NYC with Beau

So I'm finally getting around to blogging about my third and final trip to New York City for 2007. Here's a chronological order of what happened. Work let out on Friday 12/21, I was so happy as it was going to be another eleven days before I had to return. I spent most of Saturday just getting ready and packing. We left for St Louis on Sunday evening as we had an early flight on Monday morning. We (Beau and I) got in at around 8pm and had dinner with Dwane at Bastilles. It was my first time eating there, totally didn't expect it but the food was great and it was an actual restaurant attached to the bar. After that, I went to Dwane's place and spent the night at Dave's and woke up for the flight early the next day. Flight to LaGuardia was pretty comfortable, we had to transit in Minneapolis. The burrito at that airport were worst I've ever had. After we got in, we took the bus to Linli's and pretty much hung out there for most of the evening. They drove us to Fang's. I had to stay at Fang's because Andro had some friends coming in from Cypress. The next day was X'mas day, met up with Hwee Ping and Sen Kiong (total coincidence! 2nd time!) and we had Dim Sum in the morning and then later had Nyonya for dinner while Beau left for upstate NY. The day after Xmas, we headed to Philly via buses that ran from Chinatown. It was quite an experience boarding the bus but in the end, it was a pretty decent and comfortable ride. Not bad for $20 roundtrip. We got into Philly, walked around for the rest of the day where we got to eat at the famous Geno's Phillycheesesteak, did a lil shopping and then to Liberty Bell etc. We walked around Philly alot and the weather wasn't exactly gorgeous, it drizzled for majority of the evening. So it was cold and wet. We had Afghani food for dinner that night, the food was good but service was quite bad. We later went out to the bar Woody's and Beau met a few guys whom he later went home with. I went back to Uncle's upstairs Inn, LOL. What?! It was a cheap hotel in the heart of Philly, eventhough it was upstairs of a bar. The next day, we walked around a little more and then took the bus back to NYC. I got in and went to meet up the gang at the Cuban Restaurant and we all had paella which was totally delicious. That night Beau and I went to Splash and I got totally drunk. It was fun and tons of gorgeous people there. Next few days were just spent walking around NYC and going out to clubs. The weather was quite nice but rained a few nights, washing away Beau's hair and facial products ;) We finally left NYC on Monday morning and made it back to St Louis. We went to dinner with Dave's friends and then later went to NYE party at Suredad's. Dwane got us the invitation to the party. The party had mainly older guys but the house was really beautiful and there were food and drinks served. It was pretty cool. Next day we drove back to CoMO and that wraps up my Xmas holidays. Here's to a new year!

Chicago

I was really excited as I had been looking forward to labor day weekend for quite a while. I headed for St Louis pretty much right after work on Friday and got in at around 7pm, the traffic was bad. Interstate 70 came to a complete stop several times for no apparent reason whatsoever, just stupid drivers I guess. Driving in, I was sure the trip to Chicago would have been cancelled since we had not secured a hotel room but soon after I arrived, Patricio made a reservation at Hotel Cass (Holiday Inn Express) at the heart of Magnificent Mile. That night we (Dave, Patricio, Applebee's Ryan, Dwane and me) had dinner at Maggiano's and then later met Nestle guy at Freddy's and H2+Mas at Novak's. I had so much fun but the weekend had just started. Spent the night at Dwane's that night, Angel's loft is really nice!

The next day, got to Dave's bright and early but we didn't leave for Chicago till about noon because Patricio's tire blew out. On the way up, we had some really strange but serious conversations, topics ranged from religion to phylosophy to sexuality. It was interesting though and made the drive go by very quickly. Before we knew it, we were there. It's been 3 or 4 years since I've last visited Chicago, the tall buildings and large crowds immediately reminded me of my recent trip to NYC. We checked into our Hotel Cass and signed up for valet parking eventhough Dave was against the idea but it just made life easier. We walked around Mich Ave for a awhile and later met up with Elliot and Bill for dinner. After dinner, we took the cab down to boys' town and went to Sidetracks, Roscoes' and then later Hydrate.

The next day, I got up and left the two boys still sleeping and went to have brunch with Elliot and Bill. We all later met up again and walked around visiting tourist sites; Libraries, fountains and of course the bean. That night, we had dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe (apprently operated by the same people as Cheesecake Factory) and then skipped out on Bill's cousin's party. Dave and I took the train down to Boys' town while Patricio stayed back to study for the MCAT. We didn't party too hard, just checked out all of the bars and got home at a decent hour. Monday was check out day. We paid our bill and took the train down to Chinatown where we got to enjoy some Malaysian cuisine and walked around. Dave and Patricio seemed to like the chinese bakeries very much. We left Chicago around 5pm and got back to St Louis at around 11pm, where I immediately got back on the road heading back to Columbia. I finally made it home at around 1am, but on the way, around where HWY 40 meets I-70, I got my first ever speeding ticket in Missouri. Fortunately, I know an attorney so Dave's trying to get it fixed, I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

Good News

My cousin, Keith, recently went on a diving trip to Lembeh Straits at North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Immediately after seeing this picture, I just fell in love with it. I like how serene this picture looks and the water almost looks black. It's amazing! I don't know much about photography but I definitely have alot of interest in it. Anyway if you want to check out more pictures check out his blog...

On a side note, I received my receipt letter from USCIS (formerly INS) stating that I'm officially in my FINAL stage!!! :) I was so happy. That still doesn't mean I have my GC yet BUT that means that six months from June 20th (which is Dec 20th, see I'm so smart) I will have something referred to as the Portability Act and that basically means that I'm home free after that date. If anything happens to me at work, I can find a different job and my process continues! How awesome is that?!? And if all goes well **as it has** that means I should have my GC by next Summer!!!!!

KC and Austin

So as promised, I'm updating my blog :) I think I will do so more often now that I don't feel the pressure of posting pictures. It's just so much work when pictures are involved. I'll just link you guys to my Picasa and voila....finito! By the way, I think everyone should upload their pictures to Picasa, makes life so much easier. Where did I last left off, OK here we go, the last two weekends have been fun but also exhausting. I also felt sickly for the last two weeks, had some kinda stomach flu that left me feeling bloated, nauseated, constipated, indigested and diarrhead out; definitely no fun! It started shortly before the 4th of July and as of yesterday I can say I have finally rid myself of that bug. I'm finally feeling 100% again, yay!

Anyway, weekend of 7/7, I drove in to Kansas City to see the folks that I have not seen in almost a year. I got into MS's at around 2pm and almost immediately, they put me to work (slave labor, I'm telling you). She had all the ingredients layed out for our once-a-year tradition of making bak zhang! This year only Elaine, MS, Terri and me participated so it took extra long to complete the task. I think we made bak zhang till it got dark but we were rewarded with scrumptious bak zhang gorging all day long, yummy! I was too exhausted to go out with Kenneth and gang so I just stayed in and crashed and the next day we had Indian buffet at Korma Sutra. It was good but I ate way too much and it definitely made my stomach situation worse. It made me sick for the next few days. I was rewarded with a bundle of heavenly zhangs and it was nice seeing almost everyone. MS looks like she's ready to pop and Tze's teeth looks remarkable, those were definitely the highlights ;) Till my next KC trip...

After KC I had another 4 day week (prior week was 4th July) to help Steph move to Austin. Come Thursday 7/12, I was still feeling a little weird so I maxed out on some Pepto Bismol (I tell you, that shiz works but it does strange things to your tongue and poop, lol) Anyway TMI, right after work on Thursday, we all hit the road. The journey started with Steph+Beau driving her Mazda and Justin+me in the Uhaul (budget) truck. The first 3 hours was pretty fun as we were just chatting and snapping pics away but as night falls, the torture started. The TOLL roads thru OK was the worst stretch as it was reduced to single lanes. We took turns driving thru the night and that was tiring as crap. We had a scary encounter with a hearse while Justin was peeing, scared the bejezus out of us hehehe. We finally got into Austin at 8am and we all crashed at Aaron's. Finally woke up at 2pm and then had to unload all her junk. After all that was done, the weekend started to get better :D We went out to Chuy's on Friday night where Beau got hit on. Later that night we checked out Austin's nightspots. It was OK, I still prefer the clubs in STL. Next day we shopped during the day and later that night went to see Ester's Follies (a comedy, variety show kinda like SNL) which was great. Enjoyed the magic show very much. Crazy carl was also quite a hit. After that, we walked around sixth street which is party central and again we checked out the clubs. I think the best club in Austin is Rain, the rest were a little lame. The next day we flew out and Steph got teary eyed. I got sad too as she has been a good friend for the last 4 years but I'm sure we'll keep in touch. Flew back and John G gave us a ride back to Como. The first 24 hrs of this Austin trip was definitely a torture but it all ended very well and I can say that I actually had fun.

Lazy

I know it's been forever since I last blogged but I've just been so lazy. I know it's a bad excuse but I've also been really busy. So to help my alzheimer-ish memory out, I'll start writing about the most recent activities and work my way back :D

I'd like to start by wishing all of you Happy 4th! Click for pics here.
Right after work on Wed, went to catch the 7pm showing of Transformers, OMG that movie is soooo good! Well I might also be bias since I did grow up watching the cartoon. The next day went to Beau's party where there was so much food! And then later went to the same spot on the same parking garage last year to see the pathetic Columbia fireworks.

This past weekend, nothing much happened. James, Ryan and Dave came in Friday night for Carrie's birthday. We went to dinner at Sophia's and then just chilled at the Berg. They all left the next day which was odd and Carrie drove in to the Lou. I went car shopping with Justin and later had a movie marathon at my house with Chadd, KK and Justin.

The weekend before that was absolutely DA BOMB! Left for NYC with James on Thursday and returned Monday. I had so much fun. Hot, hot boys everywhere and got hit on by quite a few too ;) Right after we got in, went to happy hour and then dinner at K (Jap fusion place) Then went to Splash and had a blast! The next day I went down to Soho while James went to the beach. I did a little shopping and hung out with Alex where he showed me his Soho loft which was absolutely fab! Had dinner with EVERYONE at the Bohemian Beer gardens and had so much fun. After dinner, went out to Mr Black. Was fun but extremely crowded. Saturday we had a big Malaysian lunch then walked around and shopped alittle. Later that night we went to G Lounge. Sunday was the parade, we spent majority of the day watching the parade and then later that night we checked out View and later Hiro which was also very cool. As you can see, we definitely partied a whole lot this trip. It was awesome!

Here are some pictures from the trip but definitely beware, there are some PG13 shots!!! :)
Enjoy...

Eurotrip 2007 Part 2

So Monday morning, the day after visiting Oxford, I got up bright and early to take the Picadilly line from my Aunt's place (Osterley Station) down to Victoria Station to catch the Gatwick Express. I didn't really have too much problems except it was the morning peak hour so I was squeezed in the train with a bunch Brits and I think someone let one rip and totally stunk up the entire train :( After several exchanges, I got on the Gatwick Express with no problems, sat by a really hawt New Zealander Geologist, Paul Stenhouse, and we chatted up a storm making the 30 min train ride go by in a wink. I exchanged for some Czech Crowns and boarded British Airways, flight BA 2684, and arrived perfectly on time.

Something that's never happened to me before occured; my bag was the first one to come out on the conveyer line, amazing! Anyway I walked out of the airport scrambling to find a familiar face and within a minute I spotted Adrian. He hasn't changed one bit! He has maybe put on a few pounds but I'm sure that's what happens when one gets older, married and settled. I was very happy to see him as the last time I saw him was when we were both students at the Univ of Arkansas. He left after his first year in the summer of 1998. We first met outside of Brough Commons (dining hall) and became immediate friends as I offered my umbrella in the rain while walking back to our residence hall, Holcomb Hall. Sarthak, Adrian, Sharjeel and me became very close and would hang out way too much. Thinking about all this brings back bitter sweet memories. Anyway after the initial excitement of seeing one another, I suddenly thought, "what if he's changed and we no longer get along etc etc". It HAS been almost 9 years since we last seen or spoke to one another. But my worries proved me wrong as soon as we stepped into the taxi and we talked just like the old times, kidding around and laughing.

We got back to their really nice Penthouse apartment and met his wife, Salome. We wasted no time and went back out to tour the one of the most well preserved city in Europe, sheltered from much of WW1 and WW2. The buildings around the entire city was just gorgeous, doesn't matter where you were it was pretty. I bought a 3-day transportation pass which would let me take unlimited rides on the tram, subway and buses which I did! First thing we did was take the tram down to the Wenceslas Square and Adrian bought me real yummy hot dog (Czech style) which was delicious! We walked around, I was taking in all of Prague. We walked pass the famous Charles Bridge and just enjoyed the scenery and caught up. For dinner, we met Salome and her two Georgian friends whom had just arrived from Berlin (for the Berlin Film Festival) on the same day, at Cafe Louvre. Cafe Louvre was a really good place to eat and has had quite an extensive guest list. Famous people who has dined there included Albert Einstein and Kafka! One thing I must say is Czech food is definitely very delicious and affordable. At Cafe Louvre, I ordered the Roast beef on cream, cranberry target, Carlsbad dumpling...totally scrumptious! The melted liquid hot chocolate was also amazing. After dinner, we just walked around town and ended up watching The Queen.

The next day, I did more sight-seeing. The first destination was the Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle in the world. In the middle of the Castle is the massive St. Vitus Cathedral with it's gothic design making it very intriguing. After the castle we strolled down to the town center and had lunch at a Hungarian place, we both had the beef goulash which was very delicious. After the castle we went to the other famous Prague attractions; Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock, Wenceslas Square and the Jewish quarter. It was a little colder in Prague in the high 30s, low 40s, so I ended up buying a jacket from H&M. Later that evening, we met up with everyone else and attended a party at one of Salome's coworker's flat. He was the nicest guy ever, feeding us delicious Georgian food till we were stuffed.

I had to leave for London the next day...I know it was a short trip and I should've scheduled a longer stay as I enjoyed myself very much in Prague. I got back to London on time and took the Gatwick Express back to Irene's. Had dinner there and then went back out to meet Tet at some bar. The next day I met up with Irene and Joyi and toured all of London in one day! Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and it drizzled all day long. We met at Tower Bridge, had lunch at some pizza place and walked to Tate Modern. From there we went to the London Eye where we took a ride and then made our way to the Palace of Westminster. After that we walked to Westminster Abbey where Princess Di had her wedding and then on to Trafalgar Square and then to China town to meet Pek and her fiance for dinner at a Malaysian restaurant. The next day I had Dim Sum with Uncle Seang with his whole family and then later he gave me a tour of his business and home. I had a great time connecting with family that I barely knew. After that, I went out with Pek and met with Tet and the rest. Again we went to the clubs etc and spent the night at Tet's where the next day we had dim sum with Tet and his wife and Nick. After that i met up with irene, glenn and joyi and made our way to the portabello market. The next day I just chilled and it was time to fly back to America. I was sad my trip's over and I barely got to see London. I guess I'll just have to make another trip to London :)

Eurotrip 2007 Part 1

So I'm back from my nine day trip to two European countries; United Kingdom and Czech Republic. It was definitely hectic but it's my first time in Europe so it's to be expected. Well let's see if I'm able to recapture my entire trip on this little blog entry, here goes the journey:

Day after arrival. Partying at Club Punk after surreal experience at Mag party and Marc Jacobs show. L: Tet, Ro and me & R: Lily, Chris, Tristan (Yum) and me ;)

My journey really started on Wednesday since I left for StL right after work. I got in, met up with Dave and later had dinner with Dwan. The next day, I had to get up by 3:45am to go get Dave by 4 and made it into Lambert at 4:30am! I thought the airport would be dead at that time but it was actually very busy. I barely had enough time to make it to my gate. I checked in my bag and I got charged $25 (damn AA, I got charged going but not coming back, doesn't make no sense!). Anyway my flight to Heathrow went very smoothly. I got in on time at 10:35pm and met up with my Aunt. It's been almost 8 years since I saw her and she looks very much the same! That night I stayed up just chatting with my cousin about everything under the sun. It was good bonding time but unfortunately he was involved in a play so we didn't get to spend much time together except for the late night chatting.

CNY dinner with my Aunt and Family! My first CNY "reunion" dinner in 10 years!!

The next day, Friday, I got up went out for lunch with my Aunt at the Malaysian place where I had some roti canai and chap fan and later took the tube down to South Kensington to meet up with Tet. He picked me up in his Mercedes SUV and had apparently just had lunch with a designer whose special guest so happen to be Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. Right from that moment, things got a little surreal. We picked up this Swiss photographer, Frederick, and we all went to a magazine party at some swanky hotel. It was all very impressive; free flowing champagne, snacks, fancy water, designers and photographers were all at this party. It was all about fashion and being the only engineer, I felt a little out of place. After the party we headed for the Marc Jacobs show for the closing of London Fashion Week. Tet waltz right in, while Frederick and me tried to get in using photographer passes but we got denied so we just hung around outside checking out the line of journalists and paparazzi. It was like straight out of channel E! After about 15 mins, the show ended and people started coming out and I saw Naomi Campbell and Sofia Coppola, like I said, totally surreal. After the show, we went to this bar, Punk, where Tet's tesco disco had an event. Had a pretty good time and met Lily, Chris and this total hottie Tristan. Later had supper at HK diner and crashed at Tet's.


Day after CNY we went to Oxford. L: In front of Ashmolean Museum with Aunt&Uncle R: Atop the Church of St Mary the Virgin, see below for the view from atop the church

View from the top of the Church of St Mary the Virgin.

The next day, Saturday, we had dim sum on Baker St with Tet and his wife, Ro, and his photographer, Nick. Dim sum was very good and I later took the train back in time for the pre-CNY dinner with Aunt+family. Got back around 6pm and met my cousin's bf, Jake. He was a nice and polite guy. Dinner was fun, since I haven't done a CNY dinner like this in almost 10 years! Dinner conversations were the usual, politics and the economy. Doesn't matter which continent one's on but the dinner conversation's always the same ;) Dinner lasted till almost 11:30pm and later just chilled out with my cousin and Jake where we talked and played some Wii.

More pics at Oxford. L: Lunch at one of the oldest pubs R: Inside the courtyard of one of the many colleges in Oxford.

Sunday, Feb 18, was Chinese New Year! GONG XI FA CAI! I got an ang pau from my aunt, totally unexpected, again I have not celebrated CNY in almost 10 years! We didn't waste any time and headed out to Oxford, the oldest university in the english-speaking world. It was about a 40 minute drive from London. The strange thing I learned about Oxford was how it was made up of 39 separate colleges. Cambridge is apparently the same way, but most other Unis followed the traditional one campus style. We also toured the biggest book store, pitt rivers museum, ashmolean museum and we also climbed the spiralling stairs of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. We came home pretty late on Sunday after spending all day in Oxford. Uncle Glenn unfortunately got a ticket as we were illegally parked in Oxford (all day! so it made up for parking fees ;)

Prague here I come.......!!!!

Tomorrow I head out to Prague....I'll write about that in Part 2....to be cont'd :)

Brisku

Photo taken at cafe slavia in Prague

Pics from my Cell

Here are some teaser pics I've uploaded from my cell phone :) Enjoy. I'm almost done with a blog entry for my trip to London and Prague. I just have to upload pics from my camera :) Sorry it's taken me forever to publish anything new but I've just been so busy since I got back, not to mention having to deal with the jet lag. The lag is not too bad, nothing like Malaysia but I could still definitely feel it.

View of River Thames (House of Parliament and Big Ben on the left) from inside the London Eye

The Radcliffe Camery (center) in Oxford from the top of the Church of St Mary the Virgin.

Night time view of the city of Prague from across river Vltava

View of Prague from the top (behind me is where the Prague Castle is situated)

OK I hope you enjoyed these few pictures. There will be more to come, just be patient!