[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