Category Archives: Friends

Friends

Former Flavor Online writers meet up

I don’t normally work Monday nights, but I worked tonight so that I could go to Friday’s Laker game with Trinity. Of course this was the night that the former Flavor Online folks decide to meet up at Oinkster, which I’ve been dying to try out. Anyway, as I expressed my regrets in the back-and-forth emails we send to each other, I hinted that I wouldn’t mind some baon they could send with Leezel (who takes over at work when my shift is up). They called from Oinkster and asked what I wanted, and ended up sending a cupcake, but I think the real treat was the messages written on the styrofoam container.

You can click on each image for a bigger version, but if you weren’t sure, yes, that would be a yearbook-style message from Elson on the bottom. Awesome.

Exhausted and happy

Lunchtime at Union Station Foundation of Pasadena

My feet are aching, my hair a little smushed from wearing a hair net and I’m exhausted from getting maybe less than five hours of sleep. But I’ve got this glow of joy and I kind of can’t stop grinning. As nervous as I was about organizing people, cooking and serving for about 120 people (I actually think it ended up being 135, but I think we made out OK), we pulled it off. Not me — my wonderful friends and I. It was a great time.

Continue reading →

Mark Craig was in town!

Marc Carig

When Marc Carig is in town, all sorts of Filipino hilarity ensues. Marc, pictured here with a scary-looking yet tasty s’more/churro concoction, was in town to cover the Angels-Orioles series for the Washington Post and was able to fit lil’ ole me into his schedule. Trin grumbled a little about having to drive all the way to Orange County to hang out with Marc, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, but I pointed out that it was easier than meeting them halfway to Washington D.C. Which I wouldn’t mind either, but this way is cheaper.

What’d we do? Mostly hang out, eat at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, drink lots of coffee, eat lots of sugar, go to Dave and Busters for a couple of games of pool then video games galore. I scored pretty well at the multi-player trivia game (easiest way to pile up those tickets, I swear), earning myself 260 tickets at one point. W00t. They shot hoops, Trinity kicked my butt at air hockey (a game I usually adore because I’m pretty good at it, but they had these fancy, schmancy tables I was unaccustomed to…), and I played plenty of skee ball, my other favorite arcade game.

We drank not a drop of alcohol, but I was nearly out for the count by the time I got home. Heheh, I must be getting old.

Oh, and I misspelled Marc’s name on purpose, in reference to the time the WaPo misspelled his name when teasing a chat with him and another reporter. I can has dikshonary?

With a flute and a prayer

Fluteprayer and darleeneOK, so I’ve been online for 10 years, right? But it still makes me nervous to meet people from my online life in person. Why? I don’t know. It just does. So it was with some trepidation, and waffling between going and flaking, that I dragged Trinity to Azusa Pacific University for a flute and piano recital starring my favorite flute player, FlutePrayer. (Hey, that rhymes!)

I also have to admit that this was the first time I’d ever heard live classical music. Maybe I’ve matured, maybe the live truly made a difference, but I really enjoyed myself. I recognized many of the patterns from movies and TV shows from years past, plus I gotta say, hearing a flute live really tugs at your heart. I’m serious — I really felt like the notes of the flute were reverberating inside my chest. Oh, and don’t get me started with the sound of the violin — Trinity really loved it, and the combination of the violin, the flute and the piano was soo romantic.

Afterward, as I walked up to say hello (kicking myself all the while for forgetting my camera in the car, but toting my batteries in my purse), I felt a little uneasy and nervous. I mean, who was I think that she would recognize me, with all her friends and family in the audience? Trinity pushed me up to the stage and was all, don’t be scared. FlutePrayer recognized me instantly and was so happy to see me — I was floored! That’s probably why I was sporting such a giddy grin in the picture above, which I stole from FlutePrayer’s site. :)

Attending the recital made me think that when I start (in the future) having kids, I really want them to be exposed to different types of live music, not just hip hop, rap and rock, as is often with kids who grow up in urban areas, like I did. I hate admitting this, but it never occurred to me before that classical music could be so cool.

My Filipino sister in Florida gets married

Belinda and Karsten get married

Belinda is like my alter ego in Florida. I really wish she lived closer; she and I are so alike and her now-husband Karsten is very much like Trinity. I have no doubt that if they lived in California or if we lived in Florida (a highly unlikely prospect), we would be spending a lot of time hanging out and our (future) kids would end up being like cousins.

Darleene and Belinda

Before leaving for Fort Lauderdale (the wedding was in Delray Beach), I realized the Belinda and I have known each other for more than five years — considering that we don’t even live on the same side of the country, that’s a feat. We first met at an AAJA convention in San Francisco and ended up at the Arizona Republic together during my 10-week Pulliam fellowship. The rest is history.

orchids from the American Orchid Society

The wedding was at the American Orchid Society, which was amazing. I’m not sure what the orchid pictured above is named, but isn’t it gorgeous? I have more pictures, of course, via Flickr. You can also check out my review of the wedding on the Wedding Decorator.