Austin, J-choc's view, day three. last but not least...

Aiight yo, this is day three. The final frontier. (no, I don’t like Star Trek)

Whew, are you tired of reading yet? It’s pretty hefty.

Today was Quan’s day and man was it cool. Our surprise for Quan kinda died before it began, he only kinda liked his batman shirt, and the karaoke place we wanted to go to was closed, but that didn’t stop us! We all had super hero shirts: me, Sam, Anh and Cheryl were the teenage mutant ninja turtles (turtles in a half-shell, TURTLE POWER!!), Kristen was Captain America (freedom, justice and the American way, baby!), Bich and Peter were Superwoman/man, Quan was Batman, and Brian was Spiderman (although his shirt had many a character, so maybe he can be the entire Justice League haha). We set out in our respective cars, got really really lost, tried to buy a map (didn’t happen, the first time around), saw Peter get honked at and almost die in his car, made it to Round Rock (?!?!?!), TX Walmart for Quan’s scavenger hunt. He had clues on little green posties which he had a hard time deciphering, but then this really cool lady who worked there pretty much helped him on all of them. She and Quan got a picture together. As soon as the rest of the group came back to check on his progress, she was outta there to keep her “help” a secret. That was funny. So, it turns out that tough part about Quan’s scavenger hunt was not actually getting all the clues, but shopping through Walmart with a list. =) We had to help him out a bit when he started looking for chocolate in the sporting goods section…

He got all the items and came up with…ingredients for s’mores!!! Woohoo! We’re going out outdoors recreational style! We looped back to past our hotel, past parts of downtown, past a nude man on a bike…, and towards a wonderful park! We had a grand old time finding parking, setting up camp and playing football!!! The KGB versus…the KGB plus (we came up with it first! Haha) It was me, Cheryl, Bich, Brian vs. Anh, Peter, Kristen, and Sam—with Quan as the interchangeable quarterback. More hilarity ensued. At random times we actually caught the ball. There were some impressive moves by Anh who caught many a touchdown, Bich “the steamroller” whose defense was unstoppable, Sam who can play pretty darn well, and all the rest of us eager beavers who did the best we could while the guys tried to make plays out of our antics. Once again, it was fun! =) after that, I performed surgery on Cheryl’s foot using Mcdonalds’ napkins and duct tape. (all on camera, of course). after that was tree time!!! We all gingerly climbed the branches of an old, hoary tree and took pictures of our cautious positions on each branch. Now getting off was the problem. It took the efforts of many, but we all got off without any scrapes or broken bones. Very awesome.

Ahh canoeing aka kayaking (could be either). That was awesomeness defined. After picking our places in each boat, we began to test the waters coordinating our paddles to actually get somewhere. We raced, we crashed (several times), we floated lazily on the waters. Never once did we tip! The funniest and best part was when we hooked our boats together and floated and almost ran into some turtles. We’re such a group we can’t let water part us! Hehe apparently some rowers were practicing so we were always on the lookout for their uniform strokes. We freaked out a couple of times. Anh was ready to jump if need be! But she didn’t. Instead she accidentally hit Sam in the face with the paddle. I saw the aftermath: the profuse apologies, the laughter, the screams, the disorientation. It was a sight to see. A lot of us got whacked with paddles—including me, twice Haha. But it was so funny. I wish we could’ve taped the whole thing. Quan was so funny, he started texting and talking on the phone while we were floating together. It was a classic picture of our modern era. Cheryl, the “clubbing monster” tried to pull us all back to shore with her bare hands and she did pretty well, but we gave her a break which I’m sure she enjoyed. =) I loved it and I wish we could do this all again.

Last but certainly not least we DID do karaoke! Silhouette (remember that because YOU should go there) was perfect. The sushi, the atmosphere, the beautiful bathrooms (I’m being serious here, it was an amazing little potty room!) and of course, classic Michael Jackson made the place like a whiff of heaven. We got our food and took it to this really cool upstairs area where this really chill, long-haired, awesome dude set us up in our karaoke room.

We sang Circle of Life, Hound Dog, Beauty and the Beast, Lady Marmalade, Sunday Bloody Sunday (which Bich is listening to as I type right now), and some awesome Vietnamese songs which we kinda sang along to. We non-viets got one word in a war song that Quan sang (can you guess?): Vietnam. Quan had a seriously good time. And we did too. Filled with soy sauce and darn good seaweed, we sang as loud as we could not caring how well we did or who sang along. It was a perfect experience with which to end Spring Break. After pictures in front of the capitol building, we split up sadly and drove on home. Some of us stuck it out in Austin and some hung out on campus before leaving today, and some us are just staying, but one thing that’ll always be around is the crazy memories that we created in the past 72 hours. I wouldn’t trade these people for the world. =)

Austin, J-choc's view, day two. Here goes!!!

Day two was Bich’s day.
This day was really cool since it was pretty much girl-mode.
First, we went to eat at this really amazing and unique little place called Quack’s. The music was so chill, I probably was only halfway mentally there part of the time. (can’t help loving the music I guess) The rest was great. We got huge cupcakes and cream cheese beauties. Luckily, we all shared. =) they had a lot of drinks, teas, juices and such that I think we all really wanted to try if we had the time. The place was situated in this residential kind of area. A lot of trees, a lot of plants, a lot bikes. It was gorgeous. We got to see a lot of said things because we had to search for it, making a few u-turns along the way. Teehee. But it was totally worthwhile because the scenery around there was great and the company made me chuckle. There was this kennel-looking place right by it. Kristen got excited thinking about her sweet Eliza at home. (very nice looking dog too!) I was kinda bummed because I had a black lab once and she was my favorite dog that I’ve ever had (and I’ve strangely had a lot). Sigh* I miss her now…

So after chilling in Quack’s, watching a bird attack this dude’s cupcake, and taking pictures while finding the bathrooms, we left for THE OUTLET MALL: dream for women, nightmare for men.

It was huge to say the least. We started by walking along the shaded sidewalk lining the stores. I argued about the merits of Express with Brian, adamantly opposed Bich’s buying me short-shorts, and saw a s’mores maker. We went into all the right stores but soon split up to cover more territory. We were soon back again and taking pictures of Anh riding a little kiddy ride. That was funny. We all explored once again, finding stores with nothing good or instead physically shrinking in reaction to stores with huge price tags (sheesh, outlet or what?). We had to pause, move cars and rehydrate before round two of shopping. Clusters of people changed and reformed and shopping got serious. By the time we all met back in A’gaci. (went crazy in there but didn’t buy anything), we were all holding bags from Guess, and Papaya to United Colors of Benetton. We split up yet again and I was indecisive on getting a wallet or not. (I did end up getting it by the way) Quan was pretty tired afterwards. Funny thing he said was that, he’s been through ROTC, camping, endurance training and the like, and he has never been as tired as when he went shopping. Haha =)

After we got back to the hotel, we had a lot of more to do. Before I go on, I must say that that night was pretty much hilarious. We went to a bbq place with every mouth-watering, meat-loving, barbequing selection of food you can think of. It was mighty fine. Everyone ate, Quan ate his food and selections of everyone else’s. It was great. I like how we eat. We’re like a family who picks off each other’s plates and doesn’t care about everyone else’s table manners. This place was cool because on the wall behind us were some cool pictures from past blues performers. I would’ve loved to hear ‘em. There was a cow skull on the wall which didn’t exactly ring well with Kristen, although I tried really hard to convince her of its coolness. Cheryl and Sam made me laugh with their pleas to momma and daddy: Bich and Peter. It was good. Oh, and I learned that parallel parking is something I probably don’t want to do.

After that we went to Amy’s Ice Cream. Cheryl got what was called a Dirty Harry. It looked pretty good. Quan and Brian played checkers on a board while Kristen and Bich watched intently. Me, Anh and Sam looked at clips of their car ride and the hilarity that ensued inside. Then, Cheryl took pictures of Peter who, of course, was disinclined to acquiesce. Hehe Soon the place started filling with pre-pubescent little people, and me and Sam got nervous. When we finally left, things got crazy. Why, you ask? Because we were gonna go clubbing on sixth street!!

We finally get there. All of us were looking pretty fly—both guys and girls. Some were wearing what they had bought that day so they were fresh. We get there—and everyone’s wearing jeans. That’s okay. We still looked pretty pimpin so no complaints here. =) We walk up and down the streets, bump into drunk people, get offered pamphlets and invitations to parties—we even get (how can I say?) solicited for some PCP. Ha well, everything there was pretty much 21 and up, so boo on being young—for a few of us. Ah well. Next time will be better.

Instead we go to (drum roll please) IHOP, classic stop for all late night people. By now it’s about 2 am and we hang out at the IHOP eating crepes and drinking sodas and hot chocolate. We do what we do best: chat amongst ourselves, further strengthening the family vibe we’ve got. With a little help from my friends, I dressed up the coffee pot in napkin wear: complete with apron, shirt and hat (as Cheryl records). It was a nice slow down after a busy day. We all get back to hotel and energy is back up. We made a make-shift tent of sorts, recorded on night vision, and Bich told 5-second scary stories while we laughed and screamed like little girlies. Needless to say, it was classic fun and worth staying up til 4:30/5ish. =)

Austin, J-choc's view, day one. Aaaand go!

It’s only Wednesday and I’ve already had a pretty intense spring break. How do explain three days of spring break in Austin with the some of the best most original people on the planet. You can’t. BUT I WILL TRY!

Well, it all started with a wish to fly to NY. Didn’t happen, and then came the idea for pretty pimpin' Austin. We set it up around some of our lovely friends’ birthdays. What ensued was… heh I don’t know. I love you guys. =)

So the first day, we gathered downstairs, collected our luggage, and made sure that our good friend Don was “with us” (via a printed picture of his smiling face!). We split up into our respective cars and drove our merry way. While I’ve heard some crazy awesome things in the other cars from “it’s a Peter-car thing” to consensual (or not?) sexual encounters, the car peeps I hung out with, well, we had a great time too. It was me, Brian and Kristen all hanging out while Brian drove. We saw lots of cows and condemned houses, we threw Brian’s food out the sun/moon roof—well, Brian did this once while I held the wheel at like 70mph. Don’t worry, we’re all alive.

We made it to Czech stop (in West, TX—an actual place!!), an awesome bakery with longs lines and delicious smelling Kolaches which were bought and shared all around. Gathered in front of the main entrance, we acted silly and had a good time as usual.

Hopping back into the car, we hit the slowest traffic ever. We creeped into the next city over by mere inches. But that was okay because we made it to our swanky hotel and saw creepy people outside.

Of course we found our respective rooms, watched TV and chilled, then jumped into action when Brian walked through the door a little later. Surprise! It was his day, and man, did he put up a struggle when he was held down and had a shirt shoved down over his face. He ended up liking the shirt. It was Pulp Fiction—it was a great choice and he wore it with pride.

For his birthday, we went to super-fun-happy-zone (hehe) and it was amazing. I bet the food would’ve tasted better if I were a bit younger. BUT-BUT-BUT we had as much fun as any of those ten year olds while in the arcade!! We all went around, choosing different games to play. Quan had this awesome game face while riding a motorcycle game. According to pictures, Sam and Anh had fun shooting up various enemies, and Don even got to play Soul Calibur 2! (with a little bit of help from Cheryl) Me and the guys played a hoops game (very addicting). First, Brian and I played a round, then we frantically got change to buy more tokens for another round, and then we got the rest of guys out for yet another round and just played like nobody’s business. (see the progression?)

Well, then we did DDR (dance dance revolution, baby!) and it was fun. Soon we had teams and everyone was designated a certain half of the dance board. All in all, there was a display of dance moves from: Brian, Kristen, Cheryl, Anh, Bich, Quan, and myself. It was the most ridiculously fun thing I’ve done in awhile, and I’m glad that I did it with these crazy fellows. =)

Whew, still day one.

That night, we went to a pretty nice restaurant. Had some unpronounceable food that we probably might not try again (taste testing other plates became the norm) and had a cool waitress who didn’t laugh at us when we placed Don on the table with a candle in front. She even took our picture for us! The place was beautiful and the atmosphere comfortable and chic. We all dressed like we had it going on. I’d go again in a heartbeat, but I need a $$$-paying job and a handle on the Italian language. (which may take awhile, I think)

The city was amazing at night. The store walls were works of art. All were unique and had their own character which couldn’t by replicated by making chain stores. --Man, I love this city...

We saw a film screening of Bruno. (Brian was pretty excited!) I must say, if there’s anything you can get from Austin, one of those would be an honest, unique, and fun culture. There were lines outside and everyone looked ready to have a good time, regardless of what was up. Where I’m schooling now, I don’t think anybody would be willing to go have fun and do what he/she wanted without wondering who was there or what they looked like. Sorry, segue there...

But yeah, Bruno was so funny it was crazy. I’d love to tell you more, but sorry! Pre-screening! (however, if you haven’t seen Borat you should probably do that first hehe). This guy hosting the event was one of the highlights. He joked around with us, fully convinced me not to record ANY of the event because his suggestions, and was just so cool. Tossing down the mike was just the icing on the already delicious cake.

After that, we made interesting detours (of course we weren’t lost!) around downtown-ish Austin trying to get back to our hotel. (we would end up making a lot of those on this trip) It was a cool night and we saw a lot of sights, but we were kind of pooped afterwards. We had to quit playing Taboo and watching youtube vids. Tomorrow we were gonna be up for quite awhile…..

I'm going to call this, "Title"

The more of life I begin to see, the more I don’t want to necessarily be a part of it. Not in a “give me awesomeness or give me death!” kind of way, but I think it’s like a separate-from-it kind of way. I don’t know if you’ll get what I’m saying so I’ll try some examples. There’s this spot way out where I like to hang out. There’s a neighborhood on the edge of street and the sun sets with the city right behind the line of houses. Sometimes when I just sit there, I see cars coming out of driveways or around the curve of the road and I wonder where they’re going. Maybe they went to pick up something at the store, or are picking up their kids, or maybe they’re going to meet some friends. I imagine them in their cars in their own little 4-wheel subcompact world speeding off to the next appointment on the planner. When I see the same cars come back, it just solidifies in my mind that they did go on some necessary trek to further their life. They got that gallon of milk, they got the kids waiting impatiently on the curb at school, and the party was fun. Everything was great and it worked out. But you can only see that from the outside. That woman or guy in the car is only thinking about that destination, that met goal, or that planned function. Nothing else really matters because it is so necessary to complete that task in order to keep going with the flow of his or her little square of universe. For some reason, I want out. It’s like bouncing in between a line segment with the two ends keeping that infinite ray in place. Or like running madly on a hamster wheel and being in the same place. Or traveling around the world in 80 days and ending right back where you started. It’s a loop, a small bubble, and a box. This all sounds silly, I know, because there’s no way to “get out” of the world. I didn’t want to be an escapist, but it looks like the only way to see what's really going on is to be outside of it. Do you ever truly go anywhere inside of a glass ball? I don’t see how you can. Can you go anywhere else? I wonder too if there is an anywhere else. I don’t know, I just like looking. Being that dude leaning over the fish tank at the all the little fishies swimming, their brains concentrating on getting to the other end of the glass wall enclosing their watery home. Eh, I don’t know if it’s even possible to get out. It’s all one big box. And that’s disappointing.

And what’s frustrating too is that I wonder if God made me this way for a reason…

-J-J-J-Jaychoc! (yo)