back at riverside dr

it's been a rly exciting journey in US thus far, and it rly stinks that i only have 2 more weeks of school @ ucla left before this all becomes part of my memories.
there's so much i'm going to miss over here, yet at the same time i'm also missing home and the people i've left behind - it's kinda conflicting, those two. if only i could bring home to here, or bring here to home.

anyhow, i'm back at aunt jeanne's again, this time for thanksgiving - my first ever.
deb's parents picked all of us up from school today to go to her hometown, arcadia; where deb and i chilled and drove around for our haircuts, boba loca, and grocery shopping @ ranch 99 (asian market!)

this was from last weekend, when sharon came to visit deb! (:
we drove around santa monica & rodeo drive, and chilled @ chris' room to watch "the fountain" (which is a rly gd show omg hugh jackman awesome)


@ santa monica

i did las vegas the weekend before that too with candice, natalie and maryanne, an impromptu trip that began with a midnight text msg about getting a free suite @ vegas, which unraveled into immediate car rental, packing, and then leaving the next day (wed), conveniently ditching whatever classes we had for the rest of the week


but i can safely say, it was all worth it. it was a trip of many firsts, both goods and bads, but an experience nonetheless



in other news, i finally met up with isabel & iris too!

we hit up a bar that isabel wanted to check out @ santa monica, and although i havent seen them in YEARS it certainly didnt feel like the time gap had done any damage.

ok my shows are starting, so random pictures to end off this post


banana phone

guess whose hairy feeet

updates

i just cleared my accounting midterm today, and it was relatively easy as compared to the horror i was expecting, considering i have been to probably 50% of the classes, and actually paid attention in less than 50% of the time i was in class.
however, this had entailed 4-am nights at rieber study lounge, late night supper & coffee at bruin cafe, the discovery of crazy antics of sleep-deprived people and how easily people get distracted, esp by the evil monopolization of time by facebook.
found - GUILTY.

but ytd was nice. it was our usual study group again, minus miles, who was gyming with the gym-buff boys. the people whom i've grown to become veryvery(very) fond of; they are my family here. other than doing retarded things like handstands, pilates @ 3am, howling at the top of our lungs to disney/retro songs when the lounge finally vacates, and dancing to boogie music, we are pretty normal people; just your average joes (: our december roadtrip together is going to be fanta-frickin-tastic; i kno it.

other than the people, there are alotta other things that i love about this place.
many of which, is HALLOWEEN!


altho i had a human-evolution midterm on halloween morning, which extinguished any pre-halloween parties for me, i did sit next to darth vader during my midterm.
i, on the other hand, was a.... WITCH

this is the best full body shot of my costume i could find; sadly it didn't occur to me to take a full body costume shot till the day after the day after halloween.

halloween is, however, a really fun experience for me - everyone was dressed up in their own thing, getting into character, and just partying like there was no tmr.





after some liquid courage


deborah and i @ audrey's party, after we party-hopped by the frat rows; which were relatively disappointing because they didnt let any of the guys with us get into the parties, and there were just too many drunken people barfing by the sidewalk (and sometimes within the houses) for any of us to be appealed.

i recently went for InterVarsity's FallConference @ Catalina island as well; somewhere close to long beach apparently
it was just an hour+ of ferry ride from the hustle and bustle of city life, but yet it made all the difference - the island was quiet, quaint, and very picturesque


we had worship & talks each day, and small group time where we shared and prayed for one another by the sea, and studied the bible amidst God's wonderful creations
there were free time, where we could do almost anything we wanted (snorkeling, kayaking, hiking) for free; the entire island was booked for our conference (:
most of us picked up kayaking, and besides the beautiful waters and crazy splash-fights we had, we were delighted by families of seals that swam close to shore and surfaced every now and then with their tiny little whiskered noses next to our kayaks; OH-SO-CUTE!



we also had a bonfire going on each night by the sea, as people gathered to chill with hot cocoa or tea provided by the crew on island. "bed" was bunk beds within wooden cabins, and although we had to navigate our way everywhere with flashlights (there wasnt any electricity other than a few places like the bathrooms), the lack of phones, internet and any sort of modern communication really bonded the group together, as we resorted to late-night hiking up the trail (to this cliff that overlooked the sea), midnight mafia games, and just company-fun. really refreshing.

lastly, to end off this insanely unintentionally long post, tonight's the official faceoff between obama and mccain finally. everyone's really hyped up bout voting; the weeks leading up to today have been filled with americans trying to register their fellow citizens to vote, and to get them to take a stand in tonight's elections. exciting!