So the first portion of my summer entails being at home in Orange County. Much like last year, it was short-lived because I needed to come back for the NACURCH 2010 conference, and summer school immediately post-ceding it.
So, after I moved back home, I had to make the most of my time with family & friends. Because my sister Jenny picked me up on Friday (6/11), my other sister Annie as well as my parents tagged along. On the ride home, we talked. And then we went to get Pho 54. Delicious stuff! I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Pho Orange County > Pho San Diego, but maybe that’s just a generalization.
On Saturday (6/12) I went to my sister’s graduation. It was long, and boring. After camera whoring for a couple hours with Thao, Jenny, Annie, and Tracey, we sat down and waited for the “free cake” they gave out. I must have had like 7 slices of cake (tiny portions), but it was funny going up to the people with Tracey and asking for the “chocolate pieces on tap”. The graduation ceremony itself? A Dullfest. After 30 minutes of reading dissertations, and people’s awards, they finally got to reading names of actual graduations which itself took 45 minutes cause “Tran” is nowhere near the beginning of the alphabet. Anyway, after we left UCLA, we went to harbor seafood buffet and ate our stomaches out.
On Sunday (6/13) my house had a family bbq, where I was the only one that ate rice with my food… It was strange to say the least. Then we bought a cake for Annie and Nam, who graduated UCLA & UCI respectively. Then we went to see the Lion King Musical at the Orange County performing arts center. Granted, we had terrible seats, but the musical itself was amazing. “Oh, I just can’t wait to be king!”. It was sad seeing Mustafa die though. Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
On Monday (6/14) I went to Ralph’s to develop pictures, Target, and Westminster Mall with my Asian sisters. Then we went to Tastea, where I saw Mally Vu yet again! Later, we went home and then We played “BANG!” with Brian, Triet, Earle, Thiep, and Vu. Then we went to Kyotori with Eden to eat, and then decided after all not to watch the Karate Kid. Not sure why. It must have been on at bad times, or everyone must have gotten cheap. Either way, we went back home and bang’ed it up until everyone was ready to leave.
On Tuesday (6/15) Jerick came over and we hung out for a couple of hours. Granted, we didn’t really do much cause I was waiting for my check to be mailed to me via FEDEX. After that, we went to Bank of America and I cashed the check and then we ate at Hon’s Work chinese food. I still prefer Panda Express though. Then my sisters picked me up… I ended up owing my sister money and forgot to withdraw it so we went to the Bank again with Annie, Jenny, and Thao (sigh…), and then spent 2 hours at Costco developing more pictures (sigh….), but then we got pizza after (Yay!). Later that night, I went bowling and to volcano tea with Earle, Theresa, Tim, Brandon, Melissa, Thiep, & Tiana. Everyone sucked, and I don’t think anyone scored over 100 points. Plus our lane was half broken by the time the game was over….
On Wednesday (6/16) I went to BJ’s with Theresa & Earle (no we did not get a Pizookie). For some reason we were supposed to play Bang at our house with Theresa, Earle, Tiana, Triet, Vu, Brian, and Thiep but everyone was hungry so we went to Banh Mi Saigon instead (an asian place, yawn*). We went to Target to get Thiep’s deodorant… We went back home and played Bang again and then Tim came and took Theresa away. Then we went to Tiana’s house after, and she looked like quite a pimp with 6 guys. We played Basketball and Horse for a couple hours – me getting runner-up to Brian. I was so close too! Later, Hiep & Lina came over, more importantly Lina brought donuts Yay. In my effort to try to convince her to get a facebook, I ultimately failed. Then we left. Later Amy Tran wanted a drink so we went to Stater Brothers to get one. And then… I never saw her again.
On Thursday (6/17), Earle, Tanya, Hiep, and Angie, and I all went to Olive Garden to eat. It was okay, but not really worth it. The soup and bread was delicious though! Then later Theresa, Earle, Tim, and Brandon Tabula all went with me to get shaved ice. It was good too, but I don’t think it’s as good as Tastea, for obvious reasons. Hehe. Later I went to shoot pool (sucked) and drink volcano tea (sucked) with Yvonne, Nhi, Jonny, Robert, and Thiep. It was nice because I hadn’t seen 3/5 of those persons for the longest time. Everyone seems to have digivolved into another person though.
On Friday (6/18) we woke up early to watch Toy Story 3. But upon me & Earle coming 15 minutes late and Jonny & Tiana not in the theater yet, we decided not to go. We went to Tastea to get “buy 1 get 1 free drinks”. Too bad the cashier said “Sorry you need a password”, at which point we took out our phones and mobile devices to look it up. Fortunately for us, the guy behind us just told us the password was: Summertime at Tastea is bomb!. So we said it. And got free drinks heheehehhe. Later, Thiep joined us and we went to Ikea. I’m in love with Ikea, I swear. It’s so amazing in every way possible. I want all those rooms in my house. Oh well, I guess I have something to look forward to in life now. I should probably get a wife before I get a house though. Later, I went back to San Diego with Earle & Sheena. Traffic congestion sucks cause we left right at Rush Hour!!!! But, fortunately for us we later went to Phil’s with Earle, Sheena, Michelle, Howard, Leandro, and Alexis. The wait was long as usual, but it was delicious as usual. I was in love!!!! Then Earle & Sheena went home, and I visited the girl’s place. It was big, and nice, but I still say living on campus is amazing. Then we home and I got settled into my summer apartment…!
Anyway, on Saturday & Sunday I participated in watching all of 24: season 6. It’s a pretty hilarious scene upon rewatch cause it’s pretty ridiculous. On Saturday I also went to see Toy Story 3 with Brittney, Robert, Alexis, and Howard, which was an emotional rollercoaster. It really brought me back to my childhood and made me want to be a kid again. I almost cried too :(. It was so sad. Then on Sunday I walked to campus for the first time, and it only took 15 minutes. I also upon realizing it could see that the 202 bus stop stops about 6 minutes away from my summer apartment which is good (at Archstone). And then… at Ralph’s I ate at Chipotle Flame Broiler with Ruby. It was fun, and now I know how to use the bus system as well as my feet to walk!
Tomorrow is NACURCH2010… I’m excited to see what the Nacurch staff has planned for everybody. I will give you all an update when it’s over with on Thursday.
In retrospect, I wish my summer in orange county lasted a little longer, because it was way too short, but I cherish all my friends from orange county, san diego, to infinitely, and beyond.
