Oh life

Why do i always attract weird people??? Or, why are weird people always attracted to me??? I don't know why. but oh well. I hope this goes away soon. it's... weird.

ASTRONOMY IS OFFICIALLY OVER! FINALLY! Thank God. honestly it might have been the toughest class i've taken here at Taylor. haha. seriously. probably half due to the fact that i missed 4 days (which equals to a month since this is an intensive course over 3 weeks), and half due to the fact that i simply don't care anymore and didn't really listen in class or study for the final. OH WELL. who cares. i'm graduating soon anyway and no one in the real world really gives a crap about how i did in astronomy.

but it was fun talking to friends online during class and skyping. haha. and 'studying' for the final with a friend. omg he was absolutely distracting me the entire time and we ended up taking a ton of breaks the day before the exam. we went to Taco Bell and Starbucks at night, made tons of videos for people in facebook, had dance parties... did everything but study. haha. such fun. and then the final turned out to be super hard anyway. i didn't know the answers to half the questions, so i just guessed, and i finished the test way before everyone else (i was second to finish). and when i turned my paper in, people looked at me like, whoa, you must be a genius to finish this fast!

but i knew i didn't know the answers, and there was no point in thinking about it 'cause i still won't know the answers no matter how long i think about it. so i just chose whatever, turned in the exam, went back to my room and watched 'The Bachelor'. haha. kind of hope i don't fail the class.

although.. the software they gave us to use was pretty cool. its called Stellarium, and it allows you to see the stars, planets, and other objects in the sky at ANY TIME, from ANY PLACE on earth. cool, huh.


you can zoom in all the way to see the details on planets or the moon


you can make the constellation art appear, so like for the constellation Hercules, a picture of Hercules appears over the stars so you can see how it actually looks kind of like Hercules.


you can also make the constellation lines and labels appear so you know where they are.


and that's the view of the sky in Upland, Indiana, today, at 3.30am.

went to eat korean BBQ in Indy on wednesday night to CELEBRATE J-term being OVER!! the food was so good. and then we got more food supplies at a korean market. i bought this instant ramen called 'chapagetti'. i think its 'zha jiang mian' cause that's what it said. but i tried it yesterday, and it tasted kinda weird. so now i have 3 more packets and i don't really wanna eat them. haha.


and this is how it looks like. yes, worms. not very appetizing.

anyway, its been good having the room to myself (my roomie went home for break since she lives like 2 hours away). i mean, i get along well with my roomie, she's really nice and not crazy loud like the other freshmen. but it's just nice to have my space and be able to do whatever i want for a few days. i've been watching tv before going to bed, tossing my stuff all over the floor (which i should clean up before she gets back), sleeping as late as i want, waking up as late as i want :)

btw, she and i are SO different. in some ways. she grew up in Indiana, and she loves the countryside and wants to marry a farmer and live on a farm. i really cannot understand that. at all. how can anyone want to live on a farm for the rest of their life??? why? how? i don't- it's just- i can't understand that. all i know is, after graduation, i am bolting out of here to the city. any city. no more countryside for me. i get too restless and i keep itching to do stuff.

so anyway, yesterday we hung out at a friend's apartment and had a dance party. hahaha. and recorded videos of us dancing. it was so fun. and today we baked cookies... chocolate chip, oatmeal, and sesame. yum. i'm kinda enjoying this j-term break 'cause it's kinda nice not to have the campus overflowing with people. not really looking forward to the spring semester starting on monday, but oh well. it just means i'll be this much closer to graduating!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Weekend...

I think there's something about the cold that makes me tired all the time. Or maybe I'm just not getting enough sleep. Oh, college dorm life.

Random: I was looking through my facebook stuff, trying to procrastinate from doing anything productive, and i found this!
It's from the quiz 'Which Disney song describes your life right now?'

Your life now can be described by Hakuna Matata, from Lion King
You are the epitome of chill. You know of no worries for the rest of your days. You know that life is about keeping it simple and just relaxing. Conflicts, stress, pressure---you don't let that kind of stuff get to you. You know who you are, and you like that person; and you really just like where you are in life right now. People enjoy being around you because of your surfer-dude attitude and easygoing vibe. You could go anywhere and lighten the mood with a joke or just with your confident, happy smile. You know what the most important things in your life are and you don't concern yourself with all that petty jazz.

Haha i think that's pretty true. except for now when i'm freaking out about life after graduation. and it reminded me of what my friend said... i was talking to this guy i just met, and he was like, 'i like people who smile/laugh a lot.' i was like, 'like me?' he was like, 'yeah, it's a good thing' :)
Although sometimes i feel stupid 'cause i really do laugh at everything, even when no one else is laughing. haha.

So Saturday I woke up at 9am, the crack of dawn, to observe the astronomy balloon launch. i thought attendance was mandatory, but apparently the smart people didn't go 'cause the entire spectacle lasted only FIVE SECONDS. ok, maybe 5 minutes. BUT STILL! i woke up so early just for that!!! they filled the huge balloon with helium, attached our projects to it, and lifted it off to the sky. whoosh. and then, okay, you guys can go now!
such a waste of time. no extra credit too. and i couldn't go back to sleep. oh well.

Met up with emily again at her house, she fed me good food - shepherd's pie - for lunch. we watched Penelope and hung out for a while. Then i went with AAA (asians) to Thai Smile, our favorite (and only) thai restaurant for carissa's farewell party. since she's graduating, i'll be the new AAA Vice-President. shouldn't be that much work... hopefully. haha.

Today went to Korean church. man, there are a ton of koreans at our school! it took us one van and two cars to shuttle everyone to church. but it was fun :) they changed things up a bit... added a youth contemporary band, so not as traditional as before. and the food they provided was yummy as usual.
So tired now. should probably start studying... finals on wed. then no more astronomy forever!

Melting snow

Melted snow + muddy ground = GROSS.
It's funny how snow can be so pure and white and beautiful when it falls and covers the ground, but when people step on it, or it starts to melt, it becomes really disgusting and slushy. which is how it is right now.

Anyway, time's been flying by. i don't even remember what i've been doing for the past couple of days, besides homework and frantically searching for jobs. haha. we've been cooking and selling noodles for students on campus the past two nights, that was fun. we cooked thai, vietnamese and korean ramen, and charged people for $1 per cup, proceeds go to charity. it's funny how excited americans get about 'authentic' ramen from asia. hahahaha. (which we bought in indiana)

Random people would come up to us and be like, YEAH! RAMEN! i want one! haha. and then we pasted facts about asia on the cups, and they were like, YEAH! this is so cool! and we've earned about $100 these two nights. so yay! and it's funny 'cause the charity we're giving our earnings to, ONEVERSE, is coincidentally having a contest to see who can raise the most money, and the winner will get a Superbowl (football national final game) party. and we were challenged by some people 'cause they thought we were in it to win the contest. but we're like... seriously... we're asian. we don't care about football. haha.

SO ok the real reason why i blogged (even though its almost 1am and i'm exhausted)...
I met this actor, Doug Jones, when i was in LA, he came to speak to our class about the difficulties of being a Christian in Hollywood. and now he's in an article in Christianity Today! he's SUCH a great person, seriously, don't know how he remains so strongly rooted in his relationship with God when he's surrounded by materialistic money-minded people 24/7.

Here's the article:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/interviews/2010/dougjones-jan10.html

Anyway, i thought the part where he talked about doing projects that he didn't necessarily agree with (theologically) was interesting. He said that sometimes people offer him roles in movies that are theologically incorrect and portray God wrongly, but he takes them up. Why? Because he said, 'they're going to make this movie with or without me. And even though I'm a very small part of it, wouldn't it be good if I was in this position as a Christian, being a part of the discussion?'

I thought that was so interesting. because Christians usually shy away from 'evil' movies that portray God as some horrible character, but here is this guy, accepting these roles because, like he said, they're going to make the movie WITH OR WITHOUT HIM. so might as well jump on board and try to influence it as much as he can... to make sure they don't go overboard, and also to start discussions about religion and God. Fascinating huh.

Snowy weekend

This weekend was a TON OF FUN!!!!!
Firstly, i got done with the astronomy test on Thursday, so i was free to RELAX!
And then we had a AAA (asian organization) meeting that night, and i got recruited to be the vice-president for next semester, so i got to meet the rest of the cabinet, most of whom i already was good friends with, so that was fun :)

On friday i went over to emily's house off-campus for a sleepover. ohhhh... it was so much fun. and SO good to see her again!! didn't realize how much i missed talking to this girl. we had a blast making dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes), watching a ton of movies, going to Handy Andy for ice cream and chocolate, talking the night away... good time catching up. Our movie choices were rather sketch though. haha. we borrowed them from her housemate... My life in ruins, which was funny, so we thought it was a good start. Then on to I Hate Valentine's Day (also starring the same girl, who's also in My Big Fat Greek Wedding), which was really cheesy and lame. And then it just went downhill from there... Tropic Thunder (so dumb we only lasted 15mins), Baby Mama (we fell asleep), and Knowing (the scariest, dumbest movie ever. it could've been suspenseful and thrilling, but they blamed it all on aliens, which was a total cop-out)

But other than that, it was fun sharing about our summer and fall experiences.
We pretty much didn't move from the bed. haha. although we did get up the next afternoon to cook angel hair pasta and chicken. YUM.

It was so nice to get off campus for a while and just chill. plus her house is so beautiful. the decorations were so cute. made me want to have a house of my own.

And then on Sunday, I went with some of the girls on the wing on a ROAD TRIP!!!!! We randomly/spontaneously decided to drive 3 hours to Louisville, Kentucky. and it was really fun. glad i went. it was just 2 cars, filled with seniors and freshmen. haha. don't know what happened to the other two classes.

We left in the morning, about 9am, stopped at Starbucks for coffee and devotions (to make up for missing church), and then drove on until we hit Kentucky. we wanted to find a non-chain restaurant we've never been to, but we ended up at Hard Rock Cafe. haha. 'cause amy's mom (she's so cute) sent us a bunch of directions to this downtown place, and we went there, but it turned out to be a bunch of bars and pubs. so that was our only choice. it was fun... the waiter was really weird. first he thought we were a dancing group, 'cause there was some sort of dance competition going on, and then since we didn't order any alcoholic drinks, he thought we were like conservative high schoolers or something. and he kept making awkward conversation. it was super entertaining. haha.

After lunch we attempted to walk around downtown and find a shopping district. we got directions and everything, but they seemed to point us into a sketchy area of town. so after walking for miles and seeing places look more and more shady, we decided shopping wasn't that worth it. so we headed back. and had more conversations and sing-alongs in the car. fun stuff. but so tiring.

I researched on more jobs when we got back, even though i was so tired. but MAN, this job search is ADDICTIVE, i tell you! seriously! i couldn't stop. i went from 11pm to 3am, desperately trying to find something, anything, that i qualify for. it's so hard 'cause most internships are unpaid and require college credit, and then apparently the media industry doesn't offer many entry level positions, and other jobs i found require a few years of experience. SIGH. i even went to check out YWAM and OM and the PeaceCorp (all mission/non-profit organizations). maybe i'll apply. sigh. i don't know. there are SO MANY directions i could go in, have no idea what to do.

Only in Japan

So I took a 5-day layover in Tokyo, Japan, and visited Cartoon. It was 5 days of fun, fun, FUN! I love Japan. The food was so great - we had ramen (from this famous place where the wait was about 2 hours), curry and rice, sushi (of course), shabu shabu (kind of like steamboat, where you cook the meat yourself), green tea ice cream, delicious crepes filled with ice cream, cheesecake, brownie bits, cream, and lots more. My stomach definitely appreciates Japanese cuisine :)

We went shopping, visited the Harajuku area, chilled out at the park, went to shibuya and marveled at the bright lights and huge crowds, enjoyed a day at DISNEYSEA (Which was awesome. I love everything Disney, and Disneysea certainly did not disappoint! The rides were great, the shows were spectacular, and the fireworks at night were magnificent), took the subway everywhere, visited a traditional Japanese marketplace/temple...

And of course, went clubbing practically every night. Japanese clubs are expensive, that's for sure. But they're also super fun and people are tremendously friendly and nice in Japan. The subways close down from midnight till 6am, and so during that time you can see tired partygoers and other random stragglers roaming the streets or taking a nap at McDonald's. It's a pretty interesting sight. And so that meant partying lasted till about 6am, in the wee hours of the morning. It was definitely a crazy experience; I would love to do it all over again! :)

oh, snowy cornfields

so i had a terrible time traveling back to indiana, but what's new. i think it was a sign from God telling me not to go back, since there were problems at EVERY place. haha.
first, i couldn't check in at the United Airlines in singapore. they said i needed to show the credit card used to purchase the ticket, i said its with my parents who are in freaking AUSTRALIA, they said TOO BAD, CANNOT CHECK IT. i almost said, ok i'll just go home and unpack my stuff then. haha. but i didn't... and we went back and forth, him saying i need the stupid credit card, me saying i DON'T HAVE the stupid credit card... and after a while he was like, ok, we'll refund you the ticket and you use your own credit card to purchase it.
SO STUPID HUH. it's the same thing! and it took up half an hour.

anyway, then two hours later at Hong Kong, i realized the guy didn't give me my boarding pass to Chicago, and i only had like half an hour till my plane took off. so i got in the super long line for United Airlines and thought i was never going to leave HK since the line was crawling at the speed of a snail. but then the person called for passengers bound for Chicago, so i got my ticket and got in. then i attempted to buy a bottle of water to bring onto the plane (which normally works), but they took it away from me because they checked every single passenger's bag manually before boarding!! so i was thirsty the entire plane ride and i wasted 3bucks. and then the plane didn't have any TVs, so i slept a whole lot. which was good i guess.

then we landed at chicago, and i looked out the window and everything was white, so i thought, oh i guess we're still in the air! but then the pilot said, we've now landed in chicago..... and i was like, WHAT? oh right. all that whiteness is SNOW. sigh. welcome back to winter.
and then i realized the plane landed an hour late, and so i missed my flight. but it was ok because my flight was canceled anyway. darn those snowstorms. so i waited in chicago from 12 till 9pm. the whole time my thought process was... i'm never going to get back to Taylor. but time went by pretty quickly... faith called, then mom+dad called, then andrew called... and before i knew it, it was 8pm! yay. and i was exhausted.

finally got back to indiana and checked in to a hotel and fell asleep at 2am. couldn't go back to campus 'cause there was snow everywhere on the roads. and good thing i didn't, cause apparently there were NINE ROAD ACCIDENTS that occurred that night, as i found out the next morning. so i finally got back to Taylor at 12.45pm, went to the bookstore to get my books, and went straight to Astronomy class from 1-3.30pm. SIGH.

a little overwhelmed with a TON of stuff to catch up on, but it'll be ok. it doesn't seem that bad. i'm almost caught up with homework, except for the lab stuff, which i can only do tomorrow. so i'm good! although everyone was having fun this weekend except me, stuck in the room watching darn videos about the universe and reading about the galaxies. but i got all my stuff back and unpacked, so now i'm good! :)

kinda weird to be back in the dorms, but everyone's cool. my new roomie's really nice, the freshmen seem nice and friendly, got to see old friends... DC food is still the same. bleh. I CAN DO THIS. i can live in the middle of nowhere for 5 more months and then leave forever.



A few days later....

I'm officially done catching up with astronomy!!! YES. looked over my grades for the homework assignment.. not too great, but oh well whatever! at this point i just want to graduate! anyway, learning about the universe and everything in the galaxies has been really informational. makes you realize just how unique Earth is, because everything on Earth, every single property and characteristic our planet exudes, works together to sustain and nurture life, and without even one of them, we would not be here. it's just amazing how God creates things and how small we are, compared to the vastness of the galaxy. but just learning about the planets, stars, galaxies... it's simply impossible NOT to believe that there's a god out there. there's just no way all this could come about by coincidence.

Ooohh and we're using this Stellarium program which allows you to see the stars in the sky at any time, from any place, at any date. it's SUPER COOL. like, i can see how the sky looks like in singapore right now. it's pretty awesome. but we also have to do real observations outside.... in the freezing cold, which we did last night. omg i couldn't feel my hands so i didn't record anything because i was too busy trying to keep warm. haha. anyway, we had our first test today, it went pretty well thank God.

And i got to catch up with more friends and have more reunions, which is always fun :) still feels a little weird, especially when i walk into the Dining Commons, and i don't recognize 90% of the people there 'cause they're mostly freshmen. and then there are a TON of asians on campus now, mostly koreans, and they all look at me like, whoa, you're asian and i've never seen you before? who are you? haha. its weird but true!
And its a little annoying, surrounded by insane, energetic screaming freshmen on the wing all the time, but oh well. only in college, right? i'll never get to do this again, might as well enjoy it now. and the freshmen are really cool, so i like them :)

Almost time to leave :(

Thoughts

I hate how time flies when you're having fun. I've come to know and appreciate this place, despite all its obsession with material, worldly stuff. And I've definitely come to love the people, especially the close friends I've made here. So it's sad to leave, because even though we all swear to keep in touch and visit each other, the US of A is just way too big for any reunion in the near future. So it's very possible I won't ever see most of my friends again. sigh. I hate this whole making-friends-then-saying-goodbye-months-later thing. People really do come and go in life. And I guess you just gotta make the best of the time you have with them now :)

No more classes

YES we're done with classes! Finally! No more ridiculous papers or projects! SO GLAD. Even though this semester has been the easiest so far... hardly any homework, no tests, just films to make. Don't know how I'm going to go back to real school and real classes. UGH. Still having major senioritis. Don't want to do anything of substance. haha. But yeah so glad i'm done till january. And i guess i did learn some stuff.. about making films, what it takes to make them, how the industry works, how HARD it is to actually break into the industry (it's near-impossible. it's like a mix between hard work, talent and pure luck. no kidding). I didn't learn as much as I thought I would, but I had a TON of fun here, so that makes it all worth it. I didn't really have any expectations coming out here anyway, so this totally exceeds my expectations and I'm so glad I came. And to think I was nervous about the program before coming out! :)

So we turned in our final film "Two Hours" on saturday. YES! it was pretty insane. ALMOST EVERYONE pulled an all-nighter, especially the picture and sound editors, because they had to work like crazy to make the films perfect. i got some sleep, but not enough. So it was a pretty intense rush to the finish. And our Executive Producers loved all the other films... except ours. sigh. 'cause we ran into some technical problems and couldn't finish editing all we needed to. but whatever. really don't care anymore. just glad to be done. at least they approved our film! So yeah... we all pretty much slept the entire saturday away. kinda sad about that. what a waste of our last saturday! but we were exhausted. at least we had a mini party/break at the center in between editing :)
And i feel like i'm getting sick anyway, so i needed the sleep.

Lights and Sounds


Pretty lit up Ferris Wheel on santa monica pier


On the pier at night


The pier in the distance. I look like my right hand's missing.


Cheap tourist-y shirts on Venice Beach


Muscle Beach - where hardcore insane people work out all the time. even in the COLD.


Can i just say how much i love my new camera and its beautiful colors (in the day)??


CHRISTMAS TREE!!


The group at Griffith Park.


At Rodeo Drive

Woke up at night and went to Griffith Park with a bunch of people to see the Lights Festival. we were all pumped to see it, but it ended up being pretty disappointing. it was kinda lame and cheesy, in typical Hollywood fashion. ugh. seems like everything about this town is cheesy.

Then we went to Rodeo Drive, supposedly the most expensive street of shops in the ENTIRE WORLD! okay, i don't know about that, probably not true, but it sure has ALL the brands and it looks super upscale and sophisticated. It was all lit up and beautiful. LOVE Christmas lights :)

Sunday we went to Venice Beach to shop around... it reminded me alot of Jamaica, what with all the weed smoking and sketchy looking homeless people around. And they actually have MEDICAL MARIJUANA shops along the beach! I think it's like selling marijuana but legally, pretending its medicine. something like that. since marijuana is legal in california. was really weird.
Then when the sun set, we went down to Santa Monica pier and saw it all lit up. we attempted to ride the Ferris Wheel, but forgot to bring money. haha. it was pretty though.
And then I dyed Faith's hair!!! First time dying someone's hair. it was pretty intense and VERY FUN! i want to be a hairdresser. Her hair's all jet black and glossy now. Pretttyyyy. Like mine! haha.

The rest of the photos are on FB here
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2042799&id=179202856

Strange happenings

Pics from our film shoot in the mall and in the casting suite.


Our casting suite decked out to be our 'office'. Isn't that dead tree in the corner awesome??? we found it in the trash. hahaha. along with the desk.


CUTEST KID EVER. pretty good actor too. and very hyper.


Actors doing their job in the mall.


Camera equipment all set up in the mall.


The crew of "Two Hours" :)

On the street

So... I've noticed I often get attention from Hispanic/Black guys on the street, especially when I'm alone. No idea why... but it's so awkward and a little creepy.

Scenario: I'd be happily strolling down the street, minding my own business, and then I see this guy in the distance, leaning against the wall. And i'm just like, okay, he's just a dude, no big deal. But then I get closer, and he gives me that look, and I'm like, great, I know you're up to something. And then as I pass him by, and in my mind I'm going 'please don't say anything, please don't say anything.'
But of course, he says something lame and stupid like 'helloooo giirrrrll' or 'what's up baby' or 'hey beautiful'.
 
And sometimes they get really original. One guy said 'oooh la laaaa!' and did a little dance as I passed. And another guy was hilarious. He went, 'Me love you long time!' And pointed at me. So then of course my friends and I burst out laughing, and laughed even harder when he looked confused as to why we were laughing at his confession. hahaha. Such weird people here!

And most of the time I either offer them a sheepish 'hi-you're-weird-but-I'm-smiling-at-you-so-you-don't-stab-me-in-the-back' smile, or I ignore them and walk away as fast as I can. And usually the second approach works better.

So yeah. weird encounters.

2012

Anyway, we finally went to see the newest disaster flick '2012' and it was awesome!!! at first we were going to see 'Armored' for free but we got there too late and all the seats were taken. so we got student discounts ($9 in LA is super cheap!) and it was totally worth it. the theatre was the prettiest I've ever seen, which makes sense, since it was in Beverly Hills.
The movie was a little cheesy at times, but had very relatable characters and totally kept our attention the entire time, even though we were all tired from all-nighters the night before. it was so intense! i was on edge the whole time.
And then we went and got $1.50 ice cream sandwiches!! ice cream squashed in between two cookies for super cheap. yummy goodness :)

FREEDOM!

OMG freedom is so close I can almost taste it. Yesterday i turned in my stupid theology paper (YES, FIST PUMP! Done with that ridiculously useless class) and my script (103 pages in total! FEELS SO GOOD TO HAVE A FINISHED SCRIPT!)... 2 more hours till I get off work FOREVER, and then the producer's notebook is due tomorrow, and then.... FREEDOM! :)

Oh and we have a premiere at an actual movie theater for our films, and I just learned that producers have to INTRODUCE THE CAST AND CREW. in front of EVERYONE - classmates, professors, industry people, actors... omg. major stage fright bubbling up in me now.
But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's completed films :)

Senioritis

This is me right now.

And I found a cute grumpy kitten. I've sunk this low. I need to get off the internet now!

Yes. I'm a senior. And I'm in LA. And I'm facing MAJOR SENIORITIS now. that means I'm being a huge procrastinator and doing everything humanly possible to run away from assignments. haha. I've been on facebook, blogs, watching TV shows online, hanging out with people, eating dinner super slowly, reading books, playing my DS, rearranging my closet, doing laundry, going on facebook again, checking out every website in the world.... and now i'm on my blog again.

SIGH. i guess i should go back to my damn paper. stupid theology in hollywood. never want to hear about theology in films ever again!
also need to put the finishing touches on my script.
WHY IS EVERYTHING DUE TOMORROW???

Waking up in VEGAS

VEGAS, BABY!

But first, Black Friday happiness :)
Woke up at 4am all ready to go! In the end, everyone backed out except me and faith, so we went without them.
First stop, TARGET, where they have super deals galore. I got DVDs for 7bucks, an entire season of FRIENDS for 8bucks (it's normally 50), and an awesome Canon camera for half the price! It made me very happy :)
The people at Target were so fascinating to watch. 'cause they have great deals on electronics and home stuff (i wish we had black friday at home), EVERYONE had a flatscreen TV in their cart. like seriously, it was everywhere. it was super duper cheap and i wish i could have bought it but then it would make no sense to ship it back for double the price. but everyone was so happy about saving money, they had huge grins on their faces and a little skip in their step.
Next stop, THE MALL! It was so pretty and all decked out in Christmas decorations, and there were sales everywhere... except on branded stuff. such snobs. but whatever! I got some presents and clothes... not a lot 'cause I don't know how I'm going to bring everything back. so it was FUNNN.. but we were exhausted by 3pm.

Road trip to Las Vegas

SIN CITY, here we come!
Woke up at the break of dawn again, 5am, all packed and ready to go. We drove through the mountains, and the view was gorgeous! Snow-capped peaks, beautiful sunny skies, fresh air... and then we hit the desert, and there were random gigantic piles of rocks everywhere, and cactus, and tumbleweed (they're like little scraggly bushes that randomly roll across the highway. it's the funniest thing ever). It was nature in all its glory, and you really can't look at such gorgeous creations and not believe there is a God.

So 4 hours later, we reached VEGAS!!! immediately went to check out what shows were cheap that we could go see, and sadly enough, most magic shows were expensive, and the Lion King on broadway was sold out :(

BUT then we found something cheaper and more exciting - DAVID COPPERFIELD's magic show!! So we were like, heck YES, we want to see the greatest magician on earth!
And we were brimming with excitement before the show, but then it turned out to be rather disappointing. it was more of a comedic act with little tricks than huge crazy mind-blowing illusions. he did make a car appear and 13 people from the audience disappear, and he did 'read' people's minds and make predictions... but i kind of think even pastor khong's show was better. OH WELL! at least now we can say we've seen the magnificent Copperfield in action.

Went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in MGM Grand, and it was so cool. the entire place was decked out to the theme - trees and leaves covering the walls, (fake) animals everywhere, aquariums, a tiny waterfall, stars on the ceiling, and even a 'thunderstorm' every few minutes! it was an awesome dining experience.

It was dark by the time we got out, so we walked along the strip and saw Vegas in all its glory. bright flashing lights, neon signs, people everywhere... it was a feast for the eyes. so pretty. and totally not like how i remembered it. but i guess the last time i was there was YEARS ago. so we were all happy and skipping down the strip... until we came across this whole line of sketchy looking guys giving out cards for hookers. and then the mood just went splat. for me at least. it was so gross! they were standing there, snapping their cards, passing it out to anyone and everyone, even KIDS. that's just wrong.

Anyway, we tried our hand at gambling. haha. 'cause we're all 21! finally! and.. it was a fail. an epic one at that. at first the casinos were very alluring and attractive, what with their bright enticing lights and all, but after a while they all looked the same. and it was kind of smoky inside and some casinos were more dingy than others. and even though all the slot machines have different names, they were definitely all the same. and we had no idea how to play them. so after losing a dollar, i gave up. haha. tas won 37cents! but she lost it after another try. haha. so that was it for our gambling career.
The movies definitely make Vegas look cooler than it is - the gambling part at least.

So then we walked down the strip... saw a miniature version of Paris' Eiffel Tower and New York's Statue of Liberty.. that was cool. and each hotel had different themes. so the New York one had streets inside the hotel like real NYC streets. it was awesome. and it had a rollercoaster on the outside, wrapping around the building, but it was 20bucks to ride, so we didn't.
The MGM Grand was cool, it had a LION HABITAT inside, with real lions and cubs and all. and they also offered free poker lessons, which was tempting, but then we realized even though the lesson was free, u had to use your own money to gamble. haha. and The Bellagio had an AWESOME fountain show every 15 minutes, complete with magnificent music, just like in OCEAN's 11 in the last scene! Treasure Island had a pirate show, but it was closed till next year. And The Mirage had volcano eruptions every now and then. it was so cool... so much to take in! we walked practically everywhere until our feet hurt.

And then we got invited to a ton of clubs for free, so we went and checked out one in the New York hotel, called ROK. it was so fun. faith made sure we kept in line with the stupid rule, so we didn't drink, but it was still fun to dance around and let loose :)

So we finally drove back to Marriott at 3am, exhausted, and went straight to bed. The next day faith accidentally locked her keys in the car, so we had to wait a while for the locksmith to come unlock it. And we were too tired to do anything, so we walked around the shops (they were all ridiculously expensive), and got PINK's hotdogs for lunch, the famous LA restaurant. seriously, the PINK's in LA always has AT LEAST 100 people in line. no kidding. so we tried it in vegas, since there wasn't a line, and it was alright, no big deal. i think it's mostly hype.

Anyway, then we drove around and went to look for wedding chapels. haha. i was ADAMANT we find at least one and check it out, because, you know... vegas = ridiculous spontaneous marriages! haha. so we did, and it was disappointing! the elvis wedding chapel?? looked like some crappy motel. so did all the rest. people must be completely wasted to even consider getting married in vegas!

So we finally said goodbye to vegas at 4pm, 'cause the sun was setting and we didn't wanna be driving home all the way in the dark. but we ended up getting caught in INSANE traffic. i guess EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA decided to go to vegas for thanksgiving! it was ridiculous. so we finally got back to LA at midnight after being stuck in the car for 8 hours and singing Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA and Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. i never want to hear either of those songs ever again. haha.

but yeah! that was vegas! and it was super fun! tas and i are planning to go back again SOMEDAY! :)

Here are some pics, the rest are on facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31509558&id=179202856#/album.php?aid=2045097&id=179202856&ref=mf



they actually had a DRIVE THRU wedding chapel in VEGAS! weirdest thing ever!

At the Bellagio fountain show



vegas has a ton of pretty fountains

outside the new york hotel

putting a dollar in the lame slot machine and losing it 5 seconds later

people here sure love to gamble

the strip is so pretty at night!

we were in the food coma...

... after eating this huge volcano dessert. we thought the shiny thing on top was sparklers, but alas, they were normal shimmery paper.

at the rainforest cafe!


waiting for david copperfield!! practicing our amazed faces at his tricks.

still waiting...

the lion habitat in the MGM GRAND

yay david copperfield! you weren't that great, but it's ok, it's cool to say i've actually seen you perform :)

pretty strip in the day





we saw a ton of desert before finally getting to vegas

but first, we saw mountains and snow! i kind of actually miss snow. isn't it weird? it just feels so christmas-y when there's snowflakes falling all around you.