!!!!!!!

JoaneeBonee: my boss might send me to nashville next week!!!!!
li---: wow, would this be considered as vacation or work ??
li---: make sure you put a sticky note on your computer LOL
JoaneeBonee: that is MY LAST WEEK OF WORK
JoaneeBonee: LOL I KNOW> HAHAHAHAH!!!
JoaneeBonee: god i was hoping that i could quit b4 he would send me on a business trip again

(inside joke)

For those of you who don't know. HR told me I had to put sticky notes on my computer when I have doctor's appointments and go on business trips (someone complained I was on "vacation" all the time). But only I have to do this because apparently, I must be treated like a child. All the older people in my department that go on business trips and have doctor's appointments don't have to put sticky notes on their comp.

Yosemite Half Dome

Mist Trail up - steep climb, but shorter. We figured we'd want to hit up Half Dome by lunch time. We didn't get there until around 2pm since we started at 8am instead of the intended 7am. We woke up at 530am took longer packing up than expected.

John Muir Trail down - less steep, but still a bitch. An extra 2 miles. Joints hurting, legs hurting. Raf dragged me the last couple miles because I felt like I was going to cramp up, and keel over like that dood in the Iron Man Kona race. I could see myself crawling to the finish line.

Raf also carried my backpack. I was having problems breathing in the beginning (asthma + elevation) but I got used to it. The last mile up to half dome, Raf dragged me up. People were clapping for him and making fun of me.

Didn't make it up Half Dome itself. My legs were killing me already and wanted to save energy for the 9 mile trek back. Good thing because when we were going down the huge steep boulder to the main trails, my knees start SPASMING LIKE CRAZY. One fall and I am dead!!! They were violently shaking. It was scary. I am not disappointed because I'd rather be alive than falling down a cliff. Plus there is always next year. ;) I'm gonna drag more people out to do this. It's fun!

But next time I am training for this!

Total time: 11.5 hours
Total distance: 16.4 miles
Total food: 2 Power Gels, half a sammich, trail mix, and 3 bottles of water.
Total food brought in backpack: about 20 lbs. What a waste. Can't eat while on a tough hike. Makes you want to puke.

First time camping and sleeping in a tent EVER. Overly protective Chinese parents. No surprise there. 30-40 degrees at night.


Parked in Curry Village. Half Dome here we come!


Peeling off the layers and feeling refreshed.... for now.






Break time. 2 miles away from Half Dome. Ok, now we are tired. The Brain was sleeping on a rock.


We made it! Almost. Woo hoo! I got stuck!


Which way is up? I don't get it.


Look, Raf made it!


Close-up!




Breakfast the next morning. I could barely walk. But I can still cook!!!


What more can you do with leftover camp food? AW! Scrambled eggs and sausage! OJ! Toasted English muffins! Vietnamese coffee!


Btw, Scott brought GOOSE AND PORK RILLETTE!!! That is goose meat mixed with fois gras straight from France (his sister went and brought some back). Funny that we ate it here while camping and roughing it. =)

It took me about 4 days to recover. I couldn't walk very well the first two days. OUCH! But it was FUN! Can't wait to do it again!

I just...

Quit my job today. Starting a new job in IT. Not too excited yet, but at least I will be surrounded by good people. The friends I have at work all work in IT.

Ah, I am not happy, but not sad. Kind of neutral, but bittersweet.

Ok, off to Yosemite to climb Half Dome.

Lonnggg day

6:30am - do do do BOING BOING do do do do do do do BOING BOING
(That is my alarm/ringtone on my phone. If you haven't heard it in person, ask me, it's great! Ask Carlo and Raf! And all the girls at Caroline's bachelorette party. HAH!)

7:00am - hit snooze button 1039840394x, finally get my ass up. Shower and get ready for runway casting #2. Take Ginger to poop.

8:15am- Out of the house. Stop by Starbucks - ummm white chocolate mocha. Going to be a long day.

9:00am - Get to work blah blah

12:15pm - Shit, time for lunch. Run to Togo's. Grab myself and Charles a sammich. No time for lunch. Charles on calls all day. Back to my desk. Sammich sucked. Barely any chicken.

3:20pm - Drive to SF for casting at the agency. Call-time: 4:30pm.

4:30pm - Finally park in the garage on 2nd. Take elevator up. Shit, I need to take a piss. Ask for the bathroom. Go to 9th floor. Walk out and look in the mirror and realize I am wearing the wrong shoes. FUCK, go back down. Give key back to the guy. Go down to garage. Flag down parking attendant. Change shoes. Go back up. Trot a couple blocks to the agency in my stilettos and portfolio in hand.

4:40pm - At the agency. Meet other Passport models - age 17 - 21. Chit chat, sit around. Token.Asian.Short.Model. WOOT WOOT! Sometimes it is not a bad thing. People always remember the short girl.

5:45pm - Shit, I have a conference call at 7pm. What is taking so long? Booker + casting agents in his office. Casting people have been here since 4:45pm. Model texts our booker who is in his office right next to us that some of us have to go.

5:50pm - I get to go first since I only had 10 minutes left.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions of the day:

"What was your last runway show?"

- Yoya SF Boutique, Bloomingdales.

"What brands do you like and that fit you?"

- Marc Jacobs, Anthropologie, Urban, Sevens, Citizens, Frankie B...

"How about Nicole Miller?"

- I think I have tried on her clothes, I just don't remember if it fit well. Just shoulda said yes. Damn honesty. In fact, I think I wore Nicole Miller clothes in the Bloomie's show. Shit!

Took a couple digital pictures of me against the wall.

"Walk for us. One time high energy, another more low key like for evening dresses."

- I start walking up and down the hall. Had to redo my high energy with a smile. Oops was thinking high fashion serious when they said high energy. SMILE! Then did the "fancy dress" walk more "controlled."

"Ok, thank you. Have a good night."

The casting people were very very friendly and courteous. No up and down looks and whispering. Weird... =)

------------------------------------------------------------------

6:05pm - Dash downstairs with another model that had to go too. Hurry hurry. Trotting on Market Street in my stilettos again. I'm glad these are my comfortable stilettos.

6:10pm - Get to the parking garage. FUCK $20. Yesterday I spent $3. Nice parking attendant says:

"it a lot of ma-nee when you stay longer than thuty minutes" (a la Russell Peters).

Damn SF (#$(*&#$*#$ no convenient subways *(&#$*(&#$*(&# Parking SF #&$(*&#$. I better book this job. Took 15 minutes to get to the highway. Wow, people are being nice and letting me cut in and change lanes.

7:20pm - Got home, thank goodness for 280S and 90mph. Changed into my Homer PJs, took Ginger to piss. Feed the baby. 20 minutes late for conference call. Still nobody knows how to do the project for school. It's due Sunday.

8:30pm - Conference call over. Stomach is killing me. So hungry. Stomach is eating itself! Raf stops by and heats up leftover pasta for me.

9:00pm - Talk about my quarter life crisis. Oh what am I going to do with my life? Realize that the extra $30K I took out in school loans for my MBA was a total waste. Oh~ Le Cordon Bleu, Paris... Decided to not take the other job offer at my current company (different department) even though it pays a bit more (but still not enough.) But there is a price for everything so we will see. Walk Ginger to go pee and poop.

9:30pm - Sit down to do homework. Talk to classmates online. Get much needed help. Thank Buddha.

10:30pm - Get sidetracked talking about food and recipes with classmate online. Too tired to go over analysis in xls. XLS XLS XLS!!! NO MORE XLS PLEASE!!! (Right, Caroline? ;D). Read up on school discussion board. Professor makes huge statement on the class board. Here are some excerpts:

Based on a couple of phone conversations and an email from students in this class today, I gather that the scores I posted for the PepsiCo case were lower than expected. I believe there is going to be a conference call tomorrow for us to participate in an effort to understand what went wrong, my expectations, and how you can do better on the remaining assignments.

I understand that my conclusion provides little comfort to you, if you are struggling. Let me provide some hints. It is against my nature to provide outright answers since I firmly believe doing so short-changes the learning process. I'm sure some of you aren't happy with this conclusion since you are looking to move on to a more "enjoyable" subject and want this course over with. I accept that.

11:30pm - Update blog. Even though it seems that no one reads this except L'Erhan. Because he is tres cool and leaves me the most comments. Ah, I think Weenie left me more comments than Raf! And as a blogger, you know that we love comments!

Right, Ysabel?

12:00am -Time to wash dishes. Make Ginger's breakfast/dinner. Feed her antibiotics. Get ready for bed. Carlo comes back from gym... with In And Out in his hands. He is in the shower. I am hungry again. Time to steal food. Damn, he came out. Chit chat.

1:45am - ZZZzzzzzz

GenArt Runway Casting

Today I had a runway casting for GenArt's annual fashion show. It was being held at the W hotel in SF. I was the second girl to show up for the casting. The first girl that showed up was from JE. The stylist was showing her how to walk; it's funny because it seems like these gay guys have the best walk out of everyone. ha ha. He used to teach runway. Anyway, it was my turn to walk. The stylist was like,

"Oh good, we need an Asian model."

One of the designers:

"We need a TALL Asian model."

hahahahah! I was surprised that I was sent on this casting because they usually have a height minimum of 5'9". I walked a few times. Had to redo my walk since they said I had too much "bounce." Then the designer told me to take my shoes off... maybe to make me feel shorter? hahah. It's been years since I did runway so I was definitely rusty. But I didn't feel too bad because 1) I couldn't do the show anyway since it's on the 16th; I'll be hiking half-dome, and 2) some of the models that showed up later didn't know how to walk AT ALL. It was pretty surprising! I was the only Asian chic and the shortest one there. (What's new?) But they are holding castings all day so I'm sure some of the taller Asian models from other agencies will attend. Saw a cute French model that reminded me of the French brunette actress in "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio. There was another model with a really nice body. She was skinny but shapely. She had boobs/butt and small waist, and her legs had shape to it as well. Very toned.

A couple male models showed up and a bunch more designers with racks of clothes. They were having the models try on some of the clothes so they could take pictures. The first model that showed up was trying on a black dress, and the designer was like:

"Oh she is way too big for that dress."

LOL. The model was like,

"AH! You are not supposed to say that outloud."

Then the stylist was like:

"I need to teach you proper etiquette."

hahahah! She took it well and was laughing. SF is extremely nice when it comes to comments like that. I haven't really heard anything bad/harsh. All the height comments [of me being too short] are expected, plus I'm used to it. It's ironic how in this industry, those judging you whether it be casting agents, bookers, designers, are all but 5'2" - 5'9".

I am not really into runway anymore (someone book me for print jobs PLLEEAASSEE!!!), but I'll do another show someday just so Raf can see me. He's always saying how he wants to see me in a show. I said goodbye to the stylist, one of the designers, and the director of the show. Said thanks but I can't do the show. The stylist was super nice and said he is doing another show and that he has my comp card. Now I am at boring ass work in my boring ass cube with dimly lit flourescent lighting. Ah, this is the life. =P

Catching up with old high school friends

This morning, I met up with Luigi, Daniela, and Bahari, both of whom I haven't seen since high school. Damn, it's been what, 7 years? Crazy how time flies. We met up at Barefoot Coffee Roasters. Luigi was telling me about this place since it's gotten a ton of reviews. The latte is great, but very strong and sweet. Be warned that it takes 10 minutes for them to make your gourmet coffee or espresso drink. Good stuff though; I will be back despite me being so freaking wired the rest of the day.

It was nice to catchup. We talked a lot about traveling and work and stuff. One of these days, Daniela and I will meet up in Europe whether it be Germany or Paris (she is half German, half Jordanian). We also talked about other old high school people they have ran into. I haven't really seen anyone cept for Luigi so they filled me in. hahahah. One girl that I used to be close with in middle school has three kids already! (She is Mormon.) Another old friend is married and pregnant with a second child. It is just crazy to hear old classmates with kids. I can't even imagine being pregnant... and don't plan on it for at least 4-5 years! We had other things going on that day so we had to wrap up our coffee get-together. I spent the other part of my Sunday helping my bro pick out cheap furniture for his new place in Palo Alto. He lives right around the corner from Pluto's. SCORE! He's got a neat little place.

Other than that, I don't have much going on here. Been pretty busy with work and school. Taking Managerial Finance right now. Makes me even dislike Finance even more than I already do. I am not a big fan of business math even though it is simple arithmetic and algebra... mostly because I don't like word problems. I also hhaattee stats!!! I'd rather do Calculus I - V, Linear/Abstract Algebra, and Differential Equations. Hah! I'm a math dork. Taking this Finance class is torture. I pretty much spent all of my Labor Day doing homework. Plus Saturday and part of Sunday as well.

Le Papillon !

This morning, I attempted to do a 40 minute run only to start insanely cramping on my sides after only 15 minutes. I decided to do interval runs; walk a minute, then run really fast for another minute. I didn't think much of it as a real workout but my quads were SOOOO SORE the rest of the weekend! Ouch! I need to do more of this for strengthening. Ah, and Raf bought me power gels so I won't cramp so early next time. =)

Later that night, Raf took me on a hot date to Le Papillon. We finally got to try this place! We had:

• Complimentary shrimp in phyllo crust, and some kind of cold tomato-based tangy soup
• Crab souffle
• Filet of Beef with a wine sauce and butter-poached shrimp
• Duck breast with a sweet sauce with a side of wild-rice filled crepe
• Crepe filled with custard served with a Grand Marnier sauce

Everything was very good (you could cut my filet with a butter knife), but the crepe I could have made at home. Damn, $9 for that too! The custard they used taste like the creme I use to compliment freshly baked choux! I can easily make crepes like that, and the Grand Marnier sauce shouldn't be that hard to make; just add in sugar with the Grand Marnier and simmer.

We gave this place 4 stars despite the fact the food was very good simply because it is way overpriced. French food in general is overpriced in America. We had meals equivalent to this in Paris that didn't cost us more than 40+ Euro for two people. My filet alone cost $46. Anyway, it was just really nice to go out and have a nice meal. Thanks, babe! I love you!

Adventures at La Bodeguita Del Medio

Raf, L'Erhan, and a couple of his buddies, Luis and Roman, went to eat at La Bodeguita Del Medio. It was quite entertaining to say the least (Merci, L'Erhan). After a nice 2.5 hour dinner, and L'Erhan harassing all the workers, hostess, waiters/waitresses at the restaurant asking if they were Cuban, we walked out to see the only Cuban guy in the entire place; the guitar player. L'Erhan then proceeded to sing Guantanamera really loud with him. And then started singing some Champs-Elysees song. By the way, L'Erhan was also harassing one of the water boys who was from Chiquimula, Guatemala. CHIQUIMULA! And the owner is a white guy that used to live in Cuba. And the hostess doesn't know who Fidel Castro is. hahahah!

CHIQUIMULA!


Earlier in the dinner, L'Erhan was asking for a description of a dish. The waitress was explaining that it had some ginger in it. He proceeded to respond with:

"Ginger, kill!"
See L'Erhan's Fundraising Dinner post

HAHAHHAHAHA, when people come over, I always say "Ginger kill!" which pretty much means for her to go up to people and kiss/greet them.

Although L'Erhan had three Ricard drinks at my place, and three "El Presidente" drinks at the restaurant, I don't think he was drunk. When we paid the bill, he started reciting Russell Peters bit on Chinese people. Imagine him saying this to the waitress:

"Put thuty fo dollah on this caard, and the rest on the otha caard."

"Thuty fo dollah, not thuty fo fifty. Fifty cent a lot of ma-nee."



I later explained to her that it was a bit from Russell Peters and to check it out on YouTube. Maybe she wouldn't think he was that crazy? Ah, I think it was too late. ;)