So last Sat (2/19) a bunch of Borders peeps and Chris and I went to San Francisco for the Chinese New Year's Parade! We met up in Prunedale at 9am and arrived a little before 11am. We arrived to it pouring. Luckily, I was prepared. I had fleece, rain jacket, and umbrella. Chris didn't have an umbrella (lost it a year ago and hasn't replaced it) so I gave him my umbrella, wore my mini-backpack underneath my jacket and tromped around San Fran's Chinatown in the rain with everyone else. Everyone, but Carmen, Chris, and I bought an umbrella in Chinatown at one point or another.
We walked around Chinatown because it was also the Chinatown Community Fair, but we mostly store hopped to get out of the rain. Before lunch, we did see the performance stage and see the Lion Dancers Club. They were AMAZING. The costumes are fantastic too and they can blink the eyes and it was just fantastic to watch. I wish my camera and phone wasn't buried in my backpack underneath my jacket or I would have filmed it. We had lunch at this restaurant and ordered the meal for 7 people. Oh wow. WAAAYYY too much food. I think Laura and Eric will be eating Chinese for lunch and dinner for 2-3 days. It was good and it was also nice to get in out of the rain and dry off.
After that, we went to the Chinese Cultural Center where we were for quite a while. They were doing different demonstrations an had a mini-scavenger hunt we participated in. They also had a stage for people to perform so we watched some. To say the least, it was very enjoyable to be in out of the rain, in a warm place, with a nice bathroom. :) The USPS was there selling cachets of the Chinese Lunar stamps. I bought one with the Year of the Rabbit picture on it. After we finished (and the center basically packed up), we ventured back out into the rain and went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. That place is probably smaller than my bedroom in Marina, but oh man you could smell the baking cookies down the alley. When you go in, they give you the flat cookies as samples to eat. Sooo good when they're still warm. I think I ended up eating like 6 fortune cookies by the time I left. I also paid $0.50 for a photo and bought their small almond cookies. The cookies are amazing. Oh goodness. You can taste the butter, but they are fantastic. Best impulse buy I've had in a long time. While standing to get my photo, the smell of the baking cookies enticed me to buy some and I'm glad I did. Afterward, we found the Golden Gate Fields table (racetrack in SF) in the community fair, but they had left. It looks like they were giving out calendars (soggy ones were left) and they were also giving out vouchers to go to the racetrack for free on Sunday. Oh well. We tried, but it was pouring still. McDonalds was there and there were SOOO many Asians lined up. They were giving out reuseable bags, gift certificates, and calendars. VISA was doing a spin-the-wheel prize thing and it also had a short line.
Eventually, we got tired of walking around and went into Little Italy to find someplace warm. We found a little cafe, sat for a while, then went to a bakery, and delicatessen place. By this time, it was 5pm and the parade was supposed to start at 5:30 so we headed back to Kearney to find a spot. We ended up near the bleachers and MC spot at like 5:10pm. It's still raining and we're standing, waiting for the parade to start. Then someone told us that the parade typically starts 20-30 minutes late (which it did).
When the parade finally started, we were all VERY excited; however, by the last hour (especially last 40 minutes), we were definitely over the parade. It's a very LONG parade and whose bright idea was it to have it as a night parade in SF?! It's cold! They had just about every person imaginable parade (they even got down to the budget person for SF...) and they had schools from all over (SF, San Jose, etc) parade, and sponsors paraded (McDonalds, VISA, Wells Fargo, Hyundai, CA Lotto, etc). I got to see the Giants' World Series Trophy in person! Not up close, but I've never seen one in person. They had the seal dude hold it up in a convertible. There were lots of dragons, which were always neat. The problem with being in a spot right before everyone stops to perform is the dragons would sweep over the crowds on the side. It's okay maybe once or twice, but after the 5th+ time, it gets tiresome. In addition, some of those dragons had hard things on them that hurt! However, it's good luck to touch the dragon so I suppose I should be having a lot of good luck for a while considering how often I touched a dragon in one day. By the last 40 minutes, we were just tired and cold and wanted to leave, but we wanted to wait till the LAST dragon because it was supposed to be amazing and something the parade is known for. It got so bad that we were all looking down the road hoping we didn't see anything AFTER the next thing. The parade was supposed to go from 5:30pm to 8:pm. We first arrived at the parade street around 5pm and the parade didn't finish till 9pm. It rained from the moment we arrived to about 6:15pm. It was in the low 40's at night. We were SOOO cold. We also hadn't really eaten since noon. We had been standing/walking for so long that day and it was so cold that I was limping for a good 15-20 minutes after the parade because my feet were so cold. It felt WONDERFUL to move.
After the parade I wanted to get a Year of the Rabbit t-shirt since I felt like I deserved it after enduring the parade, but all the stores were closed. I could have gotten one earlier, but didn't. It's not a big deal, but now I want a t-shirt (and am thinking of designing one) that says on the front in the pocket spot "2011 Year of the Rabbit") and on the back has a Chinese rabbit image and says, "I survived watching the San Francisco Chinese New Year's Parade." Honestly, it's how I felt. :P Although it was cold, I did have fun and I'm glad I did it. It's something I can say I did and it was fun, but I will NEVER do it again! LoL It was just wayyyy too long of a parade and it was wayyyy too cold at night in San Francisco.
Anyway, it was a good day (very long -- roundtrip it was 15 hour day).
Photos: SF's Chinese New Year
Videos: Some string instrument performance (really quite nice)
Fire crackers string (1 of 3 we saw -- last 2 were 2+ stories long -- in photos)
Lion dancers in the parade
School...is school...There is 3 weeks left of the quarter and then 1 week of finals (I have none). Our GP final paper is due March 18th (last day of finals). It's almost done. My other group papers (3 others not including GP) are coming along...slowly...Most of all my mundane schoolwork is all complete, though. So the next 3 weeks will be turning in draft papers, presentations, and final papers. I get my coastal zone law final tomorrow and I get a week to do it, which is nice. It's also nice it's not at the end of the quarter. Well...with that said...I should go write some part of one of the 4 group papers I have to write.
Oh yeah, registered for classes too. Not sure what I'm exactly taking (few advanced classes I'm unsure of), but so far I have classes only on Monday and Wednesday and Wednesday I'm finished by 11:15am :P It will be a very nice quarter!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Has it really only been 2 weeks...?
Man...It feels like I updated just a few days ago...I've been so overtaken with stress and being busy that I lost track of time.
I haven't even said anything about my international law class! I think I'm too tired to update completely the last two weeks. I've put in ridiculous hours this week at Bren, though. 8-10 hours on campus and then I was up till 12-1am every night finishing stuff for school or for the defense that was yesterday. I'll update at some point...The defense was good, though, and that's OVER with! That stress is gone. Our draft of our paper is due in 2 weeks so that's stressful, but...one thing at a time?
Actually, the next two weeks will be stressful like the last two. I've got 2 papers due next week and a 5-minute presentation. I'm not too worried about next week (except my op-ed piece...still not sure what to write and he's going to be super picky about it - 1,000 words max), but the week after is horrible. I have a lab due the 14th, my case brief rewrite due on the 15th, the group treaty memo (my int'l law prof is taking our ideas to UNEP that week when he goes for their meeting) on the 15th, an extra 2 hours of class on Wednesday, a memo due on the 17th, and our GP draft due on the 18th. President's weekend is going to be VERY relaxing...LoL Course, I have a final and draft of a group paper due the week after, but it's much less crazy.
Speaking of groups...I have 4 group assignments this quarter: GP (group of 6), int'l law assignment/treaty/memo (group of 5), conservation planning (group of 4), and environmental institutions (group of 3). I really am disliking group activities right now. It also doesn't help that we have defenses next Friday (the 11th) too for the OTHER half of the class so people are still not 100% done and everything that's not GP gets pushed last. So...it's more than a little crazy to do this many group assignments.
Anyway, defense was good. It's finished. The presentation can be mostly used for the public presentation in April now too. We got good feedback (or very little of it for that matter) so it's good!
Now...Today Chris and I went to Santa Anita! Zenyatta was being awarded the Secretariat Vox Populi Award (Voice of the People Award) and so Team Zenyatta and Penny Chenery (owner of Secretariat) was doing these special posters and signing for them. I had to go! I got my poster signed (after standing in line for a VERY long time in a black shirt with black hair in the sun -- I've got a touch of heatstroke (no sunburn!)) and I love it! My two favorite horses together. :) I thought I'd never seen Penny Chenery in my lifetime either. She's 89 years old. It's incredible that she flew out in 2010 to see Zenyatta run once, but to fly out again and sign a few hundred posters? Incredible. She is amazing. I'm glad I got in line early, though. The signing was supposed to be only an hour (11:30-12:30), but they instead went by the number of people (at least, some might have stayed longer). The line went practically out the track again and people were told they wouldn't get a poster signed, but they still wanted to stand in line. I think maybe another 20 people behind me were in line to get a poster signed and then it cut off. So I was kind of close to the back. I think they estimated 150-200 people for the signing and they probably signed maybe 300 posters (might be a bit more). So, yeah, it was close for a minute that I thought I wouldn't get anything signed, but I got it!
I love Santa Anita too. It's HUGE first off and they have a ton of places to sit in the paddock and there are trees you can sit underneath and it's just a really nice place. The quality between Hollywood to Santa Anita is quite evident. You can tell Santa Anita is the moneymaker and they take care of the place to keep it at a higher standard. I want to see Del Mar now and see what's that like. The facility is much smaller than Santa Anita, but it's supposed to be A+ service and is like the premier event on the West Coast for horse racing and opening day is a BIG deal. So we'll see. Santa Anita also runs more like a sports venue. They have parking vendors so you pay for our parking there by car, whereas Hollywood is parking by person. Course...Santa Anita is right next to a HUGE mall. So that might be why they take the parking fee as you drive in. They don't want the mall people to park in Santa Anita's parking. However, Chris and I got into Santa Anita parking fee free AND got into the park for free (no program, but I could have bought one for $2.50). We got there early to do the free tram tour (if we made it in time) and there was no one to take money for parking. So we parked, went on the tour, and the tour dumps you in the park at the end of it. So you get into the park for free when you go on the FREE tram tour. :P If you don't care that you don't have a program for the day, you save $4/car and $5/person. I almost bought a program, but didn't get one. I also signed up for the free Thoroughbred Rewards Program so I think I can go in now for $1. Horse racing definitely does not make its money on entry fees. Oh yeah, the gift store -- Champions -- made me chuckle. Almost all the workers in there (and there were like 8 of them for this TINY little store) were all older ladies (in their 50-60's) and they were so incredibly attentive. It was almost to the point it was intimidating because they were watching your every move to assist you and clean-up things (place was PRISTINE), but it made me chuckle. Who'd of thought that age range would be working at a race track gift store? :P
Anyway, my Santa Anita Photos: Vox Populi Signing, Seabiscuit Tram Tour, MISC
I haven't even said anything about my international law class! I think I'm too tired to update completely the last two weeks. I've put in ridiculous hours this week at Bren, though. 8-10 hours on campus and then I was up till 12-1am every night finishing stuff for school or for the defense that was yesterday. I'll update at some point...The defense was good, though, and that's OVER with! That stress is gone. Our draft of our paper is due in 2 weeks so that's stressful, but...one thing at a time?
Actually, the next two weeks will be stressful like the last two. I've got 2 papers due next week and a 5-minute presentation. I'm not too worried about next week (except my op-ed piece...still not sure what to write and he's going to be super picky about it - 1,000 words max), but the week after is horrible. I have a lab due the 14th, my case brief rewrite due on the 15th, the group treaty memo (my int'l law prof is taking our ideas to UNEP that week when he goes for their meeting) on the 15th, an extra 2 hours of class on Wednesday, a memo due on the 17th, and our GP draft due on the 18th. President's weekend is going to be VERY relaxing...LoL Course, I have a final and draft of a group paper due the week after, but it's much less crazy.
Speaking of groups...I have 4 group assignments this quarter: GP (group of 6), int'l law assignment/treaty/memo (group of 5), conservation planning (group of 4), and environmental institutions (group of 3). I really am disliking group activities right now. It also doesn't help that we have defenses next Friday (the 11th) too for the OTHER half of the class so people are still not 100% done and everything that's not GP gets pushed last. So...it's more than a little crazy to do this many group assignments.
Anyway, defense was good. It's finished. The presentation can be mostly used for the public presentation in April now too. We got good feedback (or very little of it for that matter) so it's good!
Now...Today Chris and I went to Santa Anita! Zenyatta was being awarded the Secretariat Vox Populi Award (Voice of the People Award) and so Team Zenyatta and Penny Chenery (owner of Secretariat) was doing these special posters and signing for them. I had to go! I got my poster signed (after standing in line for a VERY long time in a black shirt with black hair in the sun -- I've got a touch of heatstroke (no sunburn!)) and I love it! My two favorite horses together. :) I thought I'd never seen Penny Chenery in my lifetime either. She's 89 years old. It's incredible that she flew out in 2010 to see Zenyatta run once, but to fly out again and sign a few hundred posters? Incredible. She is amazing. I'm glad I got in line early, though. The signing was supposed to be only an hour (11:30-12:30), but they instead went by the number of people (at least, some might have stayed longer). The line went practically out the track again and people were told they wouldn't get a poster signed, but they still wanted to stand in line. I think maybe another 20 people behind me were in line to get a poster signed and then it cut off. So I was kind of close to the back. I think they estimated 150-200 people for the signing and they probably signed maybe 300 posters (might be a bit more). So, yeah, it was close for a minute that I thought I wouldn't get anything signed, but I got it!
I love Santa Anita too. It's HUGE first off and they have a ton of places to sit in the paddock and there are trees you can sit underneath and it's just a really nice place. The quality between Hollywood to Santa Anita is quite evident. You can tell Santa Anita is the moneymaker and they take care of the place to keep it at a higher standard. I want to see Del Mar now and see what's that like. The facility is much smaller than Santa Anita, but it's supposed to be A+ service and is like the premier event on the West Coast for horse racing and opening day is a BIG deal. So we'll see. Santa Anita also runs more like a sports venue. They have parking vendors so you pay for our parking there by car, whereas Hollywood is parking by person. Course...Santa Anita is right next to a HUGE mall. So that might be why they take the parking fee as you drive in. They don't want the mall people to park in Santa Anita's parking. However, Chris and I got into Santa Anita parking fee free AND got into the park for free (no program, but I could have bought one for $2.50). We got there early to do the free tram tour (if we made it in time) and there was no one to take money for parking. So we parked, went on the tour, and the tour dumps you in the park at the end of it. So you get into the park for free when you go on the FREE tram tour. :P If you don't care that you don't have a program for the day, you save $4/car and $5/person. I almost bought a program, but didn't get one. I also signed up for the free Thoroughbred Rewards Program so I think I can go in now for $1. Horse racing definitely does not make its money on entry fees. Oh yeah, the gift store -- Champions -- made me chuckle. Almost all the workers in there (and there were like 8 of them for this TINY little store) were all older ladies (in their 50-60's) and they were so incredibly attentive. It was almost to the point it was intimidating because they were watching your every move to assist you and clean-up things (place was PRISTINE), but it made me chuckle. Who'd of thought that age range would be working at a race track gift store? :P
Anyway, my Santa Anita Photos: Vox Populi Signing, Seabiscuit Tram Tour, MISC
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