one vietnam

Check out this video for One Vietnam that I helped film!!  One Vietnam is an organization my friend help found to help connect Vietnamese organizations together and form an online global network for Vietnamese communities to collectively help Vietnam.

We filmed this looooong ago, on Halloween day.  It was extremely tiring.  I woke up at 6 to get my hair and makeup done with the other girls (but i think it was really that necessary since we didn't film until the end of the day and had to retouch our makeup on our own anyhow X_X )  And then the bay bridge was closed that weekend, so to get to sf we had to drive around through the Richmond bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.  We drove all around sf. First stop was somewhere in the financial district to get the shot of the construction worker playng the trumpet. Then we walked up the street to film the businessman w/ the clarinet.  Then drove up the street to Nob Hill and filmed my friend Mai as a schoolteacher w/ the violin.  Then we went up the hills, it was so long ago, I forgot the name of the location, and filmed the conductor and filmed us all meeting (which wasnt used), and then everyone left, and it was just me and jenny left to film at the Embarcadero.  Jenny was supposed to be Betty Nguyen? Playing flute, and I'm a doctor with the cello. I was supposed to film at the Palace of Fine Arts, and that would have been really cool, but there was no time :( And we finally came back home to Berkeley 6 that day.  And then I had to get ready for some Halloween partying!! lol

After all of that hard work, I'm absolutely thrilled to finally get to see this video.  It's shorter than it was supposed to be, but it still looks absolutely awesome!  Btw, Uyen and Huy, the founders of One Vietnam, planned the entire event, and even went out to buy all the instruments!  And none of us knew how to play our respective instruments! LOL  Despite my lack of cello skills, I managed to figure out how to play twinkle twinkle little star at the end of the day :)

life as an alumni

School is over, graduations are done. So what have i been up to?
I spent the entire last week just simply packing my things and bringing them home. I have soo much stuff!! I drove up to Berkeley Tuesday morning just to get started and then drove back the following night after stuffing my car to the max.

And then Thursday was my fattie day!!! Started off with the day by driving to sf with the boyfriend to celebrate our 1 year and 10 months! :) We went to sf to go to Candybar. I've been DYING to try out this place ever since i found out about it on yelp! A bar that serves fruity drinks and pretty desserts? mMmM That's a place for me!! Plus, i had a $35 Groupon that i bought for $15, and to maximize its use, I went during happy hour.
Well first, we stopped by Japantown, since it's nearby and we were early. I HAD to get a crepe from Sophie's Crepes while I was there!! I convinced the boyfriend to eat one with me, even though we didn't have dinner yet and we were going to Candybar, teeheehee :) Well the crepe wasn't as good as I remembered, I think it was because the guy making the crepe touched some ham when he was cooking my crepe and then touched my crepe and my fruits with his hammy hands!! lol O well, the good news is that the more we ate our crepe, the better it tasted! I guess the ice cream made it a little soggy up top.

after Japantown, We drove to Fulton and Divisidero to find parking. We were still early, so we walked to Alamo Park and just sat and watched people walk their dogs. The doggies were soooo cute!! Sat there for about half an hour before finally heading to Candybar, and the first thing we ordered was....

strawberry kiss: sparkling wine, gingerale, frozen strawberry
blood orange cocktail: sparkling wine, blood orange bitters, sugarcube

I liked my strawberry drink much better the his blood orange one. Mine was sweet and yummy.

another view of our drinks

apple a la mode: hazelnut crust, creme cheese filling, caramel, gingerbread ice cream

The first dessert! At first I just thought it was average, I mean apple pie and ice cream? But when I dug deeper into the dish past the apples, mmMm heaven! It was warm and gooey and perfect with ice cream!

buttermilk vanilla-bean panna cotta: balsamic cherry reduction, cherries, cocoa macaroon

The panna cotta was nice and creamy, and the cherries gave it a unique taste. The chocolate macaroon tasted like the crispy edges of a brownie, yum!

passion fruit delight: sparkling wine, passion fruit syrup

Since drinks were only $4 each during happy hour, why not order a second one?? lol. But this drink was just ok, I didn't taste the passion fruit, I like my strawberry drink better.

red velvet cake: cream cheese frosting, coconut, mint ice cream

First off, the mint ice cream tasted like REAL mint leaves, not mint flavoring! so that was pretty interesting. The cake was good, but I'm not a big fan of coconut. I think it could've done well without the coconut!!

All in all, I still really liked Candybar! Drink were yummy, and gave me a nice happy buzz during our drive back to Berkeley :) oh, and their restroom was candlelit and super sexy.
However, one of the reasons I really wanted to go to candybar was to try the Kung Fu Taco Truck!T hey're usually outside Candybar Tues and Thurs, but since it rained, they didn't come out :( o well, another day!

After heading back to Berkeley, the boyfriend and I ate dinner with some friends at Ohgane, my first time there!!

a blurry dish of anchovies X_X

a closer look at the anchovy, which was salty!

kimchi pancake

bulgolgi, YUM!

lemon soju, YUM! and hite beer, bleh :P

little plates of ban-chan, pan-chan? lol! but they didnt have my favorite, the potato things

I forgot what this dish was called, but it was some pretty tasty chicken!

We also had some tofu soup, which i apparently forgot to take a picture of, DOH!

Well that concludes my fatty day last week. and I still have so much to update!

I'm all moved out of Berkeley already, but now I'm trying to recreate the sanctuary that was my room at in Berkeley at home. I also start volunteering again tomorrow, and I need to sign up for summer classes and get my license, argh o much to do!! X_X