Jen's Celebration at Tabu

Jen passed her dental boards and we all decided to celebrate at Tabu last night. It was a great turn-out! Many of Jen's friends showed up and we partied until they kicked us out! I haven't been to Tabu (the Old Glas Kat) in a very long time. I think the last time I was there was for Mel's bachelorette party which was 2 years ago. But we didn't even stay there long since we thought it was ghetto. Really, this place was my college party place. Things haven't really change. The crowd was on the younger side but we had all our friends there which made the night unforgettable!

CONGRATULATIONS, JEN!!!

June's Birthday Bash

We went to celebrate June's birthday this Friday at the Cellar. It was 80s night and it was soooo much fun! Haven't been at the Cellar in a long time and I forgot how much fun it was... It was still as crowded as usual but as long as you have awesome friends around.... things always turn out to be...well, CRAZY!!!

My co-workers. Can't believe Sam stopped by!

June going crazy with Brian & Ed. You go girl! Party like a rock star!

Great to party with Ed and Brian...just like back in the days...(sigh)

Thanks for your help, Tamar!

Last Thursday was my co-worker's last day at Kaiser SF. Tamar had been working at Kaiser for 8 years. Now she is moving on to a life-long dream! She's going to Cosmetology school!!! I am very happy for her. Tamar and her family helped me so much through the years. The biggest and most memorable one was when her father, Eric, helped my friends get married. He's a pastor. She and her family are awesome! Tamar did the most wonderful thing the other day....she made lunch for the whole staff. There was baked spaghetti, croissant bread pudding, spinach salad and a load of chicken wings!!! The meal was soooooo good! Thanks for everything, Tamar! Best of luck in school!

A night at Slide

Today, my friend, Stephanie, sent me this picture we took at Slide. It has been awhile since I last hung out with her. I think it was before I took off for my 4 week vacation. It was great to see her and all my other friends. I still haven't gone down that darn slide. I will one of these days....

Here are more pictures from that night. Erik was being himself and Jen was...well, you can ask her. Does she remember? :)

Union Street Festival

The Annual Union Street Festival in San Francisco. Every year thousands of people from all over the Bay Area come to enjoy this festival. There are vendors that sell unique artwork, clothes, houseware, decorations of all kinds, homemade snacks, and live music. Of course there is the variety of food that we get to grub! Lots and lots of junk food!!! I love the fried calamari with key lime sauce and the corn dog! Here are some pictures from today's event.






OK...So these were only pictures of our Mentos adventures! We had to do this to get free Mentos! Check out their website. Our picture is in it.

Jeff & Alan's Birthday #2

So I am finally blogging this event after a few weeks of being lazy. This party happened the weekend I returned from my South America vacation. It was a little bit more work for me this year since I had to plan this event away from home. Acutally it turned out to be really cool since I was able to see all my friends (after not seeing them for 4 weeks).
So here are some pictures from that night. We started with dinner at Belden Taverna in San Francisco and then we headed over to Suede where we partied all night long!

South America in 4 weeks!

Country #1: Peru

Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru

The plaza had many restaurants. Some served Guinea pigs...I would show you a picture but it would be disturbing. It is served as a whole guinea pig.

The main fountain in the plaza.

Yum...Helado!

A view from my hotel in Cusco.

Another view...

Hanging out with the llamas and alpacas (alpacas are the short haired ones and fluffier). They make the best scarves! llama and alpaca meat were also good.

Shopping in Pisac


Huge Ass Stones at Sacsaywaman. People call it "Sexy Woman".

Sacsaywaman

The Inca Trail DAY 1: KM 82

The beginning of the 4 Day Hike.

Ashley, me, & Tony

Our first campsite

Day 2: The hardest part of the trip...climbing up for 4 hours straight!

The group with our awesome guide, Alberto.

Map of the Inca Trail

The many porters who carried our stuff. Each porter carries about 100 lbs. They are amazing! I can't even do it with my small daypack. The altitude really puts a strain on the hike.

FINALLY! Made it to the top, over 4200 meters! It was such a good feeling.

My porter, Gato. He carried my tent, my sleeping bag, and all the cooking supplies/food!

Day 3

The trail made up of many, many stones.

One of 3 Inca Caves.

Do you see the Inca Man?

Day 4: Drum roll please.....

Machu Picchu!!!

Agricultural area of Machu Picchu

hello!

Lima, Peru

Plaza de Armas in Lima

Statue of a couple making out! PDA is SO common here.

Country #2: Chile

Government Palace, Santiago Me & my Chilean Guard. (The guards here are super tall & cute).

Santiago, Chile

Lake Crossing in southern Chile...

This is the coolest part. I am at the border of Chile & Argentina. I'm on the Chilean side.

Country #3: Argentina

Now, I'm on the Argentian side! I kept on jumping back and forth from one country to the next! There were no patrol guards or anything here.

This is a hella old tree!

1500 years old!

My Brazilian friends hanging out with us in Argentina. Man, Brazilians and Argentinans have so much beef with each other. But it is all harmless until the soccer matches!

This is Bariloche, Argentina (Southern Argentina). This is the Chocolate capital of Argentina!! Oh My God!

Chocolate!!! Chocolate!!!

Love meat!

The famous Caminito district in Argentina. Everything here is so colorful.

Home of the Boca Juniors, Argentina's soccer team

Evita!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Antique fair on Sunday

Lots of meat...

They have roasted almonds and peanuts. They are sooooo good.

Black Sausages... not my favorite

Cool Friends that we met in Chile. They were so awesome. Thanks for the wine tips! See you back in the States!

Stuck in an elevator. It was scary. I think I was in there for a good 10 min.

Every McDonald's here has a McCafe.

Iguazu Falls ( one of the 7 Natural Wnders of the World)

On our way to the falls...

Natives to the Falls. I think they are related to the guinea pigs BUT Argentinans don't eat these.

I'm at the border of these 3 countries.

Iguazu Falls

I was sooooo Soaked!!

Country #4: Brazil

Copacabana Beach

A View from our Hotel room...you can see the Cristo Redentor at the top of the hill!

Hi-Five Jesus! (probably the closest I can get to his hand...a mini Jesus)

View of Rio

Christ the Redemer. Wow...So TALL! It stands about 710 meters! It faces the Guanabara Bay and the Sugar Loaf. It is made of cement and small soapstone triangles. It is one of the candidates for the new 7 Wonders of the World. (I personally don't think it should be the in the 7 Wonders of the World after seeing Machu Picchu...now that is impressive)

I just had to take a picture of this. There is a driver AND a cashier (on the right). This is funny. The drivers here are CRAZY....it's like riding a roller coaster. Taking the bus is the way to go in Rio. It is the safest and cheapest.

Pao de Acuacar: Sugar Loaf

The cable car to the Sugar Loaf

Another view of Rio from the Sugar Loaf

One of the few locals who live in Pao de Acuacar

Brazil has so MANY different kinds of beer!

Caipirinha, the unofficial Brazilian national drink.

Feijaoda, a traditional Brazilian dish...black beans and a variety of meat. It's great with Caipirinha.

Partying with my Brazilian pals in Leblon

My first Futbol game at one of the biggest stadiums in the world, Maracana Stadium.

The opponents from San Paulo

The home team, the Flamengo (Last year's National Champs)...too bad they lost this game. Can I say that these fans are insane? They are 10x worse than Raiders fans. Gooooooooalll!

This was an unforgettable vacation! I met some awesome friends along my trip. Got to check out 4 different countries and succeeded on the Inca Trail. The hike was the hardest part. I am glad I finished. I would never have thought of doing something like that but I DID!