March 28, 2003
I know, I\it's been a week since I've been on here but I've been so busy the past few days. Saturday was really hectic as I was preparing for the Operation Smile benefit show starring Rex Navarette (more on that below) and then heading to a baby shower for Rick & Lisa Apelizan (more on that below). It was a non-stop kind of day that got more hectic than I expected. The baby shower was cool, lots of food and stuff. It was a nice day outside so most of it was spent outside. A really nice time.

Since I was helping out with the Rex show at waterside, I had to dip out of the party a little early. Everything was going fine. The performers were all there, finishing up with sound checks, the place was ready and the excitement was filling the air. Doors were to open at 6pm and by 5:45pm, there was already a line of a few hundred people in line. Young people and older people alike were waiting to get in. Since there was alcohol being served, ID's were checked and this caused the line to move slowly. I was told just to help out wherever help was needed, so I decided to stand by the door and greet everyone entering. I thought this was a good idea as I got to see every single person walking in and chat with some friends. The show opens with Madonna Mendoza singing a few songs. She's doing her thing and people are still trickling in. There are now over 300 people in the place and Madonna Mendoza's on her last song and then suddenly there is a loud POP and the lights get knocked out. So now we have over 300 people sitting in the place with no electricity and I'm thinking that we overloaded the circuits or something, but I was wrong. All of waterside had lost electricity. In fact the whole street had no power. With no power going into the building, the police decided to clear the building for "safety" reasons and this doesn't bode well for the 300+ who paid $20 - $25 to see Rex Navarette. So the show was cancelled and now everyone who saw me coming in, knew that it was me they were seeing on the way out, and I could tell that not everyone was happy. It was a tough situation in which the organizers had no control over. Well the after party at Excess started a lot earlier than expected, so Rex did his routine there. Those in attendance got to enjoy a good show, but I'm sure not everyone from Waterside headed to Excess. There wasn't really a chance to tell people to head there after the show, because the show hadn't even started. There are plans for some kind of make-up show. Those of you with your ticket stubs, make sure you keep them and I'll get back to you when more info is available. Also, thanks to Chad Hugo (mr. neptune himself) for his $10,000 donation.

I had family from out of town visit on Sunday, so I spent the day with them.,

I spent Monday doing laundry and messing around with my computer. I'm trying to get a few things working and start a network going but I keep running into a bunch of problems. I've got a brand new 175 GIG hard drive I bought at CompUSA (I've maxed out my current hard drive with pictures and mp3's) and I want to get everything straight before I attempt to add it on. I'm waiting for that new hard drive before I add any of my many new pictures.

Now it turns out that Rick & Lisa got there baby shower in the nick of time because on Tuesday, as they went in for a scheduled visit with the doctor, Lisa gave birth to Maylea Lazatin Apelizan. I visited with them after work on Wednesday morning and everything is going fine with mother and child. I took pictures, and I'll upload them when the new hard drive is in.

Also on Wednesday, there was a job fair at ODU. I dressed up and headed over there with resumes in hand, but it was a pretty weak year for Engineering companies. Usually I hand out about 9 to 12 resumes but this year, only 3. It was really scaled down this year, especially without the military jobs there. So any engineering companies out there, an electrical engineer tech here needs a job.

And still on Wednesday, Zelda: Windwaker came out for GameCube. Heralded as one of the best games for the console, I had it on reserve at best buy, so I picked it up and I have yet to try it. I'm just afraid that everything else gets put on hold when I start that. (here's a 10% coupon for best buy this weekend).

Thursday, I was just really tired. Work has been a little busy, so when I get home I want to just sleep. But I make a little trip to super Walmart to pick up some groceries. I go in planning to buy $25 worth of groceries and I end up spending much more. At least I've got some food now. I've got a back-log of DVDs to watch so I decided to try to catch up on some on Thursday. I got through 3 movies before falling asleep. And boy I was out. I'm sort of upset I slept so much because I ended up sleeping through the college basketball games. Even though my brackets are all effed up now, I'm really into the games. I live for this time of year. At least there's another group of games on tonight.

Now, what's on the agenda for the weekend? I'm trying to keep everything free for now, but I do know that I'm headed to ODU Saturday night for FASA's Culture Night. So if you've got nothing to do, it's only $5 and it includes food. Doors open at 6:30pm. I'll probably be hitting the clubs afterwards.

I've got to get some rest.

March 21, 2003
It's Friday and I've got a busy weekend ahead of me. I would like nothing else but to sit my @ss down in front of the TV and watch basketball all weekend, but I've got stuff to do, places to go, people to see. First of all, Rex Navarette is in town and is giving a show tomorrow night at Have a Nice Day Cafe. Doors open at 6pm. Proceeds for the show go to Operation Smile. Blackbird Pond and Lady Grace are opening up with a special appearance from Chad Hugo of the Neptunes & N.E.R.D.

I volunteered to help out with the set up so I'll be there most of the day. But in the middle of helping out, I'm taking a break so I can attend the baby shower for Rick & Lisa Apelizan.

And then after the show, the after party is at Excess and I'll probably be there. If you're planning to go to the show, there is a pre party at Excess tonight at 9:30pm. Rex should be there if you'd like to meet him.

But before all that, I'm headed to CompUSA later today for their Anniversary Sale. I've got a few dollars saved up, so it'll probably be spending it there. I'm planning to pick up a few things that are in limited supply, so I'll be upset if I see any of you in front of me in line before I get what I'm planning to.

And during all this, I'm keeping an eye on the NCAA tournament. (Darn you Memphis and Dayton for losing on the first day. You're ruining my brackets).

For those of you who like to shop online, Amazon has got their weekly Friday sale today (because it's Friday, duh).

And for some war news, Optimus Prime is now fighting for the United States. Some people take it a little to far.

March 20, 2003
Today is filled with a bunch of firsts. Most importantly, it's the first full day of the War in Iraq. Hopefully it'll be a short war. A bunch of colleges across the country were supposed to hold peace rallys on the first day of the war.

Today is also the first day of Spring. You wouldn't know it from the cold, misty morning here. Every year, Rita's Italian Ices (there's one on Lynnhaven Pkwy) gives away free regular size italian ices on the first day of spring. I always love free stuff.

And today is the first day of the best sporting event of the year. March Madness begins today and I've got my brackets all filled out. I've got Kentucky winning the whole thing, with a few upsets in there. I live for this.

Here's a 40% off coupon for the reebok outlets if you happen to shop there. It includes Rockport and Ralph Lauren footwear too.

March 19, 2003
Lu's attempted non stop Cannonball Run to California from Virginia has been halted short of his destination. His plan to make it cross country in the estimated 49 hours failed, he came close though. Lu is now stuck in Laramie, Wyoming. It turns out that he went head on into one of the biggest blizzards the midwest has seen in decades. Denver was estimated to get 5 FEET of snow and Lu said the snow was impossible to drive in. After seeing miles of stranded cars he has pulled over into a Comfort Inn at Laramie and is waiting the storm out. He was scheduled to be at work tomorrow, but that's not happening. Of course, what else would we expect from Lu.

I'm busy today, working on my research... for the NCAA tournament. I take this seriously, it's march madness. It's my favorite sporting event of the year. I've got to finish filling out my brackets today and jump into as many online contests posssible. For those of you who aren't afraid of dropping a 10 spot and helping a good cause, think about joinging this bracket pool.

March 18, 2003
Things are pretty much back to normal for me now. Last week I spent entertaining Lu, as he prepared to be a permanent resident of California. He's currently on a trek across the country in his little integra. He left Sunday morning and needs to be at work on Thursday. Just like Lu to push it as close as possible. He expects to be there tomorrow, but you never know with him.

Now for a little recap on my time over there. Every time I head to the bay area, it seems like I concentrate on one area of interest. The first time I went I label it the "Tour of the Shopping Malls" because I went to a different one every day. The second time I was out there was the "Tour of the Nightclubs", again because I hit a different one just about every single night. This time was the "Tour of the Restaurants".

Lu was excited to show me some of the places to eat. I've already mentioned Crustaceans (scroll down to march 3 if you missed it). Really classy euro-asian seafood place where the specialties are...Crabs. A real popular place in the City and classy too, except for the part where the classy waiter puts the infant sized bib on you (I think he enjoyed it, I felt violated).

Later on in the week we go get some meat. We eat at the House of Prime Rib. Really elegant dining and their specialty is (you'll never guess).....Prime Rib. Lu is excited about this place because we are to order the biggest Prime Rib on the menu and the waiter is supposed to explain that if we can finish it, we get a second slice of prime rib (oh happy day!!). Well we give the waiter our orders and he says nothing about the extra slice. Lu says it's already known so he doesn't have to say anything. Lu also advises me to stay away from eating anything but the Prime Rib, we needed to leave room for all the meat. So I just nibble on the salad and nibble on the free bread (really good bread too, I really wanted to eat the whole roll). Then our Prime Ribs come and they are HUGE. I nibble on the sides but I go to town on the Prime Rib. I force myself to finish it, breathing slowly as it becomes more difficult with every bite. I am so full, but our main reason for eating there was the second slice and this dinner has now become a challenge. It was me against the Prime Rib. And after we finally finished it (with our side dishes basically still intact) the waiter comes by and asks us if we want dessert. I'm thinking "What? No second slice? I just forced myself to eat about 25ozs of meat with no reward." So Lu just boldly says "What about our second slice?" The waiter looks at us with a look of confusion. Lu asks if they still do that and the waiter says, if you want it all you have to do is ask. So he takes our plates and goes to the Prime Rib guy (decked out in chef's attire in the middle of the restaurant with his hunk of meat) and he huddles with several other waiters and the Prime Rib guy. They all look at us sort of smiling, knowing we were stuffed and only conquered our first plate of meat to receive a second slice. I think we were their amusement for the night. Two little guys basically eating a whole cow by themselves. We did it though and, although it was substancially smaller, we finished the second slice too.

Another restaurant of note that Lu and I went to was a place called "House", not to be confused with the House of Prime Rib. This was a trendy, casual restaurant. It probably wasn't my favorite of the restaurants but the meals were obviously done with culinary care. They had plates that look like the ones you see on the Food Network. The plates where you wonder, why order that, it's barely an appetizer. I stayed away from that. In fact I barely remember what I got, probably a steak or something. I had hot tea with my meal, as the menu had a bunch of them to compliment your meal. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but most everyone else was drinking wine. The front of the place was sort of designed like a little house and it had a nice, homely feel. It was an alright place.

Now my family out there took me to a buffet place, "Todai". I believe it's a chain and they are advertised as a seafood place, but it was really a Japanese/Chinese buffet. All you can eat sushi for you sushi lovers. And not just a skimpy selection, but a real selection of sushi, pretty much every kind of sushi I could think of was there. But I'm not much of a sushi eater, so I went with the Chinese food.

We went to a few more places (like pizza chicago, Oasis Beer Garden Bar in Stanford) but these were just the highlights. I ate a lot since I was on vacation, but now I'm paying for it. I guess it's a good time to start that exercise program I've been thinking of.

March 14, 2003
I'm still a little too busy to be working on this page. I'll make sure I give you guys the whole lowdown on what's up & what I've been up to next week. It's payday anyways and I'm off to go shopping.

March 12, 2003
I've been busy the past few days at work, mainly I've been trying to catch up with what's been going on. Also, my daily rhythm is all out of wack. Coming back from California, I haven't adjusted back to my normal routine of sleeping during the day and working at night. One reason is that work has been sort of busy and I'm still playing catch up. I'm also doing some kind of "research" while I'm at work. Another reason is because Lu came back for the week. So the time I usually spend sleeping or working on the web goes to hanging out with him. He's here for the rest of the week and then he starts he cross country trek on Sunday.

So don't expect much from me this week while I'm entertaining Lu. It's probably his last time here for a while (we do have a wedding to attend in May though). I promise to have my California pictures up when I get the chance. There's not much to them though, just me and Lu hanging out in San Francisco, so don't your hopes up.

I'm gonna catch an hour of sleep right now while I have the chance...

March 10, 2003
I'm back home here in Virginia. I'll give you guys the details tonight (rather tomorrow morning) when I return back to work. I'll try to put up some pictures tonight too. But right now, I'm going back to sleep.

March 3, 2003
It's Monday morning here in sunny California. I'm halfway through my little vacation here and everything is going fine. Half the time I'm doing the tourist thing and checking the sites and the other half is spent helping Lu move into his new place. (If you haven't heard, Lu's got a permanent position at Stanford and quit the traveling gig. So he got a new apartment- which is a just across the parking lot here- and he needs to get out of the current apartment by Saturday March 8). I'll put pictures up when I get home.

The first few days I was here I spent with family. My grandmother has been cooking for me non-stop and while I was staying at her place, I was eating 5 meals a day. There was also the 18th birthday party for my cousin, Carlos, last Friday. It was really good seeing all the cousins and uncles and aunties again.

Friday night, Lu picked me up and thus begins the vacation portion at Lu's place. He took me through a quick little tour of Palo Alto and Menlo Park and then we went to pick up some of his new furniture at some of the stores. With me here, he can now pick up the big stuff because he didn't want to look like a fool trying to stuff some big furniture into his little rental car by himself. So instead, we both looked like fools together when we tried to stuff a futon into the backseat of his little car on friday night.

Saturday we did some early morning shopping for Lu's apartment. He then took me to a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Mountain View for lunch. Then we did some shopping at an anime toy store in Millbrae (Lu bought him a really expensive toy he's been searching for, I'll elaborate another time). We then had some drinks at a nice little cafe/eatery in Palo Alto that was buzzing with lots of people (palo alto people = yuppies galore). We then get to the college basketball game at Stanford, #19 Stanford vs. #1 Arizona. Great Game! Stanford missed the game tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. The sold out place was rocking the whole time. It was crazy. This was the reason I love college basketball so much, so you can only imagine how much fun I had there. For dinner, Lu took me into the City (San Francisco) and we ate at a nice seafood place, Crustaceans. We get back to Lu's apartment around 12:30am and we spend the next 2.5 hours putting some of his new furniture together. That's 12:30am PST, and I have yet to adjust to the time difference, so in my mind, I'm putting together furniture at 3:30am. I'm groggy and slow, but yet Lu was determined to get this stuff done.

Sunday, we got up early (after sleeping late) and we head to Ikea over by Oakland just as they are opening. We get lots more furniture then we head over the bay bridge to San Francisco. We go to Chinatown and find a store selling Hong Kong DVDs (im currently on a HK movie fix) and we hit the motherload with this store. I buy an ishload of DVDs and so does lu, even though he's trying to save money for his apartment stuff. We have some lunch in Chinatown and then head over for some shopping in Japantown. Didn't buy anything though, mainly because I spent so much money on the DVDs. We then head over to Daly City so I can buy some stuff from a Filipino heritage store (you can never have too many barrel men) and I spend a buttload of money there on some knick-knacks. We then head back to Lu's new place and put together the Ikea furniture. We had dinner at some Mexican restaurant in Palo Alto (Lu ran into Palo Alto resident Steve Young there once) and then we head to Walmart to pick up a huge fish tank for his new place. We love them fish.

Here it is Monday morning and Lu has to work today. I'm planning to check out Stanford University and do some shopping at the adjacent mall until Lu gets out of work. I'm staying with Lu until Wednesday and I'll be heading back to my cousins home to finish out my stay until Saturday night.

My cell phone gets good reception out here so don't hesitate to call me if you need to. I'll be home Sunday.