Jacky visits + 11-11!

I met up with Josh and Elaine at the law school for lunch Thursday.  Apparently, their menu changes every day! O_O  It was Fajitas on Thursday, and the plate cost $5.29, which is cheaper than something at the DUC. 

I was on the other side of campus at the art school, and when I got their call after I walked to Lopata, I power walked to the law school.  They had already been in line, so I was that strange girl taking photos of the food line by herself. :P  Fajita chef person!:

They basically cook the protein for you, and then scoop out salsa, Cuban black beans, cheese, sour cream, and Mexican rice for you before adding on three flour tortillas wrapped in aluminum foil.  I don't like sour cream, so that didn't show up on my plate ^^  

We all got the same thing: chicken!

Rolled up and ready to eat *nom nom*

The meat and tortillas weren't hot enough to make the cheese melt, and I also don't like eating things mixed together, so I ended up eating the plate with a spoon.  But that was really yummy too :D

It was 1:52am when I proceeded to take my last bite, and I told Jacky I'd meet him at Kayak's at 2pm.  A quick bye to the friends, a text to Jacky to say I was on my way, and another run across campus, but this time, actual running!  When I stopped to walk across one of the roads behind the physics building, I could feel my food coming back up *Nyuu!*  Haha~  And then I received a call from Jacky asking me where I was... fail ORZ  *sigh*  Need to keep my word better T_T

Anyhow, Jacky is a friend I met while I was in lab in high school while he was a graduate student.  It's really interesting, because while I was there, he and another friend from my lab were a couple.  And now they're engaged! ^__^  So cute!  What's super exciting is that if their wedding falls on the same day I am in Taiwan during the summer, I could attend their wedding!  It'll be my first wedding ^^  and it'll be for someone I actually know :)

Since he was visiting friends in St. Louis, we agreed to meet up and visit the St. Louis Arch.  ... I mean, what else can you do, right? ;)  Well, okay let me rephrase:  What else can you do using only the Metro and a few hours?  :P

When we got off the metro, we followed the sight of the looming arch into this pretty park area ^^

Do you see the arch?

It was already cold in the afternoon, and we were both bundled up.  In fact, Jacky told me that he's never worn his red jacket in Houston, because it never gets that cold!  I wore the jacket my dad bought with me my freshman year.  I remember complaining that it was big and ugly, and he told me just to keep it my closet in case it got cold.  :')  Parents are always  usually right.

Mandatory pictures!

I took ten bajillion pictures, but I liked two of them.  They turned out with different "feels."  Which one do you like better? :D

When we got closer, I told Jacky to go and touch the arch.  He laughed and probably thought I was weird.  But really, what if you went home, and you realized you were inside the arch, but you never touched the outside? :)

Going up to the top of the arch costs $10, and when the elevator opens, it's like looking into a Lady Gaga music video prop.  Very futuristic!

Oh, and very tiny too~

Before heading in, we watched a little educational video.  Beside me was a little boy carried by his daddy.  He would slowly take a peek at me every now and then, and I'd make a face or wiggle my eyebrows in return.  Tee hee, when his face broke out into a smile, he was so cute!!  ^__^  And then we'd play a game where we both look at one another until we catch one another's eyes.  Haha, I don't think his dad noticed, but I wonder if anyone else thought we were being weird.

Super cute and beautiful baby!

At the top, there were tiny windows to look down across the land.  America's pretty flat in this area.  Here's what's across the bridge to Illinois~

Hop to the other side and peek out the window and you see downtown St. Louis.  See the stadium?  Yeah, that's where the Cardinals won that National Series.  *tries to pass off as a sports fan*  Haha :P  Jacky took lots of pictures too, and he seemed to enjoy the view a lot!

Metropolis

Old courthouse

It's kind of cool to think that a while back, Dred Scott plead his case in that very courthouse!  Anyways, we went back down in the tiny egg elevators and then walked around the little museum that's also under the arch. I learned of peace medallions and Indian loyalties, got a bit freaked out of the fake talking people, and then proceeded to search out the fake animals in the museum.  Jacky wasn't really interested, and looking back, I was probably dragging him around while half-yelling, "Cow!  Beaver!  Furry thing!  etc."

Longhorn!

I didn't know this is what a beaver looks like.  So much shaggy fur~

We went back into the blistering cold and looked up to see...

the very spot we were just at!  Pretty nifty, right?

Fighting the wind and walking towards downtown, Jacky and I headed towards the courthouse.  Now I know why they call it a golden arch.  The light reflects off of it to make it all shimmery and shiny ^^

We must have looked like super tourists!  Backpacks and cameras~

Looking for an entrance of the courthouse but failing (probably closed by then), we spotted the stadium and walked on over.  This place was probably packed a few weeks ago with screaming fans and intense excitement.  But now the sun was setting, and the field was empty.

Think they'll have to change this board by adding an '11. 

But how would that work?  Because '11 would seem like 1911, since they have '26 for 1926.  @_@  Oh well, I'll leave that to them to figure out!

Evening was taking over, and we shivered and chattered our way to Citygarden.  But before we got all the way there, we took cover in the stadium's souvenir shop to warm up a bit!  :D  My ears were so cold, and I regretted not taking out my extremely poofy ear muffs~  >_<''

When we arrived, we saw a huge disconnected head.  .____.  So scary when I walked up towards and and peeked into its empty eyes!   Weird how art can be both beautiful and scary >_<!

Citygarden is full of sculptures by people from around the world!  They have little metal medallions with the artists's name and title of the work implanted into the ground, so that was pretty cool :)  I took back a map with all the locations, names, and small descriptions of the works from a stand in the middle of the park!  Art is so much more interesting when you know the story behind it!  ^___^ (art history minor, go figure ;P)

Eros Bendato

2 Arcs x 4, 230.5 Degree Arc x 5  (Pretty @_@)

Tai-chi Single Whip

Four Rectangles, Oblique IV

Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels

Gate of Return

What do you think of when you see this art and the title?  I asked Jacky, and he said that he thinks of a gate where someone returns something they borrowed in a literal sense.  Hmm..  I'm curious what other people think, because I think of a loved one returning from the dead.  .___.''

(Untitled):  It composed of two rabbits, this one's cuter!  *super chubby*  ^^

Kindly Geppetto (but sad! :( )

After almost dying (not really, haha!) from the cold, we made it to the metro station and thawed on the way to Delmar Loop, where I was showing Jacky where WashU students eat!  We took a walk down and back the Loop to see all the food choices, and he chose either Thai food or Pi Pizza, because they seemed to have a lot of people.  Then when I told him that Pi Pizza was pretty unique and famous, it was decided we were having pizza for dinner! :)

We waited 30 minutes to be seated and another 25 minutes for the pizza to come out, but Jacky and I talked / yelled across the table about life.  (Yes, very specific, right? :D)  Yayyyy, fun talking, but it was hard to hear him and hard for me to yell across the table too, although we were literally 2 feet apart.  Dang, Pi is so popular!

We ordered a small thin crust and a small deep dish.  Here's how they described them!

(Deep dish) the delmar – mozzarella, cheddar, barbeque sauce, hormone-free chicken, red and green peppers, red onion, fresh cilantro after baking.

(Thin crust) cherokee street – baby spinach, chihuahua cheese, roasted red peppers, red onion, chorizo sausage, goat cheese and dusted with crushed red pepper and chili powder.

While we were waiting, every time a waiter walked by with food for another party, we could smell the aroma!  *drool*  So when ours arrived, my olfactory senses were doing the happy dance.  :P

The thin crust pizza was pretty good.  Mild flavor with a very slight spiciness.  Almost none, though~  The crust was super hard / crisp, and there was only a few greens sprinkled in.  I think last time I came, the crust was crisp, but soft at the same time (does that make sense, haha)?  Or, it wasn't like eating a cracker, basically!  But overall, pretty good.

Cherokee street

This Delmar pizza was delicious!  Although it was served not piping hot (cheese was not totally melted, sadly), it was still juicy, thick, and I-want-another-piece delicious.  Very moist, sweet, and delish!~  I think they used BBQ sauce somewhere in there.  ^^  Love their cornmeal crust!

The Delmar

We ended up eating slice for slice, splitting each pizza.  So I basically ate a whole pizza by myself -_-''  Durr..  Jacky told me that if Szu-Wei was here, she'd eat two slices and say she's full.  I must have scared him, haha! It was strange, because last time I came with friends, I think I was super full without eating as much.  Probably because I was frozen and super cold, and eating made me slightly warmer?  @_@

Nom nom nom, Pi pizza!

I had told him about FroYo (which he's never tried before) and how all the students always go there for dessert.  He was just about falling into food coma (as was I!), so we decided to skip that this time.  He was taking the metro bus back to his hotel, and I was going to take the metrolink back home.  It was dark by now, and he worried that it would be dangerous for me to go alone at Delmar station, offering to stay with me until I got onto the train.  Aww, so nice~  But his bus was just arriving, and seeing him chatter in the cold (still adjusted to Texas weather ^^), I told him I'd be fine.  We shared a quick hug and a bye, and I walked on towards the metrolink platform when he walked up the steps of his bus.

Thank goodness for the presence of the Metrolink officer.  I know / think that he couldn't do much if anything really happened, but just seeing an authority figure makes me feel 10x safer than without.  The metrolink platform actually has heaters (is that what they're called?  The wire thing that glows red from above?  They had those at swimming meets sometimes~), but there were people smoking underneath them.  Right next to the "No smoking on the platform" sign.  =_=''  Bah, I was so cold but a bit scared, so I stood at the edge of the platform canopy thingy in attempt to be shielded by the wind.  I held my breath to prevent inhaling in smoke and to keep warm.  Oh, does anyone else do that?  When I'm walking around campus when it's cold, I hold my breath, because it makes me feel warmer :)

The metro bus finally came, and I was on my way home, away from the cold! ^__^  Before plopping into bed and passing out (and not doing any work whatsoever), I took a shower and tried on the Christmas gift Jackie got me from Taiwan:  a white baseball cap!  Whoo!  I actually wore a caps in the summer when riding my bike, but he told me it was for any future hip-hop dances.  :3  I don't know how he knew that I danced, but I'm guessing it's from Facebook.  What's super funny, is that he said, "That way you can be like shaosdfjleksjcle *insert mumbled Chinese here*."  I was like, huh?  o_0  And then he said "SNSD."  Dang!  Why does everyone know K-pop?  @___@  I feel so out of place all the time, haha~  

Haha, I look like I'm about to fall asleep already in this one  ^^

If you didn't notice there are two golden wings on the rim.  So cute :)

~*~

Friday was 11-11-11, as most of you all know!  Anna left Pocky on my desk, and I asked her when I thanked her what it was for.  She said "Pocky day!"  Oh right!  Totally forgot 11-11 is the annual Korean Pocky day.  So nice  ^^  It's also a semi-joke that it's "Single's day," or as a friend said, a happy "Forever alone day."  Hahaha ^__^'''  Anyways, being single is quite fun too! :D  More time to get to daydream and cook, and hang out with more people, yeah! 

I missed 11:11am since I was in class, so I set an alarm for 11pm that night.  When I heard it, it was like suiting up for an FBI mission: jumping out of my PJ's into jeans, sweater, coat, scarf, beanie hat, and boots.  Then I ran to the metro station to take the photo I'll only be able to take once in my life (unless I break into the Metro company and turn back the clocks, haha).  

When I got to the metro, I inched closer to the clock, hoping to not look like a strange person doing shady things.  Thankfully, the metro officer was on the other side, because I didn't bring my wallet with my UPass.  When it was 11:10pm, the automated messages and announcements came on, so the time disappeared in way for the text, and I gasped, "Nyuuuuuu!" in my head.  Finally, when it was over, I took the shot:

Happy belated 11-11-11 everyone!  ^__^

I smiled to myself, put up the camera, and took one last look at it.  Eleven eleven.  With myself to share with. I wonder how many people paused for a minute from their life to think about it.  No other number is possible, 22-22-22 at 22:22pm is not possible, unless you're on military time, but there aren't 22 months in a year.  So, I'm pretty fortunate to have lived in two centuries, witnessed the turn into a new millenium, and watched the clocks turn to 11:11pm.  ^^

I ran back home in half-giddiness, and before turning the key in the locks, I stood outside the door and paused.  Closing my eyes, I made a wish.  (And hopefully I did not look like a robber trying to get into the house!) 

Here's a picture that kind of summed up what I felt at that moment.  It's a bit of Houston after rough-housing with Balto and sweating in Texas' summer weather ^_^

Missing family and warmer weather  <3