3.31.05
I love skirts and I have my eye on this one from Urban Outfitters. Very cute, I like the sash around the waist and the wispy airiness of the fabric.

3.30.05
Since the euro is pretty strong compared to the dollar, $1 = 0.77 euros, I've decided to explore more cities around the United States, instead of visiting Europe. Cities I want to visit are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

3.29.05
I grabbed lunch from Blakes today and had a really yummy grilled vegetable sandwich. Mmm. Later, I had dinner with a friend at Asqew at Bay Street where pretty much everything is on a skewer. I forgot what kind of bisque we ordered but it was really delish and now I'm trying to find a low fat recipe for tomato bisque. Now that I don't have class anymore, I need to start cooking more.

3.28.05
I got the cutest book for my birthday: Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens by Sloane Tanen. It was funny because on the subway in New York I saw a cute poster of opening day of the metro system with the same baby chickens. Click here for some excerpts.

3.26.05
I like the tingly peppermint feel of Burt's Beeswax Lip Balm, and it doesn't have a weird after taste like Soft Lips. However, it's not very moisturizing.

3.25.05
I cut my hair again, yes again. I think in the last 4 months, I've had my hair cut 5 times. I need to stop or they'll be no more hair.

3.24.05

• Grand Central Station
  Beautiful architecture and huge windows
  
  
• United Nations
  
  
• Chrysler Building
  That building in the opening sequence for SATC.
  
  
• Serendipity 3
  Yummy frozen hot chocolates but the place is a tad over hyped. Good strategy is to make reservations or to go half an hour before it opens.
  
  
• Central Park
  Emily gave us a tour of it by car, no way we could've seen it all in an hour.
  
  
• Upper West Side
  Visited Lawrence, ironically he's moving back to Hayward in a week after being in New York for so many years.
  
  
• Columbia
  
  
• Cafe Swish in the Upper West Side
  Pan Asian food with Lawrence and Kasper.
  
  
• Henry's
  Chilled at their bar and was thrilled that I could actually hear people's conversations.

3.23.05

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  This museum is impossible to explore in a single day. I really liked the Egyptian exhibits, though. While I was walking back to my cousin's place, I saw falling snow for the first time in the city! Last time was in Tahoe but that doesn't really count.
  
  
• Glass Menagerie
  Christian Slater, Jessica Lange, and Josh Lucas!
  
  
• New York Public Library and Bryant Park
  It was freaking cold and we needed to hide somewhere until we met up with Ben for dinner. Ironically Bryant Park was bare and uninviting, usually a very popular place. Bryant Park hosts fashion week and there are tons of summer events in the park. Anyway, Ben's place is a block away and he has a gorgeous view of midtown and the Empire State Building. *Lena jealous*
  
  
• Alta in the West Village
  Yummy tapas and cool ambiance.

3.22.05

• Upper East Side
  We dragged our stuff from Tribeca to our cousin's place in Upper East Side
  
  
• South Street Seaport
  We waited in line again at the TKTS booth for Wednesday matinee tickets. Afterwards, I saw a huge sale at United Colors of Benneton and bought three pairs of dress pants and a long corduory skirt. My sister rolled her eyes and called me a shopaholic. We found some cute subway line shirts for Jennifer and Windy.
  
  
• Katz' Deli in the Lower East Side
  Famous for the fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. The place was really crowded but I loved the potato latkes with apple butter. Yum yum.
  
  
• Empire State Building
  Ridiculously long wait worsened by the perfect sunny weather. Crissy and I spent one hour in line to get tickets and another hour to get on an elevator.
  

3.21.05

• City Hall
  Lots of columns and formal looking buildings
  
  
• South Street Seaport
  We waited in line at the TKTS booth for half priced Broadway tickets. Little did we know that Mondays are the worst days to get tickets because a lot of shows skip Monday performances.
  
  
• East Village
  We had Korean food at a tiny restaurant called Temple; the place seriously seats like 14 people. I had tons of recommendations for restaurants in this neighborhood.
  
  
• Beard Papa's
  Delish cream puffs
  
  
• NYU and Washington Park
  We visited my mom's old alma matter, though her campus was really near Wall Street, and New York's version of the Arc de Triomphe
  
  
• Citarella
  We found a grocery store that we like, a sorta mini Andronicos or Trader Joes. They had really yummy asiago bread.
  
  
• Gray's Papayas
  Get the recession special, yummy hot dogs!
  
  
• I love you, you're perfect, now change
  Hilarious off Broadway show about relationships

3.20.05

• Chinatown
  We met up with Kathy and her bf and had soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai, had to share a table with some complete strangers, that's how popular the place is.
  
  
• Soho
  Lots of window shopping but we got tired of walking around in the rain.
  
  
• MoMA
  We spent an afternoon roaming around MoMA. I really liked the top two floors but I'm not that found of modern art that's too abstract and absurd. It was cool seeing Picasso's Starry Night in person. Chagall, Dali, Matisse, and Kahlo are some favorite artists that I really like.
  
  
• Macy's and Herald Square
  Largest department store in the world, pretty flower displays from their annual flower show

3.19.05
Crissy and I roamed around NYC with our trusty guidebook but we didn't feel as dorky because we saw tons of people with guidebooks, too. We quickly realized that walking around in a sweater and a heavy coat is sufficient enough for weather in the 40s° as long as you keep moving but it's a pain when you want to shop and it's a toasty 70° indoors. We got lost a few times but quickly learned that numbered streets run west-east and avenues run north-south.

• Wall Street
  Deserted on Saturday mornings.
  
  
• Battery Park
  Lovely views of the water and New Jersey, tons of joggers even though there's still snow on the ground.
  
  
• Ground Zero
  In a city of of skyscrapers, ground zero made its presence with an eerie absence.
  
  
• Brooklyn Heights
  Lovely area of Brooklyn with lots of brownstones and cute houses
  
  
• Grimaldi's
  New York style pizza with crispy thin crusts
  
  
• Brooklyn Bridge
  Gorgeous views of the skyline
  
  
• Times Square
  Swarming with people and lots of glittering lights
  
  
• Rockefeller Center
  Surprisingly small ice skating rink
  
  
• Bloomingdales
  In search of Kiehls and Origins.
  
  
• Tomoe Sushi in the Greenwich Village (one of the best sushi places in NYC)
  John treated us to Japanese food and I had refreshing soba noodles and stole melt in your mouth sashimi from Crissy's plate. Afterwards we went to a cafe and had dessert made with sponge cake, rum, and topped with fresh fruit.
  
  
• Plan B in Alphabet City
  We met up with Kasper and Sabina at a bar. I was jet lagged and tired so I went back to the hotel while Crissy went clubbing at Cielo in the meat packing district.

3.18.05
The bad thing about flying east is that you lose a day with traveling. I love being able to watch TV on JetBlue. Mmm, Terra Blue potato chips. I do much better flying in the morning than at night where I'm just exhausted after a long day.

Anyway, we met up with our Aunt, Uncle, cousin John, and his wife Emily and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Queens, simple but yummy dishes. And it was good seeing relatives; I think the last time I saw John, I was seven years old. =p Afterwards, John drove us to our hotel in Tribeca. We passed the World Trade Center; turns out our hotel is pretty close to Ground Zero and City Hall with a subway station outside our front door.

3.17.05
Two of my coworkers took me out to lunch to celebrate the fact that I was finally done with graduate school. We went to Phoenix Pastificio and I had really yummy butternut squash ravioli with golden raisins and pears. They make fresh pasta daily.

1786 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley
510-883-0783

Anyway, off to New York City with Crissy. Woot, this is exciting. Be back in a week. Thank you for all those that took the time to give me advice and recommendations. I'm really really looking forward to this trip. It'll be an awesome graduation/birthday celebration.

3.16.05
Anyway, I'm sitting here thinking omg, I'm done! Seriously, I worked my ass off the past 6 quarters and don't diss business majors, it's still a lot of work. I was definitely more focused and studied more harder than I did at Cal. During my undergrad years, all I wanted to do was play, play, play. Lemme tell you, balancing school and work was no easy challenge and my social life was totally lacking; plus I was always cranky around family. Not sure what I'm gonna do with all my free time but I definitely have a long to do list.

3.15.05
When I'm bored and I wanna look at yummy desserts I visit flickr and search for tags such as cupcakes, cake, or dessert.

3.13.05
Today, I talked to a friend that I used to be really close to but kinda lost touch with. He's been going through a lot of challenges this year so I was worried when I hadn't heard from him for awhile. He called and told me he was in Kentucky because he joined the Army. I was momentarily confused and believed him for a split second because of all the crappy things that have been happening to him. Bleh, I'm so gullible but he never fails to make me laugh. And for those that know M, I think he's doing better? Not sure, must follow up.

3.05.05
The girls and I have been quite busy so we haven't had a monthly get together for a long time. Boo to busy season. Anyway, we had dim sum at Legendary Palace (recommended by Raph) and we had so much trouble ordering but thank goodness Sandy is fluent in Cantonese. I can't believe Louise is quitting her job and leaving the Bay Area soon. =/ Hopefully, she'll get to relax, travel, and find a job that has more manageable hours. Mmm, I think I'm going to try dragonb
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