12.31.03
Buh-bye 2003, hello 2004. Let's take a look at what happened . . .

January
* D & A Cafe with Sandy
* Crepes with Louise
* Aeros
* Naan and Curry with Mike and Isabell
* BAP Pizza Social

February
* BAP Social at Raleighs
* SFMOMA
* Alvin Ailey
* Spotted Cow Dinner at Buca di Beppo

March
* BAP Family Olympics at Manor Bowl
* Sarah Chang
* BAP Lineage Dinner (Me, Shawna, Jia Jia, and Yong)
* 510 Dinner at CPK
* BAP Family Cook Off
* Gamelan Sekar Jaya
* Happy Birthday to Moi

April
* Birthday dinner at Venezia with Julie and Leslie
* BAP Social at Hot Pot
* Momix Dance Theater
* BAP Gender Night Out
* Oakland A's Game against the Texas Rangers

May
* Pasta Pomodoro with Bappers
* AsiaSF
* Oakland A's Game against the New York Yankees
* Legion of Honor
* Lunch in Oakland Chinatown with Stacy
* CPK with Bappers
* Porno Bar
* Giants Game with Katie and friends

June
* Zachary's Pizza with Anny and Sandy
* Mondo Gelato with Mike
* Oakland A's Game against the Atlanta Braves
* Urban Hiking around SF
* Stephen's Going Away BBQ
* A's versus Giants Game with Katie and friends
* Dinner at Olive Garden with Katherine and Rhonda
* Dinner at Mel's with Louise and Sandy

July
* Fillmore Jazz Festival with Christine and Andy
* 1015 for Ben's going celebration
* College Park Reunion at Pasta Pomodoro
* Helen and Stacy's going away dinner at R & G Lounge
* Channing House/Europe buddies dinner at Lena's
* Fremont Festival of the Arts

August
* Wine tasting in Sonoma with Moreau folks
* Korean food with Katie, Sandy, and Victoria
* Kan Zaman and bar hopping for Julie's going away party
* College Park Reunion at Chillis
* Chicago
* Lunch at Tako Sushi with Mike
* Cheese Board Pizza with Bappers
* Urban Hiking around SF
* Black and white photography class starts

September
* Urban Hiking around SF
* Moreau Reunion at Chevys
* BAP social at Raleighs
* Devon's birthday dinner at CPK
* Medea

October
* Leslie's birthday BBQ
* Emily's birthday dinner at Everett & Jones Barbecue
* Lunch at Expresso Experience with Stephanie

November
* SCHOOL consumes my life

December
* Louise's Birthday lunch at Buca di Beppo
* Denny and Mark's Christmas Party
* Dinner at Korea House with Bappers
* Lunch at Squat and Gobble with Sandy

Sigh, November was a sad month, too busy to see any friends. Other parts of 2003 were depressing too, will not think about it. Overall, 2003 wasn't too shabby. I've learned how to be happy even if I'm single, no more depending on others for happiness.

12.29.03
What will 2004 be like? It'll be the Year of the Monkey, two cycles down.

12.29.03
Hmmm, it's always funny when people start using "Lena words;" never fails to make me smile, especially when it comes from certain people who always seem so serious.

12.28.03
I braved the cold today and went to SF. There was no station agent at the Hayward station and people were trapped inside and couldn't get out and no one could get in. Bleh, Bart is ghetto sometimes. Anyway, I had brunch with Sandy at Squat and Gobble in the Haight. Their Chai tea was too sweet, though. We shared a Chicken Pesto crepe and a the Fruity Nutella crepe with strawberries, blueberries, and bananas, drizzled with cinnamon and nutella. Yummy overall; thanks for the recommendation Kat. Sandy said the place reminded her of Crepe de Vine. We window shopped for a bit and I bought some hematite and lilac colored beads for Crissy from Gargoyle Beads. I'm trying to get Crissy to pick up jewelry making again so she can me pretty bracelets and necklaces with memory wire.

Squat and Gobble
1428 Haight Street
San Francisco
415-864-8484

Sandy's gonna try to pick up knitting, so she has something to do when she has free time. With this weather, knitting seems practical. I need more scarfs and wraps to brave the bitter cold. Windy says people at UCSC don't bother taking notes during lectures and knit instead. What crafty slackers.

I took Sandy to Alamo park, where all the pretty Victorian Houses are and where the Full House family supposedly lived. You can see City Hall, the Bank of America building, and the Transamerica building in the distance. Sandy was getting too cold from walking around (I was ok because I had three layers on), so we watched Chicago at her place in the Richmond area. All that jazz . . .

12.27.03
It's always scary meeting your significant other's parents. Contrary to popular thought, not all moms like me. I know M's mom disapproved me but I'm not gonna say why (just too horrifying). And it's annoying when you know the parents really liked an ex gf.

12.26.03
I went shopping a little for myself this morning. I found a embroidered, black, knee-length, a-line skirt for only $8. Alas, it's too big on me but mebbe my mom can find a way to tailor to my size.

I hungout with Nancy, Ben, and his twin Lawrence in the South Bay. Ben was totally pissed off that the Bay was just as cold as it is in NYC where he works for Accenture. First we had dinner at Korea House where we totally pigged out on three meat dishes, all these appetizers that they kept on replenishing, and a pancake dish. We watched Italian Job and then Matt came over to play Mah Jong with us. I fell asleep watching Two Weeks Notice and woke up in time for a few rounds of Texas Hold Them.

Korea House
2340 El Camino Real
Santa Clara
408-249-0808

12.25.03
Ah, I just watched a movie classic, When Harry Met Sally. It's such a cute romantic comedy and kinda funny that it took me this long to finally watch it.

Harry Burns: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
Sally Albright: Why not?
Harry Burns: What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
Sally Albright: That's not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: You only think you do.
Sally Albright: You say I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?
Harry Burns: No, what I'm saying is they all WANT to have sex with you.
Sally: They do not!
Harry: Do to.
Sally: They do not.
Harry: Do to.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
Sally: So, you're saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
Harry: No. You pretty much want to nail 'em too.
Sally: What if THEY don't want to have sex with YOU?
Harry: Doesn't matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
Sally: Well, I guess we're not going to be friends then.
Harry: I guess not.

12.24.03
I watched the Opposite of Sex, starring Christina Ricci and Lisa Kudrow. The movie is a bit bizarre and definitely a dark comedy. Ivan Sergei is so cute with his puppy dog eyes even though he plays a sorta clueless, gay guy. Sandy stopped by to make cranberry, orange, oat cookies for a family party that she attending in the South Bay.

12.23.03
I went to Denny and Mark's Christmas get together in Fremont. They have a nice two bedroom apartment with a little balcony. Everyone was supposed to bring food and a gift for the gift exchange. It took me forever to find a suitable gift because it's embarrassing giving stupid gifts. I have a thing against clutter. Anyway, my gift was hors d'oeuvres plates that had cute drawings of random liquor bottles and wine charms (or what Jason called the equivalent of what college students do when they write their names on those red cups). At first I was freaked out cuz no one would open my presents (I was ghetto and wrapped it in Macy's advertisements). Some of the other gifts were a case of Corona beer, a Farallon cookbook, and scrapbook with a cloth cover, and a snowboarding action figure. Everyone thought my gift was ironic, a cocktail book (haha, I'm gonna be putting that to good use, but seriously, I liked the colorful photos in it). Amy's so funny, people kept on stealing her gift and she tried to conspire with people so that she got a decent gift.

All in all, I had a great time. It was nice seeing old friends, catching up and just goofing off. I got a chance to meet Dave's hapa cousins, gossip with my old roomie Julie, hangout with Denny who I haven't chilled with in years, and just be able to be around people. People get so busy with work and school; it's nice that we actually get to see each other a few times each year.

Scott was styling as usual. Jason was telling cute stories about the snowboarding kids he teaches and how he keeps telling them to bend their knees. Dave was recounting his Shanghai experiences and how all the girls there are hot. I got a chance to chit chat with Bryon cuz everyone else was fashionable late (haha, Julie was 3.5 hours late). Food was good and Denny grilled some steak (London broil I believe), though two pieces ended up on the floor, doh.

12.22.03
Ansel Adams was known for his landscape photography but he also dabbled in commercial photography. I like this ceiling photograph with its art deco design.

12.21.03
Tis the season to savor in expensive chocolates, Joseph Schmidt kinds especially. =d Being a chocolatier is like one of those dreams jobs people have after they make the big bucks, to be able to work in a job that's creative and satisfying. I love how he started the chocolate business, by accidentally ordering too much chocolate, 550 pounds to be exact, for his gf's pastry shop. Joseph Schmidt is know for his edible art; last Halloween I saw huge chocolate tombstones in his store front. Haha, and contrary to popular thought, his truffles are not modeled after breasts. Plastic Easter eggs were the only molds he could find when he first started out.

12.20.03
7 Fingers reminds me of the circus performance I saw last year, Cirque Eloize. The troupe is made up of former Cirque du Soleil performers. They're performing at the Palace of Fine Arts from December 17 to January 3.

12.19.03
I just finished reading the Da Vinci Code and thought it was quite entertaining. It definitely sparked my interest in DA Vinci, art history, architecture, symbolism, and religious history. I'm not sure what exactly in the book was speculation and what was the truth. The books claims that Jesus was indeed married to Mary Magdalene and had children. The Priory of Sion is a secret society that protects the contents of the Holy Grail and the descendants of Jesus and Mary.

My knowledge of Christianity is only limited to the theology classes I took at Moreau. However, the book definitely raises some good points, despite being controversial, about faith and power struggles (whoever is in control has strong influence on the people's beliefs).

I've already reviewed some of the paintings mentioned in the novel. I definitely want to explore the Louvre some more after reading the book. I wanna read Dan Brown's other book Angels & Demons.

12.18.03
I'm always baking cookies and I discovered a new tool that makes life so much easier. A cookie dough scoop! Now it only takes me about a minute to fill a baking sheet with cookie dough and all the cookies are the same size. I'm debating if I should get a cookie press so I can make fancy looking cookies. I tried making the famous Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies. I would recommend baking it only for 8 minutes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, slightly crushed
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for a crispier cookie. Makes 12 to 15 large cookies.

12.17.03

I finally watched Calmi Cuori Appassionati starring Yutaka Takenouchi (drool!) and Kelly Chen. The movie is slow and the only character I could relate to was Junsei's girlfriend because Junsei is still in love with Aoi, his ex-gf. I felt bad for her because she tried so hard to get Junsei to love her but all her efforts were worthless. The movie is beautifully shot though, especially the scenes in Florence. And of course I always love watching Yutaka. =d

12.16.03
Crissy says I'm weird. I was spending the night at her place. I was extremely exhausted and after washing up I went to bed at 8:00 pm. She said it was funny cuz later that evening, I woke up suddenly when I smelled cookies and demanded some. Her roomie had just baked some white chocolate macadamia cookies. She said after I finished the cookie I went back to sleep. Of course, I don't remember any of this. =p

12.15.03
I've got to remember that I burned some bridges for a good reason. And that there's no point in mending that relationship.

12.14.03
There was a birthday lunch for Louise at Buca di Beppo. It was great seeing old friends, seems like everyone is so busy with work. Tiffany, my old housemate was there with her new guy. Other people there were Sandy, Steve, and Louise's old college roomie. We ordered fried calamari, margherita pizza, linguine frutti DI mare, and chicken parmigiana.

Before lunch, I went to Chinatown to pick up one of those Chinese fruit cakes. The lady at the bakery was extremely rude to me. I dunno why, mebbe because I didn't speak Chinese. Does this happen often with people?

Afterwards, I went window shopping with Sandy and Steve. Steve was a good sport especially when we spent an hour looking at women's clothing. I didn't really see anything I liked. I don't really mind spending hours shopping and buying nothing though.

12.13.03
I love taking pictures and seeing how they turn out. However, I don't think I have the patience for developing black and white photographs; it's just too time consuming. Perhaps, I'll stick with digital photography. Part of good photography is capturing the right moment, angle, expression.

12.12.03
What do I want for Christmas? Hmmm, well my camera lens is broken. Something's wrong with the aperture where it keeps on shooting wide open even for F22, so lots of my photos come out blurry. =( I'm still debating if I should get a used one or if I should shell out $200 for a new one. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have a Minolta Maxxum. Otherwise, what I really want for Christmas you can't buy with money.

12.11.03
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done! No more studying for three weeks at least. Woohoo. I need a vacation!

Sigh, let's just say it's a miracle that I got through the past two weeks. Papers, group projects, presentations, and finals. I've learned my lesson though, my next quarter won't be as packed. Photography is just too time consuming but at least I got some basics down. I'm gonna dabble with some individual work and I might consider taking more classes in Fall 2004.

12.10.03
Favorite Songs of the Moment:

The Ataris - The Saddest Song
Blink 182 - I Miss You
Hoobastank - Reason
Lostprophets - Last Train Home

12.09.03
Oooh, there's another season of Top Model in 2004. Ah, the glamorous world of fashion.

12.08.03
I like a lot of the clothing styles and cuts from Express but I hate how they use a lot of polyesther. I'm not fond of synthetic fibers and prefer things made of cotton or wool.

12.07.03
I saw a documentary on PBS about Alice Waters, famous chef of Chez Panisse. It's amazing how passionate some people are about food. I love how she's trying to improve the food served at public schools and teaching students to grow their own school vegetable gardens.

12.06.03
Opus is back! You can find him in the Sunday Datebook in the Chronicle. Visit this website for all the archives.

12.05.03
We've had Beer Friday, which is like wine tasting but with beer, the past three weeks. Tim thinks it's a shame that I think all beers taste the same, all fuzzy tasting. However, my favorite beers were the fruity Belgium beers Lindemans Peche Lambic (peach flavored) and Lindemans Framboise Raspberry Lambic that reminded me of ciders. Other beers that we got to sample were Red Stripe, Sapporo, Pyramid Snow Caps, and a handful of others.

12.04.03
I keep seeing cute bath bombs shaped like scoops of ice cream. Right before you step into a hot bath you throw in a bath bomb. They burst and sizzle in the water, unlocking relaxing scents and aromas. They're not too difficult to make from scratch.

12.03.03
M is right, blogs disclose too much information, which is why my blog is not longer linked from my main site. Since I never really know who reads my blogs, I always feel like I have to censor what I write. Plus, I don't want people I'm dating to google my name and find this. But if they do anyway, I'm going to try to avoid blogging anything personal. From now on, it's going to be limited to interesting articles, silly updates, retail therapy, crafty projects, yummy eats, trival stuff, etc. I'll throw in some insight here and there.

12.02.03
Being single for a year has made me even more stubborn, haha not a good quality when you're in a relationship.

12.01.03
I'm watching Mamma Mia at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on April 14, 2004 at 2:00 PM Woohoo. No Lion King for me though, the only tickets left are too expensive.