My throat really hurts now. I feel like someone karate chopped me in my bronchial tube.

Woke up with a sore throat on Wednesday but went for beers w/ my project group anyway. Good idea? Probably not. Ran into some other ICS-ers while we were there so we hung out until closing time. One last call for alcohol...

Woke up on Thursday with a fever. Spent most of my Thanksgiving asleep. And here I am. Have not set foot outisde of the house since coming back Wednesday night. This is the first time in a long time that I have not gotten up early to duke it out at the mall with all of the other after-Thanksgiving shoppers. Figured I wasn't in the best shape to deal with crowds. Am feeling better though. Think I might go to Starbucks after dinner tonight to work on a paper.

Low key weekend. Catching up on sleep. Let me know if you're into having a low-key Saturday ;P

Teammates want to go to the pub this afternoon. 3PM drinking? Oh dear.

I have a remarkable number of photos from ICS125. Strange.

April: Dammit! Do you think I could stick it in the back? Maybe I should stop trying to stick things where they don't belong.

Patron: Excuse me, do you know where I could get change?

Me: Third floor copy center.

Patron: What floor is that on?

Morning After

It was hell trying to wake up in the morning...but I bet it was even more so for April =X We woke up at nine-something since we had to check out by 11. I think we (the girls) were up earlier than the guys so we were able to get our stuff packed and room cleaned before they were. I remember going with somebody (April? Xinlei? Both?) to go help them clean up. There were bottles, cups, and Chex mix all over the place (Andy?).

After checking out we went down to the cars to wait and figure out where we were going. We (or they) decided to go to the World Buffet at Rio. We made it a couple of blocks towards the hotel before Xinlei realized that she didn't have her cell phone, so we went back to the room to go get it. Consequently, the guys got there before we did and held a place in line for the rest of us :)

Photos

Row 2 (L to R): 1. april doing steph a favor 2. xinlei and maria 3. me and xinlei

Champagne Brunch

Brunch was...interesting. In short, it involved a lot of crab legs (which Ray ate about a thousand of) too much champagne (clearly) mimosas (darn Christy for making the champagne taste better...!) and a lot of weird stuff that made everyone in the restaurant stare at us =0 I was pretty tipsy so I probably didn't realize exactly how crazy we were getting, but yeah, in a couple of Xinlei's photos you can see people in the background watching us.

I have nothing more to say. Go look at the pictures.

Photos

Row 4 (L to R): 1. toasting myself?

Post-Brunch

After brunch we hung around outside for a while and then headed over to the casino. We all went to the craps table. I know Aaron and Brian were playing...but I don't really remember who else =\ I know Steph was our first shooter and she did really well. I think I was the shooter very briefly but I was terrible. I was so tipsy (and sleepy) that I couldn't even hold myself up (Steph was holding me up SORRY SWEETIE) let alone throw the dice. The pit boss kept asking "Is she okay? Does she need to sit down?" and all that time I was thinking "WTF IS HE TALKING ABOUT I'M FINE" but in retrospect I probably looked pretty awful =\

After they were done with craps we were going to leave the casino and go somewhere else or something but Steph had to catch a flight from Burbank and had to go (:() so the we split off (Steve, Ray, Huntz and Steph had to go) after a very prolonged goodbye.

The rest of us were about to leave but we got temporarily distracted by some boat looking thing circling the casino ceiling. There were people in it throwing Rio beads so we stood there and screamed until they threw some at us.

And then we got carded...heheh.

Anyway, we finally left the casino (after some good elevator action photos) and headed over to state line. Maria, April, Andy and Brian were in one car and Christy, Xinlei, Aaron and I were in the other. I was no fun and fell asleep as soon as we got into the car but during the trip over someone called Aaron to tell him that there was some crazy 360 degree steamy action going on in the other car =0

I think it was right after that phone call that I woke up and panicked when I realized that I was in charge of the next phase of our project and had not scheduled our next project meeting...so I called Lam (even though I still had my champagne buzz) to try and arrange a meeting. Turns out Nikhil had spontaneously taken off to San Fransisco that same weekend (thanks to my encouragement...;D) so we ended up not meeting that night...surprise surprise.

Fell asleep again and didn't wake up until we got to state line. I woke up when we got to a gas station near the casino. I was sober by that time.

We all met up at the casino and gambled a little bit. We all played a little craps and the guys went off to play blackjack and poker...or whatever...right. We planned on leaving at five but the guys, April and Maria all got bitten by the gambling bug and wound up staying until much later. The three of us (Xinlei, Christy and I) went home as planned.

Again, I slept a good chunk of the way home so I missed some stuff...including our near-death experience. We stopped off at a gas station in Barstow to get some snacks and I think that something funny/strange/annoying involving a little kid (or multiple little kids?) happened there when we were waiting to use the restroom or were in line for the cash register but...err...I forgot.

So why did I even mention it, right? =P

Anyway, we got home, unloaded, unpacked, Xinlei and I went to In n Out, the other car came back and dropped off April and Maria, aaand that's the end!

Photos

Row 4 (L to R): 1. superelevatoraction! 2. BEST PICTURE EVER!!!

Thanks for everything guys :) Christy for driving, everyone for all of the booze (I can't match all of my drinks to faces becaaauuuuse right...) and to super Xinlei for the photos :D So yeah you can thank her for all of the photos w/o a timestamp on them. Those are hers.

Nikhil: (Looking at my blog) Is this you?

Me: Yeah, why?

Nikhil: You look different.

Me: I do?

Nikhil: Yes you look...attractive.

Me: Oh what?

Thanks Nik thanks I see how it is :(

Hahah....I know he didn't mean it that way. He's doing EAP from New Zealand and he says a lot of weird things like "petrol" and "zed" and "liter" and I know he doesn't mean those things either.

;)

Everybody one two step...

Yes, the concept is old news by now but I haven't had much of a chance to post random crap lately. Actually, I've been too lazy. Same thing.

I have two quizzes tomorrow. I had the entire day off today (well, kind of since I have to work from 5-11 which is why I'm here now) and wasted most of it doing who-knows-what =\ I was also up until five am last night/this morning which was great esp considering the fact that at one am I was so tired I could barely drive. I have my first official alcohol-induced mystery bruise on my arm and I really have no idea where it came from...

I just re-read the entry before this one and realized that there were a helluva lot of question marks in it.

So Aaron said that he witnessed the whole Maria-pulling-my-top-down-with-her-face incident at Rain and claims that no, I did not flash everyone. Whether that is true or not I have no idea but I've decided to just take his word for it and breathe a little easier.

Just one more installment of Vegas pics...

...until Vegas Pt. II in December...=0 Happy 22nd birthday Maria...(in December, that is...!)

Pre-Club

So right. Christylicious and I went back to the hotel Saturday afternoon and although I tried really really hard not to, I fell asleep in the car. I'm sorry Christy :( Traffic was terrible and I think it ended up taking us about thirty minutes to get back.

I went to sleep right away and woke up an hour later feeling a thousand times better. I really needed sleep, plus by then the rum had worn off. This was the first moment of clarity I'd had in quite a while.

Christy and I hung out and talked for a while. April called and told us that she was going to pick up food for us since we weren't going to get a chance to go eat. Five (or four?) of the guys came back at around seven or eight. Everyone else got back about 20 minutes later (I think). They had brought back sandwiches for me and Christy.

So we got ready to head out. Kind of. Aaron was giving head massages and April and Steph were giving other kinds of massages (;D). Christy played hairstylist for Maria and Brian (a.k.a. the supermodel a.k.a. my twin?) I borrowed Maria's belt and necklace and Xinlei borrowed my shirt and Maria's shoes because Maria is just badass like that.

We pre-partied again in the guys' room. This time with some sort of honey jager (I only got a little bit because I think Huntz was drinking from the bottle) and a couple of partial shots of regular jager.

And theeeen....we left for Hard Rock.

Photos

The Club

We headed over to the clubs in three cabs. I think I rode with Ray and Steve aaand yeah I was feeling it. All I really remember was the Blue Man Group advertisement that kept playing over and over again on the monitor in the back.

Well, we made it over to the Hard Rock Cafe where the line was toooo long. Not only was it too long, but it was NOT MOVING. So we left. Well, we left after peeling Maria off of the slot machine she was falling asleep on. We divided ourselves up between three cabs again and headed over to Rain at the Palms. The line there was long too, but somehow it moved a lot faster. Aaron, April and I went in search of a bar that was uncrowded enough to get a drink at but before we knew it our group was at the front of the line. Christy left with Huntz because Huntz was pretty sick (too much jager).

$20 later and we were in a very crowded club. The first thing I remember was going straight to the bar to get my White Russian (Xinlei had a tequila shot...!). The next thing I remember was dancing with Maria who I swear pulled my top down (damn shirt :() with her face but I'm not sure how far she pulled it down because I pulled it back up right away and I'm just hoping hoping hoping that I did not flash everyone Janet Jackson-style :( Wardrobe malfunction...I'm sorry.

After that...I remember dancing a lot. Realized that most of our group had disappeared and then I think Brian carried me outside? Found some of our group out there so we hung out for a while...I think...? I think I was sobering up a little bit because it was so cold, but then we went back in and went for the bar again. I got water but ended up drinking some of Brian's Long Island Iced Tea which I didn't even like but drank anyway (do I have a drinking problem...?) and then danced with Xinlei for a very long time and ended up spilling water all over the place and it seems that there were some girls who were talking about us (me and Xinlei?) when we were dancing and Xinlei yelled at them for it (she's a very aggressive drunk) but I don't remember any of that. Right on.

Steve and Maria came up to us to tell us they were going to leave (Maria was pretty sober by now) so we decided to go outside and look for everyone else. We hung out by the pool while we waited for the rest of our group to turn up somewhere. I don't even remember who was where at this point...=\ Maybe I was more buzzed than I thought? Anyway, everyone turned up and we congregated at one end of the pool. I think Andy suggested getting another drink and he carried me over to the outdoor bar. I got a Midori Sour. We all tried the cherry stem in a knot thing but Andy was the only one who got it. It was at around this point (I think?) that I learned that Xinlei had punched some guy in the liver because he was hitting on her. Do NOT mess with this girl...!

Someone ordered a round of shots. I wanted to try a little bit so I poured a little of one of the shots into a cup. It was cold and at first taste I thought they were trying to trick me with water (we did that on April's birthday...she asked for vodka, we gave her water, she didn't know the difference) but then I felt a little burn at the end. Turns out, it was Grey Goose. Good stuff.

Realized it was still early (not long past 2) so we went back in to dance until 3-something when Xinlei and I realized that we were about to collapse.

Went back to the hotel in two taxis. Went to the guys' room (Christy and Maria were both sleeping in ours) and hung out. Andy ate Chex Mix off of the floor and sexually assaulted the other guys. The guys (and Xinlei) fell asleep and April, Steph and I stayed up and talked...among other things =x Steph "surprised" April who gasped, fell off the bed, woke up Aaron who turned over and knocked a hair dryer onto April (who was on the floor). I almost died laughing.

Somewhere during this time I heard my phone ring. It was freakin' McDonalds calling for Lupe and man oh man was I mad.

Umm...I went to go take a shower and then got ready for bed. Steph, April and Xinlei came in around this time. April and I took the air mattress while Xinlei and Steph took the other double bed. April fell asleep so freakin' fast I couldn't believe it.

Right.

Photos