Just one of those days...

You ever have just one of those days? Where you get up on the wrong side of bed, you've put on the wrong coat, didn't get to eat breakfast, get coffee that makes your stomach hurt, and everything just seems so BLAH because you have to go to work?? What do you do when that's every day?

I think I have the two year itch. I'm sick of my job and I think I've figured out that this isn't what I want to be doing for the next few years. But if it's not, then what should I be doing? Welllll therein lies the problem. I have no frickin' idea what the hell I want to do. So in the meantime, I sit at this job so I have cash to pay my bills, rent, etc. AWESOME. It's great that I'm spending the majority of my day doing what I dislike, making no difference in the world...

so much for not wanting to become a meaningless corporate drone.

The Drive-In

What you say? A drive-in? Yes, boys and girls... drive-in theaters still exist!


I only know of one around here, and it's located in City of Industry. A bit of a trek outside of LA, but it's worth it, IMO. Admission is $7.50 per person, but if you're really cheap, you can sneak someone in via the trunk. That being said, it's pretty sad to rip off a dying genre, and only the most heartless cheap bastard should do it!


We came here late on a Saturday night to watch the last feature - apparently, this place gets pretty happenin'. And maybe not for the reasons you think! ;) We noticed a LOT of families with small kids/babies... and when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because a crying baby is super annoying at a regular theater but you probably won't even notice if he/she is in a car w/ the parents.

Several awesome things about this place (as well as any drive-in, I would imagine)

• You can bring take-out, snacks, or whatever you want to eat while watching the movie
• Each parking spot is positioned on a sort of a hill so you can angle your car to be facing up towards the screen - no worrying about the car ahead of you blocking your view. OR you can bring a truck and park it backwards and angle it down so you can lie down and watch the movie (and potential for other stuff, but c'mon! There are kids running around here!)
• Warm summer nights - you can bring chairs and set up camp for a nice picnic
• You listen to the movie through a pre-set radio frequency, so you don't have to park in a specific manner - whichever strikes your fancy
• You get to do something very different!
  

Drawbacks:

• The theater is quite old so the restrooms aren't exactly the best things ever
• There can be a really long line to get in, so be prepared to get there early
• Listening to the movie through your car can run down your battery - I saw one car that had to be jump started. You can also bring a portable radio but you're sacrificing sound quality.
  
• It's probably best to have a convertible, which I don't have

If anything, I'd recommend going just for the experience. It's a bit of a novelty, and I wouldn't go watch blockbusters (usually designed with crazy special effects and awesome sound quality that requires the sound system of a theater), but watching a funny or scary movie can be quite fun. We got there near in time to watch the 2nd half of "30 Days of Night" and let's just say that zombie movies are much scarier when you're actually sitting outside and a shadow suddenly catches your eye...

If anyone is interested - you have to call the theater for showtimes, and I think there are 4-5 different screens.
Pacific Vineland Drive-In
443 N. Vineland Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91746
(626)961-9262

Let me know what you think if you end up going there!

good 'ol chi-town

I have been forever changed by


Okay, okay, maybe not, but now I think Chicago is the friendliest city in the whole of the United States (not that I've been to all that many cities, but it tops my list!). They really hit it on the nose when they aimed for the "small town feel in a big city." It's also absolutely gorgeous in the fall, when the leaves are changing colors...



Isn't that so pretty? Me and really pretty leaves =)

I was never aware that a gigantic reflective bean existed, but apparently it does.. right in Millenium Park.


The Brown Shoes in the city


Chicago deep dish pizza from Gino's East

Doesn't look it here, but it's actually pretty damn good... the one thing I didn't like was the cornmeal crusts, but that's because I'm not a big cornmeal person. Everyone else liked it! Gino's East was also interesting in that the entire place reminds me of a big pile of bird shit. Don't get me wrong, the food is good, but the decor bites. I think they basically let people graffiti all over the walls and seats of the restaurant - but then after so much graffiti, people start writing in white ink or white out, and the whole place just looks like birds came in, did their business, and took off.

The Best Cupcakes

I was so busy digging into my Red Velvet cupcake that I almost forgot to take a picture. I think Sweet Mandy B's is the best cupcake place [so far] that I know of. Sprinkles is LA is way too dry, and Magnolia's in New York is higher up the chain, but Sweet Mandy B's tops them all. Personally, I like homemade cupcakes the best, but if you must go out and buy some, Sweet Mandy B's is the place to go. They're also moderately priced (ranges from 1-2 bucks each), especially compared with the steep price of Sprinkles' $3.50 drycakes.

Asian fusion at Ping Pong

Can't say this place has the best asian fusion food ever, but the ambiance is really nice. We were there on a Friday night, so it was busy to say the least. The drinks are pretty good, and the appetizers looked better than the actual dishes, at least on the menu. They're apparently known for their chocolate fortune cookies, which you get at the end of your meal. Pretty cute, and a good end to the meal. People love these fortune cookies, according to yelp.com.


We also went up to the top of the Sears Tower (which, surprisingly enough, no longer houses Sears). 103 stories tall, all built in 3 years... crazy. The lights are really pretty, but the view looks a lot like the view from the Peak in HK. Chicago also reminds me way too much of LA (view-wise).




Chicago Chop House steak

Chicago Chop House is consistently voted as one of the best steakhouses in the U.S. and I would not disagree. The 16 ounce NY fillet above was decently priced too (~$30, I can't remember exactly)! I'm not even a steak person, but I finished every last bite. This place isn't designed to be fancy or stuffy, it's pretty much just a really good steak place, without all the frills. Would definitely go back again if I were craving a good steak.

I've been back a week already and I'm already tired of the daily grind...
but here are some really clean-looking ducks and gigantic fish swimming around in a pond at Northwestern.

Last week in the UK

This last week has been pretty eventful... which is a nice change from "work-home-work..."

Monday - Went to get Indian food w/ some coworkers... first time eating Indian food in London! It was good but not THAT different from Indian food in LA...


Tuesday - Watched Avenue Q finally! I've been wanting to watch it since NY. Then it went to LA and I completely missed it, so I was pretty determined to finally see it in London. I loved it! It's so hilarious!


Also got some "proper" fish n chips at this overpriced shack called "Rock and Sole" before seeing the musical... it was good, but I'm not a big fan of this these kinds of fries even though my coworkers said they were REALLY good.


Wednesday - Finally watched the 39 steps! Sat next to this snooty old lady from SF, she totally butt into the conversation. So rude.

Thursday - Last day at work in London! Went out to the pub for drinks afterwards, which was actually pretty fun =)

Friday - flew back to LA... hooray! For your viewing pleasure... lunch in business class (steak and potatoes and cheesecake as dessert)




I guess it was pretty good... was nice to be able to stretch out and sleep for four hours on the plane! Not looking forward to going back to work on Monday AT ALL.

Paris

Went to Paris yesterday! It's weird because it's only a 2 and a half hour train ride there. You really realize how the whole of Europe is smaller than the whole of the United States. I couldn't really tell you what it's like to pass through the channel tunnel though, because I fell asleep thru it both times.


I'm going to make a comparison here though... the Eurostar is crap compared to Japan's Shinkansen trains. It goes slower, isn't as clean, and the seats are arranged kinda funny. But then again.. can you really compare a lot of what we do to what the Japanese have created? My trip was so awkward - they arrange the back half the seats in one car facing forward, and the front half of the seats face the back. So you have two rows of seats in the middle of the car that face each other. Guess who got stuck there? ME. With a family of 7. It was so awkward, especially when I found my seat. It's like... it was bad enough that one of the girls kept staring at me, but it felt too weird to fall asleep. The middle seats also get jacked on legroom, and I couldn't see out the window or stare off into space (or if I did, I had to try to find a place to stare at that wouldn't involve me staring at one of them... AWKWARDDDDDDDDD). Stupid Eurostar. I ended up listening to my music and falling asleep the whole time anyway since I'm so freaking tired from working 12 hour days this past stupid week.


Yep... how come we don't have benz's as taxi's over in the US? haha


First stop... Eiffel Tower. My illusions of the Eiffel Tower have been shattered... I now think this thing is just a big pile of junk. It's just this really old huge antenna that sticks out in the middle of the city.


View from the first floor. France is a really level city, so going up higher doesn't really do much.


View from the first floor of the line of suckas that have to wait to get in. Since I went w/ a tour group, we had quick and easy group access without waiting.


My gourmet French Lunch... aka cold chicken + salad in a baguette. Picture me trying to order food in France... "eh... sandwich?? chicken??" The lady stared at me, then took a cold sandwich out.. and I was like.. ok I'll take it!


The prettiest part of the tower... the flowers.


Went on a cruise on the River Seine...


Notre Dame


Entrance to Notre Dame... so many ppl around!


Front


Me inside the Notre Dame. The architechture of this cathedral is amazing. For some reason, one of the few religious places I don't feel completely out of place in. But that might have been because there were a billion other tourists milling around...


After Notre Dame, we headed over to the Louvre... it's HUGE. I think it used to be a fortress/royal palace. Supposedly, if you were to take 3 seconds to stand in front of every single painting/exhibit in here, you would be in there for four months. The clear pyramid thingy is the new main entrance.


The Arc de Triomphe... built during the Napolean era to commemorate war victories? As you can tell, my history/knowledge of all of this is kinda iffy.


My tour guide... she had this heavy french accent so I couldn't tell what she was saying half the time. BUT check this out - you know how asian tour guides always hold up those fobbyass flags? They hold up colorful umbrellas... much more stylish, but still funny to see.


And of course... the Mona Lisa. This is as close as I could get to it. It gets so crowded around it that not only do they put it behind a velvet rope, they also display it behind a glass case. At the entrance of the museum, you can pick a number of tours to go on, and one of them is the "Da Vinci Code" tour. So you basically walk the path and see everything that was mentioned in the book. Awesome way for the Louvre to capitalize on that!

After the Louvre, it was time to head back to London...


And in five days, it's time to head home... yay =)

V&A

I think I've pretty much seen everything in London that I want to see... but with nothing to do today, I headed out to see some more museums... bleh.

No real point in having pictures cuz the buildings probably all start to look the same haha.. but here's the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum)


I actually liked the Prints & Drawings and Modern/20th Century exhibits here. It's weird to see stuff from the '90s till now... on display.

Me on the front steps. hahaha this is kinda funny... more pictures of my shoes to come!


After this, I went to the science museum, but after checking out a display on plastics, I just thought... this blows. I'm reading about the history of plastic.

Sooo I went back to my hotel. I'm tired of this place.

Hyde Park & Covent Garden

Even though it's pretty cold here - around 40 degrees F (at least, that's cold for someone from from California) - I have to admit that London can be beautiful, especially in the Fall.

Hyde Park


Look at the skies! =)


Ducks galore (should I mention I had bbq duck noodle soup for lunch? haha)


Princess Diana Memorial Fountain... it's a really pretty fountain, even though you can't tell from here


Kids playing around the fountain... I envy their carefree innocence


Kensington Gardens


Marble Arch - it's not as impressive as you may think. Plus in order to get here, I had to dodge traffic because it's on an island and there aren't any pedestrian xings... you're supposed to go underground but I kept taking the wrong exits haha


Covent Garden - similar to 3rd street with it's street performers and shops that line the streets


I ended up shopping, which is bad because I really shouldn't be spending money... but yes, retail therapy!

I've also really been craving milk tea, so I found this HK cafe place that had it... it cost 3.50 gbp but I HAD to try it!

Def not worth 7 bucks... =( I want some REAL milk tea like we had in HK

Oh how I miss you, St. Alps!!

The 39 Steps are flooded

Today, I attempted to watch a show at the Criterion Theatre in the West End. Unfortunately, it turns out the theatre got flooded! =( This bites, I was really looking forward to it too. At least a got a nice picture, I guess. Now I have to go thru the hassle of trying to get a refund or to reschedule.

London gets pretty boring when you can go for an entire weekend without talking to a single person, discounting the times you tell the cashier "Thanks" or ask the front desk for your laundry.

Today has been an overall bad day.

>>You don't "trash it" here, you "bin it." Took me a bit to get that one!

the loo..??!

Today... I met up w/ A's friend, M. Kinda funny bc I had no clue what he looked like, and we're like... ok let's meet at Trafalgar Square after work! The square is pretty big, and there's always a billion tourists milling around - so, perfect! Well, ok, I figured "asian guy" would be easy enough to find. haha turns out we were right. Anyway, yay it was nice to be able to hang out with someone who is also sorta exploring London =). We wandered around to St. James's Park, where there's this huge lake with all sorts of cute/gross ducks. And yes, ducks can be cute and gross at the same time! Boo I forgot to bring my camera... but I have some pics from my cell phone.

View from the lake (you can see the London Eye in the background)


Very exciting stuff - ducks


I think this is St. James's Palace


After eating dinner at this place called "Thai Square," (supposedly the best thai food in London... it was decent, I guess) we were debating what there was to do, but it was sorta like the blind leading the blind. We had no idea so... decided to just go home haha... so with me leading the way, we promptly got lost in trying to find the tube station. Y'all know how GREAT I am with my sense of direction! So I suggested the ol' trick of.. just following a group of people in front of us, which led us to up this bridge that was crossing the Thames River (I think it was the Hungerford Bridge? I may have to go back) Ok at least I KNEW that I did not cross a river to get to the square. But it ended up that this bridge had an excellent night view of the Eye and Big Ben... almost reminded me of the nice view from the Peak in HK!

My pic does it no justice... I think Big Ben is on the right somewhere


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As promised, here are the "oddities" or differences I've had to get used to here in London:

>>Aside from driving on the left side of the road, jay-walking is not a term that is well known here. It's called "crossing the street." I've adjusted and I cross ALL the time on red lights. Everyone's always in such a rush, they just cross the street (after checking to make sure no cars are approaching). If you're in the street and a car is coming, you better run your ass outta there fast cuz you're gonna get hit! Think of it like being a pedestrian in Asia . Also, lights are red, then they turn yellow, then green. Between green and red, you get nothing. So if you're driving and you're at a red light, you'll see it turn yellow (get ready to go??) and then green. Then it'll turn off for a few seconds (be prepared to stop!) and then turn red.

>>I still feel weird asking someone where the "loo" is. I think they'll understand if you say "restroom," but when in Rome...

>>On a rainy day, don't tell people your pants got wet. Pants = underwear here. Your trousers may be soaked, but if you tell anyone your pants are wet, you might get a funny look.

>>It's not a cell phone, it's a mobile. I mean, mo-buy-ul. Also, they don't get charged for incoming calls here. No fair!

>>A pound, a quid. A dollar, a buck.

>>They call the subway the tube, and instead of "exit" signs, you'll find "way out" signs.

>>You don't have to tip at restaurants, and if you do, 10% is good enough. I think they get paid more here, unlike Americans that work for min wages+tips.

>>The British like to drink beer. None of this fancy mixed stuff, they want beer! And don't mess with them when they're talking about Rugby or Football with a beer in each hand. It won't be pretty.

>>Don't insult their tea. Just don't.

>>You don't just like her, you "fancy" her.

More to come as I think of them... I had more earlier but blogger didn't save and I lost my original post =(