I decided that I like writing in steps.
so here is my first day back in Riverside yesterday in steps. :]
Step 1: Fly back to Ontario with Klein.
Our flight was delayed an extra hour, so I bought a ridiculously expensive tuna sandwich at the Oakland airport, enjoyed a bumpy flight to southern California and talked extensively to Klein about school. Upon reaching Ontario, we waited for Crystal to pick us up. After dropping Klein off, Crystal and I were on our way to Santa Monica, hoping to catch Ken Oak Band (one of her favs) at Third Street Promenade.
Step 2: Shopping and Judging
There are so many odd fellows at Third Street. We saw the oddest people with insane hair and overall general craziness stamped all over their demeanor. We watched different street performers...perform. The freaks come out at night? Just kidding...but not really. We saw a guy banging on buckets and pots. His personality shined through his dirty exterior, and his performance was entertaining. As Crystal and I watched him, he asked me, as well as this girl and guy, to hold a metal pot for him to bang on. We knelt in front of him in front of this crowd as he did his thing and then he asked the girl to my right if she was single. She blushed and looked down shyly. Then he turned to me and asked me the same. Now I wasn't expecting him to ask me since he spent so long with the girl next to me, and I won't lie, I was somewhat offended. As if I would throw myself at him after he just asked someone else before me! So I said, "Wow, thanks. Now I'm just sloppy seconds." He looked thoroughly amused and then made the whole crowd chant "SLOPPY SECONDS" with him, which made me feel really awkward. I tipped him a dollar. :] Crystal and I later saw him perform again and realized that his performance was an exact repeat LINE FOR LINE. It made me feel significantly less special. Crystal is convinced he makes bank, which I'm sure he does, but I don't know to what extent. There was also this other guy who was balancing on his arms. He had some sort of physical deformity (wow, that comes out sounding way ruder than I intended) where his legs are really small compared to his upper body. He was making insane bird calls and shrieking animal noises. Refer to Crystal's blog if she posts pictures. The man then later demanded that she donate a dollar for taking a picture of him. There was also a large man who had a monkey on a leash. Crystal was too heartbroken to see such a thing. (P.S. Thanks for the sticker. :])
Step 3: Finding parking lot Structure 4 (easier said than done).
Crystal and I wandered around the area for over an hour, through dark alleys and homeless-ridden streets trying to find Structure 4. We found Structure 1-6, but our search for Structure 4 was frustrating and borderline impossible. After asking many useless people and making our rounds around the general neighborhood, we finally found it. Of course, it was just around the corner and we just kept walking around and away from it for the past hour. I won't lie, though. I was genuinely terrified for our lives as we walked through those allies. This dirty man with greasy hair was walking towards us and Crystal and I swerved towards a store in order to look busy. Another man on a bike made kissy noises. Seriously, FREAKS COME OUT AT NIGHT.
Step 4: Find a high class restaurant.
We're in Los Angeles. We're in Beverly Hills. Of course we'll find a high end restaurant. And of course, we found the most expensive place I've ever been to in my whole entire life. Enter Fogo de Chao. Crystal drove into the parking lot and was required to use the valet service. $5.5o. We go in at 9:00 PM and the restaurant hours say it closes at 9:30. There are quite a few people at the restaurant and as we are seated, the waiter comes up to us and lets us know how this place works. He quickly tells us there are 2 parts to the meal: 1. the salad bar and 2. the 14 cuts of meat. I don't understand what the heck is going on and we look on the menu, only to see that there are no prices. We look at wine menu, only to see that their wines costs up to $630. Wow, eff our lives, right? So I ask a woman working there to tell us ONE MORE TIME how the place works and I straight up had to ask her how much it was. $56.60 per person. Eff our lives some more, please. I mean, what were we supposed to do? Walk out after eating their delicious free cheese bread? Crystal later realized we were in a Brazillian steakhouse. We effing stuffed ourselves silly. The meat was delish and the waitors were really nice. But wow, really. $60. We ate and ate and ate and then we went to their bathroom and stole their extremely nice and heavy duty cloth-like paper towels.
Step 5: R'sideeeee
Then we went on our way to Crystal's house to pick up stuff so that she can make RAVER PANTS (ahahahahaha) and back home where we immediately crashed.
Oh, R'side, how I missed thee. <3
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
let's get away, if just for awhile
Monday was amazing.
The day started at 6:00 AM, with Anthony, Sharene and I embarking on a four-hour journey to Yosemite. Throughout the day, the drive was filled with 90's pop and...Sean Paul. Our first stop was a gas station at Tracey, where we unknowingly chose the most expensive gas station of the lot, Valero. Only after the gas was pumped and we continued our way did we realize that there was a 711 gas station (wtf, right), Shell and Arco and we chose the one station that was exactly 8 cents more than the rest. (Well, at least Sharene, Anthony and I found that highly amusing.)
We started seeing speckles of snow as we got closer to Yosemite. Then as we approached even closer, we noticed TONS of snow, which made me nervous because I was barefoot in my mocassins. DON'T JUDGE MEEEE, they were the only shoes I brought home. Anthony and I had already decided the previous day that we wanted to hike at Hetch Hetchy to see waterfalls, and with all the snow, there was no way I could get away without frostbitten toes.
Fortunately, Anthony happened to have his whole wardrobe and then some in his trunk and I was able to gather socks and the puffiest Vans ever. We went into Yosemite, wandered around in the freezing cold (no joke, it was sooo effing cold), got some sandwiches, got struck in the head multiple times by CHUNKS of falling snowballs and then got lost for about an hour trying to get out. After numerous attempts driving around in Yosemite Village, we finally made our way to HETCH HETCHY.
Apparently that's the reservoir that gives hydropower to San Francisco MUNI and what not. I don't know, I didn't look into detail at the little information plaques, but it was really serene and nice. Little did we know the insanity that would ensue.
Step 1: Getting to the other side of the wet, dark and overall creepy tunnel.
Anthony, Sharene and I stood at the entrance of the tunnel, completely baffled at the idea that we literally needed to get across this tunnel. There were huge puddles, and hardly any light and our already looming fear of bears and mountain lions made it extremely difficult to brace ourselves to enter into the tunnel. The three of us ended up furiously sprinting to the other side, leaping over giant puddles and then talking about how incredibly frightful it was for the next fifteen minutes. Seriously, though. That shit was terrifying.
Step 2: Get over the rivers (aka streams, aka LARGE streams, kthanks) throughout the trail.
I was especially excited for the waterfalls. As Anthony is my witness, I could not stop talking about the waterfalls, and every time a waterfall appeared, I squealed like a...very cute minature pot-bellied pig, thank you. (Which Anthony and I will both own one day.) So we went on the 5-mile round trip Hetch Hetchy trail that consisted of three major waterfalls. We only had two hours to complete it because we arrived at this park at 3 and it closes at 5. After the tretrecherous tunnel, we came across our first river. We were pretty O_O about it until we passed through two more. The third one was the worst. Unfortunately, we were unable to film or take pictures, but take my word...SO BAD. The water was pretty fast and the river was pretty deep and it was just bad times. But good times because we got through it, with our shoes soaking wet and accomplishment on our faces. :]
Step 3: Climb over rocks, mud, newts and water beetles.
Sharene noticed numerous newts slash salamanders. Anthony spotted numerous small rodents. I noticed the water beetle Sharene accidentally stomped on. Quite an accomplishment. The hike was pretty intense. We hiked over rocks and streams and muddy messes.
Step 4: Rush to last stop waterfall, Wapama, before 4:40 PM.
We had approximately one hour and 40 minutes to make it around the hike and an extra 20 minutes to drive to the exit. So we hustled over the previously mentioned boulders, rocks and LARGE streams to get to the last waterfall. Every time we thought we heard the Wapama waters, we ended up looping around somewhere else. We were on the verge of giving up after finding Wapama behind a hill every time, but obviously, we eventually reached the bridge beneath the falls. The refreshing mist hit our proud faces and we marveled in the glory of reaching our 2.5 mile destination. Little did we know that this euphoria (thanks, thesaurus.com) was going to be somewhat shortlived.
Step 5: Escape bears, mountain lions and...squirrels, oh my.
So as we were admiring Wapama Falls, I walked across the bridge hoping to see a better glimpse of the falls around the rocks. I hear Sharene call me and say, "Lisa, there are bear prints!" As I walked back to her and Anthony, she's pointing at the snow on the bridge and there are FRESH BEAR PAW PRINTS. My heart dropped. Like, I literally felt my palms sweating immediately and we HIGH-TAILED THE EFF OUT OF THERE. We all had a serious moment of adrenaline rush as we raced up the rock stairs. As always, I'm trailing behind the two and as I'm heaving and sweating bullets, I'm imagining the bear coming behind me, putting his massive, cold, snow-covered paw over my mouth and annihilating my poor, frail body and Sharene and Anthony would have never had a clue until I was already inside the bear's belly. Video below of bear print reactions:
As we were hustling ourselves as far away from the bear prints as possible (thank goodness the prints were headed AWAY from us), we had to re-pass the rivers slash streams. We passed by the big one without too much trouble, but I wasn't as lucky for the second one. Sharene went ahead of me and as I stuck my giant shoe out to steady myself, my foot ended up slipping straight into the water and I ended up sprawled like a starfish with my belly against a giant boulder and my shoe collecting water. Please notice Anthony's shoes:
So I'm sprawled up against the boulder in shock that I actually slipped into the water. I feel like a failure and Anthony and Sharene are staring at me while I'm staring at them. Anthony's like, "GET UP!" and I look at Sharene and she's like, "GET UP!" and so...I get up. My sock...errr, Anthony's sock is completely soaked and we continue our race away from the bear. By the way...I bruised my arm and leg and felt like a fool, all the way until Anthony and Sharene continued laughing at me 4 hours later at Chili's.
So we're perservering (thanks again, thesaurus.com) on our 2.5 mile hike back to the car and we notice a large pile of poop that was not previously there. We thought it belonged to the bear, but his bear prints proved that he was walking ahead of us, so the timing of the poop didn't make any sense. So Sharene concluded that it was the excrement of a mountain lion. THANKS, SHARENE. If the evidence of a large bear roaming around us wasn't terrifying enough, now I was convinced a mountain lion was also going to rip my body into shreds. We kept hearing rustling and what not on the hills next to us, but I refused to look and psych myself out. I obviously would be the first one to die because even at a time of such distress, I believed that my ignorance of my surroundings was bliss. Eventually we reached the tunnel again and it was just as scary as the first time around. We quickly strided in, arm in arm, and HOORAH, we reached civilazation and we survived the Hetch Hetchy hike. We were the ONLY people on the trail. Probably in the whole Hetch Hetchy area.
Once the hike was over, it was easy to declare what an amazing hike it was. But I think we were all honestly fretting over our lives all the way until we reached the car. The hike took longer than 2 hours, and when we reached the exit, we ended up getting a citation for staying at the park for too long. National security and whatever bullshit. The park ranger was rude and probably hated life because the citation was $175. Anthony hasn't decided whether he'll fight it or pay it, but we're obviously all going to pitch in. BUT WE WERE NOT GOING TO LET THAT RUIN OUR DAY. After mulling over it for some fifteen minutes, we cheered up and listened to some more '90s pop. <3
Step 6: Get a picture next to ridiculous town sign.
This is the first time I've stopped in the middle of a highway to take a picture next to a sign. Welcome to Chinese Camp, population 150, and probably 1/3 consisting of cows. There were a herd of cows directly across from this sign and they all marveled at the sight of humans outside a vehicle. All 20-something cows turned their heads towards us and stared as they hobbled closer and closer. Then they lost interest and continued eating their grass.
We all desperately had to use the bathroom, but Anthony being the only one with the penis was the only one able to do so with the least indecent exposure. As ode to Chinese Camp, he left his mark.
After a bite to eat at Chili's in San Bruno, the day was over. It was great to be out of Riverside, out of San Francisco, out of the city life and just enjoy nature, ferocious animals and all. It felt good to get away from EVERYTHING and just marvel at beautiful things this world has to offer that does not include drama, boys, or sex.
Thanks, Anthony and Sharene, for a beautiful day at Yosemite slash all the pictures and videos used for this post. <33333
the end.
p.s. this shit took two days to write. I have never devoted this much time to any post on a blog.
The day started at 6:00 AM, with Anthony, Sharene and I embarking on a four-hour journey to Yosemite. Throughout the day, the drive was filled with 90's pop and...Sean Paul. Our first stop was a gas station at Tracey, where we unknowingly chose the most expensive gas station of the lot, Valero. Only after the gas was pumped and we continued our way did we realize that there was a 711 gas station (wtf, right), Shell and Arco and we chose the one station that was exactly 8 cents more than the rest. (Well, at least Sharene, Anthony and I found that highly amusing.)
We started seeing speckles of snow as we got closer to Yosemite. Then as we approached even closer, we noticed TONS of snow, which made me nervous because I was barefoot in my mocassins. DON'T JUDGE MEEEE, they were the only shoes I brought home. Anthony and I had already decided the previous day that we wanted to hike at Hetch Hetchy to see waterfalls, and with all the snow, there was no way I could get away without frostbitten toes.
Fortunately, Anthony happened to have his whole wardrobe and then some in his trunk and I was able to gather socks and the puffiest Vans ever. We went into Yosemite, wandered around in the freezing cold (no joke, it was sooo effing cold), got some sandwiches, got struck in the head multiple times by CHUNKS of falling snowballs and then got lost for about an hour trying to get out. After numerous attempts driving around in Yosemite Village, we finally made our way to HETCH HETCHY.
Apparently that's the reservoir that gives hydropower to San Francisco MUNI and what not. I don't know, I didn't look into detail at the little information plaques, but it was really serene and nice. Little did we know the insanity that would ensue.
Step 1: Getting to the other side of the wet, dark and overall creepy tunnel.
Anthony, Sharene and I stood at the entrance of the tunnel, completely baffled at the idea that we literally needed to get across this tunnel. There were huge puddles, and hardly any light and our already looming fear of bears and mountain lions made it extremely difficult to brace ourselves to enter into the tunnel. The three of us ended up furiously sprinting to the other side, leaping over giant puddles and then talking about how incredibly frightful it was for the next fifteen minutes. Seriously, though. That shit was terrifying.
Step 2: Get over the rivers (aka streams, aka LARGE streams, kthanks) throughout the trail.
I was especially excited for the waterfalls. As Anthony is my witness, I could not stop talking about the waterfalls, and every time a waterfall appeared, I squealed like a...very cute minature pot-bellied pig, thank you. (Which Anthony and I will both own one day.) So we went on the 5-mile round trip Hetch Hetchy trail that consisted of three major waterfalls. We only had two hours to complete it because we arrived at this park at 3 and it closes at 5. After the tretrecherous tunnel, we came across our first river. We were pretty O_O about it until we passed through two more. The third one was the worst. Unfortunately, we were unable to film or take pictures, but take my word...SO BAD. The water was pretty fast and the river was pretty deep and it was just bad times. But good times because we got through it, with our shoes soaking wet and accomplishment on our faces. :]
Step 3: Climb over rocks, mud, newts and water beetles.
Sharene noticed numerous newts slash salamanders. Anthony spotted numerous small rodents. I noticed the water beetle Sharene accidentally stomped on. Quite an accomplishment. The hike was pretty intense. We hiked over rocks and streams and muddy messes.
Step 4: Rush to last stop waterfall, Wapama, before 4:40 PM.
We had approximately one hour and 40 minutes to make it around the hike and an extra 20 minutes to drive to the exit. So we hustled over the previously mentioned boulders, rocks and LARGE streams to get to the last waterfall. Every time we thought we heard the Wapama waters, we ended up looping around somewhere else. We were on the verge of giving up after finding Wapama behind a hill every time, but obviously, we eventually reached the bridge beneath the falls. The refreshing mist hit our proud faces and we marveled in the glory of reaching our 2.5 mile destination. Little did we know that this euphoria (thanks, thesaurus.com) was going to be somewhat shortlived.
Step 5: Escape bears, mountain lions and...squirrels, oh my.
So as we were admiring Wapama Falls, I walked across the bridge hoping to see a better glimpse of the falls around the rocks. I hear Sharene call me and say, "Lisa, there are bear prints!" As I walked back to her and Anthony, she's pointing at the snow on the bridge and there are FRESH BEAR PAW PRINTS. My heart dropped. Like, I literally felt my palms sweating immediately and we HIGH-TAILED THE EFF OUT OF THERE. We all had a serious moment of adrenaline rush as we raced up the rock stairs. As always, I'm trailing behind the two and as I'm heaving and sweating bullets, I'm imagining the bear coming behind me, putting his massive, cold, snow-covered paw over my mouth and annihilating my poor, frail body and Sharene and Anthony would have never had a clue until I was already inside the bear's belly. Video below of bear print reactions:
As we were hustling ourselves as far away from the bear prints as possible (thank goodness the prints were headed AWAY from us), we had to re-pass the rivers slash streams. We passed by the big one without too much trouble, but I wasn't as lucky for the second one. Sharene went ahead of me and as I stuck my giant shoe out to steady myself, my foot ended up slipping straight into the water and I ended up sprawled like a starfish with my belly against a giant boulder and my shoe collecting water. Please notice Anthony's shoes:
So I'm sprawled up against the boulder in shock that I actually slipped into the water. I feel like a failure and Anthony and Sharene are staring at me while I'm staring at them. Anthony's like, "GET UP!" and I look at Sharene and she's like, "GET UP!" and so...I get up. My sock...errr, Anthony's sock is completely soaked and we continue our race away from the bear. By the way...I bruised my arm and leg and felt like a fool, all the way until Anthony and Sharene continued laughing at me 4 hours later at Chili's.
So we're perservering (thanks again, thesaurus.com) on our 2.5 mile hike back to the car and we notice a large pile of poop that was not previously there. We thought it belonged to the bear, but his bear prints proved that he was walking ahead of us, so the timing of the poop didn't make any sense. So Sharene concluded that it was the excrement of a mountain lion. THANKS, SHARENE. If the evidence of a large bear roaming around us wasn't terrifying enough, now I was convinced a mountain lion was also going to rip my body into shreds. We kept hearing rustling and what not on the hills next to us, but I refused to look and psych myself out. I obviously would be the first one to die because even at a time of such distress, I believed that my ignorance of my surroundings was bliss. Eventually we reached the tunnel again and it was just as scary as the first time around. We quickly strided in, arm in arm, and HOORAH, we reached civilazation and we survived the Hetch Hetchy hike. We were the ONLY people on the trail. Probably in the whole Hetch Hetchy area.
Once the hike was over, it was easy to declare what an amazing hike it was. But I think we were all honestly fretting over our lives all the way until we reached the car. The hike took longer than 2 hours, and when we reached the exit, we ended up getting a citation for staying at the park for too long. National security and whatever bullshit. The park ranger was rude and probably hated life because the citation was $175. Anthony hasn't decided whether he'll fight it or pay it, but we're obviously all going to pitch in. BUT WE WERE NOT GOING TO LET THAT RUIN OUR DAY. After mulling over it for some fifteen minutes, we cheered up and listened to some more '90s pop. <3
Step 6: Get a picture next to ridiculous town sign.
This is the first time I've stopped in the middle of a highway to take a picture next to a sign. Welcome to Chinese Camp, population 150, and probably 1/3 consisting of cows. There were a herd of cows directly across from this sign and they all marveled at the sight of humans outside a vehicle. All 20-something cows turned their heads towards us and stared as they hobbled closer and closer. Then they lost interest and continued eating their grass.
We all desperately had to use the bathroom, but Anthony being the only one with the penis was the only one able to do so with the least indecent exposure. As ode to Chinese Camp, he left his mark.
After a bite to eat at Chili's in San Bruno, the day was over. It was great to be out of Riverside, out of San Francisco, out of the city life and just enjoy nature, ferocious animals and all. It felt good to get away from EVERYTHING and just marvel at beautiful things this world has to offer that does not include drama, boys, or sex.
Thanks, Anthony and Sharene, for a beautiful day at Yosemite slash all the pictures and videos used for this post. <33333
the end.
p.s. this shit took two days to write. I have never devoted this much time to any post on a blog.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
baby girrrrrrl
So I had this epic post about my birthday, but I ended up messing it all up and now I'm too lazy to do it again. My birthday was a lot of fun and there ended up being more than enough alcohol. The end. The only memories of it will be the tagged pictures on facebook.
This quarter is overrrrrr. By finals week, I just wanted to be DONE. I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I was doing so well in the beginning of the quarter, but I eventually blamed my cold, my drama and my overall procrastination for my slow decline as the quarter progressed. I'm only disappointed because I know I could have done better. I could have gotten an A instead of a B+ in my stats class if I just devoted more time to class. I could have gotten a B instead of a B- in Chinese if I didn't slack off and stop studying for my endless quizzes. I could have aced my psych quizzes if I didn't consistently miss class due to my tireless need for sleep. Could have, would have, should have. But like the end of every quarter, all I can say is, here's to next quarter. I am finally soley taking upper division sociology and psychology classes. No more Chineseeeee!
I have been thinking about next year being my last year at UCR. First year at the dorms doesn't even seem so long ago, last year seemed to fly by, and now this year is already almost over. This quarter, by the way, has been one of the most interesting yet. I was thinking how insane it was that someone I met last year, someone who I thought was so insignificant in my life, ended up being the gateway to everything that has been happening now. Life works in funny ways, but EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. I feel like I have to think this way or I'm just going to lose all hope in humanity. Or at least in my own life thus far. (okay, because my life is so effing terrible right now.)
Spring Breaaaaaaak. I am going to chill at home and friends, get my braces off (!!!!) and eat my mama's delish home cooking.
This quarter is overrrrrr. By finals week, I just wanted to be DONE. I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I was doing so well in the beginning of the quarter, but I eventually blamed my cold, my drama and my overall procrastination for my slow decline as the quarter progressed. I'm only disappointed because I know I could have done better. I could have gotten an A instead of a B+ in my stats class if I just devoted more time to class. I could have gotten a B instead of a B- in Chinese if I didn't slack off and stop studying for my endless quizzes. I could have aced my psych quizzes if I didn't consistently miss class due to my tireless need for sleep. Could have, would have, should have. But like the end of every quarter, all I can say is, here's to next quarter. I am finally soley taking upper division sociology and psychology classes. No more Chineseeeee!
I have been thinking about next year being my last year at UCR. First year at the dorms doesn't even seem so long ago, last year seemed to fly by, and now this year is already almost over. This quarter, by the way, has been one of the most interesting yet. I was thinking how insane it was that someone I met last year, someone who I thought was so insignificant in my life, ended up being the gateway to everything that has been happening now. Life works in funny ways, but EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. I feel like I have to think this way or I'm just going to lose all hope in humanity. Or at least in my own life thus far. (okay, because my life is so effing terrible right now.)
Spring Breaaaaaaak. I am going to chill at home and friends, get my braces off (!!!!) and eat my mama's delish home cooking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
