mimi's island

i am amazed that i saw so many faces and places this week

i started in honolulu for two days and two nights. i inaugurated myself by driving solo on honolulu freeways...which was super easy coming from a seasoned california freeway driver. i was able to spend time with kat and her bf kev, gene, min, tj, rod, robin, kelvin, marci, christie from college....and at different occasions, of course. marci was kind enough to take me for a drive to sandy beach, where we gazed at beautiful half naked surfers bobbing their heads and delicious bodies out of the water. i had two nights out at the ever-popular mai tai's. the marquez boys entertained me with rock band and showed me some tricks no one ever enlightened me with. gene park joined me for a spectacular meal at fromaggio's while he watched me drink fine red. the whole gang was more than generous in joining me for drinks and pupus at mai tai's. it was my first time being in the company of min, who is awesome...and i can't believe we've never hung out before! i failed to confirm my intinerary and realized i inadvertently missed my flight out of honolulu. i was supposed to fly out thursday night and luckily there was ONE seat left for the next flight out on friday. kat was busy preparing for birthday weekend celebration at the bellows.

from honolulu, i fly to the bay area by landing in san jose. here in the bay, i saw edison , jude , jhimelle , rose, uriah, aris, and the beautiful noemi, and jules among many others on my first night out in san francisco...where we showed our support at MUD's cd release performance at slim's.

the next morning, i fly to san diego to make it in time for a wedding....where sal graced me with his presence for 20 minutes and provided me with a ride from the airport to the church. it was reunion of sorts...seeing many faces i haven't seen in awhile..including jan, jeng , joce c, didi, marci ...among many other familiar faces. the wedding was themed springtime in paris and was a flawlessly beautiful event. mishella ibit picked me up from the church to make it time for the reception in la jolla...but not until we hit up loehmann's so i could get my shopping fix. as soon as the wedding rituals were done with and the dance floor started...we greeted the bride goodbye and raced off to orange county to join another group.

an hour later, mishella and i are in costa mesa with irma , philsan , and kris. we dance the night away and continue the festivities at ihop, where i make my youtube debut. it was 4 am and we proceeded to the diamond bar for some rock band that lasted us until 7am. 3 hours later, we wake up and get ready to hit the road...but not before carlo treated us to some great conversation and food at bj's brewery.

it's only sunday afternoon and we end up in LA in the company of my sister hazel and her awesome boyfriend jesy. we gather ourselves to pick up philsan for a birthday escape to laguna beach. i am treated to heaven at a little boutique called heavenly and am thankful for discovering it. 2 rounds of jameson, 6 sake bombs, a llaeger bomb, and 1 washington apple later...we are the most wasted in the streets of laguna beach, with the exception of our designated driver, of course.

come monday, mishella and i part ways and my sister and her bf send me off back to the bay...but not before driving me around some key architectural landmarks for my fix. we eat mouthwatering korean bbq in japantown and my journey continues to the bay area as i catch a flight midday. jules and her bro bj pick me up and later in the night we have happy hour at gordon biersch in palo alto and meet up with edison. i take an obligatory pit stop at IKEA and finally meet up with my family in union city...at the kabiling household. i engage in more rock band before the night ends and try to get reasonable sleep while recovering from my crazy weekend.

it's tuesday and i bart to the city to meet up with jhimelle. we catch a meal by golden gate park and do many rounds on a street bike before heading to the san francisco shopping center for happy hour with cil and adrian. after happy hour...i hit up urban outfitters, h&m, and dsw shoe warehouse before they close at 9pm. jhimelle and i are off for more rock band at her place where her boyfriend cooks us a hearty breaded pork chop meal before i take the midnight train back to my family.

wednesday, i hit the roads solo and am back on the freeway. i get a haircut and network with my old stylists. they want to come to guam in august and i happily offer my hospitality. i get a pedicure and meet up with grace dolor at pf changs for happy hour and dinner. before heading home, i cruise the mall to visit forever 21 and steve and barry's.

on thursday, i join my sister in bringing my nephew to school. she later drives me to hayward to join jules at her apartment and we start our day late by having thai food in palo alto. we drive to the city for happy hour to meet with phuc dao and irma cayannan and her fun company. we take over stef's sports bar and close it down happily inebriated. on our way to the car, we take a walk through 111 minna to mingle with complete strangers and look at nameless yet notable art.

it's now friday and i'll be meeting with old bosses for lunch. i will be having happy hour in san francisco with friends. i will be joining jules for dancing beyond the east bay.

saturday my family is throwing me an early birthday bbq where about 40 people will be at our house.

on sunday i depart to honolulu where i will land and squeeze in a beach outing, a bbq with friends, and dinner with a night out before flying back to guam.

my 10 days away from guam has been insanely eventful and i can't wait to go home and be with kylan and get back to work.