Update

Damn it's been a while since i wrote in this. And when i created this blog, i thought i'd be writing in it everyday haha. well better late than never...

boston (and maybe the east coast in general) makes u a more angry person. why?

-cars honk way more than they need to.

-some people don't acknowledge u in stores and such or don't say thank you or hi.

-boston sports fanatics (which is basically everyone who is from the area) are really aggressive and prideful and give u shit if u talk about any other sports team.

-there's been quite a few news articles about white boys committing acts of racism and racial slurs against asian americans in boston colleges.

-u get pissed off when people ask you if i speak english just cuz you look 'asian' and assume u don't speak english.

-because of the sterotype that bostonians are racist and ignorant, in your mind u assume than any white person is racist and ignorant and you're just waiting for them to say something about you so that you can talk back and raise hell and throw a fist or two.

aside from these lovely characteristics, boston is a pretty cool place to live in. i've grown fond of public transportation because it's so good out here. definitely puts BART to shame, but you have to cut BART some slack cuz of the geographical obstacles. not much seperates the different areas of boston, so places are pretty accessible by public transportation. and it's so hard to be a $59/month unlimited bus and subway pass! the only downside is that the subway shuts down before 1am and most buses stop running around 1am. this makes things difficult when u want to stay out late at a bar or lounge til 2am.

you'll actually come across really nice people here. some of the bus drivers are pretty friendly as are some store clerks. some people in my department are cool folk. and occasionally you'll see drivers stop for u if you're trying to cross the street.

the weather has been pretty weird in boston. i was expecting a humid, unbearable summer. it's been humid, but the temp has only reached the 70s and 80s. we've had maybe only one or two days 90 degree weather. what makes it weird is that one day it will be nice and sunny and then next day will be all cloudy or raining pretty hard.

things have been pretty busy for me. since my last blog entry, i've been working full-time (never gonna change til i get outta here), taking classes, and going on plenty of weekend trips. i passed my spring semester of classes with satisfactory grades. i've been taking summer classes and now taking my second summer school class and i just took a midterm for it (we are now entering week 4 of 6).

i took the opportunity to go home to the bay for memorial day weekend. the following weekend i went with chiara to see blackstar in concert in NYC...one of the dopest shows ever. she came back with me to boston til i saw her off to go back to the bay and then to the PI for the summer =/. then rick and kay ann came into town and definitely had a good time showing them around boston and NYC. the following weekend my sister and cousin came into town and showed them around boston and NYC also. i was pretty exhausted by the time they left.

i finally had a break for a weekend until the next weekend where i went off and met my family for a trip to toronto and niagara falls--they're really dope places to visit. toronto is very international (yes, has many filipinos!) and has SF-ish and NYC-ish neighborhoods, many ethnic neighborhoods, and european architecture scattered throughout the city. niagara falls is pretty amazing too, but the area around it is pretty touristy.

last weekend mark, kat, kyle (from chiara's med school), van (from berkeley), and i checked out a casino in CT called Foxwoods--its supposedly the third largest casino in the world. it's no lie, it's pretty huge (twss) with like 5 or 6 casinos all connected together. has a bunch of restaurants and bars. the night we arrived mark, kyle, and i played at a really hot craps table. i ended up winning $300 that night but only to lose $200 of it the next day. oh well. better to come out on top than bottom (twss)

and just yesterday i checked out a pretty cool venue that someone i met through miguel (mark's friend from HS and currently NYC roommate) has been wanting me to check out for the longest time. man, what have i been missing?? this venue is actually an asian bookstore which is actually a front for an asian american community space where they host open mics, open music jam session, art showings, and straight up parties. a lot of underground poets, spoken word artists and MCs come through here whenever they're in town like giles li, bambu (yes, bambu of native guns) and magnetic north (yes, UCBs beloved magnetic north). the people who are a part of this community are students, activists, teachers, DJs, dancers, and musicians and all-around down to earth people. i met three filipinos that night, which is a record for me in boston haha. I met a couple of DJs who are really cool and looks like i might be working with them in the near future. i was also invited to the next jam session and scratch alongside the musicians as they jam away. pretty cool. this reminds me a lot of the community groups and spaces in berkeley and the bay. i felt immediately connected when i stepped inside this space and people there were really welcoming and friendly. hopefully i can use this to get back in the DJ game and step up to the next level.

i'm so glad to have found this asian-american space cuz i feel like i haven't found my niche yet here in boston. so far i havent felt really connected to many of the people i met. is it cuz i'm filipino and i am only used to hanging out with filipinos, asian americans, and other people of color and people at school and work aren't the typical people i'd hang out with? prolly. everyone else i've met are nice and all, but i just don't connect with them on many levels. the people who i feel are the ones i sorta connect with are those from california who have also been transplanted to boston. but with them it hasn't gotten to the point where we're close buddies and hang out all the time. i really miss having friends that i can hit up (or hit me up for that matter) and are more than down to hang out and chill or do something. hopefully i can find something like that here in the near future.

so that's just a summary of what i've been doing. long summary, but at least it's an update for those that care. the next update will prolly involve my first red sox game, trip to philly to be reunited with chiara, and my trip to japan!