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Archive for September, 2008

september 27, 2008

i got a great start to saturday as i semi-successfully ran to golden gate park and back.  semi-successful, because out of the 6.5 miles, i ran at most 2 miles.  but to rationalize my walking… there was a HUUUGE hill i had to cross, and walking over that hill was a ridiculous exercise in itself.   making it over the hill on my way back was seriously miracle…  in spite of the very foggy conditions over the golden gate bridge, the scenery was still awesome.  and there were lots of people at crissy field as SF RUN CLUB was going on, and i was able to enjoy my creepy people watching habit to full potential.  

the run/walk actually took a lot longer than i initially expected, and i made it back just in time for the start of the michigan football game vs wisconsin.  i’m no football analyst, but it was a pretty sweet game at the end.  in any other year, i would describe the game as embarrasing despite the win.  not this year my friends… we’ll take anything we can get… 

we planned on going to the grand opening of the california academy of sciences at golden gate park to take advantage of free passes, but heard from our friends that they ran out of the free passes earlier in the morning.  the website only confirmed our friend’s info, but we decided to head out anyway because outside is more fun than inside.  apparently all the people of the bay area decided to take advantage of the free pass, and i even heard rumors that there were 15,000 people within a couple hours of the opening.  whether that is true or not, the fact is they ran out of free tickets and didn’t let anybody in after 2pm.  the entrance area seemed almost chaotic as guards stood at the gates to make sure no one could enter the museum. although not getting into the museum was a bummer indeed, we still enjoyed the weather and the outside festivities.  i can see how people that traveled down from outside the city with young kids would be upset at the situation, especially because the museum did nothing to accommodate the rejected crowd.  the museum was given a lot of hype as the building supposedly cost close to $500 million to build, and is considered the most eco-friendly museum in the world.  a must visit for the future… but not in the immediate future as i want the hype to settle down a bit.

(we stopped by the conservatory of flowers in the gg park before heading over to the CAoS)

(tickets were $5, and it was definitely NOT worth it, but i still enjoyed it ^^)

(haha, ‘cool-growing’ orchids)

(these things supposedly grow wide enough, and are strong enough to hold up humans)

(i’m not sure if this slug was supposed to be in here eating away at the exhibit… )

(also not sure why these plants were in this box labeled ‘san francisco)

(hah, ‘double coconut’ aka butt coconut)

(crazy double thorns)

(crazy rhino looking thorns)

(i contributed to the “HOW DO YOU SAY BUTTERFLY” board… until chris pointed out the somebody already wrote “Nabby”… i erased that one before i left as it’s not NABBY….)

(the left wing of the museum had a butterfly exhibit)

(호랑나비!)

(cacoons!  how cool)

(the scene at CAoS when we got there)

(police guarding the entrance)

(free water!)

(turtles are awesome.  one of a few reptiles a random women was displaying)

(hah… aimee didn’t want to leave these ducks)

(we finished off the trip with dinner at buca di beppo)

september 23, 2008

one of the biggest advantages of san francisco is its small size.  you can just about walk to and from anywhere in the city (albeit as with all cities, it’s not advised to walk through certain areas), and of course if you don’t like to walk there is always the MUNI subway and buses. coming from michigan and LA, this is a luxury i have not had since living in korea.  

during my first few months in the city when i was only taking classes, one of my favorite things to do was walking downtown and studying at coffee shops.  i liked the fact that i could actually walk to places, i liked to people-watch (aka stalk), and i liked experiencing the different parts of town that i walked through.  but since i started working, i haven’t studied much despite getting off at 5pm everyday, and have lost sight of the thing that i loved so much about SF in the beginning.  i picked up some studying a couple weeks ago to keep myself fresh for the CFP exam in March of next year, but kept studying to my cube after work (with little studying success i might add).  

i decided to venture out yesterday, get out of my office, and renew my love for walking around the city and people/city watching.  the target venue was borders at union square… because a couple friends were already studying there… but also becasue there are lots of people to watch, union square’s night scenery is awesome, a comfortable walk home is within reach, and not to mention a relaxing atmosphere within borders to get stuff done.  it was definitely a lot of fun, and i hope to make it a regular happening.

i told james i was taking advantage of living in the city by going out to study downtown and enjoying city life.  to that, james replied, “going out to study at borders and coming home at 10:30pm is not enjoying city life.”  so i replied, this is how i’m enjoying the weekday city life.  true story…

(union sq looking north)

(stalking…)

(trolly at night)

(there is often a band playing on this street corner, and they always attract a good crowd)

(off on geary st., home i go)

(hah, the SF version of hotel california… the real one is in LA)

(there are a bunch of random bars with korean on them… never been to any)

(japantown peace plaza/home)

september 17, 2008

i was doing the dishes a few days ago… going on about my business when i got to a normal looking cup.  it was a glass cup that i must’ve washed dozens of times; but this time was different.  as i was washing the inside of the cup, my hand completely fell through the bottom.  i have no idea how this happened., but it seemed as though i pushed the bottom of the cup off.  i didn’t drop it, i didn’t bang it on anything, i just pushed it and it fell off.  the glass is broken, but a very clean break.  no sharp edges, smooth… just two pieces…

 

september 14, 2008

ok… i know i complain a lot about how cold SF is… but i wasn’t prepared how HOT it would be in the east bay today.  i went out golfing with chris dressed to battle the cold weather (i.e. no sun block)… only to find the sun shining in my face for the next 5 hours.  i did layer up, so i was able to play in short sleeves, but i didn’t realize how strong the sun was until i got home and felt the sting of my burnt arm and neck.  note to self: always be prepared for sunny weather when going east… and south… and north.

(beautiful grass… for california standards)

(golfing by the bay.  my ball found the bottom of that lake… or laguna… or whatever it is)

(entering the city; can never get enough of the bay bridge)

(city from the bridge)

(i’m burnt, this is why i wear SPF 60.  i guess that’s what i get for complaining about the weather so much)

september 13, 2008

today i watched one of the most disappointing michigan football games i’ve ever seen.  a non-functional offense, players not knowing the plays or not being athletic enough to pull off the play is actually understandable with the new coaching staff and the new offense with the ‘wrong’ players.  but fumbles are something that should never happen in any offense.  INT’s were Sheridan’s fault, he’s terrible, he should never take another snap for Michigan ever again.  the encouraging part might be that these mishaps should be easily “fixable”, which in turn is why it’s so disappointing in the first place.

moving on… henry’s surprise birthday party was held at malibu grand prix at redwood city, ca.  it was basically a chuck-e-cheese with an outdoor area for go-carts, putt-putt, and batting cages.  initially i thought it was a chuck-e-cheese for older folks, but it was not and there were little kids running around everywhere.  i’m not a big arcade guy, but the putt-putt and batting cage was a lot of fun.  most of us skipped the go-cart as it was only one cart at at time with the laps timed (lame-oh).

the batting cage reminded me of my high school days when my fob friends and i would head over to hit some balls making absurdly stupid yet awesomely funny bets near our church in southfield, mi.  it’s interesting how something so simple can bring back nostalgic memories of a past time that i haven’t thought about in years… in a new city with different people at that.

the arcade also brought good memories of high school days where my church youth group used to head over to tel-twelve mall to eat lunch and play video games.  good times indeed.

(there was no joking around with this birthday party, everything was included from balloons, to birthday hats to…)

(…pizza, popcorn, soda galore!)

(putt putt)

(birthday boy doing… some sort of a pose)

(tel-twelve-esque)

(this game was awesome, i wish they had something like this for wheel of fortune.  it was basically the ‘deal or no deal’, with cases that had varying ticket amounts instead of prize money)

i was tired, but felt like saturday night couldn’t end at midnight.  i joined friends at the holy cow, and if i may say, this place was really ghetto.  i saw people making out everywhere, the floors were really sticky, and it sure smelled funky in there.  they also didn’t accept amex, so i had no funds for drinks…  after a little bit, we decided to venture out and try another club.  we ended up at mist, a completely different feel to holy cow beginning with cover.  the bouncer tried to charge us $20 for cover (holy cow has no cover), and we said no.  then he offered a deal, $20 for our group of 7… at which point i knew the place would be completely empty.  we ended up inside for free, and it was actually emptier than i imagined.  there must’ve been at most 20 people in the entire club, and 10 were working.  it did get a little more crowded a bit later, but still very empty.  mist (m) was very different from holy cow (hc) in many ways… m had techno blaring where hc had hip-hop; everybody at m looked very clean cut, hc had a more ‘mission’ crowd; m didn’t have a crowd, hc was paaaaacked; m had a very clean venue, hc had sticky nasty floors and dirty bars.  at first i thought mist was empty because it was new and people didn’t know about it.  but on second thought, the club is just very out of place.  this part of sf is not a very techno-european, white walls with glass floor kind of place.  although i do say the glass floors were really cool.

(my foot, glass floor, downstairs bar)

(i’m not sure what ‘posh’ actually means, but i’m pretty sure this bar stool was it)

september 12, 2008

san francisco is COLD.  yes, i know some of you out there don’t believe me, but it’s true.  the weather here has been amazing the last few weeks, and i was told september/october was the warmest times in SF.  i believed that person.  that person is WRONG.  it’s already windy and cold.  it’s a bad sign when hot coffee replaces iced coffee, and when nice hot udon’s start sounding good not because you want udon, but becauseit’s warm noodles in HOT soup.  i believe it was mark twain that once said, ‘the coldest winter i ever spent was a summer in san francisco.’  

however, i-do-say my body is getting accustomed to this weather.  it doesn’t feel AS cold as it first did when i moved from the desert like weather conditions of rancho cucamonga.  besides… i suppose i can always take a trip down south or east… or even north if i really miss some warm weather.   visitors be aware: don’t be like the many visitors that have come through SF only to be beaten down by the unexpectedly cold weather… bring warm clothes, dress warm.

the weekend started out with some poker at henry’s because it was too COLD to do anything outside.  i’m no poker enthusiast, or an expert by far.  i’ve for sure lost more money playing poker with friends than i have won, and vegas has pwned me so many times that i no longer look forward to any trips there.  but this day was my day as i somehow managed to win.  i would like to thank our governor, arnold schwarzenegger, for distracting the other guys as his movie ‘kindergarten cop’ was playing in the background.  

 

september 6-9, 2008

i love LA.  LA is awesome.  i took a couple days off work and joined aaron’s great move to LA last weekend.  considering we drove north on I-5 and didn’t realize we were going to wrong way till we hit sac town, the trip felt relatively quick.  our first stop was UCLA to see kenny and his baller graduate housing (no joke, it was really awesome), where we also rendezvoused with alice, lydia and teresa.  after dinner, we headed over to a bar in k-town called ga’am.  nice posh place, not too expensive, probably the reason it was so crowded.  but then again, maybe every k-town bar is crowded on a saturday night, yeah?

(ga’am- which i think must mean feeling in korean?)

i hung-out with my torrance church friends on sunday, and met up with amber back at UCLA where we indulged in some good old in-n-out.

monday was family time and i basically hung out with my parents all day, played some golf at los verdes, ate good food all around.

(the course is beautiful, and cheap! but crowded, 6 hours for 18 holes crowded)

(the golf carts had gps on it.  how awesome, too bad it doesn’t help when you suck)

(this was cool.  the sunset rays falling throw breaks in the cloud)

tuesday was rancho cucamonga day where i met up with some of my old kumho friends.  it was nice to go back to where i’ve called home the last year, and cucamonga was its hot usual self.

(I-10 has some crazy overpasses, i also almost died taking this picture while driving)

the four day weekend really flew by, and i realized that taking monday and tuesday off is NOT the same as taking thursday and friday off.  note to self: next time, take thursday and friday off for a four day weekend.  other than being able to golf with my parents on monday (the golf course was still really crowded btw), those two days are really worthless.  besides, working monday-wednesday feels so much better than working wednesday-friday, which actually felt LONGER than working the whole week.  all in all, good weekend.

(walking back home in SF… the moon was awesome, and i’m assuming the bright star next to it is some planet, prob venus)

(another view of the moon)

september 5, 2008

KACSF hosted a wine tasting event tonight, and it was a good opportunity to get involved with the korean community in the bay area.  the whole event was really interesting and i got connected with a few organizations which i hope to learn more about in the future.  no pictures from this event as i was too busy tasting all the wine.  there was a pleasantly surprising amount of wine (although i wouldn’t exactly say there was an abundant selection)… and not-so-pleasant surprise of an ‘optional donation’… ‘optional’ cuz i felt like they shoved the donation idea down everybody’s throat.  it was only a $5 donation, but many of us felt cheated because it caught us off guard.  we would’ve still attended the event if they made this ‘donation’ more public by putting it in their ads.

moving on… we headed to playground (놀이터).  this is a favorite of ours, or at least mine, due to its good food, close proximity, and reasonably priced menu.  closing the night, i thought it would be a fun idea to try clapping twice with my foot in the air.

as you can hear from the video, phil is a hater, haha.

september 2, 2008

i came home today to a surprise dinner by aimee and the girls!  it was a very pleasant surprise indeed, home cooked korean meal = awesomeness 100% every time.  we also got to catch up with aaron as he safely made it back to us from europe.

thanks aimee and girls!

welcome back aaron (however short it will be)

august 29 – september 1, 2008

the labor day weekend started out with a relaxing night at the movies.  we headed over to amc 20 on van ness street to watch ‘tropic thunder‘.  i heard a lot of good things about the movie, so i decided to give it a shot.  i had no idea so many big time celebrities were in the movie, and it was interesting to see the stars playing unusual roles and attempting to be funny in their own way.  i say it was a B movie at best… ben stiller did a good job directing his first movie, but like many so-so movies, it was way too predictable.

saturday morning was awesome as college football made its official return (the earlier games in the week don’t count).  dinner was at jitlada thai cuisine.  if you haven’t been there, go.  it’s the best thai restaurant i’ve been to in sf.  we had a quick birthday party for phil back at my place afterwards… before heading over to element lounge to meet up with the LA/NY/chicago visitors.  it was really nice to see all of them and i had a great time. looking back, the lounge had a really great vibe… some really random congo drummers, but a great atmosphere nevertheless.

(they charged $2/person for rice… the only negative of the restaurant… but the dishes were fairly priced so i’ll let the rice pass…)

(this appetizer was great)

(this curry was great)

(this pad thai was, yeah, great, not joking)

(the beer, not so great… but the bottle and cup was pretty)

(LA visitor!)

(newest additions to sf!)

sunday night continued with church, dinner (kiki japanese), and NRB where i found a lot of people have been hiding some good talent.  that’s as far as i’ll go with that.

(my cheap yet yummy tempura udon, a much needed haejang food)

(i thought nrb would be empty on a sunday night, wrong-i-was… waiting for a room to open.  come back soon NY visitor!)

(hah)

(the visitors unite!)

labor day started with some good old grillin’ and softball at burlingame (a very nice area indeed, even better softball field) and ended with phil’s birthday dinner at dosa.  i had such a good time grilling and playing softball that i actually forgot to take any pictures… yes, that doesn’t happen often, but no pictures are available from this event….dosa was very good in that it was unique and very authentic (i think it was authentic).  too bad it was extremely overpriced (i.e. $3 for the side of rice).

(dosa, so artsy)

(the long line outside, this was a monday night people!! this place must make a fortune)

(this was the ‘dosa’)

all in all, the long weekend felt extra long (in a good way) as it was packed with visitors and friends and events!  i felt like i got a bit of everything this weekend and really got to enjoy the bay area to its fullest.  thanks to all the visitors, and happy birthday to phil one more time.

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