It's now 3:45am and I can officially call this weekend over. I think this might rank as one of my all time most memorable/enjoyable weekends ever. It's kinda sad that I'm writing about it now that it's done, but now at least I have a couple of extra stories to tell and reminisce about. Here's my highlights:
Corona Del Mar
After failing miserably trying to wake up for class and stumbing out of bed (even though my mattress is currently on the floor) at 1, I though my day would be a bust. I usually dread those Fridays when it seems like nothing is going on or everyone is doing their own thing. While I was eating, I got a message from Dee that some people were going to CDM at 4. Excited that somebody actually invited me somewhere (unlike for Nathalie's b-day surprise thing *ahem*), I took a shower and somehow left the house at 4:15 with a towel, an extra shirt, and my camera, which I gradually buried over several months of disuse. I arrived at the beach at 4:30, thinking I was missing something, but only finding Leo there. David came a few minutes later. Everyone else showed up a little past 4:45, leaving about 45 minutes of good sun time before sunset. I shoulda known pilipino time compounds depending on the amount of people involved... Leo, David, Fran, Dee, Reg, Michelle, Angie, Kathleen, Christina, Derrick, and I... that equates to mad lag mode. Only half expecting to get even the slightest bit wet, Leo, David, Fran, Reg, Dee, Angie, and I actually ended up soaked and freezing. I think Reg and Fran didn't even have swim stuff on, just their regular clothes. Dee tried to splash Fran and then run away, but got sucked into a sand pothole and ate it. You shoulda been there. To steal a line from Dee's blog: derek, cristina, and kathleen dug useless holes near our blankets. Then Angie demolished their tunnels with a well placed foot. We then proceeded to make a whole platter of dip disappear, along with strawberries and whipped cream. Reg's sweater was pretty hungry too, and had its share of dip. Dee changed into some pants, then ended up soiling herself. There was a funky green wet spot down the middle of her pants! We still haven't determined the exact cause... We ended up missing the change to take a good sunset picture, but you can't get Filipinos into every picture. Deciding on how to get back up the hill to the cars, I suggest that we all get into Dee's car, her ten thousand dollar dodge neon. I still can't believe we pulled it off. Four in the front, five in the back, David half sticking out the driver's window. Non stop laughing for a good three minutes. The little neon actually made it up the hill pretty well. I think we were piled in to the ceiling--I couldn't see the road from the backseat! Dav, Leo and I switched cars and drove to Rubios for fish tacos (it being Lent and all), except I got separated ended up on the freeway.
Rubios
I saw one of my old friends from freshman year at Rubios, Abe. It was cool catching up with him because I hardly see the dude and we had a good time in chem lab. That's one of the great things about college... the huge amount of people you get to meet and see make it through all the stuff you're going through yourself. Reg squeezed lime juice onto some chips. I don't suggest you try it. Seriously. We switched cars again and left for Francia's place. We divied up the fish tacos at Fran and Michelle's apartment and tried to figure out what to do next. Somebody suggested Vegas. Being indecisive as we are, nobody really agreed to go.
Days Vigil
We agreed on going to the Days first Friday vigil in Cerritos, leaving only Kathleen in Irvine. Flo and Nathalie joined up with us and we met at my place. It was nice to see that we were rolling so deep, especially with a good amount of first-timers. The vigil really felt good, being the beginning of Lent and having some probable future Dayzers in attendance. Leaving the vigil wasn't as easy as getting there, once again due to a little indecisiveness. The parking lot circles just wouldn't break up. Nobody really agreed to go anywhere. I think we were considering Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and the mountains. We decided just to go back to Costa Mesa and decide there. Unfortunately, Leo and Derrick went home. After more debate in front on my house, we decided on Vegas, but Angie, Flo, Reg and Cristina didn't have the time to go to Vegas. I guess everyone has their time to go crazy.
Las Vegas
We drove to GP's apartment to use his ride, but he took some medicine, so Dave drove. We left at 2 am, playing the Hot Seat. Damn, it got pretty hot. People can be pretty ruthless sometimes. We all stayed awake for most of the ride, thinking of embarassing questions to ask each other. In all the awkwardness, we all got a little closer though. We parked at Bellagio and walked around outside, with the wind freezing our faces. The only people on the strip were all running. I think it had to be about 50 degrees. According to our plans, we were only going to stay for five minutes and then leave. We then figured we should at least make one of the breakfast buffets. We walked a long way back to the car with empty stomachs and drove to Circus Circus. Luckily, we didn't have to wait, and our stomachs actually were bigger than our eyes. Some of us took turns sleeping around the table. When we were all awake we went upstairs and played games at the Midway. We all played the camel race game and lost to some kid. Seven of us, and the eighth dude won. Pitiful! David won the second game though, redeeming our sorry selves a little bit. He won an ape with a squished face and brown pubes. We acted like kids and waited for the other half of Midway to open, then we all ran in when they let us in. Gosh, I miss doing stuff like that. I even won a neon green turtle at the tic tac toe thing. We were going to try to get this cool big elephant at the ring toss game, but the dude working it said the changes were slim to none... I believed him cuz I spent like twenty bucks last time I played it without anything to show for it. Guess what? I come back maybe 10 minutes later, and no elephant. The dude said some guys won it on his first two bucks. Needless to say, we were heartbroken. We stayed to watch one of the shows, and took pictures of Fran nodding off on the bleachers. I was expecting trapeeze type stuff, but instead we got Rejean the flamboyant juggler. Fantastic Sams do, twirling, and one leg kicking backwards flamboyant. Looking for more to do, we got back into the car and drove down the strip, bumping some music. We all tried to get Mom (Fran) to groove with us, but she sat there with her arms crossed with a sheepish grin. I don't think Mom appreciated the peer pressure, but we were shaking GP's explorer. Good thing I got pictures.
The Rock Climb
Fran suggested going to Gameworks and climbing the 75 foot rock thing. After a little uneasyness we got everyone to do it. Man, I was hella excited! We even had the belayers (the guys that secure your ropes) time us. Funny, but I was the only guy that got to the top. I did fall about 20 times though, and I had a hell of a time trying to grip the stupid bell ringing string at the top because my forearms were so damn tired. I was stupid enough to go the route with overhangs. I did feel incredibly accomplished though... I was even praying about 65 feet up for God to help me focus. It still hurts to snap. I came down sweating like I ran a mile and the harness having a death pinch on my right nut. I thought I was going to cry, every little bounce hurt. I hit the ground and just lay there for a minute, thankful and exhausted. I went up to the upper level, only to find out Dave and GP didn't make it. We watched the girls climb, and damn, shot to the ego! It took me 9:28 while Nat and Dee both made it in less than 5 minutes. They kinda flew up there. When Fran and Michelle went up, Shelby got tangled up in Fran's ropes and then did this spin on the ledge she was on to untangle themselves. They both came close to finishing, but they were both tired out. I gave them their due props. We all played one of those group racing games, which I sucked pretty well at. I didn't figure out the brake till the second to last lap. We celebrated our climbing experience by giving some money to the casinos. Money was all over the place this weekend.
Stateline and The Trip Home
We finally left Vegas and went to the outlet mall at Stateline to eat. We waited as Dee went to use the restrooms and I think we all passed out intermittently because she went to the food court, thinking we'd be there. At least we got to sleep =). We ate ridiculously expensive food (okay, not ridiculously expensive, but pretty pricey). I had a large limeade from Hot Dog on a Stick. That stuff is great. Unfortunately, it made me go to the restroom four times before we left the mall. That's just too much liquid for one guy to hold on to. We left at about 6 pm and made it back to GP's apartment at 10. On the way we either slept or clowned on each other, especially DJ G-Nat.
BJ's and The Movie
We got back to GP's and watched some tv. Nathalie left and we were hungry so we went to BJ's around 11 pm. We also rented Life as a House. At BJ's, we ended up getting some free pizza while our waitress neglected to ring up our second pizza, so I guess we came out ahead. Fran had a piece of something in her pizza though. We were too tired to complain about it. We went to Dee's apartment to watch the movie. Michelle was out by the second scene and Fran drifted off slowly, leaving David, Dee and I to watch it. I learned that balancing a pillow on your head keeps you from falling asleep. Dave tried it while lying on the floor, but all he ended up with was a sore neck. It was a strange, yet nice movie. Hard to explain. Shelby, Fran, and Dave were snoring in sequence during the last part of the movie. Seeing my ride (David) was long gone, I crashed there
The Morning After
We woke up at 1 to find Michelle gone. Dee and Nat cooked up some nice spam with sugar, scrambled eggs, and rice. Just like breakfast at home. I found out I wasn't the only one that used spoons and didn't use knives. It's one of those Filipino things. I checked my voicemail only to find out I forgot to pick up my roommate Debbie from the airport at 11:30 am. By the time I knew, it was 2 pm. Luckily (or unluckily for Martin) my other roommate Martin was home to pick her up. He was going off 5 hours sleep though, so I'm sure that sucked. I got a ride back here then took a much needed shower and brushed my teeth twice, then chilled with my roommates until 5, then I went to mass.
The Other Movie
After mass and spirit rally practice, GP, David, Dee, and Brian wanted to get something to eat. I didn't want to eat Del Taco with them, but I wanted to hang out a little bit longer, so I got some In and Out and met up with them at Dee's apartment. Brian brought Ringu on VCD, but it didn't work on their dvd player. I volunteered my place to watch it. I was surprised they agreed to go, considering everyone thinks Costa Mesa is hella far, deep in the cuts or something. I really love it when friends come over here. We even dragged Reg away from her paper to watch with us. After the movie, we somehow started talking about feet, scoliosis, and crooked ribs. Personally, I don't think my feet are that bad, compared to other people, but they didn't think so. It was hilarious getting everyone to bare their feet to each other. They left at 3:45, and that's about when I started blogging. Now it's 6 am, and it's getting light outside.
The Aftermath
62 hours, 800+ miles driven, 3 sunsets, 2 sunrises, 5 hotseat questions, 9 meals, 3 changes of clothing, 9 hours sleep, 75 feet of vertical ascent, and countless bathroom trips later, the weekend is now finally over. For all the people I spent time with these past few days, it's been insanely fun. Next weekend? Nah... we've got finals and I need to do some extra hard core studying.
I'm just happy to say "I was there."
Corona Del Mar
After failing miserably trying to wake up for class and stumbing out of bed (even though my mattress is currently on the floor) at 1, I though my day would be a bust. I usually dread those Fridays when it seems like nothing is going on or everyone is doing their own thing. While I was eating, I got a message from Dee that some people were going to CDM at 4. Excited that somebody actually invited me somewhere (unlike for Nathalie's b-day surprise thing *ahem*), I took a shower and somehow left the house at 4:15 with a towel, an extra shirt, and my camera, which I gradually buried over several months of disuse. I arrived at the beach at 4:30, thinking I was missing something, but only finding Leo there. David came a few minutes later. Everyone else showed up a little past 4:45, leaving about 45 minutes of good sun time before sunset. I shoulda known pilipino time compounds depending on the amount of people involved... Leo, David, Fran, Dee, Reg, Michelle, Angie, Kathleen, Christina, Derrick, and I... that equates to mad lag mode. Only half expecting to get even the slightest bit wet, Leo, David, Fran, Reg, Dee, Angie, and I actually ended up soaked and freezing. I think Reg and Fran didn't even have swim stuff on, just their regular clothes. Dee tried to splash Fran and then run away, but got sucked into a sand pothole and ate it. You shoulda been there. To steal a line from Dee's blog: derek, cristina, and kathleen dug useless holes near our blankets. Then Angie demolished their tunnels with a well placed foot. We then proceeded to make a whole platter of dip disappear, along with strawberries and whipped cream. Reg's sweater was pretty hungry too, and had its share of dip. Dee changed into some pants, then ended up soiling herself. There was a funky green wet spot down the middle of her pants! We still haven't determined the exact cause... We ended up missing the change to take a good sunset picture, but you can't get Filipinos into every picture. Deciding on how to get back up the hill to the cars, I suggest that we all get into Dee's car, her ten thousand dollar dodge neon. I still can't believe we pulled it off. Four in the front, five in the back, David half sticking out the driver's window. Non stop laughing for a good three minutes. The little neon actually made it up the hill pretty well. I think we were piled in to the ceiling--I couldn't see the road from the backseat! Dav, Leo and I switched cars and drove to Rubios for fish tacos (it being Lent and all), except I got separated ended up on the freeway.
Rubios
I saw one of my old friends from freshman year at Rubios, Abe. It was cool catching up with him because I hardly see the dude and we had a good time in chem lab. That's one of the great things about college... the huge amount of people you get to meet and see make it through all the stuff you're going through yourself. Reg squeezed lime juice onto some chips. I don't suggest you try it. Seriously. We switched cars again and left for Francia's place. We divied up the fish tacos at Fran and Michelle's apartment and tried to figure out what to do next. Somebody suggested Vegas. Being indecisive as we are, nobody really agreed to go.
Days Vigil
We agreed on going to the Days first Friday vigil in Cerritos, leaving only Kathleen in Irvine. Flo and Nathalie joined up with us and we met at my place. It was nice to see that we were rolling so deep, especially with a good amount of first-timers. The vigil really felt good, being the beginning of Lent and having some probable future Dayzers in attendance. Leaving the vigil wasn't as easy as getting there, once again due to a little indecisiveness. The parking lot circles just wouldn't break up. Nobody really agreed to go anywhere. I think we were considering Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and the mountains. We decided just to go back to Costa Mesa and decide there. Unfortunately, Leo and Derrick went home. After more debate in front on my house, we decided on Vegas, but Angie, Flo, Reg and Cristina didn't have the time to go to Vegas. I guess everyone has their time to go crazy.
Las Vegas
We drove to GP's apartment to use his ride, but he took some medicine, so Dave drove. We left at 2 am, playing the Hot Seat. Damn, it got pretty hot. People can be pretty ruthless sometimes. We all stayed awake for most of the ride, thinking of embarassing questions to ask each other. In all the awkwardness, we all got a little closer though. We parked at Bellagio and walked around outside, with the wind freezing our faces. The only people on the strip were all running. I think it had to be about 50 degrees. According to our plans, we were only going to stay for five minutes and then leave. We then figured we should at least make one of the breakfast buffets. We walked a long way back to the car with empty stomachs and drove to Circus Circus. Luckily, we didn't have to wait, and our stomachs actually were bigger than our eyes. Some of us took turns sleeping around the table. When we were all awake we went upstairs and played games at the Midway. We all played the camel race game and lost to some kid. Seven of us, and the eighth dude won. Pitiful! David won the second game though, redeeming our sorry selves a little bit. He won an ape with a squished face and brown pubes. We acted like kids and waited for the other half of Midway to open, then we all ran in when they let us in. Gosh, I miss doing stuff like that. I even won a neon green turtle at the tic tac toe thing. We were going to try to get this cool big elephant at the ring toss game, but the dude working it said the changes were slim to none... I believed him cuz I spent like twenty bucks last time I played it without anything to show for it. Guess what? I come back maybe 10 minutes later, and no elephant. The dude said some guys won it on his first two bucks. Needless to say, we were heartbroken. We stayed to watch one of the shows, and took pictures of Fran nodding off on the bleachers. I was expecting trapeeze type stuff, but instead we got Rejean the flamboyant juggler. Fantastic Sams do, twirling, and one leg kicking backwards flamboyant. Looking for more to do, we got back into the car and drove down the strip, bumping some music. We all tried to get Mom (Fran) to groove with us, but she sat there with her arms crossed with a sheepish grin. I don't think Mom appreciated the peer pressure, but we were shaking GP's explorer. Good thing I got pictures.
The Rock Climb
Fran suggested going to Gameworks and climbing the 75 foot rock thing. After a little uneasyness we got everyone to do it. Man, I was hella excited! We even had the belayers (the guys that secure your ropes) time us. Funny, but I was the only guy that got to the top. I did fall about 20 times though, and I had a hell of a time trying to grip the stupid bell ringing string at the top because my forearms were so damn tired. I was stupid enough to go the route with overhangs. I did feel incredibly accomplished though... I was even praying about 65 feet up for God to help me focus. It still hurts to snap. I came down sweating like I ran a mile and the harness having a death pinch on my right nut. I thought I was going to cry, every little bounce hurt. I hit the ground and just lay there for a minute, thankful and exhausted. I went up to the upper level, only to find out Dave and GP didn't make it. We watched the girls climb, and damn, shot to the ego! It took me 9:28 while Nat and Dee both made it in less than 5 minutes. They kinda flew up there. When Fran and Michelle went up, Shelby got tangled up in Fran's ropes and then did this spin on the ledge she was on to untangle themselves. They both came close to finishing, but they were both tired out. I gave them their due props. We all played one of those group racing games, which I sucked pretty well at. I didn't figure out the brake till the second to last lap. We celebrated our climbing experience by giving some money to the casinos. Money was all over the place this weekend.
Stateline and The Trip Home
We finally left Vegas and went to the outlet mall at Stateline to eat. We waited as Dee went to use the restrooms and I think we all passed out intermittently because she went to the food court, thinking we'd be there. At least we got to sleep =). We ate ridiculously expensive food (okay, not ridiculously expensive, but pretty pricey). I had a large limeade from Hot Dog on a Stick. That stuff is great. Unfortunately, it made me go to the restroom four times before we left the mall. That's just too much liquid for one guy to hold on to. We left at about 6 pm and made it back to GP's apartment at 10. On the way we either slept or clowned on each other, especially DJ G-Nat.
BJ's and The Movie
We got back to GP's and watched some tv. Nathalie left and we were hungry so we went to BJ's around 11 pm. We also rented Life as a House. At BJ's, we ended up getting some free pizza while our waitress neglected to ring up our second pizza, so I guess we came out ahead. Fran had a piece of something in her pizza though. We were too tired to complain about it. We went to Dee's apartment to watch the movie. Michelle was out by the second scene and Fran drifted off slowly, leaving David, Dee and I to watch it. I learned that balancing a pillow on your head keeps you from falling asleep. Dave tried it while lying on the floor, but all he ended up with was a sore neck. It was a strange, yet nice movie. Hard to explain. Shelby, Fran, and Dave were snoring in sequence during the last part of the movie. Seeing my ride (David) was long gone, I crashed there
The Morning After
We woke up at 1 to find Michelle gone. Dee and Nat cooked up some nice spam with sugar, scrambled eggs, and rice. Just like breakfast at home. I found out I wasn't the only one that used spoons and didn't use knives. It's one of those Filipino things. I checked my voicemail only to find out I forgot to pick up my roommate Debbie from the airport at 11:30 am. By the time I knew, it was 2 pm. Luckily (or unluckily for Martin) my other roommate Martin was home to pick her up. He was going off 5 hours sleep though, so I'm sure that sucked. I got a ride back here then took a much needed shower and brushed my teeth twice, then chilled with my roommates until 5, then I went to mass.
The Other Movie
After mass and spirit rally practice, GP, David, Dee, and Brian wanted to get something to eat. I didn't want to eat Del Taco with them, but I wanted to hang out a little bit longer, so I got some In and Out and met up with them at Dee's apartment. Brian brought Ringu on VCD, but it didn't work on their dvd player. I volunteered my place to watch it. I was surprised they agreed to go, considering everyone thinks Costa Mesa is hella far, deep in the cuts or something. I really love it when friends come over here. We even dragged Reg away from her paper to watch with us. After the movie, we somehow started talking about feet, scoliosis, and crooked ribs. Personally, I don't think my feet are that bad, compared to other people, but they didn't think so. It was hilarious getting everyone to bare their feet to each other. They left at 3:45, and that's about when I started blogging. Now it's 6 am, and it's getting light outside.
The Aftermath
62 hours, 800+ miles driven, 3 sunsets, 2 sunrises, 5 hotseat questions, 9 meals, 3 changes of clothing, 9 hours sleep, 75 feet of vertical ascent, and countless bathroom trips later, the weekend is now finally over. For all the people I spent time with these past few days, it's been insanely fun. Next weekend? Nah... we've got finals and I need to do some extra hard core studying.
I'm just happy to say "I was there."
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home