I almost lost part of my binding at a lift. Walked up and down the entire run before finding it at the lift. Some guy at the top told me that he saw something there and there it was just like he said it would be. Those pieces are so small I was incredibly lucky to have found them. I'll have to remember to make sure they're screwed on tight before I go up. I also was at a lift when a kid fell off of it. I had just gotten off and I heard a huge commotion...snowboarded over and saw this kid like half-dazed in a snow drift right below the lift. Must have been 6-8 so the snow went up to his waist. Pretty lucky...I guess he was preparing to get off and he just got off. :-P Looked fine though....didn't cry or wail or anything...much better than that kid who was screaming about his leg being broken (I actually went and got help...) and then 10 min was going down the slope again.
After all of us got back (thanks to Fred driving back part of the way and Emily giving me a much needed backrub...Fred gave me some of his Advil and Emily gave me this Echinacea Tea which helped tremendously too), we stopped at Margaret's where we found out that Dave's car had been broken into. Sucks hard...it was in a garage too which mades it suck really really hard. Well, after filing a report, Dave understandably went home while the rest of us went to this Japanese place called Sui Sui K. Margaret had mentioned this place to me earlier but since it looked from the outside so dingy, I didn't really think much about it. The inside of Sui Sui K is nice and clean though and I was very impressed with the quality of the food. It's basically $10 a person for all you can eat Japanese food. You can order 3 items from the menu (per person) at a time. There was quite a bit of stuff in the menu (udons/ramens/curries/sushi/rolls/handrolls) to order. I loved the Curry Rice but I hadn't had it in so long so I might have been biased. They used to have some kind of website but it looks like it's no more. Here the 411 on it though...
417 7Th St
Oakland, CA 94607
510-268-9099
Open from 11AM-10PM everyday
I got GT4 for the PS2 recently...the graphics are just awesome. I can't comment on the driving and everything because I suck at it but it's still pretty neat. What's pretty cool is that you can save screen caps directly to a USB flash drive. ALL games should have that feature.
Today, we went to Everett and Jones in Oakland to try and get some good ribs. The wait there was outrageous though so we just brought it back to my place instead. Had the full slab. Of course, I only had a couple pieces...there's no way I could have finished it on my own.
I got a new snowboard jacket (this one is actually water-proof!!! hehehe) yesterday. Didn't get a helmet though...Emily has the 411 on a place that is having a big sale.
Tomorrow, we have a group all going up to Tahoe. I'm really looking forward to it although I'm really not looking forward to the drive.
Almost got my car towed this morning...one of the apartment buildings is getting its pavement resurfaced or something which has displaced a whole lot of cars. When I got home last night, there were no spots except for the parking lot near the neighborhood market. I'd parked there before with no problems so I figured for one day it wouldn't matter. This morning though, as I walked to the parking lot, I saw 2 Berry Bros (the same guys that towed Chris's car from Nanny's apartment parking lot) tow trucks hitching up cars to tow away. I was like "oh no....." Luckily, when I got to the lot, my car was like 1 of 2 which hadn't been taken yet. Lucky lucky lucky. I guess I still have a bit of that left.
But then again, Emily made me brownies, biscotti, and lemonade (hand-squeezed hahaha jk I think she said she used a juicer). Lucky lucky lucky
For some odd reason, when I mention that I watch "Desperate Housewives", I get a different response to when I say that I watch "Gilmore Girls". Actually I haven't watched "Gilmore Girls" in ages but then I may be the only straight guy within 10 miles who has Seasons 1-4 on an external hard drive somewhere. I think it must be the concentration of good looking women and the sinister plotlines which make it so different.
Ever catch yourself singing Christmas carols? I do....it's been gloomy and overcast these last few days, so for some reason, the neural pathways are abuzz with "Let it Snow". I blame the freakin card that I sent out this past Xmas. I'm still infected months later...
Have you heard about how China is really mad at the US and Japan for talking about working together on the Taiwan issue? And now Clinton is going to meet with Chen Shui-bian on Sunday...what about that Anti-Secession law that China is just about to pass (by the puppet parliament...pretty much rubberstamp...although of course to make it look legit, they'll have a few people dissent)...this is such a sticky problem but I really feel that China isn't helping matters with all its saber-rattling.
A new Photo Ipod was released and while I was looking at it through the website, I found out about a dongle that lets you connect memory cards to ipods for file storage. However, the reviews of it are so mixed that it doesn't seem like it'll be my solution for Peru. *sigh*
Hmm...look at this poll of the top TV pirated downloads. I think I've dwonloaded quite a few of these listed actually. But now it's just Desperate Housewives and Lost.
Last night, I had dinner with Eric, Fred, and Alan. Originally we were going to Old Teahouse but we ended up at Gypsys. I had the Frutti di Mare there which was amazing for the price ($6.99) Then I had a great Strawberry Frost at Old Teahouse while we watched a bit of "Kung Fu Hustlers". It was great, it was like the whole place was watching. :-D
So at the airport in San Antonio, Matt, Jay, and I went to this Tex-Mex place before boarding our plane. Jay and I got the carne guisada. I found out later that the difference between guisada and asada is that guisada is a stew (so bit size pieces of beef) while asada is usualyl a roasted/grilled steak but it can be pieces as well. I like guisada...it's not like Chinese beef stew but still pretty darn good.
My polarized glasses are really interesting. The airplane windows had this kind of rainbow tint when I looked at it a certain way esp when I looked at bodies of water...I'm assuming that it has to do with the angle of transmitted light after refraction. In any case, it would do funky things with LCDs since LCD's typically transmit at a certain angle due to the twisted nematic cells. I'd look at the Departure/Arrival monitors and it would be completely blank...I'd cock my head to one side so I could read it. Hehehehe it was a lot of fun turning my head this way and that. My laptop uses another kind of polarizer/analyzer though cause the display only disappears at a 45 degree angle.
Emily was so sweet in picking me up from the airport! I'm so glad that she liked the Equinox esp since I haven't been there in such a long time. It's kinda weird talking about a date esp when apparently I've got some new readers so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. hehehe
AHHHHHHH!!!! My flight to Denver got cancelled so now I'm going to be 3.5 hrs late to Oakland...usually I'm totally fine about it since I've got my laptop and everything but Emily is picking me up today so this is incredibly disappointing. Good thing, Jay, Matt, and I got to the airport early though cause they were about to put me on a flight that would have me arrive in Oakland at 10PM. The ticket counter guy was nice enough to spend a lot of time getting us onto the next flight to Denver since a lot of the flights are pretty full already...ok well...I'll post the happenings of yesterday now...
I saw this guy pulled up next to the phone booth in the parking lot in his car. He sat in this car, reached out the window and started talking on the phone. I wondered if he was the local druglord. lol
The sunglasses that I got are Oakley's Half-Jacket Jet-Black/Black Iridium Polarized. Emily told me that her friend got additional lenses for the price I paid so I will probably be returning them and getting the deal.
I also had the Kahlua Cinnamon flan which was pretty good.
In response to comments from Cathy and Margaret, yeah Pesca is a pretty cool place. The guy even took my napkin out of the holder and opened it for me. Very weird. The sherbet thing was in Princess Diaries?!!! Wow, no wonder I never had it happen to me before. The bill however for 13 people came out to be around $1300...man that hit my credit card hard. Hahahahaha jk. We had quite a bit of wine going all around and everyone got appetizers and desserts which when combined is another entree (although some people got oysters which by themselves is an entree price). Although, last night I "paid" for dinner and it came out to be almost $300 for 7 people and this was just a "regular" meal. It totally was the wine though because we didn't have desserts. Ordering wine is like having another person at the table. :-) This time we turned away the mariachi guys though. Last time, we couldn't even hear ourselves think!
I'm watching The Rock's The Rundown...it's totally fulfilled my action movie quota for this month. Sheesh it's got everything!
Ok so Jackson asked how the game "Skills" is played and here it finally is...
First you need a reasonably sized area to play in. Something not too small or too big. Something racquetball-sized I think would be ideal but playing in a smaller court is fine too. Even having stuff on the sides adds to the challenge. Anyways, you'll need a metal bar or anything that will signal that its been hit (better an audible signal rather than just saying it moved since everyone can hear it...a metal bar makes a pinging sound). "Skills" is like tennis except the mandatory bounces are different. You play with a rubber ball like a handball or something similar that has a good bounce (not a basketball). The goal of the game is to bounce the ball back and forth without hitting the metal bar or any surrounding obstructions as well as observing the rules of the game.
Rules of the game
1. You must bounce the ball once on your side of the court before entering your opponent's side of the court. Failure to do so results in a point for your opponent.
2. Once the ball has entered your side of the court, you may hit the ball at ANY time (that means before a bounce or after a bounce). Failure to hit the ball correctly before a second bounce results in the loss of the round.
3. If you hit the ball into your opponent's court and you hit an obstruction BEFORE a bounce, this results in the loss of the round. Hitting an obstruction afterwards is allowed. In fact, people try to use that to their advantage, since a bounce off an obstruction is technically still considered a bounce. So if timed correctly, the opponent would have to hit the ball either BEFORE the first bounce OR right BEFORE it hit an obstruction.
4. Blatent hard hitting is not good sportsmanship...Skills is a game of finesse not brute strength. This rule is hard to enforce but usually the players and bystanders usually agree on this.
5. Skills uses a volleyball-type point system where only the server can receive a point for winning a round. If the server loses a round, the service goes to the other person. That person can then try to gain a point from winning a round. The objective is to be the first to reach 15 points. You switch sides after 1 person reaches 7 points.
6. If a hit results in the bar getting hit, you lose the round. This means that if you hit it, the ball bounces on your side of the court, and then hits the metal bar, you lose the round.
Going back to San Antonio is like I was here only a few weeks ago or something. I still remember where everything is. I know how to get places. It's pretty cool. This time I've already scoped out places that I didn't get to last time like the Tower of the Americas and a few restaurants.
So the guy came right on time. The taxi cost $42 (I gave a $6 tip). I used the 1-800-TAXI-CAB service to have someone pick me up. I made the reservation at 4AM! :-P Talk about last minute.
Now I'm once again wayyyyy early. But that's a good thing. I've had too many times where I'm rushing to the airport due to traffic or something.
The shuttle is coming to pick me up to go to the Oakland Airport at 5:15AM. My flight is at 8AM, arriving at Denver at 11:35AM and then finally getting to San Antonio at 4:27PM. It's going to be a long day but hopefully I'll have connectivity while I'm in Denver.
Today happens to be my first Valentine's Day with Emily and it's really hard to be leaving. *sigh*
Yesterday, I spent a lot of it at work actually. I had some loose ends I needed to tie before leaving. Went and shopped around (getting some pre-Valentine's day stuff in the process) and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. Then had a Mango Frost at Old Teahouse with Fred and Eric. Fred just got back from a weekend at Tahoe and said that it was pretty good. We'll see if I can go up again before all that snow melts away.
Afterwards, I met up with Emily at a Q-Cup. Emily and her friend Faye baked these sweets today (well actually yesterday) and I'm going to eat them on my trip! There's this chocolate covered strawberry with a treble clef frosting that Emily put on it that is just so amazing...I'm going to have to take a picture of it. (EDIT: Emily says that actually Faye did that but I think the inspiration probably came from Emily...I want to make a bass clef one or maybe just a cello one next time) She's so sweet! (hehehe...she even had a sweater reminding me of that too actually)...ok no more!...it's about time for them to pick me up. Oh yeah, I happened to give Emily editorial privileges to all posts/pictures regarding her (this is the only way I could get her in a picture...hahahaha).
BTW, I changed the flash on the main page to reflect Valentine's day!!! I'm so tired right now...I havent slept all night. I'm definitely going to sleep on the plane.
The day afterwards I felt under the weather (not due to the rolls) so I worked from home that day. I did go with LC to Ikea for lunch though. Also went with Fred to Old Teahouse for dinner another night. Old Teahouse played some new S.H.E. music videos...it was almost like college again. I even played Eric at "Skills" again and did much better than the first time. I think the score was 15-7 or 15-8. It's Eric's freakin serves that get me.
On Saturday, I went over to pick up Eric and Fred for dinner. Ended getting what they call "Clampooed". It was kind like Brazilian Taijitsu except it wasn't gay. Just basically Eric and Fred trying to restrain me. I think I held my own but had I known that they'd try to hold me to the ground I would have taken more active measures.
Afterwards, Emily and I went to E&O Trading Company in Downtown San Jose. Had Shrimp Skewers, some BBQ Pork thing, some Thai Rainbow Trout...and these really good Passionfruit drinks. We didn't go anywhere else (it was getting late and it was a Sunday) but it didn't matter because I was spending it with Emily! :-)
In other news, Mom told me how to fix my Chawamushi...apparently, I beat the egg mixture too much causing bubbles to form inside the mix.
Exciting new development...story sometime soon. Lemme just say for now that I had an awesome Sunday. And that's not because of the Super Bowl (I was rooting for the Eagles). :-D
Anyways Happy Chinese New Year!!! It's the year of the rooster...my mom's year!
I had a full day of meetings a couple days ago...felt sooooo tired. It was like one after another...
So Sony announced the launch date for the PSP...March 24th! Get your pre-orders in...first million get the Spiderman UMD.
My cellphone can use MP3s as ringtones!!! Just found that out today and I've had the thing for over a year now. First ringtone I put on was one I created from Basement Jaxx's Good Luck.
I realize that I haven't posted in a few days but I've been busy recuperating from snowboarding and everything else. Eric's mom asked to see my China pictures which made me go back and take a look at them. Just realized that I didn't post pictures of the last 4 days of my trip!!! Don't know how I could have missed that...anyways, I'll probably add pics from those days in at some point.
I made a big thing of Chawanmushi a few nights ago. I put shrimp, chicken, and udon in it. Good stuff although I need to learn how to make it without any air bubbles.
Went to see Million Dollar Baby with LC a few nights ago. Great movie...not just a boxing movie. Definitely deserves its Oscar nomination.
We're getting a new stove fan installed today. That means no more smoke when cooking!!!
