and the adventure begins...

tomorrow, something AM, the trip begins. woohOo! and at the same time, shiT. ehehe. i have nothing packed rite now, no rooms reserved after the first third of the trip, no itinerary, in fact, and my spanish still ends at "si." on the flip side, i do have a HUGE backpack [i'll make sure to take some pix on the trip of me falling over trying to carry the thing], hiking boots, three vaccines, and some craZy travel buddies. bring it.

i'm not sure what to expect. only that i want to truly observe the culture and people there, and experience the abundant natural wonders (waterfalls, citadels, rainforest, lakes...) it would've been so tite if we could've fit the galapagos islands in, but the boat trip costs a whopping 600 bucks. definitely not a trip for the starving student.

i've got a little over 200 toothbrush and toothpaste sets to donate to the kids in the shantytowns outside of Lima, Peru. they have nutrition deficiencies, high infant and child mortality rates, and high infection rates. i'm not sure how much help toothbrushes will be, but i'm hoping once i'm amongst them, i can figure out what they need and help them in the future. their parents move to Lima, the big city of Peru, in hopes of finding jobs. the slums surround the city, full of these hopeful workers. i wonder how many break free...

machu picchu is on our first week's itinerary, then a detour to argentina's buenos aires, "the paris of south america," and hopefully, a stop in chile--the closest point to the antarctic.

29 days. i have this strange feeling that i'll fall so in love with the country that i'll want to move there. there's something about grandiose expanses of nature and earthy subsistences that's so magnetic. i always had this small desire in the back of my mind to live among the tibetan monks. tibetan monks, rural aztecs...what's the allure?

without a doubt, i'll miss norcal. knowing i'll be back for a bit helps with the separation. but these past six months felt... so right. truly, there is no place like home. rediscovering norcal has been mind-expanding and life-altering in the way that chance situations can be, micro move by micro move. who knows how the experiences of the past few months will affect my future... whatever it holds. i only know, i'm a few good friends richer, a few hard lessons wiser, and that much more rooted in norcal.

why are we such slaves to our thoughts and emotions? i wish there was a way to bypass feelings so i could get some shit done and stop binge-ing on carbs.

countdown: 3 more days until the adventure begins... 3 more days!

i got it. gawrd it fucking hurt. but meng, was it worth it.

one birthday i definitely won't forget.


muchas gracias por mi amiga, who could hurt me more to divert the pain, and even offered to sing. ;]

clean edit with THIN THIN lines -_-;; 

pencil sketch of most likely candidate 

most painful one cuz of all the ink 

prototype i ~ kinda fuzzy cuz pencil scans like pupu. all are variations of the gemini (II) and diamond thing with a floral accent. 

it's been a while...

i am under semi-voluntary house arrest because:
i. my parents can't get out of the habit of treating me like a 14-year-old and they don't want me out past sunset. i could rebel, but seeing as how i'll be 23-years-old in about an hour, it seems futile and frankly, i feel too fucking old to muster up the energy.

ii. father's day is sunday. despite the fact that he can be really hard on me at times, he is the best papa ever. and my hero. i owe him a nice, resentment-free dinner (at the least).

iii. AND he's so rite. sigh. admitting defeat always sucks. i am in deeep denial and need to start using my brain for something productive. my future's at stake and i've been blocking it out with garbage.

iv. i dun want to have anything more to do with alky. every time i go out, someone mentions alky. why does everyone want to get me drunk? dun offer it to me. dun drink it around me. dun tempt me. addiction is inherent to my personality. lez not send teesa to aa.

v. south america is fast approaching and i still haven't made reservations. in fact, i have no itinerary for the last 2/3 of the trip. and my spanish still ends at "buenas dias."

vi. i'm weird. my birthday causes heightened hermitting behaviors. every year. my girls can attest to this eh? i even said i was gonna stop this year, but as it got closer and closer, i got hermitier and hermitier.

vii. BUT, i AM getting a tattoo tomorrow. at least it'll be memorable--in a very painful sort of way. i can't tell if it's gonna look good tho. i'll put it up in the next post--call me BEFORE NOON tomorrow if you have any suggestions or think it's a mistake cuz i'm getting that sucker inked permanently at 2.

viii. LA........woulda cost me bank. $$ i dun have. this is wat i get for quitting early. but the freedom was wunnerful.

ix. um, i could prolly pull more ish outta mai bootay to somehow relate everything to why i am BLAH today, but then it would jus be ish outta mai bootay.

x. because lists of 10 seem more complete.

time for new beginnings. perhaps i'll find it this time.

Happy 17th Birthday Suzie. You are one of the greatest luvs of my life, dongseng--right beneath Happy. ;) 

*notice how i got everything in the rite order this time (except for this entry)? yay for me! ^^;; doOd, this is f*ing annoying. does anyone know how to post multiple pictures in one post???

correction: the closer movie song is actually called "the blower's daughter" by damien rice. mai bad. wut the hell is a blower?

korean drama of the moment: wiyum han sarang (dangerous love). it sux but gotta be loyal to the blood. we'll see how long i last. most korean dramas drive me nuts. korean movies on the other hand...... <3<3<3

"taegukgi hwinarlimyeo" (literally, waving the korean flag) blew my mind. as did the two hot stars. yumm. 

but my favorite korean actor of them all: yoo oh sung (far left). gawrd he's so talented ("chingoo") and so f*ng funny in jooyuso (gasoline station). plus he's played so many other dynamic characters--something about his face/persona. so expressive. *_* 

song of the moment: can't take my eyes off of you, from the closer soundtrack--so gud in its entirety. a nice acoustic/accapella-ish sound.
also gud: previous song of the moment: you and me, lifehouse.

i jus realized my entries are backwards. i meant to do that. testing all yur cerebral skills. gawd i'm so cheesy. this is a pic of the menu at ASQEW---yummmmm, jus thinking about it makes my mouth water. went shopping today at haight--so much eye candy, but the nice stuff is bank. famished after a few hours of walking in and out of the stores, so fud time! a huge THANK U to hairy for introducing me to this place. omgosh it was soooo yummy. i got the honey dijon chicken skewer with grilled pear salad and it just squished and melted in my mouth. if yur ever in the marina in frisco, u gotta check out this place. now i have yet another reason for luving the city. 

me and hottie alex. my eyes are so tiny; indicative of very advanced stages of drunkitis. the cameraman prolly was too, seeing how 50% of the picture is wasted on air. 

...that being said, i couldn't waste a perfectly gud weekend SO... i had this sudden craving for soju and mai homie harold being the awesome person that he is, got me thoroughly wasted, korean style. but soju takes its sweet time, so it took a couple more drinks at the ROUGE w/ hottie alex and frenz. then it hit me like a bomb. koreans know how to make alcohol. anyways, the venue was pretty w/ chandeliers hanging every five feet or so. chairs were nice and comfy; perfect for passing out on. 

sadly, due to lack of transportation i was unable to make it down to LA this weekend. i missed AED's banquet and chartership and the opportunity to see all my AED byoots, but my heart was there and always will be. AED<3 for the outstanding people and the unwavering vision... 

in limbo

news of my future in the next few weeks, another year appended to my corporeal clock, a sojourn to another land and culture::footprints left and right, in circles, forward, backward, curvaceous, heavy, light making slow progress across a power treadmill. waiting for the next moment...

wat a gangster ride. this is why i luv frisco. 

inspired by a fellow applicant, i've decided to give it another go. starting med school a year later still means i'll be starting, plus a year of exploration. and perhaps more options when the verdicts finally come. i'm dreading those course entries tho...