Last weekend, I had the opportunity to relearn and apply my manual stickshift driving skill! With Pete's meticulous guidance, I was able to speed down the street right around the corner of where he lives like a racer within 15 minutes! The first time I drove a stickshift was back in high school and it was only for few minutes...therefore, it didn't really count. But this time, relearning it and actually getting to drive it for a good 15 minutes or so really...I can now say that I know how to drive a stickshift and be just as cool as everyone else! Pete needed an extra car to drive from his house to the train station he takes every day to work, so he was brave enough to let me drive his "new old" car that he just bought on the same day. With Jane's superb asian bargaining expertise, I was joking with Pete on how my laptop is more expensive than his newly aquired "new old" car. Stickshift is so fun and interesting to drive. I actually enjoyed it despite of how much of a pain in the butt it is having to shift every time you want to change gear to go faster or coming to a complete stop. I'm proud to announce that I managed to not stall in a single time while driving it that night! Having to additionally use my left foot to step on something while driving is a pain in itself! However, I think it takes too much effort to drive a stickshift, the thought of being stuck in traffic with a manual transmission car is horrifying.

Fast forward to this weekend, especially today, I was over Kim's house for her birthday party and Kent's graduation party BBQ. I brought Allison along, she has her hair up...pretty! I also invited Darren to come by too. It's good to see some old friends again. Food was delicous as always! By the way, thanks Darren for saving me some gas money and a trip down to Irvine by giving Allison a ride up north to my area. I appreciate it.

After the BBQ, I couldn't stay long enough for the poker game because I wanted to visit Pete and his family before his daughters' bedtime. I think it was a bad idea to bring Allison along to visit Jessie and Sydney...especially, now that Jessie likes to play with her auntie Allison more than her favorite uncle Son! No fair! Hehe... Sydney is so playful now as she tries so hard to crawl on her knees and hands. She's very adorable now that she's even more animated with her facial expressions and her cute attempts of utterance.