angie's birthday dinner
a small group of ppl got together friday night for angie's birthday at le cheval in oakland. that place is just as good as "oh delicious" [bev's bday]. i dont think i've been to le cheval since college, and that too, was for someone's birthday. hmmm, i even think we were sitting at the same table! what sucked was the fact that i was congested, and couldnt eat, since i couldnt smell. =( allergies suck.

amara's bridal shower
bev and i carpooled to amara's bridal shower on saturday afternoon. it was in portola valley. "where is portola valley?" i've lived in the bay area all my life and i swear i dont know where portola valley is. looking at mapquest we found that it's actually in the hills of palo alto/menlo park. feels like the country backroads to me. one of amara's bridesmaids lived out there, and that's where the shower was held. it was actually a nice day, and we hung out on the deck, eating strawberries, brownies, lumpia, and salad. nice combo. hehe ;) one of the more interesting shower games was to pick off as many clothespins on a clothesline using one hand without having the clothespins drop. it's amazing the different strategies ppl come up with as you're playing the game... rather than just picking them off one by one, you can clip the pin to each other for optimum grasping. many tried and failed, but bev came out w. the most pins (23 in one hand!). we had to leave early cuz bev had a performance in pinole. i wonder if she liked my gift... hehe.

brl @ mikaye and q's
saturday night, all i remember was getting to miyake's ordering some tempura and sake bombs, mark-the waiter getting a free shot [on us?! #$@#@$@$#] a la vinta style, and then leaving q's (a different establishment, mind you) feeling slightly in the mood for french fries, but ate a glazed krispy kreme donut instead. everything in between is a bit fuzzy [damn sake bombs] hehehe ;). special thanks to voodoo for organizing yet another memorable (let's see what y'all remember) brl shin-dig, and to pterodactyl ;) for being a responsible dd. [wasnt there a jesus character or even a miniature gorilla in there somewhere?!] for a more detailed blog about the evening, complete with super cool powerpoint graphics, check out fabloaf's point of view.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH!!

dinner surprise
thursday on the way home from "work", i realized that i had a bunch of things to do before the party that night.. i was already running late. for some reason, my brother kept calling me, asking me when i would get home.

"hi, there's traffic! i'll be home when im there!"

as soon as i got home, i was greeted with a "surprise!!!" my cousin, tintin was there, she just flew in from alaska! my brother, sister-in-law, tintin, and her boyfriend john, were waiting for me with dinner prepared complete w. cake! =) my mom had just left for class, but i knew she had a lil something to do w. the spread. ;) i ate a quick dinner w. them and got ready. angie and sheri came to pick me up, my designated drivers for the evening.

my brother said that he and vogie wont be making it to my party, since he had school, and vogie didnt have a ride (she could have come out w. me, but she didnt want to stay out too late). i was a little disappointed, but i was running around getting ready, and sheri and angie were waiting... then off to f&a's

f&a -- a rough start
upon arriving at fanny & alexander's in burlingame, angie, sheri and i spoke to the hosts/waiters regarding my reservation for the evening.

"wait, what was your name? and you have a party of how many?!

i was in shock. apparently no one on the restaurant staff knew what was going on. i had made reservations for 25+ people two weeks ago, and even called two days ago to let them know the count was up to 40 and i even asked if i had to confirm that day, and the guy said i didnt. um. OKAY?!?! what's up?!

stressing

we were ushered to the bar area to wait while someone called someone about my reservation. it was 9:00pm. nothing was ready. i saw my cousin cheryl walk in w. her boyfriend tai. more ppl would be coming any minute.

stressing more

okay now what?! guy in waiter garb (i think his name was greg) came and said that jeff (booking guy) must have booked the wrong weekend. great.

stressing even more

thank GOD for filipino time, cuz no one but sheri, angie, cheryl and tai were there. then this gal waiter came by (her name was carrie), again, asking about the reservations. at this point im wondering if the restaurant staff even talks to each other because wasnt that greg guy here just a few minutes ago asking me the same things?!?!?! ARGH!!! the whole point of me having it at a bar/restaurant was so i wouldnt have to worry about it. so why was i worried about it?!! damn them! =P

finally things got straightened out. greg told me that they would take care of us (they were starting to prepare the back patio), and got us a free round of drinks.

*whew*

and at that point was when ppl started to arrive.

another surprise: why was my sister-in-law and brother there? i thought they werent coming! apparently they were kidding. i was glad they came out. =)

i dont like tequila
in a nutshell i think everyone had fun, heck i did! i started off w. a few of my foo foo drinks (only because im SUCH a lightweight) and wasnt too worried about how the f&a staff f*cked up in the beginning. [side note: there happened to be several times in the evening when greg and carrie came up to me at different times to ask me the SAME question, which made me further question this staff's ability to communicate w. each other...=P whatever. i didnt care. i was toasted.] i dont want to say i remember everything, but i do remember most of the night. i remember that nasty tequila shot i took, which my neighbor, ariel, bought for me. =P gross as hell. the last time i took a tequila shot was back in '95 w. the Royal Carribean crew. nees was kind enough to help me yak back then, and since then, i knew tequila was NOT my drink. [btw, thanks for holding my hair back nees/sheil -- i pretty much just hocked up a lugi in the toilet]. i think i'll just stick to apple martinis and cosmos....i felt like a happy little bee, tho =)had good friends, good food [well, when it GOT there], music to groove to, good drinks, a good buzz on, what more can a girl ask for?! [well i DO know what more to ask for, but maybe not in this blog ;)] thanks everyone for coming out, i'd name you all, but dang, you guys should just look at the evite. =P ;) pictures to come...

sick on friday
yes i was. i woke up at 6am, because i had this nasty feeling inside. cottony mouth in addition to the "ugh, if i throw up, maybe i'll feel better". i drank some water and ate some bread. and then went back to sleep. woke up at noon. (i warned my co-workers the day before that i "wasnt feeling well") wouldnt it be cool to be paid to do that all day? sleep? a professional chill-er. LOL.

dim sum birthday
my cousin cheryl's birthday is the day after mine, so she called me to have lunch at koi palace. i really like those sesame seed ball things. oh and egg tarts. =)

unfortunately serendipitous
that night [it's friday still], i felt like being antisocial, so i stayed home to watch my new dvd, Serendipity, that bev and gary gave me for my bday. it was all good up until this part where dude finds the "girl" sleeping w. someone else. and then the dvd went all wacky. as in, it would not play past that certain point. i started and stopped the dvd player. i played the dvd. i took out the dvd, cleaned it, put it back in. i played it again. still the same. i played a different dvd to see if it was the player. it was not. i was so mad!!! i was at the climax of the movie, and i wanted to know what happened!!! grrrrr... so unsatisfied. =( i never got to finish the movie...

tea garden springs w. the girls
the birthday weekend continued on saturday, where i spent the day at the spa w. the girls. sheri, nees, sheil, and michelle and i went up to Mill Valley to get massages at tea garden springs. that place is so cute! and the massage was so relaxing. even though the gal did a really good deep tissue massage, i dont think she can ever take out ALL the knots. kinda makes me wish i had a personal massage therapist.

rainforest cafe
we went to eat lunch/dinner at the rainforest cafe after our spa day. that place is kinda cool, looking all rain-forest-y. duh, hence the name.;) some of the stuff they sell at the gift store there reminded me of when i used to work for the san francisco zoo gift shop. that was such a fun place to work.

since we were all single girls, the dinner conversation consisted of whose guy type is who, in relation to a popular movie icon. apparently sheri said that my dude is the american pie band guy, jason biggs - the quirky, nerdy, intelligent, goofy, yet cool dude. um, hm, maybe. im not sure about that, and looking back at my track record of "dates" and "bfs" they have all been different. sheri's was the chris klein character, oz, in american pie. nees, likes the pretty boy ghetto intellectual. and michelle seems to like guys who are similar to nees' type, but a notch down. and sheila's, i couldnt hear what she said her type was (it was noisy in there, and she was sitting at the end of the table), except that they were mostly latino. but the consensus was tho, that we all had different types - and most likely each of our types are buds and were probably hanging out together somewhere talking about us as their types. hehe LOL.

dvd movie night
being that i was so unfulfilled w. my serendipity viewing the night before, i went to the video store w. my sister-in-law to rent a similar genre of dvd. (i would have liked to see the end of serendipity, but i'll just wait til i exchange it). i came out with: america's sweethearts [dumb], spy game [brad pitt is soooo hot!], riding in cars with boys [need to watch still], and O [still need to watch that too].

im be getting old, because at that time, the idea of going out just did not appeal to me. either that, or im in what angie calls a "turtling mode" where you just want to hide in your shell.

bucca di beppo pasae reunion
sunday night after likha practice, a bunch of cal alumae who were part of pasae (pilipino associacion of scientists, architects, and engineers), got together for a reunion, and to eat some family-style italian at bucca di beppo in san francisco. it was really cool seeing janet, frank, daisy, geraldine, marianne, and venus again (outside of weddings). eric, virg, teemah, alex were there too, but i see them when we have summermadness events. it was cool nonetheless. got my fill of pasta for the weekend. *stuffed* venus took pictures, and yeah, that's me, eric, and daisy [the april babies], blowing out candles on the birthday candelabra. hehehe. yay for spumoni. =)

"so you're riding with who ...?"
"do you have directions..."
".. i have to go to the bank first..."
"well, i'll be late...i'll just see you guys there"

"well hurry up, bern! we're leaving now! .. look she's still working!"

happy birthday to me!

the contra costa show
there wasnt too much marketing for the likha contra costa show, so we didnt fill the small Performing Arts Theater on friday night. =P i would describe the show as "quick and dirty". yes, it was quick (one hour show), and boy was it "dirty" -- in a sense that we could have put in more "umph" in our dances and there were mistakes. ah well, but it was a good way for us to get back into the "show" mentality. i had forgotten what it was like to change casting/choreography at the last minute, exchange costumes around for better "fit", and the whole backstage-quick-change-i'm-half-dressed-but-i-dont-care-cuz-my-next-dance-is-in-half-a-minute rush. and dont forget the "do i have enough eye shadow?" and the "omg, you still have nail polish on! does someone have nail polish remover?!" hehe. it's been such a while.

the irony: genny pointed out, while waiting for us to dance jovencita, "isnt it funny that when a show is free, it's not packed, but when you have to pay it's full?!"

quick shopping
saturday morning, i was planning to go through my storage bins again for clean out, but i woke up late. instead i had a few quick errands to run, including go shopping for mia's 1st birthday gift. i picked up a cute outfit at old navy for her. since the bookstore was just right there, i picked up Frommer's London 2002, and Frommer's Paris 2002. i saw the Frommer's quick shopping guide to London, and i thought of getting that, but i said, "i'll just wait til i book my flight..." i cannot go without getting that shoppers' guide!!! yep im really going... hm, shouldnt say that until i book my flight!! ;)

mia's bday
can i just tell you jen & tony's kids are getting big?! i still cant believe it's been a year since mia was born! and that aj was almost 7. "i'm almost as tall as you mommy!" jen described what aj said after realizing he come up to her shoulder. greeat!! it's so hard to believe how much time flies... esp when you can measure time by how big your friends' kids are! i watched as aj played with the other little boys his age. jen is just a year younger than me and she has two kids already!! lorna was telling denise and me to have kids already, so that they'll have other playmates. "uh, i dont think so lorne, we have to do it the right way!!!"

i think you need a guy first for that, dont you think?

i want to be a hip mom
jen and lorna are already moms, and yet they were dressed so cute! jen was wearing this really cute top/skirt outfit almost retro 40s with the matching mary jane buckle shoes, and lorna was wearing this cute khaki dress. nees and i are hoping that when we're moms, we can dress as hip as them. =)

it's a good thing i didnt go out sat night...
denise and some of her friends from work were going to go to rawhide after mia's bday party (a friend of nees' was spinning [records, that is, as opposed to that work-out thing], and she wanted to show support). she told me to come out w. the girls. and i was debating. when i got home, i tried on some clubbin clothes. cute 'fit. but then i thought "hmmm, would i feel better in pjs?" and put those on instead. and put on a mud mask. "ahhh, much better..." i called nees and told her i'd be chillin...

i slept early that night, but for some reason i was awakened at around 2am by voices. apparently it was my dad knocking on my brother & sister-in-law's door. after waking up, i found out that my mom had some type of food poisoning because she was in the bathroom with my sister-in-law, vogie (she's a nurse). mom didnt look too hot. =( dad told me, "you look at your mom". huh? 'look at your mom'? i guess he wanted me to look after her, but vogie had already taken care of most of the stuff, so it's not like i could have done anything more... "just go to sleep" mom said. so i did.

likha practice to women's hockey league, but...
sunday, i checked on my mom in the morning. she seemed to be okay, lying in bed, with tea.. so i went to practice as usual, and was planning to check out the women's inline hockey league at the bladium afterwards. but as soon as practice was over, i got a call from my brother saying that he and vogie were going to take mom to the hospital because she threw up again. they decided to take her to the ER for precautionary purposes. so i headed over to seton, where they were already in triage. mom was looking a little pekid, probably because she was dehydrated from all that throwing up. =P kuya was already late for work, so he left us there, telling us to keep him posted.

we spent a good three hours in the ER, while the nurse took vitals, bloodwork, and questioned her symptoms. they started a line and gave her something for dehydration and nausea. vogie was comparing how the ER was like here in the states compared to in the PI. it's interesting how it's the same, yet different. it was the same in terms of the equipment, blood pressure machine, and needles, although it is a little more high tech here than in the PI. she was surprised that they make the patients wait in the ER. in the PI, as soon as you walk in the ER, there is a doctor and nurse who tends to you. i told her it's all because of the processing and paperwork -- insurance, and stuff.

it kind of sucks to wait when you are in the ER. i mean, isnt the whole point of coming to the ER because you need emergency, immediate assistance? maybe it's because seton isnt a trauma center or something, but we didnt see a doctor til half an hour to forty five minutes or so after we arrived. yes, we're high-tech, but somewhat backwards...

evening unwind
i dont believe they found anything in my mom's bloodwork, so they released her with some prescription meds for nausea and dizzyness. we called dad and kuya and reassured them that mom was okay. vogie and i spent the rest of the evening just chillin, and checking in on mom every now and again.

checked work email -- one (1) thought for the day from a bigwig, three (3) "company-wide" email msgs re: someone needs spare computers, two (2) msgs from our company w. quarterly publications, one (1) industry related msg re: business seminar, one (1) msg from my dad re: his itinerary for this thursday
checked home email -- back and forth messages re: Women's hockey league at bladium this sunday. any of you gals want to join? =)
blogged -- about april. but you already know that.
aim -- said "good morning" to a few ppl. talked to judy about women's hockey league. chatted w. voodoo re: my aiyah post (it's not loading dammit!).
talked w. manager -- need to do my checklist for the account close-out. simple. i'll probably do it tomorrow in menlo.

Main Entry: pes·si·mism
Pronunciation: 'pe-s&-"mi-z&m also 'pe-z&-
Function: noun
Etymology: French pessimisme, from Latin pessimus worst -- more at PEJORATIVE
Date: 1815
1 : an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome
2 a : the doctrine that reality is essentially evil b : the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life
- pes·si·mist /-mist/ noun

"what about the guys you meet at work?"

"how about going out to the clubs and meeting proffessional type ppl?'

"you like me? well i like you too...." *look him up and down* "yeah, you'll do. okay, now just pick me up everyday after work, call me everyday to ask how im doing, come to these weddings with me.... oh, and i expect flowers on my birthday"

"why are you still single?" or "how come you're not married yet?"

"Even God is single.... so stop giving me a hard time!!!!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEV!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

bev -- i saw her at the top of the colma parking structure. this is actually not unusual, because our commute times correspond occasionally. we got on bart and she got off at the embarcadero station. i continued on bart to 19th street oakland. i walked down the street towards my building and as i got to the corner of webster and 20th, i saw....
paulino -- he works about a block away on 18th and harrison. the funny thing is, i didnt realize it was him until i stood right next to him while waiting to cross the street. he was going to the b of a in my building so we got as far as the lobby when we parted ways. i reached the bank of elevators to my floors where i saw...
neil -- he remembered me from felisa's wedding. "dont you dance for likha?" ... i said, "yeah, i do. i remember you sat at our table.. hey you know bev, too. i just saw her this morning" how funny that we work in the same building. he got off on the 18th floor, while i got off the 25th floor.

"before you can score, you must have a goal"

"what are you doing?"

"i spilled. i'm cleaning."