Life, it's ever so strange
It's so full of change
Think that you've worked it out
then BANG
Right out of the blue
Something happens to you
To throw you off course
and then you

Breakdown
Yeah you breakdown
Well don't you breakdown
Listen to me
Because

It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It'll take you round and round
Sometimes you're up
sometimes you're down
It's just a ride, it's just a ride
don't be scared
don't hide your eyes
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget it's just a ride

Song: "Just A Ride"
Artist: Jem.
Album: Finally Woken.

One of my new favorite artists!

Regret what you have done, not what you could have done.

One of the funniest Craigslist posts ever. I've posted it once before, so here's an encore presentation: If your GF says "don't let me eat ANYTHING this week...".

Notable quote:

"How did you sleep, my sweet tub of cookie dough?"

In addition, another encore presentation of Look at my Striped Shirt! I see a lot of these types walking around Santana Row at night and up in SF, in all their glory.

For awhile now, I kept getting errors that something was disabled in one of my directories every time I attempted to upload photos to my Gallery. But Hallelujah! The folks at my web hosting service have migrated my site to a new server and the problem is now resolved! So I've added a bunch of new photos to my gallery and am still adding. Check it out! :)

I'm happy to report that one of my favorite ballerinas, Frances Chung, was recently promoted to Soloist at San Francisco Ballet. Frances is an amazing dancer whose gracefulness and exquisite technique has spunk to it. I remember being mesmerized by her performance in The Nutcracker a couple years ago. Her and Yuan Yuan Tan are fabulous- SF Ballet ROCKS!

I couldn't find any action shots of Frances, so here's her bio headshot:


Here's Yuan Yuan Tan, my other favorite ballerina:

This Saturday I discovered San Francisco and fell in love with it.

Funny thing to say that I'm discovering it just now considering that I grew up in the Bay Area. However, most of what I know of SF is a) visiting my grandma, b) shopping in Union Square, and c) on the rare occasion going clubbing. I never spent time roaming through the neighborhoods in the daytime or lapping up the culture. So I shall now bore you with what I did on Saturday that gave me my revelation of how wonderful this place is.

The day started off with me groggily driving up from Fremont (home) to Noe Valley to join some work friends for tea/lunch at Lovejoy's Tea Room. I seriously must have drank 20 cups of tea. In any case, we had a good time and afterwards decided to roam around the neighborhood (24th/Church, to be exact). Weather was great, which by my standards is not too warm but sunny. I prefer chilly/cold weather to warm/hot weather. It was incredibly relaxing to stroll down the street and peruse the many boutiques and used bookstores. Our "tour guide" pointed out all the good restaurants and cafes, particularly Martha & Bros. which apparently puts Starbucks to shame. I wanted to try it, but decided it wasn't the best idea after having 20 cups of tea :)

By the time we went our separate ways, it was just shy of 3 o'clock and I still had a couple hours to kill before meeting my parents at my grandma's place. After having a taste of Noe Valley, I was in the mood to explore more as well as get some exercise in. (Yea yea, walking isn't really much exercise but it's more than what I get nowadays) So I drove over to Fillmore & Post (where my gma lives), parked my car, and started strolling around down Fillmore. Like Noe Valley, there were tons of little shops and coffee places and DOGS. Nickey would have loved it. It appears that part of Fillmore, just blocks away from my grandma's, is Pac Heights. I helped myself to some joe from Peet's and happily strolled up and down Fillmore. I saw someone from work that I don't know personally but have seen around the office. It then reminded me of the several coworkers that lived in the area.

Realizing that my parking meter was running out (what the hell, 25 cents only buys you 10 minutes now!?!!?), I went to move my car and then decided to explore the area past the big hill on Fillmore-- the Marina district. I was surprised to see there was a Pottery Barn on Chestnut and noticed it was a lot busier. Lombard, Greenwich,... this suddenly reminded me of when I was last in this area. I think only a handful of people will know what I'm talking about ;) I wonder how much of a mess that person's apartment was after we left in the wee hours of the morning.

My parents, my grandma, and I had dinner at Ton Kiang, one of my favorite restaurants. It is located at Geary and 22nd and is absolutely fabulous for both dim sum and dinner. Despite the fact that probably half of the customers are not of Asian descent, it's extremely authentic and the service is better than at most Chinese places.

All in all, a wonderful Saturday was had. Gonna have to visit again really soon with dog in tow.

I have discovered a new favorite store-- COST PLUS WORLD MARKET!!!

I don't know why, but I used to turn my nose up whenever I went by Cost Plus because I thought it was just a bunch of junk. However, a new one just opened up at Fremont Hub so I thought hey why not, and SJ and I took a quick look. Wow, I LOVE it! There are so many cute things that are actually of good quality. Dishware, furniture, kitchen stuff, bath stuff, wine, gift wrap, and all sorts of snacks, condiments, oils, jams, tea, coffee (they sell the same espresso that we have at work), and more. I was so tempted to go crazy but I limited myself to one purcahse of Loackers Tiramisu wafer cookies.

If you're in need of a housewarming present or any other type of gift, I highly recommend checking out Cost Plus.