wasabiii’s blog

soo...i used to be like those people are crazy..those people who camp out the night before the black friday sales...
black friday sale is one of the biggest sales of the year...the day after thanksgiving..i'm not sure why but anyway, any sane person would avoid the stores n malls...

well, this morning..for the heck of it..why not?! since i had the morning off from work...yesterday was a holiday...
mike n i head out to the electronic store and check out the crazy deals but we didnt camp out of course but still a bit insane..we were at the shops by 430am =P haha...

kinda whacky was that we really didnt have anything on the shopping list but it was more of...any deals too tempting to resist kinda moment...well not so much...except Apple, one of the rarest times, offered a black friday sale...
well haha turns out the sale was pretty much the same amount or % as the existing student discount..guess it works out for those single people who are no longer students...ANYWHO...

eventho the sale wasn't that much help...we took the plunge..haha...
we are now proud owners of a sweet imac 24" babyyy!!! woohoo!
on the plust side, it's also serves as a sweet flat tv in the bedroom..we got a free all-in-one printer w/ the deal (which i'll try to sell to use it as somewhat of an added discount)...

i cant wait to tinker with the mac...

so...i've been blessed with an awesome buddy...she's been my gym motivator as well...
problem is...i met her thru the barkada...
n well, she's the gf of one of the dudes..
so when their relationship ended..now it comes to this awkward situation..
i mean they dont each approach me how the other is doing but how i wish they could both still be in the get togethers..obviously that cant happen anytime soon..or i'm not sure if ever...

it be cool though if they become good friends and we can all still chill together...somehow, those kinda relationships are hard though...

the funny thing or weird coincidences..one of our friends has recently gone thru a divorce...and he's back with the barkada....the ODDEST thing is that ever since then..slowly each dude from the barkada becomes single..i swear we all laugh about how that dude's divorce has cursed the barkada guys..so far it has trickled to 3 guys becoming single..

this whole US economy crashing is def scary...
the thing is...i should be mindful of my savings and delay my itch for any adventures, expenses n so forth..

but i'm not...all i can keep thinking is what to do next to make my life more colorful...
last year i was in this emotional rut for nothing...

thing is there are people who are in the toughest times right now..cant find a job..losing their homes...companies cost cutting...like mine..my company officially announced 2 days ago that new hiring is on a freeze to reduce costs..

and here i am, all i can think of is what fun i can plan on for 2009...
rafting on may, more camping events n beach days, july trip to bali...even my cuzns visits..

then...tan tan tan...mike's birthday tempted me even more to finally gift ourselves to an awesome gadget...
mike doesn't want me to splurge so much for his bday so we've agreed to delay getting this gadget..
make it our joint bday gift as well as xmas gift...meaning we wont be spending for each other BUT...
we will gift ourselves with a lovely IMAC!!!! i cant wait for our first mac baby..hehe...
we've gone to the apple store quite a few times recently hehe...it's tough stopping ourselves from swiping that card..but we can wait for 2 more months...we were at first debating whether to get the imac 24" or the HP's touchsmart PC - it's like a huge itouch but a PC...then again, how can u compare a mac and a pc..i mean dude...working in an all out PC shop..it's time to indulge in the beauty of apple...
yet another temptation...i realized my digi cam is only a 6MP..all along i even assumed it was a 7MP but 6MP nowadays?!! i'm kinda old school haha...soo..i've been eyeing this canon xsi cam

i just want a nice beginner's SLR camera...to have awesome pix of my travels...i dont want to get all hardcore with photography..that's just another hobby i would dare not or cant even afford...u know just awesome pix of the scenery AND me hahaha...so this would be a perfect summer buy..just in time for when my trip to bali...hopefully hehe

cooler weather isnt gonna stop me from planning adventures =P
i say that now because i had just sent the first email about planning a tentative date for rafting next year..
i know it's wayy early but i'm proposing a holiday weekend in May and that means those dates can get booked up pretty quick..This way we can all take a 3-day break and not miss out on school or work...

so anyways, this summer's been totally fun-filled..

we've had 2 beach days with the barkada..it was def fun playing volleyball, attempting to tan (because i never tan boO!), and bbq'ing pig-out...

and the most recent adventure was camping at Malibu Creek State Park..conveniently only a 40 minute drive away from LA...when most campgrounds we go to are at least 3 hrs away...
the guys have never really gone hiking either so after we had set up our tents..we headed off to hike to the Rock Pool..
Malibu Creek state park has a lot of hiking trails as well as rock climbing spots...
The rock pool had a lil rock wall that you had to cross over to be able to jump on a few rocks/boulders and dive into the lake...it was an awesome experience eventhough it wasn't that hardcore..It was still a totally a first for all of us..
The next day was spent at Malibu beach which was 10 mins drive away from the campground..
It didn't work out too well because it was windy and cold but we still enjoyed our bbq for lunch and headed home in the afternoon..with some poker game for the night..

All in all..i think it was a fun weekend camping...i'm hoping to get the barkada into more outdoor activities..and it works out because i know we're all on a tight budget...outdoor fun can be done on a budget..

soo...with that lil rock wall climb..i've been itching to take up rock climbing as a hobby..possibly by next year, mike n i may reconsider taking rock climbing classes at an outdoor goods store called REI..they give both indoor and outdoor rock climbing classes...this was suggested by my supervisor who's gotten hooked onto rock climbing with his wife..so much so that he has a rock climbing wall set up at his own home...

i love summer...i cant wait when mike n i have a better schedule and budget to be able to do more outdoors fun...
i've looked up those adventure travels from the REI website and other outdoors travel websites...to explore another country and do outdoor sports, i'm definitely interested...we'll just see if i'm even in shape for it cuz mynmyn is one lazy bum haha!

the outdoors...
oh how fun it is to go camping...
i can't wait for our camping trip on sept 27 & 28 at the malibu creek state park...
unfortunately, my tent is at its end...2 poles are missing and its rain fly..boo! this is due to lending my tents to other people..sigh!...it's time for new tent shopping...

so i fell in love with these two pricey tents from REI and of course, that's way too much from my budget considering i'm not a hard core camper..

costs for $249.99
Ideally I want one that fits at least 6 but the 6 is obviously more...
such pretty colors....

I'll most likely fall under this tent's budget:

This one Akina uses and she loves it so I'll go for a recommended tent..
I'm excited...but i'm waiting for a few more weeks til hopefully sales/discounts arise...or more options

As usual, I always try to celebrate birthdays out of the norm..so finally, after years of bday surprises for Mike..
I organized this camping trip for his 27th birthday.
I even got a whole agenda ready for the camping group of games, food, and etc as well as the items to bring and budget..It's kinda tough to organize a trip with a limited budget but it will do..I will make it happen :)
It's pretty nice the place where we'll be camping...

All of the better campsites are fully booked. The best campsites usually are reserved at least 6 months in advance..So I tried to find the best one available and conveniently it's only an hour drive away...

The awesome part is we get to hike from the campsite to the Rock Pool

I've got games for Saturday and some camping fun..Then Sunday is spent relocating to Malibu beach, which is only a 10 min drive away.

so my cuzn has been wanting to be inked..and i dont mind getting one myself either..
the only thing is i dont have an idea of anything i really like to be inked on me...

but i just had a random thought..if i was to get inked..it would either be something japanese-y/asian..or tada!
a cute cupake hehehe  =P
a cute on my right ankle or back

what was all that fuss about the "twilight" series..lil did know my plane trip to NY would be my most interesting one haha...
and so it ended on saturday morning....i finished "breaking dawn"..the last of the Twilight Series..
thankfully, i got introduced to this series right when all of the books are out..otherwise, i would've been antsy for the next one hehe..also, Akina's sister, erica, has been nice enough to share her books with me...
Stephenie will be writing another book in Edward's perspective..that be nice...to see how it resumes...
i'm glad i didn't view the movie trailer though..somehow the cast in the movie isn't how i pictured they'd look like...especially since i viewed Edward as totally handsome in my mind haha..so gay..anywho, that was fun!

now i wish there'd be another book series as interesting as this one..if u do know of one, pls lemme know..and i'll be off to the library to get a copy...

on another note, beach days have been so much fun...so Akina and I have planned a beach day for aug 24...
Also, the shortness of our rafting trip left me wanting to camp again...so i planned a camping event for Mike's bday at Malibu Creek State Park for the weekend sept 27-28. For those who can't join camping overnight, it's totally within driving distance to join us at the beach...now, im just brainstorming for games and food... :)

i love summer!

ahhh..after all that studying for the GMAT, i am now back to my reading routine of fiction books...
i'm so glad akina's sister, erica, mentioned the twilight saga..n ever since then a few other folks mentioned how interesting the story is...
and so....
i am hooked....
since i had a long flight to NY this weekend..i decided to grab the first twilight book and find out what all the fuss is about..mind u, this was a last minute decision too..night before my flight cutting it real close..930pm we left to target and get me that first book to read before the 10pm store closing...
haha that was just about 5 days ago...
now, i'm reading the 3rd book from the series...n loving it...
im reading it slowly bcuz..the 4th book is the last of em...
sophie kinsella's recent book, remember me, was eh ok...
so im running out of fun reading material...ahhh...i hope another series perks up my interest...
any recommendations?

On another note, I just got back from NY to attend Marinela's wedding..it was beautiful..simple yet elegant..formal too..
her decor was really nice..and she was such a smiling relaxed bride..no fuss or anything, all smiles...everything went so smoothly from what we could see...then, we had our Niagara Falls experience..we drove and crossed the Canada border to literally feel the mist of the falls..we road the Maid of the Mist boat that went right smack in the middle of the Falls, the horseshoe falls of Niagara...it was fun and breathtaking to see one of the natural wonders of the world...
i just wish i had experienced it with Mike...there'll be others next time and def he will be with me..

i cant believe i even forgot to post about this incident during my perming moment...

let's rewind a lil...i've been going to this amazing korean hair salon for more than 4 yrs...the way my hair is so damaged and thin...it's a miracle these stylists can make it look better than decently healthy hair..trust me..

they work wonders...i've recommended more than 10 people and they're still loyal customers to this salon..

anyhow, i've been loyal to my stylist, lillian..until she was gone for maternity leave for a year..my friend recommended me to another stylist - Mi Sun..same salon of course...Mi Sun is great..she cuts well, colors well, and perms too...lilian's better at straightening and she's great with cuts too...so anyhow, i've had a few bad experiences with lilian..but when she came back from maternity leave, i stayed with her cuz she was my stylist for more than 3 yrs..

my friend stuck with Mi Sun...anyhow, 2 of my friends got perms one by lilian and the other by Mi Sun..i preferred Mi Sun's perm so i decided to go with her...stoopid me..i scheduled a perm for tuesday with lilian..chickened out cancelled it last minute..rescheduled another perm appt with Mi Sun the next day, wednesday...and went....

tan tan tan...so i'm cheating on my stylist...crossing fingers, nervously walks in the salon...greeted by Mi Sun..she starts putting treatment on my hair...tan tan tan...lilian sneaks up and greets me.."Hi Jasmine"...umm smiling nervously, "hi lilian"..she said, u cancel ur appt yesterday?...umm yah..i wasnt sure but my friend convinced me n booked this appt for me...anyhow..basically it was very very awkward..my heart was beating fast...i dont know why i just felt really bad for "cheating" and for her..and embarrassed...gosh..Mi Sun said it's happened before where lilian interrupted her customer as well..i guess she's had customers switch on her..but like my friends say it's the nature of their job but it's just diff i didnt have the guts to say, i like her work better...n so forth...i dunno u guys prolly would've approached it better..i was too chicken to do anything and let nature takes it course..or more like embarrass the hell out of me haha...

so get this..while i'm under this huge medusa like machine, making things even more worse and embarrassing..i sat facing lilian's cube hahhaha...i couldnt bare to look up...i just texted away nervously..looking down chatting with my friends thru my blackberry haha...i'm so bad...

i cheated on my ex-stylist..."its not u lilian..it's me..my hair"...hehe..but i still do want to go back to lilian for future straightening n cuts..and switch to Mi Sun for perms or color...i hope it just works out that i can jump between stylists for diff styles..AWKWARD.... 

so it never really turns out like the picture u take to the salon hehe...but oh wells...
the plus side to it, is i just wake up..sprinkle some water on my hair and scrunch it....
gone are the ironing..and worries about flyaways/stupid waves hehe..

unfortunately because i colored my hair previously...my hair wouldnt be able to retain the big curls..so i had to deal with what could be done...the curls will loosen up thru time as well...umm i hope so haha..

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My medusa-look...sigh...what girls do just for some vanity haha...