deborah-kim-blog

[deborah-kim-blog]

Sequoia Camping Trip 2017

August 23 - August 25, 2017

Daniel invited Christiana, me, and his best friend, Frank, to go camping for two nights and three days in Sequoia.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

We dropped Dena off at Union Station at 5:30 in the morning, and slept from 6:30 to 7:30, until Daniel and Frank arrived at Christiana’s (an hour later than planned due to traffic D:). After hours of driving, we first stopped by the General Sherman Tree (the largest tree in the world :O) and took some pictures (the tree was so big, we had to take the pic using the panorama mode but up and down and not left to right lol). 

Then, we finally arrived at Lodgepole in Sequoia. While we were unpacking, we noticed some thundering sounds and gray clouds above the mountain to the right of us…  And less than an hour later, when we were seated around the not-yet-lit campfire, we noticed the clouds drawing nearer and nearer. Then, Daniel screamed as he felt the first drop, which made us get up and start shoving everything inside our tent, bear box, and car. So we spent the next hour and a half of rain in our tent resting, and playing Bananagrams and Monopoly Deal. It was actually a pretty nice experience listening to the rain fall on our tent hehe. 

Once the rain stopped, we went outside to prep our gogi partyyy (samgyupsal and chadol). We were actually supposed to have the gogi party on our last night at Sequoia, but we realized the meat would spoil unless we get a bunch of ice for the entire day while we were out hiking the next day. So good thing Daniel and Frank thought about that. :) So the guys ended up cooking the meat and serving us hoho. That was very nice of them. :) 

After dinner, we ended our night with some campfire time, making s'mores and conversations. Christiana even made a molarmellow #직업병 HAHA 

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Christiana and I woke up to a campfire and a breakfast already prepared by the guys, who woke up an hour in advance (thank you!!). Then, we got ready to go hiking! We found a parking spot super easily and started the hike up the Hump Trail. 

Omg. This trail was hard af. It took us three hours just to go up. And on the way, the guys (who know their way around here) kept saying, “We’re almost there!” Turns out, we were "almost there" TWO hours later ! -o- lol 

But wow I’ve never seen this much plants in one place. It was so beautifulll. 

This pic was taken on the way down, but it was so shady because there were so many tall trees. 

We took many many needed breaks on the way up because it was exhausting. Thankfully, I didn’t feel like I was going to faint (how I usually feel when I go hiking). BUT I was very very tired (heart racing and out of breath). 

But the view once we got there was amazing. The pictures don’t do justice, but man… It was so so so pretty.

After taking the beauty in and lots and lots of pictures, we made our way down towards the lake. 

Here, we (the guys lol) put the fishing gear together to try to catch some fish! Sadly, my fishing line kept getting tangled, and at the end of the day, Christiana and I did not catch one fish… D: Daniel and Frank, on the other hand, caught a whole bunch… no fair… We didn’t eat the fish we caught or anything though. The guys just released them back into the water. One of the fish that Frank tried to release actually turned into a sad story: 

So he caught a fish and then removed the hook to throw it back into the lake. So he chucked it towards the water, and then BAM! it slams into a huge boulder and lands in the dirt… So by this time, we were all O.O / :O, and Frank makes his way down to the dirt where the fish landed, picks it back up, and actually throws it into the water this time. And then… the poor thing just floated back up to the surface… T.T So sad. :(

So yeah… After some fishing, we made chicken sandwiches and PB&J for lunch and then tried to fish some more. 

Then, around 3:30, we headed down the mountain after taking this picture. 

We took the Watchtower Trail going down because Daniel and Frank knew that this trail had a crazy view (like going down, there was a crazy view). A good chunk of the top half of the mountain, we were walking on a ledge. O.O

This was preeeetty thrilling. hoho 

Poor Christiana and Daniel were getting pretty nervous. >< 

So while going down this scary part of the mountain, we came across this cliff-looking thing that one of Daniel and Frank’s friend supposedly climbed up. 

So Frank wanted to try it himself too, and I decided to follow because when will I ever climb up to the end of a cliff, you know? But Daniel and Christiana decided to stay behind and take pictures of us once we reach the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, the thing was impossible to climb up because the path was extremely narrow and too risky try to go passed that tree sticking up in the middle of the ledge. So we just sat as close to the cliff thing as possible and snapped a pic there. haha

So the place Frank and I were sitting on was actually not too scary because it was wide and had places for us to sit. So Daniel and Christiana joined us! :D Look at us livin’ life on the edge. hehe

After spending a lot of time taking pictures going down the mountain, we continued our way back down the mountain, through the foresty part again. This time, I think we only took two to three breaks because it was so much easier going down. But towards the end, we were very very tired for we had a looong day… When we had around thirty minutes left, Daniel shouted, “Car!” as in, “We’re almost there because I see the parking lot!” But when we approached it, it turned out to be a huge white boulder…! L O L. It was so sad but so funny haha. So eventually, we reached the bottom of the mountain two and a half hours after we left the lake (so this includes our two breaks and the many many picture breaks we took lol). 

For dinner, we each had two hot dogs: one pineapple sausage and one spicy sausage. We even added grilled onions and garlic from the gogi party. It was a good thing we had the gogi party the night before because we were super tired. The hot dogs were so much simpler to make and eat haha. 

And the rest of the night was just cleaning up and more eating. We had the campfire going again, and we ate some corn, goguma, and s’mores. 

Friday, August 25, 2017

The next morning, I got up at 6:30 because it was cold + I was uncomfortable sleeping on the ground + I was paranoid about leaking since my time of the freaking month started Wednesday night in Sequoia -_-. So I washed up and everything and just waited on the bench outside because I didn’t want to wake the guys up since they were sleeping towards the side of the door. Then around 8:30, I hear the tent zipper unzip, followed by a loudass fart. Of course, it’s Daniel, who has been ripping farts with no shame the entire trip lmao. So he started a fire as soon as he woke up, and the first thing I ate that morning was a giant marshmallowwww hoho. 

So once everyone woke up, we ate the leftovers for breakfast and packed the car. We then walked over to a lake across the street from our campsite. That was pretty niceee. 

By the time it was time for us to check out, we finished up our games of horseshoe and made sure everything was in the car. 

On the way down, we stopped by Moro Rock and some more giant trees. 

Turns out this Moro “Rock” was a 20-minute climb up. -_- lol Man… my legs were burning…  

They should seriously rename it as Moro Mountain… This is a pic I took of Moro “Rock” on the way home:

But in the end, the view was amazinggg haha 

After we made our way back down from Moro “Rock,” we visited some more giant trees.

A giant fallen tree:

The side of the giant fallen tree:

The bottom side of the giant fallen tree:

In front of a giant, mushy tree:

And thennnn we made our way back to LA with just one stop and concluded our trip with BCD. 

 ————————————————————————

Twas a very very fun and exciting camping trip! Although I was disappointed that I didn’t see any bears or catch any fish, it was exciting since there was a lot of firsts for me - first time camping (not glamping lol), first time learning how to cast a fishing rod, first time playing horseshoe, first time hiking for three hours and not feeling like fainting, and first time seeing and admiring the beauty of nature (trees, mountains, sky FULL of stars, sight and sound of lakes/streams), I never realized how much I loved the beauty of nature. I always thought trees were trees and mountains were mountains, but mannn. Nature is so beautiful! lol

Thanks Daniel for planning and inviting me to this awesome camping trip to Sequoiaaaa.

[deborah-kim-blog]

Decided to take a 5-day long break from work and run (more like fly) away to Seattle and Portland with my bff! 💕😊 Turned out to be an amazing week full of 📷🚌🚶🏻‍♀️🍴💸 😂

[deborah-kim-blog]

I kinda don't like adulting, but this milestone is pretty excitinggg 😁 #HesSoPretty 😍 #ByeBee🚕 #HelloNotYetNamedCar

[deborah-kim-blog]

18-hour layover in London! 😊 #ButNo221bBakerStreet😪 (at London, United Kingdom)

[deborah-kim-blog]

🇺🇦❤️ #LightAndSaltUkraine #metanoia

[deborah-kim-blog]

Hello world! Meet Alicia Somi Kim! 💕 #SomiMyHomie

[deborah-kim-blog]

So blessed that my 24th consisted of showers of love from my family and friends: a surprise breakfast by Jane and Emily + a yummy family dinner + a yummy white chocolate strawberry mousse cake by Jane + a surprise TV (whuuut?!). I love you all so so much! 💕 Thank you again for the millionth time for making me feel so special 😘 #AlisaEuniceAndJaneNeedInstagram

[deborah-kim-blog]

Haven't posted in a while

6.06.16 I haven't posted a #personal post in forever, so here's a quick one: I had a loooong day today, and I cannot fall asleep because of my "nap." Lol So before my "nap," I went to church and stayed there until 3:30 for VBS prep. During vbs prep, Jane and her friend, Camila, talked about wanting to watch The Nice Guys in Alhambra (for $5). I was freaking tired and just wanted to go home after vbs prep. So I tried to hint at them (more to Jane) that I wanted to go home and sleep. But she goes, "its up to you!" which of course makes me feel the need to take them because if I decide to go home, I'm the bad guy. :( so we went and watched the movie (which was whatever...) And then we came home at around 8:00 and ate dinner. Then I took the "nap" from 10:00PM to 12:00AM. After washing up, watching two episodes of How to Get Away with Murder, and looking back at my #personal tumblr posts, it is currently 2:45AM... I should sleep, but I only woke up 3 hours ago... Lol

[deborah-kim-blog]

April 16, 2016

Hopefully, this is the date that marks the first and last hangover I will ever experience. l o l

It all started the night of April 15, 2016, the day before Chris and Grace’s baby shower. Eunice, Peter, David, Chris, Grace, Jane, and I were all together after not seeing each other for a while. We all went over to David’s house to just chill, play games, and of course, eat Rambos. We actually went to Rambos first. We got our uje: tripa/lengua/al pastor taco, quesadilla, and/or burrito. After finishing the yummy food, we stopped by Ralphs to pick up some drinks dranks since David and Peter are finally 21! We got a bottle of Sauza Tequila, a bottle of margarita juice, and really cute red solo shot cups l o l. 

At home, we sat down and drank up. Chris poured each of us (except for Jane because she's too young and Grace, who was already asleep) 1 shot of tequila. This was actually my very first shot of a hard liquor. I felt a warm sensation down my throat (as opposed to a burn). Then we took that nasty taste away with the juice-like mixture - 1 part Sauza and 3 parts margarita juice. And then Chris poured David and himself another shot of tequila and less than half a shot for me. After the drinking, David and Chris were fine. I think David even drank another cup of the juice-mix thing. Eunice turned pink and giggly, whereas Peter and I turned bright red. Peter looked as if his head was about to explode, and I looked like, “Satan. …in a good way,” according David lmao. I was definitely buzzed. I knew what was going on and everything, but I felt tipsy. I felt and heard my heart pounding throughout my body without having to put my hands to my chest or anything, and my heart rate went up to 108bpm (as opposed to 67bpm when I measured it with Alex’s phone 2 days ago) - but this was weird because technically, my heart rate should have slowed down with alcohol… :/. Anyway, so my heart raced, my face, neck, and hands were burning and red, and I felt a liiiiiiittle bit dizzy and suuuper tired. 

Peter and his face seemingly on the verge of explosion:

So in this state, we all decide to play Catan of all games… l o l. At this point, we were all very tired (because of the dranks and the time - like 2:00AM?). I was so tired that while we were playing, there was a hilarious incident. It was my turn, and I was thinking about my next move with my chin resting in the palm of my right hand. While I was thinking, I heard David and Peter just laughing their butts off, saying, “omg. Deborah!” I opened eyes, only to realize that I had fallen asleep in the middle of my decision-making on my turn…! lmaooo. So that’s when we decided to stop playing and go to bed (at like 3:00AM?). I was supposed to go home that night, but there was no way I was gonna drive home…

That night, I’m not even sure if I slept the first hour… I had a lingering headache and felt very nauseous. I didn’t feel like getting up for more water or to throw up in the bathroom since I was already lying down and was hoping the pain and nausea would go away soon. I just kept trying to force myself to go to sleep. However, my headache and nausea was so bad, I finally decided to get up and try going to bathroom. I ended up throwing up all the tripa, lengua, and al pastor all mixed up in hot sauce, aaaand it burneddd. :( So luckily, after I threw up, the nausea went away, my face went pale, and I was able to sleep until 7:45AM, when Jane woke us up to go home and get ready for the baby shower. 

So, on the morning of the 16th (today), I had some errands to run for the baby shower. Appa, Jane, and I went to Porto’s and Sprinkles to pick up the food. But omg… the hangover was terrible. I had a massive headache that came and went away (stayed longer than it went away… T.T). In addition to that throbbing pain, I felt nauseous although I had nothing else to throw up. :/ So after 3 hours of headaches and nausea, we finally got to David’s house with all the food. That’s when Chris and Grace gave me Mortrin and Dramamine, and I felt all better, just in time for the baby shower. :D

So lesson learned: Never drink tequila (or any other drink) to the point I get buzzed!

[deborah-kim-blog]

Highlight of the night: @gaekogeem 😃 straight at Jane!!! asdlfjfkslaa 😍 #GrandCarnivalTour #2ndrow 👌🏼 (at The Novo DTLA)

[deborah-kim-blog]

Ryan Higa!!! 😄

[deborah-kim-blog]

and Arden Cho!!! 😄 #각도의중요성

[deborah-kim-blog]

Before I start cleaning my room, here's a pretty soundtrack from 응답하라 1988 - 걱정 말아요 by 이적. 😊 Sooo pretty! 💕 My favorite soundtrack is 소녀 though hehe *I'm only on ep. 2, so no spoilers please! 🙈

[deborah-kim-blog]

We've been wanting to go on a road trip together since our freshman year of college, and we finally made it happen! 😁 ♦️♣️♥️♠️ (at Golden Gate Bridge)

[deborah-kim-blog]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 Gangar Snoopy Cinderella Alien Kirby Charlie Brown Pooh Minion Jason Voorhees

[deborah-kim-blog]

Our Labor Day: spontaneous "sleep"over 🎥 + spontaneous drive to Malibu Beach at 4:00AM 🌊 + sunrise ☀️ + Philz Coffee ☕️ + 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 👶🏻 ✌🏼️😁