OakMonster's Den

Breakfast & Through out the day Snacks

• Starbucks decaf soy caramel macchiatto.  I ordered a tall but they gave me a grande.
• Starbucks chocolate croissant I never got to finish.  We had birthday party today in the office so I was saving room for cake.

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Lunch

• Brown jasmine rice with 2 sticks of barbecue “beef” skewers and 4 cherry tomatoes.  The skewers look like poop, seriously like a log of poop.  It did have very meaty texture, though, and less soy tasting.  Unlike the marinaded “chicken” I had a while back.
• A mini red velvet cupcake…more like a shot of cake and frosting…from Big Man Bakes at the office birthday party I threw and a very thin slice of pineapple rum cake the Big Boss brought back from the Caribbean.

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Dinner

• Red Robin queso and chips…and a couple of fries. I swear that bowl is bottomless.  I had my fill and it didn’t look like I made a dent!  That was washed down with a strawberry lemonade.
• A side of guilt.

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LOST snacks

• A glass of Jacob’s Creek shiraz.  Very appropriate, I know.
• Coconut truffle from the box of XT Patisserie treats Nhien sent me for Christmas. Again, very appropriate.

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Satisfaction Level: Very satisfied albeit the GUILT!!  Seriously.   I had a choice to get a Gardenburger or a soup and salad but noooooo.  I got queso. AND fries!!  Not to mention all of the products with eggs in them that I completely ignore and dove in headfirst like the cakes.  Meatless in the worst way today, folks.

Thoughts: Um. Yeah. I totally suck at being a vegetarian.  The guilt alone will kill be before anything else.

Special Thanks: For those who’ve witnessed/read about my ordeal last night, please give thanks to the handy guide I used to battle the problem.

Uncle Pete ::  Jimmy Dean’s The Sun

Tabatha from Tabatha’s Salon Takeover :: A Na’vi

I mean…really.

2009 in pictures

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2009 Awards

Drinking Buddy of the Year: Brandon, actually. Surprise!  The mister doesn’t usually party down, but he has taken up a beer here and there this past year, a stressful one for his work.  So we had gone out for a beer together more than the year before.  Cheers to you, honey bunny!

Bar of the Year: Hennessey’s Tavern and Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach. These two places never fail to deliver cold pints and some great eats.  They’re our go-to places when we want to run away from the daily life for a little while.

Sorry to disappoint y’all with the lack of Downtown LA’s bar feature this time around.  I haven’t partied in town much at all.  Climate change around the office will affect your happy hour weather, I tell ya.

Newcomer Award: Twitter Gang. I have grown to love folks I met at Tweet Ups especially @dananner, @anaperiodista, @fstop23, @davidmoyle, @sendchocolate, @joncruz, @vbesack, and the disappearing @phraktyl.  We went shooting pictures.  We played Rock Band.  We got drunk.  We had overall great times on and off line.  Great year to make new friends!

High Point of the Year: Watch Thrill the World Los Angeles became the awesome success. From mere 100 last year grown into the thousands. It still blows my mind.

Low Point of the Year: The Christmas Flu and USC Football Rebuilding Year. Yep. Suckage.

Best Holiday: Halloween…again. I mean, prancing through Pine Street as Zombie Princess Leia, rocked that stage with my awesome crew of zombies?  Best. Halloween. EVER!

Song of 2009: Glee soundtracks. I mean, I can barely pin it down to just ONE song!  Almost everything from Glee I totally dig.  I’m especially partial to Somebody to Love, Don’t Rain on My Parade, Defying Gravity (the duet), No Air, Sweet Caroline (Can I get a hell-yeah from Team Puck?), and this one I can’t stop singing.  Lea Michele.  What a revelation!

Movie of 2009: Avatar. I’m sorry, Star Trek and District 9!  You came sooo close!

Surprise Movie of 2009: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story – Rod Faifa Ma Ha Na Tuh – รถไฟฟ้า..มาหานะเธอ.  I’m soooo in love.

Restaurant of the Year: Bottega Louie. Great food and ambiance.  Totally a favorite place to run away from work to for a long lunch.  Okay it’s a little loud, but what an awesome place to be!  Affordable awesomeness.

Book of the Year: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seriously. Go read that.

TV Show of the Year: Glee. Duh.

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2009 Goals Tally:  6 out of 10…kind of.

1. FAIL – Explore Kung-fu.  HAH!  I did not.

2. FAIL – Drink more water.  Did okay for a couple of months before waking up to pee in the middle of the night got old.

3. FAIL -More guitar/piano/singing – at least twice a week.  I did try for once a month, but that didn’t happen since my office got so messy I can’t even get to the piano.

4. PARTIAL SUCCESS -Read more books – One book a month at least.  Actually did 10 out of 12.  Not too bad!

• Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen – Love it.
• Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss – Learned all sorts of new things.
• Watchmen, Alan Moore – The movie ending makes a hell of a lot more sense than the book I tell ya.
• Turn Coat: The Dresden Files Book 11, Jim Butcher – Always love Jim.  This is no exception.
• Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert – Definitely love the Eat/Pray part. I could do without the Bali experience.
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith – Best. Book. EVER!
• Bad Things, Michael Marshall – I’m still scratching my head at that one. Whuh…?
• The Foodie Handbook, Pim Techamuanvivit – Totally enjoyable and awesome.  She takes gorgeous pictures.
• Heat Wave, “Richard Castle” – Totally a fun read for us Castle fans.

5. FAIL – Add yoga to the routine – at least once a week.  Not so much.  However, I ended up losing 6 lbs. from September through November with the Thriller work out and stress diet.  Haven’t gotten any of it back…yet.

6. SUCCESS – Take a language class.  Buongiorno! 

7. PARTIAL SUCCESS – Cook one new recipe a month.  I went with a few new ones in a month and then go without cooking for weeks.  But we did try new recipes.

8. SUCCESS – Fix them teeth.  5 more months!!!

9. SUCCESS – Fix them eyes. Well, I *did* decide on not getting LASIK done after extensive reserach and serious discussion with my optometrist.  There’s a 50/50 chance I would come out normal or my dry eyes are going to get more severe to a level that’ll become problematic.  I’ll stick with the glasses with that kind of odds, thanks.

10. SUCCESS – Keep up with whatever is working well.  Still a latte a week here.

Well, this post started after I watched the latest episode of “Sood Sanaeha”, the Thai soap I’m following.  Long story short, she finally sees what has been in front of her this whole time, and decides to nab the Chef.  The Chef walks away after her big scheme to apologize to him.

I was actually cheering for the Chef.  Good for you for leaving that manipulative, selfish, whiny bitch!

(Well, this is not the finale. Although to me, it’s a perfect ending right there!  Karma is a bitch, bitch!  But this is Thailand, expect a few more episodes of  the scheming to get him back.)

It then dawns on me, oh my god. There is NO MAN on the planet like that guy!  I mean, he actually tells this bitch he thinks she’s perfect to him despite all of her flaws?  He actually LOVES this narcissistic, kniving crybaby?!?!  Seriously!?!?

I love the lovey-dovey thing he’s been doing since he realizes he had fallen for her while she floats around completely oblivious to his suddenly undivided attention.  I hate the fact that we are now fed the image of a perfect man…who doesn’t exist at all.

Hi. I’m Oakley. I am a romantic comedy addict. AND a romantic comedy hater. All at the same time.

I love a good romantic comedy once in a while.  Some of them I can watch over and over again. Even Brandon starts to recognize them because I would stop and watch whenever they are on TV.

Part of me still wants a tall sexy French man to tell me I don’t have to fly anywhere and take me back to the stone cottage on a vineyard.

To go to a pub after a break up and get pissed on Grolsch and meet a funny bloke who quotes Monty Python…then chop off my hair and start my own company, all the while getting over the break up and learning to enjoy life and love again with said funny bloke.

To follow all the signs that lead to that one true love I met randomly a long time ago on one spectacular evening in New York City.

To be loved by a boy for who I truly am despite the fact that I’m a major movie star.

To have a hunky roommate who actually has been trying to show me what the world is really like while I hide behind a theory of why some men are jerks, but yet he is there to catch me when I come to my senses.

To have someone who manages to fall in love with me just by talking to me on the phone and still love me despite the fact that I am not the gorgeous tall blond he thought I was but a nerdy short brunette.

To meet some guy by random chance who adores me even though I seem to be making all the mistakes like breaking his Rayban and his camera, AND still has feelings for me after 2 years of being abroad.

And to realize that what I want for Christmas is, well, you.

[ Oh yeah, name those movies, get some kudos. Leave your answers in the comments.  (Hint: One of these you may find some clues in recent posts.) ]

In other word, deep down inside I still want to dream that big crazy romantic dream of getting swept off my feet and living happily ever after.

But then again, reality is different than fiction.

I guess–no, I know–I am bitter that romantic comedy doesn’t work in real life.  And then I hate romantic comedy for putting a veil over the eyes of young girls everywhere about what love should be like, setting all of us up for disappointment later on.

Hey, I was once the citizen of Planet RomCom too.  It took many years, several heart breaks, and lord knows how many gallons of tears to realize that life and relationship is NOTHING like the movies.

I know a few people who still wait for Mr. Darcy (both Jane Austen’s and Bridget Jones’) and keep throwing away opportunies or perfectly good relationships because it didn’t fit what they have in mind.  You know, how it should be on Planet RomCom.  They’re miserable for that.

It’s back to that Team Jacob v.s. Team Edward conversation we had recently.  Do you want something real or do you want something to swoon to?  I chose the practical love I can rely on with not a lot of swoon factor.  Hence, the stack of romantic comedy I have around the house.

I guess swooning is like a drug.  Once in a while you need a fix. And since we can’t be 16 again to get the full effect of raging love hormones, we go to our “dealer” and get a romantic comedy.

So, scoot on over, darling.  Tonight, I need me a little “Pretty in Pink”.

One week in Bangkok. One movie. One episode of a Thai TV novella.

And I’m hooked on the one, super hot Ken, Theeradej Wongpuapan.

This is Ken. He's yummy.

I only went home to Thailand for one week and I came back completely obsessed with a Thai TV novella, just like the rest of the female population in the country, Sood Sanaeha, directly translated to “Recipe for Love”.

It’s all about the leading man, Ken, who plays a chef.  He was tasked to teach a superstar to cook because she wants to win the heart of a tycoon, also played by one of my favorite Thai idol, Willy McIntosh.  Of course, the superstar and the Chef fought it out (foreplay!) at the beginning as they slowly fall in love.  Aww….

Anyway.  This obsession all started for me when my friend Pitch took me to see Rod Faifa Ma Ha Na Tuh, BTS: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story, a blockbuster Thai romantic comedy of the summer.

Look at this trailer. The story itself is relatable and ADORABLE.  I mean, yeah, kind of predictable, but cuuuute!  I’m sitting here smiling watching the trailer.  The theme song is catchy as hell, even to non Thai speakers.  The leading lady, Cris Horwang is so frickin’ cute.  And of course, Ken is just…delicious.

Anyways. At first, I wasn’t going to get in on the soap action.  But everyone insisted that if I have the hots for Ken, I should watch the soap.  So I did the one night I was able to while in Bangkok.  And that was that.  No use getting all tied up in it.

But then a week later, Tong, my BFF, posted a long scream for “Kru Kook”, Teacher Cook, aka Mr. Chef, on Facebook.  I was sorely disappointed that I missed out on the fun.

Until I copied the word Sood Sanaeha in Thai into YouTube.

Now I’m a mere one day behind everyone on the scream fest over Ken…and enjoying the ability to forward past the traditional Thai drama, slow pans, long reaction shots, etc.

And obviously, pause for some close ups. 

Zombieland. Who knew that movie would give you some great life lessons.  Well, you know, aside of the Zombieland Survival Rules.

Enjoy the little things, Talahassee said.

My life has been kind of a whirlwind these past few months.  There are many little things I totally appreciate and enjoy.

Like a bouquet of flowers Brandon bought for me. Very unexpected.

Like getting a ride home from a bus buddy who drove in in the morning.

Like getting my Italian homework explained to me by the Italian Coworker.

Like watching Dresden react to “big people’s food” we offer him.  On Tuesday, James, Aurora and Dresden were over for beef pot roast.  Carrots were a hit.  Tonight at a burrito place, the boy who, according to mom, doesn’t like eggs, asked for more chorizo and eggs from my plate, and later on for more of his first Dippin’ Dots experience.

And by asking, I meant he would reach out his hand toward whatever it is he likes and say, “Nom?” Yes, with a question mark.  It was the most adorable thing.

Like receiving the pictures from our Thrill the World LA shoot this weekend that look FANTASTIC.

Breakthrough zombies

Or…one of the goofy ones like these.

Zombie no like trees...

Like everything GLEE.  It doesn’t matter how my day was, music from the cast of GLEE cheers me up.  I frickin’ love this show.  The gem of this clip at about 2:22…

What are your little things?

Friends, get ready for another long and slow season on the OakMonster blog.

Thrill the World is here. And in full force.  (Oh hey, register with our LA team here.)

I’m involved in many different levels this time, a lot more than I signed up for this year.  Well, you know, MJ went and died on us. That brought a lot more to the original “let’s take it easy this year” plan.

I met with Amanda and Mahdroo and our new group of helpers last Wednesday.  This year is going to be awesome!

Friday was the second anniversary of my mom’s passing.  It gets a bit easier each year, but I still teared up a little when I tell a stranger about her death.  (Weird, huh?)  This year, I took Friday off to go to the temple with my aunt and cousin.  That evening, the cousin and uncle came over for dinner I cooked in my mom’s memory.  Some of her favorite dishes: Caesar salad (I cheated and used bottled dressing–mom LOVED table-side service), lasagna, and crepe suzette.

Mom’s favorite part of crepe suzette was the flambe’ing of the orange liquer.  I tried to do it this time with my cousin ready with his iPhone camera and Brandon with a fire extinguisher.

I didn’t know how to use the fireplace lighter, apparently. Mom probably was afraid I’d burn my apartment down or something.  LOL.

Saturday came with a morning full of errands and off to a barbecue at Nhien and Jonathan’s where I played a sous chef and general helper.  Poor Brandon was left to socialize for himself as I was busy assisting the hosts.

With all the busy-ness, I was supposed to start on the new time management plan this morning.

The problem I’m having is that I stayed up way to late to blog and work on Thrill the World stuff that I would crawl into bed around 11 p.m., long past our bed time.  Brandon would be long asleep by this point.  Of course, being a TV junky that I am, between after dinner and time I got to blog usually is occupied by going through the DVR etc.

Meanwhile, piles of paperworks colonized my desk.  Ask me to get a receipt from last week for a return and I will yell at you to leave me the fuck alone.  It’s that bad.

One morning, I was up at the first alarm and had at least 20 minutes before I have to be out the door that morning.  I did my Thrill the World duties and started on a blog.

It dawned on me that if the evening is to be left for family time, then the morning would be perfect to work on my hobby stuff!  So, instead of waking up at 5:40 a.m. (non hair-washing day), why don’t I just get up at 5:15 and get 25 minutes extra time in?

Well, I told myself that when I wanted to wake up to work out daily.  That just didn’t happen.

However, working on Thrill the World, my blogs, and other household stuff?  These are the things I REALLY do want to work on…unlike a work out which was something I really don’t want to do.

So this morning, I was supposed to be up at 5:15.

Didn’t happened.

Because last night, I was up until 11 p.m. scraping off any possible piths from the peels of 25 lemons to make a batch of Limoncello.  Yes, I am making my own.  (Blog coming soon).

We call can thank Justin and Olaina for having brought me an authentic Italian Limoncello.  Now that I had it, the commercial stuff tastes like crap.

My coworker Rob obliged in bringing me a bag full of his spray-free backyard lemons earlier in the week.  I finally started in on the lemons on Sunday around 4:30, took a break at 6:30 to make dinner, and came back to it around 8 p.m.  I finished at 11 p.m.

My right arm and hand still hurt from that and I’m one day late on my new time management plan.

The thing about it is, I REALLY want this plan to work.  I feel so guilty with all that I have been neglecting. The piano and the guitar have been sitting lonely for months.  There are many things I would love to do but never got around to because I seem to keep running out of time.

No more.

I’m determined to fix that.  There is no magical time turner for me to use: just discipline.  I definiely have been slacking in that department but with all that I WANT to do and NEED to get done, I can no loger afford it.

I can do this. I know I can do this.

Right?

Diversity dance group beat out Susan Boyle at Britain Got Talent finale. Deservedly so too, me think.

A shocker? Nah. I think Susan approached burn out right before the finale.  And she already has all the publicity one would need to succeed.  These boys NEED BGT win to make it out there.

Poor Shaheen.  I was rooting for you, kid!

Oh the new bunch of geek icons have made their ways into my celebrity crush fantasy land.

First up. Zach Quinto.

Okay I have to admit that originally, I didn’t think there was anything hot about him as Sylar on Heroes. But then as Heroes unfolds, his acting just makes him white hot.  Especially those times he was with Elle.  I mean, this scene here with her teaching him to use the electricity?  HOT!  Hotter than when they actually slept together. Seriously. Then again, the evil mastermind sociopath thing also works for me.

And then, Zach as the emotionally restrained Spock.  When he kisses certain someone, you can see that he REALLY wants to let it all out and be emotional.  He might have just let it slip for that quick, tender moment.  Hot. HOT, I tell you.

Then,of course, Chris Pine.  Already in love with this boy from Princess Diary 2. Beautiful, beautiful boy with eyes you can’t look away from.  Seriously. I’d love to drown me in those pools.  As Kirk, he adds the bad boy swagger to that and even a little bit slap-sticky humor that was totally endearing.  I’m sold.

Now. Sam Worthington.  Oh, my god.  Gor-geous!  And intense.  And an Aussie.  What is it with Australian guys?  Sam totally steals the movie from Christian Bale (I used to love him so…) and steals the hearts of every female in the audience as Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation.  I don’t even care what James Cameron is up to with Avatar, but my butt will be in the theater seat to take in the glory of Sam on the big screen.

Yep. That’s enough drooling for today.

The show hasn’t even started yet but I have Glee on my brains.

Talentless little outcast who just wants to sing.  My life story?  Yep, pretty much.

Also, once a choir geek, always a choir geek.

Since I saw the clip a couple of days ago, I have music–just random songs–playing in my head all day and caught myself walking around singing or humming.

Not that I’ve been extraordinary happy or anything.  I just feel like singing.

I mean, I was waiting for the bus today.  Looking around the people around me, I imagined myself breaking into a song.

“On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady was the tune.  Partly contributed to British Got Talent’s Holly Steel.

But it was kind of appropriate in the middle of Downtown LA open space. By a fountain. And some lamp posts…well, flag poles, but yeah you get the idea.

I was *this* close from actually burst into song.

This living room rock star actually wants to be on Broadway.  Sometimes she tries to claw her way out of the living room into real life.

I ended up humming loudly to myself while I wait for my bus.

Not today. But someday.

Sometimes, you really can’t stop the music.