matterhorn swiss restaurant

this evening i went to the best restaurant ever.


Laeti, Lisa, Evi and I went. 


2323 Van Ness Ave # Frnt San Francisco, CA 94109-1829 - 
(415) 885-6116
Open Tue-Sun 5pm-9pm

we had the best time ever. i walked from home in the drizzling rain and the three musketeers took a cab from the castro. we met at 7:30pm. Laeti had said (the night before that i should make the even on facebook an she would call to make reservations) but it all got mixed up. i did the event and she didn't call. luckily i asked the hostess if there was any way we could dine without reservations and she was so kind she said yes:)

They had been closed for two weeks for renovations. the place looks great! wonder what it looked like before though. laeti and evi were our two swiss girls for the evening! they picked our meal on the menu. some cheesy fondue which was out of this world:) so delicious. with our white wine followed by a chocolate fondue with fruits. 

everything was perfect. it reminded lisa of back home. the surrounding was wooden walls, chairs and everything. i will upload the pictures a bit later. its 12:35am (sat) and we went out friday eve (7:30) about 5 hours ago. got home after 10pm and here i am. i can hear the rain pouring outside. thanks you Lord for the rain.

i feel like i was in switzerland for the evening. they compare the cheese fondue and bread occasion to barbecuing or 'braaing' on a summers day. or soup on a winters one. i would love to visit them someday soon. its going to be hard to part. they have become part of me. thinking about the days just makes me depressed. laeti is leaving june 22nd and lisa is leaving july 9th. today is june 3rd. well june 4th already because its after midnight. i should get going. 

we had a fun evening out tonight. tomorrow we have union street festival planned and maddie might be coming into the city:) will be fun! i am truly blessed! and we all have bright futures ahead of us:) 

thank you Lord! 

goodnight

xx

time. where does it fly to?

everyday... every time i try to make time to blog for a bit. I have so much on my mind. words consume my brain more than the thought of the moment i live each day. i feel like the need to write everything down, except i never have the time to just quickly jot down whatever it was i wanted to or was was going to say.


I am amazed at how quickly time passes by. so amazed at how every time i find myself blinking, yet another weekend has gone by. the feel of nostalgia warms my body the way it shouldn't. i yearn for the things i miss the most more and more each day. its become real. the fact that i am not home breaks me. each day passes and i am happy yet sad.


the life i have here is great. and i love the people in it. but home is truly where my heart is. and this is why i need to go back. i left my heart there. i don't know if it was for safe-keeping cos i think that's the last reason i'd have to leave it there for.


see, my heart has been taken advantage of one too many times. because this is the way it was. i allowed it. now. i have grown. my heart has grown. whether i crash into the walls that i have built or not, thats the way it is. this is who i am. no one can use or abuse me. i set my foot down. i know who i am. i know what i want. if you're not helping or encouraging me to get there then get out.


san francisco is wonderful. truly wonderful. but all good things come to an end. all things must pass. i have to pass this stage of my life and move on. its that simple.


don't know where i am leading to with all of this but all i have to say is that i miss home. thats all. i miss my family. i miss my friends. some of them. i will miss my friends here more than ever. they mean so much to me*


xx

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011

getting all geared up and ready!!

                                                WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!

Vivi, Lisa and Memi:) (Lisa's room)

playing some tunes;)

after my story... you know whose is whose:D

now you REALLY know:)

we made it just in time!!! (muni in the background)

yaaay:)

the day has arrived:) Lisa's bus pass with the date of our biggest jump!

everyone meeting in strawberry village

and the road trip begins! iced mocha!

nap time for Lisa-Lisa

driving past the beautiful vineyards reminding me of south africa<3

okay... seriously. which way??

the other troop in their car:)

as we arrived, this is what we saw:) knowing it would soon be us too!

*WELCOME*

all the pro's doing what they do best!

signing our lives away. literally.

we are so ready for this jump!!!

diving in the sky!

my OH my. last week on Sunday April 3, 2011 i went skydiving!!! 


Eight of us car pooling from strawberry village (close to tiburon)
in my car was: Lisa, Jessica from sacramento, Diana and me of course.


I slept over at Lisa's house and we watched 2012 the night before going skydiving. on her 58'' 3-D tv that's probably as flat as a DVD cover. its ridiculous:) but amazing! We had dinner with her family.


Salmon, rice, crab and salad with some wine. it was sooo good! after that they left to see a movie, lisa and i bathed the kids and put them to bed. we got our ice-cream! ALL SORTS! and watched out movie. while we were watching, scott and bonnie arrived back home and watched a bit with us. he fixed us up with some great pina coladas. eventually the movie ended and i went to take a shower while lisa was skyping with thomas:) we went to bed at just after 3am and slept like babied.


next morning, we got ready and excited for the day lying ahead! it was surreal but somewhere in between we knew it was legit and happening on this day. lisa was a bit disturbed that she hadn't had great amounts of servings of ice-cream because it could've been her last time (thinking she would die while diving) hahaha:) anyway, we got dressed and i had no clue what to wear! i planned on wearing my "i <3 ny" tank but lisa said "it should say "i <3 sf" its not good luck to jump with a tank saying that you love new york rather than san fran. so she got me all freaked out haha so i changed! 


we were in such a hurry trying to make the muni bus. so as we left the door, we checked how long until the bus arrived and it said 8mins. we had like three blocks to run! thank goodness it was downhill though. and thank goodness we made it:) as we came to the street to where the bus would be arriving, it was coming down from the top of the hill:) what a sigh of relief. here i was, running like a crazy with this huge hot pink tog-bag saying "cultural care au pair" which weighed like 10pounds! and my purse too with all my personal things in it. anyway. we made it:)


and off we were to diana's house where she was waiting with jessica, with jessica's car. if she had not had her car, lisa would have had to drive with her car. but thankfully we had jessica:) we drove all the way across the city and over the golden gate bridge. it was diana and jessica's first time ever:) diana was VERY excited! lol:) it was so cute! we arrived at noah's bagels and starbucks (right next door) and got our quick fix of breakfast and coffee! i had my "everything" bagel with asiago cream cheese and chives! and my iced mocha (venti) from starbucks. this is my regular and starbucks people would know that if i actually went to the same starbucks everytime. but i don't. it was 11:00am and everyone had met everyone. we were so excited! 


in maddie's car was herself, jaqui, edna and sabrina. so off we went on hour hour and a half trip which turned out to be way longer regarding we got lost! haha or well the map on the site was the wrong one according to our gps! so we called the place and got the real directions. the one we went to was this place that looked like a prison! high brick walls, barbed-wire but like new, unused but isolated! we had to use the bathroom really badly so we went in the bushes! left our tinkle behind and hurried along. we met this family on the way there cos we still kinda didn't know where we were going! and he took us right to the place:) so here we were:)


saw like over 20 parachutes flying up in the sky. we waited for like 3 hours!! it was insane but we filled the time frame up perfectly:) we played games, fooled around, loved our car seats on the ground, going to the bathroom every other second because we were so nervous! taking pictures in an old bus! and just enjoying the moment:) watching everyone else jump who were before us. it was just an unforgettable experience!


the whole day was out of this world! we got our numbers, mine being first. i dont even know why! i was number 94A :) the jump cost us $100 each and photos with video cost $75 so $175 in total.
all totally worth it. my video guy asked me what music i liked and i said kings of leon so in the background of my video, "use somebody - KOL" is playing:) so so so awesome! i love it! 


my ears was blocked for like the next five days and i got an toothache when i landed! it was crazy! i was feeling amazing but like zoned out! it was absolutely insane. the jump was literally life-changing! and i will always remember it! 


after that, we drove to get some dinner at mackie d's! i got $1 deals! awesome:) and we arrived back home just after 8pm. 


perfect day. perfect ending to the weekend. perfect people. 


the end:)

vegas. 11 months. san diego

Firstly. its been a while.

I'm officially extending in the United States. for another 6 months to be exact. today (March 12 2011) I have been here for exactly 11 months. I love it here, its really become my new home. I feel safe and secure. Feel like I'm going places, doing things and living the life I want to live. its become my haven i care for. my life has become so precious to me. I look back and see how I have changed, how things have changed and how the world is changing each and every day we are awakened to.

March 7, 2011 (Monday) my cousin Charne Abrahams got married in vegas:) yes she tied the knot! 21 years old:) she is happy and I am so happy for her. I flew to vegas on saturday eve from san francisco.
When i landed it felt like a dream come true. as the plane was descending from the sky, i saw the night lights of the city... i saw the huge strip with the hotels on it and everything you could imagine. I was blown away and absolutely speechless at the site of what my eyes had just been born to.

I had always seen these pictures, movies and every other media form of vegas. but this was it. this was the real deal. the dream i once had becoming a reality right before my eyes.

 I was meant to take a cab to the hotel. the luxor hotel but my cousin    insisted on picking me up. so i could not refuse.






The luxor hotel was AMAZING. every hotel on the famous vegas strip was amazing!
Anyway they got married on the Monday morning at the shalimar chapel. It was short and sweet!

I was the witness of course:) and i got to sign the wedding certificate. it was very sad to say goodbye. we had such a crazy amazing time together! we went to the grand canyon on the saturday and to the hoover dam. we had great buffet at the venetian in paris on the strip which was awesome and i had to leave in a cab to catch my flight to LA. my lay-over was a couple of hours and then got on a jet and flew to san diego. Amy fetched me and now i am here. in san diego. but im very tired now. daylight saving starts tonight at like 2:00am so we will be losing an hour! #goodness.

till later.

How great is our God...?

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty 

Let all the earth rejoice 

All the earth rejoice 

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide 

And trembles at His voice 

Trembles at His voice 

How great is our God, sing with me 

How great is our God, and all will see 

How great, how great is our God 

Age to age He stands 

And time is in His hands 

Beginning and the end 

Beginning and the end 

The Godhead Three in One 

Father Spirit Son 

The Lion and the Lamb 

The Lion and the Lamb 

How great is our God, sing with me

How great is our God, and all will see

How great, how great is our God

Name above all names 

Worthy of all praise 

My heart will sing 

How great is our God 

Name above all names

Worthy of all praise

My heart will sing

How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me 

How great is our God, and all will see 

How great, how great is our God 

#justgowithit saturday 12 feb 2011

TEN OFFICIAL MONTHS IN THE USA TODAY!!!


Went to see just go with it this evening. it was really, really good. Jennifer Anderson and Adam Sandler were in it. It was the perfect movie for toning up my stomach muscles. Lots of laughing. went to see it with Lisa Fian, Laeti from switzerland wasn't there though because she is back in san diego again with baptiste, her 'friend' from back home:) but lisa, my wonderful Austrian friend whom I love and who is invited to my wedding:) haha was with me:) i've been inviting everyone to my wedding. but that's another story for another day:) 


I love that I can just express my feelings here. 


Last week 4 - 6 February 2011 I was with Roz, Rozelle Jacobs. one of my true bffs from highschool who has also been au pairing but down in Hillsborough, San Mateo. It was awesome. 
Friday evening we went to see The Roommate which was crazy but not very good! then we came back home because it was a late movie we went to. actually, to be precise we went to see... actually nevermind. I can't find the ticket and i know that when i am not looking for it, i will find it and then it will be too late. maybe i'll post it on its own just for the lols. 


So that was friday. then saturday morning we woke up at 9:00am to go to the San Francisco Zoo. so we dolled all up and went to chestnut and laguna muni stop to catch the 28 daly city muni bus and go all the way to sloat street to take the 29 and go to the zoo. wrong. so, so wrong. we got lost and to cut a long story short. we left and something to 11:00am. ended up in the mission along the way. took like three or four different muni's. Roz was stopped by her red robot to just top everything off so a quick stop at Trader Joe's to freshen up. then back on our mission. at something to 3:00pm, we FINALLY arrived to the zoo. after finding out that we could've actually just taken the 30 stockton downtown and the underground muni L-taraval Zoo. and get right off at the zoo. no mission. end of story. but then i guess we wouldn't have the memory we now do:) after the Zoo, having seen all the animals in the world. which was pretty amazing! 


we went all the way back to the GG bridge and took some fun photos. then missioned back home to chestnut street (my home) and grabbed some dinner because it was after 5:00pm and i could eat. Roz had been fasting with me all day:) we went to eat at dragon well on chestnut street and then went back home all stuffed. it was a really good day! then we went to walgreens and got some sleeping tablets expecting to sleep in the next morning. except they didn't work and we woke up like at 8:00am and was like HUH?? that stuff was a complete joke! so anyway.. got ready to go to lombard street. the most crooked street in the world! it was so much fun! we hiked all the way there from my house with Roz and her new leather boots from DSW lol which was killing her feet but she looked great in them and i was the only one who knew she was in pain anyway so it didn't matter:) 


after lombard street we went back down to vanness street and waited for the 30 stockton muni again because roz's feet were too sore to walk all the way back again! and we wen tot see the black swan with natalie portman. we went to see the 1:35pm show at the presidio theatre on the small screen but it was still really good. a really deep, dark movie. it was really intense but we enjoyed it nevertheless. after the black swan we went back to my house to chill and change into warmer clothing. we went to pasta promodoro on california street and had some pasta and then came back home and Roz came to fetch her bags and left back to hillsborough on the 30 stockton muni to get to the caltrain station. that was the end of the weekend. 


it was great fun. a weekend we will never forget!!!

xx