d.i.l.a.

new blog

2011-06-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi all. I wanted to let everyone know that I've started a new blog that focuses more on motorcycles. I'll still continue to update this one, but will probably focus more of my time on my other one. Check it out: A Modern Classic

tattoo?

2011-03-01T19:59:00.001-08:00

So I've always wanted a tattoo, but I feel like I've never had anything THAT significant happen in my life that I can draw inspiration from. I'm also not the type to get a tattoo just for the sake of getting one. As I started thinking about what I would get, I thought about my hip and began drawing. This is what I sketched in about 15 minutes:

The pins in the head are acupuncture needles, but I'm still trying to decide if I like them or not. I'd want this tattooed as a band around my upper right forearm, with the head of the femur drawn on the inside of my right forearm. Thoughts?

Drawing The Satorialist

2011-03-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be cool to draw a photo taken by Scott Schuman, aka The Satorialist.

Here is the first image I chose:

This is what I came up with:

Getting back into drawing

2011-03-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Love on the docks....

2011-02-20T16:54:00.001-08:00

Music Lair

2011-02-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

Trufant

2011-02-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

Krakow

2011-02-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

Crunchies

2011-02-20T16:43:00.000-08:00

Ton Up!

2011-02-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

books and girls....or girl

2010-08-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

DP

2010-06-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

New York, New York, big city of dreams...

2010-04-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Philly...the city of brotherly love

2010-04-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Bike ride to Sausalito

2010-03-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Took a bike ride to Sausalito this weekend and snapped a few pics around the bay. I also tested out my new 38mm Diana lens.

JV chucks

2010-03-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Jaunt around the city

2010-03-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Walked around my hood to find a print shop to make my mom's bakery labels and snapped a few shots. Here are a few from the day:

The Tumultuous 50s

2010-03-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Portraits, portraits, portraits...

2010-03-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

Revamped Design

2010-02-21T20:03:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I posted here (I always seem to say that don't I?). I realized that my last post was about a buddy of mine going off to B-school, and how he's getting offers from various firms. This tells me how much I've been neglecting this blog. I think the main reason why I was neglecting this was because it can be a chore to write, type, and update everyone of my life. What I would rather do is share some of the photos that I've been taking over the last few years, so I revamped the design of this blog to fit my pictures. I may add a blurb here or there about a picture, but for the most part I'll be uploading photos here from time to time. If you would like to see more, check out my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shalbs.

Here are some of my pictures:

Genius hoodrat in SF

2009-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I love how you find people from all walks of life in SF at like 2am in the morning. My friends and I were eating at Cafe Mason after a night at Harlot, when this hoodrat girl came up to us asking why we were dressed up. The conversation goes as follows:

hoodrat: "Can we sit at your table? Why are you guys all dressed up?"
Jon: "We just went out for his going away. This guy is a music exec, this guy is a top attorney..."
hoodrat: "Where are you going?"
Jared: "I'm going back to school at Wharton"
hoodrat: "Oh cool, is that Sacramento State?"
Us: ....

Awkwardsville!

Cupcakes!!!

2009-04-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

My sister has been making cupcakes for quite some time now, and she's joined the blogging world. If you ever want to order some custom cupcakes, give her a holler, as her cupcakes are amazing. You can find her blog at "Much Ado About Cupcakes." Good luck Irene, I hope you get a ton of customers!

Faking the tilt-shift

2009-04-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

I've been using Aperture 2 to edit the majority of my photographs, but I really felt that it was pretty limited in the varieties of edits that you can do. I don't have Photoshop, so I decided to try out GIMP. GIMP is an editing program very similar to Photoshop, but best of all...its FREE. I've really been into the Schempflug effect that tilt-shift lenses create, so I started researching online, and I found a really helpful tutorial on how to achieve this same effect through GIMP. Bart Busschots wrote an amazing tutorial, so check it out if you're interested in learning how to fake the tilt-shift. Anyways, here are my first attempts:

I'm seeing stars

2009-04-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

I went out on another trek to do some night photography. I drove by a warehouse in Sunnyvale last night and I saw a pretty cool photo op. Unfortunately, the area is pretty ghetto. I felt like I was in Compton, seeing rusted oldsmobiles with chrome wheels parked on the sidewalk. Not that I've ever been to Compton before, but one can imagine from the movies. I was feeling brave, probably because I had my tripod that doubles as a beat down cane, so I parked my car where I could see it, and ventured to the warehouse.

I love my Tokina 11-16 lens. It has 9 blades, so the star effect it creates is pretty sweet. Check out this picture:

Keith Loutit is amazing

2009-03-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Keith Loutit is a photographer based in Sydney, and he makes some amazing videos using a tilt-shift lens. I love the tilt-shift because it makes everything look like a miniature toy. I'd love to experiment with one some day. Anways, I came across some of his videos, and I think everyone should take a look and appreciate his work. It's simply amazing.

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Flickr

2009-03-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty bad at updating this, but I've been busy with work and messing around with my new imac. I just finished a project for my parents that involved sifting through, literally, about a thousand vacation photos, making six slideshows, and creating a DVD movie using imovie. The end result was pretty decent, and my parents loved it.

If anyone is wondering what I've been up to, check out my new flickr page. I've mostly been spending my time taking photos and editing them. I've also recently been asked to take on a new photography project at work. My boss has asked me to take professional portraits of the entire team, so Wysz let me borrow his crazy flood lamp. Anyways, here's the link to my flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shalbs/

Enjoy!

Christmas in March

2009-03-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I've been wanting to get a new personal computer for like 6 months now, and this past week I finally bit the bullet. Apple released their new line of Imac's, and with the $1500 price tag on the lowest 24" model, how could I resist?

Another thing that pushed me to pulling the trigger was that my friends all chipped in and bought aperture 2 for me as a birthday present (thanks guys). Aperture is a photo editing software, also made by Apple, but can get much more granular than Picasa, the free Google software that I used to use.

Some other things that happened to fall in my lap due to gifts from others (or from myself) were a brand, spankin' new 16gb ipod nano (thanks Caroline), tokina 11-16mm UWA lens (thanks me), flickr pro account (thanks Irene), and a canon bg-e3 battery grip (thanks mom and dad for the money that went towards purchasing this). Anyways, less talk and more show, here are a few pictures:

Light Test

2009-02-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

So I finally dug up the old tripod from our 8mm video camera to use with my xti. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing, so I'm just experimenting. I had an LED flashlight that had three settings (on, blinking, off). The annoying part about this is that I wanted a simple light that turned on and off, so I could spell things in the picture. Next time I get my hands on one of these, I'll make another post with better photos. In the meantime, enjoy this little experiment.

My attempt to spell "Hi"

Video DSLR

2009-02-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

I came across this video of footage taken with a Canon MKII 5D dslr, and I had to share it. Personally, I didn't know what to expect with video capabilities in dslr camera's, but this footage is amazing. Take a looksy:

A Walk Around Seattle in the Snow from Luke Humphrey on Vimeo.

Easing back in things

2009-01-27T23:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I blogged, but I thought it would be nice to ease back into things with a plug to Rachel's website. Check out her cool animations, especially "running." It has an exciting ending that I think many people have related to at least once in their lifetime.

After catching up with Rachel, and seeing her website, I've realized how much of a bum I am in the artistic world. I've always wanted to build my own website with a portfolio of my pictures, drawings, music, etc, but I've been pretty lazy about it. I even bought a sketch pad a few months back and started drawing. That, however, didn't last too long. Albertshin.com is already taken by some Korean guy in socal, so I'm thinking about registering shalbert.com. If you guys have any suggestions on cool domain names, leave me a comment or tap me on the shoulder. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Real suggestions please. Nothing like "danbert.com" or "danssoulmate.com" because those are already taken...I checked. However, "thewyszsbestfriend.com" has a nice ring to it. Objections?

Devin Harris gets hustled

2008-10-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

How does Devin Harris play in the NBA, and get schooled by an English dood in jeans and a v-neck sweater?

FATE

2008-10-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while, but I had to post this new Nike commercial titled "Fate." Check it out:

Song is Jay-Z - Blueprint 2, originally sampled from Ennio Morricone - Ecstacy of Gold from the 1966 Westerm film The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

Being sick sucks

2008-09-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

So since Friday, I've been feeling pretty sick, but it really hit me on Sunday and Monday. I have a swollen gland in my neck, a sore throat, and a crazy fever that doesn't seem to go away. I get cold, then I get hot, then cold, then hot again. Basically, sleeping sucks. I sleep about 30 minutes of every hour, and I leave an icepack on my forehead. I've been trying to fight it naturally, loading up on vitamin C, taking Motrin to reduce my fever, but that doesn't seem to be working very well. Hopefully I can get an emergency appointment in to the doctor and get some antibiotics. Alright, I'm starting to get tired again, so I'm signing off.

NFL Fantasy Files

2008-08-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

These are dope videos:

Mason Crosby

Marques Colston

Resonator Woes and Sebastian Grainger

2008-08-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

So my exhaust has been pretty messed up lately. I scraped it pretty hard when I went camping, and I think I punctured the midpipe. Anyways, I've been looking around on the Audizine forums to see if anyone was willing to part with a stock resonator for free, and I found a few people who were nice enough to give me their old exhausts for free. Unfortunately, the one guy who got back to me was located in Livermore, which isn't that bad since I'm getting a free car part. However, after work today I decided to meet up with this guy, so I drove a little over an hour to the eastbay only to get a phone call from him, as I pulled into the Stoneridge mall, saying "Dooood, my bad man....my dad threw it out last week. Oh I feel terrible!" So I basically drove out to Dublin and back for nothing. Sweet.

On a side note, I got some music from Matt Dougherty today, and I highly recommend Sebastian Grainger. I feel like he's kind of a mix between The Killers and The Strokes, so check him out when you get a chance.

Big AL in F-town

2008-08-26T20:46:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend I went down to Fullerton to meet the in-laws...yikes! I was a little nervous at first, but only because I knew my Korean skills would be tested to the max. Caroline speaks to her parents in Korean, so I thought I should speak to them in Korean out of respect. In my family, things are a little different because my parents speak to me in Korean, but I respond to them in English. Fortunately, those 10 years of ditching Korean school came in handy. I think I did okay speaking wise, but I gotta admit, I wasn't as talkative as I usually am. I found myself stuffing my face with kalbi, kind of like those Twix commercials where some guy jams two twix bars in his mouth when his girlfriend asks if she looks fat in a pair of pants. Observe:

So Friday evening, Caroline's mom prepared a feast for me when I arrived. I had dinner with Caroline's parents, sister, and grandma. Her brother Jason was in his room, but I got to meet him later so it was all gravy. Caroline's parents are super chill and nice. They were incredibly hospitable. Caroline's mom even put out a toothbrush for me in the bathroom, which I thought was pretty sweet of her.

Friday night I got to meet Caroline's friends. We went out in Pasadena, and I basically got smashed. Apparently I forgot that we went to a taco truck twice. Caroline told me the next day that I was saying "Noooo, when did we go to a taco truck?" as I was holding a taco in my hand. I also heard that ebonics AL came out that night too. I must say, I despise ebonics AL. I don't know why, but sometimes when I drink too much, my speech turns all ghetto, and I say things like "aiiiiiiite" and "hey muhfukkkka." That's probably why I stay away from drinking hard alcohol, but I had to tonight as it was part of my interview process with Caroline's circle of friends. I think I passed the test despite my end of the night ghetto-talk. Whew!

Overall, it was a great trip to socal. I got to meet Caroline's parents and close friends, and don't forget, I got to see Caroline again. It was nice seeing how Caroline grew up, and how her family interacts. It was pretty crazy to see her house though. It made me realize why we are so similar. Our parents are pretty similar, our mom's cooking is almost identical in taste, and we even have the same cheesy cuckoo clock that our parents bought from Korea. I think the highlight of my trip though was when Caroline's parents woke up at 5:30am to say goodbye to me. Her dad gave me a hug and her mom told me to come and visit even when Caroline isn't there. You better believe I'll be back for Caroline's mom's cooking. It was straight money in the vault.

The wifey in Norcal

2008-08-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a minute since I've posted, but I'm finally getting off my lazy ass to update all 23 of you readers who've subscribed to my blog. A few weeks ago Caroline came to visit in norcal. She was here for almost two weeks, so it was a nice change from our shorter visits. I wanted to plan as many activities that I could, so we decided to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Santa Cruz, camping in Big Basin, and a few one off outings to San Francisco and San Jose, aka Man Jose.

I tend to feel obligated to take Caroline out to as many fun places as I can think of because I've got some stiff competition against New York. Our first stop was the Aquarium. I've been there a few times, but it was nice seeing Caroline go nuts over the huge tuna tank. We spent a few hours walking around each exhibit, and went to dinner at Phil's Fish Market. If you're ever in the area, you have to eat here. Caroline's cousin, Nancy, suggested the place to us, and it was basically amazing. We both highly recommend the cioppino. Here are a few pics from the day:

Next, we went camping for one night in Big Basin with Dan and Nicole. Matthew says that basically translates to me going camping with my two girlfriends and Nicole. The area was nice and easy to find, but I think the campsites could have been a little bigger, and a little more secluded. A word of advice, don't buy wood from the campsite. They charge $10 for a bundle that lasts about two hours. They're pretty smart in that they only put thin cuts of wood in the bundles so they burn up faster. Those bastards.

Camping was pretty cool because I got to buy a lot of cool gear. I picked up a new fixed blade knife as well as a flint/magnesium stick. I also hit up the Mountain View Army Surplus Store and picked up a cheap tent and cooking pan. That place is a goldmine. Here are some pics from the trip:

It's always a great time when the wifey comes to visit, but I'm not gonna lie when I say I wish she could have stayed longer. Snowboarding next time?

Love Notes From The Wysz

2008-07-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

So the Wysz is out of the office on vacation in Colorado (probably on a secret get away with the other Mike). It's been a little gloomy without the guy in the office, but I received contact from him tonight. Here is the email I received from him two hours ago:

Subject: Greetings from Colorado

I just spent $10 for internet access to tell you that I miss you.

I dunno about you, but that was pretty much the highlight of my day. Thanks Wysz...you sure know how to spoil your friends.

Helicopter Tragedies

2008-07-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

So my coworker recently got one of these r/c helicopters, and its pretty bad ass.

I'll admit, the thing is pretty fun to fly for a few minutes. So after lunch one day we were all sitting around flying it around, trying to hit people with it. Matthew tried to chop me with the helicopter blades, so I plucked it out of the sky and held onto it. Matthew continued to run the blades at full speed, so I decided to let go of the thing to see if it could fly again. I held it at an angle, and unfortunately, the helicopter flew straight out and hit an unknowing Dan Chow in the face as he was enjoying his fruit cup. Strawberries went flying everywhere. Good times.

This guy is nuts

2008-07-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Fishing for marlin from a helicopter. This guy is ape. I think he and Bear Grylls should fight.

GG Warriors

2008-07-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

Just when I started to have a little faith in Chris Mullin, he goes and does something stupid like offer Ronny Turiaf a 4-year 17 million dollar contract. Double-you...Tee...Eff.

I can deal with signing Maggette for 5 years for $50 mill, even though he's not a stellar player, but Turiaf is just ridiculous. This is the guy at whom I used to shout "HIM HIM IN THE CHEST!!!" at all the Warriors/Lakers games, which is a little messed up since this guy had open heart surgery, but I'll do anything to steal a win against the Lakers. This is the guy who averaged a career best of 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.7 minutes(which is pretty decent), but averaged 9.8 minutes, 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in the post season. All I can say is...wacktacular. There better be some crazy trades in the works.

I'm sick of these wannabe big men. Let's get a true center in the rotation, get a point guard, play some defense, hope Chris Mullin doesn't do something stupid, pray for a miracle, and let's get a championship. Yeah...its that tough being a Warriors fan.

July 4th in good ol' Pennsylvania

2008-07-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went out to New York to visit Caroline because a bunch of us were going to Valley Forge, PA for the 4th. This was my first time in Pennsylvania, and I gotta say, I had a pretty pleasant experience there. Not because Phil and I were wearing the same tshirt the whole weekend...well, maybe partly...but because I haven't been out to a nice, quiet area like Valley Forge in a while. The cottage/house/cabin (whatever you want to call it) was pretty nice. There was a nice pool outside, trampoline, and two acres of land that stretched behind the house.

First thing to note is that we were probably the only 10 asians in Valley Forge...ever. The group consisted of Tran, Rita, Steph, Phil, Ken, Esther, Grace, Alice, Caroline, and myself. Grace's sister Joyce and her boyfriend, Stan, also joined in on the festivities on our last night there.

Between all of us we managed to kill somewhere around 30 quarterpounders, 4 huge steaks, 2 racks of ribs(thanks phil, they were amazing by the way), corn, salad, shrimp shishkabobs(thanks to you too alice), and God knows how many hot dogs. Shout out to tran for doing all the grilling also. I'm probably leaving stuff out, but basically we feasted the entire weekend. We also consumed a fair amount of beers, vodka, champgane, and jungle juice(ken's mixture of the previous 3 items).

One thing I must criticize about Valley Forge, is the radio stations. I'm not sure which one we were listening to, but they basically kept playing the same 5 songs on loop the entire weekend. Ne-yo, Chris brown, and some song about a chick kissing another girl and liking it, will forever bring me nightmares.

After Valley Forge, we decided to stop by Philly for some cheesesteaks and some "water-ice" according to Beah and Wysz, who are PA natives. We went to Jim's Steaks for cheese steaks, soaked in the dominant hipster scene, and washed those down with some cool shaved ice from Rita's. A piece of advice: if you go to Jim's Steaks, get the cheeze whiz. Caroline and I opted for the provalone, but the sandwich was a little bland.

I got a little text heavy on this entry, but don't trip, here are some pictures...and, as always, you can find all the pics in my Picasa Album.

I think Tran is dancing to Ne-yo in this one

the shin-kim's

Front(left to right): Steph, Caroline, Rita, Tran, Alice, Grace, Esther, Ken
Back: Phil, me

tshirt twins

trampoline shot

cheeeeeese.....whiz

Overall I had a great weekend. I ate, slept, drank, swam, hung out with friends, and most importantly, got to see Caroline. Thanks to Steph for setting this up, and thanks to everyone for a memorable weekend. Repeat next year guys?

Skrimp Miseries

2008-06-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

So Dan is allergic to skrimps, but I told him that some people are allergic to the uncleaned, veined shrimps. The ones we had a lunch today were de-veined and clean, so Dan decided to eat five. Here are the after effects of the skrimp in Dan's system:

He basically looks like Will Smith in Hitch

That's So Raven!!!

2008-06-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

So I recently picked up this Modern Amusement tee shirt, that as a picture of a crow on the front. See below:
When I unwrapped the package at work, Matthew immediately said in a high pitched voice "mmm...RAVEN!" I thought this was hilarious, so I followed with "THAT'S SO RAAAVENNN!" I know, I basically just admitted that I'm aware of a retarded Disney show, but I gotta admit, she was pretty cute when she was little Olivia on the Cosby Show. What happened to her over the years?

past

present

Carolina Liar: Coming To Terms

2008-06-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Another album suggestion. Check out "Carolina Liar: Coming To Terms" if you get the chance. Some of it gets a little borderline pop, but pretty solid album overall. You can listen to this one all the way through, and it starts to grow on you the second time around.

Weekend in SF

2008-06-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was jam packed with events for me, and to be quite honest, I'm glad its over. It was my sister's and my buddy's bday, so I had to be two places at once....er almost at once.

Saturday morning I helped my sister setup stuff for her private croquet tournament in the city. It was pretty cool because everyone dressed up to the croquet theme, and of course...we got smashed. For all you non-believers, don't knock croquet until you play. It's actually pretty fun, and if you're competitive, it can get pretty strategic. Here are some pictures of my sister's croquet event:

theo!!!

birthday girl

After croquet I had to return to the southbay, shower/change, and meet up for my buddy Jared's bday. I was late, so I completely missed dinner, which was okay because that meant I got to eat five Taco Bell tacos...which in my opinion...are amazing. James, I'm still waiting on the speed challenge.

JT's bday was held at BOSS in SF, which apparently used to be a Korean club. I'm not a fan of clubs, but I'll make my appearances for bday festivities.

BOSS actually wasn't that bad of a place, except for the fact that I felt like I was back in Beijing. This place is AZN central. The two hairstyles you could definitely count on there were either the fobby long hair/dyed brown look, or the staple zero fade with DEP level 10 gel in the spikes. Observe:

When we first got into BOSS, it was cool, except for the fact that our room was occupied with twenty chicks that no one knew. After standing around awkwardly, they all decided to go to the bathroom together, after which we all swooped in and stole our table back. Thanks ladies!

Overall, I think JT's bday was a great time. Happy bday buddy! Pics from the night:

Ann Hathaway & Guilty Pleasures

2008-06-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Something happened at lunch today that I just can't let go. We were sitting around talking about movies and actors, and Ann Hathaway came up in the discussion. Mind you, we're sitting at a table with two girls and five guys. People start naming movies that she's in, such as the new Get Smart movie, when one of our GUY friends, let's call him Can Dhow (interchage the first letter of the first and last name), blurts out "I liked The Devil Wears Prada." You can imagine how awkward it was for him as the entire table stared at him blankly for a second. It's okay Dan Chow, I mean "Can Dhow," we all have our guilty pleasures. Later we found out that he owns the Princess Diaries 1 & 2 on limited edition blueray DVD.

The big CK in napa

2008-06-08T22:03:00.001-07:00

So my girlfriend came out to visit me this past weekend, and I thought it'd be nice to educate her young mind and take her up to Napa...aka get her drunk off wine (j/k mom). The weather in the bay was pretty nice this week, a solid mid 70's with a nice breeze. We drove up Thursday morning around 10am to hit up Chandon, Mondavi, V. Sattui, and Peju. If its your first time going to Napa, I'd reccomend any of these wineries, as they all have a pretty nice tasting setup, as well as a great scenery.

Chandon makes mostly champagne, but the layout of the entire place is wicked awesome. Everything is nice from the finely manicured lawns, to the ghetto fabulous tasting guide laced with cornrows. Caroline and I aren't really fans of champagne, but nothing beats a little champagne in the morning as a nice pick-me-up.

Next we set out to make the tour/tasting at the Mondavi winery. It was pretty sad because I was telling Caroline how Robert Mondavi drinks a glass of wine a day, and is still alive at the age of 90 something, but the first thing our tour guide said to us was that he had just passed away 3 weeks ago, and that he would have turned 96 next month. Rest in peace Mr. Mondavi.

V. Sattui is a great winery to just hang out at. The tasting area is like a Trader Joe's in that you can buy wine, picnic settings, and food all in the same place. Caroline and I bought some cheese and crackers, and hung out in the picnic area. It's amazing how fast salami goes after having a few glasses of wine in you. I swear I inhaled like 18 slices of salami in 2 minutes.

The last winery we visited was Peju. Peju's tasting area is a lot smaller than most of the wineries on the strip, and the tasting guide was rather pretentious. For instance, he described wines as "amazingly powerful, yet subtle" or "honorable and magnificent." Basically, he was probably smashed as he was "describing" these wines to us.

After wine tasting, we went to eat dinner at "The Farm." I chose this restaurant because of all the positive yelp reviews, and I must say that this place is great. The outdoor seating and ambiance of the entire restaurant is so welcoming and relaxing that I wouldn't mind having a birthday party there. They had recliners set up outside next to bocce ball lanes, and the design and furniture of the place was modern and clean. I would highly recommend coming here if you're in the area.

Alright, I enough talk. Here are some pictures of the day:

Estelle & MGMT

2008-06-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Some music I've been listening to recently is Estelle's new album, titled "Shine." It's sorta reggae-ish, but definitely a decent listen, so check it out.

Another album from a completely different genre is MGMT's "Oracular Spectaular." It's sort of indie mixed with electronica. Give em a listen.

Birthday Tradition

2008-06-03T14:04:00.001-07:00

So it's been awhile...again...since my last post. I've been trying to figure out a theme for my blog, but later decided that I didn't care and that I would post up as much nonsense that I could.

This edition of d.i.l.a. is going to explore my team's tradition of birthdays. I'm sure there's a bunch of other people who enjoy doing this, but what we do is photoshop ridiculous pictures of the birthday victim. Usually its just a free for all of random photos, but sometimes the pictures will carry a theme. For example, check out the picture Dan made for me on my birthday while I was in China:

This post is going to have less text and explanation, and be filled with a bunch of pictures, so here they are:

My baby's all growns up!

2008-05-21T10:06:00.001-07:00

Wow, so it's been quite a long time since I've posted here, and a lot has happened since the camping trip. In a nutshell, I went to new york to visit my shortie, had my company sales conference, and went to seattle for my buddy's graduation. Feel free to peep the pictures in my Picasa album.

Seattle was great. Fat Mike, James, David, and I got to escape the 100+ degree cali weather and enjoy the 80 degree seattle breeze. I must say, it was quite an emotional trip....well, not really, but it was nice to see my boy all growns up! For people who know Brian and I, we had quite the rivalry in high school about Vietnam vs. Korea. We would often talk about how we would burn past each other on snowboards and bust wicked 1080's over each other. This guy even drew a bowl a pho and an outline of Vietnam in my yearbook senior year. Well, he's moving back tomorrow, so I'm sure the trash talking will continue.

Anyways, I know you guys love pictures, so here's a few of us at the graduation:

we goin to the top!

david's creep eye and hand on james' adam brody chest

our attempt at a cereal box cover...."WE'RE BUDDDIES!!"

On a side note, anyone who has watched "rob&big" and "the 40 year old virgin" and knows our friend James will agree with this simple math:

+ =

Man UP! camping trip

2008-04-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a while since I've posted here, so first off...I'm back in the U, S, and A. My second weekend back a group of us went camping in Big Sur. The drive to the campground was nice, but the campground itself was covered with poison oak. I had no idea what it looked like, but luckily one of us in our group is a major hillbilly (Pat, aka Wayne). After a few hours at costco and on the road, we arrived at our camp site around 7:30pm. We setup camp, and the festivities began. The theme of this trip was "man up!" because basically people were going to get hyphy, however, it was not to the level that I was hoping. Personally, I was hoping to witness some complete nonsense...which did happen, but not as much as I would have hoped for.

Overall, the trip was a success, and its always good times hanging out with the guys (and gals...you know who you are....DAN, haha). Here are some pictures:

view of the drive in

hiro passed out....or is he?

RC passed out

dan doing what dan does best...being weird

pfiffer falls...which looked more like a weak dribble

group shot on the hike

wayne sr. and wayne jr.

This last picture needs a bit of explanation. Patrick decided to sleep by the fire during all the festivities, which in my opinion, is a bad idea, especially around our group. For example, I passed out for a few minutes, and I awoke to some four beer cans falling into my lap (2 balanced on my head + 2 balanced on my shoulders). When Pat was sleeping, Hiro whipped out the mayonnaise and put a small dab on his cheek. What was funnier is that when Pat woke up, he had no idea what was going on, and was smiling at us for a good minute before he realized he had something on his face. Result? Pure comedy.

Alright, I feel like my writing sucks, and my stories are getting more boring, so stay tuned until I have a super cool anecdote.

Violated and duped on my last night....

2008-04-07T10:43:00.001-07:00

So for my last night in Beijing, we went to have dinner at Banana Leaf. We have Banana Leaf's in the states, but none quite like this one. Upon entry, the restaurant looked nice, and even had stuffed alligators with their jaws tied shut, to make them look real. The food was good, but what really set this place apart from others was the live music. There was a musical staff that was equipped with 2 guitarists and various singers and dancers. Now, I'm no Sherlock, but I'm pretty sure that both male singers were quite fond of the male species. The team was so gracious and had the group come back three times to sing in our room. It was quite strange, as the lead singer was using a fake cucumber as a microphone, and decided he wanted to hug and caress all the guys in our group. I've never been so violated in my life. Here are a few pics:

I think allan actually enjoyed this

the entire time I was swatting that cucumber away

yiteng looks like he's under arrest

After dinner, we decided to head back to my hotel for a little farewell party. We picked up some drinks from the local 7-11, and played games and enjoyed my last night in Beijing. Thanks to everyone who came, I had a blast, and packing at 3am with a slight buzz was definitely a challenge.

So Chrissy, like me, as quite the small eyes. She thought it would be fun to take a "small eyes" picture with me. However, she thought she would be clever and trick me into taking another small eyes picture, where she in fact, opened her eyes as big as she could. View the results below:

totally EOF chrissy!

Thanks everyone for a great last night in Beijing. I will never forget that in my six weeks here, I finally got a "happy ending" from a restaurant singer. I miss you guys already. And to Chrissy, Allan, Xiang, Kunan, Chunhua, and Sunny, we'll continue the festivities when you guys are in the states.

A little something to remember me by...

2008-04-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

So my time in Beijing is coming down to an end as I only have 2 more days left in this wonderful city. Everyone from the taxi drivers to my team out here have been really nice and helpful, so a big THANK YOU to all those whom I interacted with during my six weeks here. You guys truly made it a memorable experience, and I hope to return in the future.

The team here has been like a second family to me, and words cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for them. As a parting gift, I wanted to get the team something that would be practical, yet affordable for me. Since these guys are like family to me, I wanted to help watch after their health after I leave, and with summer and the yellow dust season coming, what would be more fitting than a welder's mask/sun shield visor? Thanks to the help of Mingchen, a local Beijinger, he bargained with the vendor lady for me. After an hour of bargaining, I ended up with 15 welder's masks and 20 choice items for my team in Mountain View (I'm not going to reveal what I bought them in case any of you guys are reading this). I must say, these bad boys are pretty wicked. They all came in various colors and the visor/shield part was tinted with hypercolor and came with an awesome sticker that said things like "this will trotect you from sun" (no that's not a typo on my part). I gave my farewell speech and distributed them at our team meeting tonight. Thanks everyone for a great time in Beijing...I will miss you all. Be mindful of the yellow dust and the UV rays of the summer sun. Here are a few pictures of us sporting the masks:

masks off

masks on

Brain scratching

2008-03-31T19:42:00.001-07:00

I think its funny how picking your nose is such a "matter of fact" habit here in Beijing. Just on my way to work I witnessed three people digging for nose nuggets, one of them being my taxi driver. My taxi driver was pretty local, spitting and picking his nose at the same time. He even dared to use his thumb to explore his brain cavity.

Another person I saw was sitting next to the window on a bus, and he was actually using his knuckles. He would rub/wipe his nose with his knuckle, pull his fist away, glance at his find, then move onto the next knuckle. What was weirder, is that he didn't even brush his hand off after he was done.

Now, I know double standards are frowned upon, especially amongst women, but I must say I am even more grossed out by a woman who gets her finger in her nose up to the second knuckle on her index finger. Granted, women's fingers are more petite, but that still takes some serious coaxing to get that bad boy in that far. What could possibly be in there THAT deep? I mean, that is some Circque du Soleil type contortion. Maybe its due to the yellow dust, or maybe people are bored. I will admit though, the air quality does create a lot of debris in the nostril area, but rest assure, this guy won't be publicly grabbing brain anytime soon.

Good gracious, Great Walls of China...and 798

2008-03-31T00:15:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend being my last weekend in China, I thought it would only be right to finally see the Great Wall. Uncle Mao, aka Chao Ma took me in his awesomely cool, european ford focus hatchback, that is quite a fan favorite amongst the ladies. This bad boy is red and has sport bucket seats. I must admit to you, as much as ford focus' are pretty weak in the states, the ones out here actually look pretty good. Nice buy Chao.

So Chao and I went to the famous badaling section of the Great Wall. It's still pretty cold in China, and it was raining all weekend, so there was actually patches of snow up on the Great Wall. While the snow created a beautiful setting, it made it extremely difficult to walk up and down the stairs and sloped sections of wall. Chao and I both fell, but not to worry, our cameras were fine. Kind of sad when the first thing you reach for when you're about to hit the ground is your camera. Here are a few shots:

Chao striking a pose

my infamous foot shot

Some people know that I like to take this foot shot in random locations. This one took quite a bit of maneuvering as I laid on the ledge of the wall. Chao held on to me like a scared girl would hold her teddy bear after a bad dream, but what was a bit scary were the old ladies trying to get by us as I took the picture. Maybe it was our mistake for taking a picture next to the ledge, but apparently people don't care if you stop, they'll just walk right on by. Instead of holding onto the metal railing, one of the old ladies thought it would be a good idea to hold onto my arm. Unfortunately for her "hold" meant "push" so I did a little harlem shake on the ledge and Chao pulled me back to safety. That would have been one way of seeing Great Wall I suppose.

After the Great Wall, Chao and I went to an old military base area that was now being used as an art space. The place was called "798" and it was filled with rows of various art galleries by local and international artists. A lot of it was under construction for the Olympics, but we were still able to see some very strange art. Here are a few of them:

not sure if this was part of a gallery, or it was real graffiti, but still cool

Being around all this art made me want to be artistic, so here's an attempt me of trying to take a few cool shots of the construction workers. I really like how bright their orange vests are. That's all for now. A big thanks to Chao for taking me around!

Taxi cab classes and ghetto haircuts

2008-03-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last night was the best taxi experience that I've ever had. I don't know why no one has thought of this yet, but taxi cab language classes could be the next big thing.

It was a normal night for me, I left work around 8:30pm, walked to the corner, and hailed a cab. I told the driver "haidian yi yuen" but alas, my accent made it sound like "hi dan, you when?" He corrected me, and kept saying "haidian yi yuen" over and over again, until I understood that he wanted me to repeat after him. I repeated after him, in the proper Chinese accent, and he shouted "okay!!" After our little moment, he kept speaking to me in Chinese, and I think he was asking me if I was a student, judging by the air notes he was writing on an imaginary notepad. I told him "mayo" so I guess he decided to teach me some random Chinese words.

The driver was a jovial fellow in his late 50s, and had a hearty, raspy laugh that could only have been created by decades of cigarettes and yellow dust. Nevertheless, I liked him. The entire ride home, he would shout some random Chinese phrase, I would repeat after him, and we would crack up laughing. I wish I had a recording of his laugh.

When I got home, I was planning on cutting my hair. Those of you who know me are aware that I'm fairly capable of cutting my own hair. I've been cutting my own hair since high school, as well as had my fair share of regular customers throughout college. I haven't cut my hair since I left for Beijing, so I had a pretty decent sized helmet on my head. I pretty much looked like this guy, except my hair was about 5 times the length.

I didn't have any haircutting tools with me, so I borrowed some scissors from work. My hotel supplied me with a comb, so all I had to do was unscrew the shaving mirror off the wall and mount it in my shower. I'm right handed, so cutting the left side of my head is a bit difficult, especially with little kids scissors that are about 3 inches long and have a red plastic handle. Luckily, my hair is pretty long, so the length being even was not necessary. Anyways, an hour later, my head was five pounds lighter, and my tub looked like a fake fur coat. I should have kept the trimmings and made a fashion beard. That's all for this installment. This is the smooth-armed bandit, signing off.

The black lung, fashion masks, and Mcdonald's

2008-03-24T01:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so how many of you remember that scene from Zoolander where Ben Stiller tries to be a coal miner like his father and complains about the black lung? Well basically thats me here in Beijing, except its the yellow lung *cough *cough.

My father has been warning me about the yellow dust season since before my arrival, but I finally go to experience it this weekend. It's no joke. Now I realize why people wear those "sars" masks around town.

I finally realized I was getting the yellow lung as I was walking home from Mcdonald's and I coughed up a huge loogie in my throat. Yuck! I think I am becoming to understand why locals spit out loogies every minute, and why "sars" masks are a lung saver in addition to a wicked awesome fashion statement. Check out these fashion masks:

Let me rewind a bit and talk about my first Chinese Mcdonald's experience. There is a Mcdonald's near my apartment, and one day I was craving a burger, so I decided to check it out. I thought I would catch it at a good time since it was well after lunch, but as soon as I entered the place, it was crawling with fast-food feigns. I took one look at the menu and noticed that they don't have very many beef products. The only beef patty they had was on the Big Mac, but that looked a bit questionable from the picture (something between a beef and tofu burger with weird bits of something scattered throughout the patty). I decided on the chicken sandwich, which by the way is real chicken and not that fake, microwavable patty in the states, and a 6 piece chicken mcnugget. My favorite thing about the entire meal were the chicken mcnuggets. What's awesome about Mcdonald's in China is that these mcnuggest are spicy! Noich! I love spicy food, so this was a no brainer for me.

Many people say math is the universal language, but I'd like to add that body language is also somewhat universal. Although every culture has different methods of insulting one another (middle finger, fist pump in the air, thumb scraping behind your teeth, hand pushed out from under your chin) most cultures have similar body movements when describing something. For example, when I placed my order at Mcdonald's, the fu yuen was shouting some random gibberish to me, and I assumed she was asking me what I wanted to drink. I replied with "coke" and in return I got an awkward stare. Later I realized she was asking me if I wanted it "for here" or "to go" because she kept pointing down to the ground or outside the door. Gotta love the body language.

The Land Down Under

2008-03-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Before I start this post about Australia, I would like to begin with how crappy an airline Qantas Air is. If you ever plan on going to Australia, don't EVER use Qantas Air. It is by far, the worst airline I have ever been on, and I would rather go to Australia in a boat than fly with Qantas again. On the way to Australia, our flight was delayed out of Shanghai, and when we finally arrived in Sydney, the workers decided to go on strike and refused to release any of our luggage. Luckily, I brought my bags as a carry-on, but I still had to wait at the airport with my coworkers. Secondly, my flight out of Sydney, back to Shanghai was delayed (again), so we missed our connecting flight from Shanghai to Beijing. This was the last flight to Beijing on any airline that night, so I ended up staying at a hotel in Shanghai, only to be taken across the city at 6:30am the next day to catch the first flight to Beijing. Qantas air...I hope you go out of business.

On a lighter note, Sydney was spectacular. If I could choose to work out of any city in the world, it would definitely be Sydney. Take all the great aspects of San Francisco, New York, and Boston, and you have Sydney. Sydney has all the great architecture of San Francisco, fashion of New York, and rustic landmarks of Boston all melded into one location. I didn't have much time to walk around and see everything since I was there on business, but fortunately I got to hang out with Nellina on my first day in. Here is a picture of us at an Irish pub on St. Patty's Day:

Nellina and I walked around the harbor and went to a bar called "Minus 5." The bar was pretty cool in that everything was carved out of ice, and we were only allowed to stay in there for 30 minutes since we would freeze to death. Well, I guess staying in there for 30 minutes wasn't that cool, but the ice bar concept was sort of cool. Here we are in our eskimo getup:

Unfortunately I didn't get to hug any koala bears, but I did get to see the famous opera house. Hopefully I'll get to visit Sydney again and appreciate all it has to offer. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy!

P.S. I apologize for such a crappy post, but I'm feeling lazy, and I don't get paid to do this. Stay tuned for a better anecdote.

My eating paradox

2008-03-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, these posts are slowing down. This whole blogging thing can get quite tiresome, and writing long, meaningless, but comedic, entries can be quite demanding at times. My buddy Kunan tells me that he keeps reloading my blog waiting, for the newest entry, and it got me thinking. I started this blog mainly because I'm in China, but I figured, hey! I'll write about other random things on my mind.

Okay I lied. First I'm going to update you on my status here in China. It's getting warmer here, and I'm able to walk around in a button-up and jeans. It's nice that its warmer, but it sucks when I hit the gym. I swear the gym in my hotel doubles as a sauna. So not only do I have zero motivation to work out, I have all these delectable Chinese goodies at my fingertips (and no, still no nail polish on my fingernails, thank you very much). I've been pretty good about breakfast, but come lunch and dinner, its a whole different story. My breakfasts here consist of watermelon and cantalope/honey dew. The reason why I wrote "cantalope/honey dew" is because I never remember which one is which. Anyways, the one I eat is the orange one, which I think is cantalope.

I've been eating watermelon and cantalope daily for a little over two weeks now, and I was curious as to why the fruits never changed. My girlfriend convinced me that it was probably a seasonal thing, which made sense. However, Kunan told me that he has been eating watermelon and cantalope everyday for over a year now. Yikes! Where do they get this endless supply of watermelon (that is slightly pale) and cantalope (which is also slightly pale in color)?

So back to the rest of my meals. My lunches usually consist of rice (plenty of it, but I'll get back to that later), some sort of meat, and a stack of bok choy. I love bok choy. I could probably eat bok choy for the rest of my life. As for dinner, I usually go with dumplings, noodles, meat, or wherever my friends and I decide to venture out to. My eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach, yet I clear my plate every time. This is bad news bears. I'm noticing that my jeans are getting a little snug around the midsection, and I think I'm getting what my sister calls a "muffin top." Gross.

So as stated above, I'm going to return to the topic of rice. I know people say its all carbs, yada, yada, yada. Atkins diet, shmatkins diet. I don't know any asian person that doesn't eat rice. I NEED rice. Rice is like a white man's potatoes. You need it to balance out the saltiness of any food you eat. There's this joke that goes "why do white people have such big eyes, and asian people such small eyes?" Because when white people come home they say "STEAK AND POTATOES AGAIN!!!" in a wide-eyed frenzy, and asian people sadly say "aww man, not rice again." While this joke is hilarious, especially if you get the facial expressions right, its totally not true. I will forever eat rice till the day I die. In fact, I want to be buried in a sack of rice. Write that down, thanks.

So what am I going to do about this paradox? Probably nothing. I do drink about six bottles of oolong tea a day, which apparently has slimming properties in it. For those of you who believe in these marketing schemes, I'll tell you first hand, it doesn't do diddly-squat. Time to hit the treadmill.

You piece of sheep!

2008-03-06T22:59:00.001-08:00

For dinner we went to a restaurant called Ashiya, in the south of Beijing, to have some food from Allan's hometown of Lanzhou. The food was tasty, and consisted of a lot of meat products. Meat noodle soup, meat and spicy sauce, meat on a stick, steamed meat, and fried meat (I don't think they could have cooked the meat in any different way). I definitely broke out in the "meat sweats." I think most of it was sheep or lamb, that were actually killed at a young age for dining purposes. Kind of sad, but kind of good. At least they don't feed the sheep bones back to the sheep like they do with some dogs. Sad I know, but so goes the circle of life. Here's a picture of us after stuffing our bell-bells.

left to right: allan's girlfriend ellen, allan, sean, lu, me, kunan, chrissy, mingchen

This was my first time eating here, but everyone else has been here before, especially Kunan. Apparently the last time they came here with Matthew, Kunan took a liking to one of the fu yuen's in the place, and she remembered him this time around. Throughout the entire dinner, she would walk shyly by our table, steal glances at Kunan, and giggle uncontrollably. She apparently took a liking to him as well. I hope she knows that he's a Malaysian citizen. Here's a picture of the lovely couple:

aww, I hear wedding bells already

Professional People Dodger

2008-03-04T22:38:00.001-08:00

Last night, I left the office around 6pm, which is the worst time to leave in terms of traffic. Imagine spending 30 minutes in a cab that literally takes you 150 yards down the street. Knowing this, I decided it might be a good opportunity to see how long it would take me to walk from the office to my hotel. People told me not to do it, and that it would take me around 50 minutes, but I was feeling frisky, and I had a fully charged Ipod.

Being in China has certainly brought back my Asian roots. I know this because I have started listening to old school Korean music again, which is sad, but brings back so many fond memories of my youth. Zero fade, spikey hair with Dep level 10 gel, bleached bangs....yes, I had it all (the kpop craze dominated my jr. high and high school).

So why talk about my embarrassing and reemerging kpop roots? Because it's what I had loaded in my Ipod on my journey home last night (wow, I'm being very honest with my audience...all 4 of you). Bumping all the DJ DOC classics and being surrounded by a sea of Chinese people encouraged a little skip to my walk. I was literally walking at what I estimated at 4mph, ducking and dodging everything and everyone. About 15 minutes into my trek, I dubbed myself a "professional people dodger." I'd say this is something similar to what people call "racer vision" on the freeway, where you can guess where the congestion is, and make good snap judgment calls on lane choice.

So how long did it take me? Two cold ears, sweaty chest, and a blister later, it took me 35 minutes. I hope there's a future for me in people dodging.

Burstday in Beijing

2008-03-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

So yesterday the team here surprised me with a card, cake, and dinner for my first "burstday" in China. It was really nice of them to do this for me, as I wasn't planning on doing anything for my birthday, so a big THANK YOU to the entire team, and a special thanks to Lu and Kunan for remembering and setting everything up. Here's a picture of the front of the card and the culprits responsible for the cake. There were other images in here that were actually taken from my own Picasa web album, so thanks to Kunan for plagiarizing my album haha.

So for dinner, we went to eat Peking duck at a popular local restaurant. They take their duck real serious here. Here I am with the duck's death certificate. Poor little guy...but he was delicious...a near heavenly sensation on my taste buds.

Okay, so how many of you have heard of "baby soup?" I didn't believe it at first, but apparently in some parts of China, people actually eat "baby soup" which is a dead baby fetus, made into soup. Pretty disturbing if you ask me, but hey, look what we got at the restaurant!

right to left: mingchen, lu, chunhua, robin, kunan, me, yiteng, chrissy

For those of you who have been keeping up with my previous posts, you'll get a kick out of this next picture. Chrissy had just gotten a new "Guchi" bag, and Kunan wanted to hold it and be a woman for a day. He rolled up his sleeves, held the bag with pride, and walked daintily out of the restaurant. The funny thing was that the "fu yuen's," or "waitresses" were laughing at him as he said "thank yoou" and snapped his wrist gracefully.

After dinner, Kunan, Lu, and I went to another restaurant/bar that had an African theme. It was pretty crazy in there, as the menu had naked tribeswomen on the cover. It was basically a National Geographic porno. What was crazier, was that they had real dead animals on the walls. Here we are at our table that had a dead zebra skin hung behind us.

me: "what's up girl, you hungry?"

All in all, I had a great and memorable birthday here in Beijing. Thanks to everyone for the kind birthday wishes. "Xie Xie!"

Summer Palace and the not-so-hot Hot pot

2008-03-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

I'm writing two consecutive posts since I've been lagging on the updates, so this one may not be as rich in content as the previous entry.

On Sunday, Olivia and I went to the Summer Palace. Olivia is an Adsense ambassador from the Dublin office, and since her team is reluctant to speak English to her, she has been hanging out with my team since we are so rad (yes I said "rad." I'm bringing it back).

Summer Palace was really nice. The weather couldn't have been better. The architecture there reminds me a lot of Korean architecture, or maybe the Korean architecture reminds me of Chinese architecture. I was exposed to Korean architecture first, so to keep things simple, let's just say Koreans came first haha.

Here are a few of my pics from Summer Palace:

nice day!

tai-chi masters

For dinner, Kunan, Olivia and I ate at T6 hot pot, which was glorious. However, this meal, as tasty as it was, confirmed Lewis' hypothesis of it giving you a tum-tum ache. When Lewis was in Beijing, he coined the term "fuhfuhfuh" which describes the sounds you make the morning after. I'm not going to elaborate on this any further, but Lewis...you are correct. Now if you'll excuse me, I need some pepto.

Hou-hai and the many faces of Kunan

2008-03-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

I was feeling rather lazy this weekend, so I apologize for the brief hiatus on d.i.l.a. I'm sure all of you were sitting at the edge of your seats for the next post. So here goes.

Friday night, a few of us went to Hou-Hai for dinner and drinks. This is a really nice place that has numerous restaurants and bars surrounding a lake. One cool thing was that there were like 100 Chinese people dancing/waltzing in the middle of the square to traditional music. Around these couples were dirty men preying on foreigners, saying phrases like "siao jieh" which is directly translated to "little sister" but in Beijing is the equivalent to "prostitute." The normal thing to do would be to continue walking and ignore them, but that wouldn't make for a funny story. Fortunately, I wasn't approached by many of these guys, only one actually, but I jokingly said "ta yao" which means "he wants." Apparently my buddy Matthew Lewis, who was here just a few months before me, would say that to every guy that came up to him. So I thought it'd only be fair to carry on the tradition.

Here is a picture of me in front of the entrance to Hou-hai

After dinner, we decided to go to a bar/lounge for a few drinks. There was a cool lounge, that was apparently 80s night, not due to the music they were playing, but due to the average age of the patrons in said place.

Live music is pretty standard in most bars, however at times I wished the music wasn't live in the bar we were at. Knowing how hard it is to get up on stage in front of 80 year old people, Kunan and I decided to support the band by shouting "ai ni guh guh!" which means "I love you older brother!" I think they liked that since all the other guests in the bar could barely hear the music, let alone chew their own food.

One interesting, yet awkward thing about this bar were the bathrooms. The floors were made of plexi-glass, and under the toilets was a pond full of live fish. Now at first I thought this was pretty cool and modern, but soon felt awkward as the fish swam to the surface to stare at me relieve myself. These fish were tough too, as they didn't scare easily or swim away as I tried to stomp my foot and shoo them away.

For those of you who know Kunan, I'm sure you will all agree with me that he is a ridiculously hilarious Malaysianese (Malaysian + Chinese). How this guy distorts his face into so many configurations, I have no idea. All I can say is that I appreciate the many faces of Kunan, as they make me laugh so hard that my voice raises about three octives in pitch, and I let out an embarrassing Michael Jackson-esqe "heee~!" Below are some pictures of the night and the many faces of Kunan:

lu and kunan

olivia and robin

kunan's toilet face

kunan's been working on his chest...I think

kunan working overtime for the godfather Yiteng

yikes!

sleeping beauty

Overall, the night was full of good times and laughter. Thanks to Arrow, Arrow's girlfriend, Robin, Kunan, Cindy, Olivia, an Lu for a great time.

Chinese phrases and loogies....SO LO-KOH!

2008-02-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

So my week is coming to an end. It's Thursday night, and my buddies were trying to inspire me on a blog topic. For those of you who know me, you'll know that I'm a pretty laid-back, silly guy, so amusing blog posts are a must for me. So to tickle your funny bone, I thought I'd write about some of the local phrases I've learned so far.

The local dialect is a little different from other parts of China, which is pretty much true in any country (yes, even the US...yeah I'm talking about you texas). For example, when I take a cab I say "hai den yi yuerr" where the locals understand as the hospital near my hotel. However, when I was first taught this phrase, I was told to say "hai den yi yuenn" which is the correct pronunciation, but ridiculously confusing to local cab drivers. The local accent in Beijing basically changes words to end in a "err" rather than an "enn," so "tsing hua nan menn" becomes "tsing hua nan muerr" which is the phrase I used to get to work every morning.

Another phrase which I completely butchered on my 2nd cab drive was "chen mien dyiah toe" which means "make a u-turn" or "turn around." Now to set some context, I had a friend in college who had an enormously large head, and we always called him "dah toe," meaning "big head." On my morning commute I always end up on the opposite side of the street, so a cab driver will usually ask, what I suspect to be, "what side of the street do you want?" Since I had never used the correct phrase for "u-turn" in my life (nor had I practiced it), my brain naturally sent a signal to my vocal chords to say "dah toe" to the cab driver. You can imagine how awkward it got in the cab after I said "big head." I immediately felt embarrassed and moronically said "turn around...err...other side." I wish I bought the Rosetta Stone language program for Chinese before I left.

Tonight I went to another local dining spot, which again to my advantage, is walking distance from the office. Kunan, Yiteng, Allan and I indulged ourselves in 7 dishes, which were basically awesome. The kung pao chicken was glorious, and would put Panda Express to shame, although some may disagree (James Lee). Here are a few pictures of the guys after dinner.

Yiteng, Allan, Kunan

Yiteng, "Ehl-burt," Allan

So one local habit that I noticed in Beijing is to snort and hock the biggest loogie that you can, spit it on the ground, then step on it like you're putting out a cigarette or doing an imaginary hokey-pokey dance. Apparently this is a "so loh-koh" (so local) habit, which I think is kind of disgusting. I think some of these guys are actually sucking their brain through their nose by the sound of things. I'm starting to think that boogers are good for the concrete, as one of my cab drivers blew his nose and threw his tissue out the window. I can't promise anything, but this is probably one habit that I might just leave for the locals.

Before I conclude this post, I just wanted to let everyone know one thing. When I talk in a Chinese accent, I'm not doing it to belittle or make fun of Chinese people or their accent, because Korean people have a funny English accent as well. All I'm saying is that "it's funny....but it's not a reason to hate somebody." - Dave Chappelle

Kunan "Mooshoo" Yeong & another Yiteng sighting!

2008-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

So last night I had my 2nd authentic, but 3rd non-instant, dish here in Beijing. I ordered a Taiwanese dish called "chi pai fan" which is one of my favorite dishes in the states, but it was cooked differently here...not fried, which is probably healthier but who really knows. Kunan, Yiteng, and Yiteng's "colleague" took me to a restaurant right behind work. The setting was intimate, with large lounge-style couches, and the decor was filled with nice earth tones. I felt like I was in a jazz lounge, and all I needed was a Chinese guy singing his interpretation of Miles Davis. The chicken was good, but hanging out with the three of them was even better. These guys have really made it easy for me to adjust here in China. Shoutout to the bash brothers Kunan and Yiteng!

Here is a picture of Kunan and I. If you knew Kunan before, he is no longer Baloo from jungle book. I swear this guy has completely changed his lifestyle out here. He too has become an icon for all Chinese mei mei's.

"yeah bebe!"

I've decided that from now on, I will no longer say that I hung out with Yiteng. This guy has "pop-star" oozing from his pores. From now on, I will call this a "Yiteng sighting!" As you can see, we spotted Yiteng at the same restaurant (what are the chances?). He was kind enough to let me take a picture of him doing a cool, model pose. I feel like the paparazzi.

Famous pop-star Yiteng and I doing a "gangster" pose

Yiteng is very good with the ladies

In the picture above, Judy and Yiteng are simply comparing phones, but that story is kind of boring, so I'm going to make one up. Here's what really happened. Yiteng walked into the restaurant, just as Michael Jackson's "BAD" came on the stereo. Yiteng spotted Judy on the couch, tossed his hair to the side, then moonwalked over to her. After a slick wave with his sparkly fingernails and a ravishing smile, Judy faints and Yiteng comes to her rescue. Here is a picture of them exchanging phone numbers. Colleages? I think not. The end.

Boring nails? Talk to Yiteng!

2008-02-26T04:31:00.001-08:00

There's no doubt that Chinese people are extremely intelligent. I swear, the Chinese are one of the smartest races on the planet, but throw in creativity and you've got...well...you've got Yiteng. From what I've observed, Yiteng is probably the most popular guy in Google China. In the lunch room, guys pat him on the back, and girls giggle and wave shyly at the guy. If Yiteng wasn't at Google, I'm pretty sure he'd be a famous Chinese pop star. Edison Chen better watch out because Yiteng is on the prowl!

So what else does Yiteng have going for him besides a solid job, boyish good looks, great sense of humor, a killer hair-do, and freakish height? (yes, he's like 2 inches taller than me). He's got sparkly nails! I noticed them yesterday at work when he was holding his laptop. A slight glimmer caught my eye as he was twiddling his fingers, and when I took a closer look, that glimmer turned into a nail polish with tiny specks of silver dust with the ever-so-slightest tinge of pink, which twinkled at his fingertips. I asked him why he did that, and his reply was "look at your nails...so boring." I looked at my nails, then looked at his, then looked at mine, and yes...he was absolutely right. Mine were boring. He said his nails weren't too crazy, but the subtle change sets his nails apart from the everyday, boring nailed person. Without further adieu, I give you...Yiteng and his "non-boring" nails.

bling bling!

Now, another popular figure in the office, is the infamous Kunan. I've been getting numerous emails from my coworkers, requesting that I fill this blog with pictures and anecdotes of Kunan. The poor fellow has been sick this week, but he's still the same loveable, silly Kunan. We played a game today where he had to act out a scene from what I think was a Chinese children's show, and he was dubbed "best supporting female actress." Here is a picture of him with his Oscar.

I don't have any crazy anecdotes about Kunan yet, but we'll be going out this weekend after he heals up, so stay tuned. Get well Kunan!

Good things come to those who wait

2008-02-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

My mother always told me, "good things come to those who wait," and boy was she right. Today was my first day in the office, and everyone was super nice. I don't just mean nice as in the occasional "good morning" or in my case "zao!" but I mean nice as in people here will go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Everyone on the team here is extremely friendly which made it easy for me to feel at home. We went out for a team dinner which consisted of, in my opinion, authentic Chinese food and Chinese liquor. The restaurant theme took after a famous Chinese author who wrote many stories about kung fu. The dishes were named after kung fu characters (I think), and they had a nice 'kick' to 'em! Okay that was a terrible joke, but you get the idea. The team welcomed me by having a "traditional bottoms up" drink with nearly everyone at the table. I'm not so sure if this was actually a tradition or an attempt get me drunk, but all I have to say is, its a good thing I'm Korean, otherwise this post would have misspellings up the wazoo. Here are some pictures of the team and the food that we ate.

Left to Right: Sunny(side of his face), Cindy, Chunhua, Lu, Chrissy, Kunan, Sean, Yiteng(Ar Teng), Eric

Left to Right: Eric, Sunny, Robin, Arrow, Cindy, Chunhua, Lu, Allan (doing the peace sign), Yiteng (hiding behind Allan's shoulder)

The glorious food which is graciously sitting in my tum-tum

more food

There's something about Chinese food that just satisfies the soul. I'm not sure if its the spices or the flavors, but this guy is definitely going to have to hit up the gym, otherwise they're going to have to charge me for 2 economy seats on the flight back. So what's the moral of this story you say? Nothing really except that Chinese food is "hella" good. Time to catch some z's. Tsai gen.

First non-instant meal!

2008-02-24T03:30:00.000-08:00

Having a non-instant meal was a huge milestone in my trip, so I had to make another post. After venturing out during the day today, I was fortunate to come across a mall that had a plethora of eateries, one of which was "Mr. Pizza." Being in Beijing, of course I would have loved to endulge myself in some Chinese goodness, but once again, my lack of a translator or working knowledge of the language limited me to a restaurant that had English writing in their menu, and not to mention, in their very name. I ordered what was labeled as the "New York Special" pizza coupled with a TsingTao beer. The result...sheer bliss. Everyone please take a moment of silence for the amazing invention of the pizza. Below is a picture of the final slice of what I dubbed "a glorious meal."

the new york special

Chinese might be a good language to pick up

2008-02-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have a confession to make. Another reason why I created this blog is because I'm in China, and I'm waiting in my hotel room for the infamous Kunan to awake from his slumber. I arrived in Beijing yesterday, and I must say, if you don't speak Chinese, tough noogies. I was lucky enough to have my coworker, Cindy, pick me up from the airport. If she wasn't there, I'd probably still be driving in circles or quite possibly on my way to Mongolia.

My hotel room is pretty nice and modern. One obstacle that I ran into was of course, the language barrier. Within 5 minutes of walking into my room, the maid comes to my door asking me to fill out an inventory sheet. I had no clue what he was talking about and proceeded to say "wu bu zi dao" which means "I don't know." Ah, the joys of growing up with predominately Chinese friends does have its advantages. I hesitantly filled out the sheet (thank goodness numbers is an universal language), but as the maid left, he pointed to the fruit/snack combo on my table and said "mayo." Now I'm no linguist or Chinese translator, but I know "mayo" means "no" or "not have," so what he meant by that, I have no clue. Either those snacks are going to cost me a fortune, or the apples are made out of apple-flavored cardboard.

Upon my arrival I was starving like marvin. I decided to be adventurous and walk the streets of Beijing in search of some authentic Chinese food. Unfortunately, along with the authentic food comes the authentic language. I went into a local restaurant and again had the uncomfortable fumbling of introductions with native Chinese citizens. They politely sat me at a table, and I pointed to a few pictures on the menu, but yet again heard that word "mayo" after each dish. Not knowing how to speak or order anything in Chinese, I instead went to the local 7-11 and picked up a few trusty packages of instant ramen. How ironic that the very food I tell my dad to stay away from became my savior for the night, disguised in a neat, square packaged parcel. I have a feeling that mr. shin ramen and I are going to get to know each other quite well on this trip. Now may be a good time for me to expand my Chinese from the elementary, yet oh-so-funny "ni fang pee" to a few more working phrases. Okay enough of my rants, it's picture time. Here are a few shots of the palatial palace:

living room

kitchen

bedroom

bathroom

Oh yeah, one more thing before I go. The bathroom? All I have to say is that I feel like Richard Gere in American Gigolo.

what is d.i.l.a.?

2008-02-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ask me a year ago, and I'd say that I'd never start a blog, but 3 years at a tech company, and plenty of time on my hands has pushed me to do otherwise. So for my first post, I'll keep it short and sweet. This blog is a Day In the Life of Albert (d.i.t.l.a sounded weird so I took out the "t"). This title was actually suggested to me by a certain someone, so I decided to go with it. Plus "d.i.l.a." kind of sounds like J Dilla, which makes my blog even more cool. So stay tuned and join me on a ridonkulous voyage through life in my eyes...viewer discretion advised.