Down in Mid-South Bay

Leina went to Charles's birthday dinner this evening at Round Table in Foster City. There were several people there, including one friend who Charles hadn't seen in awhile. Leina intuited that Charles wanted to spend some time with his friend, so without confirming this, she slipped away immediately after the last slice of the pepperoni pizza was spoken for, bidding adieu to all at the early hour of 7:30.

This gave her the opportunity to drive across the peninsula a bit to Burlinghame to visit Noriko and Jun and little Yuto for the first time in awhile (or it would have been, if she hadn't driven down there on Saturday because she had realized that she hadn't seen them in awhile). So she drove over there and played with Yuto, and tried to get Noriko to help her review some Japanese for her Japanese proficiency test which is imminent.

Tacos

Leina, for many months now, has been scheming to purchase her very own carne asada. It is her favorite taqueria filling, and she has yearned to sear one up in her own kitchen, despite her kitchen's lack of a vent for the delicious smoky fumes which would inevitably emerge from the hot beef. She has enquired on numerous occasions to her friends where one could come across a piece of carne asada ("pre-marinated, because I don't want to mess with that part of it") that she could sear up herself. She was averse to actually going to a carneceria in the Mission. At some point last year, Erica pointed her in the direction of Trader Joe's, who had that exact item for sale in their refrigerated section.

Leina, perhaps as a half-hearted way to pay back Charles for the surprise party that he and Erica threw her last month, decided to throw him a semi-surprise party, to be held last night. And she had a great theme: taco night! She bought cheese, salsa, onions, taco seasoning mix, lettuce, tortillas, and ground beef for fillings.

Despite her lack of carne asada, Leina was quite excited about the event. On Thursday, she was trying to figure out if it was too early to shred her cheese. Erica said it was. Could she chop the onions? If she really wanted to.... Brown the ground beef? Maybe not. Leina managed to wait until Saturday afternoon to begin her prep, and by that time Charles was hanging around, so he helped her.

Ten or so of his friends came around, including Nicole Dare and her husband, who were responsible for getting Leina and Charles together in the first place. The tacos were created and then consumed and enjoyed. Mexican beer was drunken as well. Someone brought a Wii, and it was a hit, with partygoers swatting at the air while grasping a white remote/wand. Those who were not playing semi-virtual sports partook in another semi-sport, Texas Hold 'Em. Leina participated in the former, and was pretty good at the tennis thing but not so good at the bowling. But at some point, around 11:00 she became a spectator in both, and a cleaner of the dishes.

Stuck on the Tracks!!!

It has been a tough week for Leina. She is currently cramming Japanese because he boss told her that she'd need to pass the Japanese language proficiency test in order to get hired because of that test score. And then she got stuck on the tracks.

One perk/problem with her current job is that she is often driving around town, making house calls. She usually drives a hot minivan type vehicle with a gold City of San Francisco emblem on the door, but Friday she was in an older Ford Taurus. When she was crossing Market Street, the car just died, exactly on the F-Market line. She panicked. This was right out of the movies! And then the F-Market streetcar started coming. She looked rapidly left, and right! Was she going to have to abandon the vehicle and watch it smashed to smithereens? It was getting closer and closer as she weighed what to do. And she didn't have her driver's license because of some long story (short version: Leina lost her ID on Thursday. Leina is hesitant to carry a purse or a satchel around, and instead prefers a bulging wallet which doesn't fit in her pocket. She often just pulls out her license and sticks it in her back pocket, which usually works, but this particular day, when she got home it was gone!).

Should she just grab her wallet and flee? She watched, paralyzed with fear, as the driver signaled for her to get off the tracks. She couldn't, the car was dead! Fortunately for Leina, the F-Market has a much shorter a braking distance than a fully loaded locomotive. The streetcar came to a stop a safe distance from Leina, ambled over to her vehicle, patiently listened as a near-hysterical Leina babbled on about how her car was making a noise and she was just trying to get it back to the lot and she can't believe it stopped here in the worst possible place in the world, and oh she's so sorry that she's inconveniencing all those riders... And this kindhearted driver, once she had calmed down, helped her push her car off the tracks, so he could continue on his route. Yay for Muni!

Leina then did the normal calling of the boss who called the tow truck and then she just walked the rest of the way back to the office.

Orchids

Leina went to the Orchid Festival at Fort Mason yesterday. She and Charles paid their entry fee and checked the scene out. There were exhibits and demonstrations and, of course, lots and lots of orchids (phalaenopsis). They saw Alice's mom and sister Amber (the one who tried to go to Leina's birthday but then waited and waited at Medjool and no one ever showed up), and Leina apologized for the abovementioned action.

They decided to buy an orchid, but hadn't found that best suited them when they made their decision. So they marched up and down the aisles, looking for that perfect orchid. Several that they liked were too expensive, some looked past their peak, some were too pink, some weren't pink enough, some lookePublishd too much like a pansy, some were too small, and some were only one blossom and she wanted a lot of blossoms. After three and a half hours at the show, they had successfully seen many beautiful orchids, but none felt just right for them. They left without buying anything.

Sad

Leina did not want to go out last night. Charles wanted to take her to a party that a co-worker was throwing, and then she expected to come to the Chinese New Year's party at Erica and Tony's. But she sat around, feeling sorry for herself. Charles did all he could to try to make her feel better, but she just wanted to stay at home.

Many of Leina's close friends from high school arrived at Tony and Erica's last night before 9:30, ready for revelery, including Will (with Primo), Stephen Dodson (with port), Angie, Katrina, Byron, and even Serena. But no Leina! All are aware that Leina's presence kicks a party up another notch, and despite the presence of a pig pinata, foreign nationals, infused vodkas, and dumpling making something was missing: Leina. Tony and Will called Leina to harass her around 10:30, and a mopey sounding Leina promised that she was about to leave.

She was not lying, and arrived at the party with Charles shortly afterwards. A cheer was heard from the Lowell gang in the hallway. But Leina was not animated, not inspiring, not really even talking. She was the saddest many had ever seen her. Leina said that her score on that test was really really important and she doesn't think she'll get a job offer from San Francisco based on her ranking. She was inconsolable. Leina made a bit of polite small talk but shortly after arriving she made a beeline for the fireplace in the backyard and just sat there. For almost two hours. She knows that she'll find a great job soon and that she still is working and that she wanted to work in San Mateo anyways, but it was still a sad night for Leina.

Test Anxiety

Leina got back her results from that social work test she had to take the other day. She was number 18. She is very sad about it. She doesn't know exactly what that means, aside from the fact that 17 people scored higher than she did. So she's not sure if she'll get hired full time. One would hope that those who do the hiring will look beyond a simple number and see how dedicated she would be, but it's the bureaucracy, and she will have to play by their rules.

In other news, Leina enjoyed her Valentine's Day meal well enough. Will also reminded her that she had eaten food once when she went to LuLu with him and Andy and others to celebrate Erica and Tony's engagement five years ago, which was French. Tonight, she is going to a Chinese New Year party that Tony and Erica are throwing. She hopes to bring Qingdao, but it she can't find it, she'll bring those hawthorne wafers that she loves.

French Food?

Noriko gave Charles a gift certificate to some restaurant as a birthday gift to Leina. She said it was the best deal in the city for French food. It might have been Le Charm but it might not have been. So Charles made a reservation for it and they are currently enjoying a romantic Valentine's Day dinner. Leina was excited. She claimed she had never eaten French food before. "What's French food?" she asked Erica. As is her tendency, Erica was skeptical that Leina had never had French food, but she didn't push the issue when Leina mentioned this. She is currently waiting for a report back from a disappointed Leina about how "It was just normal food."

Still single, to some

Leina has been dating Charles for almost 10 months. She has been rather slow spreading the word that she's been dating to some of her friends. For instance, this older Detroit friend from last weekend invited her son up from L.A. when she came to visit. He is 31. It was quite apparent that she thought that maybe she could set up her son and Leina, who was single, as far as she knew. It was only a little awkward when she learned about Charles, but they wasted little time dwelling on the failure. Naturally, they then tried to set him up with Angie, but it was not to be.

And just two weeks ago, Leina was emailing with a friend from Oakland. "You should come to our single people anti-Valentine's Day party!" her friend prodded. Perhaps Leina should have told her earlier about the existence of Charles. However, this was not the time. "I can't..." she mumbled, "I've got to go and do something with my family."

Fiddler on the Roof?

Leina, showing her friend from out of town the San Francisco that she knows and loves, took her to a play at the Jewish Community Center last night. She thought it was going to be a play, but it turned out to be a modern dance troupe. She had a pretty good time nonetheless.

An Old Friend

While the rest of us breathlessly await photographic evidence from her birthday shindig, Leina is pushing forward with life. She only missed a few items of the clothing that she was brutally forced to throw out last weekend, but she had little time to do so as she anticipated the arrival of another guest, a friend from NASW. This woman is from Detroit. Leina befriended her during their weekends in DC, and probably out of courtesy Leina called this woman once when she was in Detroit visiting her sister. Possibly out of courtesy this woman offered to take Leina out, and likely out of courtesy Leina accepted, accidentally creating a new friend.

This woman is in her 60s. Little more is known about this relationship aside from the fact that the woman is visiting for the weekend and staying with Leina, and Leina has been gearing up for full on host mode. Leina will definitely be at the airport at least once, and she even called Tony to see how easy it would be to scam tickets at the student price for a show at Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley. It is not easy.

Blanket Chair, 2001-2007. R.I.P.

They were out late for Leina's birthday, but Leina and Charles and Erica and Tony and Angie didn't sleep in too late. They got up and were going to go out to brunch with Kristi and Ricca, but they decided against it because at 11:30 on a Sunday you always have to wait in line if you want to eat an omelet that a stranger made for you.

So they went to the new Glen Park Marketplace, a fancy grocery store right nearby, and bought eggs, avocados, salsa, tortillas, and cheese and came home and made breakfast burritos. Ricca and Kristi brought Beard Papa's, to the delight of all.

Plans to do anything else fizzled when Tony started complaining about the blanket chair, and Kristi and Ricca suggested the logical idea of putting the blankets into a closet, and suddenly, under all this peer pressure, Leina found herself going through her closet and throwing out all the pants that she bought for herself 10 years ago in Japan but hasn't worn since. She wound up with four garbage bags of clothes that she is giving away, all the blankets in her closets, all her clothes in her bedroom closet, and she even had room left over to put jackets in one closet!

She did, however, absolutely refuse to throw out an incredibly dirty, falling apart, 40 year old radio that she had never ever ever used, because 'it still works!' Tony plugged it in, and indeed, all were treated to that awesome Moulin Rouge song with Christina Aguliera, Pink, Lil' Kim, etc. singing Lady Marmelade.

The Birthday!

We last left off with Leina opening the door to her surprise party. There were around 30 of her nearest and dearest, and they had lined up in a way that Leina was kind of forced to walk a hug gauntlet towards the back of the room.

Ricca, Kristi, and Ernesto flew up from LA just for the night. Noriko and Yuto were there with the rest of the family. Little Yuto was running around, a full 25 years younger than the second youngest person there, and enjoying himself immensely. Erica had printed out little buttons with Leina's face on them and everyone was wearing them. Tony and Erica had mixed two cocktails for the evening, the greyhound (grapefruit juice and vodka) and the cucumber gimlet (cucumber juice, lime, and gin). The latter was not particularly popular, and it made Tony wonder if maybe he should not have spent so much time that afternoon juicing cucumbers.

Charles had ordered big trays of sashimi and sushi rolls and potato croqettes and fried chicken, which were mostly devoured over the course of the evening. Erica and Tony also provided some homemade dips, a tahini miso one which tasted pretty good and one of those spinach dip made with the package of instant soup that pretends it's healthy because it has spinach in it, but it isn't even when Erica puts in double the recommended spinach. There was also beer; some fancy stuff Tony bought and Budweiser that Stephen had around even though he apparently prefers Miller.

Mary was the only soul from work willing to dive into Leina's private life by showing up. But the Aptos Posse was there with significant others. Serena brought a cake that a friend made that was good and really chocolatey, with insane ganache roses. Tony finally met Nicole Dare and got to talk to Miki, if only for a few seconds. Claire was there and so was Katrina and several of Leina's more obscure Japan friends from when she spent a year there back in '98, like Justin and Kenta were also there. As mentioned in the last post, Auntie came. Shirley & Nicole Ylagan said they would come but didn't, to the consternation of several other guests. Alice sent a card. Sanders didn't come because he said he didn't know anyone. And maybe because Ernesto was there.

So Leina flitted around, Ricca and Nicole Dare ran around taking pictures and then instantly printed them on this cute photo printer Kristi brought from work, drinks were drunken, food was eaten, and old school rap/hip hop was played.

Around 10:00, the goal was to get people moving towards Medjool, a bar/restaurant that Leina has been dying to go to forever. It took until around 11:00 until people actually got moving to the door. Erica and Charles decided against paying for the bottle service, so there was no reserved space. So they drove over, drove by, and saw a huge line out front consisting of the Marina/bridge-and-Caldecot tunnel crowd, or so it was speculated. So they kept on driving. Instead, they went to another Mission bar called Blondies, at Serena's executive decision. They closed it down. It dawned upon Erica, to Tony's horror, that they had just forced Leina into a Stephen Dodson birthday move! The irony was not lost on them. And indeed, later Leina learned that Alice's cousin Amber went to Medjool went and waited and waited but Leina never showed up!

A Green Shirt for the Party

Around the time of Leina's actual birthday, Angie gave her a fancy green, low cut shirt. Leina really liked it. She wanted to wear it to a special occasion. And she knew that one was upcoming... "I'm going to wear it to my party... I mean dinner with Charles, tonight!" she exclaimed to Angie that Friday. And she did. And she had dinner with Charles again, but there was no party for her.

Erica and Tony had gone to New York the weekend before Leina's birthday, and Leina secretly wondered if Erica was just pretending to be going to New York and was going to jump out and surprise her that weekend. She wasn't.

On Leina's actual birthday, she took a long long time getting ready before going out to dinner with Charles. Much longer than he'd ever see her take. And it was a tough birthday for her not only because she discovered that her future mojitos would be few and far between, but because she was sure there would be a lot of people yelling suprise to her somewhere. But no one emerged.

She put the shirt on again Saturday, Charles was actually taking her to some youth basketball thing, just like he said he was going to do. By this time she had stopped putting quite so much effort into her makeup. There was a surprise that evening when Liane and Dominic came, but where were Tony and Erica and Stephen and Mary and the rest? She was getting very tired of waiting for this surprise.

It must be the following weekend.

Still no party on Friday. There were no confirmed reports of her wearing the green shirt. Finally, Saturday. Erica made a fake effort to invite Leina to dinner and threw her off her game for a moment, but Leina quickly recovered. Leina wore the green shirt. Charles took her to Stephen Dodson's apartment building, where she noticed Angie and Noriko's cars. Then she saw Auntie, who failed to obey the "Please do not arrive between 8:15 and 8:45" request. But she pretended she didn't. Plus Mrs. Turner had asked her all about the party that afternoon, knowing full well that her daughter was doing her best to keep it as much of a surprise as possible.

But Charles took her upstairs, and everyone was there, and "Surprise!" She acted a little surprised, but there were no tears, no open mouthed gasps, and no bugged eyes. Still, she had a great time at her party, which will be documented shortly.

A Semi-Wrecked Surprise

A month ago, an Evite arrived in the inboxes of dozens of Leina's friends and relatives. The Evite described a surprise birthday party for Leina that Erica had masterminded and that Tony, Angie, Charles, and Stephen were co-conspirators. One Evite arrived on the screen of Mary, a co-worker of Leina's. Hours after it appeared, Leina was inexplicably reading the titles of Mary's emails, and made the comment, "That's funny, I have friends Tony and Erica, and a roommate Angie, and a boyfriend Charles, and a friend Stephen..." before trailing off and running away giggling.

It was at this time Leina stopped planning her own birthday party.

However, she did not know when or where it was happening nor the fact that Erica was killing herself trying to figure out how to make this a more special party since the surprise was no longer.