Holla

Funny Story.

I haven't made a lot of friends in my LLM program. Actually, I haven't made any friends in my LLM. I don't really know why. I am friendly enough. Maybe it's because I like to sit in the front row. (Look, it's tax. If I don't sit in the front for classes like Timing of Income, I will fall asleep.) Or maybe it's because I have the highest bar number (hence, the newest bar admittee) or maybe because everyone else in my program is middle aged and working. Either way, I have no friends. However, I missed my Tax Research class from last week and I needed some notes in order to do the assignment. So I asked this guy who sat next to me in the last tax research class. He was pretty friendly and sent me the notes.

I ended up sitting next to him in tax research again this week. The first thing he asks me is: "Did you cut your hair?"

Let me stop here for a moment. Throughout my adult life, I have accused of being rather naive when it comes judging whether a guy is hitting on me or not. I just assume no one is hitting on me and a gentleman just wants to make conversation. I had sort of a "friend syndrome." I never wanted to be the girl who thinks that every guy is hitting on her so I just assume if a guy talks to me, he just wants to be friends. After some misunderstandings over the last couple of years, I think I have evolved a little from that. My default is still the "friend syndrome" but I have picked up some signs. Back to the story.

So when a guy a barely know, or even talked to says something about my hair, I get suspicious. Is homeboy really hitting on me? Yes, I think he was. Naive no more. Anyways, I politely say no and thank God that class has started. A couple of minutes later, I see homeboy tear off a piece of paper from his legal pad. He writes something down and the folds it. I'm thinking: "Woah, is homie going to give me his number during class?" That's ballsy. He slips me the piece of paper and I open it. It says: "Sorry to bother you. But you have something stuck between your teeth." I take out lint brush/pocket mirror. I have a huge black bean stuck in the front of my teeth from lunch. Naive no more? Perhaps. Totally moded? Definitely.

While reading my ginormous book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin I stumbled upon a quote that made me pause and reflect:

"Having hope means that one will not give in to overwhelming anxiety, a defeatist attitude, or depression in the face of difficult challenges or setbacks. Hope is more than the sunny view that everything will turn out all right; it is believing you have the will and the way to accomplish your goals."

That's me on a good day.

Lib Lib Lib

After taking the bar and becoming jobless, I started to go to the library. I have always thought of myself of a bookstore kind of gal. Before this year, the last time I set foot in a library was in high school. And even then, it was just somewhere to study after school or a place to kill time until my parents picked me up after playing tennis. However, in an attempt to save money, I started to go to library to feed my need to read. But what started as an attempt to pinch pennies has evolved into a full blown appreciation for borrowing books and the library itself.

As corny as it may sound, I feel like being a library card holder gives me a bigger attachment to my community. Just by borrowing a book that someone else has read makes me feel more connected to my neighbors. As an added bonus, you don't have to pay for it! How awesome is that? And you can rent DVDs and CDs from the library? Who knew? Well, if you didn't, you know now!

So Me

Sometimes when I have nothing to do (like right now), I like to browse the Craigslist "activities" section. I like this section for two reasons. First, it makes me feel better. Living in SF is great because there are so many things to do. Unfortunately, a lot of these things are not so much fun by yourself. And unfortunately, I seem to be lacking in friends upon my relocation to SF. I have friends but not a lot of everyday friends. So reading this section and seeing how other people seem to be in the same position makes me feel a little less socially stupid. Second, I secretly hope a find a post to reply to. More specifically, I'm looking for a Chinese language exchange partner. I am desperately trying to learn Chinese again and I need someone to speak to me in the right accent. My parents and their Cantonese accented Mandarin is doing no good for me.

Anyways, during my browsing today, I stumbled accros this ad:

"I am pretty, young , smart and intelligence.
I say this not because I'm cocky (well maybe a little bit), but rather, I base this claim on I have two master degrees and what others have told me.

I have heard, amongst other things:
"You're so hot." "Wow, you are so beautiful, I feel pale standing next to you." "You should be model, don't waste your beauty."

I have totally no idea how to use my beauty to make my life easier and better ? Any advice for me ?"


I didn't post that. I swear. But if she really existed, my alter ego Andrea Lee would definately have posted this.

Ears Pierced

Two posts in one night! You are in luck! I didn't do much this weekend. I needed some reprieve from going out and doing stuff. So I stayed home and basically did nothing. But . . . I did get my ears pierced! Finally!

Monkey Week

The last couple of weeks have been a bit crazy.

It started with the arrival of my bff Anne two weeks ago. It was so nice to have her back in the Bay, even if it was only for a couple of weeks. I went with her to do some wedding stuff and catch up on life, and eat. Just as I do with all my close friends, I feel very lucky to have Ms. Anne in my life. I think what makes our friendship special is not only the fact that she can read me like no one else, but the fact that we have managed to remain as tight as we have through the years. We have not attended the same school since the 8th grade. Our colleges were on opposite ends of CA and we have lived on different sides of the country since she moved to Illinois about four years ago. I am amazed because I think it is rare for childhood friends to maintain a level of closeness through high school, college and grown-up life. Face it, keeping up with friends is hard work. But some are just worth it. You know who you are.

Anyways, back to this weekend. I got all reflective and sentimental.

Anne and I went to LA during her trip. She needed a travel buddy to LA so I volunteered. She rented a white PT Cruiser that was screaming for death going up the mountains. We drove down the 101 and ate at one of my top restaurants Cracked Crab. Two type of crab and slipper lobsters in a crab boil. Enuff' said. We spend the rest of the weekend shopping at Cabazon, going to a snazzy bar, cleaning puke and eating a lot. We even got to visit the famous Kogi Truck. It's basically a Korean take on the Mexican taco trucks. Instead of carnitas, they have bulgogi. Carne Asada = short ribs. Oh, and there's a Kim Chee Quesadilla. Here is what we got:


I believe we got beef, spicy pork, and chicken in that order. We also got a Kogi Dog which is basically a hot dog with Kim Chee on top. Yum. Also, we got the chef's special which was a pork belly wrapped in some green thing with Kim Chee on it. That was also very good. I would say that the food lived up to the hype but if I had to wait longer than the hour I did, I would be more "eh." But alas, I didn't so I think it was worth it.

After Anne left, my buddy Ryan (a.k.a. "Monkey") came into town for a few days. I had an itinerary tailor made for Ryan. I gave him a food tour which included stops at Monk's Kettle, Pancho Villa, Stacks, Philz Coffee, and some other places I don't remember. Point being we ate very well and now I must go to the gym everyday to burn everything off. In addition to the food, Ryan and I re-lived our law school days and played beer pong. I was very appropriate and competitive per usual. Check out the dude in the background. Hilarious.


The next day, we hiked up Mt. Tamapais in the North Bay. Awesome Awesome 8 mile hike. The weather was perfect and the view was so pretty. We hiked to Stinson Beach and back. Here are some pretty pictures.



Hopefully my tour will persuade Ryan to move down to SF. I need more friends down here!

Anyways, these past weeks have reminded me that I should be thankful. I really am blessed with great friends. Some people go through life knowing tons of people but not having close relationships with anyone. I am so lucky that I have a great group of people who I can share everything with. Friendship takes work but I know that the ones I have are so worth it. I love you all. Now you can put the tissues away.

Gettin' Tight

I really love that phrase. "Gotta get tight." I cannot take credit for the phrase since I heard it during my 2L summer internship but I love it. It's my lifelong mantra since I feel like I've always had a struggle with weight and body issues. Just like most women, I am and probably will never be satisfied with my weight or the way I look.

Some of this might stem from being made fun as a kid. Since I am Chinese, being 5'7 with some meat automatically makes you big and fat. Being constantly criticized for genes you never asked for or called "Natasha Ng the fattest thing" does not do much for a girl's self esteem. This may have led to my lifelong jealousy of little Asian girls. Oh, how I used to crave to be little and cute.

Fast forward to now, I think I have come to accept most of my physical flaws and limited assets. While my early 20s weight fixes centered around unhealthy dieting and other drastic measures, I have started to just focus on being healthy and exercising consistently. I have set reasonable weight loss goals and learned to balance that third serving of fried chicken with another hour on the treadmill. In the end, I think I am okay with the way I look. I will never be that cute little Asian girl. But I can definitely beat them up.

P.S. To my cute little Asian girlfriends: I would never beat you guys up. Promise.