every year, we have many tastes in chi-town--it's like a fair full of food.
last year, we had just started serving real fruit smoothies, and it was a hit. i had also picked up a bit of register-experience, actually helping coustomers and doing orders.
going back, ever since i was little, i looked forward to it--we (my cuzins, my sis & i) would raid the fair, going around looking for free things--many companies would rent a space there: KISS FM, IL LOTTERY, iGo, BudLite and several others would give away free things with logos on them, like key chains, cup holders, chap-sticks, sunscreen, hand sanitizers, mints and t-shirts. we would do this about a couple times a day--and this is for 2 days.
i remember one year--i was old enough to understand what ppl were saying to me, this guy that worked @ one of the tents said: "you guys again!" yea. we were a fairly large croud of children raiding their free stuff.
besides getting free stuff, i had lots of fun doing little things, like telling the kitchen we needed more __________ and just running in and out. i also remember cleaning the tables from beer cups (liquor is a must every year--90% of every adult there drinks, esp. since BudLite sponsors us), used condiment pakages, and other garbage. it was fun doing those little things.
talking about family, we would invite all of our familly (the closest ones: keni & jim) to help out--so we would have a family owned and run business. that also meant that during meals, it was a large table of ppl with good food for everyone. it was very nice.
it would start @ 12 and end @ 10--10+ hours of running back and forth, and lots of fun for us children. every year @ about 10, my grandmother would yell out in her bad english the things that were on sale since we needed to stop selling @ 10, and the police would normally come buy, start yelling, and stand there to make sure we weren't selling anymore. there would be a fairly big crowd--enough ppl to move it inside where we would continue selling, getting rid of the extra food.
back to last year. we started doing smoothies, and it was so in demand, the blender was always in motion, and ppl would form lines. it was amazing! even though i had to run back inside with them to rinse out with every cup of smoothie.
this year, the smoothies sold horribly. i was disapointed. we had bought lots of fruit, and done a lot of prepping. the previous year we had to stock the freezer full of fruit because it was so in demand. but this year, a couple of cups were good. nobody bought them, even though we had bought a $400 blender that was a lot better then the ones we would buy every year to use from target, then return 1 of them after we were done with it.
another change this year was that i worked up front most of the time, standing for about 11-12 hrs. everyday. i refuse to eat or sit in front of potential coustomers--it's lazy and unprofessional.
so my ma and i had worked upfront most of the time, but since there were so many ppl--we had way too much help, my ma moved back inside to help with the phones, and let my aunts work upfront. because of this, my ma and i would eat after everyone else's leftovers.
on the second day, @ around 10:30 (they let us sell for a bit longer then 10 every year--on the first day, WE voluntarily stopped selling @ 10:45, and they didn't even come tell us to stop! i was like, "what's up w/ this? where are they? they're like, an hour late this time!")
yea. 10:30-ish. we started to yell out for a sale--every year when i was younger, i would think, "this is SUCH an embarassment!" but this year, i was one of them yelling--"everything's on sale!" i attracted a couple of ppl, with a smaller crowd then previous years.
rice would sell for $5 in the morning, then @ 10:30, it would be $4, then about 10 min later, $3.
egg rolls this year was $3/2 in the morning, then $1/1.
rangoons were $5/5, and later on, $4.
but we still got about 3 rounds of smaller crowds then previous years.
i remember this:
me: "everything's on sale!" "egg rolls $1 for 1!" "fried rice for $4!"
and this one guy would pester me with $1--and the only thing i could get him was an egg roll.
the things he wanted for $1 would make us loose profit, so i was like, "no. i can only get you an egg roll for $1"
and he got mad--he didn't want an egg roll, so he left, flashing me and a couple that was standing there buying something a hand sign. i don't kno what it was, but i completely ignored him. i don't give a f*ck. and i'm NOT letting him upset me.
so i moved on.
next drunk guy: "come on, you need to get rid of this stuff..." so he made some really deal-breaking prices.
so i was like, "i need to get rid of this, but i am NOT DESPERATE!"
the lady standing next to him was like, "OH! DANG!"
i was completely not afraid to talk to a coustomer like that. at this hour, we're still able to real in coustomers, and even if we do have leftovers, it wouldn't kill us. we can make less profit on an item, but I REFUSE TO MAKE A NEGATIVE PROFIT. i'm not afraid to talk to my grandma like that either. i'm stubborn, headstrong, and i speak what's on my mind.
afterwards, there was this drunk lady that bought something and she liked the deal we made her: $4/5 rangoons. she was like, "i got your back sister!"
every year, there's someone very intoxicated that buys from us. just ignore them. but she really had us, yelling out "BIG SALE!!!!YEA!!! WOOOO!!!" now, normally, this is disturbing, what drunk ppl yell out. but she helped. though it was ineffective, my voice didn't carry far enough w/ a bar next door, and 2 music stages nearby. i liked her.
there was this guy (mind you, @ this hour, most of our coustomers have consumed some alcohol) that kept pestering us for about like 20min, standing there wanting a breakdown deal. my grand mother was refusing his deals, but he kept at it, like:
"come on, i'm your friend!"
she refused.
"i'll make trouble next year!"
so i shot back @ him-- " AND WE'RE FRIENDS WITH THE COPS!" and i went back inside, carrying something. i WASN'T LYING. the police liked to frequent our restaurant, and my ma would give them 20% off.
my grandma is annoying: she yells at everybody "you don't know your math! don't do upfront work! you don't know how much change to give back! get out!" and, "there's too many ppl outside! go! get out!" when we seriously had nothing to do, and we were willing to do it. and when there's still half a tray of food left, she would go like, "tell the kitchen to make more _____" when there was plenty left in my opinion.
so, my uncle that came out to observe commented when another batch of crab rangoons came out and we were trying to get rid of all the stuff (last call): "yuet mai yuet daw" basically meaning, no matter how much you sell, there's still more! (the kitchen still wansn't stop cooking)
for our last coustomer (the cops finally came) we pushed some noodles onto a guy for $5 (a steal, but it was out there for some time, and the noodles were probably all broken) and he had no idea what he just bought. he just got it for $5.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
life: Cali pt. 5 San Fran
in san fran.
when we got to san fran, we first found our hotel CQ, which was one of the cheapest ones that i had found (so it was a good choice in my opinion). we checked in, and got into the elevator--but we kept pushing the button for our floor, and the light would go back off. so then, i noticed that there was a slot by the bottons, so we had to slide our room key, then we would be able to get up. but when we got in the rooms, lo-and-behold, there is one twin bed. in each room. we couldn't do that. we needed two (twin & bigger) beds. so he guy @ concierge was kind enough to change rooms.
surprise-surprise! we got new rooms, and there are two beds in them--just singles. ha-ha! singles!!! even worse!!! nice. so in the end, we had to put them together (if we were going to do that, then we might as well kept the other room!).
keni's ma and my da patroled, killed the fun, and i was like, "I'm not going out there. (i was in the showers--and not getting out) i know that i'll say something out of line. but who the F*CK PUT THEM IN CHARGE?!" sErIoUsLy. man. like stuck up d*cks.
my ma comes over: "we don't need to get up early tommorow--9am is good."
then jim's da comes over: "why are u guys still up?! we need to get up early!!!" (<--if you're gonna march around and commanding ppl like the pricks you are, then GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!! get in sync man! plan a meeting or some stupid sh*t like that. A says 9 o'clock. then B comes barging in, saying 'what the f?!' 'we're getting up at 8:30!' my dad is like: "turn off the TV." (<- what the F*CK?? it's a FR*GGIN vAcAtIoN!!! OUR vacation! we can't even WATCH TV?! what the h*ll??!!) anyway. we went to pier 59 (fisherman's warf) to eat seafood. LO-AND-BEHOLD, there's not a SNACK STAND in sight!!! it's just a stupid walk!!!! seriously. not even a good view! so we walked, and there was like a fair going on with lotsa tents (though not as many ppl as in the taste). but they weren't selling food...i had no idea what the purpose was. there was a stage w/ singers sponsored by a local station. (bad singers. when we left, they're doing 'just dance' by gaga, and i was like, 'they CAN NOT sing. lemmie up there!' (though i would have died of embarassment, i OWN that song. lol. the irony is that i HATED her when i first saw her @ Ms. Universe. her outfit & lyrics. but now, she's like the best.) we got tired of walking, and we bought ice cream @ a ben&jerry stand (ok, i admit, there was ONE stand... or a handful--still not many though). by this time, kate had steeped on jim's shoe laces and he was steaming. the thing is, he's one of those ppl who don't yell. he silently fumes. he doesn't talk, he doesn't respond. we (the cuzins) were like, "What's up w/ him?" cause there was definately something up. later, i found out from.....(??) that kate's ma (like all other chinese parents) didn't like jim's sagging pants, or his untied shoelaces. so she unsuccessfully tried to step on them. but kate did step on them, and they broke. (they need to leave us the F*CK alone!!!) it's the same w/ tied up hair--if i put my hair down, my ma's like, "好似成個傻婆gum ah!" ("hoe tzi ge sou pao gum ah: you look like a crazy woman!)
she NEVER liked my hair down. I LOVE IT DOWN. how it looks. but i can't stand it for the entire day. so good for her.
but my sis has always had less hair then me (though when we were little, she had more hair), so she would have it down. lately, both my parents want it up in a ponytail (no duh!). i have no idea what brought it on.
my ma: "see? gum mai 靚 dee law. (see? now it's much better)
my dad didn't help: "gum mai lang dee law. (now it's prettier)"
so. back to jim.
he got mad @ katie, and stayed mad. even when his dad joined us w/ his grandpa and he was just spoiling the mood for everyone. so stupid, but we can relate.
when we got to san fran, we first found our hotel CQ, which was one of the cheapest ones that i had found (so it was a good choice in my opinion). we checked in, and got into the elevator--but we kept pushing the button for our floor, and the light would go back off. so then, i noticed that there was a slot by the bottons, so we had to slide our room key, then we would be able to get up. but when we got in the rooms, lo-and-behold, there is one twin bed. in each room. we couldn't do that. we needed two (twin & bigger) beds. so he guy @ concierge was kind enough to change rooms.
surprise-surprise! we got new rooms, and there are two beds in them--just singles. ha-ha! singles!!! even worse!!! nice. so in the end, we had to put them together (if we were going to do that, then we might as well kept the other room!).
keni's ma and my da patroled, killed the fun, and i was like, "I'm not going out there. (i was in the showers--and not getting out) i know that i'll say something out of line. but who the F*CK PUT THEM IN CHARGE?!" sErIoUsLy. man. like stuck up d*cks.
my ma comes over: "we don't need to get up early tommorow--9am is good."
then jim's da comes over: "why are u guys still up?! we need to get up early!!!" (<--if you're gonna march around and commanding ppl like the pricks you are, then GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!! get in sync man! plan a meeting or some stupid sh*t like that. A says 9 o'clock. then B comes barging in, saying 'what the f?!' 'we're getting up at 8:30!' my dad is like: "turn off the TV." (<- what the F*CK?? it's a FR*GGIN vAcAtIoN!!! OUR vacation! we can't even WATCH TV?! what the h*ll??!!) anyway. we went to pier 59 (fisherman's warf) to eat seafood. LO-AND-BEHOLD, there's not a SNACK STAND in sight!!! it's just a stupid walk!!!! seriously. not even a good view! so we walked, and there was like a fair going on with lotsa tents (though not as many ppl as in the taste). but they weren't selling food...i had no idea what the purpose was. there was a stage w/ singers sponsored by a local station. (bad singers. when we left, they're doing 'just dance' by gaga, and i was like, 'they CAN NOT sing. lemmie up there!' (though i would have died of embarassment, i OWN that song. lol. the irony is that i HATED her when i first saw her @ Ms. Universe. her outfit & lyrics. but now, she's like the best.) we got tired of walking, and we bought ice cream @ a ben&jerry stand (ok, i admit, there was ONE stand... or a handful--still not many though). by this time, kate had steeped on jim's shoe laces and he was steaming. the thing is, he's one of those ppl who don't yell. he silently fumes. he doesn't talk, he doesn't respond. we (the cuzins) were like, "What's up w/ him?" cause there was definately something up. later, i found out from.....(??) that kate's ma (like all other chinese parents) didn't like jim's sagging pants, or his untied shoelaces. so she unsuccessfully tried to step on them. but kate did step on them, and they broke. (they need to leave us the F*CK alone!!!) it's the same w/ tied up hair--if i put my hair down, my ma's like, "好似成個傻婆gum ah!" ("hoe tzi ge sou pao gum ah: you look like a crazy woman!)
she NEVER liked my hair down. I LOVE IT DOWN. how it looks. but i can't stand it for the entire day. so good for her.
but my sis has always had less hair then me (though when we were little, she had more hair), so she would have it down. lately, both my parents want it up in a ponytail (no duh!). i have no idea what brought it on.
my ma: "see? gum mai 靚 dee law. (see? now it's much better)
my dad didn't help: "gum mai lang dee law. (now it's prettier)"
so. back to jim.
he got mad @ katie, and stayed mad. even when his dad joined us w/ his grandpa and he was just spoiling the mood for everyone. so stupid, but we can relate.
life: Cali pt. 5 Vegas ii
the next day... no idea where the day went.... i think that we spent it all in Caesar's palace... shopping, until the men drifted off towards the casinos.
there were many shops there:
GUESS (nita's fave, affordably classy, but we were using our own money, so... yea. and nothing was cute)
PRADA (maybe when i get my own paycheck)
GUCCI (eh....)
GAP (it's been about a couple YEARS since i've been in one!)
BANANA REPUBLIC (too old 4 me)
CK (my fave, but everyone else things is wierd--the only thing i bought for the rest of the trip--a CK long shirt)
LV (not for me)
TUMI (not for me)
DK (I ADORE DK(NY)!!! but the stuff there was ugly, and the only thing i really like was $40 (which my ma would never buy for me or herself), and the $38 DKNY BLOSSOM...too bad)
BEBE (NOW THAT WAS FASHION! it was very cute, but unaffordable for me)
JUICY COUTURE (eh.... never really liked it's style)
BCBG (eh... it's for older ppl... 20-40s business/formal type)
MARC JACOBS ("too expensive" -my ma.)
BUT!!! there was an ABERCROMBIE&FITCH!!!! though it's not my style. i don't like a lot of the popular labels out there that other teens enjoy....VANS, CONVERSE, AE (to which i sorta take back...).
We were there until it was about to close when we decided that we would buy a cheesecake from the CHEESECAKE FACTORY, and some ice cream for 12 ppl to share. the cake was for $36? and so we could only afford the WALGREENS brand ice cream.
when we got back, we didn't finish the cheesecake, or the icecream--it was very filling, apparently.
there were many shops there:
GUESS (nita's fave, affordably classy, but we were using our own money, so... yea. and nothing was cute)
PRADA (maybe when i get my own paycheck)
GUCCI (eh....)
GAP (it's been about a couple YEARS since i've been in one!)
BANANA REPUBLIC (too old 4 me)
CK (my fave, but everyone else things is wierd--the only thing i bought for the rest of the trip--a CK long shirt)
LV (not for me)
TUMI (not for me)
DK (I ADORE DK(NY)!!! but the stuff there was ugly, and the only thing i really like was $40 (which my ma would never buy for me or herself), and the $38 DKNY BLOSSOM...too bad)
BEBE (NOW THAT WAS FASHION! it was very cute, but unaffordable for me)
JUICY COUTURE (eh.... never really liked it's style)
BCBG (eh... it's for older ppl... 20-40s business/formal type)
MARC JACOBS ("too expensive" -my ma.)
BUT!!! there was an ABERCROMBIE&FITCH!!!! though it's not my style. i don't like a lot of the popular labels out there that other teens enjoy....VANS, CONVERSE, AE (to which i sorta take back...).
We were there until it was about to close when we decided that we would buy a cheesecake from the CHEESECAKE FACTORY, and some ice cream for 12 ppl to share. the cake was for $36? and so we could only afford the WALGREENS brand ice cream.
when we got back, we didn't finish the cheesecake, or the icecream--it was very filling, apparently.
life: Cali pt. 4 Vegas
leaving grand canyon, we needed to punch in the hotel's adress at which we were staying @. but both of the GPS's didn't have this adress registered, and we were helpless. until jim's dad's borrowed GPS got it.
A LITTLE STORY ABOUT A GPS.
i herd this from ben @ dan's house one night.....
jim's dad (gum) had previously borrowed tam's dad's (ben) gps to go somewhere, and being friends (and relatives), he of course lent it to him. there was no reason not to.
and gum had returned it--and it was damaged, so ben was like, "why is it damaged?" (it was brand new), and gum was like, "when i borrowed it, it was like that." so there was some hesitancy when gum had asked ben (again) to borrow his GPS to go on the trip--no more maps!
So, when the trip started, i told my parents this, just gossiping, and they were like, "Keep this stuff to yourself--you can say it in front of us, but this doesn't go out--you understand?" i was like, of course! i was just saying as a matter of fact, wondering if ben had lent him his gps in the end, to which my parents didn't know.
but when we got there, i knew that ben had lent it to him.....
back to the trip.
so we arrived in vegas, which was a lot cooler then in the city we stayed over night at previously.
we were going to stay in the HILTON hotel (jim's dad has a friend that can get us discounts). it was pretty un-original looking, but the room was okay.
so, we ate, and.... hmmmm.... i'm blanking out.... on what we did until night time. anyway,
at night, we toured the strip. on foot. i've been here before, and seem many pictures, but the strip wasn't as classy as i remembered or seen. there were *gasp* drugstores on the strip (CVS and Walgreens)! but we saw the water show @ belagio (Andy wharhol was on exhibit, and belagio's art gallery was amazing, and i wanted to go, even though we've been there before; but then again, we've been to many places. last time, we stayed @ Mandalay Bay, which had a nice shark reef and a good pool)
we then went to the volcano show @.... the mirage. we caught the last show @ 12am after we went to caesar's palace to use the restrooms since we had time.
caesar's palace is AMAZING!!!! but so are the prices for hotel rooms. we (the children) were looking forward to shopping at the forum shops--AE, Abercrombie, Aeropostale, ect. We've been there also on our last trip, but when we asked our mothers if they had these shops, they didn't remember--they were only looking @ LV, PRADA, & GUCCI, so we were still excited anyhow.
the volcano show was okay. so was the water show @ belagio. but i would pic the belagio over the two.
we ate @ a chinese restaruant that gum's friend was a frequent @. when they showed us to the private room to seat us, they saw a cockroach!!! but that didn't discourage us, though the waiter (another one) said that he saw it and knew about it, though he did nothing and it ran off. Keni's mom was discouraged to dine here, but they did so anyhow.
we had our own table (as we would in many places) because a normal table wouldn't fit 12+ ppl, so we would have our own.
everywhere we went, there was no dau meu, which was my favorite chinese vegetable! i was so disappointed.
there are only 3 chinese vegetables we really eat: dau meu (pea pod tips), 西洋菜 sai yern choi (seacress), & tong (sum) choi 通心菜.
but now since they didn't have pea pod tips (it was too hot in Cal. to grow pea pod tips, and keeping the moister in it would be hard), seacress was only good in soup (not really in the mood to eat something so hot), we would always eat 腐乳 通心菜 (tong sum choi in fermented bean curd sauce), and AA choi, a new favorite.
the waiter was nice to us (though he wasn't even close to our age) and we liked him.
we had a lot of fun, and we had grown closer the last few days--we didn't spend quality time which each other for a while now--we would only get together once every 2 wks and spend about 1-2 hrs. together eating dim sum, then at walgreens or wandering chinatown.
the coversation was moved towards bf/gf preferances--long hair, chinese?, and ect.
we left, and went back to the hotel.
A LITTLE STORY ABOUT A GPS.
i herd this from ben @ dan's house one night.....
jim's dad (gum) had previously borrowed tam's dad's (ben) gps to go somewhere, and being friends (and relatives), he of course lent it to him. there was no reason not to.
and gum had returned it--and it was damaged, so ben was like, "why is it damaged?" (it was brand new), and gum was like, "when i borrowed it, it was like that." so there was some hesitancy when gum had asked ben (again) to borrow his GPS to go on the trip--no more maps!
So, when the trip started, i told my parents this, just gossiping, and they were like, "Keep this stuff to yourself--you can say it in front of us, but this doesn't go out--you understand?" i was like, of course! i was just saying as a matter of fact, wondering if ben had lent him his gps in the end, to which my parents didn't know.
but when we got there, i knew that ben had lent it to him.....
back to the trip.
so we arrived in vegas, which was a lot cooler then in the city we stayed over night at previously.
we were going to stay in the HILTON hotel (jim's dad has a friend that can get us discounts). it was pretty un-original looking, but the room was okay.
so, we ate, and.... hmmmm.... i'm blanking out.... on what we did until night time. anyway,
at night, we toured the strip. on foot. i've been here before, and seem many pictures, but the strip wasn't as classy as i remembered or seen. there were *gasp* drugstores on the strip (CVS and Walgreens)! but we saw the water show @ belagio (Andy wharhol was on exhibit, and belagio's art gallery was amazing, and i wanted to go, even though we've been there before; but then again, we've been to many places. last time, we stayed @ Mandalay Bay, which had a nice shark reef and a good pool)
we then went to the volcano show @.... the mirage. we caught the last show @ 12am after we went to caesar's palace to use the restrooms since we had time.
caesar's palace is AMAZING!!!! but so are the prices for hotel rooms. we (the children) were looking forward to shopping at the forum shops--AE, Abercrombie, Aeropostale, ect. We've been there also on our last trip, but when we asked our mothers if they had these shops, they didn't remember--they were only looking @ LV, PRADA, & GUCCI, so we were still excited anyhow.
the volcano show was okay. so was the water show @ belagio. but i would pic the belagio over the two.
we ate @ a chinese restaruant that gum's friend was a frequent @. when they showed us to the private room to seat us, they saw a cockroach!!! but that didn't discourage us, though the waiter (another one) said that he saw it and knew about it, though he did nothing and it ran off. Keni's mom was discouraged to dine here, but they did so anyhow.
we had our own table (as we would in many places) because a normal table wouldn't fit 12+ ppl, so we would have our own.
everywhere we went, there was no dau meu, which was my favorite chinese vegetable! i was so disappointed.
there are only 3 chinese vegetables we really eat: dau meu (pea pod tips), 西洋菜 sai yern choi (seacress), & tong (sum) choi 通心菜.
but now since they didn't have pea pod tips (it was too hot in Cal. to grow pea pod tips, and keeping the moister in it would be hard), seacress was only good in soup (not really in the mood to eat something so hot), we would always eat 腐乳 通心菜 (tong sum choi in fermented bean curd sauce), and AA choi, a new favorite.
the waiter was nice to us (though he wasn't even close to our age) and we liked him.
we had a lot of fun, and we had grown closer the last few days--we didn't spend quality time which each other for a while now--we would only get together once every 2 wks and spend about 1-2 hrs. together eating dim sum, then at walgreens or wandering chinatown.
the coversation was moved towards bf/gf preferances--long hair, chinese?, and ect.
we left, and went back to the hotel.
life: Cali pt. 3 Grand Canyon
So. we journeyed out to Grand Canyon.
We left L.A. with my new buy (a hello-kitty cover-up) w/ the AC in full blast, and we were karaoke-ing!!!!
KARAOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You see, it's an azn thing--we love to karaoke. And we all had phones that had memory cards in them (xcept Keni--he forgot his), but the ones w/ most songs were Nita's and mine. So most of the time, they would be choosing songs off of my memory card in Keni's phone (since his phone doesn't have one, and his speakers are better then mine)
I think that we did this practically the entire trip. We could have listened to the radio, but having to find a good pop station in EVERY city we were going to be in would be a pain, so we just opted for the phone.
When we first started this, we were lopped into one car together--so one car for the adults (xcept for 2 adults to drive us: my da, and keni's uncle who owned the gps we were using), and one for the 'children'.
When we first started karaoke-ing, the gals (xcept me) was sitting in the back, and the guys+me were in the front. But, our singing distracted my da, so when we stopped, he adamantly said that the guys needed to sit in the back. and that was how it was for the rest of the trip.
I knew a lot more songs then they did (english, chinese and japanese-wise)--i rarely delete stuff, so there were many good songs they skipped cause they didn't know. but they knew more korean artists--though they didn't have the songs on hand.
THE JOURNEY TO THE MIDDLE OF NO-WHERE.
We left L.A. going towards Grand Canyon. But were were going to stay the night in a city in-between the two big destinations (vegas/grand canyon), thus in the middle of no-where.
It was a long drive--it was boring--just fields and fields of farmland/cattle. we all soon fell asleep. I was the first to wake up. It was completely, un-naturally dark outside. even on small highways going to/from NY, there were highway lamp-posts for light. But now, there were none, and the road markings are only done w/ the reflective dots, no paint, so it was hard to drive (in my opinion).
Afterwards, they all woke up, and we were just sort of frantic--we were nowhere near civilization! there were no little towns, or any sort of light! but we approached this wierd massive glob of light (probably a city), and passed it--NOOOOOO!!!!! CIVILIZATION!!!! LIGHTS!!!! PEOPLE!!!!
we passed by a harrah's in the middle of nowhere off the highway--we whoshed right by---NOOOO!!!! *tears gushing down
we found out that we were staying @ a hotel w/ a very corny name--'The Gold Nugget'--how much more corney could this be???
So we passed by a few more places, everytime disappointed, desperate to just stop driving on the dark highway.
The highway finally came to an end--and we saw lights!!!! yay!!!
we drove some more, and we finallly got there. it was in a plaza-sort of style with many casinos and hotels, all western-themed. eck.
When i first got out, i was like, "oh my gosh, this is humid!!" i knew that i previously had asthema, but outgrew it, so..yea. maybe i was being a drama-queen, but i had a hard time breathing. but i got over it. it was really humid there! we checked in, and got in. the hotel was actually one of the nicest ones we've been in on the entire trip.
we took 4-ever taking a shower (as always) and for once, the guys wanted the bed (2 to a bed, me and nita on the floor), since they had slept on the floor for the past 2 days. it was actually a nice sleep.
so we woke up, had breakfast, and left.
GRAND CANYON
after much more driving (and karaoke-ing), we arrived. it was $25/car (which was 'expensive'--of course! it's a 5-day pass, and we would only be there for 1 day; ppl like to stay for awhile--picnic, camp, ect)
at first, all of our cameras didn't work (xcept jim's)--it was way too bright though it was a midly cloudy day. after 10 min, we figured out that our camera's weren't on automatic; they were on manual (which i would have never suspected, b/c it's always on auto). so then, we took a bunch of pictures (we blocked the view in every one), and left.
big waste of money if you ask me. and it's not like we really appreciate it too, or have a good camera. i would have rather spent that day somewhere else; but jim's dad's reply was: it's like that--you're just here for the experience--it basically means, to be able to say, 'we've been there'. stupid.
onto vegas we go!
We left L.A. with my new buy (a hello-kitty cover-up) w/ the AC in full blast, and we were karaoke-ing!!!!
KARAOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You see, it's an azn thing--we love to karaoke. And we all had phones that had memory cards in them (xcept Keni--he forgot his), but the ones w/ most songs were Nita's and mine. So most of the time, they would be choosing songs off of my memory card in Keni's phone (since his phone doesn't have one, and his speakers are better then mine)
I think that we did this practically the entire trip. We could have listened to the radio, but having to find a good pop station in EVERY city we were going to be in would be a pain, so we just opted for the phone.
When we first started this, we were lopped into one car together--so one car for the adults (xcept for 2 adults to drive us: my da, and keni's uncle who owned the gps we were using), and one for the 'children'.
When we first started karaoke-ing, the gals (xcept me) was sitting in the back, and the guys+me were in the front. But, our singing distracted my da, so when we stopped, he adamantly said that the guys needed to sit in the back. and that was how it was for the rest of the trip.
I knew a lot more songs then they did (english, chinese and japanese-wise)--i rarely delete stuff, so there were many good songs they skipped cause they didn't know. but they knew more korean artists--though they didn't have the songs on hand.
THE JOURNEY TO THE MIDDLE OF NO-WHERE.
We left L.A. going towards Grand Canyon. But were were going to stay the night in a city in-between the two big destinations (vegas/grand canyon), thus in the middle of no-where.
It was a long drive--it was boring--just fields and fields of farmland/cattle. we all soon fell asleep. I was the first to wake up. It was completely, un-naturally dark outside. even on small highways going to/from NY, there were highway lamp-posts for light. But now, there were none, and the road markings are only done w/ the reflective dots, no paint, so it was hard to drive (in my opinion).
Afterwards, they all woke up, and we were just sort of frantic--we were nowhere near civilization! there were no little towns, or any sort of light! but we approached this wierd massive glob of light (probably a city), and passed it--NOOOOOO!!!!! CIVILIZATION!!!! LIGHTS!!!! PEOPLE!!!!
we passed by a harrah's in the middle of nowhere off the highway--we whoshed right by---NOOOO!!!! *tears gushing down
we found out that we were staying @ a hotel w/ a very corny name--'The Gold Nugget'--how much more corney could this be???
So we passed by a few more places, everytime disappointed, desperate to just stop driving on the dark highway.
The highway finally came to an end--and we saw lights!!!! yay!!!
we drove some more, and we finallly got there. it was in a plaza-sort of style with many casinos and hotels, all western-themed. eck.
When i first got out, i was like, "oh my gosh, this is humid!!" i knew that i previously had asthema, but outgrew it, so..yea. maybe i was being a drama-queen, but i had a hard time breathing. but i got over it. it was really humid there! we checked in, and got in. the hotel was actually one of the nicest ones we've been in on the entire trip.
we took 4-ever taking a shower (as always) and for once, the guys wanted the bed (2 to a bed, me and nita on the floor), since they had slept on the floor for the past 2 days. it was actually a nice sleep.
so we woke up, had breakfast, and left.
GRAND CANYON
after much more driving (and karaoke-ing), we arrived. it was $25/car (which was 'expensive'--of course! it's a 5-day pass, and we would only be there for 1 day; ppl like to stay for awhile--picnic, camp, ect)
at first, all of our cameras didn't work (xcept jim's)--it was way too bright though it was a midly cloudy day. after 10 min, we figured out that our camera's weren't on automatic; they were on manual (which i would have never suspected, b/c it's always on auto). so then, we took a bunch of pictures (we blocked the view in every one), and left.
big waste of money if you ask me. and it's not like we really appreciate it too, or have a good camera. i would have rather spent that day somewhere else; but jim's dad's reply was: it's like that--you're just here for the experience--it basically means, to be able to say, 'we've been there'. stupid.
onto vegas we go!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
life: iPhone Scam
This didn't happen to me... this really happened to a friend of the family.
he was the owner of 3 chain restaurants in chicago. he was a young man, in his 30s/40s. his nickname was "Kid" (sounds better in chinese).
I'M NOT TRYING TO OFFEND ANYONE BY THIS:
Two white males came into one of his restaurants (he was there) with iPhones and Apple computers (Macs). They were selling the iPhones for $250 when elsewhere, they sell for (i herd this from another source) $600--so it's a great steal!
They tried the displays they had on them--the laptops and phones were working, and authentic.
He was able to round up the entire staff (all the chefs, waiters, and himself, in total about 10+ ppl) to buy something from them--in total about $2,000. That was amazing since they mostly were immigrants--he would probably have to explain to them how great a steal it was. They were like, "But how can I get that much money?"
So, Kid was like, "It's fine--I can pay for you, and take it out of your paycheck." so they were all fine.
The guys were like, "Since you guys are such good coustomers (no duh! $2,000!), i'll get you some brand new stuff from the car--this stuff has been used."
So, they went and got the things. The packaging was very nice and authentic-looking, and they guys left. They thought they had got themselves a steal.
But... when they opened it, the laptops were sacks of flour! and the "iPhones" were cardboard!!!!
So... that's how they were scammed of $2,000, of which was Kid's money.
After finding this out, they immediately went to the Chicago-Sun Times, and Lo-And-Behold! Another person was also scammed on the same day!
He was a good scam artist, though--he had the entire staff trust him enough so that none of them even bothered to open thier new stuff... or he distracted them enough for them to ignore the fact that they're owners of brand new apple items. I would be so excited that i would immediately open them.
he was the owner of 3 chain restaurants in chicago. he was a young man, in his 30s/40s. his nickname was "Kid" (sounds better in chinese).
I'M NOT TRYING TO OFFEND ANYONE BY THIS:
Two white males came into one of his restaurants (he was there) with iPhones and Apple computers (Macs). They were selling the iPhones for $250 when elsewhere, they sell for (i herd this from another source) $600--so it's a great steal!
They tried the displays they had on them--the laptops and phones were working, and authentic.
He was able to round up the entire staff (all the chefs, waiters, and himself, in total about 10+ ppl) to buy something from them--in total about $2,000. That was amazing since they mostly were immigrants--he would probably have to explain to them how great a steal it was. They were like, "But how can I get that much money?"
So, Kid was like, "It's fine--I can pay for you, and take it out of your paycheck." so they were all fine.
The guys were like, "Since you guys are such good coustomers (no duh! $2,000!), i'll get you some brand new stuff from the car--this stuff has been used."
So, they went and got the things. The packaging was very nice and authentic-looking, and they guys left. They thought they had got themselves a steal.
But... when they opened it, the laptops were sacks of flour! and the "iPhones" were cardboard!!!!
So... that's how they were scammed of $2,000, of which was Kid's money.
After finding this out, they immediately went to the Chicago-Sun Times, and Lo-And-Behold! Another person was also scammed on the same day!
He was a good scam artist, though--he had the entire staff trust him enough so that none of them even bothered to open thier new stuff... or he distracted them enough for them to ignore the fact that they're owners of brand new apple items. I would be so excited that i would immediately open them.
Monday, July 20, 2009
life: Cali. pt. 2 L.A.
we decided on going to:
1. san diego
2. l.a.
3. grand canyon
4. vegas
5. san fran
i was in charge of hotels, flights, attractions, ect. but none of that worked out (Jim's dad ended up doing all of it while ignoring the research i got), except he relied on me to see what attractions there were. heavily. when we got there, it was all--"YukYuu, where do you want to go?" "Well, YukYuu said she wanted to go,"
we also decided that we would miss out on the first two days the rest of the family would spend in san diego and we would only have a 7-day vacation (as usual) instead of 9 days like everyone else. (my grandma is a work-a-holic!)
we would spend abut 2 days in every place expt. grand canyon--only 1 afternoon. i totally thought it was too much--how the hell can you relax if half the time is spent on the road, and packing and repacking every 2 days??? so stressful!!! but noooo... we HAD to go to those places. all of them... i at least wanted to cut out grand canyon--it's only good for pictures (and since we all have only average cameras, it would be crappy pictures, to which was true), and we knew we weren't nature-freaks.
but we went anyway. stupid.
san diego was the place w/ most attractions, but we missed out on it. but... apparently, they spent about 5 hrs. walking around, so i saved my feet from misery.
VACATION '09. START.
so. L.A. the night before, i actually had a pretty good night's sleep. i woke up early the day before to print out boarding passes (OH MY GOD! PRINTING BOARDING PASSES OUT BEFORE HAND IS SO AWESOME!!! we skipped EVERYTHING and just boarded the plane. my parents ran into some old friends which were eerily goint to the same places we were, just on different dates.)
so. i woke up, we got out on time, and we needed go to MIDWAY (which is farther then o'hare because SOMEONE *cough *cough was being a cheap-ass!! *cough *jim's dad *cough *cough)
but we also reserved parking before hand (IT'S CHEAPER THEN A TAXI!!! JUST RENT A PARKING SPACE BY THE AIRPORT!!!) and we got there--the service was really good (very exceptional), and we had a free instand shuttle!!! it was amazing! and it was cheap. the others got their parking from somewhere else, and it was a lot more expensive. YES! HA!!! but maybe cause they had 2 more days of parking... i dunno....
the shuttle driver scared us by saying that we were running late, though we were on time--probably cause we already checked in online. it's amazing!!! so we boarded, and we landed.
L.A. DAY 1
we picked up our car (rented from a company i didn't know, therefore i really hoped wasn't a rip-off, but as more ppl got into the airport shuttle bus, i felt calmer that we weren't in for a rip-off), which was a van with 8 passenger seating. @ no extra cost. (the others had to pay an extra $20 for a van--HA HA! they got ripped off. even though we both rented from the same company)
we had a GPS (keni's uncle's), i printed a map from yahoo! to see what attractions there were in LA. but the thing is that there were no names on there. only adresses, so we were supposed to head towards UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, but we ended up in downtown L.A. instead. they were already there waiting. so we rerouted, and we got there. universal studios was disappointing. i thought it would be a theme park, but it wasn't. there were only about 4 rides on there that were also disappointing.
we got parking (free) and we went. but then we realized that the tickets (ordered online, already printed--we are SO IN w/ technology cause of me) were still in the car. i went back w/ my da. then afterwards: 1st stop--a water show. while going up the bleachers, a f*cker behind me stepped on my ALDO flip-flops that i adored but were technically my ma's, and broke them! the front strap came out, and i was like:
"WHAT THE HELL???"
i was initially in shock. i caught up to the rest of the family, and i told my ma,
"無了...mom, my flip-flip broke!"
they didn't know that to do either. so we were going to find a shop in universal that sold flip-flops--they were popular, and there were a couple of clothing stores there. but it didn't sell flip-flops and i had thought to bring my TOMMY HILFIGERS--they were REALLY comfy (though foam) flip-flops.
so after the show, we got more wet then the ppl sitting in the 'soak zone' did, we went back to the car. trip #2.
when we walked back (mind you, this is a long walk), my dad didn't have his ticket--it was in the car! even though we had a stamp for re-entry, he needed his ticket.
back to the car. trip #3.
we finally got back in, and we found them--my cuzins already went to another attraction (the haunted house that was 'REALLY scary' and even scared the sh*t out of them. and mind you, they were teens. but then, so am i.
we got to the hotel after spending an entire day there.
... can't say i remember much about it... (the hotel)
L.A. DAY 2
today, we had dim-sum in a chinese restaurant (no duh.), had some cheap dim-sum ("how can they sell THIS dish (assorted cow organs) for the same price as all the other dim sum without loosing money?!")
we (my cuzins, me, my sis, my da, and keni's uncle) went onwards to LA's japanese town. it was disappointing. the place was only featuring a mall that was remotely interesting. (outdoors) the things were... eh. i had to buy something, so i found a Hello-Kitty towel cover-up. they had pink, red, and black.
me: "how much is the hello-kitty cover-up out in the front?"
sales-lady that was japanese: "$26" now, i know my ma had a cover up she bought for about $20 that looked pretty pathetic, but this hello-kitty was pretty, so $6 more dollars wasn't a lot more to pay.
me: "do you have it in other colors?"
sales lady shows me them. i couldn't choose which color. i ask my female cousins + my sis, and they were no help.
me: "which color should i get?"
sales: "black is slimming."
female cuzin: "yea, black makes you look thinner"
me: "yea, but i'd be out in the sun, and black is hot."
so i decided on the pink. they only had one, that was an XL. (mind you, i was trying this on on-top of my clothes (no changing room) and i was like,
"size doens't matter when it comes to this stuff. it's like a 1-size-fits-all-thing." so i didn't care about the size of it. i took the pink in XL, when i was a M. my, i was going to regret that. though it made a great throw for in the car, since the guys liked the AC on high, and i had bad circulation, so i basically froze.
after japan town, we decided that we wanted to go the the world record museum (to which we first went to by accident). but we were on our own, using our own money, and when the guy told us that it was $14/person, we decided to not go. we went shopping instead. but i was broke. i decided to only bring $30 with me for the whole trip ($10 spending money for everyplace we went), and i had already spent all of that for the hello-kitty throw. so i was window-shopping. they went to XXI, & AE. no body bought a lot of things.
we ate @ nite @ a chinese place where jim's dad had a friend there. the food was wierd. californian-chinese food was different from chicago-chinese food. eck.
so then. we set out onto grand canyon.
1. san diego
2. l.a.
3. grand canyon
4. vegas
5. san fran
i was in charge of hotels, flights, attractions, ect. but none of that worked out (Jim's dad ended up doing all of it while ignoring the research i got), except he relied on me to see what attractions there were. heavily. when we got there, it was all--"YukYuu, where do you want to go?" "Well, YukYuu said she wanted to go,"
we also decided that we would miss out on the first two days the rest of the family would spend in san diego and we would only have a 7-day vacation (as usual) instead of 9 days like everyone else. (my grandma is a work-a-holic!)
we would spend abut 2 days in every place expt. grand canyon--only 1 afternoon. i totally thought it was too much--how the hell can you relax if half the time is spent on the road, and packing and repacking every 2 days??? so stressful!!! but noooo... we HAD to go to those places. all of them... i at least wanted to cut out grand canyon--it's only good for pictures (and since we all have only average cameras, it would be crappy pictures, to which was true), and we knew we weren't nature-freaks.
but we went anyway. stupid.
san diego was the place w/ most attractions, but we missed out on it. but... apparently, they spent about 5 hrs. walking around, so i saved my feet from misery.
VACATION '09. START.
so. L.A. the night before, i actually had a pretty good night's sleep. i woke up early the day before to print out boarding passes (OH MY GOD! PRINTING BOARDING PASSES OUT BEFORE HAND IS SO AWESOME!!! we skipped EVERYTHING and just boarded the plane. my parents ran into some old friends which were eerily goint to the same places we were, just on different dates.)
so. i woke up, we got out on time, and we needed go to MIDWAY (which is farther then o'hare because SOMEONE *cough *cough was being a cheap-ass!! *cough *jim's dad *cough *cough)
but we also reserved parking before hand (IT'S CHEAPER THEN A TAXI!!! JUST RENT A PARKING SPACE BY THE AIRPORT!!!) and we got there--the service was really good (very exceptional), and we had a free instand shuttle!!! it was amazing! and it was cheap. the others got their parking from somewhere else, and it was a lot more expensive. YES! HA!!! but maybe cause they had 2 more days of parking... i dunno....
the shuttle driver scared us by saying that we were running late, though we were on time--probably cause we already checked in online. it's amazing!!! so we boarded, and we landed.
L.A. DAY 1
we picked up our car (rented from a company i didn't know, therefore i really hoped wasn't a rip-off, but as more ppl got into the airport shuttle bus, i felt calmer that we weren't in for a rip-off), which was a van with 8 passenger seating. @ no extra cost. (the others had to pay an extra $20 for a van--HA HA! they got ripped off. even though we both rented from the same company)
we had a GPS (keni's uncle's), i printed a map from yahoo! to see what attractions there were in LA. but the thing is that there were no names on there. only adresses, so we were supposed to head towards UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, but we ended up in downtown L.A. instead. they were already there waiting. so we rerouted, and we got there. universal studios was disappointing. i thought it would be a theme park, but it wasn't. there were only about 4 rides on there that were also disappointing.
we got parking (free) and we went. but then we realized that the tickets (ordered online, already printed--we are SO IN w/ technology cause of me) were still in the car. i went back w/ my da. then afterwards: 1st stop--a water show. while going up the bleachers, a f*cker behind me stepped on my ALDO flip-flops that i adored but were technically my ma's, and broke them! the front strap came out, and i was like:
"WHAT THE HELL???"
i was initially in shock. i caught up to the rest of the family, and i told my ma,
"無了...mom, my flip-flip broke!"
they didn't know that to do either. so we were going to find a shop in universal that sold flip-flops--they were popular, and there were a couple of clothing stores there. but it didn't sell flip-flops and i had thought to bring my TOMMY HILFIGERS--they were REALLY comfy (though foam) flip-flops.
so after the show, we got more wet then the ppl sitting in the 'soak zone' did, we went back to the car. trip #2.
when we walked back (mind you, this is a long walk), my dad didn't have his ticket--it was in the car! even though we had a stamp for re-entry, he needed his ticket.
back to the car. trip #3.
we finally got back in, and we found them--my cuzins already went to another attraction (the haunted house that was 'REALLY scary' and even scared the sh*t out of them. and mind you, they were teens. but then, so am i.
we got to the hotel after spending an entire day there.
... can't say i remember much about it... (the hotel)
L.A. DAY 2
today, we had dim-sum in a chinese restaurant (no duh.), had some cheap dim-sum ("how can they sell THIS dish (assorted cow organs) for the same price as all the other dim sum without loosing money?!")
we (my cuzins, me, my sis, my da, and keni's uncle) went onwards to LA's japanese town. it was disappointing. the place was only featuring a mall that was remotely interesting. (outdoors) the things were... eh. i had to buy something, so i found a Hello-Kitty towel cover-up. they had pink, red, and black.
me: "how much is the hello-kitty cover-up out in the front?"
sales-lady that was japanese: "$26" now, i know my ma had a cover up she bought for about $20 that looked pretty pathetic, but this hello-kitty was pretty, so $6 more dollars wasn't a lot more to pay.
me: "do you have it in other colors?"
sales lady shows me them. i couldn't choose which color. i ask my female cousins + my sis, and they were no help.
me: "which color should i get?"
sales: "black is slimming."
female cuzin: "yea, black makes you look thinner"
me: "yea, but i'd be out in the sun, and black is hot."
so i decided on the pink. they only had one, that was an XL. (mind you, i was trying this on on-top of my clothes (no changing room) and i was like,
"size doens't matter when it comes to this stuff. it's like a 1-size-fits-all-thing." so i didn't care about the size of it. i took the pink in XL, when i was a M. my, i was going to regret that. though it made a great throw for in the car, since the guys liked the AC on high, and i had bad circulation, so i basically froze.
after japan town, we decided that we wanted to go the the world record museum (to which we first went to by accident). but we were on our own, using our own money, and when the guy told us that it was $14/person, we decided to not go. we went shopping instead. but i was broke. i decided to only bring $30 with me for the whole trip ($10 spending money for everyplace we went), and i had already spent all of that for the hello-kitty throw. so i was window-shopping. they went to XXI, & AE. no body bought a lot of things.
we ate @ nite @ a chinese place where jim's dad had a friend there. the food was wierd. californian-chinese food was different from chicago-chinese food. eck.
so then. we set out onto grand canyon.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
life: Cali pt. 1 PRE
well, this year, we went on our annual vacation... my parents basically work 10hrs+ every day 7 days a week. we work about... 300 days a year.
so. my cuzin's dad/ my uncle wanted to go to Vegas cause he's never been there--while Keni's family and ours already went, in '03. so, it wasn't really gonna be that much fun--i remember being forced away from the gambling tables cause i was too young, and the only thing really was the pool... not fun.
BUT he had his eyes out for bigger things--he wanted to go to:
Vegas (gambling!!)
L.A. (hollywood!!)
SanFran (he has friends there)
San Diego (Sea World!)
Grand Canyon
and Yosemite Park.
all of California and beyond, basically.
so we took forever hashing out when we would go specifically--we would always go around july 4, but it mattered when exactly for airfare and hotel rooms.
i begged to help out, since i was a link to the world of internet therefore leading to savings.
so he let me.
i went on travelocity, hotels.com, orbitz, hotelrooms, and several other sites. for both hotels and airfares--i had excelled about several hundred cells... and i stressed out a lot for that.
he was demanding: he wanted it to be a short flight (so non-stop), the right time (don't have to wake up too early) and within budget.
with hotels, he ALWAYS wanted it to be close to the attractions (universal studios, sea world, san diego zoo, or the vegas strip) and to chinatown, HAD to be @ least 3 stars, and within budget (about $100/nite).
and in the end. he took care of all of it. i did all the f*cking shit for nothing at all. my hard work meant nothing. he made all the decisions in the end.
the plane tickets were actually bought from a travel agency, and he had a friend working in a hotel in vegas, so we're staying there....(after i looked up about 20 hotels in vegas--there are so many!!)
here's a little story:
he found a hotel in the middle of nowhere between vegas and the canyon, for about $50 a nite.
but then he called my mom (his cuzin), and he was like: "Tsun, can you see if you can get it cheaper?"
my ma was like: "okay, sure gum."
but internally, she was like: "you CHEAP*ss!!!! you got the fr*ggin room for $50 a night! that's a steal!!! and now you want ME to call them to see if i can get it for even cheaper??? what do you f*king want??? 'Oh, can you give me two more dollars off?? Make it $45 dollars a nite?!!'
my dad was like: (after laughing his _ss off) "man, when we get there, its gonna be a FLEABAG!!! then i'm gonna just point and laugh. point and laugh. $50 a night!! oh, man. that was a good one." (wipes tear from his eye)
getting there was TERRIFYING!!!! oh-my-god! we drove like forever!!! my dad was driving the 'children's' car (teens & pre-teens) i'm SO glad i slept through a lot of it.
i woke up in the car, and it was totally dark outside. they all ended up waking up, and it was just so scary--there were no street/highway lights, and in the distance, there were no lights either!!! no city nearby @ all!!!! totally dark. after about a couple of hours of driving, we passed by a harrah's (we were like, "OH MY GOD, IS THAT IT??? PLEASE TELL ME WE'RE THERE!!! (we drive right by) NOOOOOO!!!! civilization!!!)
so... there were 12 of us that was on this vacation. Hotel rooms totally don't allow this many ppl in 2 rooms, or even 3. But we were never caught... it's azn cheapness.
so. my cuzin's dad/ my uncle wanted to go to Vegas cause he's never been there--while Keni's family and ours already went, in '03. so, it wasn't really gonna be that much fun--i remember being forced away from the gambling tables cause i was too young, and the only thing really was the pool... not fun.
BUT he had his eyes out for bigger things--he wanted to go to:
Vegas (gambling!!)
L.A. (hollywood!!)
SanFran (he has friends there)
San Diego (Sea World!)
Grand Canyon
and Yosemite Park.
all of California and beyond, basically.
so we took forever hashing out when we would go specifically--we would always go around july 4, but it mattered when exactly for airfare and hotel rooms.
i begged to help out, since i was a link to the world of internet therefore leading to savings.
so he let me.
i went on travelocity, hotels.com, orbitz, hotelrooms, and several other sites. for both hotels and airfares--i had excelled about several hundred cells... and i stressed out a lot for that.
he was demanding: he wanted it to be a short flight (so non-stop), the right time (don't have to wake up too early) and within budget.
with hotels, he ALWAYS wanted it to be close to the attractions (universal studios, sea world, san diego zoo, or the vegas strip) and to chinatown, HAD to be @ least 3 stars, and within budget (about $100/nite).
and in the end. he took care of all of it. i did all the f*cking shit for nothing at all. my hard work meant nothing. he made all the decisions in the end.
the plane tickets were actually bought from a travel agency, and he had a friend working in a hotel in vegas, so we're staying there....(after i looked up about 20 hotels in vegas--there are so many!!)
here's a little story:
he found a hotel in the middle of nowhere between vegas and the canyon, for about $50 a nite.
but then he called my mom (his cuzin), and he was like: "Tsun, can you see if you can get it cheaper?"
my ma was like: "okay, sure gum."
but internally, she was like: "you CHEAP*ss!!!! you got the fr*ggin room for $50 a night! that's a steal!!! and now you want ME to call them to see if i can get it for even cheaper??? what do you f*king want??? 'Oh, can you give me two more dollars off?? Make it $45 dollars a nite?!!'
my dad was like: (after laughing his _ss off) "man, when we get there, its gonna be a FLEABAG!!! then i'm gonna just point and laugh. point and laugh. $50 a night!! oh, man. that was a good one." (wipes tear from his eye)
getting there was TERRIFYING!!!! oh-my-god! we drove like forever!!! my dad was driving the 'children's' car (teens & pre-teens) i'm SO glad i slept through a lot of it.
i woke up in the car, and it was totally dark outside. they all ended up waking up, and it was just so scary--there were no street/highway lights, and in the distance, there were no lights either!!! no city nearby @ all!!!! totally dark. after about a couple of hours of driving, we passed by a harrah's (we were like, "OH MY GOD, IS THAT IT??? PLEASE TELL ME WE'RE THERE!!! (we drive right by) NOOOOOO!!!! civilization!!!)
so... there were 12 of us that was on this vacation. Hotel rooms totally don't allow this many ppl in 2 rooms, or even 3. But we were never caught... it's azn cheapness.
today....
wow. my first blogg!!! yay!!!
well,... what happened 2dae.....
my grandparents got in a fight. my grandma is one of those naggy old ppl that can't be plzed.... yep. that's her. and my grandpa is her fav. victim--he's the silent type that has no opinion, and just gets pushed over a lotta times until he finally boils over... but he cares....
as i was saying... she was going on and on about how he was lazy ("You made twice as much rice just because you didn't want to make more later, you useless lazy thing,"--hey, it could be altimerz), and how he always read the newspaper, how he spent too much time sleeping (hey--he's old! he's about 70 now...), and how much she worked since he was retired under the law, yet he still helped out around the restaurant.... ("How many dishes did you cook? Who fried those rangoons you made? Who?)
and FINALLY on TVB, there's something good on... a vocal talent show...
well,... what happened 2dae.....
my grandparents got in a fight. my grandma is one of those naggy old ppl that can't be plzed.... yep. that's her. and my grandpa is her fav. victim--he's the silent type that has no opinion, and just gets pushed over a lotta times until he finally boils over... but he cares....
as i was saying... she was going on and on about how he was lazy ("You made twice as much rice just because you didn't want to make more later, you useless lazy thing,"--hey, it could be altimerz), and how he always read the newspaper, how he spent too much time sleeping (hey--he's old! he's about 70 now...), and how much she worked since he was retired under the law, yet he still helped out around the restaurant.... ("How many dishes did you cook? Who fried those rangoons you made? Who?)
and FINALLY on TVB, there's something good on... a vocal talent show...
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