Busy August
Wow, August sure flew by fast thanks to the sculpture I worked on for the FFXIV Fan Festival Art Contest. Honestly I can’t remember much because of it. Oh and there was also the bachelorette party. One thing for sure is that it’s so far my busiest month.
Disney Virtual Run 5K Medals - August 5
On the way to work I was wondering about the Disney Virtual Run 5K I did back in June. They said they’d ship the medals a month after the run finishes it although a month has passed. Then viola! It came through the mail! I was delightfully surprised the medals were metal instead of plastic! It’s a shame I didn’t really get a chance to admire them since I was too occupied with the sculpture.
Cute!
Bike Test With Sofia & Her New Bike - August 6
My sister Sofia got a new bike with more gears and wanted to check out the bike trail by my apartment. Being her first time on the trails, I warned her about the underpass bridges can be a pain at the beginning. We took an easy trail to the lake and rested there for a bit. Afterwards we were supposed to go to UCI until I sort of got lost and headed back to the apartment. From there she came with me to pick up my packet for the OC Fair Run and ate at Jollibee. I ordered both Spaghetti and Chicken Joy meals for myself. It was good but unfortunately I didn’t have room for halo-halo.
Overstuffed, we tried to walk it off by going to Joanne’s next door. I told her how I was stuck figuring out how to make my sculpture sturdier and just like that, I found my solution: a clear candleholder. It was perfect! We parted ways in the afternoon and I was back to Gollum mode with my sculpture.
OC Fair 5K Run with Pauline - August 7
The OC Fair 5K Fun Run was my other sister’s (Pauline) first running event so I was very excited for her. She warned me how she was only trained a full 1 mile run yet she did a lot better than she expected. Despite how we jogged and walked, she managed to run at least two and a half miles. Pretty darn good for her first 5K.
Good job, Sista!
After being knackered from the run, I knew I needed to get food ASAP. So comes Jollibee Round 2! This time I only ordered spaghetti and halo-halo instead of two meals. Absolutely hit a good spot on my stomach.
Hiro’s Childhood Dream - August 12
To our delightful surprise, Hiro’s childhood dream came a lot earlier than we expected: Stormtrooper suit. He was so ecstatic especially for the assembled the helmet. Now all he had to do is put the suit together. Yep, he was one happy boy.
Dreams do come true!
Zina’s Bachelorette Party! - August 20-21
One of the best bachelorette ever! Zina, her sister Angela, her friend Sherry, Karina, Rochelle, and I stayed at a resort in Ojai for a weekend getaway. We met up at Angela’s apartment in the morning to carpool and left our cars at her place. The van we rented was pretty decent and we chatted most of the time on the 3-hour drive and chowed down on some donuts. Our room wasn’t ready when we got there so we hung out at the pool and drank some happy drinks. The lavender drink I got was a sneaky one. One minute I was fine, the next I was in la-la land.
Yep, this was life…
After soaking up the sun for a couple of hours, Zina, Karina, and Angela got called up for their 1-hour body scrub at the spa. An hour later, it was me and Rochelle’s turn. Man, it was heaven. I felt so refresh I probably fell asleep and even had a good buzz going on. As Rochelle and I were getting our massage, Zina and Karina were at the pool chatting up while Angela and Sherry checked in and decorated the room. They did a pretty darn good job too!
Girls Night Out
At night we got ready and headed out to town for dinner. Running on booze and long-gone donuts, we were starving and more than ready to eat. However we overestimated our dinner. The burger looked light but they somehow compressed an entire cow in a tiny burger patty. Even when I just tried eating the meat by itself, I still couldn’t finish it. I felt bad not being able to finish it because it was really good.
We had a couple of good laughs with the locals. A group next to us said his son is a firefighter and a dancer. The poor guy was so red that I felt a little bad for him. Others walking by congratulated Zina and some even bowed to her. I know they were doing it out of respect because we’re Asian but I thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of the time I was in Tennessee when a little girl thought I was a Native American. They meant well though so we weren’t offended.
Once we had our fill, we went to a bar with a live band our waiter recommended. The place was okay and the people there were friendly especially towards Zina who stood out with her bride outfit. We also met one of the waiter’s friend Nigel who offered to drive us around. He was a gentleman and had an Australian accent to boot.
After a couple of drinks at the bar we headed to a lounge the waiter suggested. Ojai looks like a very cute town during the day however the lack of lights at night makes it potential for zombie apocalypse. It was dark and creepy and by the time we got to the lounge, it was in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t help that Rochelle pointed out a beat-up van and called it a rapist van. We decided to pass on it.
On the way back we had a bonus adventure by getting lost on a dark road, which is probably leads back to LA. We had a good scare fest before reaching back to town again. We stopped by a bar and bought some champagne before heading back to the resort.
At the resort we drank some champagne and talked about our classmates in high school. Man, it’s been more than ten years since we’ve graduated and two out of four of us are married, one on the way, and the last one (me) on the waiting list. Yep, it felt strange comparing ourselves then to where we are now.
And let the games begin! While we were drinking and reminiscing the old high school days, both Zina’s sister and her friend Sherry were patiently waiting to start the game: Leaving our kissmarks on our money-saving stripper poster. We named the guy after the Australian local: Nigel. Haha, I totally sucked in that game while Karina nailed it all. It’s hilarious and we ended up staying up until 4AM.
Our Money-saving Stripper, Nigel
Of course, being a morning person I got up at 7AM and not being able to sleep. I took my time in the shower and by the time I got out, they were slowly starting to wake up. Zina, Rochelle, Karina, and I went out to the café to get coffee while Angela and her friend took their time resting up. We sat by the park where the tree with various lanterns stood and enjoyed a guitarist and violinist play. Some kids even joined to dance around them. We talked about our weddings, marriage, and financial planning. Afterwards we walked around for a bit and looked into the shops. Yep, they were really pricey.
Just Relaxing
When we returned to our room Angela found out the resort charged her for the 20% tip for our spa treatments on her card when the reception she talked to over the phone suggested to tip our masseuses with cash after the treatment. Good thing Angela listed down the receptionist’s name and the time of the conversation to make a strong argument. Plus none of our masseuses told us it will be charged on the card. We easily sorted it all out.
Once checked out, we were off to the downtown to eat the town’s famous tacos. After we got our food, we headed off to the park nearby where I ended up killing a wasp that kept flying towards our food. After one was down the others stayed at bay. Sometimes you have to set a sample.
Horseback riding time! It was Zina, Rochelle, Angela, and Sherry’s first time so they were a little worried. I was just excited because it’s been too long since I last rode a horse and Hiroshi’s not a fan. While we waited, we petted some of the farm animals and my favorite was this one cow named Betsy. She really loves to be petted and I was more than happy to oblige. Their horses weren’t as big as the ones I rode in Tennessee but they were still magnificent creatures. Our ride was an hour long while the trail was a bit toasty and sandy. Having a bandana cover our mouth would’ve been useful. I wouldn’t mind going for it again though.
Sadly our bachelorette was coming to a close. We got ourselves some Starbucks after being a big dehydrated from the horseback riding. On the way home we the older ladies were knocked out. We parted ways at Angela’s apartment and the traffic wasn’t bad on the way back. The warm shower felt good though.
Parting Ways With My Moogles - August 28
Those moogles stressed the heck out of me but I’ll sure miss them. A week before my boss gave me the blessing to come in to work a little late since I was dropping off my sculpture at the Square Enix office in LA. After showing him and my other coworker my progress pictures, they were very excited and hoped I’ll make it to the finalists. Packing the sculpture was such a pain and unfortunately it did some damage which I had to repair. So decided to leave it to SE to pack it if it does make it to the finalists.
Wrap It Up!
The morning of the departure I kept making sure everything was set and double-checked the information on the form is correct. I left around 8AM feeling a bit nervous because for a while I thought about my sculpture being rejected because it was suppose to be mailed. Hiroshi said it would only take me 45 minutes to get there while my cell’s navigation estimated an hour and 12 minutes… Yeah it took me nearly two and a half hours to finally reach their office and at that point I was no longer nervous.
Parking wasn’t bad since they have a structure. The building is shared with other companies so there wasn’t much at the ground level except for a couple of chairs and the elevators. I looked at the floor plan, got on the elevator and made my way to SE. Honestly I wasn’t expecting much of their office after finding out they’re sharing the building. Compared Blizzard where they have a couple of different buildings to themselves and basketball courts to boot. They are heavily gated as well.
However, I was taken aback when the doors opened. The first thing I saw was a glowing Square Enix and just below framed images on a black table. I let out a loud gasp as the friendly receptionist greeted me at the front. Walking further towards her desk I admired all the different figurines and a life-size Lara Croft. I felt a little bad coming unannounced but I did emailed them a week prior asking if I can drop off my sculpture. The receptionist was kind enough to look for someone to take in my sculpture. Workers came and went and seriously they all look like video game characters. Eventually a girl came in and truth be told, she looked like an elf with her short silver hair and blue eyes. I mean wow. I showed her my sculpture and the receptionist loved it as I told the girl about how packing it can be a little difficult. I also gave her the paints just in case. She assured me they will take good care of them and thanked me for my hard work.
Woah!
And then I parted ways with my baby moogles… It was a sad moment yet hopeful they will be partying up in Vegas. Man, the apartment felt like an empty nest for the next couple of days but now that we have our space back, Hiroshi jumped right into his Stormtrooper suit.
Yup, August sure flew by fast thanks to the sculpture. Not a restful month as I expected.
Disney Virtual Run 5K Medals - August 5
On the way to work I was wondering about the Disney Virtual Run 5K I did back in June. They said they’d ship the medals a month after the run finishes it although a month has passed. Then viola! It came through the mail! I was delightfully surprised the medals were metal instead of plastic! It’s a shame I didn’t really get a chance to admire them since I was too occupied with the sculpture.
Cute!
Bike Test With Sofia & Her New Bike - August 6
My sister Sofia got a new bike with more gears and wanted to check out the bike trail by my apartment. Being her first time on the trails, I warned her about the underpass bridges can be a pain at the beginning. We took an easy trail to the lake and rested there for a bit. Afterwards we were supposed to go to UCI until I sort of got lost and headed back to the apartment. From there she came with me to pick up my packet for the OC Fair Run and ate at Jollibee. I ordered both Spaghetti and Chicken Joy meals for myself. It was good but unfortunately I didn’t have room for halo-halo.
Overstuffed, we tried to walk it off by going to Joanne’s next door. I told her how I was stuck figuring out how to make my sculpture sturdier and just like that, I found my solution: a clear candleholder. It was perfect! We parted ways in the afternoon and I was back to Gollum mode with my sculpture.
OC Fair 5K Run with Pauline - August 7
The OC Fair 5K Fun Run was my other sister’s (Pauline) first running event so I was very excited for her. She warned me how she was only trained a full 1 mile run yet she did a lot better than she expected. Despite how we jogged and walked, she managed to run at least two and a half miles. Pretty darn good for her first 5K.
Good job, Sista!
After being knackered from the run, I knew I needed to get food ASAP. So comes Jollibee Round 2! This time I only ordered spaghetti and halo-halo instead of two meals. Absolutely hit a good spot on my stomach.
Hiro’s Childhood Dream - August 12
To our delightful surprise, Hiro’s childhood dream came a lot earlier than we expected: Stormtrooper suit. He was so ecstatic especially for the assembled the helmet. Now all he had to do is put the suit together. Yep, he was one happy boy.
Dreams do come true!
Zina’s Bachelorette Party! - August 20-21
One of the best bachelorette ever! Zina, her sister Angela, her friend Sherry, Karina, Rochelle, and I stayed at a resort in Ojai for a weekend getaway. We met up at Angela’s apartment in the morning to carpool and left our cars at her place. The van we rented was pretty decent and we chatted most of the time on the 3-hour drive and chowed down on some donuts. Our room wasn’t ready when we got there so we hung out at the pool and drank some happy drinks. The lavender drink I got was a sneaky one. One minute I was fine, the next I was in la-la land.
Yep, this was life…
After soaking up the sun for a couple of hours, Zina, Karina, and Angela got called up for their 1-hour body scrub at the spa. An hour later, it was me and Rochelle’s turn. Man, it was heaven. I felt so refresh I probably fell asleep and even had a good buzz going on. As Rochelle and I were getting our massage, Zina and Karina were at the pool chatting up while Angela and Sherry checked in and decorated the room. They did a pretty darn good job too!
Girls Night Out
At night we got ready and headed out to town for dinner. Running on booze and long-gone donuts, we were starving and more than ready to eat. However we overestimated our dinner. The burger looked light but they somehow compressed an entire cow in a tiny burger patty. Even when I just tried eating the meat by itself, I still couldn’t finish it. I felt bad not being able to finish it because it was really good.
We had a couple of good laughs with the locals. A group next to us said his son is a firefighter and a dancer. The poor guy was so red that I felt a little bad for him. Others walking by congratulated Zina and some even bowed to her. I know they were doing it out of respect because we’re Asian but I thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of the time I was in Tennessee when a little girl thought I was a Native American. They meant well though so we weren’t offended.
Once we had our fill, we went to a bar with a live band our waiter recommended. The place was okay and the people there were friendly especially towards Zina who stood out with her bride outfit. We also met one of the waiter’s friend Nigel who offered to drive us around. He was a gentleman and had an Australian accent to boot.
After a couple of drinks at the bar we headed to a lounge the waiter suggested. Ojai looks like a very cute town during the day however the lack of lights at night makes it potential for zombie apocalypse. It was dark and creepy and by the time we got to the lounge, it was in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t help that Rochelle pointed out a beat-up van and called it a rapist van. We decided to pass on it.
On the way back we had a bonus adventure by getting lost on a dark road, which is probably leads back to LA. We had a good scare fest before reaching back to town again. We stopped by a bar and bought some champagne before heading back to the resort.
At the resort we drank some champagne and talked about our classmates in high school. Man, it’s been more than ten years since we’ve graduated and two out of four of us are married, one on the way, and the last one (me) on the waiting list. Yep, it felt strange comparing ourselves then to where we are now.
And let the games begin! While we were drinking and reminiscing the old high school days, both Zina’s sister and her friend Sherry were patiently waiting to start the game: Leaving our kissmarks on our money-saving stripper poster. We named the guy after the Australian local: Nigel. Haha, I totally sucked in that game while Karina nailed it all. It’s hilarious and we ended up staying up until 4AM.
Our Money-saving Stripper, Nigel
Of course, being a morning person I got up at 7AM and not being able to sleep. I took my time in the shower and by the time I got out, they were slowly starting to wake up. Zina, Rochelle, Karina, and I went out to the café to get coffee while Angela and her friend took their time resting up. We sat by the park where the tree with various lanterns stood and enjoyed a guitarist and violinist play. Some kids even joined to dance around them. We talked about our weddings, marriage, and financial planning. Afterwards we walked around for a bit and looked into the shops. Yep, they were really pricey.
Just Relaxing
When we returned to our room Angela found out the resort charged her for the 20% tip for our spa treatments on her card when the reception she talked to over the phone suggested to tip our masseuses with cash after the treatment. Good thing Angela listed down the receptionist’s name and the time of the conversation to make a strong argument. Plus none of our masseuses told us it will be charged on the card. We easily sorted it all out.
Once checked out, we were off to the downtown to eat the town’s famous tacos. After we got our food, we headed off to the park nearby where I ended up killing a wasp that kept flying towards our food. After one was down the others stayed at bay. Sometimes you have to set a sample.
Horseback riding time! It was Zina, Rochelle, Angela, and Sherry’s first time so they were a little worried. I was just excited because it’s been too long since I last rode a horse and Hiroshi’s not a fan. While we waited, we petted some of the farm animals and my favorite was this one cow named Betsy. She really loves to be petted and I was more than happy to oblige. Their horses weren’t as big as the ones I rode in Tennessee but they were still magnificent creatures. Our ride was an hour long while the trail was a bit toasty and sandy. Having a bandana cover our mouth would’ve been useful. I wouldn’t mind going for it again though.
Sadly our bachelorette was coming to a close. We got ourselves some Starbucks after being a big dehydrated from the horseback riding. On the way home we the older ladies were knocked out. We parted ways at Angela’s apartment and the traffic wasn’t bad on the way back. The warm shower felt good though.
Parting Ways With My Moogles - August 28
Those moogles stressed the heck out of me but I’ll sure miss them. A week before my boss gave me the blessing to come in to work a little late since I was dropping off my sculpture at the Square Enix office in LA. After showing him and my other coworker my progress pictures, they were very excited and hoped I’ll make it to the finalists. Packing the sculpture was such a pain and unfortunately it did some damage which I had to repair. So decided to leave it to SE to pack it if it does make it to the finalists.
Wrap It Up!
The morning of the departure I kept making sure everything was set and double-checked the information on the form is correct. I left around 8AM feeling a bit nervous because for a while I thought about my sculpture being rejected because it was suppose to be mailed. Hiroshi said it would only take me 45 minutes to get there while my cell’s navigation estimated an hour and 12 minutes… Yeah it took me nearly two and a half hours to finally reach their office and at that point I was no longer nervous.
Parking wasn’t bad since they have a structure. The building is shared with other companies so there wasn’t much at the ground level except for a couple of chairs and the elevators. I looked at the floor plan, got on the elevator and made my way to SE. Honestly I wasn’t expecting much of their office after finding out they’re sharing the building. Compared Blizzard where they have a couple of different buildings to themselves and basketball courts to boot. They are heavily gated as well.
However, I was taken aback when the doors opened. The first thing I saw was a glowing Square Enix and just below framed images on a black table. I let out a loud gasp as the friendly receptionist greeted me at the front. Walking further towards her desk I admired all the different figurines and a life-size Lara Croft. I felt a little bad coming unannounced but I did emailed them a week prior asking if I can drop off my sculpture. The receptionist was kind enough to look for someone to take in my sculpture. Workers came and went and seriously they all look like video game characters. Eventually a girl came in and truth be told, she looked like an elf with her short silver hair and blue eyes. I mean wow. I showed her my sculpture and the receptionist loved it as I told the girl about how packing it can be a little difficult. I also gave her the paints just in case. She assured me they will take good care of them and thanked me for my hard work.
Woah!
And then I parted ways with my baby moogles… It was a sad moment yet hopeful they will be partying up in Vegas. Man, the apartment felt like an empty nest for the next couple of days but now that we have our space back, Hiroshi jumped right into his Stormtrooper suit.
Yup, August sure flew by fast thanks to the sculpture. Not a restful month as I expected.