Sumimasen

I'm back under sunny California weather. But first things first...time to reflect.

Tokyo was humid, hot, yet cloudy for the most part. It even rained for one day and sprinkled a little bit the next. But aside from weather issues, my skin felt like it was in a sauna. But apparently I was the only one that seemed to be glistening with a thin layer of sweat all the time. I don't know how the Japanese maintain their matte-like skin. I totally felt like the fat American because my sweat glands were totally overworking over there just trying acclimate.

Oh, and call me ignorant, but I had no idea that Tokyo consisted of so many other little sub-city/districts. I was asked at dinner at one point where I was staying and I truly didn't know how to answer. But now I know I stayed in Roppongi. It seemed nice and clean, but I'm not completely sure as to what the reputation to the locals actually is.

Shopping was fun. We visited various places like Roppongi Hills, Omotesando Hills, Tokyo Midtown, little places in Ginza, Shibuya, and other places I can't recall for the moment. But it was fun. I bought a little messenger bag at this random bag store and a couple fobby T-shirts from another graphic-design store. Oh, and I had no idea Comme de Garcon had other little brands! I got a few items there because we luckily got there for a huge sale. Like we literally got there when a line was queuing. I bought several gifts and clothing items for myself and family. I think the store was called Comme Ca Ism. Very cool but small stuff. Japanese men are apparently so tiny that they don't carry anything bigger than a Large (which is like a smallish-Medium in American size). Sheesh. Made me feel so unbearably fat. Of course that made me regret stuffing myself silly with all the Donkatsu and tempura the previous nights.

I also got to check out this Le Corbusier exhibition they had. I got to walk through a full-scale model! That was pretty cool especially because they also had the Corbu scaled-man sketch on the outside of the model. There were several 3d models that were done via 3DStudio and Maya that looked really cool too. But what I find even more amazing is that this huge exhibition that held smaller scaled and life-size scaled models took place on the 52nd floor of the Mori building! They had this ugly statue of a spider outside as a landmark feature, but it didn't really do anything for me.

Oh, and there was a chocolate exhibition that was kind of cool. That was in one of Tadao Ando's buildings. That was pretty cool. It was just outside of Midtown Tokyo (which puts a lot of American designed shopping centers to shame). The exhibition showed various critiques on chocolate as a medium, icon, and edible good. No camera was allowed but they handed us chocolate as we entered the exhibition which was a good trade. :o)

It was so cool to meet a lot of different people too. I met several Japanese-native individuals that spoke English so well. I felt so inadequate for not being able to inversely converse in their language. Ugh. I could barely even utter "sumimasen". I definitely need to learn the basics at least.

But alas, the trip came a halt when I had to take a flight out of Narita Airport to LAX. My best friend ironically was going to be at LAX to pick up her boyfriend at about the same time I would get out of Customs and Immigration so that was a pleasant surprise. I no longer had to wait 3 hours for my next flight from LAX to Orange County. That would have been a pathetic flight. Sooooo unnecessary. But my friend picked me up and drove in circles as we waited for her boyfriend's delayed flight. And off we were to Irvine Spectrum to eat at Cheesecake Factory. Of course they both bought the iPhone so again I felt like I had a crappy phone as I did in Japan when everyone had things that could read 3d bar codes or play TV. :o(

Okay, that was a long post. I'm going to rest my hands and go lie down on my very comfortable bed. :o)

Disneyland

I haven't been back to the Magic Kingdom with my old highschool friends for almost exactly five years. And alas, we made a pact to go back together. As hard as it was, we were able to decide on a date, make arrangements to get back down to Irvine and met up. It's weird that it's difficult to get all of ourselves in one spot.

But in any case, it happened and thankfully Jeff had his Handicap pass. I know what you're thinking, but no, it was legitimate. He tore up his TCL (unfortunately) but it allowed us to completely cut through the lines. Needless, to say, we rode every ride by 1pm.

But soon after, the night had come to a close. We were hungry with bloodshot eyes and ended up feeding our late night munchies with Yogurtland in Irvine. I know, it's not that great, but it will do until Pink Berry open in Fashion Island in Newport Beach next month!

But okay. I must get some sleep because I started my first day at work today. And boy, was it a total shock. I am tired of driving from Building Department to Building Department in every freaking city. Oh, and let me say that I really don't like Santa Ana. It was almost too ghetto for me to drive through comfortably. I don't want to be snobby, but they really need to make things more acceptable looking over there. Absolutely hideous!

Blackout 'til 12:20AM in Irvine, CA

Along Trabuco and Yale and all the homes until Jeffrey in Irvine, CA, all the homes had experienced a massive blackout. It lasted for over an hour until the power came back.

Of course, this would all happen on one of my worst days. But I guess fate has a sense of humor.
Fate! You are my bitch lover!

But in any case, lights are back on, and I can say that I had one scary drive through the usually non-threatening streets of Irvine. It felt like Silent Hill when hell took over. I could only see a couple feet ahead of me as I drove in my car. The world was in monochromatic glory. It felt like a dense fog ate had consumed my world, and then the phone rang. My sister had called and told me she was out for a late night jog around the neighborhood. And then darkness took over. I bed she was much more scared for she was only armed with the little glow of her iPod whereas I was at least secure in my car. But I must admit, I immediately closed my moon-roof which was wide open at the time. And thankfully, I didn't have a convertible tonight...something I'll have to consider when I think about a vehicle and it's other "safety" values such as blackout fears.

We lit up candles, and almost gagged because they were all scented. I suppose I will remember to never purchase or give my sister scented candles as gifts.

Also, we located all out flashlights, cell phones, house phones, and various other little things we noticed that had light features and placed them on our kitchen table. We set up the candles so that each room was lit enough so that we wouldn't trip over anything in case of an emergency.

And then there was my shower. At first, I assumed that the hot water would not work so I only turned on the cold water. But as I got curious because I tend to doubt myself at times and turned the Hot knob a little ways. And voila! Hot water galore! I could not have been more thankful for hot water than that moment.

Oh, and note that I showered with one little scented candle by the sink, the glow of two cell phones of the bathroom window's ledge, and a toy plastic wine glass from Dave & Busters that glowed above the sliding glass door of the shower.

It made me appreciate electricity and how little I have control over it, but expect a lot from it.

I need to take a class to learn how to create electricity. Is there like a DYI book on this?

A new home

...well, not literally. But I thought I would try Blogger out to see if I liked it better than xanga or not. So far so good.

So I had an interview today that went seemingly well with an architectural services company. It's different from my previous job as an architecture intern because this time I'll be a Drafter/Designer Assistant. It seemed like a pretty interesting job because it's a really small firm and I'll be given a lot of responsibility. They asked me if I could handle quick deadlines, which I can, but I'm starting to get nervous because deadlines tend to make me very quiet, tense, and extremely stressed. But I DO get the job done. But we'll see how that goes...

So yes, I've been going through ups and downs these days because of bitter family life. It's not that we're upset with each other (well, excluding my father whom we all unanimously blame for, well...everything!) it's just that we're finding it hard to survive without his contributions (aka: money). So yes, I can no longer shop, eat out as much as I'd like, or go on multiple boba/yogurt runs in a day.

Life is sad these days. I need to start a Help-Kenny-Foundation. Seriously.

But I did feel really happy when I got a call from Mr. Yang! I completely shut out the world, especially recently, because of the aforementioned hardships, but hearing the voices of good friends - such as Yang - really lightened up my day. I just need one more year to suffer - in school and family life - and voila, I'll have my long-deserved Architecture degree!

But...I'm sure there will be many more obstacles in during these upcoming 12 months...

Pray for me! ...or find me a decent sugar daddy. Either way, I'll be very thankful!!!