developing film

Remember back in the days when you had to drop off film? wait? then prayed that your pictures turned out right? I developed a roll at Target with my Cabo pictures in it. An hour passed and I got all giddy opening the package to see what other pictures I had in that roll of film.

Oh look, pictures of Mag's going away party from April last year! Tahoe trip back in Thanksgiving '04 and.... woa.. talk about a blast from the past. This was rather unexpected.

"Miss, are there any pictures you would like to enlarge?"

"huh???? um, I don't think so, I'll just pay for these.. $10 right?"

$10 for 24 pictures and one of them was of Tine's carpet when I accidentally pushed the button. I almost forgot how expensive it gets.

Cabo Wabo

Cabo San Lucas, a place where the Mexican’s speak better English than the Mexican’s here. A place where men make you feel like a goddess or harass you like whore.

This was a trip with my two co-workers, Elsie 50yo and Abby 38? It was going to be a little hard partying with them since our ages are almost decades apart. But we managed, or I managed. On our last night Elsie dragged me out of bed after dinner and we headed Mambo Café at 10:30pm. Abby? “I’m going to bed to relax, I won’t be offended if you guys went off without me.”

Mambo Café was great for Elsie, she loved the live band that played Salsa and she danced and danced. It was more of a locals bar, where everyone knew how to dance, even strangers danced with each other as if they’ve been dancing partners for years. Strangers would approach me and insist to dance with me “oh, no no no.. I can’t dance, why don’t you dance with her (Elsie)” “I can teach you to dance” “oh no…..Elsie very good” “but I want to dance with YOU” damn, persistent lil’ fella isn’t he?“ok, if you want your feet stepped on” (he was cute too). So I danced a few songs then the band retired and the music changed. The crowd thickened and the younger crowd moved in. Now, Elsie and I were sitting and listening to techno/hip hop music and chatting with some new friends we met. Then the music started to get to me and it was either get out or go dance. So I turned to Elsie and she’s nodding her head to the beat of the music. Elsie is quite knowledgeable with Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha etc. and she would tell me what kind of music the band is playing and how the dancers, as skilled as they look, are dancing to the wrong beat. So, just out of curiosity “do you know this music?” “yah, yah,, HD this is Brazilian music, it has more of a Brazilian beat to it, it’s.. blah blah blah” I’m listening to her explain and watching her squint away from the laser show that’s casting light onto her face. Brazilian music eh? Right. “Elsie, you want to dance?” So there I was dancing with Elsie to techno, that was weird. It’s like clubbing with my mom. Then I was floored when she started TEACHING some older folks how to dance! It was a scene out of the movies when one dude dances a new move and everyone followed.

There were other highlights like ATVing on an empty beach with just the three of us, watching the sunset and whales in the distance. Whale watching on a morning cruise and sun bathing with cabana boys coming to my service the minute I lift my head to glance their way. Ok, the best was the service. Instead standing in line at a bar and staring at the bar tender for what feels like hours, here’s a guy who rushes to my service and it’s FREE (all inclusive). So I got drunk on the beach.

I also met, for the first time, a Chinese guy speaking English with a Spanish accent. Apparently his family owns a Chinese restaurant there.

happy valentines

Oh, it is that time of the year again. Happy Valentine’s everyone.

Just wanted to share some interesting dollar figures I heard from the morning new. Today is obviously the busiest day for florists. The whole week has been spent on ordering hard parts, assembling flower arrangements, receiving orders then down to the last 3 days, they barely sleep. The average price people spend on flowers? $80 for a bouquet. For the day? Men spend an average of $128 on Valentine’s and women $76 when they pull out their wallet or nothing at all. Todd, my coworker shrieks “HOW does that work out? $80 for flowers?” (pause) “There’s nothing better than flowers to get you out of the dog house” That’s true, as much as I dislike receiving flowers, they do bring a smile to my face.

But Valentine's isn't just for couples anymore. People have found ways to market to the singles out there, such as singles parties, speed dating etc. Of course Valentine’s day can also be very difficult time if you're single, and so San Mateo offers clinics on this special day to provide emotional support for those in need. I can't imagine how that works. A group of single, heart broken women assembled in a room, depressed and angry.