"How come no one told me, all throughout history, the loneliest people where the ones who always spoke the truth..."

Counting down till the day I return home: 34 days.

This weekend was quite a productive weekend. Okay, maybe productive is not the word. Lets say eventful because I was out and about doing lots and seeing lots of different places and people... but I failed to do all my homework. At least I finished some, thats good, right?

On Friday, I went to the Legion of Honor with my friend Sam. I have not been there in a while so I decided to accompany him because I needed to get some use out of museum membership. I also thought I could get Sam in for free because usually with the memberships you are allowed one free guest but I found out my membership is only a student membership and only accounts for me. T.T I felt quite bad because I told Sam I could get him in. Thankfully he is a nonchalant sort of guy to care about having to pay for his admission. It was nice to see the European collection at the Legion but it is always the same pieces and it can sometimes bore me... I should not say that, especially because I am an Art History Major... but it is always boring if you see the same exact pieces all the time. Then again, there is a reason these are called "Permanent" collections.

Anyways, before we went to the museum Sam and I decided to take a very small scenic walk to see the Golden Gate Bridge, the water, and the other side (Saulsalito, Marin County, etc), which was so beautifully green and lush. Ah, how I miss the outdoors. It is quite odd to know that across from SF, a pretty dirty and compact city, are untouched beautiful wilderness that extends far up north and leads into Oregon and then to Washington State. Quite the contrast. Maybe that is why I like being in SF because no matter how much I get sick of the city I know that I can retreat into the wilderness across the bridge. Now if only I can find someone with a car who would not mind taking a trip further up north from SF. After Sam and I were done with the Museum we headed back to school. At that point I was starving and famished so I called my friend Mary and we went to have dinner at People's Cafe on Haight. Nothing fancy, if anything it is far from fancy, but I love this cafe because everyone is so chill and unpretentious. I ordered a nicoise salad and a side of sweet potato/yam fries. Mary got a burger cause she is an "All American Girl" (JK Mary!) ha, she would die if she heard me call her that because that is not how she would describe herself... and nor would I. Thankfully Mary and I have the same sort of humor, except I am more grotesque and uncensored. After we were stuffed we decided to get dessert. Yes, my body was screaming for mercy, but I did not want to listen and ended up getting the chocolate cake, which the worker heated up for me! Now that is customer service for ya. After I watched Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou with Jake and Andy and almost fell into a food coma. It would have been severe enough to send me snoring off into space. But of course Steve's beautiful, shirtless, untouched, unairbrushed body kept me up... wanting more. ha.

The next day, went to the Farmers Market at the Ferry Plaza with a bunch of friends. I had never been there, how sad it that right? I have been living here in SF for about 2 years and have never been to the Farmers Market. Lame. Overall I liked the Farmers Market, beaucoup. But it was way too crowded for my taste. This farmers market is certainly larger than the one I went to back home (KCC Farmers Market) There were so many delicious looking produce and prepared food waiting to be served. I ended up having oysters at this oyster stand, a yogurt from St. Benoit Yogurts, and a morning bread from the Noe Vallery Bakery stand. Everything was good, except for the pastry, which did not seem fresh and a bit too plain for my taste. After I headed to the De Young Museum for a symposium my two classmates were chosen to speak at. It went really well and I was quite proud of both of them! At night David and I watched "The Shining" because he ended up choosing the movie. It was a great movie, especially because David was having a freak fest when he realized that the naked blond woman was about to turn into the ugly, moldy, dead corpse. Seriously, it was quite funny and loud enough to make my neighbors send me a text to quite down a little. LOL.

Sunday was a nice day, went to Starbucks to see my beautiful Mary and her new haircut, which I loved and could not stop raving about ALL DAY. Got an iced dark coffee and a Banana Walnut bread. Did a little research on Native Hawaiian Art for a Gallery Proposal for class and then went to have lunch with Mary. After we just ended up watching the film "The Importance of Being Earnest", which is based on the play by Oscar Wilde. It was a funny lil' film. I enjoyed it more than I thought, even though it was quite corny. I had no idea Oscar Wilde was such a corny and hopeless romantic. There is nothing wrong with that, I like my men like that. Okay, not really. But Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, and Reese Witherspoon were hilarious and great in character! Okay I should get going, I have class soon, what a dreadful time I shall have. Till next time.

Virus go AWAY!

So, here I am sick... again. Seriously, what is up with my Immune system? It seems to hate me so much that it has given up doing his job. I feel like I am going insane here because I am cooped up in my room and can't leave. Well I have a meeting at 6:30 for a group meeting and I have not yet done the reading. I was planning on doing everything today, i.e. homework, readings, research, etc. But now that I am sick I do not want to do anything except for sleep. I have the worst luck.

Anyways yesterday was a pretty fun day.

Went to the Mission with Jake.

We went to Dynamo Donuts on 24th and Hampshire. Unfortunately there were no bacon and maple donuts so I settled for the Chocolate Star Anise and the Coconut donut. Jake just got a Coconut Donut. Yes, I know. I am a fatass. I ate the Chocolate Star Anise and it from the first bite I could feel the texture and density of the donut. "No wonder the donuts are small", I wondered to myself. The chocolate is not sweet at all, so of course I liked it. It was a mix between a thick and dense semi-sweet chocolate donut with a coating of sweeter chocolate on top with bits of chocolate mixed. I saved the coconut donut to eat for breakfast the next day, which I just had a little while ago. Jake had his donut and I took a bite of it. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than the Chocolate Star Anise. The coconut had large flakes of dried coconut on top of a lighter donut with a white chocolate coconut coating. It was sweeter but a lot less dense than the chocolate donut I had. Overall to put it this way I will quote my friend Jake when he took a bite of my donut, "Oohh, it tastes like Dunkin Donuts." I just laughed in delight... because I think Jake is right. The donuts reminded me of the ones at Dunkin Donuts. I honestly thought the donuts were going to be better because of all the damn reviews on Yelp. Everyone swore that the donuts would be great, blah, blah. But they were just okay. I have had better and I don't think I will be back again. They were good but not good enough to WANT to take trip back out to Dynamo's. Maybe it is because I did not have their famous bacon and maple donut, you know, the one that got them on Food Network's Show: "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Though the donuts did not live up to it's hype I would have to say that the cafe itself was really petite and cute and the guy working the cash register was very nice and helpful. Plus he was pretty cute. Ha.

Then walked down 24th street and saw some festival with music, food stands, and dancing. It was a nice surprise to walk through the crowd and see everyone having a great time. We went to Humphrey to see what flavors they had that day. They had my favorite, "Secret Breakfast" and Jake's "Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee" flavor but it was too cold and windy for ice cream so we decided to forgo it and went to El Farrolito instead for Mexican. I just got a Suiza because I had a donut earlier and was still a bit filled. Jake got a burrito, a suiza, and a side of refried beans. The suiza was filling and good as usual. Jake only had his suiza and saved the burrito and beans for his dinner. After we walked further up 24th and passed the Mission Public Library. Jake finally got his public library card and I borrowed three movies: "The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou", "Capote", and "When Harry Met Sally." Then we decided to go to Anthony's Cookies because we were near and that is what we did. Jake and I split the half dozen and got the Cookies and Cream, 2 Whole Wheat Oatmeal semi sweet chocolate chips, a semi sweet chocolate chip cookie, a toffee cookie,and a cinnamon sugar cookie. I wanted PB and the Banana Walnut but they were just making a new batch and I didn't want to wait so I just picked other cookies. I tried a sample of both of those when they had them on the sample tray and man oh man, they were delicious. Jake and I saved our cookies for later because we were too full and I wanted to eat mines with my soy milk. After we went down Valencia St. and passed a couple of interesting stores such as: The Scarlet Sage store, Little Otsu, and The Curiosity Shoppe. We finally got to the 33 bus stop and went back to school.

That night I had a yogurt and an orange for dinner because I thought I needed to eat a little lighter and healthier for dinner... but then I forgot about the cookies and when I remembered them... I finished all three. They were positively amazing. It is as if little pieces of heaven dropped down from the sky and came to us in the form of cookies. So delicious... just thinking about them makes me want to salivate... anyways, before bed I watched "When Harry Met Sally." The movie was fantastico! Okay well I must get going now. Though I am sick there is still lots to do!

Billionaire Boys Club

Found this article quite interesting.

Heat and Sweat

I am sick and miserable. 

I want to crawl into a cave and hibernate like a bear. 

I experienced the worst sleep yesterday. 

I went to bed at 10:00 and from then on it was hell. 

I had a killer headache, it felt like leeches were sucking on my brain and feeding off the blood. 

It was throbbing faster and faster, I could feel the movement of the leeches as they were sucking my brain. 

*ba dum ba dum ba dum badumbadumbadumbadumbadum...*

I was also in a lot of physical pain. My body was aching and I just wanted to hack off each part of my body to cease the pain.

I eventually fell asleep, not peacefully, at 11:00. Then for some reason I woke up at 1:40 and then took some pills to K.O. because I couldn't sleep no matter how much I wanted to. 

I was so uncomfortable and to be honest I wish my mom was here to take care of me. 

I have never been in that much pain and discomfort in my life... until yesterday. 

On top of that I was stressing out because of my mid term, which I had today. 

Thank God, I woke up without a headache and less aching in my body. 

I took my mid term and think I did pretty well. 

I guess I retained all the study/notecards pretty fast because I only studied an hour yesterday, before I went to bed and then studied on the previous weekend. 

Currently, I feel like shit, but definitely better than yesterday.

I am just thankful to have woken up and gotten my mid term finished. 

Hallelujah, I only have one more class today and then it will be the start of my weekend.

Having no classes on Friday is a great relief. 

all photos are taken by me. If you want to use these photos, please ask for permission first. 

SEA continued

Oopsy Grace, how did this picture get in here? ;P

Fremont Statue.

This little blue butterfly would not leave me alone!

Crewcuts storefront display, *sigh*, if only I were a kid, then I could fit all their cute lil' clothes!

GW campus.

Cherry Blossoms were blooming all over the GW campus, spring has come!

GW's "Harry Potter" styled Library.

 

The Piroshky man means business. 

Fish stand at Pikes, heehee, some guy scared Grace with one of the fishes by pulling a stick, which caused Grace to scream in front of everyone! What a sight. 

The Infamous Gum Wall at Pikes, it was quite disgusting and beautiful, all at once. 

Daily Dozen Donuts Company.

The cutest little orange cat in a Used Book store. 

Spring Break at SEA

So far my Spring Break has been eventful. I guess. Went to Seattle, Washington to visit my friends Kaya and Grace. Kaya attends Seattle U and Grace attends UW. Rachel came with me on this spring break. It was nice to see and hang out with her... considering the fact that we never see each other... even though we live in the same city and go to the same school! ha. 

Odd? Yes, I know. 

Ended up staying in Seattle for a week and felt like it was definitely enough time to explore the city. Wish I got to do more active and outdoors activities but because my friends did not have cars we were not able to go to hiking areas, beaches, etc. It's okay I can always come back some other time. 

Some activities we did were shopping in downtown Seattle, which was terrible to be honest... SF has better shopping and the downtown Seattle is quite small with the same chain stores available in SF; went to Pikes Market and ate a lot of food. Had a New York style cheesecake from Confectional; mini donuts from Daily Dozen Donut Company, the donuts were so delicious, especially the plain ones; a salmon pate piroshky straight from the oven, piping hot! Also had a Russian Teacake Cookie from Three Girls Bakery and a delicious "Oh my God" plum from one of the fruit stands. Also went to U Village that same day and got a Nutella Chocolate Cupcake from Trophy Cupcakes. Other places we went were to a Korean Tofu House near Grace's apartment in UW district. We all got Soon Doo Bu, which is a spicy Korean soup with a lot of tofu and various veggies. So good! It came with rice and all the ban chans (little side dishes). Was great to eat on a chilling cold day. I think my trip revolved around eating and friends... then again that is all I care about in life, excluding my family. 

Other places we went to eat were Cafe Flora, a vegetarian restaurant in Madison Park. Shared a mushroom sandwich with a veggie tortilla soup and a huge morning bun with icing, maple syrup and baked pecans. Everything was so delicious. After, yes there was an after... stopped by this adorable, simple bakery/cafe and got a banana walnut bread while Rachel waited for her Chai Latter, made by the most gorgeous man I have laid eyes on. I wish I remembered the name of the bakery, it had a pear on it's sign. I tried to yelp it but nothing would turn up. Ate at some Vietnamese restaurant called Lemongrass... food was mediocre. Because I was so hungry I convinced myself that the food was great, but it wasn't. I got a Vermicelli Bowl with shrimp and egg rolls. Man oh man, they were so stingy with the egg roll... I only got one, which was cut into four small pieces and some shrimp with a shit load of vermicelli noodle and some lettuce. Ugh, nothing will beat the Vermicelli Bowl from Pho Tri, back at home. Their portions are so generous and everything is so flavorful. This place was quite bland even with the sauce. Had amazing ice cream from Molly Moon's homemade ice cream, so delicious. I had the Scout Mint, which tasted like those Girl Scouts' Thin Mint Cookies. The ice cream was so creamy and milky... I think I just drooled thinking about it. The waffle cones are all handmade and so crunchy. Just the way I like it. Another day went to Hawaiian BBQ, a popular little restaurant on University Avenue in UW. I had a Chicken Katsu with Curry with Mac Salad. It was so cheap, I think it was under $7.00 and the portions were made for two or three servings. I could only eat half of it and had to take the rest to eat the next morning. I could not believe how similar the taste was to the local food served in Hawaii. From the first bite of Curry, rice, Mac Salad, and Chicken Katsu I felt like I was back under the Hawaiian sun with my friends, eating at some local take out place. The food was spot on and definitely on par with the local food served in Hawaii. Half way through the meal I found out why the food was so genuine, it is because the chef and owner said that he was actually from Hawaii and moved to Seattle ten years ago. Duhh, Nicole, that is why. Only the people from Hawaii can recapture that true, genuine, local, mixed plate lunch type of styled food. Though Rachel, Grace, and I were full, Grace took us to a Milk Tea Place. I wanted to barf at that point because I was so full, but my love for milk tea cured me and I gladly bought a milk tea, non-sweetened, so I could taste the tea a bit better. Man, this milk tea was great, it tasted like genuine tea, not the shit powder kind. It had a genuine taste, but it was still a little too sweet for my preference. The boba in the milk tea was like any other boba you can get, nothing great. But the milk tea made up for the boba's mediocracy. 

Hmmm, also went to some Pho place near Grace's apartment... it was not very good. The soup was not clear like it should have been, which indicates that it could have been made from a powder stock. It was a little murkier that it is supposed to be and the taste of the soup was not clean. But then again I paid like 4.00 because I split a large with Grace, so I should not complain... even though I want to. Another day went to Cafe on Ave with the girls for a small quick breakfast. Once again I got a banana walnut bread and a drip coffee. The bread was not as good as the other bakery but it was good enough. Then for dinner had sushi from AOI. I got a Tottori Roll, which consisted of a California Roll with Spicy Tuna on top and shrimp tempura inside. There was also some sweet and salty sauce drizzled, onions, and this odd crunchy fried pieces sprinkled on top. It tasted like ume when it is at it's sweetest, it helped to offset the spicy tuna and the acidic onions, which also was a bit sweet. Overall I was very satisfied and wanted more. But of course I waited like a good girl and got dessert instead. We all shared fried green tea ice cream. I was really excited for it... but it was a disappointment. It ended up tasting like perfume. No, seriously, it did. It tasted like perfume. The tempura was not crunchy enough and it was lukewarm by the time we got to eat it so it was a bit gross because the the oil was too sunk into the tempura batter. The ice cream itself wasn't even that good either. Oh wells. Wow, I feel like a heffer, but I don't really care because overall I enjoyed almost everything. 

So that was the bulk of my trip, eating. Aside from that I did get some exercise from walking almost everywhere. Saw the Space Needle or whatever it is called, watched Alice in Wonderland, went to the Fremont Troll, saw the Washington River, saw the SU and UW campuses, etc. I am glad to be back in SF to sleep in my own bed and room but I am not happy to be back in school. I just want to sleep, eat, sleep, eat, read, and be a lazy ass. 

Will post more pictures tomorrow!

"I never thought I'd have a menage a trois... and actually like it..."

Today was quite the adventure. Woke up early from my friend's text and a call from my sister. Great. Then decided to get my tush out of bed and go to the library to do some research on Degenerate Art for my midterm. Then after waiting for what seemed like an eternity (30 minutes) with Dahhvid, Jake and Andy showed up at the bus stop... 5 seconds after our bus left. The next one was coming in 26 minutes so we took the #5 bus, then Ryan met up with us and we went to the #(24?) which took us to the Castro for the BEST SANDWICH place on earth, IKE's. The line was ridiculous and because I had to pee, you know the one where you think "Hmm, I can hold this in but... shit, I can't.. find me a bathroom or at least a bush!", yeah it was one of those. So, Jake escorted me to the Eureka/Harvey Milk Library to find a bathroom. After a satisfying bathroom trip this lady in dreads, a long hippie skirt, no shoes, dirty fingernails, a B.O. like essence secreting from her pores in the bathroom said to me, "Whooaaa, where the weapons at? Don't shoot them at me!" What the hell was I supposed to say? "Oh, hey, hey don't worry I won't bust out my shit ton bazooka from my tiny ass purse!" I swear she must have been high on something. Not sure what, but I should have asked her for some. JK. After Jake and I went back to IKE's, a.k.a. the best sandwich place on earth, we found Andy and Ryan, except they moved about two spot forward from when we left them. Great. It was bad enough that all of us didn't have anything all day, okay, that is a lie, I had a banana and some figs, but, hey, that does not constitute as a meal. After about forty minutes, yes, seriously, forty minutes, we finally ordered. Andy and I got the menage a trois, Ryan got the Superman and Jake got the Super Mario. Then after waiting for about 20 minutes more, we finally got our food. Then of course, we waited a bit more before eating. Because, duhh, after all we were in Castro so we thought let's go laugh and diss the hipsters at Dolores Park while we eat our AMAZING IKE's sandwiches. Oh my friends, that 60 minute + wait was so worth it. As soon as I got to Dolores, I attacked my sandwich and ripped the wrapping off like a happy 7 yr old on X-Mas day about to open her present, but then realizes that Santa is not actually real, when her dumbass brother tells her "Oh, hey by the way Santa doesn't exist. Happy X-Mas." Thanks. Except this was better, cause the sandwich did exist and was amazing! I wish I took a picture of it... but sadly I was enjoying it too much that I forgot. ha ha. :) Anyways, time to go to dinner at Ploy with the girls. I don't think I will be able to eat... may some Thai Iced Tea will be enough.