Friday

• Went to Claudine's BBQ.
• Later on in the night, the guys started a poker game
• Relocated the game to the Torrance House.

Saturday

• Esther came over and we met up with Shane at the AMC in Rolling Hills.   (watched "Peaceful Warrior" and "TMNT")
• After the movies, we picked up dinner from L & L and then met up with everyone at PV Bowl.
• Once bowling was over, we went to this boba place for a bit and then went to Wayne's.

Thursday-Sunday

We're back from Vegas.   Here are a few highlights.

• Had a free buffet at the Las Vegas club
• Placed 4th in a poker tournament at the Fitz.
• Met up with Jen and Wayne on Saturday.  Also met up Jen's friends.

Overall, I think I lost a little bit but it was fun.

Friday

• Just me today (Esther stayed home)
• Went to Wayne's and hung out for a bit with everyone.

Saturday and Sunday

(Since Esther's mother's friend was visiting from NYC for a couple weeks, we decided to take her and Esther's mom to Las Vegas since she had never been there.  This was a total spur of the moment thing and we really weren't 100% sure if we were going until Friday. )

• Checked in at the Cal around 6
• Went to the strip for dinner.  We ate at the Aladdin Buffet.
• After we finished, we walked along the strip for a bit before going back to Downtown.
• We checked out the Fremont Experience show and did some gambling (Esther hit a full house playing "Let It Ride".)
• Esther and I went up to the room around 3 but Esther's mom and her friend stayed down to gamble.
• We checked out at 12 and stopped at Primm to check out the outlets before going home

Happy New Year everyone (I still need to think about my New Years resolutions)

New Years Eve

• Esther and I went my parents to Kincaids for our yearly NYE dinner.
• After we ate, Esther and I went to my friend's (ex co-worker from ING) party.   We hung out for a bit and went to Wayne's.
• After the countdown, we played Cranium with everyone and called it a night.

New Years

• I picked up Esther and we went back to my place for our family's annual potluck.
• We left around 7 and went to her aunt's potluck

Merry Christmas!

Friday

• Esther brought over mochi soup and we had it for dinner with my parents
• After we ate, we dropped off some presents in Gardena to a family that was chosen by Children's Hospital (the place where Esther works).  I'm not sure exactly what it's all about, but I think every year, under privileged families(a family member needs to be a patient of the hospital) get chosen to receive presents from the hospital.
• Once we dropped the present's off, we watched "Fearless" and called it an early night.

Saturday

• Esther and I went to the Howard Hughes center and ate at Kabuki's.
• Went to the Bridge and watched "A Night in the Museum" in the IMAX theater.  The movie itself was okay but the IMAX theater made it more enjoyable.
• After the movie, we went to Shane's and hung out for a bit.

Sunday

• I wasn't feeling too well so I stayed home most of the day.
• In the evening, I went to Esther's aunt's house for a Christmas eve dinner.

Monday

• Merry Christmas everyone.
• So far: I had breakfast with my family and my grandmother, opened presents, and slept.

I'm back from Vegas.   Here are some of the highlights (in no particular order):

• Saw Ka at the MGM.   Very good show.
• We walked from the MGM down to the Wynn and back.   That was really tiring.
• There was a suicide attempt right near Union Plaza.   Some dude climbed up on the Fremont Experience and just chilled up there.   I'm not sure how it ended .
• Esther and I played Blackjack for the first time.
• Esther hit a Royal Flush in Pai-Gow (suprisingly the pay off is not that much).
• It was super cold.

I lost about two hundo (interestingly enough, it was Blackjack and Craps that saved me from going broke) but it was fun.

Friday

• Esther came over and we picked up dinner at Pick Up Stix.
• After dinner, we went to Wayne's for a few hours.

Saturday

• Esther and I went to Peter's parents house to get directions to their other house in Hawthorne.
• Went to eat lunch.  After we ate, Esther went to go watch a movie. I went to the Hawthorne house to help fix it up.  Chris, Mike, and Vivian's sister's boyfriend was also there.
• We stopped around 5:30-6.  I went home and waited for Esther.
• Once she came over, we went to eat at Kabuki's.
• On the way home, it poured like a son of a gun.
• Once we got back home, we watched KROQ's Accoustic Christmas via the web.

Vegas baby!   Esther and I will heading out to Vegas on Thursday.

Wednesday

• Went over to Wayne's and played foosball
• Around 11, Shane, Wayne and I went to the Torrance house and played poker with the guys.

Thursday

• Went to my aunt's house in Ventura for Thanksgiving.
• Got home around 9ish.  Esther came over around midnight since we were planning to wake up at 4 to make some purchases.

Friday

• We left the house around 4:30 in the morning and went to OfficeMax since I wanted to get a leather chair and an external hard drive.  After I got what I wanted, we went to Staples for Esther.   
• After we finished making our purchases, we ate breakfast at Denny's.  Once we finished eating, we went to my house and slept.
• Ate at Kai's (the sushi place at the Torrance crossroads) and then went to Wayne's for a bit.   
• Around 11:30, Esther went home and I went to the Torrance house again to play poker with the guys

Saturday

• In the morning, my family, my grandparents (father's side), and my aunt's family took a family portrait.
• After the picture, I went home and slept much longer than I anticipated (I guess the lack of sleep from night before caught up to me)
• I picked up Esther around 6ish and went to Hurry Curry for dinner.  Once we finished eating, we watched some tv at my house.
• Around 9, we went to Shane's and played poker with Shane, Charles, and most of the Torrance house guys.  Actually, I played and Esther watched tv.

Friday

• Esther came over and we had Guiliano sandwiches for dinner.
• After we ate, we met up with Dave, Shane and Wayne at Hollywood Park.
• After that, Esther went home.  I went to Wayne's and hung out with everyone for a few hours.

Saturday

• Around 7, I picked up Esther and we had diner at Sam Woo's
• After dinner, I dropped her off and went to Spundae for Mike's birthday.
• Once I got there, Mike and Chris showed up 20 minutes later.
• I left about 30 minutes into Blank and Jones' set

Friday

• Esther came over and we met up with Jen, Wayne and Shyan at Lucille's for dinner.
• After we ate,  we went to Wayne's and hung out for a few hours.

Saturday

• Esther and I picked up some food at Nijiya for lunch.
• Esther left around 3ish and I went to the Otani Hotel for my cousin's wedding.  The ceremony was in the garden area and the reception was in the banquet hall.   It was a nice wedding and I'm happy for my cousin and her new husband.  

Friday

• Esther came over and we went to eat dinner at Koji's.
• After dinner, we went to Shane's and hung out for a few hours.

Saturday

Went to Charles' around 5:30.   From there, we picked up Harris and went to our 10 year HS reunion.  It was at Harbor Drive.    It was pretty cool running into people I haven't been since high school.   I even talked to people I didn't know that well.   Overall, it was fun and I'm glad I went.

Friday

• Esther stayed home today.
• After dinner, I went to Wayne's and played foosball with Jen, Wayne, Shane and Charles.

Saturday

• I picked up Esther and we had dinner at Burnt Tortilla
• Once we finished eating, we went to Wayne's for a few hours.
• After we left Wayne's, we went to the Evangelista's for a bit to hang out (Mike had called me earlier to let me know that Eric was over.)

Sunday

• Esther, Charles, Shane and I went to the last Dodger home game of the season.  The game came to a conclusion with a walk-off  grandslam by Nomar Garciaparra.

• After the game, we went to Starbucks for a bit and then had dinner at Hop Li.

Friday

• Esther came over and we had dinner at Onami's.
• Went to Wayne's and hung out for a few hours.

Saturday

• Went to Benihana's with my family and Esther for a belated birthday dinner
• After we ate, Esther and I went to Chris' to hang out with Chris, Mike, Joseph, Eddie, Glenn and Eric.   I haven't seen Eric in ages.

Sunday

• For lunch, Esther and I went to this restaurant in Marina Del Rey that serves really good bread.

Friday

• Esther came over and we went to eat at Mika's Sushi
• Afterward, we went to Jen's and hung out for a few hours before calling it a night

Saturday

• Esther and I went to Shane's around 10:30 in the morning and he drove Jen, Wayne, Esther and I to Irvine so we could help Mimi move.   I drove Mimi's car to SD since she had to drive it back up at night.
• Once we loaded up the U-Haul, we ate lunch and then headed to San Diego.
• After we unloaded everything at her new place, we dropped off the U-Haul and went to Barona's.
• We had dinner there and then gambled for a bit.   Mimi left after a little bit since she was tired. Once we finished gambling, Shane drove Jen, Wayne, Esther and I back to Torrance.

Sunday

• Esther and I went to Kabuki's for sushi.
• Went to the Gardena Obon and picked up some food.

I'm back from Vegas.    It was very hot but very fun.

Friday

• Esther and I arrived at our hotel (California) around 4:30 and checked in. 
• Ate at the Main Street buffet and then went to El Cortez to meet up with Jen, Wayne, Shane and Dave.
• Gambled for a bit and then went to the other various casinos in downtown and gambled.  
• Before calling it a night, Dave, Shane, Esther and I had a late night snack at the Las Vegas Club.

Saturday

• Esther and I picked up lunch and brought it back up to the room to eat.  
• We met up with everyone at Union Plaza around 3 and Shane, Wayne and I entered a $35 sit-and-go.    None of us won but I had a good time.  I just wasn't getting or catching cards.   
• Afterward, we all gambled for a bit and decided to eat dinner at California since they have a $6.99 prime rib special
• Gambled a bit more. I tried craps for the 2nd time in my life and did fairly decent.  

Sunday

• Checked out and ate a brunch buffet at Main street.
• Went to Primm and did a little shopping before going home.
• Traffic sucked and it rained!     It perplexes me that it can rain while it's over 100 degrees.  

Like I said earlier, I had a lot of fun.   It was really hot (usually about 110 during the day) and I lost way more than I won, but hanging out with everyone for the entire weekend made the trip enjoyable.