getting dorky while rock climbing

Trina, Kris, Kim, myself, Meiche

we all haven't been rock climbing for years. i can say for myself that i've only went one other time in my life and while i remember it being fun, i wasn't sure i wanted to spend my whole afternoon climbing up walls. but once we got to climbing, it was so much fun!! but it wasn't just the act of rock climbing. while i'm a very what-you-see-is-what-you-get type person, i am my goofiest around these girls because i've known them forever and they are my rock. we got really dorky while we were rock climbing. laughing and yelling! checking out each other's butts, all good stuff. lol!

my belayer stance. haha jk. oh, and nobody gave me the memo that we were supposed to wear longer pants. i had just went for a run prior to this so i came as is. let's just say harnesses and shorts don't really work well together. 

for some reason going into this i was afraid i would forget to how tie knots after the lesson, make a mistake, and watch a friend plummet to a life with a broken leg due to my stupidity, but then again, i would never let that happen.

Meiche, doing the damn thing!

when i got to the top, i wanted to ring the bell, but there wasn't one. so the girls yelled out "ding ding ding!!!." satisfied with their fake bell, i descended. 

so at this point we were all pretty beat after having spent two hours climbing, but Meiche wanted to try a 5.10. climb because whenever she does anything she does it hard. there was an easier climb next to her (a 5.6 or so) and i climbed up at the same time. we had an ulterior motive of course. a high-five photo op!

while i was climbing, i found a good place where i felt stable and could stop. i told kris to throw my camera up at me (because it's suuuuch a crap camera that if it fell and broke, i wouldn't really care much) so i could take pics of Meiche climbing from above.

then i proceeded to be silly while Meiche worked her nice ass off to get up that path. wait, forget the scratch...she does have a nice ass!

oh, just chillin and hanging on to the wall.

this was the shot we were going for....

but this was the winner! we are SUCH geeks sometimes! haha! i'm sure the other climbers thought we were idiots. i think we're fun!

i had THE most satisfying weekend

someone once asked me what my perfect day would look like. i said something along the lines of "hang out with friends and/or family while eating something delicious and laughing a lot. oh, and it would be sunny." then he asked me how i thought i would feel after my perfect day and my response to that was "accomplished." that seems like sort of an odd answer, right? i think a lot of people would reply with something more similar to "it was fun," or "happy." for me, i want to feel like i succeeded in something. and accomplishment doesn't have to mean anything other than fulfillment. full of life, full of experience, full of laughter.

this weekend was pretty damn glorious! it was two perfect days lined up to form the most spectacular weekend. so many activities were partaken (wasn't sure that was actually a word. turns out 'tis.) in with various people i love and care about. i'm just going to take a moment and document this because weekends like this really are rare.

saturday began with the sun shining through my window, waking me up naturally and void of an irritating alarm clock. on sunny days i like to seize the opportunity to run outdoors, so i went to a trail that i love and ran a few miles.

immediately following, i met up with some of my favorite friends (Kris, Kim, Trina and Meiche), whom i've known since elementary school, middle school or high school. all of these women are integral pieces of my life and have helped shape me to be who i am today. we had planned to engage in more fitness activities together lately. the activity for this day was indoor rock climbing. it's something that most of us have tried before but none of us have done in years. it was challenging and a shit ton of fun. we got silly up in there, which potentially could have irritated the more serious climbers, but i don't think we really gave much of a damn, as we were having a blast! after climbing for a couple of hours we went back to Meiche's place for a bbq. always a good time.

Ciara came to meet me at the bbq and then she and i headed to San Jose for the Coldplay concert. Coldplay has never been my favorite band, but i find myself liking lots of their music. i pretty much sang along to every song they played, regardless of tone deafness. it was one of the better concerts i've been to and i've been to a lot. 

somehow i have the energy of a four year old kid and dragged Ciara with me to a new friend's birthday in SF. Caroline was celebrating at 5a5 and as a new friend, i couldn't not show up. a lot of the people that i knew there are new to my life, but they all seem to be good people. Ciara and i found ourselves in an open space where we could dance to the beat of our own drums. that's Caroline, lookin' all gorgeous on her day!....and myself and Ciara lookin' all mediocre next to her. haha.

sunday i woke up, again to the sun shining. i got a call from my mom to have dim sum with herself, my dad and my grandma. it was my grandma's 80th birthday! Ciara had spent the night at my place after having come back at 4am, so i brought her along with me to dim sum. i always like playing a part in people tasting new foods. Ciara was a good sport and tried various things that she's never had before.

then we headed to my friend Jo's house. Jo is leaving for New York for a couple of months. as a send-off she had a "bread and cheese on the roof top" day. bread? cheese? sun shininess? i'm all for it. sometimes people think that Jo and i look alike. i mean...we both have short legs and long torsos, sooo...there's that. and i guess people think that both of us are half white...sooo there's also that. and we're both pretty awesome...sooo...

dinner time came and i went to spend it feasting with my family for my grandma's birthday. we had simple chinese, just as she requested. she was happy that we all came to celebrate her. pictures were taken. laughter exchanged. to this day and probably for the rest of my life, my grandma's laughter will be the greatest sound i know.

this weekend was a whirlwind of nonstop fun. forever friends. brand spankin new friends. the core of my life (the family). the energy of an arena. deliciousness. hilariousness. silliness. footwork. endless smiles and sunshine! i couldn't have asked for a more fulfilling weekend.

120:365 poh-poh's bday

120:365 poh-poh's bday
this is my poh-poh. you've met her before. remember? today is her b-day. we went to a simple chinese restaurant because she's super old school and won't allow us to spend too much money on a dinner for her. because it's her 80th birthday today, we originally were going to set up a 10 table dinner for her and her friends. but my grandma is so friggin great and has so many friends, she couldn't stop at just 10 tables so she decided to scratch the whole plan and just have a small dinner with her immediate family.

my god, this isn't even all of the food we had.

happy 80th!

why my dad and my brother refuse to smile in pictures, i'll never know.

with her daughters. my mom on the right, my aunt on the left.

with her grandchildren, minus Tina (we miss you, Teen!!) 

everybody with their girlfriends. i'm 7th wheelin' it with grandma. 

my grandma's cheeks are always rosy. Eva (my cousin, unrelated to poh-poh) says it's cute. my grandma says it's just because her cheeks are always cold. haha!!

Coldplay

i've wanted to see Coldplay in concert for a really long time now. when the opportunity arose, i bought two tickets with nobody in mind to go with. i just knew i wanted to go and that it would be ridiculous to go by myself. as i asked around to see if anybody really liked the band, i was met with a lot of "yeah, they're cool," but never a "hells yeah i do!" then finally i found Ciara. she said she loved Coldplay and the decision was made. plus, she's fun.

myself and miss CiCi

they gave us these bracelets as we walked through the door. initially i thought "this thing is ugly. why would i ever wear this? where's the trash can?" but then i realized that it was a device of some sort and probably had a purpose.

then as soon as Coldplay began to play the bracelet lit up, along with everybody else's in the audience. it was pretty awesome, i've gotta say. the whole crowd's bracelets blinked in unison or varied based on what effect they were going for. 

it's like christmas!

i had purchased my tickets fairly late after the date they went on sale, so we ended up with crappy side stage seats in the nose bleed level. but i've been to so, so, SO many concerts in my life where i've been on the floor or right up against stage and i'm over it. nowadays i just want to feel the vibe of the venue and listen to the bands play live. i need not be right up front anymore.

this was truly one of the best concerts i've ever been to. Chris Martin's voice is perfect. he pretty much sounds exactly like the digital tracks do. and he is so lively when he's on stage. you really feel his passion for the music and that's what makes the concert. while the sea of blinking lights was cool, it's never about the glitter and the dazzle. what's most important is that the band convinces us that what they're singing about is true to them. Coldplay convinces. my favorite was probably when they played "Fix You."

man, that was an effing great concert!!

119:365 Coldplay

119:365 Coldplay
yep, saw them last night. a check off the list of bands i want to see. full post later.

116:365 rock climbing with lady friends

116:365 rock climbing with lady friends
i didn't have a day 116 photo so i'm using this one. Trina set up a rock climbing session for some of our friends. Kris, Kim, Meiche and i went to spend a few hours tying knots and pulling ourselves up walls using little nubs. good times. we got pretty ridiculous. full post to come.

118:365 the lady at treasure island

118:365 the lady at Treasure Island

for years Treasure Island has already graced us with it's breathtaking views of the San Francisco skyline, but sometime within the last year they've added this giant metal dancing woman to liven it up even more. the shape of this structure is has a nice flow, i think. at night it lights up and changes colors too. 

117:365 Yuubi

117:365 Yuubi
crispy cube- rice wrapped in seaweed and deep fried in panko. on top sits spicy tuna and pineapple.hamachi carpaccio- with jalapenos, avocado and ponzu
Yuubi is a new restaurant in the inner Sunset district of SF. they've got some interesting rolls and solid menu. the fish is super fresh and they don't skimp. currently they're running a grand opening special, so if you dine-in there's a 15% discount. 

Zero Zero

the perfect biscuit. buttery, flaky and still moist. with homemade jam. yes please!

clam, garlic, bacon, and pecorino. simple good.

casareccia pasta, proscuitto breadcrumbs, poached egg, arugula. i looooved this dish!

peanut butter bar. light, fluffy peanut butter over a light crisp cookie like bottom (sort of similar to a butterfinger in texture). super rich.

soft serve ice cream with ricotta doughnuts. the ricotta doughnuts were actually really good. light, with a moist, creamy interior. slight crisp exterior. 

Beast and The Hare

sometimes i wonder how it's possible that i'm not a monster of a human being with as much food as i eat. last night i went to dinner with Darrick, and ate just as much as he did. we went to Beast and The Hare. they're clearly known for meat/game, and particularly their charcuterie. we ordered way too much food, as always, and polished it off nonetheless. 

**if you're vegetarian, i wouldn't look any further. this is all meat, and i wouldn't want to be the cause of somebody's disgust. 

Darrick and i, full after feasting on beast! looking all sorts of uncomfortably stuffed...

smoked duck breast, coppa and lardo

this was crazy good.

bone marrow. best dish of the night. holy hell this was good. rich. fatty. the breadcrumbs added a nice textural element.

porchetta with eggs and fries. i'm gonna assume they were going for a ham and eggs type dish. good stuff but there was no skin, so that was sort of a disappointment. 

burger with bacon, cheese and grilled onions. this probably ranks in top four burgers in life. 

oh man. that was too much food. but all of it was delicious. before we even ordered, our server said "this is your first time? well it won't be your last. i promise." and she was right. i'm definitely coming back. if for nothing else, then for that bone marrow.