EuroTrip! Part 3 (The Conclusion) - Lucerne to London

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated. I hope I still remember what the hell I did in Europe. Hmm...

Day 10 - Lucerne

We left Florence early in the morning for Lucerne, Switzerland. We drove through Italy, passed Lake Como (where George Clooney owns a big ass house on the lake), and arrived into Switzerland around 2 pm. We arrived at the base of Mt. Stanserhorn and took a little train half-way up the mountain and then took sky gondolas the rest of the way up. We walked around Mt. Stanserhorn for about an hour (we hiked up to the top of the mountain and it was BEAUTIFUL. I wish it wasn't foggy, but it was still an amazing view) and saw these little animals called Marmots. They were kind of like fat gophers? Hm. Anyway, the mountain was beautiful... we left the mountain around 4 pm and drove into Lucerne. We didn't really get a chance to walk around the shops... but I did get some yummy chocolates for my family and a dark chocolate bar for myself (all which I accidentally left in Arcadia... damn).

After we checked into our hotel (WHICH WAS A CONVERTED PRISON... yeah, seriously. It was a working prison until 1998... why in the hell would Contiki choose this? So weird) we just hung out in the room (which was freaky) until it was time for dinner. Dinner was chicken curry... which was really weird since we were in Switzerland. But whatever, after dinner Tracee and I walked around Lucerne. All the shops were closed except one touristy type store. I found a really cute Swiss Military watch, so I made the rash decision just to buy it. How often am I in Switzerland to buy a watch? After we walked around, we met up with a few tour people to have a drink in the hotel bar before going to bed. I think Lucerne was one of the most expensive cities in Europe. A bottle of coke was 5 Swiss francs... which is like $5. Yeesh. Mixed drinks were 15 francs. Lucerne might be the most boring city we visited on our trip.

EuroTrip 2007 Lucerne

Day 11 & 12 - Paris

We left Switzerland HELLA early (7 am) to drive to France. We arrived in Paris, after a pretty long bus ride, and went straight to a little perfumerie for a demonstration. When we arrived in Paris there was a CRAPLOAD of traffic. And I thought Italian drivers were bad... Parisians were 10x worse. I think it was the World Rugby Finals or something.

Due to traffic... we were a bit late, but were still able to smell a different crappy perfumes before leaving. After the perfumerie, we headed to the hotel to check in and relax a bit. Dinner was served in the hotel (it was some kind of chicken and rice dish... it was OK) and then we all took the subway to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was AMAZING. It was totally breath-taking and beautiful. We took the elevators to the very top and had a great view of Paris. After the Eiffel Tower, a group of us went to a little cafe to have hot chocolate and snacks (I had fries and an Orangina). It took forever to catch a cab back to the hotel, but we finally got back around 1 am.

The next morning, we met on the bus at 7:30 am to get a driving tour of Paris. We drove past the Louvre, past the Musee D'Orsay, past... lots of other stuff I don't remember. Oh yeah! The building that houses Napolean's tomb, the Artillery Museum, and the park near the Eiffel Tower. Great photo ops! After the little driving tour, we were dropped off at the Louvre for our free day in Paris! Our small group (Doug, Pete, Breanne, Tracee, and me) walked around the Louvre and saw the greats: Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory, the Venus Di Milo, Napolean's Coronation, and Napolean III's Apartment. We kind of did a rushed tour and were in and out of the Louvre in about two hours. After the Louvre, we had some yummy savory crepes and then walked to the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame was huge and beautiful... but to be honest, we were a bit church'ed out. We've seen tons and tons of beautiful chapels all throughout Europe, but the Notre Dame was quite amazing. After Notre Dame, we got lost on the subway... for like 2 hours. It was terrible. We eventually made it to the Arc De Triomphe and since it was Sunday, we got in for free!! We took the millions of steps to get to the top of the Arc and then from there, had a great view of Paris in the daytime. After the Arc, we walked around Champs D'Elysee. I was really only interested in one store... Louis Vuitton. I had to wait in LINE to get into the store and then decided to buy a wallet after being inside for like 20 minutes. The wallet was SO expensive... the most expensive thing I've bought maybe... but it's totally worth it.
Ah... beautiful wallet. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel to rest. Tracee and I did a few loads of laundry, checked our email, and just relaxed in the hotel. Around 9 pm, we met up with the rest of the tour group and headed near the Can-Can dancing area (some people went to a cabaret show... but I didn't want to spend €112 on a nudie dance show). A small group of us walked around to find some dinner and eventually found this really cute hole-in-the-wall place. It was super cheap too!! Finally, some affordable food. They had three course meals for only €9,90. I got onion soup, pepper steak with potatoes, and chocolate mousse!! So good. After dinner, we walked to a bar down the street where the entire tour group was congregating. We hung out for a bit, then eventually left at like midnight. Our last night in Paris *sigh. I definitely want to go back someday... very beautiful.

EuroTrip 2007 Paris

Day 13-17 - London!

We left for London at 7:30 am and arrived in the UK at around 3 pm. The end of the tour was bittersweet. I definitely enjoyed my time on the tour and I had met a lot of cool people... but I was ready to vacation without the huge group. Tracee and I took the underground to our hotel in the Bayswater district of London. It was long and tiring dragging all our luggage around the subway, but we were definitely surprised and pleased to find that our hotel (that I found on Expedia) was AWESOME. I don't know if the clerk messed up or just liked us, but he gave us a one bedroom apt instead of the studio apt that I paid for. SWEET. I took a nap while Tracee walked around for some groceries and to make a few calls. After we relaxed and had dinner, we headed back to Russell Square to meet up for ONE LAST DRINK with a few Contiki people. We also bought a few tickets from the Contiki office (discounted tickets for The London Dungeon and the Tower of London). It was nice to say goodbye... um, again... to everyone and we headed home around 10 pm.

The following morning, well kind of morning, we woke up at like 12 pm. Wow. We slept like 12+ hours. I think the tour just wore us out... but all that sleep felt REALLY nice. After we got ready, we left for the London Dungeon Tour. The tour was TOTALLY cheesey with over the top actors and gruesome statues and stuff. But it was pretty damn fun. After the tour, walked over the London Bridge and got sandwiches and ate them on a concrete bench outside. We walked all the way from the London Bridge to St. Paul's church to Oxford Circus to our hotel in Bayswater. It must've been like a 5 mile trek. Wow. Not doing that again. We shopped a little bit in Oxford Circus... Miss Selfridge is a REALLY cute and trendy store. I didn't end up buying anything, but they have the cutest stuff. I also realized they have a WEBSITE where you can buy their stuff too. SWEET. Anyway, I ended up just getting a tank top from Esprit. We found an Indian take-away place and got Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner. The food was pretty gross, but whatever. We were tired and hungry.

On our third day in London, we woke up semi-early and went out to Russell Square. We went back to the Contiki office to get tickets for the London Eye and after we headed to the British History Museum. Tracee and I split up for a few hours to explore the museum on our own. I saw Cleopatra's mummy and lots of other historical and beautiful things (none that I can specifically remember right now). The Rosetta Stone was in the museum, but I'm retarded and was unable to find it (Tracee did and took a few pics). After the museum, we took the bus (which was FUN!) to the London Eye. The London Eye was really cool, but I was bored after like 10 minutes (the ride lasts 25 minutes). After the London Eye, we went to Leicester Square and found a Korean restaurant for dinner. It was REALLY yummy and reminded me of home a bit (I got kimchee chigae and Tracee got bibimbop). After dinner we went to watch the play Avenue Q. It was SO funny... like a dirty Muppets movie. They cursed and had puppet sex... it was funny and interesting. The actors were also GREAT singers. Sweet. After the play we checked our email in an internet cafe and then headed back to the hotel.

On our fourth day in London, we woke up early to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was pretty boring, but the band was AWESOME. I thought they would play old and stodgy British songs... but they played Michael Jackson's Thriller, U2's Dead or Alive, Rocky's Eye of the Tiger... really random and AWESOME songs. Sweeeeet. After the changing of the guard we walked to the bus stop and took the bus to the Tower of London. The Tower of London was pretty cool... we had this funny Beefeater guy that showed us around and told us the history of the castle. After the little tour, we saw the Crown Jewels and walked all around the castle. After, we waited for Tracee's bf's friend to meet us, but the timing was wrong. She left work RIGHT after we stopped waiting. Tragic. After the tour, we took the bus to Picadilly Circus (which is like Times Square in New York... according to Tracee, since I've never been there). It was a bit ghetto, but interesting. Tracee and I both got jackets (I got a Manchester United football sweatshirt and Tracee got a London sweatshirt) from this little shop with a creepy shopkeeper... he called us "lovely ladies" and asked us where we were "from." I hate when people ask this question because I know they're just asking what ethnicity I am... instead of where I'm really from. So when I answer it usually goes like this:

ignorant person (IP): where are you from?
me: California
IP: no, where are you FROM?
me: Los Angeles
IP: no, where are your parents from?
me: Los Angeles and Fresno
IP: no no, where are your grandparents from?
me: Fresno?
IP: no...
me: OK OK I'm CHINESE.

F'ing idiots. Anyway, the jackets were quite cute. We took the bus back to Paddington Station and got dinner at this shwarma type place to eat at the hotel. We just hung out in our room for our last night in London and relaxed.

On our fifth and last day in London, we checked out of the hotel, left our luggage at the reception, and went to check our email at the local internet cafe. We got ready to leave for the airport around 12 and took the express train to Heathrow. Man, LAX security ain't got nothing on Heathrow's. They have some pretty extensive security checks. We had to first put our carry-on luggage through the xray thingy, then we had to walk through the metal detectors. THEN we had to do another security check and put just our shoes through a xray thingy. Yeesh, but we finally got through and looked around the duty free shop. I bought cute little Paddington Bears (one for me, Sooz, and Ellen) and a sandwich for lunch.

Our flight was finally ready and we boarded the plane at like 4 pm. There was a delay, so we didn't take off until about 4:45 pm. The flight was REALLY long, REALLY boring, and overall just terrible. I have a hard time sitting in one place for very long. The flight was about 11 1/2 hours long, but we arrived in LAX on Friday at 8 pm. Whew. SO LONG. Jeremy was nice enough to pick Tracee and me up from the airport and take us back to their apt in Encino. My dad picked me up from Encino and I had fun telling Euro stories to my family and giving out presents.

EuroTrip 2007 London

Overall, my trip was amazing. I'm not sure I'd do another bus tour thingy, but it was a great way to see a LOT of Europe in a short amount of time. I know that I want to go back to Paris, Rome, Florence, and Germany. Switzerland and Austria were pretty, but very boring. I met a lot of cool people and had a great time. But it's nice to be back in the states. *whew... long long updates.

Shopping overview:

*postcards from every city we visited

Amsterdam: cute navy Amsterdam messenger bag
St. Goar: Birkenstocks, beer stein
Munich: cute little leiderhosen bear keychain
Austrian Tyrol: two pairs of cheap earrings for me and one pair of earrings for my mom from Swarovski
Venice: glass ring, glass necklaces (for Al, Susie, and Ellen), a glass pendant, a fake Burberry bag, Italia jacket
Florence: grey cardigan from Zara, wallet for my dad
Lucerne: Swiss Military watch
Paris: LV wallet
London: Manchester jacket, Esprit tank top, Paddington bears

Hmmm.. I feel like there's more that I bought. But I don't remember. Whew. Long long LONG updates.

EuroTrip! Part 2 - Venice to Florence

Day 6 - Venice, Italy

We left Austria early as usual and drove straight into Italy. We arrived into Venice in the early afternoon and took a boat into the city. Venice was a really pretty city with really old buildings and awesome scenery. We walked around San Marcos (St. Mark's) Square, into the cathedral, and up the bell tower for great views. San Marcos Square was pretty nice with the exception of the hundreds and hundreds of pigeons. EVERYWHERE. Pigeons are rats with wings. Dirty, unhygienic, and... dirty. Ugh. They just eat and poop everywhere. So gross. But apparently, according to history the pigeons were the ones that lead the sailors to the marshland that is now Venice. So they're sacred... but still gross. It's also €100 if you kick a pigeon... even accidentally. Gross things. Ugh. Anyway, Tracee, Al (our Canadian friend), and I walked around Venice to explore a bit. I bought a few murano glass necklaces as gifts, a pendant and ring for me, a cute cheap brown leather bag from this cute store called Carpisa (it's a chain! really cute and cheap stuff), and a fake Burberry. All over Italy they have these shady guys that show fake bags on a blanket in the streets. They had a really cute fake Burberry bag and the conversation with the shady man went like this:

Me: How much for that one *points*
Shady Man (SM): €120
Me: NO WAY
SM: How much do you want to pay?
Me: €25
SM: €75
Me: €25
SM: €40
Me: Forget it.
SM: OK OK, €25

I realize that €25 is pretty pricey for a fake, but whatever. At least it's not €120. If people really paid €120, I feel very very sorry for them. The bags are only worth €20-25 at the most. Yeesh. I should've said €20. Oh well. So after our long day in Venice, we went to our hotel for the night and watched The Simpsons in Italian. Very nice. :)

EuroTrip 2007 Venice

Day 7 & 8 - Rome, Italy

Ahh Rome. Possibly one of my favorite cities on the tour. We arrived into Rome around 3 pm, and had a mini walking tour with our group. We saw the Spanish Stairs, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and then dinner at this really cute restaurant (antipasto, pasta, bruschetta, tiramisu... very yummy!). After dinner we (the tour group) checked into our hotel in the outskirts of Rome, relaxed a bit, then took a 20 minute walk to a sports bar down the road. It was pretty fun... but I had the worst mojito I've ever had. Which is my fault since I shouldn't have ordered a mojito in Italy. We hung out at the bar for about an hour or so, then a small group of us left a bit early (everyone else stayed until like 2 am... we left at like 12 am).

The next morning, we woke up bright and early and took the train back into the heart of Rome. Our tour manager, Ali, took us all right to San Pietro's Square (St. Peter's) in Vatican City and straight to the Vatican Museum. Usually the line for the museum is super long, but LUCKILY on that day, the Pope was giving an audience in San Pietro's Square so the line for the museum was pretty dang short (score!). We got into the museum around 9:30 am (even thought it usually opens at 10 am... we got lucky) and walked around for awhile. A small group of us (me, Tracee, Pete from Seattle, Doug from Toronto, and Breanne from Calgary) walked around the museum together and looked at all the amazing sites. We saw the Sistine Chapel which was totally amazing and all the other beautiful artwork in the museum.

After the museum, we got a few slices of pizza and walked into St. Peter's Square to watch the end of the Pope's audience. After the speech was over, we walked around near St. Peter's Square and then met up with the tour group around 1:00 pm. As a group, we headed near the Coliseum to begin our guided walking tour. The tour was... well it was mostly a blur because I didn't pay any attention. It was like 90 degrees and I was just concentrating on not sweating. It didn't work... I still sweat like a pig. But it was cool to see the sites. We saw the Forum, the Coliseum, and... well that's all I can remember. The walking tour ended around 3 pm and our little group decided to go see the Coliseum. The Coliseum was amazing... you can see the cells down below where the slaves and animals used to be held. It was surreal to be in this place that's stood for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. It was also a bit humbling to know that I was standing in this ancient building that has stood the test of time. So crazy. It's hard to describe without sounding cheesey, but overall it was amazing.

After getting our fill of the Coliseum, our small group walked around the shopping area and had dinner at this cute little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. We all ordered pasta, of course, and had a really nice meal. I got this penne that was a bit spicy. Yum. After dinner, we walked around some more stores... I got myself some gelati (probably my third or fourth cup since being in Italy) and just relaxed. We met up with other people in the tour at the Spanish Stairs and all took the train back to the hotel at 9 pm. After getting back to the hotel, I just passed out.

EuroTrip 2007 Rome

Day 9 - Florence

Ahhh Florence. It was so quiet and serene in Florence, as compared to the other Italian cities we had visited. It was much more laid back and not quite as hustle-bustle as Rome or Venice. We got into Florence around 11 am and were given a cool leather demonstration. The guy told us how to tell between real and fake leather. Which was kinda cool I guess. After the demonstration, we had another guided walking tour which was fun. The tour guide was this older lady that was really cute and a bit glamorous. After the tour, Tracee and I walked around the city to explore. I bought a cute cardigan from Zara and we got a few presents (a nice leather wallet for my Dad, a belt for Tracee's bf). We were also able to go to a cheap internet cafe to catch up on emails and news (aka, TheSuperficial.com, WWTDD.com, etc.). We were back on the bus around 3 or 4 pm to head to the hotel.

Once we checked into the hotel, we showered and relaxed a bit before our big Tuscan dinner! The dinner was pretty fun. There was a guy that played the piano and sang while we ate. And then this awesome opera singer came out and performed a few songs... she had a really strong and amazing voice. There was quite a bit of cheesiness (chicken dance, etc.) and the food was only mediocre, but it was good fun. After dinner, almost the entire tour group went clubbing at this place called the Space Discotheque. So funny!! It was pretty cool tho... downstairs they had karaoke (where the DJ was being a bitch because she just wanted to sing instead of letting the patrons sing) and upstairs they had a dance floor. Tracee and I stayed for awhile... probably until like 1 am? Then we headed back to the hotel to pass out. Florence clubbing = FUN!

EuroTrip 2007 Florence

And now I am tired of updating. To be continued!!

EuroTrip! Part 1 - London to Austrian Tyrol

So! Today is my first full day, back in the states. Woo. It's been quite lovely being home. I got home last night around 10:30 pm, unpacked a bit, gave presents to my family, and then fell asleep at like midnight. This morning, I woke up a bit early, did a few loads of laundry, went to the dentist for my 6 mos. checkup, and had a LOVELY lunch from the Hat. I really missed some hearty American food when I was in Europe. So! Time for the vacation re-cap (might as well, it's rainy outside and I'm lazy... no point leaving the house just yet).

Day 1: London

Arrive at Heathrow airport in London, take an hour long tube ride to Russell Square, got lost on the way to the hotel (Tracee and I were both butt ass tired and pretty cranky), finally found the Imperial Hotel, took a fab 3 hour nap, then went out exploring. We ended up walking around Leicester Square which turned out to be a mini Chinatown. We found a reasonable Japanese restaurant for dinner, then retired back to the hotel around 9-ish.

Day 2: Amsterdam

We met up with the Contiki group at 6:45 am, and were on the bus and ready to go at 7:30 am! We drove through England to Dover, and took a ferry over to France. We drove through France and Belgium, and finally arrived in Amsterdam around 5 pm. Long ass day in the bus. We had dinner at the hotel, which was Hotel Ibis, and then we were bussed into downtown Amsterdam. We took a 90 minute cruise through the canals in Amsterdam which was awesome, then after Tracee and I walked around Amsterdam with Al (Canadian guy on the tour). We walked through the red light district... which is pretty much indescribable. The women of the night dance around in their glass doors, then if men want to... um... rent them?... for the evening, they negotiate a price then they close the blinds in the glass door. It was surreal to walk around seeing the girls dancing in the windows OR to see the curtains closed. Ai yi yi. Anyway, Tracee, Al, and I went to a "coffee shop" to partake in the... *ahem, local customs?... and then we took the train back to hotel and passed out at like... 12-ish. The next morning, we had free time in Amsterdam so Tracee and I went to the Anne Frank museum and shopped around a bit. I ended up buying a cute navy messenger bag that appropriately says "Amsterdam."

EuroTrip 2007 Amsterdam

Day 3: St. Goar

Left Amsterdam at 7:30 am (after a continental breakfast, which is croissants or random bread rolls and jam... which is pretty much all we got the entire trip), drove through the Netherlands into Germany. We arrived at St. Goar in the Rhine Valley in Germany around 5 pm. St. Goar was a TINY city near the river and it was really quaint. We walked up all these crazy stairs to this old castle to get a beautiful view of the valley. The next morning, we went to a little beer stein store, where the owner gave us the rundown on beer steins. I bought myself a little beer stein (it can hold like a can of beer instead of the giant liter steins). I also got myself a pair of really comfy Birkenstock sandals from this other little store in town! Woooo. Buying stuff is fun.

EuroTrip 2007 St. Goar

Day 4: Munich

The drive to Munich was really scenic and nice. We got to Munich to the hotel, which was a REALLY nice Holiday Inn, around 3 pm? Then the whole group took the train to downtown Munich and we walked around for a bit. We saw the Glockenspiel (this giant old cuckoo clock), had a GREAT dinner at Haxnbauer (pork knuckle!! Yum, it's not really a pig's hoof... because that would be gross. It's just this cut of pork that's bbq'ed on this spit thing for hours... really tender and yummy), then had a "Radler" at the oldest beer haus in Germany. The Hofbrauhaus was REALLY awesome. It was this traditional beer haus, with long wooden tables, a band playing the polka, and lots n lots n LOTS of beer. A Radler is just a half beer/half lemonade... because honestly, I can't drink a liter of beer without getting sick. I chugged the last 1/4 of my Radler (well, it was funny... one of the tour guys, Justin, randomly purchased this pair of fuzzy handcuffs, and they cuffed me to my beer glass. So I had to chug the beer to free myself) and was pretty damn wasted. I passed out in the hotel room with my contacts and shoes still intact, but luckily Tracee woke me up to get ready for bed after 45 minutes of being passed out.

EuroTrip 2007 Munich

Day 5: Austrian Tyrol

Next morning, we dropped off half the group to go white water rafting (Tracee and I declined... because it was balls cold). We hung out at this little cafe, checked email, then when the group got back, we went to the Swarovski Crystal museum. The museum was really really random with weird artwork but the shop was pretty cool. I got myself two pairs of earrings and a pair for my mom. After the museum, we were off the hotel which was this little place in this TINY town. We had a pasta dinner, which was random since we were in Austria, and after dinner we had this little party in the hotel bar. Which was cool because we were the only ones in the entire hotel except for this old lady that lived there. The party was pretty fun... lots of random music, dancing, and drinks! Sweeeeet. There was also really cute dog that lived at the hotel.

EuroTrip 2007 Austrian Tyrol

Currently in: London

Ahhh my first blog entry since the beginning of my EuroTrip. Unfortunately today is my LAST day in Europe. I'm hanging out in an internet cafe until it's time to train it back to Heathrow. Overall my Eurotrip has been pretty freaken amazing. I'll do a quick recap of the cities I've visited and then when I get home later tonight, I'll try to do a more detailed update with PICTURES. Oh yes... lots and lots of pictures. I've taken 600+ pictures in Europe. Crazytown. Actually, what's crazier is that I've deleted a lot too... Let's begin the quick recap.

Tuesday 9/4 - depart for London from LAX... minor hiccup, Tracee forgot her passport and her bf had to drive home to get it, then bring it back to LAX. The flight was long and it sucked. But, free movies!

Wednesday 9/5 - arrive London

Thursday 9/6 - depart London, drive though France, Belgium, and arrive in Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Friday 9/7 - depart Amsterdam, arrive St. Goar, Germany

Saturday 9/8 - depart St. Goar, arrive Munich, Germany

Sunday 9/9 - depart Munich, arrive in Austrian Tyrol, Austria

Monday 9/10 - depart Austria, arrive Venice, Italy

Tuesday 9/11 - depart Venice, arrive in Rome, Italy

Wednesday 9/12 - more Rome

Thursday 9/13 - depart Rome, arrive in Florence, Italy

Friday 9/14 - depart Florence, arrive in Lucerne, Switzerland

Saturday 9/15 - depart Lucerne, arrive in PARIS, France

Sunday 9/16 - more Paris

Monday 9/17 - depart Paris, arrive in London, UK

Tuesday - Today: sight-see lots of marvelous things that London has to offer.

Wow, I got tired just recapping the cities I've visited. It's amazing how long I've lasted without a cell phone or constant internet access. My flight is later today at 4:15 pm... then I'm due to arrive to LAX at 7:30 pm PST. See you guys soon!!! WOOOO.

Almost to Europe

Ok, not really. But we're leaving tomorrow at 4 pm for LONDON! AHHHH. I'm so excited. Right now I'm at my sister's apt in Encino ("the valley"). I was watching The Mummy Returns earlier, but Tracee turned it off because she doesn't like it. I wonder why I really like The Mummy movies. I'm a nerd. Anyway, I digress.

So this weekend back at home has been really really great. I've done a lot of fun things and met up with a lot of old friends. So my last update was Friday night. Let's see... I met up with David, Alan, and Rob at Dave & Busters. It was ok. Nice to see those guys again I guess. Alan kept wanting to talk about my ex which was stupid and weird. He said things like, "Yeah, he's got a new girlfriend now. He got over it." Weird shit. Anyway we met up with Mag and Crystal after DnB closed and then I went home.

Saturday, I woke up early to get my eyes checked (thankfully my eyes have not gotten worse, woohoo!) and then got my hair did at Regis. Sara did a GREAT job on my hair as usual, then after I walked around the mall. I ended up getting my watch battery replaced and I got a cute green skirt and plain white shirt from Express. The rest of the day I just kind of hung out at home with my sisters. We went to get Pinkberry (again) and we all went swimming. Saturday night I had dinner with Susie and Chris at Kabuki (yum, tempura california roll, BSCR, and salad) and after dinner we headed to 24 hr Walmart (of course). I just got a few necessities for my trip and Susie and I both got this cute cheap sportsbra.

Sunday, my mom had a bbq at our house and invited her teacher friends, my aunt and cousins, and Susie and Chris. I went swimming wtih my sisters and a few family friends, then Susie and Chris got there around 8-ish. Dinner was quite tasty (bbq chicken, ribs, hot dogs, pilaf rice, etc.) and it was nice to hang out at home with my family. I met up with Magus, Eric, Wei, and Richard around 1 am and we hung out at Wei's house. They played cards and drank, whilst I played Wei's DS and watched the movie Crank.

Today, I had lunch with Magus at the new Thai place near my house and after went to a pedicure with Susie. Susie was nice enough to drive me to 7-11 for a slurpee (mmmm slurpee) and the mall to get something for my DS (it's a web browser so I can get internet on my DS!). After I went home and re-packed (using Susie's big tote bag, THANKS SOOZ!) and then my family drove me to my sister's apt in Encino. Which is where I am right now. It's stifling hot in here and I think it's time to get away from this hot computer for a bit.

To all my friends, I'll miss you guys whilst I'm in Europe :) I'll see you all when I get back!!