Finally done. Here you go. East Coast Pimpin' for the non story telling version via flickr... Because it made it easy! Forgive me if it sounds blah... but yea it took a while to figure out how I wanted to do it!

[Pro/Con East Coast] Before I tell you all the details of my trip, I wanted to add the pictures while I was telling about it, so since I can�t do that. I�m just going to write out stuff right now. A Pro/Con list of the East Coast, from a West Coast Girl.

Pros (with minor cons for some) --Public Transportation: I thought about it this way� so a monthly pass I think is $41 in New York (I might be wrong) and a tank of gas for Roy is around $35 for about 350 miles. Although I�m not too kid about relying on public transportation and having to put into my plans my travel time, I thought it was kind of cool. I�m not too kid about the D.C. metro system (it�s all circular from the capital and confusing)� but New York�s got it going on. I picked it up pretty quick. The whole weekend I was like �take the red or take the blue� (I�m sure that�s not even the correct term for them, but that�s how I remembered them). This can be a con too because I�m so used to driving and getting to where I wanna go when I want to without having to look at a schedule, but that�s just because everything in LA is so spread out.

--Walking: I probably never did so much walking before in my life. I never had to, but it was good exercise. I think you absorb the atmosphere in a little bit more then you would in a car. There�s so much to pay attention to when you�re walking, especially in New York, but the con to this is� if you�re not used to the walking, it seems like an eternity. (I don�t think I�m out of shape, but I did get tired on our mega walking days.)

-- Urban Feel: NY and DC has this urban feel that you just don�t get in Los Angeles. It feels like a city. Frances was like �I feel so country bumpkin� and in some ways, it�s true. I do feel country bumpkin, you don�t get that city vibe in LA� FOR SURE. So many people to meet just walking down the street� sitting on the subway� waiting for the bus� standing outside H&M. But here in LA� what opportunity do you get to talk to people that way?

--One minute you�re here� the next minute you�re there: I like how in NY everything is so different in a matter of blocks. I mean one minute you�re in Chinatown and the next thing you know it�s downtown. It changes so quickly that so many cultures are so accessible in the matter of blocks. I also like how everything is so condensed together. It�s so great!

--NY/DC Hot Dog Vendors/Nuts for Nuts/Shish Kabobs: Dangerous yet quick lunch on the go. I love these things! Hehe and you don�t really feel bad because you walk a lot but yes I am nuts for nuts (I like the almond ones) and the shish kabobs on the corner of 8^th and Fashion Ave. YUM!

--Dunkin� Donuts: not for the donuts tho� but for the coffee! But they deliver so I�m not worried at all. I credit Theresa for the intro to the coffee and the nice Dunkin� Donut shop worker on 8^th Avenue near Mei�s brother�s place (around the 42^nd to 49^th street) for the free donut holes! He asked me if California was like GTA San Andreas� I laughed at him and said not at all =)

East Coast Cons

--Humidity: My nappy ass hair did not survive in the weather, and the only time it did was when I took a shower uptown =) and had a flat iron. In DC it was worse. If I lived on the East Coast for sure I�d have to get my hair professionally straightened.

--Weather: It�s too cold on the East Coast for this Cali Kid. Nuff said! I don�t seem to like the idea of four seasons versus the two we have here in California. On the East Coast there�s a Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. You can literally see the seasons change and have to dress accordingly. Here in LA it�s cool and hot. Light jacket weather and no jacket weather you know what I mean? Dude come on this is coming from the girl who�s cold in San Francisco every time she comes up. Yes I am horrible.

--Not driving Roy: I missed him� especially in the rain. Because Roy always takes care of me in bad and good weather.

--JAYWALKING!!! You guys are gonna kill yourselves one day! So much Jay walking in NY!

--Too far from Cali: *sigh* I�m just a CA kid at heart =)

New Yorkers are not mean at all btw� I wonder were the stereotype came from. Everyone was really nice to us on our trip. I guess we got lucky.

But dude I better get back to work� *sigh* back to work

I have lots of NY stories to tell... but dude... guess what? My IPOD died... or it's in intensive care =( dang... it has not been my tech month. First the cell phone, now this. But I had a great time! =)

Not that you care... but I will be in D.C. on Thursday. New York on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. D.C. again on Tuesday and Wednesday back home. Easier said than done of course but yea =) Let the games begin!

I'm such a sap! This epsiode made me cry the whole last half an hour! Extreme Home Makeover!

.:Crazy:. It's been a while since I've had a week/weekend like this. In a good way =) Never do I ever complain about not having a significant other. Although it'd be nice to have someone I've never complained, and if I did it was like for a split second, and I've gone on with my thang... knowing that for all the loneliness that a person can endure without someone I am the only one that can make myself happy. Right? It's been a good week. Haha... I've thought a lot about potential men and the men in my life. I'm not in a search, but it seems like people/life are searching for me. I know this guy... or my friend has a friend. Or something like that. I hate set ups I absolutely hate set ups... but I felt a little overwhelemed this weekend. It was weird. Sometimes you just want to meet a good man/woman, but at this age are we playing for keeps or for the time being? Are we ready for those potentials or are we scaring ourself from our own love potential? He makes me nervous, I make him jealous, he makes me smile, I smile when I hear his voice. He paralizes me from potential. I've said this time and time again. And when you love someone you kind of just go with the motions. I've gone through the motions the past almost two years in the summer (!!!) but what do you do when you meet someone who potentially is for keeps (on both ends, not just my end) how do you go on? And I've talked about it time and time again. The things he says, and the things he does to make me think that there's more to us then just friends us. But I have up even thinking about the what ifs because I'm happy and content with the face value friendship. And I'm okay with that. We're friends... the best of friends and I wouldn't want it any other way. Let the games begin! Haha... summer might be more fun then I thought... thank my lucky stars for potential =)

.:In less then a couple days:. I'll be on the other side of the country. I'm excited. For one thing da fam/my girls and I have never been on vacation together like this. So it'll be cool. So much stuff has been going on that we've hardly had any time for each other so I'm glad we're going to spend this time together. Plus, I have not seen Angela in forever. I miss her mucho. I think it's going to be a good trip. Financially, I'm not where I wanted to be at this date now that it's finally come, but I know that I'll be okay. I'll get to see New York, and even though it won't be for TFA... it'll be okay. ---------- I've been thinking about some friendships I have. It's weird how situations just make them change. It's so weird. Decisions made, and chances taken make things work out weird in the end. I don't know if distance, and just situations make people grow apart, but sometimes I wonder if the relationships I have are solid because of the nostalga or because they are. It kind of makes you think sometimes. Not that I'm trying to get rid of my friends or anything like that, because that isn't even the case.I'm okay with people growing apart. That's all. --------- I'm not boy crazy... I swear I'm not, but I quite possibily have met the man of my physical dreams. At was at a work function (no he's not a fraternity boy) and I swear I got all school girlish because of his rugged good looks. Man, I never used to by into terms like it should be a crime to look that good or hurt me hurt me but it should be a crime to look that good and HURT MEH HURT MEH! alas... I have no balls and he's probably taken and called for twice over. Gosh, boys don't look like that. Men do tho... oh boy do they =) ---------- He was really worried when I told him about what happened a couple of entries ago. He reacted very boyfriend like and all I could do is accept it and be angry (just a little) I think I'm bothered by us again (I usually get this way during the summer... or close to the summer) Why can't I just accept things for what they are and not complain. because I can't and I never will, and I'm okay with that . ---------- What's your theme song? David was trying to find one and he found one. I have two... I have a fight entrance song and I have a theme song. My fight entrance song is the DJ Danger Mouse remix of What More Can I Say by Jay-Z and my theme song is Dirt Off Your Shoulders (yea another Jay-Z song) Both make me feel great and get the adrenaline rushing. Yeah! I think it's important to have one, so if you don't have one go get one. ---------- I'm updating my resume. I haven't done that since I started working. I actually have done a minor job search with hopes of turning it into something major. Cross your fingers for me. I feel we'll all benefit if I get this job. word.

.:Oh Please...:. for every really cool EC... there's the typical fraternity boy. ugh.

.:You are not unbreakable:. Without getting into too much detail... something really bad could have happened to me tonight. (don't worry though, I'm okay... 5% shaken up but okay) I think as young people we're too careless. We think we're unbreakable. We think that we can ride like we're never going to fall off. Sometimes we don't think about the minor things like making sure you have your keys by your side, or leaving prized possessions all visible in your car. We figure oh, one second won't hurt or I just turned away for a minute. There are some crazy people out there in the world, and we think we can take them all on. Me included in said above things. I mean, it's pretty careless to go do things at late hours, drive home at certain times. Even think that driving on the freeway the short distance from Alhambra to my house is not safe anymore with all the freeway shootings going on. I know that it'd be stupid to just coop myself up and not do anything, but after the actions of tonight I think it's time to be a little more careful about things. Not stop the routine, but be more careful. Look behind my shoulder, pay attention to my surroundings, carry mace again! I don't know. I was lucky tonight... it really could have been worse. And these are just the basic things. Add some kind of substance to the mix and even worse things could happen. Make me feel a little better about not practicing in all those recreational substances from the last entry. So please be careful... especially at night... we can break... or be broken in a split second.

.:Random Late Night Thoughts:. --Sometimes I wish that life was like clicking myspace/friendster links. Haha... don't laugh, but seriously you know that the connections are so uncanny on those things, or someone just catches your eye, and alluva sudden you're clicking links and end up looking at some person who lives in Alabama and likes Wu Tang Clan. Seriously. Like life was so random and unpredictable, yet you always knew that no matter how far you went, you could always go back to square one. word. --I never try to do things to him on purpose, but his reactions to things amaze me sometime. He gets jealous... and today it felt like I pushed it over the top. Our relationship is funny, we're always frontin'. Be honest with me dammit! Tell me what you're feeling. And stop being so damn territorial. As mad as I'm trying to sound right now at almost 3 AM in the morning... dammit... I think it's cute. That's why I love him more then I will anyone who ever decides to grace me with their presence, so until I meet the one to replace him I guess I have to deal with my feelings. I just sorta wave a white flag, and hope for the best. I'm prepared to fall as hard or as softly on the ground as a possibly can. One day, I will be on the arm of someone else, and he'll have to be okay with that. word. --What's the fascination with weed and drinking among college aged kids anyway? It's so weird how they're so into it. I really hate the taste of alcohol and I hate the way weed smoke smells. Is it that cool to get high? And if so... should I just finally give in and try? Weed free since... haha forever. Contact high because of the hip hop love, but never puffed in my life. Surrounded by EC the whole week, and hearing them talk about all this stuff about getting drunk and getting high, I kind of had to back up a second and look at the whole situation. Was there something I was missing all these years? Could I have been the life of the party all these years? (I am quite the entertaining drunk I've heard) but is it all worth it? Am I just a square? probably. --Dammit... business attire? Tomorrow night better be fun!

.:Kick in the door...:. I've been out of the game for a while... but I know flirting when I see it. Fellas/Ladies lemme ask you something? Why flirt when you have a significant other? Is it because you can? Is it because you know the other person is wishing/hoping/loving the fact that you do so? I mean... don't get it twisted, I'm not trying to name kids with this crush that is making me feel but I feel a little odd. Why so Nicole? Well lemme tell you why. He gave me back my hello. Now, there are hellos but then there are hellos and well I got a hello today. I mean... I gave him the him hi. (because when him calls... I say hi to him the same way I said hello to crush) The oh I know it's you calling hi. The how is your day, I'm glad to hear your voice hi. The I wish you were here hi. And in return... what did I get? I got it back! I got my hi back from him. I said that hi to him the way I did with every intent to flirt and he did it back! WTF? Now it's kinda of unclear if he does really have a significant other, because I acted upon selective hearing. I choose to hear the words my and girlfriend, but a word came inbetween the two. I'm almost sure of it. (for sure that was not selective hearing, thought about it too much to think otherwise) Now Mei and I talk about it all the time. The whole "How do you tell someone you're taking without sounding cocky about it." And that is the method... causually drop in the comment blah blah blah my girlfriend/boyfriend right? It was done to me with some mystery word in between. But whatever I'm over it. The following are now pet peeves about (certain) young people these days --They cuss too much. Guys and girls... cussing like a sailors, influencing me to do the same. You know cussing is one of those atributes that's just triggered by a crowd. If the whole crowd is doing it, then I should too. Haha... but my cussing got real bad thanks to EC and the gang. Boo! Just when I thought it was getting better. Gosh, it's going to take a whole week to get back to normal. DAMN YOU EC! --They smoke too much. Like seriously, I never saw smoking in such an unattractive light until this week. Cutesy Asian girls lighting up... unattractive. And like they smoke sooo much! Like at least collectively maybe 20 of these kids smoke 20 packs. LOL I totally lost the thought so I'll come back to this. I had fun this week. I did some flirting, I laughed a whole lot. I cussed a whole bunch. I had deep and not so deep conversations. I started a legacy, and I learned 12 more names then I needed to this week. The upside down V gods were good to us in terms of weather and well... I don't know. It's refreshing to be outside of the office. EC Guy: "How did you know that?" Me: "I know too much." I love being a kid/adult.

.:Dude... you do know too much:. Haha, if my rapport with the college boys was as good as it is now, I'd be so much cooler. SIKE! Seriously though, that's why I don't mind going to these type of work functions. Although I seriously don't mean for it to be this way, I always end up feeling like a hommie although most of the time an outsider away from the situation would think it's a bad thing, for the most part, it's my insider edge. It's a lot more fun talking with college students making fun of them (even though my sarcastic humor is usually confused for actual insults) and all that jazz then being all stuffy and professional organization and college org split nah mean? I know that maybe it's not the ideal situation but it works for me =) It's especially as bad when we go to EC (haha you'll never guess why that's the code name) they're so funny. I'm one of the gang. Even more so then usual. We all care about the job, but we all laugh about it later. I like how I refer to them by their nicknames instead of their real names. I tried to shy away from it when speaking to them, but it just wouldn't work (it's not my fault that David is a common Asian name, and they didn't respond to me when I said their real names!!!) I know whos from where and who's Pbros they are with and what not. I never was a sorority person, but these EC's are a cool bunch. They made my day today (even though professonally it wasn't a good day) Personally, I had a great time. Last day tomorrow... I'm sad. If all goes well professionally I won't see them next fall, but I wouldn't mind seeing them again if it didn't go well. It was a great run while it lasted though, as for other stuff (or person) related to EC, well that's a whole different story, for a whole different place. But hey technically, said characters in the previous entry are alumni now. It's a fair playing field now suckas. Gosh I'm giddy. Not because of EC, but just because of a feeling like/crush is an amazing feeling folks I have not felt this feeling so strong since... two summers ago... at that place where Celine Dion lives at... when he smiled at me that morning. ... I need to forget about all that and move on. I guess that's what the objective is here. Learning and letting go is a horrible yet, wonderful piece of advice I could give myself. I want so badly to not blow this out of proportion (but dammit... I need to get rid of him) And ride this feeling for dear life! But I'd like to put the rest this love and just move on. I've gotten to the point where realization has come over me, and I have no choice but to just give in, let the feeling go and hope that new feelings will make me feel the same way he once did. Forgive me... it's 1am

.:Remember When (part two):. Yea, I know this is what flickr is for... but whatever =) (not as emo as last time) My sisters (TNT) and I used to always eat at Lee's in Westminster Gabbie used to carry Minnie all over the place Kuya came to visit and invited me to get entertained by others

.:*SIGH*:. I think the thing about growing up is that there are no crushes in the real world. I really haven't had any oportunities to crush on someone. Not that I've been looking for that, but just because it'd kinda be nice you know? Not that college gave those opportunities (you already know the story) but yea... you know what I mean though right? Crushes are awesome! Yes! Waking up early sucks... espcially when you can't see your crush. I feel like such a school girl...

I AM SO LAME! but dammit... it's just too familar =)

.:Remember When... (part one):. Some FASA kids were posting old pictures on their xanga's and talking about what they remembered because of them. I'm only biting the idea because it seemed really cool (and I ran into some cool old pictures) but yea... they don't read this anyway so whatever =) So before you read each title for the picture, say the words "remember when." ... I was a FASA Kid (for a while) on board Nowadays it seems so hard to believe, but this group was a big part of my life, and the experience although not always fun is probably one that I will take with me and hold on to forever. I let me guard down and learned the true meaning of not judging a book by it's cover. Although most of my friends from this era are not as close as they used to be... the ones who are still there are some of the closest friends I have... and I guess that's all that matters. It's so funny because I never thought I'd be apart of it, for various reasons, but looking back on it now, I'm just glad. Glad for the screaming matches, the late nights, the drives back and forth to my house to the Asian House, and everything else that is special to me now. Funny how so many good things came out of such a weird experience. I'm so unconnected to it now, but out of it again... so many good things...

.:Real Quick:. I tested the new digi cam a couple days ago... caught some pictures of the weird ass weather we've been having here in LA. Southern California Weather (which is only found in 2% of the world) is one of the main reasons why, I could never leave LA. The clouds from Wednesday 4/27 (hover mouse over for quotes) Beautiful... simply beautiful (the last two pictures anyway!)