I recently took a trip to California. It was definitely a long-needed vacation. Because there wasn’t much time during the trip to chronicle my experiences, I am going to try and do so now.

Friday, July 20

10:45 Arrive at LAX

11:30 Pick up luggage and meet Lottie, Anthony, and Sean

11:50  Arrive at GameBoi. This club makes the Web seem dingy, dirty, and cheap. Oh wait…the Web is dingy, dirty, and cheap. In any case, I considered it an early birthday excursion. I had about 4 shots, 3 beers, 1 cosmopolitan, and 1 rum&coke. Sadly (or fortunately, depends on how you view it), I had a very little dinner that evening, so the alcohol had free reign over my body. I saw William LeShaune Walker at the club, who recently relocated from SF. I also met an EY senior, as well as another couple from SF. All in all, it was good times. I like that GameBoi has two floors, one with hiphop and one with pop. GameBoi has two very large video screens that play music videos while your dancing, which creates a better atmosphere than the Web’s dubiously dirty walls and sketchy bystanders.

1:50    Depart GameBoi

1:55    I begin to feel “the spins” in Anthony’s car.

1:56    I ask Anthony how long it will take to get home. He replies with a worried glance.

2:10    Return to Anthony’s place and make a mad dash for the bathroom.

2:45    Exit bathroom and crash on the living room sofa.

Saturday, July 21

11:45  Have brunch at a very nice café in LA. The prices were very high, but the outside dining experience and trendy ambiance made up for it.

12:30  Took a drive down Mulholland Drive and saw both the Hills and the Valley.

1:00    Return to Anthony’s place. Head once again to the bathroom upon feeling “the spins”.

2:00    Went with Lottie, Anthony, and two of Anthony’s friends, Sean and David, to see “Hairspray.” I did not like the 2007 remake better than the original movie, which starred Ricki Lake. I can really put my finger on it. I think it had something to do with John Travolta’s creepy performance or some of the lackluster musical numbers. The lead actress (whatshername?) was excellent. Zac Efron from High School Musical looked incredible, but there was something too flawless about the way he looked. I think he had pounds of makeup on…or maybe I’m just jealous and he does in fact look that incredible.

5:00    Drive to Malibu to see “Shakespeare by the Sea.” It is a theatre troupe that gives weekly performances during the summertime. The director gave a passionate diatribe about how good the crew was and that we should all donate money to support the troupe. Normally that’d be fine, but her speech lasted at least ten minutes and she kept insisting that we should give money. It almost made me feel guilty watching a free performance. Anyway, we happened to go on the day they were performing “Taming of the Shrew.” Unfortunately, it was really hard to hear the actors, and it was performed in authentic Shakespearean prose. Now, ideally that would be a really cool experience, but I knew nothing about the story, and it had been awhile since I studied Shakespeare in high school…which is why we swiftly left the performance. I remember that Lottie pointed out that the woman sitting next to us was accidentally exposing her breasts. I actually think we were staring at her breasts longer than the performance.

5:20    Have dinner at this nice restaurant..can’t remember the name! Our waitress was beautiful and my chicken marsala was delicious. Anthony and David ordered Waffles and chicken. Literally, waffles that you’d eat for breakfast served with fried chicken. Interesting.

7:30    Return to Anthony’s place. Lottie, Peter, and Anthony suggested another night of debauchery on the town, but the flashback of the previous night in their bathroom cautioned me to decline the offer. Instead, I opt for a night in.

8:00    Perused my CPA book...Pension Obligations? Capital Leases? Discounted Notes? How will I pass FARE?

9:00    Watched Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. This girl is incredible! I don’t know why I like her so much. Maybe it’s refreshing to see a famous girl not so messed up in the head. Or, this could be an indication that my tastes are more aligned with ten-year-old girls.

1:00    Anthony and Lottie return home. I overhear Anthony saying he won’t go out the following weekend so he can save money (typical Anthony comment…he breaks this promise to himself later in the week, tsk tsk).

Sunday, July 22

12:00  Drive to Santa Monica to visit Mike Chang. His new condo is nothing short of gorgeous. He has a nice-sized kitchen and his own washer and dryer. He’s also leasing a BMW I think for his girlfriend Ellie. It’s nice to have friends who live lifestyles of the rich and famous.

12:30  Lunch at a small bar called “Dad’s Office”. I never understood the story behind the name. We all had good burgers. Anthony and I had sodas, and Lottie and Mike ordered fruity beers.

1:00    The four of us walked around the downtown shopping center in Santa Monica, enjoying the cool breeze and the abundant amount of sunshine. Surprisingly, my pale-as-wonderbread skin didn’t turn beet red. Mike was generous enough to treat Anthony and I to frappucinos. We saw a small, miserable-looking child playing the violin on the street. Now, I don’t mean to sound like Debbie Downer (from SNL ^_^), but it was obvious he wasn’t actually playing. He had speakers behind him playing the real song. Mike said he didn’t believe me. I then explained why he wasn’t in fact playing. First, I recognized the song from Suzuki Book 4 and I knew the fingerings. I could tell just from his fingerings that they were a little off. Secondly, the “music” had lots of sweet vibrato, and his wrist was dead still the entire time. The latter point convinced Mike that I was right. The poor kid might feel better if it wasn’t obvious that his act was fraudulent L. 

3:00    Mike headed to work for a bit (‘tis the life on an investment banker). Lottie, Anthony, and I spotted another street performer. It was a band called the “John Oak” Band. Lottie and I both immediately gushed over how cute the cello player was. Lottie like the fact that he had nice arms and was emo-ish, and I like the fact that he had a big beautiful instrument in between his legs ^_^. No, for real, he was really good at the cello (he was actually playing). We spoke after the performance and he mentioned that we was trained in the Suzuki method. I’m pretty sure we was straight, so I gracefully allowed Lottie to be the flirt.

4:00    Took a scenic drive along Route 101 on the coast and saw a university (forget which one), a magnificent view of the hills, and miles upon miles of beautiful landscape. Anthony got his car washed during the trip. He got it done at one of those places where you can remain in the car while the machines do their thing. There’s something fantasy-like sitting in the car, watching the suds soaking and the water jets blasting away the grease and dirt off of the car. I felt like an innocent child again.

7:00    Had a nice dinner at Kado with Anthony and Lottie at this trendy Japanese restaurant in a shopping complex in LA. We ordered various special rolls and chatted about our lives and careers.

9:00    Got back home and watched an episode of The Simpsons with Anthony. Then Kyle picked me up and I stayed at his place.

Monday, July 23

11:00  Depart Kyle’s house and head for Disneyland in Anaheim. We got a ticket for both parks (California-land and Tomorrow-land). My favorite ride was Tower of Terror. There is something so exhilarating about free-falling, but Kyle hated the feeling of “plummeting to death.” We also saw a cute video on the history of California that ended with a message to follow your dreams. I also went on this water ride that had these creepy dolls smiling and blinking, with sections that represented all the different parts of the world. I was quite impressed with this ride because they managed to capture every country and culture. Unfortunately, the ride was set to the tune of “It’s a Small World After All,” which ended making the experience feel like a circus show on crack. The night ended with glorious fireworks. All in all, Disneyland is quite magical, even for a 23 year-old. While in line for Space Mountain, Kyle used his iPhone to connect to the Web and book my Greyhound ticket from LA to SF. Technology these days is astounding!

11:45  PM      Kyle drops me off at the Greyhound station in a sketchy part of LA. I meet a group of British students on vacation. We chat about (what else) the Beckhams. Oh Posh…

Tuesday, July 24

7:00 AM         Arrived in San Francisco and took a cab to Pacific and Hyde, where Tony’s apartment is. The city was blanketed in morning fog. I took in a gulp of air and remembered why I am in love with the Bay Area.

10:00 AM       After settling in and showering, I walked to Chinatown for some dim sum. I ordered my usual Hah Gao (shrimp) and Siu Mai (umm not sure what’s inside), as well as that long white thing with shrimp in it, and buns with red-bean paste. Soooo good, and so cheap! The entire meal was only about $4, even with a can of Coke. Thank god See-Ming was wonderful and patient enough to teach me basic Cantonese ^_^…the lady laughed at me in a creepy way after I said “mmm goi sai” (thank you).

11:00 AM      Started meandering through the streets. I followed the winding Embarcadero along the water, which was the same route that my weekly jogging club took three summers ago. I was flooded with memories of a time much more innocent than the present. When I got to the Ghirardelli Center, I stopped and sat on the stone steps that face the shore. I can’t describe what San Francisco does to me. It brings me a renewed sense of hope, of a place that offers brief period of mental quiet. After meditating on the city’s beauty, I walked further along the shore, almost to Chrissy Field. I made plans with Tony Tai and his lum-pung-yao to eat dinner in Japantown.

6:00 PM         Ate at this nice sushi place. I ordered ikura (of course) and tekka-don (of course) with Sapporo beer (duh). Tony ordered chirashi sushi with Sapporo as well. We caught up and chatted about work and life. He educated me on the beauty of achieving the most out of life with putting as little effort in as possible. One might initially mistake this for laziness, but I wouldn’t call Tony lazy. I think it’s more of an extreme passion for efficiency, and performing no tasks that could be even remotely useless or idle. He somehow spun this concept to justify his flakiness, but I can’t remember the reasoning. In any case, I thought it was cute because I’m a big old flake too J Tony generously treated me since it was my birthday, even though I felt guilty because I sorta pegged it on him. I got the wonderful opportunity to meet his lum-pung-yao, Carl, and they have such a great and loving relationship. It’s evident from Carl’s eyes how much he cares for Tony. I found it refreshing. What is normalcy like?

9:00 PM         Took a cab to the Castro to meet up with Troy Edelen, a friend from the running club, and his life-partner Richard, who are incidentally planning to adopt a child. It was kind of sad, because going there reminded me of how much time had really passed and how little I knew of these people. We went to a bar and it also happened to be the birthday of a charming salon owner. We both had a birthday drink and wished each other happy birthdays. He was also a Jersey boy, so we had the Jersey connection going. I learned that telling people you’re from New Jersey brings a distasteful expression to the native Californian’s faces. Oh well, Jersey doesn’t like you either, bitches!

Wednesday, July 25

Really didn’t do much that day. Chilled, went to the library and studied some CPA (what the hell is the effective interest method again?), and relaxed in Union Square to enjoy the gorgeous, sunny weather. I remember feeling sorry for the masses of homeless people I saw. There was a toothless man spinning in circles and raising his arms into the sky. I couldn’t come up with even a remotely logical reason why he was doing this.

Thursday, July 26

10:00 AM       My half-aunt AnnMarie picked me up and drove me to Sebastopol, which is about 45 minutes north of San Francisco by car. I visited her house, which has a beautiful open backyard. Her Mexican neighbors have these goats that were quite friendly with people. We picked grass and fed it to their large, grubby mouths. AnnMarie had to run some errands, so I accompanied her. We then stopped at Safeway so that I could pick up some wine for dinner at her mother’s house.

7:00 PM         Wonderful dinner at Minhee’s house (AnnMarie’s mom). We flipped through photo-albums and heard lots of stories about my grandfather (on my mom’s side). Apparently he was Swedish and Norweigan (which would explain my blotchiness and inability to tan) and his greatest hobby was booze. The only thing I personally remember about this man was that he heavily encouraged me to learn Morse code. I regret that I never did that for him.

10:00 PM       Got back to AnnMarie’s house and watched “Music & Lyrics”. It was cute. Hugh Grant is still hot and he must be 40 or 45!

Friday, July 27

11:00 AM       Huge breakfast at this IHOP-ish breakfast joint. Outside the restaurant there were these large grizzly bear statues. It gave it a nice rugged feel :P.

3:00 PM         Got dropped off back in San Francisco. AnnMarie gave me a big hug goodbye.

5:00 PM         After studying some more CPA, I made my way back to Tony’s place and watched some TV. We then made plans to go out because it was my last night in SF.

11:00 PM       Arrive at Dragon, which is SF’s version of “The Web.” I must say, it was quite fun, but not as fun as GameBoi. LA has this superficial youthful thing that makes the clubbing experience feel more like a trashy fantasy. But I got the chance to meet this really cool guy named Oliver from Univ of Illinois, and we had a conversation about racial identity and why some of us are so fucked up in this arena ::points at self::. It was nice bonding with somebody else who has race issues. He was kind of inspiring though, because he managed to identify the source of his problems and work toward loving himself. Suddenly someone released a stink bomb on the top floor, and the stench was unbearable! People were throwing themselves against the window for fresh air, myself included (and the place was PACKED to begin with). THEN I randomly run in Anthony Lin, who I had just seen during my stay in LA. I was so shocked to see him there! I think I must have called him a sketchy bitch 100 times for not telling me he was coming up to SF, but that’s OK because I was just glad I got to see him one more night before I left. I totally called him out on breaking his promise about not going out anymore. In any case, I still think that Anthony’s such a good guy. He’s a super-star auditor and I could learn a lot from him.

Saturday, July 28

12:00 PM       Had dim-sum with Tony and had a heart-to-heart about the truly important things in life. I realized that I have miles and miles of progress to make, but it’s nice to have friends to give you words of encouragement. It’s odd that I’m drawn to these heavy conversations. I’m not one for much idle talk.

1:00 PM         Went with Tony to visit Tony Tai at his job. It was nice seeing Tony one more time before I jetted back off to NY. Tony taught me how to properly use “i.e.” and “e.g.”. I can’t believe for all this time I’ve been using these abbreviations improperly!

6:00                Went to SFO to go back home.