Last weekend, we went camping with a large group for a fundraiser but I wouldn’t really call it “roughing it” because we had gas-powered generators, rice cookers, water dispensers, lights, lots of “home-cooked” Vietnamese food, eating with real cutlery… it was more like tent city. It wasn’t until it rained and got soaked that we really felt like we were roughing it because our tent was further out (but Boyfriend’s dad saved us by putting up a huge tarp). If we didn’t go camping with the older folks, I’m sure we would’ve all died and went home early because it POURED on Saturday night until morning— only to see the sun come out as we were leaving. I love you, Vancouver [weather].

Here are my camping essentials:

• AIR MATTRESS. I don’t think I’m THAT prissy, but I am prissy. If I had to sleep on the ground, I’m sure I would hate camping. We bring pillows and wool blankets too… it’s just like sleeping at home and super warm. Yep, that’s how we rough it.
• A good tent. I don’t camp too often so as long as mine has good ventilation and is easy to set up, I’m happy. The tent I have now just opens and snaps/locks into place.
• Tarps. And lots of them, especially if you camp a lot around Vancouver because you will never know when it will rain.
• String/rope. How are you going to hang up your tarp?
• Flashlight/lantern. Good luck going to the washroom in the pitch dark.
• Toilet paper. Trust.
• Deodorant. If you can’t shower, at least try and eliminate some of the B.O.
• Hot dogs & alcohol. What is camping without hot dogs and alcohol?!

If I had all that, I’d rough it out anywhere, anytime. Well maybe if I also had more food, my allergy meds, lip balm, sunnies, music, a book, lots of dry socks, my fold-up chair with a foot rest, lemon-grass chicken wings and more alcohol, THEN I’d rough it anywhere.

Oh wait, I forgot the most important thing to bring when camping: GUYS. So they can do all the work; pitching the tents, cooking the food, starting the fire, cleaning up. Harharhar.

Anyway, I LOVE camping despite not being able to shower the days, wearing the same thing over and over and eating bugs while I sleep. Last weekend was a lot of fun and the highlight was in the afternoon, when some of us decided to go fishing after polishing off a couple cases of beer. You had to jump floating logs to get to the edge of the water and of course,  two of them fell in, one couldn’t swim and her priority was still to save the beer. Good times. Another camping essential: good company.

EUROPE 2012 – Going to be backpacking with Boyfriend and perhaps a couple friends. I’m actually not too interested in travelling through Europe right now and want to go back to Asia next year but we just went last year so I feel like it’s kind of a waste and Boyfriend promised to visit his cousins in Europe. If we go, I can’t wait to visit old castles and frolick in the English countryside. Hyukhyuk.

ASIA 2013 – Hopefully when my girlfriends finishes their programs, we’re going to all the places we didn’t have time to hit last year: Vietnam, Taiwan, Bali, Korea, and SNOWBOARDING BOARDING IN JAPAN!! We have to make a stop in HK though… it’s my favorite city!

BRAZIL 2014 – World Cup!! Our goal is to watch a Brazil game in Brazil but probability? 0.0001%. The first 2 trips aren’t confirmed but this one is definitely going to happen. I hope to be there for the beginning and the end of the games and travel around South America in between.

These pictures can’t capture the BOOTIFULGORGEOUSAMAZINGNESS of the view and the sparkling, clear, green-blue water.

“BEFORE” [we get all sweaty and gross] picture.

Garabaldi hike crew. Our plan was to go up to Black Tusk but we didn’t start the hike until 3pm-ish since there was a national BBQ championship going on. Who can resist a good BBQ?!

COUGAR NIGHT [what!!]. All clubbed-out with Nicole.

What you shouldn't do in Korea: pick up your bowl while eating!!

• Don’t take the black cabs in Seoul a.k.a. the Luxury Cabs!! We jumped into one after getting off the airport bus because it was right there and we saw the meter; 4500won…. soooo cheap!! The next day, we were informed that if we took a gray cab, it would’ve been half the price. Damnit.
• Korea is not as cheap as they say it is… well definitely not as cheap as HK anyway. But then I probably needed a local to really take advantage of the “cheaper” districts in Seoul.
• I shopped more in the past 5 weeks than I did in the last year. But in the end we were totally shopped out— we had 500,000won left over and tried so hard to spend it but couldn’t.
  

  Buys from 1st day in Seoul. The knock-off Chanel is for my puppy okay.

• I used my iPod Touch for 5 weeks straight and I still can’t get use to typing with the touch screen. I don’t know how you guys do it but I think my fingers are too fat and stupid. I’m so glad to be reunited with my Blackberry.
• I have officially mastered “hovering” [over toilets].

Korean Seafood Pancakes: my favorite!!

Potato Swirls & Potato Fries... better than any you can get here.

Yummy mini hot dog things from a stand across the street from our hotel.

I can’t wait to hit the gym.

I miss oatmeal and can’t wait to eat it everyday for breakfast again.

…And egg whites with green onion and soy sauce.

I can’t wait to go hiking.

I can’t wait to get rid of this 20in layer of fat that has accumulated the past month
(although with no regrets). I’m gross and squishy all over but looking forward to the challenge.

I can’t wait to regain my strength.

I can’t wait to be able to do a 600 rep workout effortlessly again.

I can’t wait to eat a Monty Mushroom burger from White Spot.

I can’t wait to go camping.

I can’t wait to have dim sum with po-po.

I miss our super comfy king-sized bed.

I miss my HDMI cable.

I miss all my books I left at home that I wanted to read but couldn’t bring with me.

I can’t wait see see MOCHI (whom I missed the most)!!

I can’t wait to have girls’ nights.

I can’t wait to go home!!!

Asia was fun but there’s life to get back to. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is getting up and going to work (getting up early to go shopping is an entirely different thing) and paying Vancouver prices for food and drinks (and clothes and shoes and make up and bags…). Anyway, I shall be home on Saturday afternoon!

• There are bugs ALL over Phuket. Don’t be surprised if you find a dead spider in your rice, fearless flies on your food during dinner, and ants and lizards crawling up the wall behind you.
• Sales girls at the malls are extremely rude and just sit around talking, but employees everywhere else are super nice ,and definitely knows the meaning of hospitality.
• Most places don’t believe in AC.
• But the beaches definitely felt like heaven on earth.
• Thailand makes you want elephant and monkeys so bad, it’s not even funny.

Phuket

Beijing:

• Beijing food was such a huge disappointment; it was okay but definitely not my favorite. I also had the worst PEKING duck I’ve ever had there. Ironic.
• I felt like I was covered in 10 layers of dirt every day from the smog and heat.
• But the heat was bearable because it was dry and cool in the shade (unlike Hong Kong’s humidity).
• I took a deep breath by accident and my throat was scratchy and irritated the rest of the day. Air pollution is no fun!!
• It was weird that we were in a lot of touristy places (even the airport and a 5-star hotel) and employees barely knew English. It took so much effort just to explain “brown bread” to them.
• I was scared to drink anything because I didn’t want to use their public washrooms.
• If I have to pee in another hole in the ground again with the most pungent smell emitting from it, I’m going to scream! Some of them were so bad that I was willing to hold it in for an hour long bus ride… I give huge props to the cleaning ladies who sits in the washrooms all day. I am so prissy. But I really tried.
• On the other hand, the washrooms that do have 1 or 2 stalls with actual toilets are pretty clean since they are barely used (but still smelly).
• Despite all this, I had more fun in Beijing than I even did Phuket! I’m obsessed with Chinese history so I was in so much awe being in places that I only read about.
• I want to come back again with proper gear to conquer more of the Great Wall. Vancouver trails are nice and some still a good challenge, but the Great Wall really lives up to it’s name and is full of historical significance which makes it that much better (Grouse Grind, my ass). Just don’t wear a dress and sandals like I did.
• Going up the wall is so much easier than going down. Hella steep with uneven and worn-down steps + my weak knees = not a good combination. It took me double the time to go down, and I was secretly racing an old man but he beat me.
• I also want to come back to spend more time in the Summer Palace; so beautiful there.
• I already knew this but holy shit, Air China really sucks ass.

Great Wall of China

Hong Kong:

• Hong Kong = food heaven!! There are so many restaurants and bakeries here it’s not even funny— and they are always full.
• But then I don’t think I can survive here because there are way too many people. Not as many as China but still to many.
• The first week we were here, I dragged Boyfriend out and we literally shopped till we dropped every single day …well he just held my bags. It didn’t help that public benches are practically non-exist in HK so we always came home exhausted (and I consider never shopping again), get a really good sleep but then do it all over again the next day.
• He loved it when I went into shoe stores where he can sit and bask in air-conditioned glory— those were the only times he encouraged me to take my time and shop.
• I hate it when “dirty water” drips on me.
• I hate that I have to dress so conservatively while the weather is so hot and humid or else the locals will stare and make you feel like an idiot. I won’t care in Vancouver but I do here even though I’ll never see them again.  The bitches in Vancouver need to take stare-down lessons from the old Chinese ladies here.

60+ DELICIOUS skewers (chicken, beef, gizzards, chicken hearts, lamb, squid) + 8 beers + 1 bottle of nasty but super strong alochol = less than $20CDN. The only catch is that it was from a probably really dirty food stall but then we didn`t get sick so who cares.. I want more!!

Misc:

• I will never take Vancouver weather for granted ever again!! *complains about the shitty weather when I get off the plane*
• I miss clean and smog free air.
• I hope Vancouver bans the use of air conditioners that sucks hot air back outside. It’d be so sad if Vancouver becomes so gross and humid like HK.
• I was standing in the aisle of a supermarket today feeling so bad for myself for living in North America because our [junk food] choices are so boring. Asia has all of it PLUS MORE.
• I like how breakfast at hotels here always serve congee.
• I’m so sad that we didn’t get to eat creepy crawlies in Phuket or Beijing but we have one more visa entry to China so hopefully we still can.
• You guys were right, I lost 5lbs from the heat and all the walking but I’m pretty sure I gained like 10% body fat. I don’t know what’s worse.
• We are getting so awesome. AT BARGAINING! But bargaining just for $0.30CAD is sooo ridiculous and tiring even though you do it anyway… because you’re in Asia and will feel like you’re getting ripped off if you don’t.
• I can’t wait to be in Korea for the World Cup. I know I can only hope, but obviously I’m routing for an Asian team and it doesn’t get any crazier than in Korea!
• The country never sleeps!
• I complain a lot but I still love Asia!! Complaining is more interesting than praising.

I know I said that I couldn’t wait to get home but I wish I was still in Cali; it was so hectic at times but fun. When we crossed the Canadian border, it started snowing like mad and I was so depressed because my feet got all wet in the snow carrying my 50lbs suitcase and 20lbs carry-on (I stuffed all my jeans in it) into the house. Hopefully we get to go again sometime this spring or summer!!

• The weather in L.A. was pretty good but it rained on Christmas day when we went to Disneyland! It poured when we got there but that’s about it; the rest of the day was dry… but kinda miserable because my socks were wet and Disneyland was sold out of socks (and umbrellas). Nevertheless it was worth it and our plastic sheets kept us dry… this is when you totally have to sacrifice fashion.

  

• I almost lost my camera at Disneyland!!!! It flew out of my pocket on Splash Mountain but luckily when I went back, they found it in the car and just took it to lost and found. Then I almost left my bag on the Indiana Jones ride with all our passports in it… we could’ve been stuck in Cali if L didn’t get it for me. Oh noez!
• L and I tricked Boyfriend to go on a ride at Universal Studios… and he never goes on rides!
• Finally ate at Tony Romas (we always wanted to try it but always put it off). It was alright, nothing great.
• The 8 hour drive from Cabazon to Sacramento wasn’t bad at all with red bulls, coffee and random Q&A with the boyfriend (he drove the entire way but I just stayed up with him). I found out his favorite flower is the sunflower… like WTH, how boring is that?! I’m sorry Boyfriend, but your girlfriend is a designer so you gotta come up with something more unique than that.
• NEVER leave your GPS at home. We had to follow these people when driving through San Jose and San Francisco because we forgot to bring it and didn’t know where we were going… ALL DAY.
• There’s were 40+ people staying in the house we stayed in Sacramento so the first night we all slept in the living room and I dreamt of this huge cargo ship with it’s horn blasting every couple seconds and I was so annoyed that I was about to bitchslap something in my dream. I woke up and it turned out to be someone snoring hella loud!! I seriously couldn’t stop laughing about it in the morning but that night, I barely got any sleep. Luckily the rest of the nights, I scored my own bed.
• Watching a Vietnamese wedding is a unique experience… now I gotta watch a Chinese wedding because I haven’t been to one since I was 6 and I don’t remember anything.

  

• Never drink an entire bottle of Grey Goose on vacation or else the next day would be a total waste since you’ll be stuck hung-over in bed all day.
• Being hung-over and squished in the back of a tiny Honda Civic with 4 people is the worse feeling in the world… especially when you’re in Sacramento and everything is so far apart.
• …there are a lot of ants in Cali.
• I ate more fast food in the 10 days we were there than I usually do in an entire year. It’s a grossly satisfying feeling.
• CARNE ASADA FRIES AND IN N OUT BURGERS ARE THE SHIT!! I tried both for the first time and YUM. What are Carne Asada fries my fellow non-Californians? They are fries layered with meat, cheese, guacamole, sour cream and hot sauce = FKING HEAVEN!!
• I actually finished the two books I brought on the trip so I went out to buy Eragon and Eldest. IT’S SO GOOD. Damn, now I gotta wait for book three to come out in paper back.
• I started saying “hella” too in the past year and I realized that I picked it up when we went to Cali last year. It’s so true how they say you start picking up the “Cali accent” after being here for a long time.
• Americans don’t say eh … they say huh. “You want some carne asada fries huh?” That’s a little weird for me, I think I’ll stick with the Canadian way.
• Somebody asked us if we celebrate the same New Year. Now THAT was hilarious!
• When the clock hit 12, we were still on the I5 going home but we got to see 4 different sets of fireworks from the freeway (don’t ask why we were flying back on that day… it’s a long story). The last 10 days in Cali was totally worth the countdown to 2009 in the car so I’d do it again anytime!

I am in love with Cali but I seriously need to get over my non-existent level of patience before ever considering moving down there. Before, I never wanted to move to L.A. because I thought it was always hot/warm there and I wouldn’t be able to wear my winter stuff but it’s actually kind of chilly especially at night. Also, the houses in Sacramento are so big, new, cheap and some are in cute little communities surrounding a man-made lake. I wouldn’t mind living there either.

Reasons why I shouldn’t move to Cali:

• I absolutely cannot stand the traffic. We got stuck on the freeway for three hours before we were smart enough to find an alternate route with our GPS because we thought it would end soon… but it was STILL crawling along when we were driving back to L.A. four hours later. It’s sad because nothing happened — no accidents or anything… there were just too many damn cars!! Our highways in Canada have like 2-3 lanes and we NEVER get traffic like that. LOL. That was 3 hours of wasted shopping time by the way. The second time we went to Cabazon to shop, we went on like 6 different freeways via GPS to escape the traffic but the detour only added 10 minutes to our total trip time so it was all good.
• Sacramento is plagued with four-way stops. I got soooo annoyed driving through all of them and we were on a big street too. That so doesn’t make sense!! Like P said, “no cop, no stop.”
• Everything is soo far away from each other —well in the Sacramento area at least.

SHOPPING. I actually didn’t buy much because I spent most of my cash on jeans. I was pretty depressed though when I found out I forgot to buy the Kassandra Varnish Fumes Blue (the purple version of the pair with the green R’s) because we went to there twice and I thought I bought it the first time but I didn’t! I was mainly looking for TRs but I didn’t find many styles that I actually liked so I only bought a pair of skinnies to go along with my boots. I don’t feel guilty about this splurge at all because I haven’t bought any new pairs of jeans since August… now all I gotta do is order more crystals so I can start customizing them. I also bought a Bare Escentuals starter kit in Medium; I love my Lumiere mineral foundation but I lost my last jar and my Clinique foundation is too light for my skin tone so I decided to hop on the bandwagon to see what this huge fuss was all about. I also stocked up on UDPP, bought a new Dior pressed powder and puppy pee pads for Mochi like I always do every time we go to the states. Other purchases included a lot of tops, leggings, accessories from Bebe, F21 and Wet Seal (we didn’t have time to go into many stores since we were stuck in traffic every time we tried to go shopping and line ups were insanely long), random make up from Sephora, books, Aldo flats and black Jessica Simpson pumps from Nordstrom… and a LOT of food and Starbucks.

My favorite were L‘s HELLO KITTY RAIN BOOTS because they’re freaking adorable! I’m SO jealous and would’ve totally purchased a pair if I was still in school or taking public transit to work but since I drive and park underground, I’m rarely outside so I would have no reason to wear them. Hey at least I saved myself $80.

Oh, how can I forget the fashion faux-pas that I purposely committed?! I WORE JEANS TO THE WEDDING! Well not to the formal Vietnamese ceremony but only to the reception. T wore her new Rocks so I was like WTF, no fair I want to wear mine too, so I pulled off the tags, threw them on last minute and tucked them into my boots; I didn’t really feel guilty because it was the reception and everyone was going to be drunk anyway. I bought a dress that I didn’t even wear because I never found shoes for them and I realized how short and slutty it was. If it was a friend’s wedding, I’d totally wear it (just because we all swing that way) but not to one where Boyfriend’s parents are present. I still wore all black to the morning ceremony… but I didn’t care because I just wanted my red hair to stand out. But anyway, not to say I’m proud of my fashion faux-pas but honestly I wouldn’t care what anyone wears to my reception as long as it’s not WHITE, too bummed out and as long as they don’t upstage me (or go home biatch).

Boyfriend and I were like the rebels because I wore jeans and he refused to wear a suit jacket and even left his tie in the car for the reception.

P.S. Thanks ladies for the lovely Christmas cards.

Quote of the trip:
“What the hell is beer pong? Do you hit the ball with a beer bottle or something?”
- by the same drunk dude who thought “ixi” was a word in a game of Scrabble last year.

Ending this entry with a Mochi pic of the day… because I missed her terribly.

Also sorry for not responding to Christmas/New Years text messages while I was away… I was too cheap to text you guys back but MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I had good intentions.

The wedding was yesterday and that was fun. I got up at 6am to get ready and to get first dibs on showers and then later, Boyfriend informs me I didn’t even have to go to the first part if I didn’t want to! I wish he told me earlier because it was all in Vietnamese anyway and I could’ve used that extra sleep since I was power napping every chance I got throughout the day. At least it was an interesting experience; they were all like you better watch and learn and I’m like yeah right! I don’t plan on marrying for another 6-7 years… plenty of time.

Lime Sugar Supreme – My favorite! Keylime pie is my favorite dessert so this lime flavored lip balm is definitely my new HG of lip balms.
Toasted Marshmallow – Smells delicious but I think this is a flavor that I’ll get sick of if I use too much… kind of like how I can only eat like 3 marshmallows before I puke all over you.
Margarita – I love this one too because it has a hint of citrus scent but where’s the tequila? It would be hilarious if you can get drunk off a lip balm (and I can totally image some people doing it).
Lemon Meringue Pie – My second favorite since lemon meringue pie is my second favorite dessert.
Buttery Toffee – Very strong buttery smell.. smelling it is such a sin and makes me feel fat because it’s so damn buttery. Thank god it won’t add extra pounds on you though.
Raspberry Plum – Smells like heaven but after having it on for a while, it started reminding me of the Strawberry flavored lip Smackers which makes me think I’m 7-years-old again.

Recent looks with recycled accessories because since I stayed at Boyfriends all week (he got the satellite to work again!) and like always, leave most of my stuff at home:

Today I officially canceled my 6-week vacation to Asia next year and I can’t change my mind because I already told my manager and he updated the schedule for next year. With all the stuff going on, I decided to stay home and go on vacation next year instead. Boyfriend is still going to Vietnam though and I feel bad because we were suppose to travel around Asia together but he understands. The sucky thing is that WE HAVE TO GO TO EUROPE NEXT YEAR!! :@ No offense, but I have no interest in going to Europe at all… I just want to go to Asia [and Africa]. If I can’t have grilled squid, deep fried octopus, bubble tea and laugh at people carrying fake designer handbags (oh wait, I can do that here) while walking around the streets late at night, then I don’t want to go there. Boo. I guess they can wait though, I guess Europe will be fun too. If we do go to Europe, I want to visit some haunted castles.

Imagine if the oversized luxurious gowns and “poufs” of the 18th century were “in” right now… I’d LOVE to travel back in time to the era and indulge in those luxuries (I’d be an aristocrat obviously… lol). I think it was the most beautiful era in history. It’d be a pretty amusing sight though to see Boyfriend and his buddies prancing around in a white wig and tights even though it’s totally inconvenient for women today (eg. how the hell are you suppose to fit into one of those tiny ass Smart cars with a giant gown?!). But sigh… everything was so beautiful and elegant back then. Now the majority of the population dress casually (not that it’s a bad thing of course!) and if you walk around in the streets all dressed up during the day, people will just look at you funny.

Speaking of the 18th century, I really, reallyyy wanted to be Marie Antoinette this year for Halloween but then my hair is red and I don’t want to wear a wig. She’s my favorite and the most intriguing historical figure but I guess Marie will have to wait until next year when I go blond or for my wedding— yes I’m going to have a themed wedding (but that’s a different story)!! I was tempted to be a geisha again like last year since I saw a couple of beautiful new geisha costumes but I guess I can’t be the same thing two years in a row sooo I’ve decided to be …

It’s only natural I guess.. gotta take advantage of the red hair because I’m not planning on going red for 2 years after this! I ordered my mermaid costume last night and should get it in a couple days so that way I can still change my mind if I want to.

What are you planning to dress up as this Halloween?

• Was all the planning-stress worth it? I guess so.
• Do it again next year? After 3 years of it, NO. We’re getting a travel agent next time.
• Like always, unfair share of housework.
• But hot tub and sun made up for it (although it sounds a bit ironic together).
• Beach: Saturday was hot and sunny. Sunday was a lot more windy so we chilled on the patio instead.
• Went horseback-riding along the beach. Loved it.
• Purchased and finished The Other Boleyn Girl (since I was so obsessed with the movie)! Five stars.
• Lots of eating and breaking of diets (you cannot escape the food and candy!!).
• Lots of shopping (although this wasn’t suppose to be a shopping trip). Totally successful.
• Lots and lots of gossiping.
• Hilarious car rides.
• Favorite purchase was a Marilyn Monroe wall clock.
• Found lots of nice jeans. ♥
• Got stuck in rush hour traffic to the Coast AND back home (we obviously don’t learn).
• Got home really late and still haven’t finished unpacking yet.
• Don’t have to go back to work until Friday! :cheer:

Mochi pick of the day:

Being lazy on a hot day.

Anyway, Oregon trip plans are good (for now, just waiting for something to mess up a day of two before we leave) after a week of wanting to kill myself.

Boyfriend is going to Vegas with his friends in September but I decided not to go because it’s one month before my 21st birthday and I don’t want to take any time off work. I told him he can do WHATEVER HE WANTS there (gamble, go to strip clubs/clubbing, look at girls, etc.) as long as there is no touching of other girls (and guys) involved— and maybe not eat as much since I hear he’s training himself for the buffets (he is the king of buffets) which is totally gross. Lol. But anyway I’m encouraging him to have fun and forget about me that week because when he comes home, he’ll have to face my constant nagging and mood swings for the rest of his life (and because I have 120% trust in him). ? God help him. Plus I don’t want him to be like certain guys who are obliged to be with their naggy girlfriends 24/7. Hah.

Speaking of Vegas, I never really understood the hype about it and why EVERYONE wants to go when they turn 21. I considered it for fun but never seriously; I’d rather waste my money on a trip where I can mingle with a wealth of cultural and historical experiences. Vacation spots like Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida, etc. sparks like a 10% interest in me; it’s not like I won’t go but I’d rather go visit places like Egypt, Rome, North Korea, Afghanistan and/or anywhere in the Middle East, etc. because they either have a rich history that fascinates me or because the place touches me with the current events happening there.

Where would you guys like to go on vacation?

Since we’re on the topic of vacations, I’m so excited for our plans to Asia next year! I think we are going to leave either in late January or on Christmas Day with his family to Vietnam and stay there for a week of two and then hopefully go to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Bali, Singapore, Phuket and a bunch of other places but I doubt we would have enough time. Boyfriend wants to stay a couple days in each so we don’t get sick of it and would still have stuff to see when we go to Asia again which totally makes sense (and is something that I would’ve never though of). I’m the most excited about Phnom Penh (Angkor Wat is one of my top places to see which is about 5 hours away), Vietnam (I just discovered this awesome designer in Saigon) and Seoul (home of the Korean dramas and plastic surgery!). I told Boyfriend I’m gonna get my eyelids done in Korea and that he couldn’t do anything to stop me and he believed me (I think), but are you kidding me? I don’t want to recover during my vacation.

Next year, hopefully I can convince Boyfriend to visit Africa with me if he decides not to go to Europe. For me, Europe can wait another 5 years but Africa needs to come now!! We chose Asia this year because Boyfriend wanted to go see his grandpa in Vietnam. Aww. :blush:

Smashing Magazine has an amazing post on beautiful and feminine illustrations. I love looking at girly illustrations and art work! Here are my favorites:

Other random art:

Nasty thought of the day:

Would you wear these contact lens attachments?

We arrived at Tsawwassen at 12:30 hoping to make the 12:45 ferry but we obviously missed it so we played Shithead and ate at the salad bar until 3:15. At Nanaimo, we ended up getting lost going to Tofino because we underestimated and totally ignored Tomtom (GPS), so we ended up arriving at 9:30pm. Funny thing is when we go with the girls, we’ve never gotten lost before thanks to Google Maps. Damn you Tomtom.

They had no shot glasses (!!!), so we had to use these tiny sauce containers to shoot Gray Goose.

N forced us all to have a candle-lit dinner of pasta and lemongrass chicken. LOL. The guys were soo annoyed because they couldn’t see their food but couldn’t do anything about it.

Then we drank and made smores in the backyard.

The next day we chilled out and tried to dig for stuff like geoduck (we bought a shovel for it afterwards but decided not to after we found out about red tide and didn’t wanna die trying = waste of $15).

And then we tried to fish (or pretended to).

And then we went kayaking. The last half hour was horrendous and pure misery for N and I; we were complaining and dying the entire way because it was cold, wet, windy and we were fighting the current while everyone else took it like it was nothing (and we were on a double!!). But nevertheless, the overall 3 hours was still fun.

And then we went home and had a nice meaty dinner. Sorry it’s a little ironic since N is making vegetables in this photo.

And of course, vacation foods (watermelon and wine!!!). We all ended up passing out early (with no alcohol whatsoever except for wine) because we were all pooped from kayaking.

N and I went tanning at Long Beach the next day (featuring a yummy smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich in the bottom-right corner).

Then we headed back to Chesterman Beach to look for the guys who were surfing but instead, we found this guy who was surf-paddling?!

Then we went home for another hearty meal with lots of chicken noodle soup, steak, pork hash, mash potatoes, grilled zucchini and most importantly, mac and cheese.

Did I also mention that we got bitched by a crazy, “ignant” (her way of saying “ignorant”) white lady because we turned into the wrong house and she claimed that we crushed her [illegal] pipes? The sad thing is that our house was 3 doors down hers so we were scheming on what to do to her house when we leave. Except we got lazy and ended up doing nothing.

Oh, and the 10×568560569 heart attacks we had while trying to get on the 3:15 ferry on the way home today. We were one of the last cars on and we were getting ready to be soooo angry if we didn’t make it on. We seriously need to work on our timing.

Anyway, I don’t go back to work until Friday (and then a stat next Tuesday!). Now I get to catch up on sleep, my freelance projects and playing with my puppy (and maybe a little shopping here and there). I think I need to lie in bed, eat watermelon and watch TV for the rest of the night (after I finish reading blogs). Ta.

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Gong Hei Fat Choi!
Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

I try to say Chuc Mung Nam Moi to Boyfriend’s parents every year but I can never remember it and usually end up saying something like “chuk num man moy.” Being Chinese is so much easier.

Aren’t you a rat?
Yes.

Yes, we had complimentary wireless access all this time but I was too lazy to blog.

Anyway, Boyfriend and I are having fun here in Cali. We just got back from dinner where he almost threw up when he asked for water because apparently [tap] water in Cali is disgusting. We turned on the TV this morning and saw Josh Groban performing at Disneyland and Boyfriend was like “hurry up we’re missing out!” and I’m like “okay, okay!” while slowly blending my eye shadow. Because of that, we didn’t go to Disneyland as we planned to today because tickets were sold out by the time we got there at 10. He didn’t wanna to to California Adventure either so we just hit up L.A. and Hollywood and then we went back to Huntington Beach. We winged all the locations without a map either! We just stayed on the I5 and took whichever exits sounded right and didn’t get lost! Okay, well we had a tiny bit of help from some person in a coffee shop on Hollywood Blvd. The Boyfriend actually wants to give up the snow and the mountains to move here so he can go surfing and look at girls on the beach all day (while I look at guys, of course). But that’s too bad because when am I going to have a chance to wear my warm winter jackets?

Shopping so far? I only got a bunch of scarves and over-sized rings. My only big purchase was a pair of Dior shades because I left mine at home so I really had no choice. I’ll do more shopping when we get back to Sacramento because we don’t really have time to shop right now and the only thing I really wanted to get were some books anyway.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Just joking, that’s totally mission impossible. I guess shopping isn’t THAT important… or wait. Did I just say that? Oh well, we’ll just have to go with the flow. We’ll manage; we always do!

I had to post these because they are too funny (from overheardinnewyork.com):

Woman #1: Are we going skiing this winter?
Woman #2: I don’t think so. Why?
Woman #1: I have to get some casual clothes. I looked in my closet, and it’s so serious. You know, someone asked me if I was a Republican! I need to get some fun clothes.
Woman #2: Wow, we worry about such different things.
Woman #1: Well, that’s because no one ever thought you were a Republican.

Black woman #1: Who you gonna vote fo’ in this election?
Black woman #2, picking her fingernails: I dunno. I just fuckin’ hate Bush. Anyone but him.
Black woman #1: I like Hillary. I think I’m gonna vote fo’ Hillary.
Black woman #2: Yeah. I mean, Obama’s cute, but I don’t care — he’s a black man. My husband’s a black man, and he don’t do shit.
Black woman #1: Mmm, I know.

Yuppie woman #1: So, why don’t you buy their products? Is it because of the whole child labor thing?
Yuppie woman #2: No, I don’t give a shit about that — I’m a Republican. I just think their products are ugly.