[10.31.2007 to 11.03.2007] -- Mountain Biking | SEMA Show

10/31/2007: Biking in Bootleg Canyon (Boulder City, NV).

From the website: "Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park is an extensive network of World Class Downhill and Cross Country mountain bike trails located in Boulder City, Nevada. The area has been visited by riders from as far away as Japan and Germany and has been written up in magazines around the world. The International Mountain Bike Association as certified one of the XC trails as an Epic Ride, a title given out only 18 times so far. Boulder City is located approximately 40 minutes south east of Las Vegas by the Hoover Dam and beautiful Lake Mead. The riding season is year round, however, temperatures average around 100 degrees Fahrenheit from June through August, so mid-day riding is difficult. If you do decide to come in the summer be sure to bring plenty of water and maybe some head lamps for a night ride."

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11/1/2007: Biking in Red Rock Canyon. The second day of our mountain biking trip took us just outside Vegas to Red Rock Canyon. I've been to Vegas more than a dozen times, but I never knew that such a spectacular natural wonder was so close by (~17 miles west)! The area offers a wealth of outdoor activities from biking to some gnarly rock climbing. If nothing else, it makes for a welcome contrast from the gambling/smoking/drinking lifestyle of the Strip.

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Everyone else came in that night, and we spent the rest of the time doing the typical Vegas thing. Attended ED's private party at Risque on Thursday. Slept in wayyyyy too late Friday and actually missed the entire SEMA show altogether (oops). Went out again on Friday night to Margaritaville and V-Bar (at the Venetian). Jenny tripped and fell forward smack on her face - no one even bothered to help her because they were too busy laughing. Brian finally managed to break his streak of puking. Maisie walked straight into one of those portable vendor carts. Steve stayed out of the ER. We stopped by the outlets on Saturday before taking in some buffet food and crazy (stupid) gambling at Mandalay Bay (sorry Otto). I came back a few hundred dollars wealthier, two undershirts short (ripped to shreds), one dress shirt stretched out (sorry Ryan). Now if that isn't a good time, then I don't know what is!

The End.

[10.21.2007 to 10.29.2007] -- 广州, 中國

My trip back to China ended up being a short, one week jaunt - but even so, it was certainly a welcome change from the daily grind. Although Guangzhou isn't exactly a tourist mecca, it certainly was interesting from a cultural/social/economic perspective. The amount of development and population in China is mind-boggling! And to think, that the "largest mass migration of human beings" is expected in the next 20 years with approximately400 million people moving from the rural countryside to cities hasn't even yet begun.... insane.

These next 20 years will certainly be interesting.

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[10.12.2007 to 10.14.2007] -- Anniversary #6: Two Harbors, Catalina

Just so you know, that 6 is NOT a typo. It sounds crazy, but I think I'm happier now than I've ever been! You would think its counter-intuitive on some levels, though its probably just part of this whole 'maturity' thing; the very thing that I still don't know how to handle because I still think of myself as a kid most of the time haha. But whatever, I shall say this much: I'm an incredibly lucky man!

Old age must be getting to me because I no longer care if that grosses any of you out hahaha =D

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[10.03.2007] -- Wednesday Night Cooking

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums; I'm almooooost caught up!**

Photos from our somewhat-weekly cookathon. On the menu this week was spinach, eggplant, ground turkey, and Italian sausage stuffed pasta shells in a creamy tomato sauce and it was deeeeeeelicious! I must've used that word at least 100x throughout the night, but make no mistake about it, it really was haha! Yum.

I made some modifications to the original recipe which can be found here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_29625,00.html

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[09.21.2007 to 09.23.2007] -- SF Dragonboat Tournament

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

My first 'real' dragonboat race! It was definitely a whirlwind trip, but we made the most of it from the start. A condensed recap:

9/21 Friday
730pm: Nancy and Sylvia pick us up at SFO.
830pm: Dinner #1 at Chevy's.
10pm: Dinner #2 in the Tenderloin with Jam

9/22 Saturday
6am - 4pm: Dragonboat tournament
4pm - 6pm: Nap
6pm: Dinner with Mel, Julie, and Will
10pm: Meet up with Steph, Isabel, Steve & Co.

9/23 Sunday
6am - 4pm: Dragonboat tournament
7pm: Fly back to LAX

Whew. Who says you can't get a lot done in 48 hours?!


Final Results:
Mixed Comp A Division - Championship
LARD Black places 2nd with a final time of 02:05.79

Mixed Comp B Division - Consolation
LARD Red places 2nd with a final time of 02:16.61

Mixed Rec B Division - Consolation
LARD White places 1st with a final time of 02:29.63




Finally, a few random pics from the weekend. I didn't take too many because Phil went crazy and took enough for everyone on the team (and then some!).

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1000000000 more pics here from Phil's albums:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Filosun04

[09.15.2007] -- Nike Run | Hit | Remix

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

Nike's annual 90s Hip-hop themed 5-mile run in Downtown LA. Featuring performances by En Vogue, Naughty by Nature, The Sugarhill Gang, Blue Cantrell, and MC Hammer. Its a sad fact that all these artists bring back fond memories for me, while my little brother seems to think they wer "before his time" - crap, yet another reminder that age is an unavoidable fact of life haha.

Results:
Final time 38m15s (a 4m improvement from last year!)
Placing #377 of 8490 overall

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[09.01.2007 to 09.09.2007] -- Allen Visits

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

Ironically, a few weeks after visiting Allen in NYC, he returns the favor by coming back to Socal! We certainly made the most of the week and saw a ton of old friends, combined with a ton of activities..... whew. It was certainly an extremely busy (but fun) week.

Part 1of2: Biking, San Diego

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Part 2of2: Biking Potluck

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[08.06.2007 to 08.12.2007] -- Fairfax | Roadtrip

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

I had a total of 48 hours in Los Angeles to recuperate from Europe and hang out at Winnie's bday party, before packing up my bags yet again. This time, I was off to Fairfax, VA for a weeklong training course out at our main research offices. Training usually means sitting in class all day and eating/drinking way too much at night. This week wasn't any different and perhaps, it was a welcome change from the eating sandwiches and walking everywhere; a transition from the quintessential European to quintessential American lifestyle (I have no idea how I stay skinny).

But anyway, after training, I headed up to NYC to hang out with Allen for the weekend. We didn't have any plans and it was quickly decided that since we've both seen enough of Manhattan, it was high time to take a road trip out to the surrounding states. Where exactly? No idea. Why? Because we can. Even an obsessive planner like myself can appreciate that sometimes, spontaneity in of itself can be the greatest adventure of all.

[07.31.2007 to 08.03.2007] -- Helsinki, Finland | Talinn, Estonia

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**


The final stop on my little stint through Scandinavia. Visible in both the architecture of the buildings and various parts of the city, Helsinki has its own unique feel; a product of both Swedish and Russian influences in its past. We didn't really end up spending too much time here, opting instead for the little side trip to Estonia... but we did manage to do a fair bit of sightseeing and just chillin' in the beautiful summer weather. Helsinki may not be as beautiful as many of the cities in Norway, but at least the freakin' sun shines here!!




A short 1.5 hour across the water from Helsinki, our little trip to Talinn turned out to be one of the best decisions we ended up making on this trip. Much like many of the other great cities we've encountered along the trip, this one was a neat mix of medieval architecture and modern buildings standing side-by-side. Throw in the beautiful inhabitants, and you got a real winner on your hands.




I took these final pictures as our plane flew over the eastern coast of Greenland. I was actually in the middle of a fairly-crappy HK triad movie when the pilot made the announcement and boy am I glad I actually decided to open the window.... wow!! Unbelievably beautiful. Greenland is definitely going to be added to my "places to see"-list.

[07.28.2007 to 07.30.2007] -- Stockholm, Sweden

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

My favorite big city of the entire trip! Stockholm embodies such a seamless blend of not only the rich remnants of its old history, but also a thoroughly modern side that is ever efficient. All this wrapped up in a small enough package to cover with just a few days time, and its not hard to see why I positively loved this place.

Having a travel companion also made things easier.... I don't think I'm cut out to do this whole solo thing. I'm a big believer in the whole, "its not where you are, but who you're with premise" -- I'd much rather be on the 'crappiest' place on Earth with my friends and family than the 'nicest' by myself!

[07.26.2007 to 07.28.2007] -- WWR | In Transit | Bergen

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**


White-water rafting down the Jostedal River (Class III). Not much white-water, but absolutely stunning views. Unfortunately the amateur doing the photography forgot to bring his spare battery so we only got pics of half the trip.... d'oh!



This is a collection of random pictures taken along the way. I spent an awful lot of time sitting on trains, buses, and planes. Combined with the time spent waiting for those things to take off, its fairly obvious to me that reducing overall scope and distance when traveling is the smartest thing to do. After all, alot of the time + money spent during traveling, is on transit!




Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, and unfortunately, also known as one of the wettest. On average, it rains about 250 days a year in this town and it was positively pouring as I stepped off the boat... aughhhh stupid weather. The rain put a big damper on my enthusiasm to really explore the city, but I didn't have much more than about 16 hours in the city anyway so it wouldn't have really mattered. I'm sure the night life and party scene is pretty sweet in the city but much like Oslo, I only used the city as a pit stop on the way to the airport.

[07.24.2007 to 07.25.2007] -- The Nærøyfjorden | Nigardsbreen Glacier, Norway

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

The Nærøyfjorden is a narrow, scenic branch of the much larger Sognefjorden, which is the deepest and longest fjord in Norway. This particular branch is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is generally considered one of the best examples of fjords in Norway. Absolutely breathtaking.




The next day, I headed up towards Jostedal to participate in a day long expedition trekking and ice climbing across the Nigardsbreen Glacier. The blue in the ice is typically caused by the absorption of the red and yellow spectrum by the ice itself. The deeper you get into the glacier, the more this effect is pronounced. This particular glacier is a small section of Jostedalbreen, the largest (>50 sqkm) and deepest (>400km). It definitely creates opportunities for spectacular views in an otherworldly place!

[07.22.2007] -- Biking the Rallarvegen, Flåm, Norway

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe. At least I added captions to all the albums!**

The Rallarvegen was originally built as a supply road for the initial construction of the Oslo-Bergen train line. I took the train up to Finse - the highest station in Norway - and rode the 35 miles back down to base camp in Flåm. I had thought it was going to a fairly easy ride, being downhill and all, but I was definitely mistaken. The "highest train station" in Norway does not necessarily mean the same thing as the "highest point" in Norway... d'oh! All in all this was the most epic, most phenomenal, and absolutely most beautiful ride EVER. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mountain biking.



Some pictures from the obscenely picturesque, little village of Flåm. I only stayed here about two nights due to its ideal location as a jumping off point for both biking and fjord sightseeing. With only a population of about 400, its amazing that this is one of the most visited sites in all of Norway!

[07.20.2007 to 07.21.2007] -- Oslo, Norway

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe**

Arrival and orientation in Norway's capital. I didn't spend a whole lot of time here because big cities don't generally interest me... the more of them I see, the more similar they seem to me. Oslo wasn't much more than a pit stop for me to rest on my way to more interesting stuff way out in the boonies. This whole solo thing is going to take some getting used to, but things are off to a great start!



Some pictures from the Oslo-Mydral-Flåm Railway; widely considered one of the most beautiful and scenic train lines in the world, this ride certainly did not disappoint!

[06.30.2007] -- Chicago

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe**

Our Broadway weekend continues with dinner at Maggiano's followed by Chicago at the OC Performing Arts Center. I'm not gonna lie, I dozed off in the first half of the show... butttt I did the same when we watched The Phantom of the Opera, and I still ended up enjoying both after a little catnap hehe.

[06.29.2007] -- Yellow Face

**Time to do some catching up.... excuse the lazy commentary hehe**

The night began with dinner at Orochon Ramen, where we all witnessed Claire destroying the Special #2 and earning herself a place on wall of fame. Dinner was followed up with "Yellowface" - the latest production from David Henry Hwang - at the Mark Taper Forum (Downtown LA) and Italian yogurt in Jtown.

[06.16.2007] -- Davin's Graduation

You know you're getting old when you start wondering how in the world your baby brother is already done with college. Its so cliche, but I really do feel like it was just yesterday I was moving into the dorms myself! Sigh..... time flies, whether or not you're ready for it. I suppose I'll eventually get used to this whole responsibility as an adult thing, at some point anyway.

Much like my crazy huge graduation ceremony at UCLA, Davin's college-wide one was about as impersonal as it can possibly get. The commencement speech was given by Uncle Phil (Fresh Prince of Bel Air), followed by 1.5 hours of basically calling names nonstop so that they could move the ~1000 graduates through the process; not exactly what I'd call a memorable event. To their credit though, they did allow grads to walk with their families, S.O.s, or whomever else they chose. That would have probably been a good experience had Davin actually told us about it. Ahem. Hahaha..... okok, he was trying to save us from the ridiculous heat and the eventual hat tan line he got from being out in the sun all afternoon.

Congratulations to our newest grad and future Dentist!

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[06.10.2007] -- Dodgeball | Ozomatli Concert

I might not have quite gotten past the dry-heaving stage from the night before at Joseph's, but I sure as heck did not feel anywhere near 100% the next morning. I woke up with a throbbing headache and yet another reminder why I don't go out drinking that often.... I still have no idea how you crazy kids can go at hard like this 2-3x a week! Nonetheless, Krax and I were up in the morning and off to join T2 in Hollywood for our introduction to the world of competitive dodgeball. You might remember playing this game as a kid wayyyy back when it was still cool. But let me tell you that as an adult revisiting a game of his youth, it sure as heck didn't seem like anything that I remembered.

The game itself was extremely competitive and incredibly intense. There was this one crazy guy, armed with his signature psychotic jump-off-the-wall-screaming-while-whirling-and-hurling a ball at your head at 100mph move. It was good fun just watching him do his thing until I was smacked back into reality by a ball that ricocheted off the nearest wall. Ouch. These guys (and T2) were unbelievably good at dodgeball and it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that I got my ass kicked all over the place all afternoon hahaha. Being hung over certainly didn't help, but it honestly wouldn't have mattered because they were just that much better. Welcome to the world of competitive dodgeball. Still, it was a good experience and I'm glad we went..... mucho thanks to T2 for showing us the way!

Dodgeball was followed up with a short trip over to Downtown LA to catch Ozomatli in concert. I've lived here all my life and yet before today, I had no idea that such a big outdoor "music festival" took place here in LA. I'm not talking about a little stage setup on the corner of some random street corner somewhere, oh no. Its more like closed off multiple blocks in the middle of downtown and a few thousand people roaming around kind of festival. Totally cool stuff, not to mention its free of charge and it goes on all summer long with a variety of programs. Definitely something worth checking out!

Beautiful weather, good music, great company and yup, even Big Sticks (popsicles) and Dodgeball -- life just doesn't get any better :)

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[06.09.2007] -- Birthday #2 @ Joseph's Cafe

Unlike Birthday #1 on the charter, this was one was stress-free and alllllll about having a good time. I purposely held it at a place like Joseph's so that there would be NO worrying about people getting to/from dinner. NO worrying about parking. NO worrying about lines. Nothing. It was simply friends, drinks, and some crazy, crazy fun. The best things in life are the simple ones! There's also something about my bday that makes people ingest copious amounts of booze. Much like last year, there was an unusually large percentage of people who ended up hunched over toilets, boxes, and sides of vehicles haha.

Thanks to everyone who came out! Too bad we couldn't all fit into one group picture huh? Good times ;)

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[06.03.2007] -- Fishing Charter in Dana Point (Bday #1)

Tired, exhausted, pooped.... just straight out dead-tired, but extremely happy that everything worked out in the end. Given the sheer number of unknowns and concerns I had going into this, its somewhat of a miracle that it all ended up working itself out. This is definitely one of the most ambitious events I've ever put together with over 30 people getting together to charter a boat of our own. It certainly doesn't help that I've only been fishing like twice in my life and know next to nothing about boat rentals hahaha. I pretty much winged the whole thing which explains the overwhelming sense of elation that nothing went catastrophically wrong.

The day started out with no problems and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was almost one of the last people to arrive at the harbor. Believe me, it was nothing short of a miracle that nearly everyone woke up before the crack of dawn and drove over an hour to get down to the dock by 630am! The rest of the day managed to proceed in a similarly smooth manner, save for the fact that those of us that were inexperienced (the majority) didn't catch that many fish. I had my fair share of bites but I could never set that darn hook.... ahhh well. The 3 kids who actually knew what they were doing - Patrick, Noel, and Julianna - saved the day and ended up catching more than half of the fish that the rest of us ended up using at dinner haha. I don't know what we would have done without you guys!

We headed back to my place in Irvine after to whip up the most fantastic fish tacos EVER! Many thanks go out to everyone who volunteered themselves to help with the cooking and cleaning. You guys made my life a lot easier than you know.

Pictures! FYI, I'm going to start integrating the little 'mini' stories and anecdotes on the captions of each individual picture themselves since it seems to make the most sense.

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[06.02.2007] -- Jon's Graduation

After 4 long, arduous years of schooling, training, testing, and putting up with all that other crap that all med students face, we celebrated the culmination of all that effort today at graduation. I must say that I have a newfound respect for doctors after witnessing, first-hand, all the sacrifices that they endure to get through all their schooling. I think we've all heard about it before, but its seriously worse than it sounds. The investment and sacrifice invested in such a path is truly remarkable! I don't think its much of an understatement when they say; "Being a doctor means sacrificing your 20s for your 30s." God knows I'm not nearly smart enough or have the work ethic to get me through, but I'm sure glad there are people out there that do.

Congratulations to the newest Dr. Li!

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[05.27.2007] -- Half Dome

All the preparation, all the planning, all of the hype for Yosemite up until the point we left, ultimately lead up to today: the day we make the hike to the top of Half Dome! The trip, by the numbers:

17 :miles round-trip
12 :hours total time
4000'+ :elevation gain
8862'* :maximum elevation achieved (*less for the peeps like me who avoided the cables)

3 :Heinekens brought up to the summit and consumed
0 :People left behind
2 :Liters of H20 Dennis brought for the whole trip
4 :Liters of H20 Dennis consumed on just the hike up

It was extremely impressive that not a single person in our group of 16 turned back. Everyone made it to at least the base of the cables, at which point, a handful of us decided that living to see the next day was more important than trying to make it to the summit. Let me try to explain. The final 1000' ascent to the summit of Half Dome takes place in two separate stages:

1. The first half is accomplished by scrambling over rocks and climbing up extremely-steep sets of switchbacks with stairs. I remember when we were at the base, looking up, Victor wondered out loud how this "could possibly be safe" to do. At the time, I was actually stupid enough to say something like "maybe its not as bad as it looks." And you know what? I was right. It was definitely much worse hahaha!
   
   An actual description of the ascent is pointless because I lack the writing skills to accurately describe the intense fear I experienced on the way up. You'd think as someone who is afraid of heights, I would stop trying to climb stupid peaks.... but nope, I guess I'm just not smart enough to learn from my past. It should suffice to say that it was probably one of my scariest experiences outdoors, and something I will never, EVER forget. Clinging to the narrow pathway while trying not to look down was definitely not one of the fondest memories I had of this trip!
   
   
2. After you make it up the first part, things flatten out for a bit as you've now reached the base of the cable system leading up the final 500' or so of Half Dome. Believe it or not, this part is even steeper than the first section! Though you might have a cable to hang onto and somewhat shady-looking 2x4s to step on along the path up, make no mistake about it - one little slip could easily lead to sliding off the top of the dome (=death). This part has no vegetation or even any pits that might break your fall if you were to fall off. In fact, its eerily similar to walking up the back of a huge, smooth rock (which it is). Definitely not my cup of tea. The scariest thing? Tragedy struck this very part of the trail just weeks after we returned home.
   
   Here's a clip I took at the base of the cable system. In case you can't tell, I am scared out of my wits at this point. This is definitely not a good place to be if you have vertigo (duh!). The photos/videos also dont give you a good idea of how crazy steep the ascent was because both are 2-dimensional representations.... you'll just have to trust me on this.
   
   
   
   
   

Looking back on the experience, I can truly say that I personally do not regret not making it to the 'true' summit of Half Dome. I like adventure as much as the next guy, but when I feel like I have to make compromises on my safety to experience something - that is a risk that I am unwilling to take. Your health is your most valuable asset and it is not something we should take for granted! I can still look back fondly at our experience as a group and be proud of everyone who rose to the challenge and made it to the top of this very challenging hike (or close enough for some of us).

So, the only question that remains is: where's the next adventure? :)

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[05.26.2007] -- Yosemite Falls | Rainbow Pool | Glacier Point

I love almost everything about camping. The people. The camaraderie. The food. The fun. But even after all these years, sleeping is still somewhat of a struggle... the ground isn't exactly the most comfortable thing. Throw in some crazy snoring from the guy who wouldn't wake up no matter how much I tried to shake him (sorry dude haha), it'd be a bit of understatement to say that the night wasn't exactly restful. I ended up folding the seats down in my Element and sleeping in there instead. It wasn't much better than the ground, but at least it was quiet ;)

After scarfing down a few breakfast burritos that Steve whipped up, we packed up some lunches and headed out to the see Yosemite Falls. This is one of the main attractions down in the Valley and we've come here at least once on every previous trip. The most interesting thing about it though is that depending on the time of the year you visit, the snowpack from the winter, and whatever other variables that affect the water flow -- it looks completely different each time. This year in particular, the water level was extremely high and the falls were flowing like I've never seen them before. It made the climb up to the base of the Lower Falls somewhat of a wet adventure, but fun and rewarding nonetheless.

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Next stop was at the Rainbow Pool. I haven't been here since our first outing way back in high school, during which time we used this place as our daily 'shower.' Its not like we had much of a choice since we didn't have any shower facilities at our campsite! The main attraction here is the 20-25ft. cliff you can jump off of if the mood strikes you. Or if your friends peer pressure you into it. Or whatever. It scared the beejezus out of me when I was 18, and six years later, that part still hasn't changed!

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I pieced together all the videos that Ollie took off peeps jumping off and made a short little movie out of 'em. Its not exactly action-packed in the first few minutes because there's a lot of footage of Dennis contemplating his fate up on top (no actual jumping), but after you get by him, there's a lot of jumps in a short amount of time.





We ended the day by taking a leisurely drive up to Glacier Point. Its centrally-located at the top rim of the Valley, affording magnificent views over a wide swath of the surrounding area. This is the same spot where Steve took a picture with the dude wearing the "I Love Spam" t-shirt all those years ago. It was a perfect ending to our day of relaxation (and playing tourist), in preparation for what was to be a very, very long day.

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[05.25.2007 to 05.28.2007] -- Yosemite!!

As it has been for the past few years, Memorial Day weekend again played host to our now sorta-annual camping trip. I've been to Yosemite a total of 3 times now, and I have to say that each time I've come has been better than the last. The tremendous size of the park makes for new adventures each time we've come, which makes for a unique and different experience for every visit. This trip was no exception.

Our trip started as it usually does: on the 405N, stuck in typical-LA Memorial Day traffic. The weird thing was that it didn't really last too long this time around. We were up and out of LA pretty quickly and cruised down into Yosemite Valley a little after 8pm (about 7 hours). The other guys were just coming back from their hike and soon enough, Chef Chung had all the pots and pans humming along nicely as he whipped up another delicious meal. What would we ever do without ya??

This was actually the first time we actually were able to secure a campsite down in the Valley. Its an impossibly difficult process when you need to get multiple sites for this many people, and apparently, all of them were sold out within the first two hours of their release. To get around this, we typically just camp far outside the Valley and then drive the hour-or-so in whenever we decided there's something there worth doing. Not exactly ideal though, given that most of the cooler stuff in Yosemite is located in the Valley. This convenience would pay huge dividends later on.

Special thanks go out to Steve and Tamby for organizing all the supplies, gear, and dealing with all the other logistics with getting this many people outdoors. Its all too often that people forget how much work is involved in planning almost anything, because the majority don't ever have to deal with it. Secretly, I've always wished that everyone had to do this at least once in their lives, just so they could understand what a freakin' PITA it is. Maybe then others would finally understand how to be more accommodating and appreciative of those who sacrifice their time and effort in order for everyone else to have a good time. Just remember, there'd be no trip without them -- thank you guys!!

An assortment of pictures from around the campsite through the weekend. I'm trying to provide informative captions, but I didn't really do a great job on these hahaha...

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[05.11.2007 to 05.13.2007] -- Weekend: Kims of Comedy | O's Party | Mother's Day

Currently Watching The Kims of Comedy By Bobby Lee, Kevin Shea, Steve Byrne, Dr. Ken Jeong see related

Saturday started off with dboat practice in the morning, followed by the requisite nap and then it was off to the comedy show. Winnie had actually seen the show on DVD before and thats how I first heard about it. As it turns out, tonight's gig was their biggest yet and the Wiltern was nearly at capacity. And for good reason too -- these guys were hilarious! Check out the DVD or YouTube for some great clips from the show. Support AAM representation in the arts! With some luck, someday, we will no longer be the butt of all stupid ching-chong/bad english/chopstick/kung fu/racists jokes that still seem to be 'hilarious' even in this day and age. Support. Represent. Evolve.

Afterwards, we headed out for some tofu and then it was off to O's old place in Hollywood to "get on the trolley." This was definitely the start of a bunch of firsts. Its the first time I ever got an evite and was completely, utterly confused as to its purpose. I thought I was retarded at first, but then Krax asked me wtf the deal with this evite is and I felt better in having shared company.

Fly boys and flappers, it's time to put on your ritzy threads and glad
rags and get your wiggle down to your local joint and sample some
giggle.

Every sheik and sheba is gonna be
canned, corked, tanked, primed, scrooched, jazzed, zozzled, plastered,
owled, embalmed, lit, potted, ossified and fried to the hat or it's
scramsville for sure.

Remember...mum's the word.

And the firsts continue. The first Prohibition-themed party. The first time I've been to a party and realized quickly that I was one of the dumbest guys in the entire room. The four of us must have been the only ones in there that only had a Bachelor's degree, everyone else was holding and/or working towards a Masters and/or PhD. I overheard more than a few conversations about proving Linear Matrix transformation theories and something about Quantum Polarization something something. I met some real intellectuals that I never would have had the privelege to meet otherwise and we had very interesting conversation. I'd say things came together nicely by the end and it was an enjoyable time. Thanks for the invite Ollie! Hope you learned your lesson about kicking the Man of Steel though hahaha :)



On Sunday, we all went to brunch together at the Universal City Hilton, which gives new meaning to being ridiculously over-crowded. The number of people milling about was staggering. You couldn't take more than a few steps before getting bumped by people walking by you, or trying to get around you in an effort to get in line for food. The crepe line in particular, was especially ridiculous... it took over 20 minutes to get one!! That said, the food is still pretty decent at reasonable prices, which is the reason people come anyway. A fantastic dinner at Mastro's Steakhouse more than made up for the mediocre lunch and rounded out the night.

Having wasted too much money over the years on flowers that just die after a few days, I ended up getting my mom a large bouquet from Edible Arrangements instead this year. I'd have to admit I was somewhat skeptical when I checked out the website. I thought that there's no way they can possibly deliver something even remotely close to what was pictured. My gut told me it was clearly a case of the Mickey-D's menu - you know, when you take a look at the big juicy burger on the menu and then compare it to the limp, microwaved POS they actually serve you and wonder how in the world the too could even be from the same restaurant, much less the same thing! But this wasn't the case. Instead, I actually got what I saw on the website and I was quite impressed by the whole thing. It might not be cheap, but hey, you can't put a price tag on making mom happy on Mother's Day -- love ya mom!

On another note, I'm going to try and make a switch to display photos on a slide-show with captions, versus the way I've used to do it. I think it makes the posts a lot cleaner, condensing all the pictures into a single area versus having them spread out all over the place and making the page take 10 years to load. I think it works better, but hey, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. I've enabled it so anyone can post!

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[05.05.2007] -- Hiking Hondo Canyon

With Yosemite just a few weeks away, we took some time this weekend to go out to do a little training in preparation for our upcoming Half Dome hike. I actually found this trail outlined on www.localhikes.com and it turned out to be perfect for training. It wasn't the longest one at about 5.0 miles round trip, but it was all uphill the whole way through. I really wish I had my bike on the way down though because it would've been a sweet trail to come flying down. Not too steep, not too ledgy, but juuuuust right. There's always next time I suppose.

It was a gorgeous day to be outdoors.

I'm pretty sure everyone suffered at least momentarily blindness when Tamby rolled up his sleeve. Damn, thats bright!

More views of the Hondo Canyon area. I say this an awful lot, but its hard to believe this is LA!

One big group shot at the very top of the trail.

[05.04.2007] -- UCLA Spring Sing

I've said it before, and after this year's fine performance, I'll say it again: you just can't buy this much entertainment for $12! In the day and age of the $10 movie ticket, Spring Sing has to rank way up there -perhaps, on the top- of a short list of "fun things to do that won't break the bank." We're talking 3 hours of gut-busting laughs, decent talent (not as good as years past), glimpses of a laundry list of B&C-list actors and has-beens, and even the opportunity to see someone as famous as Quincy Jones accepting the Gershwin award. If that isn't a recipe for a good time, I'm not sure what is! Lets just make sure we buy the reserved seats next year hehhehe.

The company was phenomenal again this year, and they had a number of hilarious spoofs and skits throughout. This 3-minute rendition of '300' had me rolling around on the floor.... "tonight, we dine, in COVEL!!"

[04.22.2007] -- My First Dragonboat Tournament

After a pretty wild night at J-Lounge, I managed to get a whopping 3 hours to sleep off the fun before dragging my carcass out of bed and down to Long Beach for my very first dragonboat torunament. Don't know what dragonboating is? No worries, Wikipedia to the rescue with a somewhat lengthy primer. The short version: 20 paddlers arranged in 2 columns x 10 rows + 1 steering guy + 1 calling guy. Races are relatively short distances of anywhere between 250m - 1000m, and typically don't last more than a few minutes at a time. Timing, power, form, and most importantly teamwork, are all keys to success during races.

Hanging out with some new friends.... yes, you aren't seeing things, that's Tamby #3 on my left.

Some pics of the team waiting their turn. Will's naked. As usual.

I've only been to about 4 practices up to this point, but like most competitive sports, the best part is race day. The intensity. The energy. The desire of everyone around you to push just a little harder. For just a little longer. All these things are highly infectious and its something that you can just feel in the air. I almost want to say its magical, but I think thats probably not the best word to describe the atmosphere. Its difficult to explain... but if you've done it before, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. Sitting on the boat with your teammates and putting it all on the line on race day is certainly the very best part of the whole experience... totally awesome hehe.

Now if only I could con another 4-6 weeks of vacation out of my employer, I'd be set to goto all the touranments :)

Paddling out to the start line for our very first race!

A quick video clip of Black Team destroying everyone else on the 250m

[04.21.2007] -- Lynn's 25th Bday @ J-Lounge

Currently Reading The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital By Samuel Shem see related

Being this far behind on the entries means one thing is for certain: more pictures, and less words. Perfect! For most of yas haha.... anyway J-Lounge sucks for all of the following reasons:

• They automatically add 18% tip to every bar tab. Now I don't mind the 18%, but not knowing they add 18% to begin with means you add another 18% on your tab, because who can actually read the "fine print" after a few drinks in a dark, dark place?? Bastards.
• The music is beyond terrible.
  
• The line is soooo long!

But you know what? It didn't really matter, because its not about where you are, but who you are with that makes all the difference. I could be in the most beautiful spot in the world and it wouldn't really be that great if I didn't have someone to share it with. Likewise, if the party crew headed out to any club on this night, I have no doubt -none- that it would have been a blast (which it definitely was). Happy 25th Shrubbsy!

Hanging out at Lynn's apartment. A shot of the ladies.

Party Lynn is back in Full Force. Showing off the: Freestyle, Doggy-paddle, and Backstroke.

I had to filter out some of the... ummm, more questionable pictures from the night, but here you go with some of the family-friendly ones hehe. Now say awww.

Random group shots while waiting in line.

The full ablum from the night is here.

[04.08.2007] -- Getty Villa

Up bright and early again the next morning, I dragged my tired carcass from the OC all the way up to Pacific Palisades to get a glimpse of the Getty Villa. I didn't really know a lot about this place before getting the tickets, except that 1) its free and 2) you have to reserve them a month in advance. It seemed surprising that this was such a popular site to visit, but I guess with so many people in the area, its not unusual for almost everything to be booked solid.

This is one strangely-designed place. To the right is a shot of our strangely huge group of 20 or so that showed up to check this place out. Hope you guys weren't tooooo bored hehe.

A view of the outdoor plaza area. This area is supposed to be an accurate replica of one in Pompeii that was buried in the eruption. We could totally throw a sweet party here. I'm just saying.

Various views of the gardens and more of the pool.

A look inside at some of the exhibits.

Hahaha... as you can probably tell, this is undoubtedly Winnie's favorite photo.

I left with somewhat mixed feelings about the Villa. Although its not nearly as impressive as the new Getty museum, it was still pretty cool. I won't lie about it though, I was absolutely falling asleep during our guided tour that went into the analysis of several individual pieces of art.... I just can't appreciate it! Still a worthwhile first time visit, though I don't think we'll be coming back here any time soon.

[04.06.2007] -- Weekend of Biking | Dboat | Isabel's Birthday

Currently Watching Babel [Blu-ray] By Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Mohamed Akhzam, Peter Wight see related

Is it April already? It just seems like yesterday we were celebrating 2007 and the next thing you know, its more than a third through the year! Work life and having a regular schedule goes a long way towards making time fly by... busy weekends don't hurt either, and this weekend was no exception.

I was (almost) the only person I knew who actually got Good Friday off. So being the good friend that I am, I convinced Steve that he was feeling sick so that we could get some Dai Ho, biking, and B-Man's in. That's basically biking sandwiched between his two favorite eateries. Yes, I do actually believe that he likes the food more than biking hahaha. I turned in early after watching crazy-weird Babel so I could actually wake up in time for Dboat practice in the morning.

Saturday marked the start of L.A.R.D.'s first-time paddler clinic. Seeing as to how I was fresh out of excuses (beyond I want to sleep in), I decided it was finally time to go and check out what Will's obsession was all about. I plan on writing a lot more about dboat later on, but for now lets just say the worse part is probably the long drive and waking up early, while one of the highlights is meat pie mMMmmM. I love food hehe.

A short nap followed by some Planet Earth (the best freakin' nature show every, by the way), we all gathered up again to celebrate Isabel's 25th birthday. Instead of taking the easy way out and buying dinner, us boys put our collective skills together and actually cooked some food (or so we tried anyway). Happy 25th!

Fresh, steamed lobster, steaks, salad, and sides makes a good meal.

Steve catches a severe case of food coma. He's breathing.... barely.

A picture storyboard hehe.

Owch. I swear I had no idea what Steve was planning here... it was kinda mean, but I'm sure its just the way he chooses to show his undying love ;)

Isabel gets twice the love with two cakes

Group shot