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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
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2008 was a great year. as you might’ve suspected, highlights of the year are related to food and travel. my most memorable dining/travel moments of 2008 include:
* raw octopus (tentacles really stick to your tongue and throat!) and sea squrt – los angeles
* drinking berliner kindl weisse (beer mixed with raspberry syrup) with my dear cousins - berlin
* recorking left over wine from skoll dinner from previous night to add to the not-so-strong sangria @ la tasca dinner (johnny and phil – my heroes!) - oxford
* all 12 courses from alinea – chicago
* rare chicken parts (you don’t want to know) @ yakitori toto – nyc
* most spectacular eggs en cocotte @ prune – nyc
* olive oil gelato with sprinkles of rock salt @ otto – nyc
* amazingly good biscuit - portland
* traveling over 27 hours to attend a salsa congress – sf > london > casablanca > marrakech
* brain and various other sheep parts – djemaa el-fna, marrakech
* whale sashimi (delicious), horse sashimi (not so delicious) and fugu (i'm alive) – numazu and tokyo
* hopping on a bullet train to see dj shadow – seoul to busan, korea
recapping 2008 sure makes me excited about 2009!
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
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places i’ve visited this year:
london
oxford
berlin
chicago
sonoma
l.a.
nyc
portland
l.a. again
places i’ll visit in the next three months:
l.a. again
marrakech (!)
birmingham, uk
seoul
tokyo
shizuoka
hong kong
ho chi minh city
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
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43 more hours and i'm off to london. work's been non-stop crazy and stressful that this is the first time i'm actually looking forward to an 11 hour flight just so i can get some sleep. no plans as of yet on what to do once i get to london. i'll spend two day roaming around for fun, then spend six days in oxford on business. i'm planning to visit family in berlin for four days afterward but if i get my act together, there might be a short jaunt over to paris for 8-10 hours to eat, drink, and see the eiffel tower (um, i'd have to it all really fast). then i'll fly back and stay home for two days before heading out to chicago for a conference.
my personal goal for this trip is to actually upload the pictures after (or maybe even during) the trip. i'm so terrible at this. none of my friends have seen pictures from our trips in the last few years to korea, bali, japan, hk, costa rica, peru, puerto vallarta, cabo, guadalajara, thailand, cambodia, china, australia and various cities in the u.s. for our most recent trip to tahiti and sydney, i thought perhaps keeping a travel log in good old fashioned way might work, but writing after hours of walking and sightseeing became such a chore because we were too tired. but i'm going to try it again! i picked up cute mini notebooks from target to inspire me. i hope it works this time...
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
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Monday, February 4th, 2008
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i have awesome friends!
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from: ned
date: feb 2, 2008
subject: the best is yet to come
Dear Family and Friends,
Each evening we've been sitting down at our dining room table on Carmel Avenue in Albany making calls to our neighbors, asking them to join in the effort that is sweeping the nation – the effort to support the campaign that we've come to understand is not about one person, but about all of us. We have increasingly come to feel that Barack Obama has generated new hope that we can once again be seen by the rest of the world as good neighbors, that this country's greatest days are yet to come – and that he has the experience, integrity and solid plans to get us there.
Speaking after winning the South Carolina primary election last Saturday night, Senator Obama said "The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders . . . It's not about rich versus poor, young versus old and it is not about black versus white. This election is about the past versus the future." We sat together as a family listening – Hoa, Ned, and Julian. One of us is a Vietnamese-American immigrant who was adopted and came to the United States as a refugee at the age of six, grew up in small town Pennsylvania, and became a citizen at the age of twenty. One of us is white and grew up in Springfield, IL, the "Land of Lincoln," the son of small town folks, a journalist/public servant and a book clerk. One of us is African-American and Latino, adopted at the age of three weeks by two fathers, and growing up in one of the most diverse areas of the country.
In part it is because we are a nontraditional family that we respond so strongly to Barack's story and what we believe he embodies. His parents are from Kenya and Kansas, he was brought up in Indonesia and Hawaii, and he remained committed to public service from the time that he began as a community organizer in the heartland of America. We are inspired by his dedication to grassroots politics and government, and by his demonstrated commitment to social justice for all. For the first time in the history of this country we are witnessing a presidential candidate that truly is representative of the broader spectrum of Americans. Last Saturday after watching Senator Obama's moving address we walked out into the Albany evening to have ice cream with the feeling that our family would truly be represented by this inspiring public servant, and that he would lead us to the kind of future that we dream of for Julian.
Over the last several weeks we have been working in Albany, Berkeley, and Oakland to be a part of engaging our community. We became co-precinct captains for the Obama campaign in our precinct. We feel energized every single day by the good news we are hearing – the involvement of so many young people, those that have left behind traditional party positions to be part of the movement, the heartfelt and inspiring endorsements from so many individuals and organizations. We feel a renewed hope in our hearts for the future of this country – what we imagine so many felt when they heard John F. Kennedy speak. Neither of us has ever been engaged in a campaign in this way before, but we have realized that this is our chance to be a part of realizing the United States that we envision.
While we won't go into detail here, there are several key issues which we believe demonstrate the good judgment and leadership of Senator Obama. They include his refusal to accept funds from lobbyists and PACs; his opposition to the war in Iraq from day one and his courage to speak out against it; his career-long commitment to public service; his ability to work "across the aisle" in the Illinois State Legislature and in the United States Senate; his carefully articulated policies on immigration reform, comprehensive health care, and environment; and his ability to bring together diverse groups through inspiring ideals that have motivated people across the land to act.
Since announcing his candidacy Senator Obama has made it clear that it would be about all of us. The campaign is truly a grassroots effort that has shown us that we all must play a role in changing this country, our government, and the way we engage with the rest of the world. We believe that President Obama will continue to lead using a bottom up approach, administering the country in a way that continues to engage each of us.
We are at a crucial moment, one at which the same old politics that have divided us during the last two presidencies – Democrats versus Republicans, whites versus blacks, old versus young, rich versus poor, straights versus gays – will no longer do. We are convinced that Barack Obama is gifted with an ability to lead that is essential to overcoming the divides that have kept us from uniting. The cornerstone of his leadership has been and will continue to be us – all of us. Please join our family in supporting the one candidate with the proven leadership and judgment necessary to inspire and unite, to deliver real change based on solid plans, and to achieve our greatest days as a nation.
Please be sure to vote. Your vote and those of your friends and family on this coming Tuesday, February 5th, will be crucial to achieving this vision.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
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work is seriously kicking my ass. it's been kicking my ass for the last two weeks and it will most certainly continue to kick my ass for the next two weeks.
at least i have this weekend to look forward to. w, coco, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) niem and i are driving down to l.a for good korean food.
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Saturday, January 5th, 2008
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we’re having my birthday party tonight. i’m turning 24… again. it’s a miracle, i tell ya!
we’re unveiling a new cocktail created specifically for this special occasion – the "funky cristina medina". the plan is to make a batch using the “funky cold medina” recipe, then add a secret ingredient. mr. video game is bringing rock band for us to play after we drink. it’s a game that allows you to play the guitar, drum, and sing. they got together last week to play it and couldn't stop talking about it.
can’t wait to booze it up and catch up with friends. last few months have been rough.
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
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vice magazine halloween party. open bar! what's not to like?
and if you don't have lunch money, baam!
free taco from taco bell (yuck! i told my coworker he can collect his free bday lunch from me but he declined).
speaking of open bar, my coworker sent the link to a website devoted to any open bars that are going on. he said it's quite possibly the most dangerous website there is. yeah, if by "most dangerous" he means "most awesome!" i can't believe he knew about this and is *just* sharing this goldmine of a website. oh well, probably for the best. i need to keep my job. and liver.
sf my open bar
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Friday, October 19th, 2007
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colbert for president (via splendora) - you know people will actually vote for him if he ran. you can also sign the petition to urge colbert to run.
this weekend is full of fun events that i won't be participating in. boo hoo.
- bruce or bust: finishing the game opening night party @ club six
- black and white in color, a group show @ giant robot sf. too bad because i havent see john since that one weekend of karaoke and korean food in la almost 18 months ago.
- sf craft mafia
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Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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i had planned on going to this but i probably can’t. i’m also going to miss the opening night party since i have to pick up my brother from the airport. too bad because sung kang will be there in person!
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San Francisco State is hosting a screening for the film "Finishing the Game" by Justin Lin on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 from 7pm-930pm at Knuth Hall in the Creative Arts Bldg. This is a big theater that holds up to 300 folks....so we'd like to fill up as many seats as possible. Come by and support Justin Lin, the Asian American film director that has broken into the mainstream hollywood industry. The movie is based from an idea of Bruce Lee before he passed. This is a FREE Screening.
http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/
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Friday, October 12th, 2007
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al gore was at our office but i missed him yet again because i was working from home. argh!
we all learned this morning that al gore was awarded the nobel peace prize. around 11:45, our vp learned that he was coming to the office for a meeting and she quickly went into celebration overdrive. at 12:45, a coworker rounded up a few bottles of bubby.everyone was waiting for al and tipper as they stepped through the door at 1 to give them a rousing round of applause. according to my coworker, after noting that the vice president was a triple play - with an oscar, an emmy, and now the nobel, al said he is going for the gold at beijing next.
i'm bummed i missed al. and alcohol.
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Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
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if i had red glitter dorothy heels i'd click click click and wish to be taken to this meat grillin heaven by the railroad track
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Monday, October 8th, 2007
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the last two days forced me to come to terms with the fact that i am oh so capable of spending the entire weekend on the couch watching (mostly bad) movies, only to get up to feed myself and the dog. ice cream for me and diabetes food for the dog.
these aren't even movies i'd normally watch! d moved in last week so that my mom can take care of him so i watched his dvds.
300 - normally i wouldn't say stuff like this but really, i think the movie made me a little gay
waiting... - the first minute was pretty good, when the movie opened with lyrics born's song. then it went downhill until the last minute of the movie when sam weir cussed everyone out.
apocalypto - eh
year of the dog - i kind of like the fact that the main characters are those you'd normally find as supporting characters. that just means they're a little... odd and not as good looking. plus, pencil was a super cute dog.
fearless - ok, this movie did take me by surprise. i didn't think i'd like it (jet li, you haven't been very good since you moved to hollywood) but i did. i now know what wushu is all about. :)
high crimes - i know ashley judd is super smart but this was pretty dumb. i guess everyone needs extra cash to buy a new car.
the last samurai - ken watanabe and hiroyuki sanada (twilight samurai - a great film!) are so awesome. almost makes seeing tom cruise bearable. almost.
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Friday, October 5th, 2007
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i saw a scruffy dog in the middle of the street as i was pulling into the driveway. it was in the middle of the road, and a large suv was forced to stop. the driver of the big suv didn't know what to do so she sat there until the dog moved out of the way. i ran out of my car and called the dog to come to me but it obviously feared people. i followed it for about a block and thought it might be tempted to come to me if i had food. i ran back to the house to grab a bottle of water and doggie treats but by the time i came back out, the dog was nowhere to be seen.
i ran down 4-5 blocks until i saw it sitting in front of a house. a boy happened to walk out from the house next door so i asked him if the dog belonged to his neighbor. when the dog saw us, he started running away again. my heart was in a knot. i ran after it for another 2 blocks and gave up. i ran back home and called animal control. i really hope they can take him away safely.
i can't stand seeing stray dogs. most dogs or cats will get run over and it's really difficult to find your dog once s/he's lost. it reminded me of when we lost coco. she was blind by then and we were going crazy looking for her until 4 in the morning and thinking about the (likely) possibility of her getting run over. we barely slept that night and drove over to the animal shelter as soon as it opened. the shelter only allowed one person to go in so i first went into the medium sized dog room and was on the verge of crying because i didn't see her there. we went into the small dog room. i quickly surveyed the room and didn't see here there. initially i was unsure if the beagle looking dog was coco because she appeared too tiny. it also didn't help that i called her name and she didn't respond. she was probably in some sort of shock due to being lost and getting locked up. i knelt in front of her and kept calling her name and she finalized realized that i had come for her and started barking loudly. soon, all the small dogs in the room were barking and jumping up and down. i wanted to take all of them home with me.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2007
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tj's friend found 6 black lab puppies out in the middle of the road over the weekend. she's looking for a good home and oh i really wish i could adopt them all!
it's too bad we have our hands full with coco. which reminds me, last week's episode of the office where angela was giving dwight instructions for taking care of her cat, sprinkles, is just like what i have to do for coco: prescription dry food for diabetes, insulin shot with wet food 15 minutes after she eats the dry food, eye drops for the cataracts, various ointments, and etc. the episode was funny-sad. you can watch it here.
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Monday, October 1st, 2007
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i'm running again. for the first time in almost 11 years.
a month ago today, i started with 13 minutes. then i increased it slowly to 18 minutes, 28 minutes, 31 minutes, 35 minutes, and today i ran for 39 minutes.
because of my severe back pain and two knee surgeries, it used to be that i couldn't get out of bed the day after running. the secret to running again? chi running. once i got over the stupid name, i actually picked up some practical tips for running without pain. yay! i might actually get in shape in time for the australia/tahiti trip in december. i'd be happy if i lost five pounds.
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Thursday, September 27th, 2007
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my car needs a lot of work. i know this for a fact because i've gone for much too long without an oil change, my car makes noise everytime i step on and off the brake, and i think i skipped the last maintenance that was scheduled. my mom offered to lend me her car and drop off my car at shop. i drove for about two blocks and all of sudden, the car started slowing down. i stepped on the accelator but it just made this loud airplane noise and stopped moving. i quickly turned the corner rather than going out onto the busy street thinking i can move to the side of the road. i didn't quite make it so i had to call my mom. she ran over to help me push the car to the side. we walked home, called a tow truck, and took both our cars to the shop. she needs a new transmission and i needed brake pads, shoes, and some other things done for both the front and the back. argh! i really should drive less.
i decided to work from home but it's horrible for me! i can't even telll you how many truffles i ate. 10? 12? 20? i have no self control. plus, i wasn't even all that productive. i'm supposed to develop our record retention policy so i started reading rwj's record retention policy and it totally put me to sleep. i think i dozed off for at least an hour.
tomorrow i will have to pack up the rest of my stuff at work for the move. i think i'm the last one in my department. they're going to have to drag me out because i don't really want to move. it's just one floor up but it'll be very different than where i am now because our department (all six people) is the only team moving while everyone else stays on the second floor. i'll just have to find a way to work elsewhere. the patio? the cafe across the street? the lobby? anywhere but my cube!
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Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
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the greek word for "return" is nostos. algos means "suffering." so nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return.
- milan kundera
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Monday, September 24th, 2007
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is anyone going to this event tomorrow? my friend's partner and i were supposed to go, but he didn't buy the ticket in time. waaaahhhh!
cocktail square off
@ ferry building
tuesday, october 25th
530 pm - 730 pm
$10, includes cocktails and food
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Tuesday, September 11th, 2007
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i went out to lunch with the tech guys today to gordon biersch* and drank beer. alcohol during work hours? gasp! i could get used to this. beer was a nice mid-day break. unfortunately for me, i had to go immediately into my 1:1 with the vp. i feared i reeked of beer and garlic but pc told me garlic cancels out beer. so i suppose it was all good!
* gordon biersch sucks ass when it comes to food. can't they serve anything decent for ten bucks? i've never had a good dining experience there. today i had the "corned beef reuben" and it was cabbage and dried up meat (don't know what that was but it was no corned beef!) smothered in thousand island dressing on greasy rye bread.
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