For Ginoo Raoul...

Beth's Belated Birthday/Graduation Bonanza

Dinner at Irori Japanese Restaurant in Marina del Rey. Nice and cozy sushi restaurant hidden in a giant plaza. Something about eating barefoot that makes sushi even better.

I realize that Beth's birthday is June 17th, so this was actually more about celebrating her graduation from CSULB with a Masters in Social Welfare.

Followed dinner with some Pinkberry (although not my favorite Korean yogurt shop), and we had ourselves a nice evening of catching up with old friends.

Dim Sum

Fried squid with spicy sea salt. Shrimp wrapped in rice noodle sheets. If I get into Cal State LA, I plan on enjoying dim sum on a semi-regular basis. Yum-O!

This is at Ocean Star, one of my favorite spots for dim sum. We originally planned to try this new place, but the wait was pretty long. Strangely enough, the new place is located in the middle of some kind of Chinese department store. But I guess the long wait means the food is good. Perhaps next time.

CSULA

Entry-level master in nursing program information session at CSULA. My top choice for nursing school. Squeeze four years of nursing classes into one year. Then two years of advanced practice nursing, leading me to my ultimate goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. Can't wait.

I will be applying for the Summer 2009 cohort. Wish me luck. Perhaps I should look to this statue of Confucius (@CSULA) for wisdom.

Paper Plate Commercial

So there's this annoying paper plate commercial on the air right now that equates using paper plates with good parenting. The mom loves her kids so much that she won't wash dishes so that she can spend more quality time with her children. Seriously...

Xena's Bathtime

Gave Xena a bath today. Big dog, thick double-coat, lots of shampoo and water. She likes to bite the water as it comes out of the hose. Total time: 1 hr 30 minutes.

Sushi Night

Isn't this a pretty sushi nigiri plate? Dinner at Kinokawa. For those of you who don't know the story, this is where my parents had one of their first dates.

Panda Express

Read an article in the LA Times Business section about Panda Express' success. They sell 45 million pounds of orange chicken annually--today I did my part to contribute =oP

Also filled up on gas. Less than $60 this time, thank you lower gas prices. $4.079 per gallon (premium because Steve, my car, is German) at Costco.

Shame on Spain

Did anyone catch that offensive picture of Spain's basketball team making "slanted eye" gestures? Shame on you, Pau...

Hooray for epicanthic folds!

Lunch with an old friend...

Andrew and I had lunch with Max, an old friend from high school. It was fun to finally catch up, and I hope we won't drift too far apart again. It seemed appropriate to have lunch at The Loft Hawaiian Restaurant, a favorite high school hang out. Later, ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Too busy chatting to snap a photo, so enjoy a picture of Andrew and Max in high school.

Korean BBQ Continued

After an overnight marinade, we enjoyed some BBQ-ing in the backyard. Tita Susan and her sister Tita Josie came over for the Korean BBQ, pansit palabok, and halo halo for dessert.

Marinating Korean BBQ

It's crazy how long the cut of meat is for kalbi. About $32 for enough meat to feed 7 hungry people. Maybe I should try to cook at home more often.

Patis Shortage

My mom is stocking up on her favorite brand of patis, worried that the local Asian markets may become out of stock again. This one is supposedly the least stinky, which makes me wonder about other brands. Scary.

Ace's headgear

Ace with his new gentle leader

Good Stuff and YogurtBerry

I was finally able to schedule lunch with Cindy, and this time my cousin Michelle was able to come along. Michelle has never seen the small town of El Segundo, so I showed her Sbux 5502 and the pretty bougainvillea trellis that will always have a special place in my heart. I'm always amazed by the simple, hidden existence of the small town of El Segundo amidst the chaos of LAX. It's like walking into an episode of Gilmore Girls.

So we ate lunch at Good Stuff. I've realized that when I have lunch with Cindy, I always manage to forget my leftover food! Argh, I left half of my sandwich there! Sayang. Then after we left I realized I should have taken a picture of the cool outdoor-but sort of-indoor patio.

Then we enjoyed some yogurt from one of the many Korean yogurt shops that are popping up all over the place. This place called YogurtBerry is cool because it's self-serve. You can mix as many flavors and toppings as you want and then pay by weight. The black chandeliers against hot pink walls always make me laugh too.

Wetting my toes...

The combination of unemployment, boredom, and Raoul has convinced me to start a blog. Considerable time has passed since I've ventured into the social sphere of the Internet. It's a new world--for today, I will just get my toes wet.

Can you imagine how hard it was to keep in touch with all the people you've run into before the Internet? Maintaining friendships and relationships required much more effort. Both a blessing and a curse, I suppose.

I'm remembering my first two years of college, and I find it hilarious that my roommates and I would actually IM each other, despite being a few feet away from each other. Life is so much different now living at home, especially after my retirement from sbux. It's hard to believe I worked there for five years, which seems both like an eternity and a mere second. Now that I'm not working (to focus on school), I somewhat wish that I had done the same while I lived on campus. I probably missed out on a lot of Discovery Health with Tory, Inuyasha with Catherine, or learning to juggle tennis balls at the boys apartment. On the other hand, my first couple years at sbux were the better share of my time there.