daybee’s posterous

maybe if his face wasn't plastered on t-shirts and caps everywhere, buyers would actually value his images.

two days ago, my mom called stephen to get a hold of me because i had accidentally left my phone in the car and wasn't answering. at the end of their conversation...

stephen: it was nice talking to you.

mom: you're welcome.

haha. hilarious. stephen tells me this right after and we have a good laugh.the next day, my mom calls me as i'm driving to meet him for dinner...

mom: do you know what happened yesterday? stephen said "it was nice talking to you" and i said "you're welcome"!

me: hahaha. i know. he already told me.

mom: hahaha. oh no. you have to explain for me or he will think that my english is so bad, but i understood what he was saying! i just got confused. i'm just so used to saying that when i hang up the phone at work. (side note: she has to answer a lot of calls at work from customers who don' t know how to use their credit card machines). you have to tell him. tell him that i meant to say it was nice talking to him too... and that i always like talking to you guys on the phone, but i'm always afraid to call because you guys are always busy and i don't want to bother you...

me: hahaha. ok, i will.

a few hours later, my mom calls again...

mom: did you tell him?

me: haha. oh, i forgot.

mom: you have to tell him!

me: haha. ok!

too funny.

in response to stephanie's comment on my last post...

i won't retract my statement about selflessness being the most attractive quality in a person, but the comment does bring up a very important distinction, that being: once a person is emptied of his/her own self, what does that person fill him/herself up with?

i agree, someone who tries to be selfless to everything to everyone is not attractive. it shows indiscretion.

at the same time, i would not ask someone to empty themselves for me. in my honest opinion, to ask that would be selfish... and i guess, hypocritical. i don't want to sound preachy, but for me, there is only one thing worth emptying myself to and that's God. as an extension of that, apparent acts of selflessness towards other people are simply manifestations of my life being filled with God.

been thinking about relationships today at work (because work's slowed down a bit and because relationships are one of my favorite things to think about), and i've come to the conclusion that the #1 most desirable quality a person can have is selflessness. now, it's usually pretty hard for me to pick favorites/#1's because i like to consider all possibilities at length, but this one i'm pretty sure about. i don't think it's a trait that's pure black/white, have/don't have. i think we all fall somewhere along a continuous spectrum between selflessness and selfishness, but i find those with a perpetual and growing inclinations toward selflessness the most attractive.

sunday, june 14.

stephen and i finish our 5-week sailing lessons and are now ASA 101 and 103 certified. whoop whoop! haha. basically, it means we're allowed to charter boats on our own. it's fun to think about the possibilities: syndey harbor? whitsunday islands? bay area? i don't think stephen cares where we go though, as long as we get to barbecue on the boat, haha. got dinner at bay cities deli in santa monica, at the suggestion of one of our sailing classmates. the bread was well-oiled, the meats were well-marbled, and the cheese was thick-cut. super unhealthy, but the godmother sandwich is worth a try if you're ever in the area. couple tips: if you don't get it with the works, the man behind the counter will get mad, but if you do, beware of the hot peppers. man alive! haha. after dinner, we soaked a bit in the pool and jacuzzi to help recover from the weekend run, but didn't last very long since we were both exhausted from the weekend.

friday, june 12.

woke up super early and set out around 6am to find me housing in berkeley. i think berkeley has more than its fair share of weirdos, but found one that i think i could love, which if all goes well, means i'll be living with in north berkeley a few blocks from the gourmet ghetto. i'm actually pretty excited about the good eats in berkeley. stephen took me to brazil fresh squeeze cafe - delicious little corner shack (which i attribute all to the bright green cilantro garlic sauce) - and smart alec's - which actually has very tasty air-baked fries (unlike the ones from nyc's better burger), though one should beward the copious amounts of garlic that it's loaded with. after dinner, we headed over to our hotel in san rafael and got a real treat watching the sun set over san francisco while driving over the bridge.

saturday, june 13.

woke up semi early for an 8am race start at the marin headlands. unspecific directions and bad road signs led to us getting lost (we weren't the ony ones!), which made for a hectic start to the race, but the view was just gorgeous. what a great re-introduction back to the bay area for me. it really makes me excited to move up there. had a final meal up north at gregoire - which i'd summarize as buttery, but yummy. the potato puffs (basically fried balls of mashed potatoes) are a must try, but i think more than one would've given me a heart attack, haha. on the drive back down to LA, we stopped in bakersfield for dinner with stephen's mom, aunts, and co. got to see some very cute baby pictures and hear some hilarious family stories. haha. i felt so bad going empty-handed and leaving with a car-load of stuff, but it really was an unexpected stop into town. discovery of the weekend: sweet surrender cupcakes. i've eaten a lot of cupcakes over the years, but these are BY FAR the best i ever had (cue drake song: best i ever had, best i ever had... haha, suxors, i'll never be able to say those words without thinking of that song now). three big reasons: 1) the cake is actually good - moist, and not just a vessel for icing overdose like most other cupcakes du jour, 2) the flavors are plentiful and creative (peppermint? delicious), and 3) they preserve well -  i brought them into the office for my co-workers and three days later they are just as good, if not better than when i had them on saturday. also, an honorable mention goes to dewar's candy. the peanut butter flavor tastes just like the taiwanese peanut candy, but with a softer texture and a taffy-like chew . if sweet surrender's cupcakes weren't so good, i'd be raving more about it, but no such luck for dewar's, i guess.

             

Click here to download:

birthday_weekend_part_2.zip (18935 KB)

thursday, june 11.

stephen treats me to an early birthday dinner of japanese tapas at ronin izakaya because we'd have to "eat healthy" on friday given our saturday trail run (7k for me, half-marathon for him) at marin headlands. it was a particularly thoughtful choice since he knows i that i love tasting lots of different foods, but i hate eating a lot. :) oh, how difficult life is for me. anyway, it is now easily one of my favorite restaurants in LA. garlic edamame, ahi taco shimi, oxtail, braised pork, wasabi mashed potatoes, and ronin fried rice. all get a thumbs up from me. interesting notables: the garlic edamame actually tasted more like it was cooked in chinese black bean sauce. mm.. suck away! haha. the taco shimi was topped with a generously thick (but not too thick) slice of ahi tuna, which made it extra savory, and the guacamole with extra twist was a perfect balance for it. the oxtail was wonderfully stewed, extremeley flavorful. if i had to complain, it would be about the pork, which was maybe a little dry for my taste, though the poached asian pears it came with were extraordinary. all of it washed down with the house hot sake, which was delightfully sweet.

       

Click here to download:

birthday_weekend_part_1.zip (5046 KB)

i used to love yogurtland, but lately the lines have been snaking out the door and the overall experience is just not as enjoyable anymore. it's too bad trips to yogurtland will probably become more and more rare. :(

i don't like taking pills because they taste bad. i drink water when i take pills because i think it will make the bad taste go away. i end up drinking what feels like a full day's worth of water. i dislike the feeling of my stomach being filled with too much water. i hate taking pills even more.