Monday: Chocolate is So Very Sweet.

• The LG CHOCOLATE PHONE was released from Verizon Wireless today. I just about nearly peed my pants. I soooo need to get it this week. It's the shit.

• The KELLY CLARKSON CONCERT is this Thursday at Shoreline Amphitheatre. I don't have to worry about parking, being late, or food since the venue is right next to work. The BEST concert experience, ever. Since Angelo can't make it, I decided to invite a co-worker that I don't know too well. That way I can get to know 'em better. I decided to invite Alex... so hopefully everything goes well and it'll be a fun night.
• I worked out Hardcore the past 3 days. The stair machines are kicking my ass.
• At Dinner, I ran into a UCR alum who graduated in 2000 named Jeremy. (Undergrad Engineeing --- Ph.d at Caltech) I was wearing a Highlanders T-Shirt and he said, "Is that for UCR?" I smiled and we talked for a little bit. Go UCR at Google. :)
  
• Training is chugging along. I hope to be a pro at what I'm doing in a few months. I hate the feeling of not feeling comfortable with what I'm doing at work. I know, it'll just take time. But Justin explains everything pretty well, and the class is really smart, to boot.
  
• August 4th will be the start of my 8th month in the Bay Area and at Google. I still can't believe i've been away so long from So-Cal. I'm doing okay. At times is miss people and certain places, but I can live without the traffic and smog. But then again, Nor-Cal is a pretty awesome place to live. If you plugged me in a time capsule after I graduated and told me I'd be living in Northern California working for Google, I'd probably slap you.

Saturday: Golden Gate Park & Downtown Mtn. View

SATURDAY

Saturday started out by waking up kind of late. I woke up around 10 am. I chilled for a bit and then headed to the gym around 11:15 am with Nai. I used a new machine. It was a stair machine that is actually like stairs, not like a stairmaster. Seriously, 10 minutes on that thing KILLED me. My ass and legs hurt like a bitch. It tells you the equivalent of how many flights of stairs you walked up... it was over 30!

After the Gym, I showered and printed directions to Josh's Bday bash in Golden Gate Park in SF. Nai & I got to the city around 2pm, but didn't actually find the place in the park we were supposed to meet people at until 3pm. We drove around the park for over an hour. The park is so HUGE. It reminded me of Central Park in New York. I don't know why I've never been there before, but It's pretty cool. It's like a billion mini-parks and lakes within a huge park.

So we get to the area and run into another group of Googlers before the actual group we're supposed to meet. It was kinda weird. Haha. So I talked with Jane for a few and then headed to Josh's BBQ party. We just chilled in the park... but it was kinda chilly. It was Bright Blue Skies in the South Bay and WAY gloomy in SF. That's the upside of living in the Silicon Valley.

After the enjoyable time in SF's Golden Gate Park, we headed back to Google. I had to play around with my 401k stuff and sign-up for online access. I headed home around 8pm.

Around 10 pm, I went to go visit Mo and her new place off near Castro St. in Mountain View. The place is fab. We were joined by Steph, Danny, Kevin, and Vivian. She's renting a room in an amazing Townhouse (with A/C) right off Castro and Villa. It's right near Verde, that semi-fob Boba place. The Townhouse complex has beautiful fountains and everything. Uh, I'm so jealous. Plus it's closer to work than I am :/

Pics for your Pleasure from SF's Golden Gate Park

Friday: TGIF & Boba

FRIDAY

I'm still training at work. So everything's been sort of relaxing... sort of. The day concluded with a social TGIF. They had a nice Jazz Band playing outside in the sun. A group of us just chilled at one of the tables, sipping beer and eating food cooked by the lovely Google Chefs. I didn't eat or drink cause I wasn't really in the mood for alcohol and I was still full from Lunch.

Nai cut his thumb by trying to open a beer bottle on the table. Ouch. It was fun talking with Hana, who's last day was Friday. Sometimes, you hardly get to know the co-workers you want to. Then Jackie throws a curveball and says she's leaving to GHANA for 10 days on Saturday. You woulda thought she woulda mentioned that before. Haha. That's Sooooo Exciting!

After work, Nai and I ate dinner at El Pollo Loco, got caught up in some police mess on the streets of Sunnyvale, and had Boba Tea at Fantasia in Cupertino.

Where Have I Been?

Good Question.

I'm writing this entry from work because the power has been out at my apartment for the past two days. I'm glad I don't have real food at home, cause it would all be spoiled. Luckily, all I have are drinks.

It's cooled down a bit in the South Bay. It's now in the 80's, which is a nice change of Pace.

TUESDAY

• My Co-Worker Ayumi got Hired! Hell YA! I knew she would be hired, cause she's cool like that.
  


• We went and celebrated at the Tied House in Downtown Mountain View, near Castro Street. It was a nifty place that brews their own beer. I had the fruit beer... which was seasonal. What fruit you might ask? Passion Fruit! Yay!


• Drinking Beer made me forget about having no power. That... and reading "OK!" Magazine".

WEDNESDAY

• Went to Target to buy the new Pharrell CD entitled, "In My Mind." It's really good. He's always been a favorite of mine... whether he's driving the ship or in the background.


• I worked out again with Nai tonight. So... here's a story. I bought a polo 2 years ago at Express Men but was never able to fit in it. So I saved it in my closet and wanted to wait for the day when I fit in it. I decided to try it on this morning before work... and it FIT! Hooo Rah. :)

Another One Out of the Closet

File this one in the "Obvious" category.

Former *Nsync Boy Band Member & Wannabe Astronaut, Lance Bass, has finally come out of the closet and revealed that he is gay.

He's also been in a long term relationship with former Amazing Race winner, Reichen Lehmkuhl. When they were spotted in public a while back, Lance said that Reichen was his "Real Estate Agent."

Apparently, "Real Estate Agent" is lingo for relationship. Go fig.

In the wake of Darren Hayes coming out of the closet last week, It seems like we're in for a string of celeb outings soon...

Source: www.msnbc.com

Picture from: Pink is the New Blog

Friday Night with the Googlers

Last Friday was an Azn Style Night. A pretty big group of us from the GOOG went out to have some grub and fun. The night started off around 7:30pm with some korean food at Korea House in Santa Clara. I've been there once before with Dan, but it was just as delicious the second time around. Kal Bi for me :) Damn, I forgot how much food they actually place in front of you at this place. It's like craziness.

Then we Karaoked' it up at a Karaoke Studio nearby in Santa Clara. You know I got my Britney Spears on... right? It was hella fun. I should go more often... just to hear Danny go into high and low pitches. I think his best performace was for "Barbie Girl". Come on Barbie... Let's go Party...

South Bay Rent (*Sigh*)

I just read a news story about how South Bay Rent prices rose to an all time high. Rents at San Jose-area apartment complexes rose more this spring than at any time since the peak of the tech boom.

Landlords no longer need to woo customers with a free month's rent or a DVD player. Rent for apartments in large complexes rose 9 percent compared with a year before, the biggest jump in any of 29 cities in California and elsewhere studied by RealFacts, a Novato company that does research for the apartment industry.

The average monthly rent in the area was $1,414. Palo Alto was the most expensive city at an average $1,929, and Campbell the least at an average $1,231.

``There are so many people looking right now that after a place went out on the market, it would be rented within three to six hours,'' said James Barnes, 26, who signed a lease this week for a $1,500-a-month duplex in Sunnyvale that he'll share with a friend. Barnes said he and his roommate searched for three months before finding the place.

*Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15082237.htm

A Well Deserved Promotion

I was happy to read that Professor Stephen Cullenberg is the new dean for the College of Humanities at UCR. I had him for an econ class a while ago as an undergrad. He's one of my favorties at UCR. Woot.

UCR humanities college gets new dean

UC Riverside has picked a permanent dean for its College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the largest undergraduate school on campus.

The University of California Board of Regents approved Stephen Cullenberg, a professor of economics, to take the helm of the college whose disciplines range from art history and English to economics and political science. He will earn $182,200 annually.