OMG.

I think all I can remember about this week is all the food I've consumed. I am still reeling from the fantastic korean dinner I had today with family after Ana's baby shower. I specifically requested to be off today because I wanted to attend Ana's shower. I can't even remember the last time I saw Tita Susan and she was flying in just for the day's event and flying back to Mississippi tomorrow.



I've never attended a shower before so it felt reminiscent of a rom-com movie where all the girls would break into a chorus of "awwwwwwwws...." and giggles everytime Ana opened presents and showed them little baby shoes and baby jumpers. They had light finger foods and I attacked the plate of mini beef turnovers which tasted so much like those Jamaican Patties I used to get from ATC. Mygahd I miss those.

Omar was so cute being the only boy at the party. I suppose you can break the no boys in a baby shower rule for an adorable 9 year old. He was so eager to join the games despite everything being baby related and prizes for winners were targeted for females. I wuvwuv my omeeboy.


After the shower, the family headed up to Flushing for Korean BBQ dindin. It was so good, I was in Kimchi heaven. I have got to take Mica and a couple of other people there. It's amazing food and good value for money. OO Ging, dadalhin kita doon. Kung kelan ka man mapadpad dito.

Name drop time!
My cousin Miya is studying at Brown University. She told me this one story about a day she was in her dorm room studying when a girl peeks her head in the door and says something like "Oh wow, you have a quad!" (quad=four to a room, most rooms in Brown are two to a room) Miya looks up and sees Emma Watson standing on her doorway! If you've been reading entertainment news, you'll learn she's enrolled herself in Brown last fall and chose to stay in the dorms like the other students as opposed to getting her own flat. According to Miya, she walked in and looked around the large dorm room and said something about wanting to live there. Miya said she watched her walk around with her mouth open. Miya also says she looks exactly like she does in photos, which would be absolutely gorgeous, by the way. It's very rare I gush over young actresses nowadays. Most of the existing ones you see on magazines now are complete idiots. Emma Watson joins the ranks of young women like Ellen Page whom I very much admire.

my boss is fantastic.

did I say that right? FANTASTIC.

Yesterday was a Saturday night, a night that had possible potential to be insanely busy like Friday was (we left at 1:30am even if closing time was 12mn). When I got to work , Lily immediately asked if my mom got in ok. I told her yes and that that the whole family (nana and tito ans from Syracuse, Poy, Ana, Cherish from Brooklyn, Miya from Rhode Island plus the Elabdounis from Queens) are having dinner last night. By 7:30pm, the restaurant was empty so Lily looks at me and tells me I can go and run to Queens for dinner. I was like, "Are you sure?!? It's Saturday night! We might be busy!" She said it's a long weekend and people are probably out of town and she doubts it will be insane like last night. I hop on the subway and head to Sri Pra Phai where they were all waiting. Lily texts me if I got to dinner on time and I thank her graciously for letting me go. She replies telling me to enjoy and that she understands. GAWD and swerte ko shiyet.

Dinner was crazy. We ordered waaaay too much food but it was nothing none of us couldn't wipe clean. We took nothing home. Afterwards, we headed to a greek cafe for coffee since all 14 of us wouldn't fit comfortably in Tita Chon's apartment. The two dogs, Liby and Lucy were picked up and brought to the cafe with us since Miya wanted to see them. The doggies are technically hers from Japan and are only with Tita Chon since she can't take them to Brown with her and Tita Susan was based in Korea for the past two years.

I failed to bring a proper camera since I had no idea I'd be joining them. These are all I have.

Mama was able to bring over most of the books I've been missing the past few months (Calvin and Hobbes! HP!). Tita Chon brought them over to the apartment straight from the airport. I made them breakfast and they got to see the apartment. Richard was kind enough to switch days off with me and I'll be off on Memorial Day Monday. I'll be taking the folks into the city since they both want to go shopping and see a few sights.

That would be Nam Myoho Renge Kyo...and action!

Mica and I were BORED to death last night that we started calling everyone on our contacts list for kicks. Jordan was the only one who picked up and he said he will chant for us not to get bored. Right after that, I ran downstairs to the corner convenience store, scored a pint of haagen daz and 6 bottles of Smirnoff Ice. Mica and I called for pizza and calamares and put The House Bunny on. Then Undrea and her friend Brandon came by and the party kept on rolling. Benny came home from dinner and the dead evening turned out to be not so bad after all.

It's gotten a bit chilly again lately. The sun is out but the winds are relentless. Ugh...Bring on the 60 degree weather already! I want a tan!

*****

Yesterday's AWWWWWW moment...

Background:
From my November 3, 2008 post

We had dinner at a Friendly's nearby and it was hilarious how Tita Chon was so fascinated by the restaurant, the food and the menu. I couldn't understand why she was so amused by it at first until I realized why. You see, restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's, Red Lobster, Cheesecake Factory and IHOP which are in abundance in California, are sparsely seen here.

Tita Chon left a message on my FB wall yesterday...

Stopped by F----- on our way home from Montreal - The place that serves sliders, shirley temple, extra thick milkshake, fish 'n chips, rootbeer, and ice cream galore for dessert...the same place that gave me childlike excitement the last time we were there. Wished you were with us, Kari.

Awww...

This will be a mixed rundown of yesterday and today.

I joined Rann and Eisa for the SGI Filipino meeting yesterday at the center. The meeting was okay and they were considerate enough to explain a little about Soka Gakkai for the benefit of the guests that arrived that day. There aren't a lot of filipinos who practice here in NY but they still manage to make time each month to meet, share and update each other. They seem like a fun group of people. Rann and I joined a few of them for lunch after then headed back to the center to attend a graduation ceremony for SGI's young women's division. The large auditorium was filled with women of all shapes and races. What I noticed right away was how everyone had a permanent smile plastered on their face. Everyone looked happy and they all spoke to each other like family. Watching them interact made me a little jealous. Everyone seemed so close and tight knit and I longed to be part of something similar, specially being in a place where I have no close friends. I looked at the faces around me and they all looked genuinely happy and at peace. I want that. More than money, career or independence. For 2009, I want peace of mind. I may struggle with my job, or bills but I want, even for a while, to have a period wherein I can relax and live my life in the now. I would like to stop worrying so much or thinking so much. I want to feel serenity within myself and have the ability to excude a gleaming sense of pride in whatever situation I find myself in. I spoke with Louiie today and she was quick to point out how different my vibe was. I no longer whined, complained or sulked on the phone. She said, that whatever this SGI thing was or whatever else that's been rubbing off on me, was doing me a lot of good and I should go on and get more of it. There's no other way to say it, I feel so ALIVE, like I've been sleeping for so long and I've just recently opened my eyes to my potential.

Cherish, my cousin who has been living in Istanbul for the past two years, has moved back to New York to live with her sister Ana for the next 6 months while she works to save up enough money to take her masters in Film in Manchester. I haven't seen her in a very long time so I went to Ana's place in Brooklyn where Chen and I decided to bake a red velvet cake for Christmas. I slept over at Ana's last night and Chen and I spent hours updating each other about our lives and our plans for the future. She said a lot of stuff last night that made me think about my own life and how up until recently, I've had the mentality of going along with the flow, waiting for fun things to happen to me instead me going out there to make things happen for me. There are a lot of things that still need to be defined in my own life but it helps to have that realization of being proactive rather than reactive. A lot of the things she said follow the sames lines of the stuff I've heard so far about Nichiren Buddhism so it feels more like everything around me is falling into place. I told her about SGI and she got so excited and wants to join the next meeting.

I woke up this morning and Chen, Ana and I had breakfast and chatted some more, mostly about our own family dynamic and how we relate that into our own lives. It's been a very philosophical and eye-opening two days. I left Brooklyn and didn't really feel like going back home and sitting in bed all day. I also wasn't in any condition to brave the bitter cold and walk around so I hung out at Rann's resto while I sat and people watched by the window. I may still be a bit confused but I can safely say that I am eons away from the mess that was me a month ago.

I got home, showered and Tita Chon and family, Ana, Chen, Poy and I went out for dinner. We went to this thai restaurant here in Queens that Cherish swears is the best thai restaurant in New York. I'm not going to drag this on but I will say that it is, indeed, the best thai restaurant I have been to, EVER. They have a WIDE array of appetizers, entrees, soups, salads and desserts all categorized in their menu. Each dish is labeled and photographed to make your mouth water. I am NOT kidding, it is the ABSOLUTE BEST. The name of the place is Sripraphai (it's hard to say it) and it's located in Woodside near the Filipino restaurants on Roosevelt Ave. If you google it, you will see that it has received very good reviews and is a high-rated resto. Kung andito kayo, kelangan niyong pumunta dito, walang biro. Sorry, wala ng sinabi ang Jatujak.

Since Ana and Poy are spending Christmas and New Year in Manila, we went back to the apartment and enjoyed the cake me and Chen made for dessert. We took some groups photos since we won't be seeing Ana and Poy until they get back from Manila in Jan.


I'm planning on buying A New Earth since Ana and Chen swears it's an awesome book. Books of this sort have NEVER been my kind of thing but I've been so open to a lot of things lately that it shouldn't hurt to check it out.

The rest of the photos from tonight can be seen here.