Wow, it's been a while! I finally got my own website!

http://alanabar.com !!!!!

It's still under development, but visit it anyways!

Now I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate my blog to my site!

Buzzed!

Last night Olivia and I went to Rawhide, in San Fransisco to party hard! Since it's the last time we both can go before she leaves for New York, let's just say we drank 1 too many drinks! And boy, is my head paying for it now! I was so buzzed last night, it's not even funny!!!!

But overall , it was pretty cool last night. A lot of familar faces were in the crowd, and a lot of Rawhide regulars attended. It was just cool hanging out with everyone, taking some shots, mingling, dancing...the usual clubbing stuff. A bunch of Olivia's good friends were there, and actually two of my SCU friends, Rex and Darren came by. So that was cool for me to have a few of my friends in the mix. But because of that, i had to take a few more shots / drinks than usual, cuz we all took turns getting rounds. And these two guys can drink as if they were drinking water!

Olivia had quite a few shots last night, and after the club...well, let's just say my car was okay. No evidence was left behind. =) But we actually stayed in the car for at least an hour before attempting to drive back home. After one block, I had to pull over and take a break. My head was starting to hurt, and I didn't want to get into any trouble, so we pulled over again. After another half hour or so, and after yaking a few more times, we headed back home. While I was driving, I was trying to recite the alphabet backwards, to see if I was competent enough a driver. Fortunately I was ok...until we got to Olivia's house.

Well, I did yak a few times in the bathroom. It was not a pleasant thing. That's probably one of the worst things a person does to themselves, all for a good time. Everytime this happens, I say to myself that I'll never let that happen to me again! Ever. But same old story goes. I hate drinking. Period.

I hope Olivia is doing okay, because she possibly had more to drink last night. And she was not holding it in too well. That's okay bubbah, you need to get that out of your system somehow. I'm just glad we didn't sleep in the car...but that's a whole other story!!!!

When I got to work, I was not feeling too well. The effects of a hangover I assume. I had to go to the restroom the do my thing, and luckily no one was there! But this time I worshiped the porcelin shrine! On my knees. Makes me sick thinking about it!

I hate alcohol. No more for me.

I ate KFC for lunch today. And I'm feeling a lot better. KFC makes the world a better place! Finger licking good!

ok...enough for now!

BTW - I love Olivia Tuason!

Another Day, Another Dollar
Work. Just another day, another dollar. Work has been pretty normal. Not too busy, not too slow. Just normal. Our release has been postponed several time, due to a Web Logic upgrade we're trying to have completed. But our team keeps running into issues, that we can't get our software out the door! Hopefully we can release it soon, so we can move on to newer things! Well, I'm just glad to have a job!

Lunch Time
For lunch today, I had a Shrimp Flavored noodle bowl...the ones you get from an asian market. Very salty! It's says no MSG, but what asian item does not have msg. I could just smell it as I opened 5 diferrent seaoning packets. It's actually pretty good, but I'm sure its' not very healthy! It does beat Top Ramon any day!

On my way to work, I also grabbed a Mango Juice can from the kitchen. My mom both about 2 dozen of these drinks, and I must say they're great! I really does taste like fresh sqeezed mango juice! It wasn't too thick or thin, but had just the right texture! I'm craving another one now!

Acura MDX
I was just looking at the balance on my car...and boy, do I have a long way to go! I want to finish paying it off soon, because I hate having a debt lingering over my head. I also hate paying taxes! Maybe next week I'll pay a large chunk of it off to speed up the process.

Boogie on Down
Today is also the last thursday of the month. That means clubbing at Rawhide in San Francisco. Every last thursday Olivia and I go to a party called "Word" thrown by Massive Selector. A few of Olivia's friends throw the party, so they usually hook up with the guestlist. 90% of the time we never have to pay!

So tonight we're going to dance dance dance! And of course drink drink drink. I like the place, pretty relax and chill. You always see a familiar face. I invited a few of my scu friends, so hopefully they can make it out as well!

That's it for now.

Old Coworkers
Today after work, I visited one of my old coworkers from Nortel Networks, Hephzi. It's been well over a year since I last saw her, and within that time, she bought a new house and had a little baby girl, running around at 14 months old! Her daughter was so adorable and cute, with little earrings in her ears. I felt so surprised how big she was. A lot can happen in such little time!

It's always nice to see people of the past, and to be able to continue where you left off. It felt like the good old days in Nortel. We reminised about the work we did, the IMAS DSLAM we worked on, our old team mates we liked and hated, our manager that we first hated but learned to appreciate, the free lunches Nortel provided, the free vending machines, and sadly the layoffs we all experienced. We felt sad thinking about our experience in Nortel, and we both started to miss it. Well, I started to miss it.

I loved working for Nortel, and I had a wonderful time working there. I learned a lot, the environment fit me well, the people were great, the pay was superb, and the food was delicious. The employees were spoiled, and we all got a taste of the Silicon Valley boom! Then it all turned around and upside down. We got laid off!

Hephzi left Nortel for maternity leave before the downsizing and eventual shut down of our division, so she missed the last few weeks and days we were there. I still remember working with her, and can remember the engineering lab where we did our work. It brings back memories of the good times, and the people we met along the way. Hephzi gave me some updates of other former coworkers. Some have moved back to Canada, to start fresh. Another got a divorce with his wife, followed by another layoff. One is doing well, at his new job. And another member of our group is looking for a job. Hephzi keeps in touch with them every now and then, and I'm glad we keep in touch! It was also nice to see her baby she carried around Nortel, the first time I worked with her and the last time I saw her at her going away lunch.

I also told her about our other coworkers who passed away, Carlos Santos. She was really surprised to hear that, and I told her what I knew. He passed away a few months ago, doing what he loved...running. He was a great guy, very friendly and helpful. Very unfortunately he passed away!

But yeah, visited my old former coworker today. I should try to keep with touch with my other coworkers...cuz it's always nice to keep in touch!

Giants won today! Finally. The day I don't go...they win! At least Olivia saw a great game tonight!

It was him!
Also yesterday at the game, I thought I saw one of my highschool friends. "Hey, that guys over there in the orange jersey looks like Charles!", I said to Olivia. "No, he looks too young and bigger than charles!" Well, after chatting with Charles on AIM, it was defiintely him. I asked him what he did last night, and he said Giants game. I asked him what he wore, and he said orange jersey. He sat in section 141, and we sat in 143. Charles said "Does Olivia even know what I look like? You should of said hi!" Well, maybe next time!

ok..enough for today!

Giants Defeated Again!
Yesterday Olivia and I went to PacBall Park again, to see the Giant's play against the Cardinals. Olivia bought a bunch of tickets from eBay for dirt cheap, so we had tickets for 2 games for this St. Louis series. On our way to the park, we heard our names from a far. It was Judy and her boyfriend Alex. They were there to watch the game, too. So we walked towards the park together. We saw them 3 times in the past 4 days! I think they're stalking us. jk

Well, can't say too much about the game. All I can say is that we left early. Not once the entire time we've watch the Giants play, have we ever left the game early! The reason why...we were losing...horribly! The score was 4 to 0, and the Giants just couldn't score anyone in scoring position. Tom Goodwin played extremely well, getting on base several times, and stealing bases, too! He was awesome. Other than him, everyone played poorly. Bonds, Kent, and Sanders didn't play...which was a reason we lost. This game dropped us down to third place in the west! That sucks...but we're still in the race! Go Giant's.

Yes, I'm a Giant's fan, and so is my girlfriend. We just love baseball, and watching the Giants. We got some churros, nachos, and hotdogs yesterday...and I ate most of it! Olivia didn't help me kill the nachos..punk! I had to finish it, and I was so stuffed! I'm such a pig these days, I need to stop eating. I'm a big boy now!

BBQ Pictures
Oh yeah, Gary Cruz posted the pictures he took at our Annual "Get Your Grub On BBQ" on his website. Check them out! He took really great pictures! Thanks for sharing Gary!

Olivia also developed the pics from her camera. Those will be shared once they're scanned! Great pictures, too!

Say Hey!
Yesterday Olivia and went to watch the best team in all of baseball...the San Francisco Giants! Yes, they are the best, and are going to win the World Series this year! We got Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, JT Snow, Rich Aurilia, Benito Santiago, Shinjo, Tom Goodwin, Rob Nen...you name it! We have an All-Star team!

Unfortunately, the Giant's lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3. It was a long game, almost 4 hours! The Carninals scored 2 runs in the ninth, to win the game! It was a horrible game, terrible! Any game that the Giants lose is horrible! But we're still in the race for the division title! I just hope we go to the playoffs!

But it was a fun game. Cold, very cold! We also saw the most random person at the game...Shirly Chen! Yes, she was their with her co-workers, who appeared to have left her there, towards the end. Hope she got a ride home!

We also sat next to this pretty comedic and vulgar guy. When we first got there, he was sitting in our seats with his wife. They offered us their seats, just 2 seats in, but we preferred the aisle seats. Then it started there...the non-stop jokes and crude humor. This guy was actually a funny guy, at some points. He's from Albany, right by Berkeley. He'll also be there for Tuesday game, same as us...so we'll see him again.

Ok...break time! BRB soon.

1st Blog Ever
Wow, so this is blogging! I've heard so much about this latest craze, a new phenomena of journal entry. Well, it may have been around for a while, but it's definitely new to me. I've heard from friends and family about blogging, that I was curious enough to try it out. Let's see how it goes, and how long I will actually continue to blog!

I don't really know what to say for my first entry. How about the date? It's Sunday, July 21, 2002, 9:41pm. Maybe I don't need to state this...it may be timestamped automatically. Anyways, I'm at home in Union City. I just finished soaking my sore feet in one of those feet massagers that vibrate. My girlfriend and I just had a wonderful weekend, pretty busy, active, and so much fun.

Get Your Grub On BBQ/ Picnic Competitions


It started Saturday, when we threw our 3rd Annual "Get Your Grub On BBQ / Picnic Competition". It's an event that we host every year, where we invite all our friends and family for a fun filled day, under the sun, to grub on some delicious bbq and compete in organzied picnic games! We have a great turnout of around 45 people, and the weather was just fabulous. We prepared a lot of bbq, such as BBQ Sticks, BBQ Chicken, Korean BBQ, pasta, hotdogs, corn, desserts, you name it! The picnic was held at Coyote Point picnic, in San Mateo...same place we held it last year. We had a good time, and hope all our friends did, too!

SF Aids Walk
And today, we walked 10K (6.2 miles) for the Annual Aids Walk in San Francisco. It was a great day, and a very large turnout! So many supporters for the cure of Aids. Olivia and I joined my company's team, Covad, and we wore the Covad T-Shirts given to us. But boy oh boy, are my feet sore. Hence the reason I soaked my feet! My feet has been non-stop this entire weekend, esp. after the BBQ, they were really sore. So adding 10k more walking, really took its toll on my feet! Now it hurts when I stand, and I can barely walk up and down the stairs without say "Ouch" every step of the way!

Well, hopefully it'll heal....feet usually do!

I think I need new shoes.

Anyways, I'm tired now of blogging. Time to post and figure how to do so! We'll see if you hear from me again!