reuniting and reconnecting with REAL-ness

i must say that i am truly thankful and just so grately honored to be remembered by awesome people that ive met in my life. I never thought i would be somewhat remarkable to someone. and it makes me so happy to know that they had me in their hearts all these years as one of their friends.


I cant believe this but I re-united with Cody!!!!!! he is just the sweetest good-hearted guy with the most genuine personality and i was able to reconnect with him thru facebook and we got coffee!! he is back in redondo beach and with the help of Becky being our communication via internet, we got in touch and it was just great. nice, chill, laid-back. he is so much mature but still the same guy with the big great smile. i was very happy he is doing so well.
And he kept this drawing i drew of him skateboarding signed '97 and he had it in a plastic cover and in perfect condition all these years.....! that means a lot.

so we both got an americano from coffee bean yesterday morning (high-fiving for the same drink & coincidence) and then had a real down-to-earth sharing of time. took a nice chill walk along the beach, caught up on each others lives and happenings, and was able to see Mike Rubino as well. wow, good times....highschool days....it was nice.

it makes me so good to be back home in CA.

i know more of where i can belong.



got to see my old College roomie, Lisa and her daughter Teagan(and her hubby, Justin) good times at Tapioca Express. haaa memories.


Justin's Graduation from Loyola marymount Law! woo hoo!! Ali and Brian Park, long time no see. wow.


met up with my buddies, Jed and Julius, wow...been a long time. has it been since 2005!?

Roomies...! that would be awesome.

At Wilson park - Marc's family mother's day picnic
(may 10, 09)

Im staying over at Becky&Marc's apartment for the next couple of days, and we got some wedding stuff done but it just feels like us hanging out like the usual.

I got to walk with Beck and we got some morning Joe at Peet's here in Sherman Oaks. They make it way better than other Peet's thank goodness. hee hee.

We got to go look for some bride's maids dresses a bit but then we came back home and hung out. Had some "meeting" about a possible job offer for me to move back to the US so had a nice chat with Becky's friend, Helen.

Marc was busy and was working and out all day. hes still not home yet, he should be back soon. Im ready to go to bed too....
We did this crazy hilarious disasterous baking in the microwave. the challenge was not sucessful....Plain Sponge Cake : gotta re-try. LOL.

man, we'd be awesome roommates. but then again, i wouldnt want her to get sick of me. Word to self: might be best to not become roomies with yer besfriend. hahaha. *wink

wedding and planning...chop chop

View from the walk to Coffee Cartel....nice day.

trail i have never walked before for all these years of living here....nice.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.
Today I went out for a morning jog and got some flowers for mom along with the card and gift i had ready for her a few days back.

I felt super tired as if the "tired-bug" has finally caught up with me after arriving back to CA...but was looking forward to going out to check out Becky and Marc's wedding receptions site, Hartley's Botanical Gardens Open house.
I first met them up at Wilson park where they were having a mother's day picnic with Marc's family. Got to meet a lot of his family - uncles and aunts and cousins and in-laws. it was so friendly and happy and just warm people all together. =)

we met up with Mr. Bryan and Debi and then headed over to the Garden site.
It was reaaally amazing and beautiful! i must say if i were to get married....id like this sorta place....the garden and the trees and the flowers......

Ill post more later but its already close to midnite and im staying over at B&M's for couple nites now. Sleep over. haha, look at me being the thridwheel on the newly-wed-to-be's place. but this is us, the usual us 3. yay.

GAME NITE at Becky and Marc's!

i did a little baking...nice fluffy chocolate chips. and also biscottis too.
Game night and everyone.....CRANIUM!

nothing has changed....so natural

IM HOME!!!!!!!!!

yes, PV, CALI, my home. (May 5th, 2009 11AM)

the weather and the temperature has been pleasant, the blue sky is the same amazing comfort.

i finally got some time to update my blog. seems like from the second we landed ive been running around taking care of needed errands and getting back into the "at-home"-ness. It is just great!! nothing really has changed, all the streets and the places are all the same to me. I feel no inconvenience to whatsoever, the language around me is ALL ENGLISH, the radio is in English, the signs, people on the streets....and driving my car the same usual way and cant believe i havent been driven in like half a year.

the first thing was... yes, i stopped to go to Trader Joe's to get some groceries. then on this trip i actually didnt go get coffee until the 3rd day but then i went and got myself Golden Spoon the afternoon of. what is just nice is i turn the TV on and its the same comforting sound of English conversations....aaah, im feeling peaceful and great. and of course, after got some stuff settled and enjoying my own room and space after being away from it so long, i called Becky. the fu nny thing is that when we catch up on the phone, even if its been like forever, it always feels like ive never been away. thats prolly because what we have is so special. (thanx Beck and marc!)

here is Golden Spoon USA size. compared to japan version...only $3.25
...so okay had some stuff to do like our car insurance, house related stuff to do so taking it early from 7AM the next morning on, i went with mom to take care of DMV stuff and such. although i wasnt able to see Becky till Thursday for GAME NIGHT, i just gotta say, MAAAAN, ITS SO GOOD TO BE HOME....!!!

(i get to see Tim, Lisa, Marc!)

Oh, and also i was on the United Airlines coming back to PV, i got to see their new 180degree luxury seats on Business class. Daaayaamn. i actually watched all the movies i have not seen yet. this is my usual deal on plane trips: i kill time by awtching all the films. hey, 9 hour flite, 2 hour per movie. i watched Benjamin Button, Bride wars, marley&me...to name a few. not too shabby. and i felt good about not having to have seen these in japan paying 18bux per movie. haaa.

And since i brought back Justin's stuff with me, when he landed on may 7th, he stopped by right after! so i guess the very first friend i got to see was Justin, although i saw him in Japan. haha, even when he was in japan for about 4 months and lived only about 7 min train ride away from me, i feel like ill be able to see him more in the states. funny thing. oh so it turns out he took the same exact flite as mine on United Air. if i had left on the 7th, we'd been taking the same plan back.

well well, ill post some photos later, but the Swine Flu seems like not being mentioned at all here in the states. it looks only as if its a joke moreso in japan. no one is going crazy here. haaa.

CHEERS!!!!!!!

nothing has really changed in my neighborhood....nice morning walk.

damn...post-poned!!! >_<

aaa, i should be leaving Japan today to be back in my "home", PV! well....lemme just say my trip has gotten post-poned and im now leaving here on the 5th. pooo.....

well, i just am hooked on my buddy Lisa's blog, Organiclisa. =)
May be i should post some nutritional tips if i know some. But Lisa has the professional view, so its just GREAT. =)

I love Trail Mixes but it sucks that most mixed nuts or anything dried fruits
here in Japan are either
1) expensive for such a small bag,
2) made in China (No No)
3)coated with sugar and loaded with hidden fat grams,
4) dont have the nution labels so has stuff like "etc"
5) usually salted

.....man i should just start making my own farm and harvest to get the safest food.
Surprising but in japan, even when the Japanese people are diet-concsious, their FDA is lousy and real shady. They dont list down what type of oil (cottonseed, sunflower, etc) and its usually shortened and just never listed....! can't beleive this!

this is why i love America. haha, i feel safe and secure about what im about to eat with the food lables. I have had the habit of looking at the nutritional label ever since 7th grade when i took this health course in middle school. =)

FYI this is a real tasty yummy trail mix, my FAVORITE from TRADER JOE'S:

"Simply Almonds, Cashews, &Cranberries".

This is roasted and unsalted but the cranberries uses sunflower oil so watch your seving size. Sunflower oil tends to have more calories(which ive read somewhere) and perhaps the sodium level. Beware though....it unstoppable. hee hee. <3