Top Ten TV Shows

I saw that Bushra posted a top ten movies of the decade. I have to agree with many of her choices. But I find that we often agree on movies, tv, and books.

So I decided to do a Top Ten TV Shows of 2009(season finales and seasons in progress)

10. Lost - I feel that this show made a comeback this year. It was slowly drifting away from the reasons why people loved this show but this year with the story-lines that flash-backed to Jake, it really started to get very interesting. The season finale left you wanting to find out how it all ends.

9. Flash Forward - New show. I did not recognize Joseph Fiennes at first. He got skinny. And its Penny from Lost on the show! And Charlie! They took all the people from Lost and put them on this show. How could you not like it? While there are some flaws with this show, it has some promise.

8. House - took a formulaic show and gave it a twist. This season got me interested after years of resistance. Hugh Laurie plays a jerk so well that you end up liking him. Bah humbug.

7. 30 Rock - Its lost some steam from season 1 and 2 but its funnier than season 3. Still love this show at the end of the day. Monobot = Liz Lemon.

6. Community - Donde esta la biblioteca? After a slow start, this show is one of the best new shows this season. Cool Ahbed films.

5. Parks and Rec - First season was slow, not as sharp and funny as The Office or 30 Rock. Just a solid show for the 8:30 time slot. However, this season, everything about this show is clicking. All characters are well developed and just really funny.
Amy Poehler is the new Tina Fey.

4. The Office - the wedding episode was really sweet. This show is funnier than the British show. Sorry Ricky Gervais. That's what she said.

3. Glee - Wickedly funny. Jane Lynch is genius on this show. The candy color brightness of the show does make it fun to watch and the singing is pretty amazing

2. Top Chef - This year is hands down the best year for Top Chef. Not only did they have Top Chef Masters where really celebrated chefs competed for charities (Hubert Keller!) but the regular season was the best group of chefs they ever had. At one point, I could not tell you who deserved to get booted. Top Chef Vegas just upped the ante...dunno how they can top this one.

1. Chuck - this surprised even me. But how much I lobbied people to watch this show told me how much I really liked this show. There wasn't an episode I didn't like and all the characters on the show are likable. Even Chuck's brother in law Captain Awesome which I immediately thought I would not like, he turned out to be really awesome. If you don't watch it, give it a shot. It made me want to get out my chuck taylors and save the world.

Honorable Mentions -
V - its a really interesting remake of this old series
Fringe - Walter Bishop makes this show
Law & Order SVU - I will always watch this show
Monk - 8 years of OCD. And set in SF! Jan from the Office makes an appearance on the season finale.
HGTV - Property Virgins, Income Property, Unsellables, Holmes on Homes.
Damn you Sandra Rinomato and your tantasic boobs.

Farewell 2009

So its 1 hour from the beginning of 2010. I am on ET folks. (Sorry west coasters, you got a few hours to go)

Watching the Carson Daly countdown on TV. Decided this NYE, it would be low key.Hair is performing right now.

Yap and I made his parents dinner. Salmon with Maple Syrup and Soy Sauce Glaze & risotto. Yesterday, Jen, Kimi, and I made Maple syrup bread pudding---this was delicious.

So for 2009, I started the year still with Yap, still at Bebe.
Then,
Eva and Enson had a baby named Sophie
Dryw turned 30
Lam and Alan had baby named Kami
Went to Egypt and Greece with Tony and Menjyn and Yap
Jon bought a beautiful house
Hayley and Ryan bought a house in the city
Went to Vegas with Judy, Heidy, Sue Ping, and Monobot (first timer)
Went to Canada to see Jade and Jaclyn get married and see Yap's family
Went to Vegas for Stacy's Bachelorette party
Stacy and Chris got married
Went to Seattle and visited Erica
Jenny and York got married
Went to Canada to spend the holidays with the Yap family

I am ending the year, still with Yap and still at Bebe.

Next year,

Yap turns 30 (so will Shyam!)
Hayley and Ryan will have a baby
Jen will get married
Rahul will get married
& so will Steve

In 2010, I resolve to do more things. Not necessarily travel to more places but do more things at home and be more active. I feel like I spent half my year on the couch watching TV which is not necessarily a bad thing ;)

How Kimchi is Made

Thanks Vivian for the video!

Photobooth 2

Now the photobooth picture you were waiting for.......

Yap and Jon. I got their permission to post this on my blog.

Let me set these four pictures up for you.

1) They are positioning themselves in the photobooth, for you see it was hard enough to fit Yap and I in the photobooth. I had to sit on his lap. How they fit in there, I have NO idea.

2) Yap has the giggles, Jon has one crazy eye up against the camera. Jon had to kneel in front of the stool in order to fit.

3) More insanity

4) Yap trying to show the camera his butt. Its hard to tell, I know.

And the piece de resistance:

Yap and Jon, a photobooth story

Le fin.

Photobooth

Our friends Jenny and York (!) got married on Friday 10.30.09.

They had the most ingenious idea at a wedding I have seen yet. They rented out a photobooth and you could take unlimited amount of pics.

I will only post the pics of Yap and I out of courtesy to my dear friends.

color
black & white

CONGRATS to the new MR. & MRS. JENNY CHEN!!! :)

BB

Why Bay Bridge, why?

I need to wake up at 4:30 to get to work tomorrow!?!!!

You are ruining my life right now.


I hate you.

Fun in Seattle

The weather gods were kind to us when we descended upon Seattle. Stepping into downtown Seattle, it looked like a clean, nice smelling version of San Francisco. But....

Some lies about Seattle
1) Seattle is just as diverse as SF. NO. This is not true.
2) Good food in Seattle. Not as good as the Bay. Except Salumis.
3) Seattle is the first to recover from the recession. I don't know how many empty condos/homes I saw. Condo auctions were not a rare sighting.
4) Crab cakes at Dahlias is one of the best things I ever ate. Giada you lie! Tiny crab cakes are not the best thing I ever ate. Not even close.
5) Space needle. Blah, not a sight to see. Go see the CN Tower in Toronto, it's much more impressive.

Good things about Seattle
1) Erica, my only friend in Seattle
2) Salumis
3) Underground tour
4) Public Market - but the Ferry building in SF is better
5) Everything is pretty walkable
6) Piroshky, Piroshky
7) Coffee!
8) Troll under the Bridge.
9) West Seattle, nicer version of Alameda.

Fish Market, throwing flounder
Yap smooshing Mt. Rainier
Piroshky, Piroshky
Public Market at night
Troll under the bridge
Hello, my name is Yap.
Nice to meet you Yap, my name is Erica.
fattest seagull in the world

hello!whee.....

the.end.

best.sushi.ever.

dragon roll.


spider roll.
sushi platter.
the man. the myth. the legend.
akira sushi restaurant. Kingston, ON, Canada

Perception

I guess perception really is everything.

Gchat Status Message Fun

I can't say how it all started but a few Gchat friends and I started putting up 30 Rock quotes as our status messages. It's been fun.

Here they are:

me: ''Werewolf bar mitzvah, spooky scary. Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves.'' - Tracy Jordan

Vivian: I wolfed my Teamster sub for you!

Bushra: Where are the fries I did not ask for? You have to anticipate me!

Jonathan: Affirmative action was designed to keep women and minorities in competition with each other to distract us while white dudes inject AIDS into our chicken nuggets. That's a metaphor!

Vivian again: I'm just going through the classic stages of grief: fear, denial, horniness, wisdom, sleepiness and now depression

Ok so Bushra told me this is how it all started:

Bushra: actually, if you REALLY want to know how it started...my twitter update yesterday: "The contractors and I have to choose a place for mgmt to take us out to lunch w/team. Wondering if there's a sit-down Quizno's in Oakland..." Then Vivian's reply: "@bushra_b Hahaha! Or go to the corner store and ask them to pay for you bag of Sabor de Soledad!"Then me again: "@Viv_C I just can't stop eating that stuff..."Then vivian again: "@bushra_b http://bit.ly/26gxSU"And that, my friends, is how I found out about all the shirts with quotes on themThank you, thank you, * taking a bow *

King of Pop

Ever since I was very young I have loved Michael Jackson. Actually, his name was the first thing I could spell. I would bounce around on my bed and spell "M-I-C-H-A-E-L J-A-C-K-S-O-N."

I would dance around to all his songs and tell my parents' friends that one day I was going to marry him. Of course this happened to be in the 80's when he was on top of the world. He was the Superstar.

As I grew older and weird accounts of Michael began to surface it really saddened me of what he had become. He really was an alien from another planet. How can he relate to anyone, no one has achieved what he has achieved.

Since his passing, I'd only like to remember the good things about Michael. From 1990 and earlier. He was a great part of my childhood and I feel like that's gone now.

Goodbye Michael. I hope you find your peace.

My Dream Last Night

I had this dream last night where it was this massive family event at what must be a recreational center because it wasn't any house or place I recognized. I remember seeing my eldest aunt's youngest daughter and her daughter there.

I weaved through a mass of faceless people and ended up near this bright window where my uncle was sitting. (He passed away a year and a half ago). He was sitting there smiling. I greeted him and when I gave him a hug, it felt warm. When I went to sit down, he was gone.

And then I woke up. I guess this may be my way of saying good bye to my uncle. He slipped away so suddenly. He went into a diabetic coma and then passed two days after that. I found out too late.

I remember seeing him, laying there, dressed up, hair combed and looking waxy. It's not the way I want to remember him.

My best memory of him is everytime I saw him, he'd greet me with a "punch my stomach". His stomach was very round but very hard. And I wind up and punch him as hard as I could and it felt like my hand hit a bunch of bricks. I'd be rubbing my hand and he'd laughing hard, happy.

In Country Sleep

"Never and never, my girl riding far and near
In the land of the hearthstone tales, and spelled asleep,
Fear or believe that the wolf in a sleepwhite hood
Loping and bleating roughly and blithely shall leap,
My dear, my dear
Out of a lair in the flocked leaves in the dew dipped year
To eat your heart in the house in the rosy wood.

Sleep, good, for ever, slow and deep, spelled rare and wise,
My girl ranging the night in the rose and shire
Of the hobnail tales: no gooseherd or swine will turn
Into a homestall king or hamlet of fire
And prince of ice
To court the honeyed heart from your side before sunrise
In a spinney of ringed boys and ganders, spike and burn,
Nor the innocent lie in the rooting dingle wooed
And staved, and riven among plumes my rider weep.

From the broomed witch’s spume you are shielded by fern
And flower of country sleep and the greenwood keep.
Lie fast and soothed,
Safe be and smooth from the bellows of the rushy brood."
~Dylan Thomas, In Country Sleep

Egyptians Love Jamaicans

Lucky Yap. ;)

Message From Luxor

my trip so far

We are in Santorini now.
It's a cute little island. We haven't had great food in Santorini yet. By far the best meal I have had is in Meteora. I had beefsteak stuffed with melted fetacheese. (no pics of that sorry didn't have my camera on me! :( ) Got one more day in Santorini - visiting volcano island and hot springs and trying to rent an atv to drive around Santorini. Then, it's back to Athens and the Acropolis. After that, it's time to go home. Sad that it's ending so soon and I'll be back at work trudging along again....

Anyways here's a photo journal of my trip so far...

Giza, Egypt

Pyramids

Camel Scam at Pyramids

Sphinx

Cairo, Egypt

Call to Prayer by a muzzein

Luxor, Egypt

Firing up the hot balloon

Sunrise from Hot Air Balloon

Other Hot Air Balloons

Biking to Valley of the Kings
Tomb of Thutmes III

Thermopylae, Greece

300 Spartans fight to the death (for Yap)
Meteora, Greece

Ossuary in Megalo Monastery

Megalo Monastery
Somwhere in the Aegean Sea

Blue Star Ferry Greek Flag
Santorini, Greece

Volcan Winery

Red Beach in Santorini

Sunset in Akotiri

Alrighty kids, that's it. Here's a pic that says, "see you later muthaf*ckas!" hehe.

Dynamic Edition

I love tv. Probably more than 99% of America. I am the official tv guide of my household. I know what is pretty much every channel and I used to know what was on Monday - Friday even if I didn't watch the show.

Thursday nights?

You can watch My Name is Earl, Kath and Kim, The Office, and 30 Rock in consecutive order starting at 8pm on channel 3 NBC.

Anyways, this is not the reason of this post. I want to say I've been watching the third season of America's Best Dance Crew and I have to ask.....HOW is Dynamic Edition still on this show? They clog. They are not a crew. And I don't care what JC Chasez, Lil Mama, or Shane Sparks have to say. Yes their moves are in sync. Yay, gold star for you DE.


When I watch ABDC, I want to watch CREWS dance their butts off for $100, 000. If I wanted to watch Riverdance, I'll switch to channel 9 PBS. (no diss to PBS, I love that channel).

You tell me. Do these fools look like a crew?

Dynamic Edition dancing

Alrighty then.

Big ups to Beat Freaks, Quest Crew, and Strikers All Stars. :D