Jason's Daily Notes

I woke up and was very glad to be alive. Driving back in the fog at 3am was a real mindfuck to say the least. I spent most of the day at home. I cleaned out my room, sorting through a lot of old crap that had accumulated over the years. I purged out a lot of documents and trinkets. In the evening was Angela's and Vincent's birthday party at the Palihouse hotel in West Hollywood. I got them Hanukkah cards from Rite Aid. I stopped by Taco Bell on the way there, and I parked two blocks away (street parking ftw!). I sort of invited David to join, since he decided to stay in LA, but he ended up not coming. It was really great to see everyone all there together again. Just like good times. Jmar was there. Kevin was pouring alcohol. We played left, right, center, and I ended up winning :) There was love and praise all around. We took off our pants! Apparently I had the firmest butt, and Vincent was keen to compare body hair. Drove back home around 5am. My mom was already awake and getting ready for her walk! :X

I ran some errands during the day. I got my hair cut at Samy's, where my mom goes. Sam had just run out for a few minutes when we arrived, so we went to Costco in the meantime. We bought a lot of stuff to ship to the Philippines. I also got a few things (socks, external hard drive). Back to Sam's, where I got my hair cut (my mom insisted on it being shorter, and I didn't disagree) and my eyebrows waxed slightly. Then to Glendale. I had an appointment at the Apple Store. We parked in the Galleria, but it's being renovated so there was no easy way to walk out. I dropped off my laptop at the Apple Store and then met my mom, who was shopping in Nordstrom. We shared some food from Panda Express then ended up buying new shoes at Clarks. Went to Long Beach in the evening. Traffic was horrendous; it took nearly 1.5 hours for me to get there. I just met Michelle at the 49er Tavern. It was practically empty. The burger was amazing! We played a couple rounds of pool (I had some hot streaks going). Ruben arrived, he vented a bit about work. It seems that everyone is uneasy with their current career. Around 10:30 we headed to Congregation (?) in downtown Long Beach to meet Duran, Adrian and Priscilla. They had just walked out to 7 Eleven. We caught up, getting a table. Then I remembered that I hadn't closed out my tab, so we returned to the Tavern to get my credit card. We had one last drink there. Then we headed to Denny's. Late night food and hilarity! The waitress was definitely looking at us. But it was chill. Unfortunately the fog rolled in very very dense so I was afraid for my life when I drove the long drive back! I'm so happy I made it home in one piece!

Woke up around 9am. My mom and uncle had already had breakfast and gotten ready. I continued sleeping until 09:30 as they watched CNN. We "checked out" of the hotel just around 10 (the check-out process is automatic now; you don't have to hand in your keys or anything). I drove us to Chinatown, where we filled up gas and then got some boba smoothies. Then, we were on the road again, headed back home. We didn't really want to see much more in Vegas. I didn't drive too fast; I opted instead to save gas by coasting in neutral downhill. The sun felt warm on my chest. We stopped in Barstow, getting food at Chipotle. We then completed our outlet shopping. I got some gag gifts at the store for Angela and Vince. I slept through much of the drive back to LA. I woke up as we were already getting off the 2 freeway. I took another nap at home, and I was almost too late to get to the Bucket to meet Brian and Marissa. We had dinner, delicious burgers as usual. The server was nice, and we also shared a pitcher of Stella. Chris came; he has a new job that he'll be starting in 2 weeks; no more Wells Fargo. He also wasn't feeling too well. We then went to Rite Aid to get Thrifty brand ice cream. We then walked around the video store, making fun of some video titles. I was tired, so I was glad to go back to sleep by 11pm.

Time to go to Vegas! Left home at 10am sharp, and made very good time - we passed into San Bernardino County at 10:30 exactly. We were in Barstow by 11:30! We stopped to eat at In-N-Out and to do some outlet shopping. The outlets were pretty deserted. One set of outlets were almost completely closed down, except for a couple small gift stores and an Asian vitamin center. My uncle took over the driving. I slept a little in the back seat. We made it to Vegas around 4pm, stopping at a bank to withdraw cash (Uncle also ordered a check book). We then had some Thai food at a small restaurant next door. They had no bathroom, so I walked to CVS to pee. It was already dark when we drove up the strip. I insisted on stopping at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign to take a picture, but the lighting made it impossible to get a picture on my phone. We then headed straight to Caesar's Palace, where we checked in (getting a little lost trying to find the front desk through the casino). I played $50 on roulette, betting on red as usual, and I doubled my money. Tired. The beds in our hotel room were so comfortable!!! I struggled to get up out of bed in time (7pm) for us to go downstairs and pick up the tickets for the Shania Twain show. We got in, climbed three escalators to the upper mezzanine, where we had a barely acceptable view of the show. The crowd was more redneck than I expected. The show was great - but they were very strict about allowing no photography! Shania had a very timid stage presence, but she seemed very sweet and warm hearted. It was a very nice show with some great effects. Several audience members were brought on stage to sing around a campfire. She brought a horse out to sing "You're Still the One" to, and the show closed with "Man, I Feel Like a Woman." After the show, I had arranged to meet David (from Sweden), who said he would be in the poker room. I didn't see him there, so I went back up to the hotel room to get some rest. I napped for about half an hour and then went down to the poker room. He had just lost his money, so we went to withdraw cash, and instead of going out, we decided to return to the poker room. David kept playing, and I just sat with him, getting a good load of free drinks. It was already 2am when we finished. We weren't too keen on going all the way to Marquee or any other club. (Rockhouse was closed, and so was the whole front of Imperial Palace.) We were hungry and so went to Denny's to get some food. I returned to the hotel room around 4am.

Spent the day hanging out with Michelle. She came over around lunch, and I drove us over to the westside. We stopped by my apartment in West LA, which made me very sentimental but happy! :) Then we had lunch in Santa Monica at Veggie Grill (got parking right behind it - yes!). Then, we walked around Santa Monica Beach for a few minutes. There were clouds and haze - it was not the best day to be at the beach. Tried to take some jumping pictures.

Then I drove us to Venice Beach. I found a parking space not far from the beach, but unexpectedly, I had a hard time parallel parking! We made my favorite drink (rum and orange soda) and then began to roam the Venice boardwalk. We caught a nice sunset by the beach. Then, it was time to go; I got word that my friend Alex wanted to meet up, so I arranged for him to join us for dinner at a Mexican place in Culver City. Dinner was good, and then we headed west to Liquid Kitty, where we met up with Kevin and Crystal. It was really good to catch up with everyone :)

Woke up feeling somewhat sore (I guess I overdid the running yesterday morning). I went to Trader Joe's with my uncle and picked up some things. We had Mexican food for lunch - Huarache Azteca. It was my frist time having huaraches, which were good, but mine was a little soggy. It was good, though. We then stopped by the post office, then went to Chase (which has moved locations! Now it's in the former Blockbuster location). Then we went to Target, where I bought an aux cable for the car. Finally, music from my ipod. Then, we decided to go hiking for a little bit in Griffith Park! So I drove us to the Observatory and we walked for a few minutes along the Mt Hollywood trail. The ground was still slightly soggy, and there were hazy clouds obstructing much of the view, but the sun was pushing through. Dinner was at Gangnam Style in Koreatown! First, I met Leslie, right when she got off work near downtown. I drove her to a cafe in K-town, where I had a mocha latte, and we caught up and had an instagram battle. Then we went to dinner. I parked 3 blocks away. Matt was already there. Priscilla soon arrived, and after a few minutes, there was Michelle! They played "Gangnam Style" every 10 minutes or so! It was hilarious. We ordered soju and a mix of plates. After dinner, we went to another cafe (because the froyo place was closed). Misugaru was had. Fun times!!! I slept well.

The jet lag was strong: Even though I didn't fall asleep until midnight, I woke up at 5:30am sharp and couldn't fall back asleep. My mom also was up (she's usually a very early riser) and thus, I joined her for an early morning walk/jog around Silver Lake. I completed 2 laps (4.4 miles in all) around the lake. Returned home, showered, and we all went to St. Bernard's, which felt weird. There were some family friends around, who were all very happy to see me again and were extremely jealous of my life in London. We all ended up going to Thai BBQ for lunch. Yum. There, we ran into another family friend (Max). I introduced them to drunken noodles! I didn't have much to do, so I replied to a post on Couchsurfing looking for people to hang out with. I called up Matthew, and we went shopping in Glendale (more like, I went shopping and he came with). I bought two sweaters from Express (they were on sale); we walked around the Galleria and Americana, and we coincidentally bumped into my friend Justin right outside the Coffee Bean!!! Amazing. We caught up for a bit and walked back to the Galleria together. Matt got some food for his mom from the food court. We dropped off the food at Matt's place, then we went to Tommy's for dinner! They changed the menu (added some very In-n-Out looking burgers). Then dropped him off at home (since he had to wake up early for work). In the evening, I met up with David from Sweden (from CS) and we hung out at Denny's before grabbing a drink at Yard House (American bar employees are so annoying, I thought to myself). But it was great. I dropped him off at his hotel (which was just nearby on Main) and headed home (in persistent rain showers)! Around 11:30pm, I knocked out solidly!

I have returned to my homeland - Los Angeles, California! I flew on Saturday, leaving London in the morning. I said good-bye to my friends at home (each still in bed at 8am), and I set off into the frosty morning. I hustled with my luggage to the tube station at Stockwell, and it made me sweaty by the time I jumped on the tube. I changed at Green Park, and relaxed with some music on my ipod as I headed to Heathrow. The city was foggy and covered in a layer of gleaming frost. I arrived at Heathrow and soon checked in my bag and was headed to the gate. I had a hard time connecting to the internet (and importantly, checking in to Foursquare!). The flight was great! Virgin Atlantic - so the service was great. I sat upstairs (in economy class), and there were so few people sitting there with me, that we each got a row of 3 seats all to ourselves! (Also, there was a ledge next to the window, giving me space to put my stuff and to lay my feet down as I slept!) So I got plenty of rest, 2 hours of solid sleep, no sore legs; I got to watch The Dark Knight Rises and read all of Love Life by Ray Kluun. This flight, along with my 2008 flight from London to Singapore, are the best flights I had ever taken! Arriving at LAX was, as usual, a fist-clenching experience. I was one of the first off the flight and through immigration. They asked to scan my bag at customs. It was warm and steamy as I stepped outside. I was almost sweating within a minute. My uncle was there to pick me up, and we were on our way home! My mom was of course happy to see me again. She cooked a little korean bbq, which I only had a little bit of because I had dinner plans! I quickly showered and was out the door to meet my friends (Brian, Marissa, and Michelle R) at Alondra's in Alhambra. It was great to see them again. We ordered too much food, nachos and a buffalo chicken pizza on top of the buffalo fries that we already had. Brian had work, and Marissa had to study, so I spent the rest of the evening catching up with Michelle, walking around (to burn off the food) in the drizzle, then driving to Pasadena where we ended up just having a coffee. I drove home and promptly passed out!