Berkeley Day 17: Aug 22

One of the worst things about travelling is jetlag. Feeling those effects, I woke up on Saturday morning at around 5 am, after going to sleep at 2 am. Dragging myself to breakfast at holiday inn at around 6, I was greeted with a barrage of people at breakfast. Crazy people.

Unfortunately for me, I seemed to be the least tired, so the rest of the morning and afternoon was spent staring at my sleeping family. Catching up on the blog, sitting around, and doing other boring stuff kept me entertained. When everyone woke up, we headed to Ikea, where my sister wanted some random stuff including hangars, envelopes, and my other sister found other miscellaneous items. My sister found Mufasa and Barbar (two stuffed animals obtained, 50 cents a piece). We all ate a a snack at Ikea, which is actually pretty good. Their menu showcases on bright signs, swedish meatballs, sandwiches, pasta, cakes, soup, corn muffins, all very cheap and good for a snack. Still feeling jetlag, I had trouble trying to eat everything, but finally managed to down my corn muffin. The only thing about Ikea is that you have to bus your own dishes, but seeing as no one is ever lazy in this world, that shouldn't be a problem..I walked out seeing cluttered tables, as if a high speed foot chase had taken place. Maybe people are lazy. Duh.

The next stop on our errands trip was Sports Authority to find some clothing and shoes. Staff are generally hit and miss, as most are probably under payed unfortunately. However, the signs are very good, so you don't really need the workers, except to pay. Surprised that it was almost 9 pm, we rushed to the Noodle Theory restaurant on College, right on the boundary between Oakland and Berkeley. Most of us ordered appetizers, but there was also a salmon miso ramen and some spinach noodle in miso soup. My chicken potstickers were very good, serving a big portion of 6 rather large potstickers, even if it was at a steep price of $9. The restaurant is built for parties of two or four predominantly, and has a nice, small setup, making it feel like a small town cafe. If you aren't entertained at the person sitting across from you (which in some cases you probably should be interested), then you can watch the chefs deep fry and cook lots the food.

That night I finally got to watch Slumdog Millionaire, which was a very good movie, with a nice layout of the movie, switching between present and past. Some of it can be complicated, as with all movies, but it's easy to get the main idea. I had a pretty decent sleep, but it was not too deep, as it felt like a nap in Malaysia time. Glad to be back in the U.S., but also miss Malaysia.