Susan St.

If there's anything that's going to make a new community looks that much more attractive to me, it has got to be that the houses are built on MY street--Susan St... how freaking funny is that! :) I took a different route today to get to my favorite Japanese Restaurant and to my surprise I see this SUSAN sign at the signal light, so random and so strange, I wanted to take a picture of it but unfortunately I did not have my camera with me. With 15 minutes left from lunch on the way back, I decided to check out the model houses. The model houses, or more precisely the town homes aren't better, more special, or unique compare to other ones that I've seen, but for some reason I had the strange urge of wanting to buy it and live there. I started thinking about how convenient it would be to live there since it is so close to South Coast, to Sankai (Japanese Resaturant), to freeways, and of course to work. Three plans are being offered right now and honestly I would not want to pay that much for houses that size even though I can totally imagine myself living there-- it is just not worth it to me. But the name!! Ahhhh gotta be rational here. Does the name justify the cost? Is that name, worth it?

Over Christmas Holiday my friends and I went on a mini-trip to NYC. We took the red eye flight and upon return to Cali, we've decided not to ever do that to ourselves again. My body did not take the crazy flight schedule too well and the only good thing that came out of that was I was able to knock the F out on the way back. I of course, passed out for the rest of the day too, and even today I am still feeling quite drowsy.

We arrived at NYC on Christmas at 6 am, thanks to my friend Luke we saved $40 dollars on Taxi and we got a complete tour of Manhattan early in the car-less, people-less Christmas morning. It was freezing nevertheless but there was no snow, to my surprise. For some reason I was expecting a white Christmas this year at NY but I guess fortunate for us Cali girls, this year's NY winter is actually quite nice (warm). We weren't feeling the weather exactly, we had layers on while Luke only wore a short sleeve t-shirt with a sweater jacket over. I thought he was crazy but he thought we were exaggerating. He showed us the empire state building, SOHO, textile industry, China town, some Piere, 5th Avenue, the Christmas tree/skating ring, the bridge, the parks, etc. I think we were too tired and sleepy to memorize everything but eventually we found our way and realized how close everything was by the third day, just a day before we left (sigh).

So on Christmas day we checked into THE W HOTEL, at first we got this tiny little room

... (days later, I am here to complete my story)
tiny little room with a supposed QUEEN size bed (did I mention I love my "It's good to be Queen" mug?), Jean, Kim and I were like "na ah, we can't possibly fit in here". Thanks to Kim and her convincing story we were able to get a room change to the so-called "spectacular room" (I believe that was the name of the room)-- it had a real King size bed and we were good to go. So from a NY Queen to the Cali King, we were knocked out for 5 hrs before we began our NY fabulous life.

The first day we didn't do much, I can't even remember what we did to be honest, it was Christmas day and all the shops were closed. We found this deli that at first looked pretty crappy, but we couldn't stop talking about it after we started eating. It is like this mini convenient store with a deli section that offers salad, sandwhich type of food and this other buffet section that offers a variety of food (from fried banana to Chinese pork dumplings...). This mini store basically had everything you need and want, and of course it was owned by Korean. :) We were wondering if a place like this would do well at UCI, thinking how many students can benefit from such a place... like always our minds are constantly on the go when it comes to possible money making opportunities. :P But yes, I believe the first day we went to Time Square, walked around in the freezing winter weather and we went to THE VIEW after 30 mins of wait just for the damn elavator... it wasn't worth it in my opinion but it was an experience alright. After a drink at the view and some bitching about our waitress we went to Joe Shanghai, this Chinese Restaurant that's famous for their Tsiao Long Bao... yummmmmm Anyway, the night was pretty much done since by the time we got back to the hotel the two girls were too tired to do anything else... that was a bummer to me so I decided to do something on my own.

I basically took a book, and went down to the lounge area, got myself a nice drink and found a fat comfortable sofa, sat drank and read. It was by far the most interesting "self" experience for me. I've done shopping alone which is no biggy, done the eating alone which is whatevers, done and movie alone which is quite weird, and now I've done the drink at a bar in a lounge alone thing... it is fucking awesome. It is important for me to have my alone time, I've realized. Not to mention I was getting impatient through out the day so I really had to be alone. Sitting there in the dim light with a cup of drink, with a great book to read in the W Hotel Lounge is just unbelievable. It's like you are in a social environment where it is typically used for people to flirt and get to know each other, yet you are not required to participate and you can just observe and enjoy yourself. It is like being in the movie but not part of the movie... I was just part of the background-- and I liked it. I didn't realize there was a bar there the first night but I think if I did I would have gone to the bar myself, instead of staying at the lounge area. I would have gone and do the night life in NY scene alone and I think I would have liked that too... go get a drink, chat with the bartender or whomever around, that would have been nice. :)

2nd day we shopped at SOHO. First we had lunch at this Italian restaurant and the high light was we saw Sandra Bullock and for me I saw these two fine looking men... they were too far away for me to send any vibes I suppose but they were hot (if my contact lenses weren't failing me, they were hot). Sandra Bullock is really pretty in life, such simple style and fresh looking face... so sexy. Then we did the whole shopping deal, and of course I found nothing. It was almost disappointing because how can I be in heaven and not find my angel? Anyway, the shopping deal killed my feet and finally we were able to enjoy ourselves at this other restaurant that served amazing Shrimp Salad and Salmon... and of course I didn't get the salmon, Jean did, I really wish I had switch with her. What I wanted to say about this restaurant is really this girl, she was working in the coat section and she was just hot. I think she's Asian but I am not sure... long beautiful black hair with these amazing brown eyes, and did I mention her nice petite waist and big boobs? Sigh, too bad neither her nor I am a lesbian, b/c if she was and if I were, I would have flirted like crazy. So the night did not end, went back and went to check out this Crowl Bar (Spell check?)... I was not feeling it. Guys were either too young, too old, too short, or gay. There was no pretty girls either... what kind of a club is that! Not to mention the music, HOUSE MUSIC.... arghhhhh.... I think if there is one thing that I regret, it'd be the club choice. I wish we had gone to Bobs or PMs or something... >:P

Third day was the day that ended up being the most memorable-- lunch time Jean and I got mad at each other and the tension was just building, but that was resolved rather quickly right after we sent Kimberly off on Taxi to airport. Jean and I shopped on Fifth Ave and on the way to Fifth Ave I had to pull a typical Susan... I TRIPPED. :( Damn NY needs to pay more attention to the uneven, hole-ly streets... I was walking across Park Ave and suddenly I twisted my right ankle for the N time and did a little "kneel down to pick something up" type of move. I didn't fall forward perse but it was interesting enough, I am sure, if you were one of the drivers waiting at the light watching people cross the street. I imagined how funny that might have seen for all those people walking behind me and those waiting for the light... Jean was shocked, b.c I had to pull on her arm to get myself back up. Talk about embarrassing... that was embarrassing. But this time around shopping was pretty rewarding, not compare to jean or Kim but it was good enough for me, I finally found 1 shirt, and 1 bag from Benetton. :) Then we walked down 10+ blocks (+ due to the fact that we went the wrong direction for a while) to find Club Monaco but that was a disappointment. That's when Kim called, she didn't get on her airplane. She gets to fly for free but the price to pay is she needs to always be on stand by and she doesn't get her flights all the time. She returned, we ate at this amazing Japanese Restaurant called Raku and the White Dragon Roll is just amazing! The Scallop handroll is comparable to Sankai and let me tell you, I would fly back just to eat the sushi there. I have never tasted anything so sweet and tender and it just melts in your mouth... yummmm x 100! After sushi we decided not to do the club scene, instead we did what Kim's been talking about all through our the NY trip-- to get a tattoo. We called many places, finally found a street where 3,4 tattoo shops were open. After numerous viewing of the designs in each of those shops we finally came to this "Whatever Tattoo" shop and we found ourselves this skillful, friendly, clean looking tattoo guy. He showed Kim the "ohhh" design and she got it, it's this ancient Tahiti or something design, very detailed, intricate, and unique design that was meant for the thigh area. She got it on her lower back, it turned out perfect. I saw how detailed he was and how careful he was, being a perfectionist too I decided to let him give me the design that I've been trying to come up with for the past few months. While he worked on Kim I sat there working on my design diligently. It is actually very simple, a 10+ mm x 10+ mm red Chinese Seal look alike tattoo, it is basically a tattoo of my last name in a seal fashion, in red, over my heart. He did it exactly the way I wanted it, he didn't make it too thick or he didn't change the way my word looked... I know it looks simple but hell it took a while for me to come up with it the way I wanted. Now I look like I've stamped myself on the chest. :) Not sure if my family would approve this one, they might think I've gone too far but I absolutely love it.

We didn't sleep that night, the tattoo took us some time and by the time we got back, packed, we were ready to go to the airport for our 7:40 am flight. Again we were sure no more flights this early... our bodies were dying slowly and it was obvious, we could feel it. I get grumpy and impatient and Jean just looks like she's gonna pass out. Apprently we did that day, we passed out.

So this concludes my trip, and I know next time when I go, I will be going with my cousins. I can't wait!