tuesday. june 24 2oo8

what a weekend!...an unexpected weekend. up until last wednesday, i had no idea what was in store for this past weekend. my cousin got me a ticket to join the family in vegas from sat to mon. i totally didn't see that coming. he insisted that i come b/c my grandmother and many other uncles and aunts were going. and who am i to say no to vegas? it's been a common meeting place for family reunions in the past. it works out nicely b/c everyone has stuff to do, and we can conveniently meet up to eat buffets or hit up the local chinatown. :: saturday :: i arrived in the afternoon. we waited for other people to show up. then we went out to eat at a chinese restaurant. i wonder what other families do. for us, as long as we're traveling with anyone over the age of 18, we will always eat at a chinese restaurant. i guess the younger generations would prefer something less traditional. we just have the tongues of our ancestors. anyways, after dinner we walked around and checked out the inside of bellagio with its garden display. we also walked outside to check out the fountain show. during that time, stupid me dropped my camera, and now the lens won't come out when i turn it on. yea i was pretty ticked. for one thing, i always feel really dumb when i do something careless like that. secondly, it meant that i couldn't capture any more pictures during the trip. lastly, it's a really convenient camera to have around. i'm gonna need it again when i go back to kenya. sigh. i obsessed over it for the rest of the evening. to get my mind off it and b/c well it's vegas, my cousins and i went out playing. due to our location on the older end of the strip, we walked to circus circus. we went there b/c the minimums are low. i didn't realize how old and dirty that place is. it was fun as kids going there to play the carnival games and bringing back gigantaur stuffed animals that didn't fit in luggage. but as an adult, i felt a need to wash my hands thoroughly after holding their chips. :: sunday :: harry, nicolas, and i grabbed a bus to caesar's forum shops. i attempted to get my camera fixed at a camera shop right outside harrah's. sadly enough, they only sold cameras. since it was a blazing 112 degrees outside, we ducked into harrah's to grab lunch. we each got half a club sandwich and clam chowder for $7.77. for vegas, that's not bad for a non-buffet meal. afterwards, it was back out into the heat to walk across the street to caesar's. so why did we visit caesar's you ask? well i have this strange habit ever since i was a kid to visit the niketown in caesar's. i've never not gone. i don't really go with any intention to buy. but of course if the opportunity presents itself, anything stupid could happen. we spent a few hours walking around the forum shops and observing all the super high class stores which were too rich for my blood. niketown had a huge variety of dunks and forces. the only ones that really caught my eye were the 95-inspired forces with grey/neon, except for the fact that they were 175!!! even if i had won that much money in vegas, i wouldn't have wanted to fork it up on that. also, there was a nike slot machine tshirt that looked cool. but i could never bring myself to spend $25 on a tshirt. that's just ludicrous. while were walking back to our hotel, we got a call from our aunt saying that we were gonna eat at Wynn and watch a show that evening. my aunts and uncles had won free buffet meals at Wynn which costed $35. and that was considered the cheaper price b/c it was sunday. my aunt also won tickets to Monty Python's Spamalot. score! so we went back to the hotel, got dressed, and ate at probably the best buffet i've eaten in vegas. they had loads of king crab laying out. their prime rib was juicy and tasty. their sashimi wasn't half bad. and they still maintained a high level of quality with their food. generally, buffets in vegas sell you the cheap stuff but in mass quanitities. but not this place! after we stuffed ourselves, harry, nicolas, and i watched the show. it was a comedic musical. they did a copy of monty python and the holy grail. it was hilarious! there was even technical difficulty midway through the show, and still no one complained afterwards. it was such a good show that everyone stayed and wanted to support them. my guess is that one of the dancers got hurt while she was coming out. the main character, king arthur, was played by j.peterson from seinfeld. he's the guy that played elaine's boss, remember? yea he's hilarious. after the show, harry and i headed out to stratosphere again b/c it was nearby the hotel. it wasn't gross and dirty like circus circus. we both had a good time winning. :: monday :: i got late again. immediately we all went out to eat lunch in chinatown at a place called KJ's Kitchen. much to my surprise, it was really good there. the food was alittle slow in coming out at first. but when it finally did, it was worth it. you must realize that my uncles and aunts have all at some point owned chinese restaurants and have naturally become critics. we all agree that their food was very well made. they even went back there for dinner after i left. shortly after lunch, us cousins headed out to stratosphere one last time before i had to hop on my plane at 630. usually people would say it's a bad idea b/c when you do something rushed like that, you lose it all. that day was different from the typical, so i'm happy. btw i'm still obsessed over my camera. i have to fix it! sigh. i dunno how willing i am to pay big bucks to have it fixed. sigh. i have to take the risk of doing it myself and possibly screwing it up forever. anyways, i arrived at home around midnight. my vegas schedule has me staying up long enough to see my mom go to work in the morning. i need to fix that before aftan comes b/c she can't hang with me. what a scrub. uh oh wait. are you reading this? haha umm yea jk? for those readers out there who can handle the pictureless post of tiny text, thanks for being interested. and if you're stalking, i dare you to follow me to kenya. if you do happen to go to kenya, can you go ahead and cover my ticket too? i'd really appreciate that. ::: :::

wednesday. june 18 2oo8

exactly one month ago was my last post on this site, so i figured it's time to share. also, exactly two weeks ago was the day i landed in houston, tx. so what's been going on for the past 14 days you ask? btw this is in no particular order... - hung out with my brother for a few days - played basketball 4 times. probably a 5th tonight. this may not sound like a high number, but twice a week is way more than i got in kenya. - played baseball twice. i think it goes without saying that baseball isn't quite that popular in kenya. - eaten with friends and family - capitalizing on the johnny carino's family meal for the price of one entree on mondays - eaten many chinese meals. dim sum twice already - missing aftan - played mahjong - ate at denny's twice. yea i'm already sick of it - popeye's fried chicken. 'nuff said. $5 on tuesdays. - bought 4 old navy shirts. 40% off. score! - mailed in my renewal for a passport. it's quite the gamble. hopefully i get it back in time to go back. - watched the lakers lose to the celtics in the nba finals - learned the intro to "to make you feel my love" in piano - learned "counting to 100" in guitar. thanks jeremy - reformatted my comp & downloaded all the drivers and programs over again, essentially wiping out the virus - watched the finale to Lost. umm we need to go back to the island - started watching two new nerd shows: the big bang theory & aliens in america - working out on and off - learned how to play nertz - introduced to team fortress 2 - did i mention that i reformatted my computer? yea it was a grueling process. so there you have it, my trivial activities back in the states. i'll admit it feels very different from the last time i visited in the summer. then again, maybe it's because i have something to compare it to. i find myself thinking about my future, which is probably caused by my father. how much faith do we actually put in God in taking care of tomorrow? there is that balance of being wise about our future plans and trusting God with the rest of our lives. for me, i've only been able to so-called "be wise" about this upcoming year of my life. is that enough? should i have the next five years planned out? is that enough? personally, i feel that God has lead me to teach at west nairobi school this upcoming year, and that's all i need to know right now. keep me in your prayers b/c it's a continuous faith walk. ::: :::