Socal and Vegas

August is full of travels and friends.
Not really for other people to read. Its for my own journaling. But its here I guess.

11th: Ryan, Jamesuel, Nam, Derek, Tammy, and I went down to San Jose for Larel's birthday party. There was Pilipino food and a pool. We stayed there for a few hours. Then the birthday boy knocked out. Jamesuel, Nam and I ate at a restaurant as Nam briefed us on some knowledge and Ryan slept in the car. Derek and Tammy didn't join us for dinner because Tammy was too sick from the drinks. Actually Ryan and I had big headaches too. I was fine at Jamesuel's house, but mine got progressively more intense as we went down to south. I think its a combination of getting carsick which I'm prone to and the drinks. We got to West Corvina around 5am which was an hour earlier than when Sophy was expecting us so we went to Denny's and hung out there for a bit.

12th-15th: Ryan, Jamesuel, Nam, and I hung out with Sophy, the main reason we came to socal. She is leaving to Ross, a medical school out in Dominica. These few days with her, we did a bunch of random stuff, pretty low key and chill, the way we liked it. Also, we spent a lot of quality time with Sophy's niece, Jaslin (spelling?).

12th: Sunday was food (saw Tony and Julia) and Yost Nightclub where we saw Zed. That was pretty fun. We danced a lot though most of us were pretty much sober the whole time. At the end of the night, there was what appeared to be some drama. Oh wells.

13th: Monday, we went to Huntington Beach. Took us a while to get out of the house, so we got there in late afternoon. We took pictures and played in the wave and laughed our ass off after an attempt to chicken fight in the waves. I'm pretty sure everyone around us thought we were crazy. Afterwards, we ate buffalo wings with Sophy's friend, Phung. Jamesuel was quite the entertainment as he ordered the food and spilled water on the table. Then, we grabbed donuts at Krispy Kreme followed by a movie at home, Horrible Bosses. Afterwards, Nam told us a story about why he takes the approach he does to helping people, which was a response to sometime I said to him in the car about how I didn't like how he was telling Sophy what to do. It was a rather interesting story and did give me some insight on how Nam operates. Afterwards, prepping to go to sleep actually lead to more pillow talk between me, Jamesuel, and Sophy.

14th: Tuesday, we went to an Asian plaza (I lika that Asian foodz- Jamesuel's Voice). Then we went to Half & Half Cafe to try some of their boba drinks. Then we took Japanese booth pictures. It seemed like everyone was hella dead. I couldn't tell if was from no sleep or the heat or boredom or whatever. Then, we went to eat Korean bbq with some of Sophy's high school friends. A friend of her friend also came, Noah. I thought he was pretty cute. we stayed at the restaurant for quite awhile because one of her friends got stuck in traffic, but we were entertained for a while with the Kpop videos that were playing. Afterwards, we took a stroll around K-town while Nam recharged with some alone time. On this stroll we grabbed some fish icecream and face masks and a cucumber.

15th: Wednesday, we ate at a Hong Kong restaurant. We did face masks, cleaned up a bit, and played with Jaslin. We went to Guppies and meet up with Stephanie and Gil. Then we went to Yardhouse and ate some more and drank a bit. Then we said our sad goodbyes, as Nam and I went with Stephanie and parted with Sophy, Ryan, and Jamesuel. 1

6th-19th: LAS VEGAS. Oh my. Lets just say... gosh damn that was expensive and dramatic, though I did have fun and it was quite an unique experience. I didn't get to see my cousin, Rattanak, or his kids, but I guess that's just another reason to come back to Vegas again. I did spend time with both Linh and John together which hasn't happened for a very very long time. I wasn't quite sure how we would be like all together, but it was actually pretty good and perhaps one of the highlights of this Vegas trip.

16th: Thursday, Nam and I were at Stephanie's home doing random things on our own. Steph's mom made us spaghetti, salad, and shakes. Steph came home early and we watched a show dissecting a great white shark. Then we prepared to leave for Vegas. Travis met us up and we flew out of Burbank. Thursday night was chill in Vegas. Nam and I did not join the rest of them for dinner. Nam went to eat on his own while I got comfortable in the hotel, dancing, cleaning, and working out. Nam came back and we ironed our clothes. The rest came back including Travis, Stephanie, Linh, John, Anna and Travis' friends, Stephanie, Jimmy, and Yen.

17th: Friday, we woke up to homemade mimosas. Nam had gone of on his own before I woke up, and he told Travis he wouldn't be with us till around 6pm. So we ate without him at Bochi Burger which was off the strip. It was pretty good, though most of us didn't eat all of our food. We packed half for later. Then we stopped by Vons to look for mint leaves and for me to get cash which I ended up not doing. John lent me some cash. We went back to the hotel and migrated our stuff to the 3 bedroom suite. We settled in and chilled. I think it was then when a few of us enjoyed the jacuzzi with bubbles and then napped. More people came and joined us. A bunch of Travis' Socal friend's came in with Travis-face-cut-outs which was both creepy and cool. Then we used those cut outs in the photobooth that Travis made. Alex and Kim came right before we were heading off to Marquee. Marquee was just a hot mess of craziness. It cost 50 bucks for guys. Good thing Alex was there to spot me. I really hate the guy-girl ratio thing for Vegas clubs. I hate the many check points prior to entering the club. I hate their douchy security. And I hate paying 50 bucks just to go to a club. I must admit, the club was way gorgeous with an outside area that looked like a fancy resort I could never afford. And I never seen so many people at a club before. It is rather difficult to keep our big group together in such a crowded place. And when the dance floor got to full, I couldn't get back on the dance floor after setting outside to find more people. When midnight struck, the birthday boy was supposedly alone and got rather pissed about that. Drama ensued. Trying to find Travis, John and I circled around the dance floor, and then we just enjoyed the moment as Gareth Emery dj-ed right in front of us. It waas pretty crazy, awesome, and tiring. Linh wasn't with us because he had a headache and went back to the hotel. Iono if I should consider this as us going clubbing together (a promise he made me a long time ago) because we didn't even get to dance together. Oh well. Anyway, we tried to contact a bunch a people via text and found out Travis was kicked out, and we assumed that he would meet us back at the hotel. Steph, Nam, John, and I were the last ones to head back or so we thought until we found out that Travis wasn't at the hotel but actually back in Marquee dancing by himself. Nam went back for him. Such a trooper. Steph and I had some pillow talk before knocking out.

18th: Saturday, Encore Beach Club! Swimming, Music, a bunch of ripped men all around me. Yea I was having fun, but Nam wasn't there long before he left back to the hotel. Before getting there though, I was stressing out. I forgot my ticket and I was having the worst time trying to print it out. And I went with Nam to go buy sandals which we really didn't need to do. Oh well. I never printed my ticket, but they let me in with the barcode on my phone thankfully. We pretty much just chilled in the pool and drank a bit. Its odd that in this pool, you can't swim and you can't splash... some pool. And for the guys, we can't dance at specific places, which made me feel restrained. But overall, I had a blast there. Lots of sun and hot weather. Swimming with John, Linh, Travis, Steph, and Travis' friends. Drinks floating around. It was quite an experience. Then we went back to the hotel. NAP TIME. There was a lot of down time, and a bunch of us spent it watching Top Chef, Restaurant Impossible, and Iron Chef. And napping. Then we got ready to got out again. XS Nightclub, again more Vegas straight club problems, the high price, the security and lines, the restrictions imposed on men, the drama that ensued. I felt like I was basically catering to the women that night. They waded in the shallow end of the pool as the guys watched their heels and purses. And then the girls danced around a dance pole and the guys just watched on the side. Then other girls were up on this dance pole platform and Travis actually made out with one. LOL moment of the night. But I didn't do much dancing. I wasn't having that much fun. It was just nice to be around I guess, but I would say not my idea of spending 50 bucks doing that. Porter Robinson was there. Cool beans, but we didn't get close to him or even set on the dance floor for that matter. John and Linh weren't there because they went to see La Reve. Afterward, we were at the hotel just chilling again. Nam and I took a really quick nap as other went to get food. Then Alex, Kim, Nam, and I headed to the airport around 5am. We got on different initial flights but our transfer flight was the same, so I could actually ride back to Berkeley with Alex and Kim. I guess this is technically Sunday now. The rest of the day I just rested and went out with Ryan and Derek to Oakland Chinatown.

20th: Monday, I hung out with Nam, Ryan, and Emily. Nam took all his stuff back from Ryan's car and our apartment. Then, we went to Emeryville Bay Street and checked out clothes and candy. And then we said our goodbyes. Then, Jamesuel came over and hung out. I cannot describe how much I want to hold and squeeze him. He looks so cuddly and cute. But of course I restrain myself to a reasonable amount. We played Munckins till past 3am. I said I hate the game, but I won anyway with the help of Emily.

 21th: Tuesday, I leave for Cleveland. I asked Ryan and Emily to feed my fish and plants. Then I took the Bart to SFO and flew to Las Vegas where I actually play a little bit of the slots. I lost of course. Then I got to Cleveland after midnight. Cleveland... oh man, walking through the airport felt like stepping back ten years. The advertising is gross and amateur. Everything had this old flavor I can't really describe. But its really nostalgic. I'll probably write more about Cleveland in another post. I just wanted to write my Socal trip and Vegas Trip before I forget.