaba first...
After both our experiences lotto-ing, Christina and I came to the conclusion that there's a phenomenon known as "solo luck". She lotto-ed for many times in groups for Wicked, but never won. However, the one time that she lottos out of the blue by herself, she wins. The same thing happened for me; I lotto-ed without any plans in mind and happened to win. So we think that there is a force or luck that helps you win when you go alone. This is just our speculation, but I don't know how well our theory holds up. :)
Did I mention that I received a button that says "I won the WICKED lottery!" for winning the lotto?
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Friday, May 29, 2009
A Brief Interruption
I just realized how rediculously long my previous post was...well anyways. Here's the summary:
I've been here since Saturday with Men's and Women's Chorale. We were around Hollywood and Santa Monica and did some awesome street performances. Right now, I am at UCLA until Saturday. Tonight (Friday), I will be watching the theater deparment's production of Anything Goes. I am quite excited because I don't know much about the show and also becuase my friend's roommate is on the production team.
I should also mention that I forgot to bring my memory card reader so I haven't been able to upload any photos while on the trip even though I have my laptop. I'll do that once I get home (hopefully if I'm not lazy). All is going well and I am enjoying my summer immensely. So much in store for the next couple of weeks, but it's a nice change of pace. I'm looking forward to it even though the plan involves summer school.
Until next time!
LA Trip: Part One [From Hollywood & Vine...]
I am on summer vacation! :D It feels great. For the past two weeks or so, I've accomplished quite a lot: hung out with friends, went shopping in San Francisco...twice (but didn't purchase anything either trip), moved out of the dorms (and in the process filled the ENTIRE minivan. There was no room left over.), and now am enjoying life in Los Angeles. First with the UC Chorales and now with the cool kids of Fir 4.
Day 1: Saturday, May 23, 2009
I've been here in LA since Saturday and will be leaving this coming Saturday. Since we arrived until Tuesday afternoon, I was with the chorales. The drive down from Berkeley was much faster and more pleasant than I expected probably because I was with the singers. We stayed at the Hollywood Downtowner Inn on Hollywood Blvd. The place is less glamorous than it sounds, but not too bad for the most part. Everything seemed to be in working order and fairly clean. A few people "didn't exist" because we overbooked the rooms to save money and didn't want the front desk to know what we did. It worked out fine in the end, but there was some sneaking around at the beginning. I ended up rooming with Katie, Lily, Esteban and Tyler.
We at dinner at Buca di Beppo at Universal City Walk. The food was AMAZINGLY good. They serve family-style Italian food meaning the plates are passed around and shared. I loved the eggplant parmigiana (sp?), the stuffed mushrooms, and the salmon with pesto. YUM! When I go back home, I am going to the one in Campbell. It is sort of price-y though so I'm planning to bring people along with me.
Day 2: Sunday, May 24, 2009
Breakfast was at the Cafe Transylvania adjacent to the motel. The owner claimed it was "The Best Breakfast in LA". I'm not so sure about that claim, but I have to say that the breakfast was pretty good compared to other complimentary breakfasts I've experienced. They served pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and sausages or bacon.
We had a few gigs around the area and did quite a lot of singing. Sunday consisted of early morning rehearsal and gigs at 3rd Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier, both of which were fun. The weather was nice: sunny, but not too hot with a slight breeze. It was nice being on the beach again. My previous time at the beach was at the beginning of the year with Fir 4 at the same exact place except this time there were much more people. Nonetheless, our gigs were quite successful. There were many spectators that hopefully enjoyed the performances. During our down time, I walked around the promenade with Patrick. We grabbed some Pinkberry and went to the Apple Store. I was so tired that I fell asleep there for about 15 minutes or so.
Later that night we enjoyed a complimentary dinner at Mo's Burgers (courtesy of Men's Chorale funded by our gigs throughout the year). Each burger was gianormous. The bacon and avacado did not stay on top my lopsided large beef patty. The burger was quite delicious and the patty was cooked just right. Luckily we did not have to pay for this dinner since the average burger costs there costs around $11.50 to $11.95. Fairly pricey. Afterwards we headed back to the motel and most of them went on to watch Star Trek. I stayed back since I was extremely tired. Katie had left so Jordy joined our room.
Day 3: Monday, May 25, 2009
The days sure flied by quickly. I was having so much fun. We spent another day at the beach, but it took FOREVER to get there. I sat in Patrick's car and we followed Stacy's car around Los Angeles. Little did we know that the LA Marathon was going on and a lot of the streets were closed as a result. Thus, we went around in circles and could not reach the highway. It was totes redic and so frustrating!
This time at Venice Beach. Yes, the famous Venice Beach where a lot of films and TV shows have been filmed. However, it's not that spectacular of a place...the beach is dirty, but a lot of cool vendors and such. We did some singing and had someone join us with some of her "interpretive dancing". It was quite interesting watching her join along with our songs...This time I took a nice short nap at the beach. It was very relaxing and looking forward to going to the beach again and next time taking a longer nap... :D Hopefully at a cleaner beach with not so many people.
Dinner was at a Thai restaurant called Yai's. They had to accommodate for a party of twenty-six...and did so very promptly. The service was pretty good and the food came quickly. Mark, Lily, Katie, and I decided to order dishes and share them. Mark got the catfish salad, I got the ginger chicken, Lily got the wild boar with eggplant, and Katie got the glass noodles with seafood (calamari, fish cake, etc). All the dishes were very good. There was a nice balance between the four. The catfish salad was quite unusual. It was fried in this web type thing and served with apples. It sounds peculiar, but tasted great. Also, the wild boar was quite delicious too. Not as exotic as it sounds...tastes pretty much like any other meat.
Afterwards, a group of us took a late night Hollywood tour. We rode the Metro from our hotel down to the touristy part of Hollywood Blvd: the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Our main purpose of the trip was to sightsee the different stations. Apparently, the Metro stations on the red line are unique and designed by a local artist. Along the way we looked at all the stars and handprints and footprints of the celebrities dating back to the 1930s and 1940s. It was an awesome experience at night time because there were very few tourists and you could take as long as you want. We also sang impromptu at the Hollywood & Vine station. The acoustics of the station were great. We had a few spectators and onlookers. :D I wished we had more spontaneous singing...these are always the funnest.
We stayed up until 4am having a ball. The night consisted of Psychiatrist (with Mark as the psychiatrist of course) and lots of Jazz Circling. It was hilarious seeing Mark trying to figure out what our ailment was. He was SO confused because the answers were so random and some fit the question so well. :D We went on doing numerous Jazz Circles taking different quotes and lines and dissecting them and adding new rhythms and harmonies. Choralists just make life so much more interesting because you're brought together by a common bond: singing. It's such a great feeling when you're making music together and when everything falls into place. It's a feeling that other people just don't understand.
Day 4: Tuesday, May 26, 2009
This was our last day and our last gig. It was a Sherman Oaks Galleria, a really nice shopping/business complex. There was a good number of people that stopped to hear us sing since it was during lunch time, but not too much foot traffic. It was a fun experience and also sad because it was our last performance together on this trip. I parted ways and Patrick took me to Westwood and UCLA campus with Esteban (who had to get home on the train which wasn't scheduled to arrive for three hours) and Robert's brother. I stuffed myself on my first meal. It was such a long time since I had a good dining commons meal. I took advantage of the opportunity. :D
Later that night, I ended up playing Extreme Spoons with the floor. It's basically a turbo version of spoons. You set the spoons on another patch of ground separate from where you're playing the game. And once someone gets four of a kind, you have to run over and fight to get a spoon. We played outside on the grass and I won two out of the three rounds. Two of those rounds I was dueling against Rachel.
Day 5: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The day basically consisted of me going to DSW with Sharon, but getting misled on the way because of bad/misunderstood directions. So we ended up going through the residential area and going around in a circle. Also went to DSW and I grabbed some In-n-Out for dinner. I know! I'm so jealous that they have an In-n-Out right next to campus. If they would only open up in Berkeley, they would generate so much business from all the students, but stupid politics and no large franchises and retailers. So how did McDonald's end up infiltrating Berkeley? They should just replace that with In-n-Out. Much more healthy and friendly to everyone.
Sharon needed shoes for banquet and I just browsed around not looking for anything in particular. In the end, she put a pair of black heels on hold and I put two Converses (both on sale!) on hold. I needed some time to make a decision if I wanted to get one or the other or both or neither. I decided to ask around for other opinions to justify my decision.
Day 6: Thursday, May 28, 2009
I sort of lost track of time...but it's been a great experience here at UCLA with the cool kids of Fir 4. I ended up going to geography with Sharon. The lecture topic was plastic surgery and ADHD with some mention of lifestyle and malls at the beginning. The class was quite interesting. The professor/instructor talked about how plastic surgery has changed over the years and how there's more and more aesthetic surgery going on as compared to reconstructive surgery. He also went on talking about ADHD and the use of medication and how it's creating a lot of controversy...I didn't see much of a connection between these topics and geography, but nonetheless it was extremely interesting to me.
I grabbed lunch at Ackerman since Jessica couldn't hang out...again. :( She had a paper to work out. Hopefully next time! And I couldn't believe how many options there were in Ackerman. they have all sorts of food options like Panda Express, Rubio's, Sbarro, Wetzel's Pretzels, Wendy's, Jamba Juice, Taco Bell, Greenhouse and so much more. This would never be able to happen in Berkeley. People would be protesting how most of these are franchises and they don't care about sustainability blah blah blah, as seen in the case of Panda Express this past semester. I ended up getting a Santa Fe Steak Salad from Greenhouse. It was really good and packaged in a clear special compostable plastic bowl with a lid. Haven't seen that before.
When I went to DSW to purchase the shoes on hold, I stumbled upon a hurdle. They had my two pairs of Converses, but not Sharon's heels. I was ready to blow a fuse. Seriously? The lady put it on hold for us until the next business day...so I went around the clearance section for nearly half an hour looking for it to no avail. I ended up looking back behind the counter again and saw that it was on hold except that the lady switched our hold tickets so of course they couldn't find it because the heels were listed under my name... Such terrible service. I ended up caving in and buying the shoes. If they had lost Sharon's shoes, I would have just left without purchasing anything.
Dinner at the dining halls was Cajun night, but they couldn't swipe guests in so I grabbed some Mr. Noodle which sells a bunch of different Asian dishes. The food wasn't too bad, not as good as Thai Basil though...and since Diddy Riese was next door, I got an ice cream sandwich. It was SOOO AMAZINGLY good. I got chocolate chip cookie and chocolate chip with walnuts cookie with cookies 'n cream ice cream. I was in love. <3 Yes. I did have the ice cream sandwich before I had dinner. Before I leave, I am getting four dozen to bring back home. The cookies are SOOOOO good. :D
At around 10:00pm or so, I played some tennis on a school night with the floor. Seriously? Yes indeed. It was quite fun since not everyone has played tennis so we just ended up hitting the ball back and forth. And tennis is one of the sports that doesn't come back to you...different from riding a bicycle or driving car. I wish it did though.
I have one full day left at UCLA and then I had back to the Bay on Saturday! I will be watching Anything Goes put on by Department of Theater. I'm quite excited to see it and my friend's roommate is on the production team so it should be good! :D Before I leave, I also need to get some Coffee Bean.
Day 1: Saturday, May 23, 2009
I've been here in LA since Saturday and will be leaving this coming Saturday. Since we arrived until Tuesday afternoon, I was with the chorales. The drive down from Berkeley was much faster and more pleasant than I expected probably because I was with the singers. We stayed at the Hollywood Downtowner Inn on Hollywood Blvd. The place is less glamorous than it sounds, but not too bad for the most part. Everything seemed to be in working order and fairly clean. A few people "didn't exist" because we overbooked the rooms to save money and didn't want the front desk to know what we did. It worked out fine in the end, but there was some sneaking around at the beginning. I ended up rooming with Katie, Lily, Esteban and Tyler.
We at dinner at Buca di Beppo at Universal City Walk. The food was AMAZINGLY good. They serve family-style Italian food meaning the plates are passed around and shared. I loved the eggplant parmigiana (sp?), the stuffed mushrooms, and the salmon with pesto. YUM! When I go back home, I am going to the one in Campbell. It is sort of price-y though so I'm planning to bring people along with me.
Day 2: Sunday, May 24, 2009
Breakfast was at the Cafe Transylvania adjacent to the motel. The owner claimed it was "The Best Breakfast in LA". I'm not so sure about that claim, but I have to say that the breakfast was pretty good compared to other complimentary breakfasts I've experienced. They served pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and sausages or bacon.
We had a few gigs around the area and did quite a lot of singing. Sunday consisted of early morning rehearsal and gigs at 3rd Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier, both of which were fun. The weather was nice: sunny, but not too hot with a slight breeze. It was nice being on the beach again. My previous time at the beach was at the beginning of the year with Fir 4 at the same exact place except this time there were much more people. Nonetheless, our gigs were quite successful. There were many spectators that hopefully enjoyed the performances. During our down time, I walked around the promenade with Patrick. We grabbed some Pinkberry and went to the Apple Store. I was so tired that I fell asleep there for about 15 minutes or so.
Later that night we enjoyed a complimentary dinner at Mo's Burgers (courtesy of Men's Chorale funded by our gigs throughout the year). Each burger was gianormous. The bacon and avacado did not stay on top my lopsided large beef patty. The burger was quite delicious and the patty was cooked just right. Luckily we did not have to pay for this dinner since the average burger costs there costs around $11.50 to $11.95. Fairly pricey. Afterwards we headed back to the motel and most of them went on to watch Star Trek. I stayed back since I was extremely tired. Katie had left so Jordy joined our room.
Day 3: Monday, May 25, 2009
The days sure flied by quickly. I was having so much fun. We spent another day at the beach, but it took FOREVER to get there. I sat in Patrick's car and we followed Stacy's car around Los Angeles. Little did we know that the LA Marathon was going on and a lot of the streets were closed as a result. Thus, we went around in circles and could not reach the highway. It was totes redic and so frustrating!
This time at Venice Beach. Yes, the famous Venice Beach where a lot of films and TV shows have been filmed. However, it's not that spectacular of a place...the beach is dirty, but a lot of cool vendors and such. We did some singing and had someone join us with some of her "interpretive dancing". It was quite interesting watching her join along with our songs...This time I took a nice short nap at the beach. It was very relaxing and looking forward to going to the beach again and next time taking a longer nap... :D Hopefully at a cleaner beach with not so many people.
Dinner was at a Thai restaurant called Yai's. They had to accommodate for a party of twenty-six...and did so very promptly. The service was pretty good and the food came quickly. Mark, Lily, Katie, and I decided to order dishes and share them. Mark got the catfish salad, I got the ginger chicken, Lily got the wild boar with eggplant, and Katie got the glass noodles with seafood (calamari, fish cake, etc). All the dishes were very good. There was a nice balance between the four. The catfish salad was quite unusual. It was fried in this web type thing and served with apples. It sounds peculiar, but tasted great. Also, the wild boar was quite delicious too. Not as exotic as it sounds...tastes pretty much like any other meat.
Afterwards, a group of us took a late night Hollywood tour. We rode the Metro from our hotel down to the touristy part of Hollywood Blvd: the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Our main purpose of the trip was to sightsee the different stations. Apparently, the Metro stations on the red line are unique and designed by a local artist. Along the way we looked at all the stars and handprints and footprints of the celebrities dating back to the 1930s and 1940s. It was an awesome experience at night time because there were very few tourists and you could take as long as you want. We also sang impromptu at the Hollywood & Vine station. The acoustics of the station were great. We had a few spectators and onlookers. :D I wished we had more spontaneous singing...these are always the funnest.
We stayed up until 4am having a ball. The night consisted of Psychiatrist (with Mark as the psychiatrist of course) and lots of Jazz Circling. It was hilarious seeing Mark trying to figure out what our ailment was. He was SO confused because the answers were so random and some fit the question so well. :D We went on doing numerous Jazz Circles taking different quotes and lines and dissecting them and adding new rhythms and harmonies. Choralists just make life so much more interesting because you're brought together by a common bond: singing. It's such a great feeling when you're making music together and when everything falls into place. It's a feeling that other people just don't understand.
Day 4: Tuesday, May 26, 2009
This was our last day and our last gig. It was a Sherman Oaks Galleria, a really nice shopping/business complex. There was a good number of people that stopped to hear us sing since it was during lunch time, but not too much foot traffic. It was a fun experience and also sad because it was our last performance together on this trip. I parted ways and Patrick took me to Westwood and UCLA campus with Esteban (who had to get home on the train which wasn't scheduled to arrive for three hours) and Robert's brother. I stuffed myself on my first meal. It was such a long time since I had a good dining commons meal. I took advantage of the opportunity. :D
Later that night, I ended up playing Extreme Spoons with the floor. It's basically a turbo version of spoons. You set the spoons on another patch of ground separate from where you're playing the game. And once someone gets four of a kind, you have to run over and fight to get a spoon. We played outside on the grass and I won two out of the three rounds. Two of those rounds I was dueling against Rachel.
Day 5: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The day basically consisted of me going to DSW with Sharon, but getting misled on the way because of bad/misunderstood directions. So we ended up going through the residential area and going around in a circle. Also went to DSW and I grabbed some In-n-Out for dinner. I know! I'm so jealous that they have an In-n-Out right next to campus. If they would only open up in Berkeley, they would generate so much business from all the students, but stupid politics and no large franchises and retailers. So how did McDonald's end up infiltrating Berkeley? They should just replace that with In-n-Out. Much more healthy and friendly to everyone.
Sharon needed shoes for banquet and I just browsed around not looking for anything in particular. In the end, she put a pair of black heels on hold and I put two Converses (both on sale!) on hold. I needed some time to make a decision if I wanted to get one or the other or both or neither. I decided to ask around for other opinions to justify my decision.
Day 6: Thursday, May 28, 2009
I sort of lost track of time...but it's been a great experience here at UCLA with the cool kids of Fir 4. I ended up going to geography with Sharon. The lecture topic was plastic surgery and ADHD with some mention of lifestyle and malls at the beginning. The class was quite interesting. The professor/instructor talked about how plastic surgery has changed over the years and how there's more and more aesthetic surgery going on as compared to reconstructive surgery. He also went on talking about ADHD and the use of medication and how it's creating a lot of controversy...I didn't see much of a connection between these topics and geography, but nonetheless it was extremely interesting to me.
I grabbed lunch at Ackerman since Jessica couldn't hang out...again. :( She had a paper to work out. Hopefully next time! And I couldn't believe how many options there were in Ackerman. they have all sorts of food options like Panda Express, Rubio's, Sbarro, Wetzel's Pretzels, Wendy's, Jamba Juice, Taco Bell, Greenhouse and so much more. This would never be able to happen in Berkeley. People would be protesting how most of these are franchises and they don't care about sustainability blah blah blah, as seen in the case of Panda Express this past semester. I ended up getting a Santa Fe Steak Salad from Greenhouse. It was really good and packaged in a clear special compostable plastic bowl with a lid. Haven't seen that before.
When I went to DSW to purchase the shoes on hold, I stumbled upon a hurdle. They had my two pairs of Converses, but not Sharon's heels. I was ready to blow a fuse. Seriously? The lady put it on hold for us until the next business day...so I went around the clearance section for nearly half an hour looking for it to no avail. I ended up looking back behind the counter again and saw that it was on hold except that the lady switched our hold tickets so of course they couldn't find it because the heels were listed under my name... Such terrible service. I ended up caving in and buying the shoes. If they had lost Sharon's shoes, I would have just left without purchasing anything.
Dinner at the dining halls was Cajun night, but they couldn't swipe guests in so I grabbed some Mr. Noodle which sells a bunch of different Asian dishes. The food wasn't too bad, not as good as Thai Basil though...and since Diddy Riese was next door, I got an ice cream sandwich. It was SOOO AMAZINGLY good. I got chocolate chip cookie and chocolate chip with walnuts cookie with cookies 'n cream ice cream. I was in love. <3 Yes. I did have the ice cream sandwich before I had dinner. Before I leave, I am getting four dozen to bring back home. The cookies are SOOOOO good. :D
At around 10:00pm or so, I played some tennis on a school night with the floor. Seriously? Yes indeed. It was quite fun since not everyone has played tennis so we just ended up hitting the ball back and forth. And tennis is one of the sports that doesn't come back to you...different from riding a bicycle or driving car. I wish it did though.
I have one full day left at UCLA and then I had back to the Bay on Saturday! I will be watching Anything Goes put on by Department of Theater. I'm quite excited to see it and my friend's roommate is on the production team so it should be good! :D Before I leave, I also need to get some Coffee Bean.
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