A much-delayed trip report

This was totally not prompted by another trip report posted elsewhere

I met relsqui and testing4l on Friday afternoon at San Francisco airport, where they were picking me up from even though they don't actually live in SF. We had a nice time overall, eating at several different restaurants (a Jewish deli, a real Chinese restaurant, Pizz'a Chicago and a Mongolian BBQ - twice!), and I really enjoyed hanging out with them and having fun together. :)

I played Guitar Hero and Gran Turismo at their place, and although I didn't exactly do well in either game, I did enjoy myself lots. :) I also watched testing4l play Okami and Tony Hawk and he seems to be quite good at both.

The highlight of the visit was going to an impromptu "game night" that a friend of theirs organized, and I learnt a few things there:
- I definitely can't sing country music at all without failing totally.
- There are actually people who can sing country songs well, and perhaps more scarily actually know most of the songs featured in Karaoke Revolution Country.
- Somehow, I seem to do much better at singing songs featured on American Idol
- Karaoke Revolution is very addictive~ And a very good way of breaking the ice, even when I totally fail at singing country duets and the person I was singing with looked more and more embarrassed ^^;;;

[Edit: I totally forgot to mention TheTech Museum! >_< It was made of awesome and win, both for all the exhibits - how often do you get a chance to design a car starter, especially one that starts the car when the door is open? And whacking spam (literally) has such a therapeutic effect~ - and for the loads of fun I had there (including being in an 'earthquake', playing with lots of coloured foam tubes, and lots of other stuff). The IMAX movie we watched ("The Human Body") was also jaw-droppingly awesome, and I would totally go back to TheTech again just for the IMAX experience. XD I also bought several shirts and other things to remind me of my visit and to wear when I run out of clothes.]

( Photos while I was there! )

I wish I had been able to stay longer, so that I could have seen more of California, spent more time with them and their cats, and even gone for a ride in the famous MR2. But it was still a good experience. :)

There was a minor scare at the airport when I thought I'd left my cellphone in their van, but it turned out that it was actually in a pocket of my bag. *embarrassed laugh* One unexpected benefit was that I got an exit row seat because there were three passengers on my flight who were willing to give up their seats and take a later flight...

I got home at around 1:15 am on Tuesday morning and promptly crashed in bed. XD

On Wednesday, there was a Korean documentary, 송환 (Repatriation), that marked the end of Korean movie screenings for this quarter and which I went for even though I was probably the only student in the audience.

( More about the documentary )

I hope that I'll be able to take Korean classes again next quarter. ^^;; And in other news, I'm going to be playing in a cricket match on Saturday. o_o

This was totally worth having my manager drive me back home for 20 minutes

I am a very, very happy and grateful person today~ ♥

*hugs two very special friends* Thank you both so much!

I totally can't play this piece ^^;;

Edit: Not just today, but the last two weeks, especially receiving the Package (tm)... grue and Espada, thank you both so much too! ♥ *hugs*