Thursday, August 28

brownchickenbrowncow

hilarious (and complimentary) convo w/BigPapa:

BigPapa: i didn't realize iwas supposed to do stuff
i thought i just sat around and looked sexy
damnit

Me: hahaha
now you have to do stuff AND look sexy at the same time
phew

that's tough
BigPapa: seriously
sigh
i'm going to put up for a vote at the general meeting
a new position called "sexyness rep"
we can be cochairs
:-D


now how flattering is that? i saw BigPapa later today and he also inadvertently called me a hottie as well. gotta love BigPapa.

school's offiically started and it's been a whirlwind, seeing ppl i haven't seen in a while and all that. albeit to say, lots of drinks have been had. there was an unofficial party at Floyd's which ended up turning into a mini pub-crawl for the 3Ls. it was great to see all those ppl out at Floyd's (even 4A showed up! that's a momentous occasion since they usually never leave the apartment), but Floyd's, while decently sized, isn't equipped for that voluminous crowd. it was stifingly hot in there and super crowded and getting a drink was a nightmare. everybody decided to move over to Last Exit instead, which was much more mellow and full of only friendly faces (as opposed to 1Ls that i don't recognize or know...yet).

many, many, many drinks were imbibed and ridiculous conversations were had before we went over to Brazen Head as the final stop. i was a trooper all the way (but i still left before DRC, Coleslaw and Cubed: they're beasts!). i was in such bad shape the next day. i mean, it was bad...

i had the complete intention of staying in Friday night to properly recover but there was the BLS pub crawl going on. i thought i was being smart by going to just the tail-end of the event and showed up at Trout around midnight. however, 1 beer turned into 2 and so on and so forth. we were at Trout until they kicked us out and then proceeded to Brazen until they kicked us out of there before heading back to Feil only to try and post-party at DRC's. luckily for me that fizzled out quick and i managed to get into bed just as the sun was rising...

only to have to wake up at 10:30 am! i had made a brunch date for Lockbox to meet KimChi but we had to be there by 11:30 b/c KimChi was going into work at 1:00 pm. i dragged myself out of bed, got ready in time and went down to pick up Lockbox and head over to Chinatown except Lockbox wasn't ready. that bastard. i had to wait for him to pick out clothes and get ready before we could head out. luckily KimChi was running late too.

on the way over to dim sum brunch, Lockbox and i had an interesting conversation about guys. we universally agreed that men are all dogs, but the degree of doggy-ness varies on a sliding scale. using Lockbox as a barometer (he's a self-proclaimed 8) we came to the decision that generally good guys are 6s. basically, all men have to start at at least 5. b/c essentially they're all dogs. for instance, Egg's probably a 5 (a generally nice and sweet guy w/more stringent fooling around standards); Mr.Frenzy's probably a 6 (still a nice and sweet guy but could possibly be tricked into doing something if VERY intoxicated) and so on and so forth. what do you think?

we ended up eating dim sum at Oriental Garden which is right next to Jing Fong. honestly, i think Jing Fong's better. there's more variety and more space. the set-up or introduction (whatever you want to call it) didn't go as well. i give up on Lockbox. he committed 3 cardinal sins at that brunch:

1st: he had an opportunity to sit next to KimChi but instead sat next to me. Snoopy even tried to race him to sit next to me so that Lockbox could sit next to KimChi and they could actually converse.
2nd: Lockbox wasn't as witty and open as he usually is. it was to the point that KimChi forgot his name. when i mentioned Crush, Lockbox's roommate was having a birthday party that night, KimChi turned to me and went, "who's Lockbox?"; it was super funny.
3rd: somehow the conversation about all men being dogs came up but i purposely didn't mention Lockbox being an 8 b/c i didn't want to blow up his spot. it would never have come up b/c KimChi didn't ask what Lockbox was but then Lockbox, like the genius he is, volunteers the info that he's an 8 all on his own. aish...that night, i headed over to 4A which was pregaming for Crush's and LF's and a whole bunch of other ppl's bday party in the city. DRC had just come back from a day at Jones Beach and was the color of a lobster. then something interesting happened: Crush offered DRC some aloe to put on her skin b/c apparently he had some. he leads her to the bathroom and gives her the lotion. then he just stands there. it was super creeper mcgee. so DRC awkwardly applies the lotion while Crush stands at the door and watches. what makes it even more hysterical is that DRC goes to return the lotion to Crush and he points to her chest area and goes, "you're the most red here, you should put some on here". umm, thanks for you concern buddy, but could you not stare at my chest while i'm lotioning? now, we all know Crush is actually one of the most polite and nice guys so i'm gonna chalk this creeper incident up to alcohol and birthday shenanigans.

Sunday, August 24

i cherish these moments

there's a girl in my Labor Law class that i can see out of the corner of my eye who seems to have a permanent frown on her face. she'd be more than decent looking if it wasn't for that perpetual sourpuss expression. such a turn off.

anyways, if you've never done it before, you must go to Brooklyn Bridge Park and attend Movies in the Park. altho i'd been invited before, i never went until this past summer and only b/c they were playing 1 of my favorite movies, Stand By Me. it's been a few years since i've seen it and then to see it again for the 1st time at BBP was amazing. the movie itself's amazing and brings back rushes of nostalgia and then to get to watch it outdoors w/the Brooklyn Bridge behind the movie screen is pretty impressive.

initially i had a whole crew showing up to watch the movie but as the day approached (as always) ppl started falling through left and right. but that didn't stop Kiks from bringing the most amazing picnic spread i'd ever seen for what ended up being the 2 of us: cheese, potato salad, chips and salsa, veggies and dip. the highlight was the fudgey home-made brownies. according to Tiffany, the brownies were the equivalent of Carebear kisses. the sprinkles on them really did make them look like it. the only thing i contributed was a bottle of wine and a couscous salad. it was an exorbitant amt of food and luckily Coleslaw, Snoopy and Kik's new man ended up joining us later to help out.
Kiks and i were there around 6:00 pm altho the movie never starts until after it gets dark which meant around 8:00 pm. as the sun went down you could easily see the lights from the Brooklyn Bridge and the park lawn slowly got filled. when you're watching the movie in this kind of setting, depending on who you're there w/, it can either be really romantic or, if you're w/friends, especially watching a movie like this, it feels like 1 of those precious and memorable moments, sort of akin to what's going on in the movie.

Thursday, August 21

Who Drinks on a Sunday? Apparently I Do

i am having an UG downward spiral: UglyGirl. i'm not saying this to fish for any compliments and i know i'm not the ugliest girl to walk the face of the earth (well at least i hope not). i guess it's just one of those phases everybody goes through. i mean, aside from Lockbox and Moon, i think everyone goes through it. it just seems that in my little posse, i really might be the UG. on 1 side i've got friends who are fending off overtures left and right and on the other side i've got friends who are accepting overtures left and right. and what am i doing while these friends are being bombarded w/come-on lines and flirting? i'm sitting on the side. drinking my drink. twiddling my thumbs. if you do see me chatting w/a boy, don't get it twisted: i'm either being told about some mad crush he has on some other girl, counseling him cause he's in a downward spiral (also about some other girl), or offering dating advice. pssh. as if i could be anyone's fountain of knowledge when it comes to that topic.

o well. hopefully the phase will pass soon enough. and in the meantime i'll learn to develop some other attractive attribute like personality, wit or intelligence. hmm, that seems like hard work. maybe i'll just try to become a better dancer instead.

self-pity fest aside, let's begin this catch-up entry. as is always the case, and i should know better, i had an insanely drunk Sunday. it started out as a relaxed drink at Trout w/DRC, you know, just a beer here, a bloody mary there. after all, it is Sunday i thought to myself. nah-ah. shortly our little 4-some turned into an 8-some and it was decided we would go to Zombie Hut for more drinks. this place is brutally lethal. and it doesn't help when Coleslaw starts off drinking Zombie Bowls. that stuff just goes down like water but contains enough alcohol to knock out a sailor (ok, that may be an exaggeration but it can't be that far off). see, the way Zombie Hut gets you is b/c all the drinks are super fruity and delicious while masking lethal doses of alcohol. i proceeded to share a Zombie Bowl w/Coleslaw (a 4-person Zombie Bowl we split btwn the 2 of us) and 2 Frozen Zombies (like frozen pina coladas but pink and containing a straight shot of rum hidden at the bottom). of course, no Brooklyn outting's complete w/o a stop at Brazen Head but at that point i couldn't even stand up. but i was still a champ b/c i'm pretty sure i stayed for at least a PBR. although i'm not so sure...

safe to say, i didn't make it to work that Monday.

Tuesday, August 12

Rong Time No Shee (read this while squinting your eyes)

before i had Oppa i had O, my chinese oppa. however, O moved to China a few years ago and obviously that makes it hard for him to continue being the protective-older-brother-type he once was (tho it always fall back into place when he comes home for visits). o wait, i'm getting ahead of myself.

on thursday night, Brazen Head was doing a free happy hour-yes, you read correctly, free-where they were serving drinks made with some new vodkas they'd purchased e.g. Absolute Peach, Absolute Pear, etc. perfect for a sometimes girly drinker like me and you know i can't pass up anything that's free. i had only intended to stay there until the happy hour was over which ended up being 8:45 pm (although it was supposed to be until 9 pm) but then Crush showed up and altho i've very much given him up (it would be too incestuous now that he dated/is dating ManEater) he still is (what i consider) good-looking so i stayed a little longer. in the meantime, i had texted Chop and told him to come to the bar to which he replied he would and so i ended up staying out much longer than i'd planned. i also ended up drinking much more than i planned.

and i woke up the next day slightly hungover.

which was quite unfortunate b/c the following friday was jam-packed. and that brings the story full circle.

O was in town until Sunday but would only be in the city that Friday so of course i had to see him. i met up w/him at Bull McCabe's, a bar on St. Marks on the block that i frequent the most but yet never noticed this place, probably b/c it reeks of a dive bar feel-although it contains a decent backyard and a kick-ass high-tech dart board. O was there w/his entire NYU entourage from his college days. it was so good to see them all out together b/c i haven't seen that happen since his NYU days. *sniffle, sniffle* i think i'm getting all teared up. seeing them together reminded me of my high school days hanging out w/them (they were the cool college boys) and all the scandalous hijinxes that occurred. PerfectCouple was also there (yes, it's 1 nickname for 2 ppl). they're so nicknamed b/c they've been dating since 7th grade. that's 16 yrs. and they're finally getting married: this coming saturday actually. congrats!! i love their story. it appeals to the inner romantic in me. i only wish my future marriage story could be as idyllic except that would mean i wouldn't get married until i was 42. no thanks.

unfortunately i couldn't stay long b/c Oppa was having a birthday party at Volstead the same night. since it was Oppa's birthday, i made the obligatory appearance but didn't stay long b/c the when i showed it the party was way too scattered. apparently they were just congregating there until all the invited ppl showed up so they could move to a better venue so there was a whole "limbo" feeling to the party. i still did my part for my oppa tho and bought him a birthday shot (tequila to be exact. i'm such a hypocrite-i would never drink that). then DRC and i made our way to 230 Fifth to meet her friends. talk about nostalgia. i haven't been to 230 Fifth since the time of Gohm, or just about that time. the place hasn't changed much altho it's definitely lost it's super-new-shiny feel to it. rooftop bars just aren't the novelty they once were and they're all over the place now so why bother going to such an overpriced place as 230 Fifth? it seems NYC shares my view b/c when we got there we only had to wait about 5 mins in line before we got in, the rooftop wasn't as crowded as usual and the bathroom lines were manageable. once we got there i got into an intense convo w/Shy on the phone and when i got back to the table DRC was rocked. she'd gotten it into her head that she had to drink as much free vodka as she possible could and apparently she was very successful at doing so.

we left the bar shortly thereafter and what happened afterwards has been relegated to the vault never to be mentioned again. all i'm gonna comment is that my apartment seems to be spanish fly for some ppl, altho, sadly, not me.


since i'm not allowed to talk about the events of that night, i'm gonna dork out and talk about the japanese tv series correlated to this MV. the song is the theme song for Absolute Boyfriend aka Zettai Kareshi. the premise is interesting but definitely comes off as completely idiotic (i know b/c i tried to explain it to Egg and his eyes started rolling before i'd even gotten through the 1st sentence). ok fine yes: it's about a robot boyfriend. yes, you may proceed to roll your eyes too. a girl gets the opportunity to be the test agent for a robot that's been created to be the perfect boyfriend. the girl isn't able to actually enjoy it b/c she gets creeped out by the fact that it's a robot. but the robot boyfriend, in order to be the man she loves, slowly develops beyond his programming and begins to really love her and then there's a whole love triangle w/her boss and...ok, ok, nevermind, it's too hard to explain w/o me looking even dorkier than i already am. but if you ever get the chance to watch it i promise it won't disappoint. when i saw Egg the day after i finished watching the series my eyes were all puffed up from consistently blubbering and crying during the last 2 episodes. it was so good and sad.

i've been listening to the theme song on a repititious basis b/c it's perfect for the series. the title of the song is Okaeri which is roughly translated to "Welcome Home" which is what the boyfriend says every time the girl comes home (and she misses it when he isn't there). sigh... if only life were like asian tv series sometimes.

Monday, August 11

Taipei 2008: the sequel

just tried Kellog's Cinnamon and Pecan Special K. not bad, not bad. i was pretty skeptical when picking it up at Target and i really did only b/c they were doing a special of buy 2 for $5.00-interesting how i found out they were doing the special. i'd gone to buy a box of Special K at CVS and the cashier behind the counter covertly whispered to me that if i really wanted to buy Special K i should buy it at Target. kind of conflict of interest huh? anyway, as i ate the surprisingly good cereal i realized what it reminded me of: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. and i loved that cereal when i was younger. so the apprehension was ill begotten and completely unfounded.
so, if it wasn't obvious before, then you weren't paying attention, but i never write these entries in any type of chronological order. as such, i'm going to finish up writing about my spring break trip to taipei now. yes, so many eons after the fact.
aside from all the eating and shopping, there were various outings, i mean i'm not completely devoid of being able to go to see cultural and historic sights and if you know me, you knew there had to be some drinking and other similar events sprinkled in there somewhere. for instance, we did check out Taipei 101. yea, it's my 2nd time there but this time i went at night vs. the afternoon and the view is as different as (forgive the pun) night and day. the city is just gorgeous when you see it from up high.

since Princess didn't speak any mandarin, my friends and i decided to take her to an expat bar. we decided to go to Brass Monkey which is an infamous expat bar. it's specifically designed to feel like a British bar and, if i remember correctly, it doesn't have too many beers on tap but carries an interesting variety of bottled beers (Asia's all about the Carlsberg which is really weird). the bar's fine, and it's definitely a breath of fresh air from the trendy clubs or lounges that are scattered around Taipei, but it has a serious negative which is it's the place to go if you're a white guy out to pick up and asian girl and vice versa-and you know how i feel about the asian fetish thing. it's just super demeaning and creepy. i mean, when there's an asian fetish involved, the girl doesn't even have to be pretty-she just has to be asian. *shiver* i shudder just thinking about how gross that is. however, Princess (thank god) didn't meet a white guy but instead some British asian guy who she promptly abandoned us for and left the bar w/. granted they'd only walked a block down the street to "talk" quietly in some side street but i had a proper "mother"-like freak out b/c i had no idea where she'd gone (and i'd specifically told her to not leave the bar) and i knew she: 1) didn't know how to speak the language (and the Taipei population is not that great at english); 2) didn't know the telephone number of the place we were staying; 3) didn't know my cellphone number; and 4) didn't know the address of where we were staying. it was a nightmare. i just imagined the way my family would kill me for having lost the person i'd brought to Taipei w/me, not to mention what Princess' family would do to me after my own family was done w/me.
obviously we did find each other and Princess came back to the US safe and sound altho i've decided to keep a safer distance b/c i can't deal w/the stress of worrying about my friends. i'm too old for that kind of stuff. i only want to worry about my friends when it's necessary (e.g. job, love-life, family stuff etc.) and of course, guys and girls alike get a few free passes where they can cause a little drama in the club (but they must be drunk otherwise i don't tolerate stupidity). otherwise i just want to have fun hanging out w/my friends and not have to worry b/c you put yourself in situations where rape is a serious possibility and i have to keep checking up on you. no thanks.
i'd learned my lesson tho after Brass Monkey and i just got out of Princess' way. we ended up going to Luxy b/c she wanted to see the British guy again. i'd been to Luxy before w/Ahjima and the DJ had really sucked that time, but this time they played great danceable music and i had a great time dancing the night away. at 1 point Princess and i even jumped on the stage. at some point in the night the "show girls" (girls the club hires to bring around promotional shots and drinks and do a little table-dance-like performance on the stage sporadically throughout the evening) came out on stage to dance and at the end of their little performance they try to get guys to come on stage and dance too. but of course, we're talking about asian guys (most of who can't really dance-particularly FOBs). so all the guys were being all wishy-washy about getting on stage so Princess and i decided to go up there instead. so fun.
near the end of the trip, British guy wanted to take Princess out on a date and so we made the arrangements and i went to hang out w/my friends. we ended up at Miramar. the place is really like a giant shopping center but being on the outskirts of Taipei it has a few extras to try and attract consumers. aside from a movie theater, there's also a rooftop ferris wheel that's featured in most taiwan drama series. i found out this ferris wheel is something like 2nd largest in the world. pretty impressive huh? i did ride on it altho i have begun to realize something as i've gotten older: i have a slight fear of heights. luckily, the ferris wheel has a very sturdy look and feel to it and it moves very slow. the view's pretty amazing and i definitely recommend giving it a try.

after the ferris wheel, Island and i went up Yang Ming Shan to grab dinner. the last time i was up there was w/a group of friends and it had a very "camping" feel to it, sitting up there in the mountains eating food taken from the mountain to make the dinner dishes. this time was totally different. it had started to rain as we drove up the mountain-which, by the way, makes the drive up the mountain seem even more treacherous. in the dark the roads seem even more wind-y and dangerous and there are very few streetlamps to light the way. the place we went to was known for it's view and only has outdoor seating so we sat huddled under a giant beach umbrella eating our dinner. the rain had settled down into a light mist by the time we were finishing and then they proceeded w/a fireworks display (which apparently they do every night on the weekends). i totally recommend doing this if you're trying to impress a girl you're w/. very romantic.

and then it was time to leave. it was so sad b/c the time just flew by. and there's still so much stuff i want to do and see...but i guess that's for next time. b/c i just can't resist going back there. i love it too much.

Sunday, August 10

I Process Cholesterol Well in My Shoulder

argh... i've been attacked by bug bites. according to DRC, mosquitoes are attracted to individuals that process cholesterol well. i haven't actually verified this theory so i'm not sure, but apparently she saw something on tv about it. SantaClaus was in town visiting Coleslaw and i would never miss a chance to meet Coleslaw's dad and she wanted us to meet him too so we all went to Joya together for dinner. it's weird, i feel like i've been busy and social all summer but somehow i missed out on going to a Brooklyn staple like Joya since the summer started. weird. it was good to be back the place and i was starving by the time i got there so i went all out and ordered Summer Spring Rolls and Garlic Beef and Vegetables and i managed to eat it all (me and Cubed were the only ones who accomplished this feat). DRC picked at her fried rice (w/o egg-Coleslaw thinks this detracts from the whole point of fried rice but i must point out: not all asian fried rice contains egg. while most do, there are very delicious ones that don't), Egg always has a diet-conscious appetite and Santa, unfortunately, didn't like his dish (it was some special involving scallops and shrimp i believe and i don't know why he didn't like it but he definitely did not). what i did enjoy was the LARGE order of calamari he ordered as an app. when Joya says large, they really mean large! and it's not just the portion but the pieces of fried calamari were also pretty big. i don't remember ever seeing this app option on the menu but i will definitely be ordering it next time. it was delish. however, my right shoulder got 5 bites on it and my left shoulder had 1 bite on it from mosquitoes. Cubed pointed out that apparently my right shoulder must process cholesterol very well. who knows?

but i digress by focusing on the food. the whole point was to meet Santa! and they mythical figure did not disappoint. he's hilarious and entertaining and obviously related to Coleslaw. anyone who's met my parents will understand that distinct "parental" feel that meeting some people's parents have. w/those, there's always a distinct, no-matter-what-age-you-are-you're-always-the-child-and-they're-the-adult feeling but that was definitely not the case w/Santa. i mean, he even sang I'm a Little Teapot for us (which was an adorable childhood story but Egg's "my parents told me i was an alien" tops it).

it worked out pretty well for me that Santa was in town b/c i got to do some stuff that i should've done when i moved to Brooklyn 2 yrs ago. for instance, i finally went to Grimaldi's. yes, i've lived in Brooklyn only 20 mins from Grimaldi's but never went. yes, it's very sacriligious but now it's been rectified. we went on a Monday night but it seems that w/the nice weather and the summer winding down, everyone and their mother was there that night. we had to wait for an hour on line just to eat and while yes, the pizza was very good, we wolfed it down w/in 15 mins of it arriving (there were 5 of us and we finished 2 pies). it did cause me to wonder a little, is it so good b/c you've been thinking about it for an hour while waiting on line and slowly getting more and more starved or is it that it's actually that delicious? the jury's still out on that question for me and i think the only way for me to reach a definitive conclusion would be to go back and try it all again. or maybe i'm just looking for an excuse to go back...

after Grimaldi's we headed over for a drink at Pier 1. this place just opened up this summer and i'd never been but the view is gorgeous at night and there's even a man-made sandbox (bigger than it sounds). it was adorable to see the kids playing in it, although Coleslaw was astute in observing that the kids were just building sandcastles so they could destroy them (which they promptly did). ah kids...Pimento had hyped up the s'mores served at Pier 1 and DRC and i were craving sweets so we ordered 1 single order to be split ($4 for 2 s'mores). it wasn't that good. the way they make it is to construct a s'more and wrap it in aluminum foil and put it over the stove to cook. that ends up burning the bottom of the s'more but leaving the marshmallow and everything on top not cooked/melted at all which deprives the whole point of the s'more! Pimento was sufficiently outraged that he went back and demanded they rectify the situation (and this was after he already made them mad when initially ordering the s'more). his 2nd order came out better but we were all guessing it might've tasted better b/c of some secret spit ingredient they put in.

did anyone see the string of celebrity deaths that have been going on? 1st Bernie Mac and now Isaac Hayes? what is going on? and as i've said, bad things always come in 3s...

Tuesday, August 5

i'm going to burst!

OMG i'm so full right now. but it was totally worth it.

after a nightmare day of Bar/Bri MPRE review class-and it was truly a nightmare. it's just so inane watching a video for 4 hours, even with the 10 minute breaks and the easy, handy-dandy worksheets. it's the cheesy jokes and side-bar stories that make it more unbearable. you're already counting down the intrepid hours and then there are these stupid, corny jokes/stories that make you want to scream out "shut up and just get on w/the lecture!"

afterwards i was starving (the class is from 5:30 pm-9:30 pm) so Prez, Adidas and i went over to K-town for dinner at Seoul Garden. i've really been missing out on korean food this summer so the budaejigae was totally welcomed and delicious. then afterwards, to push myself even more, when Prez said he wanted to go to Pinkberry, which i also haven't eaten all summer, i just couldn't resist. yummy yummy except now i feel like throwing up.

interestingly enough, on the way home from the F train stop, i noticed a small craft service table set up and immediately snooped around the corner and noticed they were filming on the corner of Boerum Place and Livingston. i've been hearing spottings all summer about 1 of my favorite indulgences, Gossip Girl, filming around my neighborhood so i strained my neck to see if i could see anyone i recognized but alas, no Serena, Dan, Summer, Chuck or Nate in sight. sigh.

one day. o yes, one day.