i lost CY last night...
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
this is it, isn't it?
i'm not good at goodbyes.
i love you, chisato.
thank you.
'coldplay twisted logic tour' concert trip
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
... and it was all yellow~
coldplay rocks! and we were there to rock with them at san jose's hp pavillion arena on feb 1, 2006! i flew out with AM on 1/31. the flight was wide-open, so we got seated in first-class (it's been a long while since we got first while non-reving). after the short flight we caught the shuttle to our (not-so) cheapy hotel. the best western was located in the grungy, quiet airport industrial area. only burgerking was open here so late at night. so after a 2,500 mile flight in first class, we braved the dark, empty parking lot for a burgerking dinner at 11pm before hitting the sack.
early the next morning, we caught the hotel shuttle to alamo rent-a-car and drove down to the gilroy premium shopping outlets. here we waited for the stores to open up at 9:30am with starbucks. we visited a bunch of outlet shops including nike, ann taylor, dkny, kenneth cole, puma, bath & body works, etc. i managed to escape with only a $19 kenneth cole shirt (for myself) and $70 worth of candles and lotions from bath & body (for souvenirs). at noon we went to the nearby in-'n-out burger. it was my first experience here and i must say that this is probably the best fastfood burger that i've ever eaten. i pigged-out with 2 double-double burgers and a shake (i have to shoot for 3 double-doubles next time!). after the gilroy shops, we drove to the westfield valley mall in santa clara. here we checked-out a few more shops but i managed to buy nothing (after much dilema at express). i pigged-out again with a hot-dog-on-a-stick corndog at the food court while AM was in the bathroom. it was a junk-food heaven on this trip! we went back to the room to rest up for the show.
we left the room 2 hours before the show to grab parking and a quick bite. there was not many eating places around the arena so we ended up in a cozy quizno's (a little bit healthier). i was going down after my sandwich. my eyes were closing shut. my energy was zapped from all the shopping and fastfood (i slept 3 1/2 hrs last night). after quizno's we walked back to the arena. the huge crowds there woke me up. excitement builds. we fought our way to the concert t-shirt vendors. $35 bucks for a t-shirt! what the hell~ it's now or never. AM was in a good mood and paid for my shirt (thanks, man). we found our way to the upper right-side level seats. it was a pretty good angle. as luck would have it: a hot asian girl sat next to AM and a fat white-dude sat next to me (great!).
at 8pm sharp the lights dropped and fiona apple openned for the band. darn it! i didn't bring my camera! i wasn't sure if it was ok... her new album 'extraordinary machine' is pretty solid. her voice was strong and yet soul-ful. lots of bitterness and attitude. my favorite performances were 'tymps,' 'criminal,' and 'a better version of me.' she rocked the stage for about 40 minutes before the super long wait with the coldplay setup crew. 45 minutes of waiting-music passes on the speakers... and then: magic! coldplay explodes with 'square one' as their opener! a huge screen covers the back of the stage as numbers countdown to a shadowed chris martin. his vocals were amazing. the transitions were flawless. he worked the crowd. my heart exploded with the lights and sounds. i must say that 'yellow' was the best performance of the night. the songs are so different live. they have much more life and character here. 'yellow' was all power and feeling as giant yellow ballons dropped from the ceilings onto the adoring fans. i am a sucker for sing-alongs... the band performed all the classics: 'bones,' 'trouble,' 'yellow,' 'the scientist,' 'in my place,' 'clocks,' 'politik,' 'god put a smile on your face,' and most of the x&y album. some surprises include a performance of 'ring of fire' (johnny cash tribute) and 'staying alive' (bee gees parady). the group played a 1:15 hour set and came back for a 15 minute encore closing with an unforgetable performance of 'fix you.' a perfect night of music.
the next morning, with ears still ringing, we drove back to the airport and got first-class seats again on the flight back. we slept the entire flight. a great concert and a great trip. thanks, AM.
roundtrip first-class seats = free!
best western 2 room nights = $180
outlet shopping & souvenirs = $90
junk food and drinks = $70
concert t-shirts = $35 each (thanks, man)
coldplay concert tickets = $60 each
flying 2,500 miles to eat junk food, shop and watch coldplay live in san jose with a good friend = priceless
charlotte's (bathroom) web
Monday, February 13, 2006
there's a little spider living in my bathroom at waikele. her web is on the ground near the sink and the rubbish bin. the web is littered with the remains of little dead ants and some blue-colored lint from the last laundry. the spider's name is charlotte. she wants to save my soul. every morning as i sit down for my morning session on the john, i chat with charlotte and ask her all those deep, heavy questions weighing on my mind~
neko's deep questions:
hi charlotte. when will i have my own condo with a new cat? why am i still broke? what should i eat today? how long can i stay at waikele? what's on tv tonight? why does LC not like me? should i do my laundry? where will i meet my next coffee-partner? what should i blog about? how long will CY wait for me? what should i wear today? why can't i be better looking? when is my next trip? am i happy now? should i go to the gym tonight? i felt so glum...
charlotte the spider:
hi neko. don't be so glum. i have no answers for you cause i'm just a little spider living in a web near your commode. but thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. i really appreciate these imaginary conversations that we have together when you're lost in thought. just be glad that you have a few good friends. take a long, hot shower and keep on dreaming.
yes, good friends...
thank you :)
