International Festival 2007

A very nice way to end a very mind exhausting week. The whole crew has just been through a lot and each person has dealt with the loss of Roger in their own way. At the same time... its us being together that makes it easier...sounds backwards right? A group of us got together for "Funday Sunday" hahahh as Oliver likes to call it. Oh maann um drinking from 3pm to midnight....insane. hhahha Bux found da scandalous booth boys who would sell us 10 beers for like 5 coupons. normally that stuff is 6 coupons each...freakin rip off. then Faisan saw a karoake machine and it was all over! He sang Red Red wine and i couldn't stop laughing... don't you love it when people sing their asses off even though they are all over the place?! that's passion right there. The festival theme this year was China. Oh i got some funny pics...I'll post them once I get those uploaded. We pretty much acted like kids at the playground all running around causing scenes.... jumped on a boat, drank some wine, messed with some Chinese Mascot, yelled out "gritos"...u know that Mexican scream when they hear a good song? hilarious! and we even went to the Louisiana Stage to get down Creole style. Just good hearted fun and the weather was real nice for walking around. Damn that was a workout though.
Afterwards, we rolled up to 702. Chris was bartending and he hooked us up with some frozen pitcher of something. I have no idea what it was but it was better than the margaritas at the festival. I saw da Kracker Nutz there and they were throwin down some crazy old skool tracks..funny how i can remember all the lyrics...back in da day..... by the way, on Sundays, 702 has a BBQ grill in the back and we got steak, bake potato, and a pint of beer for $12. Real good stuff.... watched the Golden State game which was just insane. That kept me out until midnight! mad fun....until next weekend!!

Post Oak Grill

Saturday.... i woke up real late...just tired. I had training at 1 so I got ready for that. Went to Azteca Gym and L basically killed me. 12 rounds, crazy workout...ohhh but i was actually working out inside the boxing ring. Usually i'm outside it just cuz the guys are practing inside but Saturday afternoon was pretty quiet ..lucky me... hahahhah nah but i really luv it, lots of fun. I just hate it when i get tired though cuz then my punches will reflect that so i need to work more on stamina.
After working out, I went home and relaxed for awhile. i'm sure i did something else but can't remember for the life of me.... hmm.... ohhhhh wait! yah i watched the draft! went to Zubair's place and chilled with him and Riddy. Pretty impressed that they were guessing all the picks correctly. I need to put their skills to use in Vegas. hahhaa ur wrong for trying to use ur friends like that lol.
After that I went home, got ready and went out to Post Oak Grill . Actually the one part i'm leaving out is that Friday Night/Saturday Morning at like 3:30 am Yaseen calls me.... and i was like "what da hell?" usually those types of calls mean something is up so it kinda worried me. awww but he called cuz he wanted to have everyone come out on saturday to just chill and have dinner. so i told him for sure, no problem and i helped him call people (at normal hours) to come through. It was a nice turnout... nice restaurant too actually... kinda uppity though which is out of our nature hahahha i'm kidding... funny how we all ordered appetizers Lolz!! we had great conversation. I also met Gabby who is on of Roger's ex...really was nice meeting her. Here's some pics of us...


















































Afterwards, we all hit up Belvedere's. I really don't like that spot, we just have the hook-up there so what can u do. All the other guys (Ernie, Zubair, Owais, Haythem, Shray) were up at 713 to watch the game. Roger's other crew of friends came with us to Belvedere's which is really nice because now we all got to meet each other - and its not just a hi-bye thing cuz the next day a couple of them blew up my phone to say what's up...which i was like "wow, that's cool" ... funny how it works out when someone passes...its like they are still doing their thing beyond the grave. So yah that was Saturday night...i got home at 2 and Oliver and Ali went to Rich's and i couldn't drive out that way in all honesty lol they got home at 5am. that makes me sleepy just typing that... oh well a lo bien ...oh new phrase I learned in spanish...or colombian slang... "a lo bien"... means chillin... hehehhe

Ride All the way...

Today I buried my friend. my heart has been broken.

Roger would laugh...

Wow. so yesterday i went to my storage to go look for the old pics I have of Roger.... its funny cuz in high school Roger and I had so much freakin anger towards one another and we have talked about that and laughed it up. Reason being - I use to be part of "Teen Court" at Kempner. You wouldn't know about it unless yo a$$ got in trouble a lot. hahhahah basically kids who got written up were given a chance to be judged by their peers on what their punishment would be. It could be like Saturday School, or clean the cafeteria or tutor or some junk like that. lol. Sometimes I would be the defense lawyer and sometimes I would be the prosecutor. Well...when I met Roger... I was the prosecutor. LOLZ!!! ohh man and so I went to all his teachers to try and get them to say somethin bad about him. I dunno what he was written up for..i can't remember. yet when looking through my stuff yesterday I found this... "deposition". It's a form one of Roger's teachers filled out. It says "roger is honest and very straight forward" hahahhahha which is so true. I actually found two..the other one said "He is always present. He works better by himself. He cares about his grades." So you see...for me being the prosecutor..that crap didn't help me!! Although!! I am a bad-a$$ persuader and ended up convincing the student jury that Roger was in the wrong - and he got sent to saturday school!! hahahhahahhaah thus the Irene vs Roger highschool days. He really was upset with me. Then we found out we were running in the same crew and I remember him telling them "no man, don't be her friend, she fu** got me in Saturday school." hahha but everyone would be like "nah Irene's chill man..." and he would talk soo much shii to me and I always held my ground with Roger. Then it so happened that I started my Thanksgiving traditions at my house which is what i'm known for. We did that for 7 years straight after highschool...we didn't need no damn reunion...all of us stayed close. The funny part is that the first two years I would not let Roger in my house for nothin. I was like "roger? hell nah. keep him out." hahahhah and then i think it was the 3rd year or 4th year that Aman came in and was like "hey man, Roger is outside... can u just let him in." and i told aman "nah cuz he's just so freakin inconsiderate to me." and aman said "no he's real cool he doesn't mean it..." and i thought about it hard and Aman was really wanting him inside... (this part..sigh....) and i was like "ok man. let him in..but if he starts talkin shii, he's out." and that my friend..thats how Roger and I became friends. It was funny cuz he came inside and after all that time that we were so mean to each other... he walks in and it was like an akward moment...but then we both smiled. I fixed him up a plate of food, got him a drink....and we were on cool terms. one of the best decisions i've made.
man...Roger...u guys dont understand how unreal it is. Funny cuz as his teacher said he was very straight forward. if i wanted an honest opinion that guy freakin gave it to me. Everytime i called him to tell him to come out and chill with the crew...he was there... no questions or anything..just came. One time we were all at his apartment and actually i was driving and I remember Jamuna was chillin with us that day too and the other guys were all in the other cars but Roger wanted to ride with the girls. We had a deep conversation about relationships and he was like "man u two...u two are good girls. I need a good girl like you guys." and I would ask him about him dating and he was just always worried about his weight and all this and not meeting the right kind of girls. I mean, i was pretty shocked to find out Roger had a sensitive side. hahhaha yah but alot of things came out that night and those are the kinds of conversations with friends you just don't forget. Through the years he's been there and like everyone else you catch up when you see them and although its been awhile...its ok...cuz u talk like it was just yesterday. and that's how it is with all of us and my thing is to keep everyone together. thats why it hurts. i keep them together and when one is not there I know it because each person has an impact on me and freakin everyone will come thru when I need them most. those are the types of friends i have and love and I do everything for them in return. Roger not being there anymore ....its like this freakin pierce in my heart....he is who i talk shit with, he is who makes me laugh at his perspectives on life, people, and he is the biggest teddy bear who will only let u in if he feels comfortable. like Bj said..Roger was a soldier...he did play that role. with me being the only girl most of time I got to see a different side yet he would lay the smack down on me too without hesitation. hahah and only he could.
Last time I saw him was on my birthday..at my birthday party dinner but i'm not talking about that..i mean my actual birthday..that Thursday at Melting Pot. I was sitting there and all of a sudden someone yells my name as if I was halfway across the room..scurred the shii out of me. I look up and its Roger. all smiles. hahhaha and i'm like "what da hell?!" cuz i hadn't made calls out for peeps to show up..just to some of the girls and guys. Turns out he was taking his girlfriend out to dinner...and he was soo happy and I clowned on him too...i was like "awwww how cute" hahahhahah he was all embarassed. u know what though... he had himself a good girl. He really was being the best he could be and u can only be proud of that.
so i pray for him, i already seen the little signs here and there, i know that kid smiling down standing there blinking his eyes and cracking knuckles..he should be...he is where we all hope to be. aww i miss u Roger. my door is always open and there is always a seat for u at the table....hugs much love....

My Friends...my heart.....

The many things I want to say, things I remember.... its too hard to reminisce right now and tell you how we met, the funny moments, the sensitive side of roger ...which he did have one lol....maybe later today i'll write.

we miss you Roger..... always will have a place for you.....

Back 2 da Gloves...

O yah! .... her hands have been wrapped!! lolz
today was my first day at the Azteca Gym off Telephone Rd. .... ok seriously, i was really really nervous. First off i was late cuz of the rain and I got lost cuz of a detour. thas a long story i'll leave out. Let's just say Airport Rd. is called that for a reason...the planes at Hobby pretty much touch ur car. (way off from where i was suppose to be)
Aww but the gym is supa nice. I walked in really really nervous cuz its a bunch of guys u know. They have girl clients but most train during the day. My trainer goes by "L"..real nice guy and it was hilarious cuz he had to wrap my hand many times cuz he's use to wrapping huge hands and there would be all this slack left over with me. gawd that makes a big difference though when u throw punches. I never had my hands wrapped prior just cuz i was doing it out of Bally's and well.. i didn't want to cause a scene. hahahhah but at least at this place its what ur suppose to do.
So actually here I have two trainers...L and Israel. Israel is a muy-thai kick boxer so I worked out with him for 30 minutes. I think i surprised him heehee...he was all "niiice" hahah and u know i wanted to go Borat and say "i liiiiikes" but i just laughed it off. Israel had me doing some crazy kick combos... my left leg is freakin weak....he definately had me sweating though, that was a good 30 min. Oh we talked about Thailand cuz he trained over there as well...man and i saw the muy-thai centers on the map but never did check them out when i went over there!!
anyways.... then L took over the last 30 min and we did combo's. I luv that stuff. honestly i was scared that no one would work the mitts with me like Bobby and Rafael because it actually is difficult and when I throw my punches I like a little resistance from the trainer. so i was really relieve that L did combos with me with the mitts and did it the same way. Man it takes me a minute to remember the combos..i'm so use to my other combination routines! 3 times a week i get to do this! u guys don't realize how happy that makes me..i really really love this kind of workout. Seriously if you want to come with me to the gym sometime to check it out, give it a try, I would be thrilled to show you. Hitting the bags and stuff is fun but when u have someone working the mitts with you its like ur actually fighting. and i dont mean in a violent way... lets just say u know u can defend yourself after all the techniques. plus u sweat yo a$$ off and thas a good thing...
Here are pics from the gym...i took this off of L's page hahahhah.... damn when is my camera gonna get fixed already!

I forgot to mention...

Last Thursday we finished the cards for Wes! Yay! This is his business card which I designed for him....u likes? I had to make those three chefs...dunno if u can see close enough but the middle guy i made a lil more oriental hahahh

man i don't have that napkin that Wes gave me but he pretty much drew it out how he wanted it - I did my best to match it. lolz i wish i had it...total chicken scratch!! that's ok though cuz it gave me an idea of the image he wanted. He loves the card so thats all that matters to me!

I didn't know the meaning of "Toques"...for some reason i was thinking...fire...like flames?? but it is the word for those tall hats. learn something new everyday.

I'm excited that he is getting the business going! In fact, I am going to use him to cater a babyshower in July. Zubair told me that him and lucky really threw down a crazy Italian meal one time. They even know how to make Chicken Biriyani....which will come in handy for Jamuna's baby shower. Definately give them a try if you guys know of any upcoming parties that need catering!

Catch-up!!!

CoRnY JoKe TiMe!!! : A Daddy tomato, Mommy tomato, and kid tomato were walking to the store.... kid tomato was taking too long...so mom tomato turns around and slaps the kid in the back and says "KeTcHuP!!!"

yah u suck at jokes. daaaang i'm behind on bloggin yet again. u know why though right? cuz its spring and my ass is outside playing!!! yay yay yay!! i gonna get a bike, gonna get a bike! anyways let see what i remember so far..

last night lolz Gail and I drove in from austin at 5 am this morning!! kill me now i was soooo freakin sleepy. I think i was in the middle of conversation with her many times and kept falling off instead of keeping da driver awake! it's tight thought cuz i rented a Dodge Charger...u ever been inside one of those? pretty impressive, leather seats and all that jazz... for only $23 a day! yessssssssss! real smooth ride... yah i plan to rent another car for the river this weekend. cuz da gator has reached its peak and it just is not gonna make it on that road trip. i should trade it in but its my first car =( paid and pwnd foo!!! hahha u know thats how that word "pwned" got started right? typo i bet. for my non ghetto folks "pwned" prounounced "poned" means got owned. and u thought my ESL teaching skills were not useful....... ;)

so yah we got to austin saturday around 10pm and I met up with a family friend for about an hour then we headed to 6th street. looooooong time since i had been back there...prolly like 6 years or somethin like that.... still crazy ass ever and we bar hopped and the music was bumpin at every place we hit... there are soo many characters out there ...i was pretty entertained the whole night! haaha

k so rewind back again..... Friday night..... yah 1 hour of clubbing. lol. in the rain pretty much...went to bond and nazi bouncer guy was being himself so we went across the street to Fix. Second time i've been there already, music is great there =)

rewinding again.... Thursday Night...Sam's Boat..... now that was fun!! Seriously, get 11 random people who don't know each other, add some drinks.... be amazed at how fast u make friends hahahha It's funny cuz Eva and I actually just wanted to go out after a hard day of work and we ended up just making calls to other people and next thing we know is that we had a random group. hahhahah weather was soooo nice too. It was me, gail, eva, junior, jonry, tammy, michelle, christina, yoly, haythem and pranav. Great Conversations and great laughs! oh and i got a group of Columbian guys to buy all the girls drinks .....lol wait until he sees that charge hahahhahha

ok so tuesday i'm excited.... get to do my boxing training at the real gym since it is built and ready now!! yay!!! i will blog about that on tuesday for sure! i'm tired again. its sunday, i been sleeping all day. my work weeks are gettin really busy and hard for me now so its like limited time on myspace and blogging. good and bad. did i tell u lately that everyone keeps asking me where i'm from?? the craziest remark i've gotten is if i am from bangladesh. ??? yah. hahahhah most of the time its countries in south america...which leads me to believe i don't have aything filipino about me or something. cuz only 3-4 times has someone even thought i was part filipino. hahahhah oh well soon everyone is going to be so mixed that no one will even bother trying to guess. yessssss da mix breeds take over!!!! =)

Playtime

fast forward oneweek!!!! yups...just gonna go enjoy the weather and go on down the river with friends who want to do the same. It's gonna be sooo crazy lol we did this before about 4 or 5 years back and I remember that being the day i had laughed the most. Aman and I.... i seriously think it was non-stop laughing all day... i've always remembered that. hahhaha time for a repeat and this time with a house on the river!!! I think i'll make da boyz and gals brisket again...i'm known for that.... also the queso and chips. yay! i'm excited!

play time once again... breath outside air and leave all worries behind........

UFC Saturday....

So some of you may know this about me...some may not..... I'm actually very into MMA and for those of you who are not familar with that acronym it stands for Mixed Martial Arts. This started 2 years back when I started my boxing training. <--thats what some of u may not know.

lolz.. that sounds so tom boyish eh? Well its more for the cardio workout although I could easily take it to another level but thats not my thing and the training would be insane for that. I have two boxing trainers...Bobby Flores and Rafael Nevarez who have taught me everything I know up to this point. That's them in the pic. Pretty much I'm confident to the point where I know i could defend myself if I needed to because along with the boxing i've learned self defense. BUT! not against sucker punches especially when I'm not looking! lmao! no but i love love love doing the workouts. It made me drop 40 pounds in 3 months ....yups.... i do it twice a week.... I was doing it out of Bally's with my trainer but now i'm gonna hit up the real boxing gym off of Telephone rd. that's the ghetto for all those who are like "where is that?!" hahha Gym is called Azteca and once I get pics and stuff from that I'll put it up...or you can check them out under my friends list on my myspace page and Bobby's pics as well. Bobby is actually also one of the bouncers at Toc bar.

anyways Bobby actually does fights out at the Toyota Center and the last two fights he knocked his opponent out in 30 seconds. craziness!! lol i try to work out with Rafael more because Bobby treats me more like one of his fighters and doesn't give me any breaks hahahha He actually trains UFC fighters. The only one I've met is Sam Adkins... who as well tapped his opponent out...this guy is freakin tall like 6 ft 3 or something.... real nice guy though. Its crazy cuz actually during the day he trains and at night he is a limo driver...??? it is what it is hahahhah. He drove us around one weekend and that was just weird. i mean after seeing the guy with his shirt off and fighting....u know??? lolz...

So yah actually MMA here in houston is a pretty big underground thing which I've noticed is slowly surfacing. I've gone to a couple of taping they have had out in Clear Lake and met one of the Masters who actually worked me out twice already. again, he showed me no mercy and i hit my head pretty hard on the ground. bastards. lolz. there is alot of groundwork as well which is cool cuz if i ever got pinned down i can get out of it...so for all my lady friends out there who wanna learn i'll show u. i mean hell...u never know.

Oh so you need to check this out because I saw this bad ass documentary on MMA on National Geographic called Fight Science I can get a copy for you to watch...u really gotta see it. Sooo nutz... and the highest form is the Ninja...oh man if u watch what the guy does...freakin crazy. I could go on and on about this stuff...

My point to this blog was that I went Saturday night to Wes's house to watch the UFC fight with da flip syde =) hahhaha and although i'm a fan, i just dont watch TV so in turn I dont kno much about the up to date UFC stuff or boxing for that matter. When I do get a chance to watch though it definately captures my attention. Oh and a big wussup and hi to all those I saw on Saturday Night..... Meed & Wifey, Heather, Wes, Lucky, Ryan, Ben, Tuan, D, Neil, Thuy...hope i'm not leavin anyone out... i had some crazy laughs with Zubair....i think we take all jokes to the extreme hahahah luv it!! oh by the way...

Sanchez vs Koscheck - Real Weak. Enough said.

oh but the mariachi intro lolz was entertaining! its funny cuz Bobby does that on his intros as well!! hahhahha

Technically Saturday Morning....

lolz...ok well lets put the main point up.... Friday was Good Friday - which for Catholics means you need to be home and just be at peace. No working, partying, etc, etc. because you should be in mourning and definately no eating meat. And I know this.... in fact I went to lunch with Wes today since we were in the middle of business. (i designed his business cards) and we decided we would go hit up Mambo's since we could only eat seafood. <--Wes was like "oh damn and i had a piece of bacon today too!!" and I totally would have ordered a Michelada there but again...no drinking...lolz....Well it occurred to us that Mambo's was hella packed....so here i am thinking of hookah and I said "oh hey, why not Layal?" and Wes got excited cuz he never been....so off we went. We got the menu and we ordered our food....um yeeeah....we got our meal and start chowin down and Wes is all "yo i thought we weren't suppose to eat meat!" eeeeek!! lolz....tragedy...... so yah was feelin pretty guilty about that.....

....and i did a great job at avoiding any phone calls leading to going out. ummm that is until about 11 at night when my cousin Yoly and Dullah kept inquiring if I was going out..... at this point i was actually chillin with the family and I had finished my timeshare paperwork (will blog on this!) which kinda had me a lil hyped up for partying. I'm not a super religious person in the sense that u won't see me at church every Sunday. If anything i go saturday afternoons, i mean i pray all the time, i'm just not an avid church go-er. definately if someone would come with me..i'd go every time. I just need that extra push. i do know when i gotta tone it down in situations so like for Friday I decided to do that. lolz so i made sure not to be at Dullah's place until midnight!! hahhahahhahha it could have been worse! i could be like..oh its 10pm?? well in NY its midnight!! hahahha ok then u see my point. ;)

it was Junior's bday and that kid got soo throwed. so far i been sober the last two times i been out. that makes it sound like i have a drinking problem, i don't..i do it to make people look more interesting hahahahah plus how many years did i stand on the sidelines being sober?? late bloomer. it was fun though.... Dullah and i had soo many crazy laughs.... and look i was the designated driver for once. yessssssssssss! although i missed all the exits...... thats just my driving skills hahahha anyways those are the pics from the party and we were out until 5:45 am....hey i dont work saturdays. some people i know had to get up two hours later for work!! now thas nutz!! aww but really its just a group of friends who enjoy each others company and is livin life...i luv all my friends to death whether i've known you for years or just met ya and each person who knows me definately feels that. U guys are the only constant in my ever-changing life. =)

Groupie Talk

Actually I was thinking.... <--yah.... no cuz usually i write like once a day... kinda like a journal...but now i'm just gonna write whenever I feel cuz this is kinda like my little corner. Call it geeky but its therapeutic for me.... cuz I listen to me. hahahahhah and obviously I talk to myself..thats great.
So right now Paul Wall is.... actually should be at Greenspoint mall and later he will be at the Roxy. why am i not there??? good question. cuz i'm a silent groupie. aww i luv Paul Wall...just cuz his rhymes are different..its not like Miiiiiiiiiike JOoooooooooones. gawd i hate that shii. hahahha hate to hate on a local but damn. pay me millions to yell my name. i remember when Mike Jones got in the way of me taking a pic of Flavor Flav... i was like "can u move back for a sec.." LMAO!!! "back then didn't want me..." still dont want u. hahha wow mean streak. sorry.

oh oh!! and thanks to those who had Flavor Flav sighting for me!!! If u recall i had a run in with Flava and got him to sign a toy for my mom and I took a pic of him (not this pic)... and I guess he really loves Houston cuz he's been back like two times since. And this last time my phone was blowin up cuz someone saw him at Red Lobster and another friend saw him downtown.... hahahhhah i totally felt like a groupie at those moments...but good lookin out! hahahhah ok my last recent groupie action is from none other than.....heart stops.......

Frankie J!!! Oh wow seriously...his voice..... and he puts soo much emotion into his singing.... ok yah yah anyways the reason why i'm like head over heelz...there is this site http://www.mozes.com/ and its like a phone text message network that you actually keep in contact with your favorite singer/group through their cell phone. yups... frankie j and i text message each other!!! yessssssssssssss!!! i don't care if it might not be him on the other end. i'll take it. i saw a documentary on his house in Sweetwater... he has like a huge ass J in the middle of his living room floor made of diamonds....yeaah....crazy right? i should see his concert...i really want to...but yah me as a groupie...makes me feel stupid. After going to the enrique concert it was like i couldnt get enough enrique. ok i'm finished. hahah i know my guy friends are like "gay, gay and gayer". shut it.

Digital Theater

oh so last Friday i forgot to mention that I went with da boys to go watch 300.
The cool thing is that we tried out a new theater called Rave. u guys ever heard of that? It's a digital theater... i mean the quality is on point and so is the surround sound. Meed had told us that if we were gonna watch 300 we had to do it there. The theater is on Yorktown crossing off of Hwy 6 and after passing up I-10. It's kind of a drive, i totally think it was worth it but yah not really driving out there for non action movies. I don't really need to see Tom Hanks in digital or for that matter Leonardo di Caprio. yeaah. now if u said Vin Diesel....... awwwwwwwwwwwready! hahahhah speakin of bodies....cuz thats what i was referring to.... daaaaaamn the Spartans. niiiiiice. real niiice. I did like the movie... i kinda liked the gory parts...i found myself laughing which is a little disturbing but the graphics were just too funny. And what was up with the Drag queen Persian King??? lolz... that dude was supa tall! hahhahah anyways I liked it and so did the guys... Dullah is a little more deeper than the rest of us and he expected more "character development" hahha whatever that means. Oh and akward moment...like the opening shall we call it...love making scene.... hahaha Zubair was sitting right next to me and couldn't stop laughing cuz he knows that crap makes me feel uncomfortable around them. I feel like they are my older brothers and i'm like kid sister watchin porn or somethin! hahahhahah yah so we were laughing during that um intense sex scene. great...pass the popcorn.

All the while, believe me, I prayed our moment would last twice as long.