Ash Wednesday

I remember when Ash Wednesday happened while I was working at Jessie's.

Multitudes of SFSU students were walking past the Cesar Chavez student centre with dabs of dark ash on their foreheads. And some of them so happened were in the queue for some chicken tenders and dirty fries.

Not being able to stand not knowing the reason why so many of them had dirt on their foreheads I asked one of the guys in line about it.

"It's Ash Wednesday for Catholics!" he answered incredulously.

Yikes.

But then he became a regular customer and I always make it a point to ask him how was his class. And he was my campus news source besides Candace.

I love how friendly people are back there :)

We Found Love In A Hopeless Place

It was the first time I were to meet Ming every since high school. I knew he was staying in SF; he tried to look for a place for me to stay (unfortunately he didn't know any, so I ended up at Sandra and Gordon's).

It was a long awaited meet up. I've been living and traveling to Westfield for about a month already, and the boy had forgotten I was even in the city. -_- Fine la. He was paying for my dinner.

I wanted some real American food besides Buckhorn's, so we settled with Mel's Drive In between Westfield and the Metreon. If I'm not mistaken I was in the midst of being out of a job and I lamented to him about how my manager treated me and how if I didn't find another job in 10 days I'll probably be sent to Malaysia.

It was very refreshing to actually talk to another Malaysian after facing so many Americans. It was nice to talk to people with English you've grown up watching on the TV, but once you hear someone say "lah" after a month, Manglish actually eases the homesickness.

After all our banter over diner food (which is actually very fattening and unhealthy but like who caaaares I wanted American cuisine so I GET AMERICAN CUISINE) I wanted to head over to the Castro, cos ever since Shen went there and told me about the gay community I wanted to see it for myself.

Ming was extremely apprehensive of going there but I told him it's okay because we look like a couple anyway.... so hopefully no one of our same sex will hit on us lol. Digress for a bit, Roman was also very against going to Castro. Okay for him I think I know why lah cos he can pass off as a gay guy with all his stylish dressing but Ming? LOL

So anyways we dropped by a bar and talked more over a couple of Tsing Tao (HAHAH) beers. I remembered feeling much better because after working at Buckhorn SFC you'd be wanting some de-stressing activities in your schedule.

I then had a suggestion to look for Harvey Milk's apartment so we set off wandering the dark streets of Castro, only aided by Ming's GPS. After a while we realised the GPS was useless.. well after it led us to an appreciation place for Milk it did. I spotted a group of gays and not wanting to wander around the dark streets any longer, I made Ming ask for help.

And they were the nicest strangers I've ever met in SF. Really. The three men took us under their wing and showed us Harvey Milk's camera shop, the apartment where he lived in (which was above his camera shop) and back to the bars so we could find our way back to the Muni. While we were walking they asked us about Malaysia, what we were doing here, and I told them that I've never seen anything like Castro before. Yeah it was a bit ulu for me to say that but they laughed it off and said it's what you get in San Francisco! :)

I've forgotten their names now but well. I hope they're doing fine, wherever they are. They sure did make my SF trip a more livable one in a way.

Ahhh I feel happy now

Monthly Music

Today was pleasantly surprising. I received an unexpected message from the person who turned my lonely frown upside down ever since Natalia left for Brazil. And yes. I was quite happy the rest of the day :)

It's nice to know that I had different soundtracks to the four months I was in San Francisco, and being hooked to a new album each month kinda put my memories in order.. it made me remember different occasions and different thoughts and feelings.

December: Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday

December was a myriad, but Pink Friday was constantly on my playlist. I loved blasting her collab with Rihanna (titled Fly) while I was strutting from the Metreon towards Westfield Mall where I worked in Buckhorn. Then there was Moment 4 Life (her collaboration with Drake). I loved that song. It made all the tiring hours at Buckhorn feel like it's worth it. I was in a different country without my family for once. I was working in an environment that spoke a language that I really didn't understand. It wasn't the same as high school as I sort of knew most of what they were trying to say. Minaj's anthems of hard work and strength really did it for me.

January: Switchfoot's Hello Hurricane

January was the most torrential month for me because of the shift towards another job. That two weeks in limbo was plain agonizing. Switchfoot's Yet was extremely uplifting for me. The entire album was uplifting. It just... fitted in the entire situation.

February: Hillsong

Uh. Yeah. I felt the nip of not going to church or cell or anything religious since the Christmas play so I started listening to Hillsong mixed with Switchfoot on the way to work. Plus I started listening to online sermons too, don't mess.

March: Adele's 21

Ahhh. This was because.. you know why la. But it was really funny the first time I listened to the album. The first song that played (it was on shuffle) was Someone Like You. It's so funny that I associated this song to another person before the guy I'm associating this song to now. It's even funnier that I was waiting for Roman to get to the train station (he seriously needs to invest in a watch) and I got to listen to almost the whole album before he arrived. By that time I was so emotionally affected by the cd I didn't speak to him for the first 10 minutes (he thought I merajuk kerana dia lewat tapi ialah berkenaan dengan Adele kuakuakua)

It's very effective to segment your different experiences in the year with different music so that you remember.

Try it.

Before I forget

The night when we were supposed to meet Shenminator for drinks at Vertigo. Or was it the other place across the street.. Shamrock? Can't remember.

It was one of the first few nights we had as "The Basement Club". Andy had just arrived from Switzerland and we decided to show him Polk St the second time (since the first time was a bust as we went on a Saturday night)

I didn't check which bus stop we were supposed to board at after emerging from the Civic Center BART, so we ended up going the wrong way away from Polk St. I suddenly realised we were on the wrong bus when we started going into this long uphill stretch of Victorian style houses so we jumped off the bus. Not before Andy had a situation with a stoned out homeless person who was mirroring Andy's every move (they were sitting opposite each other on the bus).

Once we got off we started our slow downhill walk back to the nearest bus station, and that picture happened.

"Quick, take a picture of me with the city down below!" Andy called out as he dashed to the middle of the crossroad.

Natalia laughed as she pulled out her camera. She wasn't so jolly after we crossed 3 blocks, since she decided to wear heels (of all days).

At that bus station we waited for almost half an hour before a bus came.

At that bus station, we got to know each other so much better. We started talking about future plans, how we were at home, how we wished we were home (or someplace else other than the dark neighbourhood we were in!) and other random stuff.

It was kinda weird to feel slightly crestfallen when we saw the bus lumbering downhill towards us, because we were having such a good time bonding.

But then again our time at Polk was great too. Random guys chatting us up (unfortunately the one who talked to me had his girlfriend in the toilet, but he was nice enough to offer me a free bike tour if I ever wanted to ride across the GGB to Sausalito), we tried playing drinking games Takahiro taught us back in December, and we were all super happy, giggling to ourselves as we bought drink after the other.

Good times.

At Waikiki Beach

I haven't been updating this blog as often as I should, but then blame it on my hectic schedule of going about, trying to cover as many sites in each city I've visited.

So far, the ONLY thing I've lost/left behind are these two v-neck baby tees, one black, one white I <3 NY shirts. I planned to give one to Sya, but like. I left them at The Wanderer's Inn cos I was in a rush to catch my airport shuttle. And the worst part is, the shirts cost me $20, when the ciplak versions only cost $3. SADS.

Anyway, out of all the cities I've been to, I think New York is the most intriguing. The hustle and bustle of Manhattan as people rush around, Harlem where its stoops look like the set of Little Bill (an old Nickelodeon show I used to watch), Central Park and its trees with cobwebb-like branches, and Fifth Avenue. Oh gosh. I SO wanna be a tai tai.

I didn't really like Los Angeles, maybe because I expected so much more, and since its public transport is somewhat limited, I was kinda constrained to only visit places that were near the train station.

And Hawaii. Major difference from the empire state I flew in from. Hawaii is so serene, its sprawling beaches and glimmering turquoise seas relaxed me. I've obtained some pretty nasty sunburns on my back and shoulders from laying under the sun too much, and not knowing how to apply sunblock properly. Though, I don't think I'd want to come back here. Malaysia's beaches are sufficient for me.

And who can forget San Francisco. I think you'd know by now I've fallen in love with that city. I can really imagine myself staying there long term, because it has so many things to see and do. I didn't get the chance to really dive into the artsy scene, and well. If I ever get a chance to go back I definitely will.

I don't know how to resume life in Malaysia now. HAHA

But I am definitely going to grab me some chilli pan mee when I touch down in KL this Friday y'all!

Pictures will be up when I'm in the comfort of my own bedroom, with Ernie under my feet :)

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Okay so the most extreme thing I've witnessed in San Francisco was the first night Andy, Natalia, Shen, her cousin and I went out to Polk Street.

Polk Street's famous for bars (make sure you drop by Vertigo or Shamrock, cos those were the only two places I tried out) but since we went on a Saturday right after Natalia's work... there were crazy lines outside the doors of these two pubs, so we decided to call it a night and buy liquor.

So we were at this liquor store at the corner of Geary and Polk, I think, and I noticed this weird looking homeless dude shuffling outside the store. He was wrinkly looking, and there were bald patches on his head. He muttered to himself angrily as he padded around aimlessly with his worn out shoes.

We avoided him and went into the store. What did we buy? Liquor la DUH.

While Shen and her cousin were paying, Nat, Andy and I stood near the entrance of the store (we were still inside) so as to not block the way.

So in front of the queue was this father and his two daughters, one was a toddler and the other slightly older. After paying and grabbing his things, (i)obviously(/i) he went out the store. He warned his kids to stay close to him, as he noticed the homeless druggie from before. True enough, the druggie started coming closer to the kids, wanting to touch them. "I hate you! I really hate you!" he started saying angrilly to the father, trying to grab hold of the youngest daughter.

She squealed.

Then...

I am not making this up.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!!!!" the father yelled, aiming a flying kick right at the druggie's chest.

WHOMP. The druggie flew backwards from the impact.

The girls started crying as the father herded them away to safety.

Druggie started yelling profanities at them.

"I don't want to go out nowwww!" I whined at Andy as he chuckled. "This is insaaaaane!" he said, sounding astounded.

Apparently he and I were the only ones in our posse to witness the drama, cos Natalia's back was turned (she heard the kick) and Shen and her cousin were busy paying for our party fuel.

So yeah that was THE most crazy thing I have witnessed in SF.



Today I was riding the train in LA. I'm staying with my cousin, so I had to go places alone. Renting a car was out of the question, and so was borrowing their car, ahahaha.

So yeah I was in the train today, passing by Compton (it is SO much more scarier than Tenderloin. It's not sketchy. It's just plain scary. Like the fear of me getting beaten up cos I WAS THE ONLY ASIAN ON THE TRAIN) and well. Apparently there was this woman who was sitting next to an empty seat, and this dad wanted to let his young daughter sit, and apparently she didn't move over or accidentally kicked the daughter or something... then... all hell broke loose.

Like they were full on fighting. He was yanking her hair, she was kicking him, they were struggling... some Good Samaritan-looking Mexicans were trying to help break up the fight and all...

And the shouting. Oh my gosh. I was so scared everyone will jump into the forray and start fighting each other. The woman next to me was yelling "She always causin trouble, she from the shelter, I remember her! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY! Beat her ass!" Wtf

At the next stop, he GRABBED her and yanked her off the train station. Seconds later, security came rushing to break it up.

Phew.

Then like on the way back, there was almost a fight because some guy accidentally kicked this other guy's foot, causing the kicker to trip slightly. They really looked like they were gonna start punching each other.


Mannnn why so kancheong one United Staaaates

Super Random In-N-Out Post

Uh. Yeah. Was trying my hand at vlogging.

The video is quite pointless, but hey. I'm n00bing here.

More to follow!