Olivia in New York |
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Thursday, November 28, 2002
Home Sweet Home I'm home!! And the weather is so nice and warm. I'm glad to see my mom, sister, and Alan!! Women pilots Before I got to the airport, I was thinking about how I have never heard a woman pilot on the PA system. And right when I get on my first flight, a woman pilot comes on the PA. Funny coincidence. Busiest Travel Day Of The Year I had a good flying experience on this "busiest travel day of the year" and it didn't seem too busy for me. Maybe it was because I went to La Guardia early for my 4:45pm to Denver flight... I got there at around 1:30pm. I was put on standby for the 2:02pm flight to Denver, and I didn't think I would get on, because I was so late and I thought all the flights were full today, but I did! When I got to Denver, I went to the gate where the next SF flight was leaving from, and asked to be put on standby, and the lady said she could put me directly on the flight. What a great day!!! So I got home at 6:30 instead of 9:30pm! Yeah! In return, I switched seats with this one guy because his fiancee was sitting next to me and he was sitting on the other side of the plane. I was in a good mood anyway... :) Tuesday, November 26, 2002
First Snow in New York... tomorrow!!! Wow. The first snow storm in New York begins tonight at midnight through tomorrow, and my flight is tomorrow! Perfect timing. I hope I don't get snowed-in or stuck. I've been watching the news all day, just waiting for the weather report. It's all the same - snow. 2-3 inches. Hopefully I'll get home ok. Free Rolling Stone magazine I got my first Rolling Stone magazine in the mail today! I guess the free deal worked. Yay! Now I have something to read at the airport. Lunch with Johanna I had lunch with Johanna today at Monsoon Vietnamese restaurant. We both had the combination lunch plate, which was really really good. It had coconut shrimp, grilled pork chop, and chicken skewer with rice and vegetables. Definitely somewhere I would go again. And Johanna got lunch today because she won over the weekend in Atlantic City! Thanks Johanna!!! Monday, November 25, 2002
Fun Weekend before Thanksgiving I know, I know. I'm a blog slacker. But I had a pretty fun and busy weekend... So here's a recap. Friday night tradition Johanna and I went out on Friday night, as we always do every week, unless something else comes up, like going back home. Here's our typical night out - I go over to her apartment, get ready over there, we take the subway down to SoHo or the East Village, wherever we decide to go. Hang out for a while, and eventually end up at our favorite place, called Salon Bob's (Bob's for short), which is a small place, probably the size of someone's living room, but it's always packed and there's always good hip hop, dance music. Everytime we go out, even if we start off at some other bar/club, we always end up at Bob's for some reason. Anyway, after that we went to this place around the corner that sells french fries, that, for some reason, taste really good after a night out. They call them "Belgian fries", supposedly, according to Johanna, because french fries were invented in Belgium... Then I hang out on Johanna's couch until the next morning, when I take the subway back to my apartment. That's the way it goes when we go out... It's pretty fun :) Philly! On Sunday, I took the train to Philadelphia to visit my friend Audrey (who used to work at Incyte with me), who goes to UPenn for grad school in bioinformatics. She's almost done, this is her last semester, so I wanted to visit before she left in December. Woke up at 5am to catch the 7:15am train from Penn Station at 34th Street, and made it just in time to get on the train. Took the New Jersey Transit train from Manhattan to Trenton, NJ, and then transferred to the Septa train (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) all the way to the station in Philadelphia. She met me at the station and we walked around the city. We walked along the water (Penn's Landing) and then through the historical sites and got a tour of Independence Hall, where I got to see firsthand the Courthouse that they used, back in the days of George Washington, Ben Franklin, etc. and also the room where the Constitution was debated and signed. I even got to see a chair that George Washington actually sat on! It was pretty cool. Also the Liberty Bell with the famous crack in it. Walked around UPenn's campus, which is very very beautiful and quiet. The buildings were mostly brick and closer together than they are here at Columbia. Felt more of the historical presence there that I do in New York. I think she mentioned UPenn is the first university of the US - estblished in 1740 by Ben Franklin... A lot of history in that place... and I could feel it too. Then met up with some of her friends from her bioinformatics program and went to play mini-golf! The place closed at dusk, so they didn't turn on the lights when it got dark... I guess they wanted us to leave. Anyway, we finished our 18 holes, even though it got pretty dark and we couldn't see where the ball went towards the end. Walked around South Street, which is a cool street with little shops and restaurants - reminded me to Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. Ate at this Middle Eastern restaurant, and then rushed over to the train station so I could catch the train back! Thank goodness Audrey's friend had a car :) Overall, it was a great trip. Had lots of fun seeing new things in a new place :) I should take road trips more often... P.S. Oh yeah! And of course I had a Philly CheeseSteak, with mushrooms, at this little place near campus. Yummy!! Thursday, November 21, 2002
Sluggish For some reason, I've been feeling sluggish this past week. Like tired all the time, not wanting to get up in the morning... I don't know why. Maybe I'm feeling burned out since it's the end of the semester. Or maybe I'm just looking forward to going home next week! Dominican Home Remedy Seminar Yesterday after Biostats class, Rhodora and I went to this seminar about Dominican Republic culture traditions, like home remedies, religious beliefs and practices, etc. We saw that they had free food, so we went to check it out, and it was actually interesting to learn about the culture. Some of the things that they talked about had similarities to Filipino culture, especially the Catholicism. At the end, they had a music group play their instruments and everyone got up and danced to the music. It was pretty fun... definitely something different on a Wednesday night. (BTW, Rhodora is Mel's cousin, right Mel? And she also knows one of Alan's friends Vanessa. Very small world.) Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Free DVD rentals... at the Library!!! I went into the New York Public Library today, just to have a change in scenery for studying. Plus I've always wanted to go there and get a library card, but I never have any proof of NY residence on me. Anyway, I studied for about an hour and as I was walking out, I saw that they had a section of movies (VHS & DVD), so I signed up for a library card (the lady was really nice and believed I live in NY when I showed her my Columbia ID) and rented a DVD - 28 Days with Sandra Bullock. A free DVD rental for a week!! I'm hoping that I can find some more relatively new movies to rent too. Tom's Restaurant Ever watch Seinfeld? Well, the sign that they show outside the diner where they're always having lunch that says "RESTAURANT" in neon red, is actually from a diner on Broadway & 112th called "Tom's RESTAURANT". Obviously the inside is different, but I went in there today because I had a mad craving for breakfast food. So I went in, sat at the counter (they said I had to sit at the counter and not in a booth b/c I was by myself...), and ordered corned beef hash with eggs, home fried potatoes, and toast. Yum... Definitely satisfied my craving. Here's a pic of me and Kitchie when we were there! Monday, November 18, 2002
I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain Is Gone What a nice day today, without the rain. Although it was a bit chilly, it was definitely better than the rainy weekend. Shopping at Macy*s Yesterday, I went to the huge Macy*s at Herald Square (34th Street) because I heard they were having a huge weekend sale. And I bought two pairs of boots - black and brown - (since the first one was 20% and the second one was 30%, plus 10% off on top of that!) What a deal. I'm glad I got new boots, because my other ones that I've been wearing every day are really old and worn down. So I was walking around carrying two Macy's shopping bags, and when I went outside, it was raining - hard! So I was running through the streets of New York, with two shopping bags, in the rain. Oh well. It was worth it. Office Hours I went to office hours for one of my classes today for the first time, and it actually helped me to understand the homework better. I usually don't go to office hours, but maybe I'll start doing it more often now... One more week! One more week and I'm headed home for Thanksgiving!! Yippee! O-Town O2 I bought the new O-Town CD at the Sam Goody at South Street Seaport on Friday and it's pretty good. I have to admit - I still am a boyband fan, and will be until forever. If any one of the three come out with a new CD, be sure I'll buy it within the week. The new O-Town sound is definitely different, but it's pretty good. More of a rock/edgy sound. They used the melody to George Michael's "Careless Whisper" for one of their songs, which sounded pretty cool. Sunday, November 17, 2002
Pics Check out my "Autumn in New York" pics on Ofoto. There are pictures of the beautiful trees that I've been talking about, the Ice Rink Opening at Rockefeller Center, the NYC Marathon, and Justin on TRL! Rainy weekend It's been a rainy and windy weekend so far here in New York. But at least I got to use my new umbrella! And it works well! Friday, November 15, 2002
South Street Seaport Today was a nice day - sunny and warmer than usual, so I decided to go out and enjoy the weather before it starts to rain tomorrow. I finally went to part of the city called South Street Seaport. It's near the water, in the financial district. Sort of like Fisherman's Wharf in SF, but not as many touristy things. There were a lot stores, kinda like a mall, at one of the piers, so I looked around and ate at this fast food Japanese place in the food court. I walked on the piers and looked at the really old ships and the water. At one point, I could see 3 different bridges! I have to figure out which bridges they were. It was fun. I like going to new places. Leaves/Squirrels in the Park I went to Central Park on my way home, and took pictures of the beautiful autumn leaves again. I guess I'm just amazed every time I see them. They're so pretty!!! And again, I saw lots of squirrels and took a picture of one of them posing for me in the leaves... I guess squirrels are photogenic and like having pictures taken of them. Thermals! While walking around the financial district, I passed by this surplus store and saw thermal underwear in the display! I've been looking for some for the longest time, so I went in and bought two pairs of bottoms.... $3.99 each! Pretty good deal. I only had one pair before, and they really keep my legs warm when it gets really cold, like 40 degrees. I'm happy I found that store. Maybe if I need more, I'll go back. Good Samaritan I got this free $15 certificate to New York & Co. store and so I went there to see if I liked anything. I didn't end up buying anything, so I gave the certificate to some lady who was shopping there. She was really happy and thankful. Yay for me. Thursday, November 14, 2002
Autumn in New York This past week, I've been walking around, and admiring how beautiful the leaves are here. They're all different colors - yellow, orange, red, green - and before they all fall off the trees, I'm going to take pictures of them. I took a couple on campus today, and even got a great shot of a squirrel scurrying through the leaves. It seems as though it stopped right in front of me, and when I pulled out my camera, it didn't even move. Maybe it was posing for the picture... :) I think tomorrow I'm gonna go to Central Park, since it's not going to rain until Saturday. New Umbrella! I bought a new umbrella today! Since my first two umbrellas have been beat up in the strong winds, I decided to buy a new one that is stronger (and expensive). But it's cool, because it has the Columbia logo. Everytime I checked the bookstore, they never had any, but they had one last one today so I bought it! :) It was a prize for myself for doing pretty well on my Data Structures midterm... Getting called on in class today I got called on my Data Structures class today. I don't know how my prof knew my name, but I had a feeling he was going to call on me because he was looking at me. How did he know my name? I'm trying to figure it out. Maybe it's because I asked him a question during the midterm... but then again, I didn't say my name. Hmmm. Kinda caught me by surprise, and I had to produce Java code on the spot. But it turned out ok. I wonder if this means that I'm gonna get called on more. Favorite Pic I can't find the exact huge favorite pic of my boyfriend, but half of this one is part of it. When I find the real one, I'll post it up. Wednesday, November 13, 2002
More layoffs at Incyte I just heard from a bunch of my ex-coworkers at Incyte that they got laid off today!!! I think the company cut 37% of the workforce today, and most of my friends were included. I think I only know about 10 people who still work there now. Kinda sad when they were telling me how it happened. I flashed back to that fateful October day last year, when I was called to this suspicious meeting, only to learn that I was out of a job. I got a chill just thinking about it again... I hope they are all ok. Mirror Mirror on the Wall My full-length mirror broke today! I hadn't put it on the wall because I don't have nails and a hammer, so I just had it leaning against the wall. And it fell down when I pulled a cord that was behind it. Shattered into bits and pieces of glass that I had to pick up and vacuum afterwards. Hm... I'm not too superstitious, so the whole (how many? 13?) years of bad luck doesn't worry me. But that means I need to buy a new mirror... I'm debating whether or not I need a full-length one or just a half-length one. But I definitely need one where I can see my whole outfit. But I learned in Physics that you only need a half-length one and if you stand at a correct distance, you can see your whole body. Does that sound familiar to anyone? My Last Midterm I took my last midterm of the semester today! And it went pretty well. It was in Data Structures in Java, and I think I did alright. I'm actually enjoying my classes :) Monday, November 11, 2002
Weekend with Jane Jane came out to New York this past weekend, so we all hung out and had a lot of fun. On Saturday, we met up with other Berkeley people - Kay, Wayne, Joce, and some of their friends, at this restaurant called Junior's in Brooklyn. Their cheesecake is famous and very well-deserved. It was so good, even though I only had a bite. It was a very interesting first time in Brooklyn for me... Right when we got to the restaurant a fight broke out between two women, one of whom was singing really loudly with her group of friends, and the other one who was getting annoyed and told them that they suck. Anyway, it got pretty rowdy. After dinner, we went to Joce's place in Brooklyn and got ready to go out. We went to Nell's back in Manhattan, which was cool. On the top floor, there was a jazz band playing on stage and some tables to hang out. Downstairs they were playing hip hop and reggae music, so people were dancing. It was so crowded though, but it was fun. On Sunday, I met up with Jane and Johanna for church at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and we walked to Serendipity afterwards. The wait was 90 minutes, so we decided to just have a girls night in and got some pizza, ice cream, candy, and popcorn to eat, and nail polish to do our nails! :) We went back to Johanna's apartment and watched the first two episodes of Felicity, since she got the DVDs. It was a good night staying in. Felicity I had never watched an episode of Felicity, but after watching the first two, I have to admit... it's pretty good and I might even become hooked enough to have to watch all the episodes when they all come out on DVD. I guess I can relate much more now, since I am a new student in New York like she was... Rainy but warm Weird weather today. It's rainy and cloudy, but very warm. We had a warm weekend, and it started to rain last night, but the temperature hasn't been as cold as usual. I guess that's a good thing. Yahoo! games Oh boy. Thanks to Kitchie for getting me hooked on yahoo games - literati and bounce out. I played them all weekend. Congrats to Barry for the NL MVP Award Congratulations to Barry Bonds for winning the NL MVP Award for 2002. Unanimously! Friday, November 08, 2002
Too late for the Today Show I set my alarm clock for 5am, but kept on pressing the snooze button. By the time I got up at 7am, I turned on the TV and there were tons of people already at Rockefeller Center, waiting for Justin to perform. So I'm just going to stay here in the warmth of my own room, instead of waiting outside in the freezing cold, only to stand way in the back and see Justin from very far away. Now, I can see him upclose... on TV that is. Tuesday, November 05, 2002
 Look at the great surprise that was waiting at my door when I got home!! Thanks Alan for the flowers!!! They're so pretty! I didn't have a vase, so I used a water bottle and cut off the top, wrapped it with the tissue paper it came with and tied it up with the string. :) Justin in Times Square I went to Times Square to the Virgin Megastore to buy the new Justin Timberlake album "Justified", and I ended up staying there from 12:30-5pm because he was going to be on TRL! They were setting up a stage on the corner of 44th and Broadway, and he performed live! The crowd who got to stand in front of the stage had wristbands, and since I didn' t have one, I ended up standing right behind the stage! But I could see him performing through the band and they had a big screen on Times Square that was broadcasting the performance! And when we was done, he exited the stage through the back, so I got to see him upclose!! He's so cute. I hope my pictures came out. After he performed he went back upstairs to the TRL studio. I watched through the window from across the street and I saw J-Lo being interviewed, Justin, and the special surprise guest, Halle Berry. I love being in New York!!! Justified I'm listening to the CD right now and it's awesome. More of a hip-hop beat to all the songs. I was reading through the "Thank You's" and he thanks one of the producers, Chad Hugo (from the Neptunes) and he says that he is his "favorite Phillipino". :) Monday, November 04, 2002
New York Marathon The New York Marathon took place yesterday, Sunday Nov 3rd. I decided to go watch at a certain spot about a mile from the finish line, hoping that I would see Joel running. I got there at 3:15 and stayed until 5:15, but no luck. I guess he already passed that point by the time I got there. That or I just missed him in the huge crowd of runners. It was fun to watch though. Some of them had their names on their shirts, so you cocooluld cheer for them. Some had funny costumes, like a huge rhino costume, St. Nicholas, and Superman. What an event! It was freezing cold though! The Gin Mill I met up with Joel at The Gin Mill where PowerBar had a room reserved for a private party. We hung out there for a while and then walked around the neighborhood to find a diner-like place that had soup and dessert. We ended up at the New Wave Cafe on Broadway. Johanna and Eric met up with us afterwards and we hung out, in the cold, on the street for about 20 minutes. Then we all went home. Naptime I took a nap from 4-5pm today. It's good I got up, because I had class at 5:30pm. It was a lazy day today, plus it was cloudy and rainy and gray. I hope it improves tomorrow... Saturday, November 02, 2002
"How we gonna pay.... How we gonna pay... last year's RENT" I saw Joey Fatone in RENT again last night with Johanna and Eric! I can't get enough of that boy on Broadway. Since he's only gonna be doing it until December, I figured I might as well go see it again. He was awesome! After the show, the cast stayed onstage and talked about a charity that they were raising money for. And there was a live auction for this handkerchief that Joey was holding and a chance to meet him backstage. It sold for both $375 and $376!!! Two people kept on bidding each other out, so they gave it to both of them! It was funny. Adam Pascal in AIDA I got to see my favorite Broadway actor, Adam Pascal, today in Aida! Yes, two musicals in two days! Aida has special student tickets for $25, in the first two rows of the orchestra. I was in the second row, so close that I could see his spit. hehe. About two minutes after I got in line at 9am, Johanna and Eric got in line too. I had a feeling that they would be there this morning.... Anyway, the show was awesome. His voice was awesome, just as I expected it to be. He sang exactly like he sounds on the Broadway CD of Rent and Aida. Well, of course he does, it's him!!! I love that musical!!! Have you ever carried 25lbs on your back? I have. Yesterday, I went to Chinatown to buy rice and I ended up buying the 25lb bag because it was the best deal and I figured that I'm gonna need rice the rest of the school year, so I bought it. I stuffed it in my backpack and brought it home. By the time I got home, I was out of breath. But it's ok, because I have rice. Halloween recap Halloween night was fun. Johanna and I went to 6th Avenue to watch the parade, stayed about 15 minutes, and then went to eat at Dragonfly (another Filipino restaurant, but with other Asian foods) because there were so many people and we couldn't really see anything. At least we made it in time for happy hour. After dinner, we walked around town and saw a lot of people in interesting costumes, like one guy dressed as peas in a pod, and this girl who had a mask just like the Scream poster. Poor girl had to hold her hands up all night. |
