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Vanessa and I tried very hard to get tickets for Comic-Con this year. The process to get the tickets are left up to chance, and luck was not on our side. With the defeat still fresh in my mind, I discovered that Disney was hosting their convention this year as well, the D23 Expo. With news that Marvel will not be attending Comic-Con and instead participate in D23 Expo instead got me excited once again. So I quickly got tickets for Vanessa, Lilli, and myself. The process of obtaining the registration and the tickets and the badges was a nightmare for D23, but everything eventually went through.
I got tickets for Saturday only because they would be showcasing all Marvel, Star Wars, and live action movies that day. That showcase was to start at 10:00 AM, and we arrived at the convention around 5:30 AM to line up. We were not the only ones with that idea, however. More than enough people were already in-line, causing a stir for most of us possibly not being able to enter the showcase. It was a grueling 4 hour wait, not because of the length of the wait, but the anxiety of not knowing whether or not there would be room for us. Many people around one was losing home as they slowly admitted one row in at a time. The three of us just watched with envy while the line attendant got closer and closer to our line. It wasn't until I heard the words "follow the line" was when I finally took a breath of relief. The three of us got in!!
The showcase was the highlight of our whole D23 Expo experience. We were shown exclusive footage and trailers of all the upcoming movies by Disney, which included Captain America: Civil War :). We were greeted with a plethora of celebrities showcasing their movies such as; Chris Evans, Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Chris Pine, and Lupita Nyongo. The showcase lasted about 1.5 hours, but it was one of the coolest experiences I ever had.
The rest of the Expo was entertaining as we walked all around the showroom and people watching. There was a lot of very good cosplayers, set-pieces, and artists recreating their original works. I will definitely come back again in two years for the next D23 Expo.
Vanessa and I have been able to stay at many hotels for very cheap (sometimes free). We have been to countless timeshare meetings where we get haggled to buy one of their "luscious" properties, but we always come out on top with a free deal. However, we have grown tired of all the awkwardness these meetings can bring, and have concluded that the cheap to free accommodations aren't worth the trouble anymore. One of the last meetings we attended offered us a trip to San Francisco with a paid flight and hotel stay. The deal was set and we were excited for our mini-getaway. However, I soon discovered that the flight and the hotel that was booked for us were so inconvenient that it would have only given us one day in San Francisco. So arrangements were made with the agency and they transferred our stay to San Diego instead. This deal was much worse in price, but it was stress free. We were equally excited for this trip since my brother recently made me a private client for Chase Bank, giving me cheap to free deals to all Southern California museums, zoos, and attractions.
We stayed at La Quinta for the weekend and spent our first day in Old Town San Diego where we walked around and dined in one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. The next day was spent at the San Diego Zoo exploring the animals and dining next to a jungle :). The weekend went by extremely fast. We need more of these little getaways, but with no more timeshare meetings.
Due to my recent obsession with Marvel and the Avengers in the particular, I decided to put my efforts into an ambitious art project. For weeks, I have been looking for a particular styled poster of the Avengers. With no luck, it only made sense that I would try to create one myself.
A lot of time was put into the preparation phase. My first step was to decide which heroes I wanted to be in the drawing. The second step was to go through countless drawings and pictures of each hero so I can form an overall rough draft. The third step was to put them all together, arranging them in a way that would look best (the picture above was my final draft). The last step was the most daunting, actually drawing it.
For weeks, I figured I had to freehand it and to just draw it, however, Brian Vu came through in a clutch. He was aware of my project and offered his projector to help. Thus started our weekly drawing sessions where I would slowly trace every character on a giant 25x36 poster by pencil. After three weeks, I was finally done with all the pencil tracing. The hardest part was yet to come. The last and final step was to go over every line with a pen, as well as adding shadows and other details to make the picture come to life. After a few more sessions with Brian, I was ready to take home the project to work on it full-time. Each stroke of the pen was an anxiety attack and frequent breaks were needed just so I can rest my hands. This project took about a month to finish, but I am very satisfied with the result.
Avengers Assemble!
We celebrated Lawrence's birthday this year in San Diego. Thanks to Morgan's resourcefulness, she was able to book us a nice little cozy home from Airbnb. This was my experience with Airbnb for the first time and it left a great impression. We got to the house in the early afternoon and met up with Braimy, Tuanolyn, and Morlawr. There, we met Reggie, Lawrence's pug, for the first time! We played with the pug while catching up and watching Lawrence opening his gifts. We quickly proceeded to beer games which included "Slam the Flower" and King's Cup. This lasted until the evening when we decided to move the party to a nearby pub. The night ended with us playing a few games of Scategories, where the winning pair would gain access to a legitimate bed for the night. Braimy won and the night was at an end. By the next morning, Vanessa and I had to leave early due to prior engagements. Despite the trip being so short, we still had a blast. Happy birthday Ma Fan Yao.
Vanessa's birthday was celebrated with a pool party this year! Vanessa's wish of having a Taco Man was granted thanks to her parents and a legitimate bartender was occupying the bar! The decorations for this event took quite some time since Vanessa and I had to cut out "leaves" to make vines. The theme was jungle and Vanessa and her family always go all out when decorating for the occasion. The turnout was great and Vanessa had a good time :).
For the actual day of her birthday. I took Vanessa out for dinner at a new place in Fullerton called Twisted Vine. This restaurant specializes in gourmet cheeses, meats, and wine. Vanessa always asks ahead of time for a specific gift and I always go out of my way to get her something different because I like the surprise element. However, this year I decided to give her what she asked for (cheese) along with a necklace and display to hold it. Happy birthday my grumpy girlfriend. I love you more.
I am already half ways done with my graduate's program. It surprisingly went by very fast with only one more year to go. My BCBA courses are all finished, now I just need to finish my master's degree, fulfill 1500 hours at my work, and pass the BCBA exam to become a fully licensed behavioral analyst! Just one more year of this grind so I can work full time and be equally miserable! Yay!!
For those of you that know me well, you will know that I have a odd obsession with collecting (or completing) things. These obsessions are often dangerous and tough on my wallet. In this particular case, I have started my collection of Pops. I have always seen these things around, but never was I really interested in owning any. It was until one day when Vanessa convinced me to get the Thanos and Starlord Pops was when my collecting spark triggered. While opening and looking at the two recently purchased pops, I suddenly had the urge to own them all. I wanted all the Avengers characters, and within several months, I achieved my goal haha. Vanessa also fell for these little figures as she started her collection on Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. These damn things are all over our rooms now.
For Mother's Day this year, Vanessa and I took my mom to the Huntington Library. This is a place we have been planning to visit for two years now. We met a woman outside of the entrance and she offered us one of her tickets because she had a extra! What a nice way to start the day. This giant botanical garden offers so much diversity in scenery that it makes a great place for photo shoots. The Japanese and Chinese gardens were the most scenic and the desert plants were the most interesting. My mom really enjoyed herself as we often see her sneakily taking some twigs home to grow for herself, haha.
Ever since 2008 when I saw the first Iron Man movie, I was so confused and out of touch when the end credit's scene of Samuel L Jackson mentioning the Avengers. I had little to no knowledge about the Marvel comics, any comics for that matter. I brushed it off until I saw the Avengers movie and I was amazed that they managed to pull this idea off with multiple movies. But it wasn't until the beginning of this year, when they were marketing Avengers: Age of Ultron, where I began my obsession with the cinematic universe and lore behind every hero. I am committed to the studio's grandiose strategy of creating all of these films that connect with one another until it all culminates together a decade later with the Infinity War. I am excited for Civil War, Doctor Strange, Spiderman, Black Panther, and a bundle of other movies that will add more to this world.
Another event that I had been wanting to attend for years was the Coachella Music Festival. Ever since my college years, I had always envied those who went because of the spectacular line-up of artists. Every year I find myself missing the event due to my finances and to lack of people to go with. At last, I was finally able to attend this long-awaited event this year with Vanessa and Krystal.
However, like I've said in an earlier post, I have been out of the loop in the music scene. With well over 100 bands in this year's lineup, I knew about 10 of them with only 3 which I am a fan of. Either way, it was an experience to be able to camp out in tents for 3 days surrounded by all kinds of music and people. The weather was scorching and water was a scarcity. There was lots of walking and lots of resting. We were able to see Drake, ACDC, Jack White, Ryan Adams, The Weeknd, Florence and the Machines, Tame Impala, Run the Jewels, George Ezra, Yelle, and Angus and Julia Stone.
This was by far my most anticipated and long-awaited concert. It has been a wish of mine to see Damien Rice live. By the time I graduated from high school, this man went on a eight year hiatus with no new records and concerts. I thought I had missed my chance to ever see him perform. His songs are so well crafted that nearly every song in both of his albums are worth listening to over and over again. However, when the news came that he was releasing a new album with a tour to follow with it, I was the first one on board in purchasing tickets. I was able to get tickets for Vanessa and I at the Greek theater. I was so happy to have Vanessa see him with me because I was sure that she would enjoy it as much as I would.
His show was surprising funny. Given the fact that all his songs are very depressing and sad, his conversations and transitions between the songs had everyone laughing. His performances were spot on as expected and it was a solo performance for the most part. He performed every song that I wanted to hear and although I wished he had a violinist or a female vocalist accompanying him, it was great night for music. This was by far my favorite concert.
I have been out of the music scene for quite some time now, so to discover any new and talented artists will depend mostly on luck and the media. Vanessa and I were able to get tickets to go see Sam Smith. This man blew up over night and we knew that his tickets would rapidly increase in price if we decided to pass this opportunity. He was amazing to see live as he sounded just like he did in his records, if anything, even better. The venue was set up so nicely that when he began to sing "Latch," the whole place grew dim as we were covered with tiny lights that imitated stars. This man went on to win the Grammy for Best New Artist a week after.
For the past 6 months, I was a member of Lootcrate's monthly subscription. I had been receiving these boxes filled with random "loot". Within each box, you were surprised with themed merchandise ranging from tv shows, cartoons, video games, comics, and movies. However, with the six boxes combined, I had zero luck with receiving anything worth of personal value. I quickly realized that my money was better spent on purchasing items that I wanted rather than leaving it up to chance. So Lootcrate is a thing in the past, with all of items being given away to Vanessa and my nephews.
This will be my recap for the year two thousand and fourteen.
This past year seemed longer than usual. When thinking about all the things that had happened in 2014, I kept thinking to myself that it felt way longer than just a year ago. For example, Vanessa and I took our biggest vacation to date to the Bahamas in January. From visiting the fabled Hogwarts and enjoying a royalty lifestyle on a 3 day cruise, it seems way too recent for me to forget how wonderful that week was. A more recent vacation that is still fresh on my mind was in Zion, where we balanced ourselves with roughing it and lounging it. It was also the place where I lost my knees, again.
After all the data collecting for the post, I had realized that I had done a lot this past year. Thanks to Vanessa, these posts keep getting bigger and bigger every year, and I hope this tradition never ends. From painting George and Peanut to practicing our archery skills, we were able to have our moms meet for the first time during our obsession with Indian cuisine. We continued our television (online) marathon with completely catching up on the Game of Thrones, Orange is the New Black, Attack on Titan, and True Detective. Our gaming habits lives on as well with games such as Isaac, Don’t Starve, A Wolf Among Us, both seasons of the Walking Dead, and Battleblock Theatre. We ended our two year relationship with Disneyland and invested our savings into next year’s Coachella (I don’t wanna talk about it). I was able to witness both Childish Gambino and Death From Above 1979 live, as well as restarting a brief recording session with Hannah for a few songs. I was able to plan Vanessa’s birthday, the 6th annual Wongsgiving, and co-plan for Vanessa’s Halloween party at her place.
I visited Vegas twice this year, once for an insane hangoveresque bachelor party and the other for Halloween as a bunch of Gotham baddies. Waldena’s wedding was the highlight of the summer with nearly everyone I know drinking and dancing the night away. I finally got myself trapped into graduate school. And with my work hours being increased towards the end of the year, I slowly watched both of my money and time slip away. The year ended with a Secret Santa tradition over some KBBQ and with a last minute birthday bash for me in Pomona. Thank you for the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen, Vanessa.
With so many things planned for this year, I can’t wait to recap this one.
