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\\FRIDAY JUNE 1, 2007

06:43pm — okay, since it's become a FAQ...

How i'm spending my summer vacation:

• June 3-8: Cruise to Bermuda
• June 11: Fly to Beijing (through SF)
• June 12: Arrive in Beijing
• June 12-July 23: Trips to Shanghai, HK, and possibly other places
• July 24: Fly from Beijing to SF
• Aug 2: SF back to NYC
• Aug 2-17: between NY and Boston before pre-term and orientation start

12:59am — had lunch at Bouley today. it was freakin' amazing.

\\WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2006

10:06pm — last week Thursday i saw Jersey Boys—the musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. it was unexpectedly very, very good (okay, yes, it did win the Tony Award for Best Musical last year, so it shouldn't have been that big a surprise). but anyway, go see it!

on Sunday, chris and i got up at around 06:00 to go pick up my (pre-ordered) Nintendo Wii. farhan had the (seemingly) bright suggestion of going at 7am, since the store opened at 6am for pre-orders and 8am for everyone else. Nintendo World, where Farhan and i had pre-ordered our Wii's, is on 48th st between 5th and 6th aves. when we got there, the line had already gone down 48th to 6th ave, and snaked on around and headed back down 49th st. in perhaps not the most logical move, they had everyone in the same line, and said they'd pick out those with pre-orders first. but then, as 8 o'clock neared, we heard that they were just gonna start letting everyone in (including those without pre-orders), but might divide the two-floor store between pre-orders and walk-ins.

for the record, this is the first time i've ever bought a video game console remotely close to its launch date. (the other systems i've owned i've usually gotten around two years after launch.) to not bore you with details, we finally got in the store around 10am and had Wii's in hand by 10:30. the whole scene was ridiculous, but a pretty good time. (see photos)

since it's been a while since i've posted, let me backtrack a bit on other recent events. two weekends ago chris, mel, and i checked out the new UNIQLO store in soho during its opening weekend. it was absolute madness. the store is freakin' massive, but it was also ridiculously crowded and busy. we also went and shot pool at Fat Cat in the west village, which, despite the crappy pool equipment and crappy play (from chris and me), was fun. chris, mike, alex, and i also stuffed ourselves at churascarria plataforma that sunday.

the week before that we had fun going to IKEA so i could find the part of my bed i lost while moving. (the piece being a big-ass metal mid-beam that supports the bed's wooden slabs—no, i have no idea how we lost something so big.)

\\SUNDAY OCTOBER 8, 2006

01:08am — john mayer is amazing. finally picked up his latest album, Continuum. i had been getting so sick of my iTunes playlists, so glad to finally have some fresh, good music.

pretty behind in posts, so a quick update: in rockville, md this weekend. saw the departed last night; pretty good, but overall not as good as infernal affairs. eating way too much krispy kreme, and other not-quite-healthy foods. but it's been good.

praying the skies clear tomorrow so we can finally get some tennis in this weekend...

\\FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2006

11:11pm — Update hopefully coming soon... For now, check out a few new pics to the right...

\\SUNDAY JULY 16, 2006

10:41am — what a great Saturday. started off by excitedly waking before 7am to go play tennis at hudson river park with chris. still had to wait an hour and a half, which beats last week's two and a half hour wait, but had a lot of fun. third week in a row of having played tennis, which is prob a new record for me in the past 9 years :P. hopefully i'll keep it up and make some more progress in getting back into playing form.

afterward, we stopped by my apartment. after cleaning up, we headed down to chinatown. first stop was dim sum go go, which was even better than usual, considering i haven't had dim sum in months and have been craving it. (note to self: mango shrimp thing is OKAY, could get again from time to time. nuo mi ji and dan ta were the only things we ordered that seemed kinda subpar.) also got hairs cut and some tearrific (peach green tea). then it started raining, but we soldiered on, ducking into random stores from time to time. at BLT, chris was disappointed he couldn't find a ninja shirt in his size. after that, we walked northward into Soho. we had some conversations about what activities were unique to NYC. with that in mind, we went into Best Buy :P. i wanted to get a DS Lite case, but they only had one left and it was pink. i did, however, convince chris to get Big Brain Academy. after that, we headed back to make another pit stop at my apartment before the evening's main event.

Chris and I headed to B.B. King's in Times Square to meet up with Mel and Candice to see Boyz II Men. Yes, Boyz II Men. Yes, in a concert. Yes, they're still around. They're now one boy short (bass), and it looks like they're making a comeback run. But after hearing them sing, and the surprising quality of their new songs, it's hard to imagine them having any difficulty making it back. I only wish I could have heard them more rather than the rowdy crowd. To be fair, the group did ask the crowd to sing along to most songs, and I did oblige them most of the time. :P

afterward, with a sore throat from the big karaoke fest, chris, mel, and i shifted a couple doors down to Dallas BBQ! i'm so happy they re-opened a location in Times Square. i remember so vividly going to their old location while being an intern and also during my first year living here. the new location is even bigger than their old one, ridiculously large. the food was still good, and it was a great way to cap off a long and wonderful day of great sporting, great music, and great food.

\\WEDNESDAY JUNE 28, 2006

11:11pm — must... watch... again...

\\SUNDAY JUNE 18, 2006

11:49pm — what a wonderful weekend. got my DS Lite (see photo) on friday, then had a 24 DVD marathon (just started season 1 via Netflix recently). saturday had lunch at Grimaldi's (in Brooklyn) which was amazing as usual, then checked out the Target at Atlantic Ave. Later at night went and checked out 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar that has a great view of much of midtown, including the Empire State Building. I've decided I need to enjoy the city more. And what better time to do so than the summer? :D Today was pretty chill, but watching the intense game 5 of the NBA Finals. Go D-Wade!

something i wrote before but hadn't posted (since i haven't updated in a while):
why i hated x-men 3 (SPOILER ALERT)

• they bring jean grey back from the, only to end up killing prof. x (sort of), scott, and get killed again; despite this, she does very little throughout the movie. mostly standing around and looking spaced out.
• cyclops was the field leader, and yes he was devastated, but not only do we not get to see him find himself (as great leaders somehow do) after the tragedy, he gets killed, but we don't even see it or find out how 'til much later on. he might as well have been abducted by aliens or just gone MIA.
• rogue deciding to undergo the treatment and lose her powers would have been more interesting if it were more developed after the fact. (maybe they'll touch upon it in the expected fourth movie.)
• it was sort of egregrious that wolverine's pants stayed perfectly intact while the phoenix was stripping off his skin and other molecules (not to say i wanted to see anything more, but what they did just made it silly)
• why the hell did all the mutants in the brotherhood have to be ghetto, gangster, or just plain weird?

\\MONDAY MAY 29, 2006

09:41pm — being a (closeted) knicks fan, i know some may think it's wrong for me to cheer the miami heat, but they've acquired some players i can't help but root for. obviously, i've been a big dwyane wade fan since last season, and he's just getting better. also, i've liked shaq and jason williams throughout their careers. so i'm happy that the heat have been playing well and hope they can go all the way and take the finals this year.

08:07am — i'm writing to remind myself of the happiness i felt yesterday when my si-gung, Grandmaster Leung Ting, began teaching me the Mook Yan Chong (wooden dummy) form of WingTsun Kuen. it's exciting to have started the most advanced (empty-hand) form, even though a deeper theoretical understanding will likely take years to comprehend. on the whole, the seminar went very well, despite the many sore muscles and bruises i acquired. everyone learned a lot, trained hard, and had a wonderful time. now it's time to stretch, heal, and rest. thankfully today's labor day monday. :)

\\MONDAY MAY 1, 2006

09:29pm — okay. so maybe i've been absent from here for a while. maybe. some thoughts that have been floating around my head that need to be shared:

BRING BACK VANILLA COKE. Vanilla Coke is (was?) one of my favorite sodas ever. so naturally Coca-Cola would decide to go and discontinue it (just like how Starbucks discontinued the chocolate brownie frappucino, and shaken iced-tea lemonade, which they thankfully have brought back). at first i felt consolation in the fact that they were introducing a Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. Dr. Pepper has a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper which is pretty darn good, so the new Coke seemed promising. up until the point the foul liquid touched my taste buds. BRING BACK VANILLA COKE.

TRADER JOE'S RULES. So I first heard about Trader Joe's when I was living in California (3rd and 4th years of H.S.). Being a teenage guy at the time, I (obviously) had little interest in the subtleties or superiorities of various supermarkets. However, having lived in NYC the past 2.5+ years, and having lived with the outrageous supermarket and restaurant prices, Trader Joe's has shown itself to be a heavenly place to shop for food (despite the ridiculously high number of people there, seemingly at all times). Their food products are cheaper than anything else you can find in the city, and more often than not, healthier and tastier as well.

NINTENDO "WII" (pronounced "we"; formerly known as Revolution). "Wii" is fun. "Wii" is cool. "Wii" is not exactly a name I'm a fan of. Could it work? Yes. Will the name make a difference? (A rose by any other name...) I don't think so. There are already many people discounting what Nintendo is doing as "gimmicky", or a "niche market", worrying about a lack of raw power (most likely buying into the propaganda being generously spread by Sony and Microsoft). So the name aside, I think "Wii" will be a winner. An innovative new controller that takes interaction to the next level, Nintendo's history of creating the best 1st party games, a lot of 3rd Party Support already backing the system (check out the interview on Madden Wii at ign.com), the Virtual Console that allows you to download (buy) the best NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and Turbo Grafx 16 games, and a price tag that will almost certainly be less than 2 ben franklins (versus 4, 5, or more for sony and microsoft's offerings), makes Nintendo's next gen system the one that I'm looking forward to playing this fall. And even if it doesn't become the top selling system, Wii will still have a ton of fun games for "mii" to play.

\\SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2006

11:05am — such a wonderful high from 3 hours of tennis fun friday night, and 5 hours of karaoke craziness last night. nothing beats time with great friends. helps me remember the thing that matters most to me in life, which is the people in it that make mine so meaningful.

\\SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2006

09:30am — what an atypically eventful week!

chris invited me to the knicks game tuesday night, and despite the knickerbockers keeping their losing-streak going strong with a very disappointing ending (5 second inbound violation with 2.2 seconds left while down by 1... *sigh*), it was a lot of fun. on TV you don't realize how much contact there really is in the NBA, or at least the bumps and crashes don't seem as hard as they did live.

it was awesome being in MSG (madison square garden; see photo), especially w/chris since we grew up together getting disappointed a lot by the knicks. :) a moment that sent chills down my spine was during the fourth quarter when all the fans were shouting "D-FENSE!" i've heard it many times on TV, but the energy in the arena from so many fans was an amazing thing to be a part of. what's crazier is it must pale in comparison to what it was like during the playoff games of the 90's.

on wednesday, mel, chris, meagan and i went to a chilean restaurant (pomaire) for dinner, which was really great. it made me realize that there are so many other ethnic cuisines that i've never tried, and where better to find them than NYC? after dinner, stuffed and satiated, we went to see Avenue Q! it was the second time for mel and me (first was september '03), and the first for chris and meagan. the show probably got a bigger budget after winning the Tony's, evidenced by fancier props and effects, but it was still the same LOL-inducing songs and expressions as before. it was also great to hear the audience enjoy it so much, since mel and i have been fans ever since we saw it the first time, when most people hadn't heard of it yet. we'd force our respective friends to listen to half the soundtrack in one sitting. i am happy to announce that i am now the owner of an Avenue Q piano book. one day i will force my friends to listen to me perform half the songs in the piano book. i bet you all can't wait!

\\SATURDAY JANUARY 21, 2006

10:17pm — it's been a musical week, so to speak. last weekend, after over two years of consideration, i finally cracked open the piggy bank and chose which digital piano to get: the Korg SP-250 (photo). although my room is now even more squishy, it's been well worth it. for instance, in addition to exploring a notebook of my old songwriting notes, the first song i've written on my new digi-piano was started this weekend.

what also made this week musical was seeing Walk the Line today — i don't usually like adding to the hype of any movie (to avoid contributing to a possible letdown of someone who hasn't seen it yet), but i absolutely loved it! Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon both surprised me tremendously with their performances and singing. furthermore, i had no premonition that i'd really like any of Johnny Cash's songs, but ended up really liking them.

surprisingly, the theater was jam-packed. chris pointed out it's probably because of the Golden Globe awards it's won and the Oscar hype surrounding the movie. i'm not one for predicting academy award winners, but i will say that it's my favorite new movie in recent memory (which hopefully doesn't mean it won't win :P).

alright, back to my other set of keys (piano)... =)

\\WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11, 2006

06:55pm — i'm currently flying over Wisconsin on my way back to NYC. and i have to say, JetBlue totally rocks. i flew Delta Song on my way to Cali but it just was not quite as good. i wonder how long it'll be until we have free internet access on all major airlines. 5 years?

so i had a wonderful and relaxing vacation back on the west coast. it really helped me to clear my mind and center myself more. i am blessed with the best parents and best sister anyone could dream of, and it was wonderful spending time with them. i also had the good fortune of seeing some friends that i hadn't spent time with in a long while. the sugar on top was being in the beautiful bay area (despite some bad weather), the chance to play some basketball, eating too much good food, and getting more rest than normal.

not a bad way to start off 2006. :)

\\SUNDAY DECEMBER 4, 2005

09:20am — so i wake up, turn on my computer, and something different catches my eye on my Google deskbar. it's a little snowflake. i think (not fully awake yet), "hrm... that's new." then i realize, "oh, it might snow today!" then i think "wait..." i look out my window and *insert sound describing being hit by a realization*. see photo on the right.

a light blanket of white. *cue the Christmas music* seeing the first snowfall (or results of it) always bring me back to my childhood. i'll try to enjoy it 'til it gets annoying and turns to icky slush impeding my commute. =)

two nights ago i went with mel and chris to see Elliot Kerman's debut performance with his new jazz combo. also performing with him was the Groovebarbers, three former Rockapella members, and "the other guy". But for the second Groovebarber's song, Sean Altman called out into the crowd and invited Jeff Thacher (Rockapella vocal percussionist extraordinaire) to come up and join them. it's always fun watching Jeff perform and hearing his wisecracks. And the sugar on top of the great performances that night was Sean calling out for Kevin Wright (current Rockapella) and Barry Carl (former Rockapella)! They all jammed to Zombie Jamboree as a finale. it was a bit of a Rockapella reunion, and what's best about Rockapella (and its alumni) is that they make the fans feel like they're a part of the group.

\\THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2005

01:37pm — happy turkey day! may it be filling, and fulfilling. :D

saw RENT last night in the theaters... on the whole, i don't have many major complaints, so that's a good sign. they did some interesting/creative things with the move to film format, but the movie still can't hold a candle to the stage version. plus, i felt the volume wasn't loud enough in the theater--though maybe that's 'cause i'm used to blasting the soundtrack (original Broadway) when i listen to it. :)

backtracking a bit further, i spent the past weekend in northern california's beautiful bay area... attended a WingTsun seminar with Grandmaster Leung Ting. a good time training and seeing the WT family i don't interact with regularly. also got to spend time with my sister and parents, as well as see a couple close college pals ("pals"--now there's a word i don't use often). :D

so it's a jarring contrast thinking about how we're told to be thankful on Thanksgiving, when Native Americans must find it to be a horrible time of year. speaking of being invaded, on a much lesser scale, anyone else get the feeling that holidays are coming earlier and earlier...? even before thanksgiving, radio stations are already playing christmas music and stores are abounding with holiday decorations. in any case, one thing i am sure of is that, aside from being with those near and dear, you can't beat the feeling of the winter holidays in NYC.

\\SUNDAY OCTOBER 30, 2005

06:38pm — so last weekend i had a grand old time up in cambridge, ma... made the trip up with mel, chris, and meagan. on the way we ate the best meal of mcnuggets ever. they were golden ("golden" is a word i've been using too much, i think) good to see robin and enjoy his hospitality. always a good time to see old friends. also happy to see jen back from good old Berkeley days... not terribly remarkable things can be most fun with good company... such as playing pictionary and cranium. :)

plus lots of fun playing fusion frenzy and nhl 2k5 on robin's gi-normous tv. :D top it off with good food and wine and it was a helluva good time.

\\SATURDAY OCTOBER 15, 2005

10:24am — purpose. i think i can't find it because it's not looking for me too, otherwise it'd be much easier to find each other, wouldn't it? i think it's kind of like sardines... everyone's looking for purpose except in this case, the playing field is a tad too big...

i think i go through phases where i try to find where my purpose has been hiding but eventually tire myself out and go back to what i know. like if i achieve certain goals, i will at least be happy, if not without purpose. speaking generally, i'd like to find continual growth in the physical, the intellectual, and the creative, as well as relations to others. i find WingTsun to be very much helping in the physical, learning to move and control my physical self with greater sensitivity and ease. but i hope to learn to eat more healthy still, and to exercise regularly outside of WingTsun (tennis, perhaps). the intellectual has always been an interesting challenge in me. i've always felt a strong EQ is more important than a high IQ, because i think in the end it's the people that matter. obviously strength in both would be ideal. but i guess "real-world" intelligence has to do more with an understanding of ones culture and environment and the things that affect it, as opposed to, say... being a member of mensa (though that'd be nice). in the creative i hope to write more quality songs, and design more appealing and functional web designs. and in relations with others, well, I think Joseph Addison said it best: "The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover."

\\MONDAY AUGUST 29, 2005

10:18pm — there's always a slightly eerie feeling when you watch an athlete that has been one of the best in his sport as he approaches the last stretches of his career. though hopefully the end is still a ways off, but watching Andre Agassi gives me this feeling. you don't believe he's past his prime because he is just so damn amazing still, moving so well, hitting so well. perhaps there's more drama because you feel the fear of him hanging up his racket; the potential of him being champion again or calling it quits. how can you not root for him? for him to have another hurrah! my fingers are crossed.

although i grew up playing tons of tennis and reading tennis magazine, i don't think i've felt as passionate about tennis as i do now. it's not necessarily an active passion, since i don't play much (yet), but the drive to improve and an inkling of an idea of how to get better.

the rest of my life in brief: google's talk and desktop 2 (with sidebar!) are pretty darn cool. talk is very simple and straightforward, which in ways is a relief from the clutter of pointless options other IM programs have, and i'm sure the brains at google will find ways to wow and impress us with future iterations. oh! and i finally, after 2 years of living in NY, bought a desk! no more dining and coffee tables (that's a lie, as i type this on my coffee table).

\\SUNDAY AUGUST 7, 2005

10:15am — had a blast at hurricane harbor yesterday with a bunch of very cool ppl. thanks les for inviting and organizing! at one pt. we were playing some 7 on 7 "beach volleyball" (on sand, but not on a beach), which was a lot of fun. it's funny how when you're younger you can be so active and play so many different sports, but now (being "old") it happens so seldomly. we did a fine job of making impressions on those we just met by embarassing ourselves, diving all over and eating sand. =) it was pretty hot and the sun was super bright, to the point i was tearing, but some time in the wave pool afterward and a ride down this 5 story slide (pretty much at a 60 degree angle) helped me feel refreshed. afterward i went to Hoboken (NJ) for the first time! and i must say i was impressed by the washington street area and how many restaurants they have! we had dinner at a malaysian restaurant, but unfortunately i was too tired to eat much. after that we trecked back to manhattan (squeezing 5 ppl into les' minicooper).

back in the city, i showered then headed out again around 11pm (yes, atypical). mar just got back from italy after being away most the summer and it was great seeing her and reb (who was here but i practically didn't see since we had lunch to wish mar a safe trip, haha=P). i think it was my first time as far east as Avenue C=P. definitely a bit different feel than places i'm used to... robin came and met up with me and we went to meet up with my cousin, carolyn, and her friends. we met up briefly, then robin and i went to roll n roaster for their awesome orangeade! it was cool hanging out w/him, talking about the good old days growing up and how things have changed.

so yesterday's probably one of the most eventful days i've had in a while. i think for today, i'll be content with doing laundry (in progress), cleaning my room (finally), studying GMATs, and just relaxing. though i'm feeling the bug to give this site a bit of a redesign/overhaul... =D

on a totally different note, i'm looking forward to seeing RENT on the big screen! it was the first album i bought after earning my own money in my first job during high school, i've seen it twice (first SF, then NY), and i've sung many a song from it with friends in college (esp. Shirley and Scott). It was crazy seeing the preview for it in the movie theaters. Crazy to hear RENT music on the theater sound system. Although live performances have a special something about them, the pure quality and clarity of the studio-recorded seasons of love in the theater just blew me away.

\\THURSDAY JULY 28, 2005

9:25am — okay. i know everyone's skeptical and no one's saying it's a sure thing, but i can't help but be excited about Larry Brown coaching the Knicks. Maybe it's because there's not been much to be excited about as a (quasi-closeted) Knicks fan. Maybe because they can't really get much worse. But maybe it's because I want to believe Larry Brown can really make a dramatic impact. As Professor K. Kernspecht wrote in his book On Single Combat, "Better is the enemy of Good." The Knicks may not be a good team right away, or even in their first season, but they'll be better. And as long as they keep getting better, then perhaps the magic will return to the Garden again, along with chants of "D-Fence!"

(photo borrowed from nytimes.com)

\\SUNDAY JULY 10, 2005

10:56pm — so last Thursday I saw Rockapella at their annual B.B. King's concert. the first for me since the same concert a year ago, which was (baritone) Elliott Kerman's last concert before retiring from the group. Elliott's replacement, John Brown, has proven to be a more-than-worthy addition to the group... i find myself needing to be more specific now in describing the members' voices. my first inclination is to say John has the smoothest voice, but George (the bass) definitely is hard to beat at being smooth. for now, i'll say John has a silky-smooth voice and amazing vocal control.

the hardest thing i have found to do is trying to create compilation Rockapella CDs. i think i've attempted this since i owned my second Rockapella CD, and have not yet succeeded... i think i've selected two CDs worth, but choosing the order will be as tall a task. okay, i'm a tad on the fanatic side when it comes to rockapella. the upside is the concert left me inspired to sit down and attempt to write another song... inspiration that has been missing since last december...

and a thought that's been repeated a few times this weekend is that my interests haven't exactly changed much since frosh year of college. =) most of my friends were well aware of my obsessions with Rockapella and WingTsun. i guess some things never change. ; )

\\SUNDAY JULY 3, 2005

10:06am — watching wimbledon men's final right now. roddick taking on federer. roddick is playing some impressive points, but federer is just sick. he's inhuman, and some of the shots he pulls off against his opponents are almost inhumane. =)

yesterday i metro-north'd up for jay's bbq at his parent's house in ytown. obviously there's always a bit of nolstalgia when i go back, but this time there were actually PEOPLE there. most faces i hadn't seen in over five years. as always, jay's mom had prepared too much good food and we stuffed ourselves beyond reason (okay, at least i did). it was great just chilling in the enclosed patio with food, friends, and conversation. but then, THEN--we started to play Risk. Risk 2010 or something, to be more exact (sort of). It is definitely more involved than the original game, but was as fun, if not more. (see first two pics to your right) the game ended after a few hours (always longer than you'd think). a bit later it was time for me to head back to the city. i was happy that the train i caught was one of the new ones. so much more comfortable! was happy to return to my new home and slept deeply.

the sleep was much needed since i had a tiring week plus. on wednesday and thursday i spent late nights packing up random bits and also throwing out a ton of stuff at the old apartment. super tiring and man am i HAPPY that it's done with. =D (though i am a bit sad to leave, since it was a very cozy apartment and i had a great year there. see our white board on the right) the five days preceding that i had the pleasure (and some pain) of training five days with Grandmaster Leung Ting in a seminar here in NYC. these events help make those jumps in conceptual understanding and just having your body become more fluid and able to perform movements naturally. it's also just nice to congregate with other people who share a common passion. another great part is seeing friends from afar, and also making new ones. i had a wonderful time with Sifu Elmond, Joseph, and Haw (see photo right); both in and outside the seminar.

\\monday june 6, 2005

10:41pm — while i was having dinner with chris at Shake Shack, i saw these people eating their food, but also feeding french fries to a squirrel! it was holding the fry between its tiny paws and busily chewing it up. when it was done, it went back and begged for more... i guess i won't be surprised to start seeing overweight squirrels...

so tonight after teaching class, i hung out a bit with Paul and Mike and we started chatting Star Wars. Paul brought up a good point of, 'why the hell did Yoda and Obi-Wan not warn Luke about the Emperor's Force lightning skills?' Oops. "Forgot I must have, yes..." i also realized a parallel with Episodes I-III and another area of interest for me -- video games. so the new star wars movies were real perty. amazing, life-like visuals that were very impressive. but as we all know, something was missing. nintendo has been saying that innovation in gaming has gone down the crapper and all sony and microsoft are doing is playing the ghz game. hopefully nintendo can bring the innovation to the table, and disprove, sony, microsoft, and all its other critics out there. i'm hoping their next offering is so good that i can't resist getting the nintendo "revolution" when it comes out next year.

yesterday, i had a great time playing tennis in central park. after a very long hiatus (hrm... 8 years?), i'm finally getting back into tennis. sure i've played here and there for fun over the years, but i now find myself with a drive and passion for playing more and getting better. thanks to my two unofficial coaches... you should know who you are. =)

\\friday may 27, 2005

11:33am — so i was thinking of the things about NY i like most and what i think i'll miss (and also the same for CA), so i can try to maximize experience here and not have regrets (and so when i move back to CA i know what to appreciate most). i'm happy to say most of those things are the ones i spend my time doing, albeit repeatedly. i guess that's very much how my personality is... i definitely am a quality over quantity type of person. but still, i guess it'll be good to try to branch out a bit before leaving the city... like i'd like to experience SOME nightlife here and see more musicals and maybe some more fine dining. although nightlife and dining isn't exclusive to NY (obviously), it still somehow seems different. anyway, some of the things on my list are:

NEW YORK:
• the overall convenience of the city and things being open late
• chinatown -- just the atmosphere and the ease of hopping on the subway to be transported to a totally different atmosphere
• food! including, but not limited to Turkish Food, Soup Dumplings, and NY Pizza (Grimaldi's!)
• (Musical) Theater -- yes, it exists elsewhere, but i need to try to take more advantage of NY's
• The U.S. Open (tennis) -- sadly i've yet to go again since moving back. but i will this year!

CALIFORNIA:
• the oh-so-beautiful WEATHER!
• the much less hectic pace of life
• driving on wide and flat roads in the aforementioned beautiful weather
• being close to family
• the spaciousness which is impossible to find in NYC
• certain foods foreign to the east coast, in particular: In n out, Zachary's pizza!, and authentic mexican food

\\SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2005

1:04pm — my connection from home wasn't working this morning so i had to go into the office instead. fortunately everything went smoothly and i'm back home now. it's a beautiful day out today (for early February in NY)! on my way back i picked up the March/April issue of Kungfu (Tai-Chi) Magazine.

the cover story is on Grandmaster Leung Ting and the WingTsun long pole (luk dim boon gwun -- six-and-a-half point pole). since the two weapons (the other being the bart cham dao, aka double knives) of WingTsun are regarded as the most advanced aspects of the art, it's nice to get a glimpse of the ideas behind using the long pole. you can view the text of the article from Kungfu Magazine's site, but the article itself has many photos and diagrams that help illustrate the discussed ideas.

since City WingTsun has a couple long poles, i've gotten to feel how heavy they are, and how extremely difficult they are to handle, having the weight distributed across its 8.5' - 9' length. there are some great photos of Grandmaster Leung Ting with the long pole, which further amaze the mind -- that a younger and less experienced practitioner can have difficulty maneuvering an object that a 50-something year-old one can do with ease.

so last night i stopped by this jazz lounge in chelsea after WingTsun class with some WingTsun friends. Klaus seems to frequent there, and lately Mike, Paul and Victor have been joining him as well, trying to make it a regular friday thing. the live music was good and it was fun just hanging out with WingTsun people and a few other friends. i felt one of those moments, one of those TV or film NYC moments. something i need to find more of, since the city has so many to offer.

\\THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2005

9:41pm — thanks to mike for pointing this site out: Cooking For Engineers. =D sometimes my inner-nerd gets the better of me.

7:59pm — so i've hit the quarter-quota-mark in my gmail account now, after a little over half a year. so much for never having to delete an email again, eh? at the same rate, i should fill my quota within 2 years, if it doesn't change. or maybe i should just start deleting emails i know i'll never go back to look at again.

but then again, there are some real gems that gmail makes finding incredibly easy, like the one on the right. (tyler--you probably recall the day i put on a fresh new tournagrip on that hot spring day junior year, and ripped it to shreds after about 15 minutes... good thing typing on a keyboard doesn't evoke the same response)

so on monday, i was walking with Klaus and he asked how old i was, and was pretty surprised when i told him. it's funny... most people guess me to be younger than i am, but people at WingTsun always guess me to be older.

so... my roommate has been watching American Idol, and it has been truly painful at times. i know most people would disagree, but i wouldn't mind just watching the super talented people perform. although the bad ones can be entertaining ( Schadenfreude? ç Avenue Q soundclip from amazon.com), it's much better watching the ones totally loving what they're doing as they share their gift with a national TV audience.

\\SUNDAY JANUARY 23, 2005

1:27pm — with all the web stuff i've been doing at work, for WingTsun, and other side-projects, i decided to give this much-neglected site a bit of touching-up.

so yesterday i was playing around with Google's Picasa (2). on the whole, it is a pretty intuitive program with a lot of nifty features that don't require a deep understanding of photo-editing. i love the ability to label pictures (like with gmail), and the feature i'll use most will be its web-page generating function. i never liked the free services because (aside from the reasons i don't use a blogging program) people need accounts with whatever service to view your pictures, and the layouts are generally cluttered and slow. picasa does a great job of generating clean and simple html pages (unlike most programs--notably word). check out these that i've done so far: A Memorable Day (May 2003), My Birthday (February 2004), and Japan/Taiwan (2004-05).

i've pretty much gotten myself into the swing of things in this new year, which wasn't easily after getting back from a 2.5 week hiatus in Asia. =) i will continue to re-examine priorities and goals. one thing i realized while pondering things during my vacation is that my goal will not be strictly about efficiency. that was my goal the latter-half of '04, and i became a bit of a mindless drone. efficiency is good in certain areas, but too much of it and you stop experiencing your own life.

\\SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2005

"Think of those you love, of those you've touched. Remember who you are during this brief reprieve. Something's in the air that fills our hearts. Leave your worries behind, 'cause it's a new beginning's eve." -d.hsiao

09:05pm — i just returned from asia (japan/taiwan) this past week, and it's been an odd transition back to what was so routine. i feel so fortunate to have the chance i did with this past trip. not only did i get to immerse myself in a different culture and environment, but i had the luxury of forgetting about the things that typically stress me--to step back and look at my life from a more fresh perspective.

the most valuable thing was the opportunity to spend more time with my family. it's obviously much more difficult to see them (let alone spend quality time with them) now that i'm 3,000 miles east of where they are. i feel that i have a better grasp of what's important in life and where i want to be, but there are still challenges ahead for getting closer to that place. the top three areas of effort at the moment are career, people-relations, and music.

i hope to make positive changes in where i spend 30% or more of my week (more than sleep) in the near future. the people around (or not around) me have a deep impact on my happiness, so not only do i wish to do better in keeping in touch w/those dear (although possibly not geographically near), i also hope to spend more time better understanding and solidifying friendships in NYC, where everyone's always too busy. lastly, i've realized with my last musical project how much happiness and completeness involvement in music gives me. i hope to create a variety of pieces and recordings (originals and covers), and to get better at doing both. who knows--if they get good enough, maybe i'll create a site and post some clips (plus it'll be a good excuse to play around with a new design).

anyway... 2005. upon us already. perhaps i'll find the time/motivation to post here more regularly, and actually talk about the day-to-day events in my life as opposed to the multi-month recaps and big-life questions.

~me
p.s.--i got a new digital camera, so more pictures will hopefully find themselves here. =)