Yesterday, I went to the Lakers parade. It was quite a bit of fun, but in no way did I think most people were “celebrating with dignity”. Right after the Lakers won the championship, immediately after, there was a commercial with Kobe, Phil, Derek, maybe Pau, I can’t remember exactly. All of them were saying how the fans represented the team, and how our celebrating should show other people how Laker fans celebrate, and we should celebrate with dignity. Exactly. However, I did think it was really ridiculous how the players have to tell you to do that. It’s plainly obvious that you should celebrate in a classy way.
There’s something stupid about LA fans though. About 10 minutes after airing that commercial, a small riot broke out in downtown LA, right outside Staples Center. Needless to say, it was really embarrassing, as that sort of behavior was in no way a reflection of how I celebrate Laker victories, or how other people I know celebrate. It’s one thing to loot a store and sell it for money or keep it for yourself. However, it’s a completely other thing to loot from a store and then just burn everything you stole. It was disgusting and embarrassing. I hope other sports fans don’t think all Laker fans are this way.
Unfortunately, stupid behavior was happening the day of the parade too. Maybe just at the Coliseum where I was, but I think I’m going to follow my Mom’s advice and just go to the parade route instead if I ever go again. In any case, it was about 7 in the morning when we arrived. The people in front of us were drinking beer and smoking in the line. Come on people, I understand breakfast sandwiches and coffee, but alcohol at that hour?! It’s just so sad that there were children in line with them. Other people there had the decency to go step out of the line for a moment and go a distance away and smoke. At one point, I smelled marijuana and was really disgusted. The worst part was, the guy in front of me had a joint in his pocket and was totally going to smoke it right in front of me. Gross. When they opened the gates, it was absolute mayhem. Let’s just say that some people really need to use deodorant, and people need to stop pushing. It was pretty horrible.
Anyway, I got to see the Lakers, although far away, and it was cool to be part of the experience. I learned a lot of things. First, always bring sunscreen. Second, bring a jacket. Not for wearing, but as a sun shield. Third, there are a lot of dumb fans, so be patient, or try to be tolerant. I hate to make this politically charged, but a lot of the dumb fans belong to a particular ethnic group. I don’t know why that is, but try to stay classy. Fourth, despite my love for Trevor Ariza, I think we would not get along in real life. He likes 'lil Wayne, Kanye, T-Pain, and his favorite car is an Escalade. Oh no. I think Trevor can still be one of my favorite Lakers, but hell, I'm marrying Pau instead :] Fifth, the guys are so cute in person. They’re total guys, jumping into each other, it was very good to see. Go get ‘em next year~!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ups, downs, and basketball
After such a tough loss, I always feel horrible. The feeling doesn’t go away until the next game and there’s a W. Otherwise, the feeling just gets even worse. Thankfully the game is tomorrow, so it doesn’t have time to really sink in and make me really mad. Nonetheless, you really have to credit the other team. They played out of their minds last night, and they only won by 4. Kobe was not very clutch at the end of the game, and our defense was incredibly spotty. Funny thing was, Kobe was playing fairly well in the first quarter, then something happened in the second, and his shots weren’t going in. The trend continued well until the end of the game. It was very upsetting. Plus, Lamar and Andrew did not show up. Pau had brain farts all over the place. For such tall, skilled players, that sort of performance is not acceptable in any way at all.
Yesterday, I was really nervous about finally starting lab work. I was scared that the Masters’ students would be a bit scary, and that the Summer Bridge students would be fantastic and I would look like an idiot. I was pleasantly surprised. The Bridge students were very nice, although two of them seemed rather bored, and just wanted to get out of there, as they were checking their cell phones rather frequently. The other one seemed more interested, and from what I saw, didn’t check his cell phone, thankfully. The other undergrad, Emily, seemed really nice and sweet. I think she’s a lot younger than I am, maybe a sophomore? Not sure. The Master student teaching us seemed really nice and a bit dorky, reminded me of a girl I knew in high school- a bit homely looking, a bit of a geek, but really nice. The process of making things wasn’t that difficult. Nonetheless, there’s a weird feeling about how there’s not a whole lot of supervision. Pretty much, the Master’s student is the one you look to for stuff. I’m coming by again on Thursday, and I’m pretty excited. I’ve gotten over the first sort of initial anxiety, and I’m really willing to learn more. I’ve already signed a form to get a key to the building, so I feel pretty legit right now. I just hope that the Masters’ student teaches me how to do things in time for the Lakers game. Wow do I have my priorities in order.
On an unrelated note, I was listening this morning on ESPN radio. I didn’t really feel like listening to music, and I like to hear what other people think about the Lakers. I sometimes listen to the station the games are broadcast on, but they were talking about baseball, and frankly, I don’t care. The announcer guy, I dunno who he was, but had a kind of annoying voice, was talking about ratings of the NBA versus the NHL. It’s pretty obvious, in America, football reigns supreme, with baseball as a very close second. To me though, I was always a really big fan of basketball, and football’s ok, and baseball’s boring. I never really thought much about hockey at all. I always put it in the same category as soccer and rugby. Fun, but not very popular in America. I figured hockey was really popular in cold places, like Canada and Russia, where ice is everywhere, though with global warming, who knows. Similarly with soccer and rugby, sure in England and pretty much everywhere else in the world where futbol reigns supreme. To me, it just is really dumb to even compare basketball versus hockey. Of course basketball gets more ratings! So when the radio guy said that the NBA gets about 4x the amount of viewers the NHL does, it didn’t surprise me at all. But it’s interesting, when I consider that both sports are in their championship phase. The NHL has the Stanley Cup going on right now, and it’s game 6, so it has to be a pretty big deal, especially with the series going that far. The NBA has the Finals going on right now, but it’s only game 3, with the home team in a must-win situation. One guy called in and said that looking at ratings for the NHL wasn’t accurate at all, as the game is only exciting when you’re at the game. That may be true, but the sport gets LOTS of money from TV. If it’s not exciting on TV, then what?
I do have lots to say about the basketball issue, but I feel rather uninspired to talk about it at length. My broski is graduating from high school today, so congratulations to everyone in the Class of ’09!
Cheers!
Yesterday, I was really nervous about finally starting lab work. I was scared that the Masters’ students would be a bit scary, and that the Summer Bridge students would be fantastic and I would look like an idiot. I was pleasantly surprised. The Bridge students were very nice, although two of them seemed rather bored, and just wanted to get out of there, as they were checking their cell phones rather frequently. The other one seemed more interested, and from what I saw, didn’t check his cell phone, thankfully. The other undergrad, Emily, seemed really nice and sweet. I think she’s a lot younger than I am, maybe a sophomore? Not sure. The Master student teaching us seemed really nice and a bit dorky, reminded me of a girl I knew in high school- a bit homely looking, a bit of a geek, but really nice. The process of making things wasn’t that difficult. Nonetheless, there’s a weird feeling about how there’s not a whole lot of supervision. Pretty much, the Master’s student is the one you look to for stuff. I’m coming by again on Thursday, and I’m pretty excited. I’ve gotten over the first sort of initial anxiety, and I’m really willing to learn more. I’ve already signed a form to get a key to the building, so I feel pretty legit right now. I just hope that the Masters’ student teaches me how to do things in time for the Lakers game. Wow do I have my priorities in order.
On an unrelated note, I was listening this morning on ESPN radio. I didn’t really feel like listening to music, and I like to hear what other people think about the Lakers. I sometimes listen to the station the games are broadcast on, but they were talking about baseball, and frankly, I don’t care. The announcer guy, I dunno who he was, but had a kind of annoying voice, was talking about ratings of the NBA versus the NHL. It’s pretty obvious, in America, football reigns supreme, with baseball as a very close second. To me though, I was always a really big fan of basketball, and football’s ok, and baseball’s boring. I never really thought much about hockey at all. I always put it in the same category as soccer and rugby. Fun, but not very popular in America. I figured hockey was really popular in cold places, like Canada and Russia, where ice is everywhere, though with global warming, who knows. Similarly with soccer and rugby, sure in England and pretty much everywhere else in the world where futbol reigns supreme. To me, it just is really dumb to even compare basketball versus hockey. Of course basketball gets more ratings! So when the radio guy said that the NBA gets about 4x the amount of viewers the NHL does, it didn’t surprise me at all. But it’s interesting, when I consider that both sports are in their championship phase. The NHL has the Stanley Cup going on right now, and it’s game 6, so it has to be a pretty big deal, especially with the series going that far. The NBA has the Finals going on right now, but it’s only game 3, with the home team in a must-win situation. One guy called in and said that looking at ratings for the NHL wasn’t accurate at all, as the game is only exciting when you’re at the game. That may be true, but the sport gets LOTS of money from TV. If it’s not exciting on TV, then what?
I do have lots to say about the basketball issue, but I feel rather uninspired to talk about it at length. My broski is graduating from high school today, so congratulations to everyone in the Class of ’09!
Cheers!
Friday, June 5, 2009
don't be afraid of the censor button
I am SO sick of the stupid song by Pitbull or whoever that goes “One, two, three, four, uno, does, tres, quarto, I know you want me, you know I want ‘cha” followed by some rather vulgar things in Spanish. Now, aside from the fact that the song is INCREDIBLY annoying, it says some pretty vulgar things, and it’s not even remotely censored on the radio. I mean, come on, this is LA. A lot of people speak Spanish. So yes, it is a big deal, when a kid with relatively ok Spanish-speaking skills hears it and asks mom what that means.
This issue came to my attention when I was with my brother, who’s taking AP Spanish. The song came on the radio, and I asked him if he understood what the guy was saying. He listens, and he says something like “I know you have a big mouth… so we can play?”, followed by “Ewww. That’s dirty.” Lots of songs totally get censored due to language/content, like Britney Spears’ song “If You Seek Amy” that’s changed to “If You See Amy” to change the vulgarity, and obviously bad words like the f-bomb are censored out, or changed to something else. That’s fine, the radio stations don’t want to get fined by the FCC. Sometimes, potentially dirty things are downplayed, as to not seem so bad. Now I’m not entirely sure about this, but Lil Wayne’s song “Lollipop” is changed too, where instead of him saying “She lick me like a lollipop”, it’s downplayed to sound more like “Lick like a lollipop”, downplaying what he’s really saying. It’s so unfortunate that every single song out there is just overtly sexual. There are so many other things you can sing about, and it’s sad that everyone only talks about that. Radio stations should definitely reconsider their opinion/ policy on content, regardless of language.
This issue came to my attention when I was with my brother, who’s taking AP Spanish. The song came on the radio, and I asked him if he understood what the guy was saying. He listens, and he says something like “I know you have a big mouth… so we can play?”, followed by “Ewww. That’s dirty.” Lots of songs totally get censored due to language/content, like Britney Spears’ song “If You Seek Amy” that’s changed to “If You See Amy” to change the vulgarity, and obviously bad words like the f-bomb are censored out, or changed to something else. That’s fine, the radio stations don’t want to get fined by the FCC. Sometimes, potentially dirty things are downplayed, as to not seem so bad. Now I’m not entirely sure about this, but Lil Wayne’s song “Lollipop” is changed too, where instead of him saying “She lick me like a lollipop”, it’s downplayed to sound more like “Lick like a lollipop”, downplaying what he’s really saying. It’s so unfortunate that every single song out there is just overtly sexual. There are so many other things you can sing about, and it’s sad that everyone only talks about that. Radio stations should definitely reconsider their opinion/ policy on content, regardless of language.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
I wanna be sedated
The other day, I had a “reunion” with my old classmates from my lower division science classes. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself and it felt good to be around them again. Flash forward essentially two years, and a lot has changed. One said that basically we’re jaded and fatter. So true. But to the more pressing issue. Lots of them have changed majors, to something less hardcore. The others have stuck with it like I have, and really, we’ve all had our issues. One got all C’s one semester. Another is considering taking a class a third time. The other probably is feeling really jaded too. In any case, I feel SO jaded and unsure of myself.
This year was truly the worst. The friends that I had all pretty much decided to move on from the classes we had and it’s become much harder to see them regularly. Frankly, it is harder to make friends at this point in the game. But seriously, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to focus, find interest in what I’m doing. It’s just so ridiculous. I find myself uninterested and willing to coast through classes. For the first time in college, I’m retaking classes, getting D’s. It’s putting me behind and I’m getting more pressure from my parents, family and peers to graduate on time. Sure, I could, if I kamikaze it through the last year, but even then, there’s no guarantee of anything.
I really liked reading back to last summer, and just feeling so free, so happy. My friends were in this country, not abroad in the Philippines, partying it up. I felt a strong sense of hope and renewal in what was to come. Ochem 1 was bad, but I had part 2 to make up for it. The Olympics were on, I spent a lot of time watching that. I was working longer hours, I was maybe ready for something new for my upper division classes. I was excited to be actually starting my microbiology classes. I knew that I had a chance to makeup for what I was doing. It would all be okay, my GPA would come up, and I would be a happy person again.
Unfortunately, that never happened. I got a D in physics, and I’m so worried about my other class. I hope seriously that he passes me. I hope with my entire soul that he does. As a result my GPA fell like a rock. I retook ochem and realized that I still couldn’t get an A out of it. I’m thinking that I need to get out, just refresh my mind and renew my spirit. I feel broken inside, isolated. It’s strange, my friends know me for being bubbly, a bit of a klutz, essentially this upbeat person. Yet, I don’t feel that way at all. I’ve had deeper and darker thoughts about myself, the future, what it holds for me and for other people. I just feel that my whole life I’ve been making the “right decisions” and been vanilla and playing it safe. I just don’t know anymore.
I got this awesome opportunity to work in a research laboratory this summer, fall, etc. but I’m scared that I might not get it because my grades are so bad. Never in my life have I ever though about this. I’ve never thought that I’d worry about passing classes, getting oodles of C’s and just trying not to get on academic probation. I seriously hope that I can weather the storm, make myself feel ok, get out and feel renewed and happy again. I know that girl is in there somewhere. I need to get out, I need to just find myself again, instead of just going through the motions. I wonder all along, is this the path that I should be on? Have I essentially wasted my whole college career? I need to be positive, be myself, and push myself to be the person I know I can be, instead of the shell of my former self. I can do this, I know I can.
This year was truly the worst. The friends that I had all pretty much decided to move on from the classes we had and it’s become much harder to see them regularly. Frankly, it is harder to make friends at this point in the game. But seriously, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to focus, find interest in what I’m doing. It’s just so ridiculous. I find myself uninterested and willing to coast through classes. For the first time in college, I’m retaking classes, getting D’s. It’s putting me behind and I’m getting more pressure from my parents, family and peers to graduate on time. Sure, I could, if I kamikaze it through the last year, but even then, there’s no guarantee of anything.
I really liked reading back to last summer, and just feeling so free, so happy. My friends were in this country, not abroad in the Philippines, partying it up. I felt a strong sense of hope and renewal in what was to come. Ochem 1 was bad, but I had part 2 to make up for it. The Olympics were on, I spent a lot of time watching that. I was working longer hours, I was maybe ready for something new for my upper division classes. I was excited to be actually starting my microbiology classes. I knew that I had a chance to makeup for what I was doing. It would all be okay, my GPA would come up, and I would be a happy person again.
Unfortunately, that never happened. I got a D in physics, and I’m so worried about my other class. I hope seriously that he passes me. I hope with my entire soul that he does. As a result my GPA fell like a rock. I retook ochem and realized that I still couldn’t get an A out of it. I’m thinking that I need to get out, just refresh my mind and renew my spirit. I feel broken inside, isolated. It’s strange, my friends know me for being bubbly, a bit of a klutz, essentially this upbeat person. Yet, I don’t feel that way at all. I’ve had deeper and darker thoughts about myself, the future, what it holds for me and for other people. I just feel that my whole life I’ve been making the “right decisions” and been vanilla and playing it safe. I just don’t know anymore.
I got this awesome opportunity to work in a research laboratory this summer, fall, etc. but I’m scared that I might not get it because my grades are so bad. Never in my life have I ever though about this. I’ve never thought that I’d worry about passing classes, getting oodles of C’s and just trying not to get on academic probation. I seriously hope that I can weather the storm, make myself feel ok, get out and feel renewed and happy again. I know that girl is in there somewhere. I need to get out, I need to just find myself again, instead of just going through the motions. I wonder all along, is this the path that I should be on? Have I essentially wasted my whole college career? I need to be positive, be myself, and push myself to be the person I know I can be, instead of the shell of my former self. I can do this, I know I can.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
08.08.08
On Friday, the Summer Olympics well begin in Beijing, China. I have to admit, I nerd about this sort of thing all the time it's the Olympics. Not to mention it's the Summer Olympics, which I happen to slightly prefer over the Winter Olympics. In any case, it's been particularly exciting over the last few months, watching and hearing about the Olympic Trials and scoping out the people who will end up representing the country in August. I've particuarly been interested to know if Michael Phelps can top his performance in Athens, if the Men's Basketball team can somehow redeem themselves and reclaim former Team USA glory, if Shawn Johnson really is as good as they say she is and win the Women's Gymnastics All-Around, if Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh dominate like they did last time, etc. There's a lot that I'm looking forward to.
However, I do feel sad that a lot of the coverage isn't simply about the athletes, their preparation and representing their home country. There's been a lot of political stuff going around, and I'm a bit concerned. I know some people are really not happy about the Games being in China at all, considering their records on pollution (potentially harmful air for the locals and the visiting athletes), human rights (Tibet and dealings with Sudan) and worker safety (sweatshops). I get even more upset when I hear about protesters in the city, and denying the visa of human rights advocate and Olympic medalist Joey Cheek and the censoring of Internet sites. However, I still feel that the host country has, by their own inhospitable and paranoid actions, brought this attention to themselves and are making a political statement. I can only hope for the best and that we give the Olympics back to the athletes.
[Picture taken from The Guardian, Sarah Morris's canvas 2028 [Rings], from 2008]
However, I do feel sad that a lot of the coverage isn't simply about the athletes, their preparation and representing their home country. There's been a lot of political stuff going around, and I'm a bit concerned. I know some people are really not happy about the Games being in China at all, considering their records on pollution (potentially harmful air for the locals and the visiting athletes), human rights (Tibet and dealings with Sudan) and worker safety (sweatshops). I get even more upset when I hear about protesters in the city, and denying the visa of human rights advocate and Olympic medalist Joey Cheek and the censoring of Internet sites. However, I still feel that the host country has, by their own inhospitable and paranoid actions, brought this attention to themselves and are making a political statement. I can only hope for the best and that we give the Olympics back to the athletes.
[Picture taken from The Guardian, Sarah Morris's canvas 2028 [Rings], from 2008]
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Wedding
The wedding was beautiful. Not without any problems, though.
BARONGS.Uncle Allan came back from the Philippines to bring the barongs for the wedding. Before he left for the Philippines, about a month before the wedding, all the men in the entourage were measured, to ensure that the barongs would fit properly, and to my knowledge, so they could be custom made and all the groomsmen would have the same barong. WRONG. The barongs were distributed after the wedding rehearsal/dinner and needless to say, they did not fit, or the fit was simply wrong. Even the slim people, like Uncle Jun, had a hard time wearing his. My dad's was rather tight on the arms. Bryce apparently could not even get his over his head. If you know anything about barongs, the thing is, the most important part in the measurement is the shoulder and arms, since the garment can be worn rather long and loose. Suspcicously,the barongs had tags on them, like S, M, whatever, meaning they were store bought, and they came to the conclusion that they were kids sizes. Nobody said anything to Aunty, out of politeness, but I heard that Uncle was REALLY pissed about it, since they paid for the barongs and they were well... not in wearable condition. On the Fourth of July, the adults came to Aunty's house for her birthday, and they came to discuss the barong situation. They came to the conclusion that the men were welcome to wear the barong provided, or just wear their own barongs. Thankfully, Aunty Rel's family owns like a bunch of them, especially from her own 25th Wedding Anniversary. Bryce got one from one of her nephews' barong, and she lent out Kenneth and Ryan's barongs. It all turned out OK in the end.
GETTING READY This is from my own personal escapades on the wedding day, and needless to say, it wasn't so easy. The day before the wedding, I decided to do my nails, so I wouldn't have to worry about them having to dry on the day of the wedding, rendering me useless to help or do anything. My mom gave me a sparkly, silver nail polish, and it was a bit goopy, I suppose from the glitter, and frankly, was a bit strong and tacky on my hands. So I tried removing it, and to my horror, there is no nail polish remover in the house! It's almost midnight and it's the Fourth of July. Nothing is open. So I set my alarm to wake up early to get the remover. So I wake up the next morning, and Jeff wants to drive, so he buys the remover, and I remove the yucky silver stuff, and try to put on a more subtle light pink color. I knew I had to fix my hair before I did my nails, so I did my hair first, and makeup, then nails. Waiting for them to dry was a pain, and I was irritated from not being able to do anything, so I partially ruined my nails, but I was over it already. I also think one of the heels on my shoe was sorta messed up, since I was making a clanking sound when I walked, like the padding on the bottom wore out. Le sigh. It was also a very hot day, so Jeff was complaining about the weather, and didn't want to wear a jacket with his shirt and tie.
WEDDING CEREMONYThe wedding was at 3 p.m. at St. Philomena, and of course, being Filipino, some people came late. My family was one of the first to arrive, so Jeff took the liberty in taking pictures of flowers, of my mom, of me, and he continued taking pictures of the bridesmaids and the groomsmen as they arrived. Surprisingly, the wedding party showed up a bit later than I thought, but they were fine on time. Aunty was SO beautiful. I was able to talk to her before the wedding. So Jeff and I argued about where to sit, as my dad wanted him to take a lot of pictures. Eventually, we got a spot, but the official photographer got in the way A LOT and we didn't get many, if at all, good pictures during the ceremony. OMG Father Dem was the one officiating the wedding, and it was like a whole Mass with readings and all... soooo long. Long, repetitive, and rather uninteresting. I also think he was hitting on Aunty Winnie- he kept talking about how she was glowing and talking about her eyes are those of a woman in love. I take it he did not listen to Aunty's request to keep it short.Jeff and I were SO boredddd. We kept looking around, and laughing since one of the Flower girls was picking her nose and looking down her dress because she was playing with the flowers and one of the petals fell down her dress. Some of the dads were totallly falling asleep and it was so obvious since we were facing them. Darren and John looked bored out of their minds. Aside from that, very nice.
The singer. WTF. I know I should be used to this by now, but it was a man that sounded like a woman. No joke. He sang the opening "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban, and man can he hit those high notes without a problem. Later on, Aunty and Uncle had to present flowers to the Virgin Mary and he sang "Ave Maria". Holy Crap. I thought it was a recording. He kept singing after they presented the flowers, and got to the really high part of the song. WOW. Especially for a man. I just looked at Ronna, and were like like "whoa". Apparently, that's his song during Christmas caroling season, and he's one of Uncle Allan's friends. Ronna, Waldo, Ryan, Kenneth, and Trisha came a little bit after the ceremony started, and they sat with me and Jeff.
POST CEREMONY & PRE-RECEPTION Afterwards, we saw that Angel and her boyfriend were there, we said hello, waited for the adults to stop taking pictures,the like. Jeff and I thought that it'd be fun to ride with people our own age to the reception, so Jeff rode with Darren and I rode with Waldo, Ronna and Ryan, as Kenneth still had to go pick something up. We were pretty hungry, and looked on, as my parents got food. We were going to get boba/fast food, but decided not to (I don't remember why... I was pretty hungry). We ended up waiting for the hors d'vours (whatever way you spell it) and I ate quite a bit of cheese and crackers. I still felt bad about not getting boba, especially since Jeff got In-N-Out with Darren, and my parents went to Carl's Jr. Plus, it was open bar at that point, and well, you get the picture. Turns out the that Long Beach Marriott right by the airport is pretty nice, especially the grand ballroom. Definite upgrade from the Holiday Inn that we always go to. The hallways have a lot of statues/figures and it gave the place an interesting feel.
THE RECEPTION All the Usual Suspects, ok, not really, were all at the same table. All the moms, were at one table, the dads at another, and the kids table, consisting of: Me, Ronna, Waldo, Angel, the boyfriend, Ryan, Kenneth, Trisha, Jeff, and supposed to be Camill, but she showed up late, and PJ was talking with me and Kenneth so he sat at her seat. Darren and John sat at the Presidential table with their parents. Nearby was a table of Uncle Allan's friends and when we were talking about things, PJ was giving me a nasty look when I said the word "gay"- "shut up! so loud- they'll hear you!" Needless to say, the dinner conversations were quite good. I was in a slightly nasty mood from being hungry, but I was appeased by the food. The salad was interesting, it was just like lettuce leaves and croutons, and you put on the dressing. Very odd, as the leaves were quite large, and there only like 3 leaves a plate. weird stuff. The bread was good. The steak.... not so good. It was really tough, and mine had a lot of fat. I ate waaay more of it than I should have, as I was very hungry. I paid for it in the end- the dessert was ice cream with some fudge or something. Quite good, although I only ate like 2 bites.
THE PROGRAM You know.. the DJ is always really cheesy and wants you to yell, or wave your napkin around, or whatever. So of course that happened. Uncle's niece sang a Tagalog song, I wasn't quite sure what it was, but I have heard it before. I think it gets played a lot in soap operas or something. They then showed a video of Aunty and Uncle's 25 years together, and they even had a video from the original wedding or something. It was really interesting to see. So cuuute. Surprisingly, they already edited the wedding from a few hours ago, and footage of Aunty before the wedding, putting her veil on, walking down the stairs in their house, and Uncle was waiting for her at the bottom, it was so cuute. Of course, no moment is worth unless Darren does something silly. there's a shot of two people holding hands and you can clearly see their wedding bands. Then they cut to it being Darren and Uncle holding hands and Darren puckering up for a kiss. Very funny. There was no bouqet throwing or anything like that. Just the cake cautting and the money dance. I didn't really know if I was gonna participate, since I didn't have any cash, and I wasn't going to give him my credit card. My mom gave me money, and I danced with Uncle. I realized that Bea was there at the wedding too- the line for the money dance was nearby our table. Ryan kept staring at her chest area. Oh, as an off-side, the waiter went around our table to pour champagne. Then he looked at me and then said "Oh, I'll come back for the Apple Cider for you". The table laughed. I was a little pissed. I mean, Angel, Jeff, her boyfriend, all get champagne and I didn't?! PJ thought it was too funny, and poured some of his beer for me. Cheers, indeed. Afterwards, the couple went up to say their thank yous, and there was a toast, by the best men. Aunty and Uncle thanked everyone for coming, for celebrating with them, for being special to them. But it was interesting that Uncle took that moment to really talk to his kids about raising them, and not always being there as a father, and saying how Aunty took over as the primary person caring for them, and how he was always trying to provide for his family. Very interesting. John spoke first, with a bit of humor, quoting from the movie "Chuck and Larry" about how marriage is like a circle, how it doesn't have sides, or something. Darren then said he couldn't possibly follow John's funny speech, but he gave a more heartfelt speech, spoken from the heart, he said. He talked about how his parents were an example of how love should be, and how he hoped that someday he would find someone to love him like that (It sounded a little desperate, but it was a good speech).
WAITNG AROUNDAfter the dance, it was time to do the actual dancing, and yeahhh. I bolted out of there, not exactly for the best reasons, as Ronna wanted to smoke with Camill, and I needed to get out of there. I was not going to be videotaped dancing. And I was not going to be dancing in the same room as my parents. Hell no. Camill was drinking it up though, even then. People were buying her drinks all the time. Like wow. It was getting pretty cold outside, so we went inside, and there was a lounge. We hung out there. Waldo left pretty quickly, since his friend was leaving to go somewhere, and so he left. By this time, I was with Ronna, Camill, Ryan, Angel and the boyfriend. We all kinda just sat around, Camill kept making funny remarks about the couple. Whatever she was drinking, though, tasted really good. I felt sorta bad for Ryan, since she kept asking to dance, go out for a smoke, get her a drink, whatever. Anyway, so Darren and John came out to talk with us, and Kuya Armie came pretty soon too. John and Kuya Armie scared me because I was sitting in this little sorta crack in the wall, and there was a nearby statue, facing straight ahead. They told me that they saw the same statue with its head turned at an angle. I was so scared. They said there might be a security camera inside. Ronna and I inspected it, and it didn't seem right. We looked at it for a while, and then Kuya Armie came back and said that there was a similar statue down the hall with its head turned. I was SOOO relieved. Bryce was with us for a while, and we got him to dance for us, although I wouldn't call it dancing, per se. We all started talking about break dancing, and asked Bryce if he knew how to do it. We told him to do the worm, and his version of the worm looked like he was humping the floor or something. Very sexual and just... bad. We got him to do the crab walk too, and it ended up more like the Exorcist when she came down the stairs. Needless to say, we told him not to do that anymore.
THE AFTER-PARTY So Camill wanted to hang out some moreafter the wedding, and honestly, I was pretty tired at this point, and I wanted to sleep. Everyone else though, was going to Darren's house, I'm not sure if she got permission first. Ronna was gonna drive to her house then go to Darren's. I told her I would go with her, so she wouldn't drive alone. But my mom kept asking a lot of questions, and I was getting pretty irritated, partially because I was tired and didn't wanna deal with it, and I think I gave the vibe that I didn't want to go, cos Ronna and Jeff kept saying "If you don't wanna go, just say so." Anyway, I was finally allowed to go, and so I went with Ronna. Jeff rode with Angel and the boyfriend, and Ryan rode with Camill. We all thought that Uncle and Aunty were staying at the hotel, but they went home. It honestly was a bit embarassing. Ronna brought the Hookah, so that's what was going on. Just that and a bit of smoking and talking. You could so tell that Darren was tired. Him and Kuya Armie sat with us and were pretty tired. I learned that Kuya Armie isn't really into drinking or dancing, and that Darren wanted to go back with him to the Philippines to get away.(Sidenote: He planned on doing that, but it ended up not going through, as the flight was fully booked) Angel's boyfriend apparently bought a green laser pointer for $60 and showed it off to us. Apparently the laser goes all the way up to 1 mile. I can believe it. You can literally point out a star to someone. Camill wanted to drink some more, but Darren was pretty adamant about not drinking anymore- if they were going to drink, he said I had to join in. Camill then took that to mean no one was drinking anymore that night. After they finished the Hookah, we all went home, or rather, Angel's boyfriend drove me and Jeff home. But we went to Famima!! really quick, with Ronna, as I was a bit hungry. And that's the end of it. I knocked out when I got home.
I will attempt to post pictures, when I get a hold of the files on my dad's computer.
<3
BARONGS.Uncle Allan came back from the Philippines to bring the barongs for the wedding. Before he left for the Philippines, about a month before the wedding, all the men in the entourage were measured, to ensure that the barongs would fit properly, and to my knowledge, so they could be custom made and all the groomsmen would have the same barong. WRONG. The barongs were distributed after the wedding rehearsal/dinner and needless to say, they did not fit, or the fit was simply wrong. Even the slim people, like Uncle Jun, had a hard time wearing his. My dad's was rather tight on the arms. Bryce apparently could not even get his over his head. If you know anything about barongs, the thing is, the most important part in the measurement is the shoulder and arms, since the garment can be worn rather long and loose. Suspcicously,the barongs had tags on them, like S, M, whatever, meaning they were store bought, and they came to the conclusion that they were kids sizes. Nobody said anything to Aunty, out of politeness, but I heard that Uncle was REALLY pissed about it, since they paid for the barongs and they were well... not in wearable condition. On the Fourth of July, the adults came to Aunty's house for her birthday, and they came to discuss the barong situation. They came to the conclusion that the men were welcome to wear the barong provided, or just wear their own barongs. Thankfully, Aunty Rel's family owns like a bunch of them, especially from her own 25th Wedding Anniversary. Bryce got one from one of her nephews' barong, and she lent out Kenneth and Ryan's barongs. It all turned out OK in the end.
GETTING READY This is from my own personal escapades on the wedding day, and needless to say, it wasn't so easy. The day before the wedding, I decided to do my nails, so I wouldn't have to worry about them having to dry on the day of the wedding, rendering me useless to help or do anything. My mom gave me a sparkly, silver nail polish, and it was a bit goopy, I suppose from the glitter, and frankly, was a bit strong and tacky on my hands. So I tried removing it, and to my horror, there is no nail polish remover in the house! It's almost midnight and it's the Fourth of July. Nothing is open. So I set my alarm to wake up early to get the remover. So I wake up the next morning, and Jeff wants to drive, so he buys the remover, and I remove the yucky silver stuff, and try to put on a more subtle light pink color. I knew I had to fix my hair before I did my nails, so I did my hair first, and makeup, then nails. Waiting for them to dry was a pain, and I was irritated from not being able to do anything, so I partially ruined my nails, but I was over it already. I also think one of the heels on my shoe was sorta messed up, since I was making a clanking sound when I walked, like the padding on the bottom wore out. Le sigh. It was also a very hot day, so Jeff was complaining about the weather, and didn't want to wear a jacket with his shirt and tie.
WEDDING CEREMONYThe wedding was at 3 p.m. at St. Philomena, and of course, being Filipino, some people came late. My family was one of the first to arrive, so Jeff took the liberty in taking pictures of flowers, of my mom, of me, and he continued taking pictures of the bridesmaids and the groomsmen as they arrived. Surprisingly, the wedding party showed up a bit later than I thought, but they were fine on time. Aunty was SO beautiful. I was able to talk to her before the wedding. So Jeff and I argued about where to sit, as my dad wanted him to take a lot of pictures. Eventually, we got a spot, but the official photographer got in the way A LOT and we didn't get many, if at all, good pictures during the ceremony. OMG Father Dem was the one officiating the wedding, and it was like a whole Mass with readings and all... soooo long. Long, repetitive, and rather uninteresting. I also think he was hitting on Aunty Winnie- he kept talking about how she was glowing and talking about her eyes are those of a woman in love. I take it he did not listen to Aunty's request to keep it short.Jeff and I were SO boredddd. We kept looking around, and laughing since one of the Flower girls was picking her nose and looking down her dress because she was playing with the flowers and one of the petals fell down her dress. Some of the dads were totallly falling asleep and it was so obvious since we were facing them. Darren and John looked bored out of their minds. Aside from that, very nice.
The singer. WTF. I know I should be used to this by now, but it was a man that sounded like a woman. No joke. He sang the opening "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban, and man can he hit those high notes without a problem. Later on, Aunty and Uncle had to present flowers to the Virgin Mary and he sang "Ave Maria". Holy Crap. I thought it was a recording. He kept singing after they presented the flowers, and got to the really high part of the song. WOW. Especially for a man. I just looked at Ronna, and were like like "whoa". Apparently, that's his song during Christmas caroling season, and he's one of Uncle Allan's friends. Ronna, Waldo, Ryan, Kenneth, and Trisha came a little bit after the ceremony started, and they sat with me and Jeff.
POST CEREMONY & PRE-RECEPTION Afterwards, we saw that Angel and her boyfriend were there, we said hello, waited for the adults to stop taking pictures,the like. Jeff and I thought that it'd be fun to ride with people our own age to the reception, so Jeff rode with Darren and I rode with Waldo, Ronna and Ryan, as Kenneth still had to go pick something up. We were pretty hungry, and looked on, as my parents got food. We were going to get boba/fast food, but decided not to (I don't remember why... I was pretty hungry). We ended up waiting for the hors d'vours (whatever way you spell it) and I ate quite a bit of cheese and crackers. I still felt bad about not getting boba, especially since Jeff got In-N-Out with Darren, and my parents went to Carl's Jr. Plus, it was open bar at that point, and well, you get the picture. Turns out the that Long Beach Marriott right by the airport is pretty nice, especially the grand ballroom. Definite upgrade from the Holiday Inn that we always go to. The hallways have a lot of statues/figures and it gave the place an interesting feel.
THE RECEPTION All the Usual Suspects, ok, not really, were all at the same table. All the moms, were at one table, the dads at another, and the kids table, consisting of: Me, Ronna, Waldo, Angel, the boyfriend, Ryan, Kenneth, Trisha, Jeff, and supposed to be Camill, but she showed up late, and PJ was talking with me and Kenneth so he sat at her seat. Darren and John sat at the Presidential table with their parents. Nearby was a table of Uncle Allan's friends and when we were talking about things, PJ was giving me a nasty look when I said the word "gay"- "shut up! so loud- they'll hear you!" Needless to say, the dinner conversations were quite good. I was in a slightly nasty mood from being hungry, but I was appeased by the food. The salad was interesting, it was just like lettuce leaves and croutons, and you put on the dressing. Very odd, as the leaves were quite large, and there only like 3 leaves a plate. weird stuff. The bread was good. The steak.... not so good. It was really tough, and mine had a lot of fat. I ate waaay more of it than I should have, as I was very hungry. I paid for it in the end- the dessert was ice cream with some fudge or something. Quite good, although I only ate like 2 bites.
THE PROGRAM You know.. the DJ is always really cheesy and wants you to yell, or wave your napkin around, or whatever. So of course that happened. Uncle's niece sang a Tagalog song, I wasn't quite sure what it was, but I have heard it before. I think it gets played a lot in soap operas or something. They then showed a video of Aunty and Uncle's 25 years together, and they even had a video from the original wedding or something. It was really interesting to see. So cuuute. Surprisingly, they already edited the wedding from a few hours ago, and footage of Aunty before the wedding, putting her veil on, walking down the stairs in their house, and Uncle was waiting for her at the bottom, it was so cuute. Of course, no moment is worth unless Darren does something silly. there's a shot of two people holding hands and you can clearly see their wedding bands. Then they cut to it being Darren and Uncle holding hands and Darren puckering up for a kiss. Very funny. There was no bouqet throwing or anything like that. Just the cake cautting and the money dance. I didn't really know if I was gonna participate, since I didn't have any cash, and I wasn't going to give him my credit card. My mom gave me money, and I danced with Uncle. I realized that Bea was there at the wedding too- the line for the money dance was nearby our table. Ryan kept staring at her chest area. Oh, as an off-side, the waiter went around our table to pour champagne. Then he looked at me and then said "Oh, I'll come back for the Apple Cider for you". The table laughed. I was a little pissed. I mean, Angel, Jeff, her boyfriend, all get champagne and I didn't?! PJ thought it was too funny, and poured some of his beer for me. Cheers, indeed. Afterwards, the couple went up to say their thank yous, and there was a toast, by the best men. Aunty and Uncle thanked everyone for coming, for celebrating with them, for being special to them. But it was interesting that Uncle took that moment to really talk to his kids about raising them, and not always being there as a father, and saying how Aunty took over as the primary person caring for them, and how he was always trying to provide for his family. Very interesting. John spoke first, with a bit of humor, quoting from the movie "Chuck and Larry" about how marriage is like a circle, how it doesn't have sides, or something. Darren then said he couldn't possibly follow John's funny speech, but he gave a more heartfelt speech, spoken from the heart, he said. He talked about how his parents were an example of how love should be, and how he hoped that someday he would find someone to love him like that (It sounded a little desperate, but it was a good speech).
WAITNG AROUNDAfter the dance, it was time to do the actual dancing, and yeahhh. I bolted out of there, not exactly for the best reasons, as Ronna wanted to smoke with Camill, and I needed to get out of there. I was not going to be videotaped dancing. And I was not going to be dancing in the same room as my parents. Hell no. Camill was drinking it up though, even then. People were buying her drinks all the time. Like wow. It was getting pretty cold outside, so we went inside, and there was a lounge. We hung out there. Waldo left pretty quickly, since his friend was leaving to go somewhere, and so he left. By this time, I was with Ronna, Camill, Ryan, Angel and the boyfriend. We all kinda just sat around, Camill kept making funny remarks about the couple. Whatever she was drinking, though, tasted really good. I felt sorta bad for Ryan, since she kept asking to dance, go out for a smoke, get her a drink, whatever. Anyway, so Darren and John came out to talk with us, and Kuya Armie came pretty soon too. John and Kuya Armie scared me because I was sitting in this little sorta crack in the wall, and there was a nearby statue, facing straight ahead. They told me that they saw the same statue with its head turned at an angle. I was so scared. They said there might be a security camera inside. Ronna and I inspected it, and it didn't seem right. We looked at it for a while, and then Kuya Armie came back and said that there was a similar statue down the hall with its head turned. I was SOOO relieved. Bryce was with us for a while, and we got him to dance for us, although I wouldn't call it dancing, per se. We all started talking about break dancing, and asked Bryce if he knew how to do it. We told him to do the worm, and his version of the worm looked like he was humping the floor or something. Very sexual and just... bad. We got him to do the crab walk too, and it ended up more like the Exorcist when she came down the stairs. Needless to say, we told him not to do that anymore.
THE AFTER-PARTY So Camill wanted to hang out some moreafter the wedding, and honestly, I was pretty tired at this point, and I wanted to sleep. Everyone else though, was going to Darren's house, I'm not sure if she got permission first. Ronna was gonna drive to her house then go to Darren's. I told her I would go with her, so she wouldn't drive alone. But my mom kept asking a lot of questions, and I was getting pretty irritated, partially because I was tired and didn't wanna deal with it, and I think I gave the vibe that I didn't want to go, cos Ronna and Jeff kept saying "If you don't wanna go, just say so." Anyway, I was finally allowed to go, and so I went with Ronna. Jeff rode with Angel and the boyfriend, and Ryan rode with Camill. We all thought that Uncle and Aunty were staying at the hotel, but they went home. It honestly was a bit embarassing. Ronna brought the Hookah, so that's what was going on. Just that and a bit of smoking and talking. You could so tell that Darren was tired. Him and Kuya Armie sat with us and were pretty tired. I learned that Kuya Armie isn't really into drinking or dancing, and that Darren wanted to go back with him to the Philippines to get away.(Sidenote: He planned on doing that, but it ended up not going through, as the flight was fully booked) Angel's boyfriend apparently bought a green laser pointer for $60 and showed it off to us. Apparently the laser goes all the way up to 1 mile. I can believe it. You can literally point out a star to someone. Camill wanted to drink some more, but Darren was pretty adamant about not drinking anymore- if they were going to drink, he said I had to join in. Camill then took that to mean no one was drinking anymore that night. After they finished the Hookah, we all went home, or rather, Angel's boyfriend drove me and Jeff home. But we went to Famima!! really quick, with Ronna, as I was a bit hungry. And that's the end of it. I knocked out when I got home.
I will attempt to post pictures, when I get a hold of the files on my dad's computer.
<3
Monday, July 7, 2008
let the good times roll
Last week was pretty fun. And crazy.
During the week, I hung out with Darren, John and their Kuya Armie, who is one of the coolest people I know. He's easy to talk to, and very chill. Apparently, he plays the drums really loud too, evidenced by his loud drumming when we went to Sam Ash to pick up ear plugs for him. The loud drumming does take its toll.
Later that day we called Waldo and to be stupid, bought Morning Glories (basically a stick that has sparks coming out), Smoke bombs, and this flashing firework that's like a temporary strobe light. The boys danced in front of the flashing firework like in a club, and we lit the Morning Glories and ran around, pretending to be part of the crew for Captain Planet. Pretty embarassing, and the kids down the street were looking at us, as were yelling and screaming. Oh, and the smoke from the Smoke Bombs smell like roasted ham. Don't know what to think about that. Good times.
You know, there is an absolutely delicious ramen place that my parents found out about. Jeff and I are addicted. No joke.
I was really surprised that the week went by REALLY fast, especially at work. I think it's because I was really busy, doing something, and there was always some type of event going on. On Wednesday, we had our office potluck lunch together. The food was really good, and it was good to sit and talk together about things other than work related. Then, on Thursday, an employee from one of our departments was leaving, and so he was having a farewell party, so the office went, and spent a good hour or so there, just socializing. I'm gonna miss Ben, though. He always told really funny stories. He did tell this really scary ghost story, but I don't even wanna think about it. But seriously, on Thursday, the office was pretty empty. I spent a lot of time on facebook. Fuun.
Friday. 4th of July.Aunty Winnie had a little get together for her birthday around lunchtime, she turned 50. All the adults were watching old videos. So embarassing to look at that stuff. The kids just played Rock Band, or Call of Duty, or whatever. Later, the family had a little barbeque get together. My neighbors are firework maniacs. They smuggle them in from Mexico or something, because they're the nice kind, like at Disneyland. Aunty Amy brought these delicious cheese rolls from Porto's, along with Tiramisu and fruit tart.... OMG so good. I honestly think I ate 2 hamburgers that day. It was nice, not having to spend any money on fireworks, just pull up a chair and enjoy the show.
Wedding Day. This warrants its own post, so stay tuned!
<3
During the week, I hung out with Darren, John and their Kuya Armie, who is one of the coolest people I know. He's easy to talk to, and very chill. Apparently, he plays the drums really loud too, evidenced by his loud drumming when we went to Sam Ash to pick up ear plugs for him. The loud drumming does take its toll.
Later that day we called Waldo and to be stupid, bought Morning Glories (basically a stick that has sparks coming out), Smoke bombs, and this flashing firework that's like a temporary strobe light. The boys danced in front of the flashing firework like in a club, and we lit the Morning Glories and ran around, pretending to be part of the crew for Captain Planet. Pretty embarassing, and the kids down the street were looking at us, as were yelling and screaming. Oh, and the smoke from the Smoke Bombs smell like roasted ham. Don't know what to think about that. Good times.
You know, there is an absolutely delicious ramen place that my parents found out about. Jeff and I are addicted. No joke.
I was really surprised that the week went by REALLY fast, especially at work. I think it's because I was really busy, doing something, and there was always some type of event going on. On Wednesday, we had our office potluck lunch together. The food was really good, and it was good to sit and talk together about things other than work related. Then, on Thursday, an employee from one of our departments was leaving, and so he was having a farewell party, so the office went, and spent a good hour or so there, just socializing. I'm gonna miss Ben, though. He always told really funny stories. He did tell this really scary ghost story, but I don't even wanna think about it. But seriously, on Thursday, the office was pretty empty. I spent a lot of time on facebook. Fuun.
Friday. 4th of July.Aunty Winnie had a little get together for her birthday around lunchtime, she turned 50. All the adults were watching old videos. So embarassing to look at that stuff. The kids just played Rock Band, or Call of Duty, or whatever. Later, the family had a little barbeque get together. My neighbors are firework maniacs. They smuggle them in from Mexico or something, because they're the nice kind, like at Disneyland. Aunty Amy brought these delicious cheese rolls from Porto's, along with Tiramisu and fruit tart.... OMG so good. I honestly think I ate 2 hamburgers that day. It was nice, not having to spend any money on fireworks, just pull up a chair and enjoy the show.
Wedding Day. This warrants its own post, so stay tuned!
<3
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