wine country

mavis and i (along with four more cars filled with girls) headed out to temecula for some winetasting. i was up at 5:30am because i was so excited (haha).

the weather was a bit gloomy when we left socal but the time we arrived in temecula the skies were soo pretty (sorry for the blurriness i took this while driving).

some of the old wine cellers at Hart winery. the wine here tasted a bit woodsy.

mavis and i at wilson creek winery. this is a great place to have a wedding. someone from our group inquired and it is $110 per person just for catering.. i also bought some almond champagne from wilson creek to share.

i can't wait to go again and temecula was not what i expected it to be. i can't live there but it is a wonderful town to visit.

joseph eugene martin iii bash '06

april 22, 2006 saturday was joseph eugene martin the iii's birthday bash in north hollywood. it was lots of fun and i befriended a lot of people (or just got drunk and acted like an ass). marisa, gigi, me, and my new friend emily!

dan, me, gigi

vivian and dan

geoff (ipod hogging says dan) in a jacket he got in japan which says buta to shinju (which means murder suicide with a pig).

me and erica and liz (certified party girls)

everyone singing happy birthday to joe

gigi picking me up and regreting it (haha)

joe hitting the piniata (i forget how to spell it)

me and matt's girl tiffany

the cute sasha and dan dancing

izakaya

yesterday after my work party i met up with tams and crew at shinsengumi (an izakaya). i love those things. you eat food, drink beer and talk. we usually hang out for hours. i can't really can't explain what they are so i looked it up online.

An izakaya (居酒屋) is a common kind of Japanese bar or restaurant, also found in cosmopolitan cities throughout the world, popular in Japan for after-work drinking. A definitive feature of an izakaya is that it serves food as well as drink. Patrons typically sit on the floor and dine from low tables in the traditional Japanese style.

The name "izakaya" is a compound word with "i" and "sakaya" (sake shop). It was originally an opposite to "tachinomiya", (standing bar, tachi(standing)+nomi(drinking)+ya(shop)), a liquor shop which sold sake and let customers drink in the shop.

Today, when you first sit down, you will be given an oshibori (wet towel) to clean your hands with, next an appetizer will be served. The portions are generally more substantial than Spanish tapas, but are less than a full meal. Traditionally many Japanese salarymen like to relax after work at a local izakaya. This trend is complemented by a growing population of independent women, and young people (the drinking age is 20), who are also interested in relaxing after work at an izakaya.

Izakaya are sometimes called Akachōchin (red lantern) in daily conversation, because these paper lanterns are traditionally found in front of an izakaya.

that is me and tams friend eddie trac tran (his real name is danny nyugen but he looks like an eddie so that's what i'm going to call him from now on).

grilling.

sean baker and his new girl.

yum!

i am so goddamn classy

bar two (my third place drinking tonight.. haha)

beer

me and jonathan talking about something.

work

this is a photo of some of my coworkers. inaya (pink shirt) is leaving the states to return to japan. we are in front of thai rama in torrance for his sobetsukai (goodbye party). they went to a number two (which means part two of the party for some karaoke and more drinking). i went to shinsengumi to meet up with tams and crew.

my beach

the skies were sooo pretty today. toshiro called me in the afternoon and we powerwalked from hermosa beach to el segundo (me in chucks, i should of worn my nikes)
me walking with my fanny pack
toshiro pondering on what drink to get at jamba juice. he decides on some sort of pineapple concoction. i get the berry lime sublime (i am quite thirsty from my two hour walk).

next week we are walking right? walking soothes my soul and noah's bagels makes my whole day better..

OC

funny, my blog is turning into a "i hate clay" page. today i spent my whole day with marisa. we made plans to go to the oc swap meet for supplies. it looked like it was going to rain (the weather was this cloudy about to rain weather but the sun came out by 11ish. finished the meet and then headed to her friend robyn's house. she is the office manager at marisa's work and is so much fun. she smokes like a chimney and has the most wonderful stories. my favorite is the story about how she found her dream house. about 1:30ish we headed out to dana point for lunch at the harbor house. such a cute little diner. i had something called the belmont omelette and it was really tasty (spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, cheese), sourdough bread, fresh fruit. finished lunch and then headed to fashion island to return my wet seal shirt with the metal detector thing still stuck to it. called gigi to hang out but she was busy with the todders.

marisa and i decided to watch thank you for smoking which i wanted to see forever and i loved it. please go watch it. it's funny and brilliant. by the time we got out of the theatre it was cold so we headed over to mitsue (?) (its a shabu shabu place in downtown fullerton which is quite fun. reminisced about new year and the making out incident (haha) and about pervert greg (ewhhh).


these are a few pics i took the ride to the harbor house.. by the time we got there we were like a couple miles from san clemente. when you drive down the coast san clemente feels extremely close.. anyhoo.. better head to bed. i'm thinking about waking toshiro up tomorrow morning for a walk.

before you freak out.. these are my fat pants and my appetite is back. granted i had no butt before this but i lost a lot of butt (and boobs).. funny how the you dont wnat to lose goes first and fat that you want to lose stays...

me (8:58:18 PM): i read an article that women are sad 4days a month
james (8:58:26 PM): Wow
james (8:58:54 PM): How many dyas have u used this month
me (8:59:02 PM): hahaah
me (8:59:08 PM): prob like 2weeks