Info

me. life. world.

Archive for October, 2008

october 12, 2008

sunday morning started with golf at tilden park gc in berkeley, and ended with me winning which is, well, not usual of late.  i had a terrible front 9 and it really made me want to die, but all i guess all i really needed was some confidence… or maybe some warming up.  either way, i came back from a terrible first half to make it a game the second half, and won it by just one stroke.  but the highlight of this afternoon wasn’t the golfing.  rather, it was the great view on our drive back from berkeley.  ok… who am i kidding, it was the winning, muhahaha.  the great views only added to a very good golf.

(it’s a bit hard to see because of the sun, but you can see downtown oakland, berkeley campus, downtown sf, the bay, the ocean, the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge, north bay…)

chris and i came back to find a pumpkin carving party at our apt.  a long saturday, combined with sunday morning golf and having to get ready for the coming week, i was way to tired to participate.  but the group made some creative jack-o-lanterns.

good job everybody!

October 10-11, 2008

this weekend was highlighted by fleet week, where the US NAVY put on an air show for all those near and dear to sf.  the only other time i’ve actually seen a jet fly over was at the 2003 michigan vs. ohio st. football game, commemorating the 100th game (which is also the last time we beat ohio st., but lets not talk about michigan football until 2009 or so).  i heard from friends and coworkers that the jets start practicing starting thursday, and that our office will rattle as the jets fly by.  and rattle they did… but we were only able to hear the jets fly by because our office is only on the 11th floor, and the only view we get is of other buildings adjacent to ours.  

however, i had a great view of the jets on friday from the windows of my apt, and it was somewhat surreal to see these war machines flying over all around my apt.  it made me think that if i was on location at war, the sound of a jet flying by could be quite a scary; luckily for me, these jets possessed no threats.  they flew low, they flew fast, they flew close, and they were loud… it was awesome.

 

we kept friday night chill and watched a ‘body of lies’.  i won’t say anything about it because i don’t want to give anything away, but i thought it was just a-ok.  i haven’t seen a movie in a while, and it was nice to have a very relaxing night in general because it would turn out to be a very long saturday.

i woke up early on saturday to go play flag football.  we were just short of a few people, and played much of the game with a truncated roster.  nevertheless, any football is good football and it was a good way to get some exercise.  best of all, the park showed some much needed fall color that i feel like i’ve been missing out on the last couple of years.  ok, these fall colors don’t even count as fall colors compared to the ones you see in michigan, but it was just enough to remind me that it is indeed fall and with fall you get falling leaves.

after the game and lunch, i headed out to the marina to meet will and aaron to see the actual fleet week air show (rather than just the practice runs).  i heard and saw them screaming across the sky… until i got to the pier… where it apparently just ended.  yep, that’s right… i did not see a single fly by at the actual site… oh wells, maybe next year… 

aaron and will were late… like 2 hours late… so rather than standing around looking like a loser loner, i took pictures like a loner tourist.  

(i want a sail boat)

(people chillaxing after the show… there were a ton of people watching it from their roof)

(beautiful day at the marina, more people and kids running around)

when aaron and will FINALLY got there, i was almost dead of thirst (come on people, i was in the sun walking around by myself for 2 hours).  so we obviously headed over to a bar for some beer and college football.  we headed over to jones roadhouse which featured beer, college football, seats after standing over people for 30 minutes, and appetizers.  the windows being taken out for fresh air was a much needed bonus, because this place was packed (much like all the other bars in the area).  the beer was good, the appetizers were delicious, and it was nice to spend some time with aaron visiting and will who recently returned from his trip to china.  

(plastic cups… i don’t think i’ve drank beer out of plastic cups at a bar since college)

(the glassless window provided much needed air)

after a quick nap at home, we headed out to nearby element lounge where we met with jannet + friends, phil and the visiting joe yang.  i was pretty tired from the morning walk/beer, so we made a quick visit to the lounge before heading over to crepes a go-go.  oh how delicious their crepes be.  for anybody that hasn’t been there, it is a must go for sure, thinking about it right now makes me want to go back for some more….

(element lounge)

 

(crepes a go-go; yes it’s ghetto, yes it’s delicious)

(aaron’s face says it all)

(jannet doubted.  she doubts no more)

october 3-5, 2008

like i mentioned in my previous post… i love LA.  it’s just… awesome;  the weather, the food, the palm trees, the beaches, the korean-ness and so on.  chris and i decided to drive down last weekend to see friends, eat good food, golf, and have some fun.  check to all that was on the list.  

we took off for LA after work on friday, and after fighting through traffic and dropping aimee and janet off, we arrived a lot later than planned.  it was too late to go out and do anything friday, but it was probably a good thing because we had an early tee time the next morning.  as is allowed and sometimes necessary in LA, we had a 5-some for golf at la mirada gc, claimed to be the busiest public golf course in the U.S.  the weather wasn’t the most cooperative as it did drizzle partly through the round.  however, the less than perfect weather seemed to have stirred away the crowd and we had a fairly fast paced round.  none of us played very well, but aaron, hy, and i came out on top at the end and won ourselves some free food.  muhahahaha.

(la mirada)

(this bee wouldn’t leave hs’ ball)

(only golf courses in LA would have 신라면 at the club house)

(side of tree looking away from the hole)

(side of tree going with the hole, pelted with golf balls… poor tree)

(chris’ pressured tee shot at the 18th for a last chance at a come back)

after a quick nap and break from golf, we headed to k-town for some all-you-can-eat korean bbq at manna.  we had a huge group to feed, and manna is always a good place that can accommodate a large group.  the dinner was a bit delayed due to traffic and the crowd, but it quickly got started as soon as we sat down.  i’m not sure if chris was actually distracted on the 18th by thoughts of 갈비, but hopefully the dinner satisfied his thoughts.  the next morning, aaron said he didn’t know we had 갈비 this night… something that aaron would say/do, aaron so funny… anyway, good company, endless meat, hite+soju is recipe for awesomeness.

(my mouth is watering as i’m writing this caption… and as this picture shows, there was 갈비 this night and is being cooked RIGHT in front of aaron, haha)

(happy for food and drinks)

(after dinner, i guess i decided that it would be a great idea to take pictures with everybody…)

the night continued to 2차 at viking cafe restaurant for more hite+soju.  koreans love drinking alcohol and eating fruit.  drinking korean alcohol at a korean bar, in ktown which can be seen as korea II, led me to believe an overpriced fruit plate was necessary. or maybe it was because we were too full from dinner to eat anything else… regardless, it was awesome.

the night continued to 3차 upstairs at yose nrb.  things start to get a bit blurry from here on, but i believe tae and i held on to the mic the entire time, and it was more yelling and screaming than singing as evident by my lack of voice in the morning.  thankfully i had some good friends that volunteered (more or less…) to limit their drinking to drive us home at the end of the day.  we commend you.

everybody made it alive through the long night, and the morning brought the need for some 해장 food.  usually my favorite 해장 is a mcdonald’s big mac meal, i know… i’m weird.  but since we were in LA, we headed out to myung dong tofu near hy’s house and got some great korean 해장 food.  the bulgogi was probably unnecessary, but it was too tempting not to get it.

after lunch, we headed next door for some quick dessert at cake house.  This place was very hip, and had a lot of what looked to be delicious pastries and other types of desserts.  i wanted to try everything, but we were too full to get anything else other than some excellent 아이스께끼, hehe.  i haven’t heard 아이스께끼 in such a long time, who even says that anymore?  haha.  on a more serious note, we should’ve gotten some korean pastries for the road… maybe next time.  ok, maybe that wasn’t such a serious note…

a cali road trip wouldn’t be complete without in-n-out at some point on the road.  due to an intense game of jeopardy in the car, we ended up taking the CA-99 instead of the I-5.  thankfully this caused only a slight detour, unlike the detour on my last LA road trip… CA-99 did have the advantage of avoiding the unbearably awful smelling stretch of I-5.  however, when we stopped at a gas station not too far into the freeway we realized the entire place had a subtle smell reminiscent of the ‘stretch’ of I-5.  for those that have felt the wrath of the ‘stretch’ on I-5, you know that once the smell enters the car there is no way of getting it out or any sort of relief for the next 5 to 10 minutes.  rather than risking what may come in the next several miles, we kept the air closed for the majority of our trip up CA-99.  

all in all, it was a short but busy and awesome trip.  i think everybody had a lot of fun, and we all look forward to doing it again sometime soon.  thanks to all those that made it happen :) !!

 

september 28, 2008

chris and i, along with doug, got our weekend golf back on track with a trip to san geronimo golf course,  way up north across the golden gate bridge.  unlike a couple weeks ago where the sun caught me complete by surprise and i was burnt to a crisp (my forearms are still pealing btw…), i went fully prepared with very strong sunblock.  and it was a great call because the weather was scorching hot with the sun blaring down the entire time.  the course didn’t give much relief from the sun either, as it didn’t have many areas of shade, and had only TWO water coolers.  i usually don’t have trouble walking courses, but it was fair challenge this time around.  the overall course itself wasn’t too bad, but the poor green conditions made the course very unattractive, especially because it wasn’t a cheap course.  however, a golf outing is always good times and day was very much enjoyed.  i also got back on track as i made some great improvements from the disaster that was a couple weeks ago.  my score was still on the bad end of my range, but it was somewhat encouraging to get back within the range.  i’m hoping to build on this momentum to keep it a closer game with chris, because losing sucks, and losing by a lot sucks even more.

(the greens were ugly, but the golf course was very nice… i also love bridges, and this course had plenty of them)

(i’m a loser… i take pictures on the golf course by myself.  although, by looking at how comfortable i look having enough time to take this picture, i must’ve had a great drive ^^)

after the round, i realized i forgot to put sunblock on my legs…

(note to self: put sunblock on legs as well)

(sunny northbay, city ahead = fog ahead)

(more cloud, less sun)

(no sun… just fog)

i feel like i really took advantage of all that sf, or the bay area in general has to offer this weekend.  the weather/sun, the scenery, the close proximity to everything, special events, golf or being able to play sports in general… the primary reason for moving to california over new york was a lot of what i got to do and experience this weekend, and i’m not exactly sure if was using all these resources to full potential the last year or so, but i’m glad that i’m finally getting to use them now.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.