My 10 day, 1,100 mile journey began Friday, June 30. The night before, I watched The Devil Wears Prada. With the exception of Simon Baker's character and the fact that Anne Hathaway's character is still pretty dumb in the end, the film is pretty strong with great performances by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. Maybe too accurate as well. Nancy was naming designers for me before they were announced on screen.

It was a bittersweet day as we had a goodbye lunch for my former office neighbor who was laid off. She's unhappy to go but she knew something was coming and she found a job right away so best of luck to her. I left work that night early to head over to the Mountain Winery to see Fiona Apple in concert. Painfully shy in public, Fiona obviously was having a little fun out there after admitting to having a crying fit the night before. But like she was at Coldplay a few months ago, she had trouble hitting some of her notes, the result of a busy tour schedule with this being her third Bay Area visit since last November. Nevertheless, it's always a good time with Fiona singing.

(Total so far: about 80 miles)

The next day was my Grandpa's 80th birthday. All of his kids were there including the ones from Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The preparation was intense as I had to get up early to pick up stuff with my aunt. It also involved two round trips to Morgan Hill. All in all, a very fun time. My cousin started a new job in San Mateo at Smith Barney this week so congrats. And he just graduated a month ago. Later that night, I headed up to see Superman Returns at the Metreon in IMAX 3D. Watching it in Imax is good enough but the 3D underwhelmed me. Maybe my eyes are defective. As for the movie, it's a bit underwhelming but it still entertains. Brandon Routh doesn't have the charisma Christopher Reeve had and Kate Bosworth seems to be invincible since she suffers no injuries throughout the film.

(Total so far: about 250 miles)

Sunday and Monday were mellow days. I was still reeling from the fact that Brazil had lost in the World Cup. How could they??? And to France??? It almost defied logic. Had dinner with my aunt and the family on Sunday, visited Burlingame and Millbrae on Monday and played poker with the guys on Monday night. We finished up the poker and food at 3 am and I started on my way back on Capitol when I see this car behind me following me. It's followed me for at least 2 miles...what gives? I'm getting close to home, passing Safeway. Usually, I'd turn left at Branham but instead I went straight. Still following. Cut through Hayes School. Still following. Going through the neighborhood on my way home. Finally, I turn left and he keeps going straight. How weird I thought. I pull in and get out only to see the car coming from the other way! So I pretty much ran inside and could only wonder what they did to my car. (Luckily, nothing but some random ppl did TP the house down the street. Wasn't me...honest :)

(Total so far: about 375 miles)

Tuesday was Independence Day. We're going to recapture the cities and blow the aliens out of the sky. Oh wait, that's the movie. In real life, my sister and I went to my brother's house in Pacifica to start a bonfire on the beach. My sister really wanted fireworks and so we obliged. Man was that a mistake. All around us, people obviously came prepared, shooting off cannons into the air while we had dinky ones that went up 5 feet into the air. But watching everyone else's was cool but we stayed kinda late and I was one of the lucky few to have work the next day. Wanting to get home quickly but well aware the cops prolly had an increased presence for the holiday, I tried to stick in the 70s. There were times the speedometer ran into the 90s but I dialed it back when I realized it. On one of those few times, a car cut me off going 100+. Having the road rage I have, I tried to follow him, but I noticed a car moving just as fast following behind. It was a CHP car without its siren lights on. The guy going 100 exited and so did the CHP car. Don't know what happened next but hopefully he got one fat ticket.

(Total so far: about 500 miles)

The next 3 days consisted of work, work, work. Ok, about one day was actual work but I did have to show up for all 3 days. I came back to realize ppl are just dropping dead. 4 co-workers had family members die in the past week and another found out her neighbor passed on.

Hey, would it sound better if I were named Phil? (I don't think so.)

Friday night, went to the city to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. And I did something I rarely do. I fell asleep during the movie. Oh my was this boring. So they spent 150 minutes looking for a key and a chest??? You could tell they were saving their best stuff for the final installment and all this stuff was fluff. Absolutely no point whatsoever. Even the beauty of Keira Knightley couldn't keep me from falling asleep. I made it through and got back at around 2 am.

(Total so far: about 750 miles)

Wake up! I don't wanna to. It's 6:30 and shut up. But no. I promised to see the guys in Sacto for a little rafting and BBQ madness. So there I was in the driver's seat yet again. Had to pick up Datman and Alex, two ppl who believe 80 mph is not fast enough. I'm usually a good driver but in front of these two, I was for some reason not at my best. I didn't yield to a guy U-turning (all the ppl I saw were turning left and this one guy decides to make a U) but the worst was running over a concrete parking divider. But hey, even with rattled nerves, they're still alive. Though if you hear the story from them, you would have thought I nearly killed them at every turn. The rafting was okay. We got through it much quicker than last time and it wasn't as uncomfortable. That would come later that night. With temperatures reaching 100 during the day, Hai's apartment was just as hot all through the night. The fan and limited A/C didn't help. After getting about 4 hours of sleep the night before, I consider it lucky to get the 5 hours I did. I would find out the next morning that it was too lucky. Apparently, I snore pretty loudly. After staying in hotel rooms and friends' houses, I've never been told that before. The only snoring stories I hear about involve my dad or brother, who are notorious for their snoring. But me??? No way. It's the truth though and now I have to live with it. Good thing I sleep right through it ;)

Thanks Hai and Claire for hosting this weekend.

Now I'm back, awaiting to go back to work tomorrow. This week is actually pretty busy. Packages to update and whatnot. So pretty soon, I'll go snore...I mean sleep.

(Total miles: 1100)