august 28, 2008
i finally got to experience lands end after reading all the hype on yelp, and it did not diasappoint. we didn’t go through the whole trail (something i look forward to doing!) but got a good view of the golden gate bridge and the surrounding waters during sunset. if you haven’t been been there, go.
(aimee’s favorite.. the birds)
(the nuna and i)
(living on the edge… what a daredevil i am)
(it was def not the safest place)
Categories: san francisco
august 27, 2008
community service is awesome. it makes me feel all good an tingly inside knowing i helped somebody, even if it made a dent of a different. my firm had a volunteer outing last night where we helped the san francisco food bank pack and organize food for the non-profit organizations that prepare the food for the poor (got all that?). i’ve volunteered at soup kitchens multiple times, but never actually worked behind the scenes so it was pretty cool. to tell you the truth, i didn’t even know what a food bank was, but i guess i should’ve just inferred from the name of the place. we got a tour of the warehouse and got to learn how everything works. as you can imagine, food banks basically package and distribute food that is needed by soup kitchens and the like in order for them to prepare meals.
the first half consisted of packing tomatoes into boxes, and removing bad ones that supposedly gets donated to a pig farm. the second half consisted of sorting cans into proper categories. after a couple hours of labor, the firm sponsored beer and pizza at a restaurant nearby in potrero hill.
(volunteers hard at work)
(working hard to look good)
(i helped pack)
(second project)
(still working hard)
(beautiful night in the city)
(some drinks before pizza at lingba lounge)
(goat hill pizza, delicious)
Categories: food · san francisco · work
aug 26, 2008
we celebrated will’s birthday with dinner on tuesday night at a restaurant called 2223. the food was just ok, but it was nice to see everybody midweek and take will out for a nice dinner on his special day. the real surprise came in at the end when i saw the bill and realized they charged an extra “corkage fee” of $3 per PERSON for bringing in our own cake. when i was negotiating with the manager to get this fee taken off, she said if we ordered dessert from the restaurant, it would have been about $3 per person. so basically, they tried to charge us for dessert that we didn’t order or get. i was able to discount the fee, but failed in getting it off our tab completely. it didn’t help that will lived 2 blocks down, and we could’ve easily walked down to his place if we knew we’d have to pay an extra meal for it. note to self: ask before bringing in your own cake to a restaurant. at least the cake was delicious.
(aimee and phil)
(2223)
(good old sf beer)
(salada)
(food)
(more food)
(doesn’t it look delicious?!)
(all was good at the end as will enjoyed the celebration, more celebrating to come this weekend!)
Categories: food · friends · san francisco
august 22-24
i thought it was appropriate to sacrifice one weekend of golf to go to grx’s summer retreat. i had a lot of fun as i got to meet a lot of new people, get to know the ones i partly knew better, and listen to some good messages from the pastor. i wish i had taken my camera because the site was beautiful and warm… the retreat was held at occidental, ca, just a short ways west of santa rosa. it’s the most north i have gone in the west coast, and i was amazed at what an hour north can mean for the difference in weather. hopefully the next time i go that north, i can visit some wineries, i WAS in sonoma county afterall…
it seems like only yesterday… well not really, but i do remember telling myself in 2004 that i would be at beijing for the 2008 olympics. that didn’t happen. it’s been a tiring couple of weeks (although i suppose i really shouldn’t be complaining compared to what these olympians have been doing for years) trying to stay up as late as i can to watch the olympics, and trying to block myself out from tv and internet as almost all the events were tape delayed in the west coast. now that the olympics are over, it’s a bit disheartening as beijing truly put on an awesome show. i feel like the olympics is a unique event in that the purpose isn’t to make a profit, but an opportunity for the host country to display their culture, power, and awesomeness to the world. i can’t imagine the tickets and endorsements summing up to the supposed $40 billion china spent, which makes for a great value for the spectators! can you imagine the NFL or the NBA subsidizing their ticket prices to the point where they’re losing millions, if not billions of dollars?
(which reminds me…
where are you now protesters for tibet? just as i thought, a hype that people got drawn into without even knowing the real history or situation or understanding the culture or eastern philosophy/traditions. thanks for ruining my olympic torch experience you bozos).
anyway, i feel bad for london as they’re put in a tough position to follow up such an amazing performance. if the london bus act with david beckham and leona lewis was any indication of what london has to offer in 2012, we might be in for quite a disappointment as it was the most boring part of the entire closing ceremony. not to say that london is a boring country or doesn’t have much to offer, it would be tough for any country to follow up an act that beijing put up this year. here are some pictures i wish i could’ve taken in person…
good job bejing. good luck london.
Categories: san francisco
