mike in san francisco

marlowe again

2010-05-26T21:34:00.002-04:00

Five of us from law school met up last night at Marlowe, and ordered five burgers. Still as delicious as I thought last time.

weekend recap

2010-05-16T21:27:00.001-04:00

Another great but busy weekend, following a two days of work last weekend, and the Kellogg reunion the weekend before that.

- This one kicked off with Little Start Pizza, two pies from one of my overall favorite pizza joints. I still need to make an updated Zachary's comparison, but it's just too hard to get to the East Bay.

- Short visit to Howard and Dao's birthday BBQ at Golden Gate Park. I wish I could've stayed longer but...

- Then I was off to Godwin and Meredith's wedding in Pleasanton. Congratulations to an awesome couple and I had a great time catching up with a lot of friends I hadn't seen in much too long.

- After a relaxing morning, Lauren and I headed off to Maya's 7th birthday party in Menlo Park. This time it was a long-overdue catching up with family, along with meeting baby Atticus for the first time!

marlowe

2010-05-14T16:40:00.002-04:00

Lauren and I went to Marlowe last night, and it was awesome. I have heard some good press about the burger there, and it delivered. The last SF burger that I was looking forward to was at Chez Maman, but it didn't live up to the hype. Marlowe did.

As far as old favorites go, I still need to re-try the burger at Zuni Cafe, and for new burgers on my list are Bill's Place and Balboa Cafe.

to be rickrolled

2010-01-25T18:20:00.001-05:00

I had seen the term before, but finally decided to look it up: Rickrolling. These crazy people on the internet.

upcoming in sf

2010-01-25T17:03:00.002-05:00

After a weekend of big-screen TV shopping, I think I've narrowed it down to a few candidates. I'm definitely gonna go with a 46/47" screen from either LG or Samsung (the only brands with a swivel stand). Wht's left to decide is whether I go budget with a 60Hz refresh rate, or pick up a more expensive model with 120Hz or 240Hz (and maybe even the Sam Sung LED model). I'm pretty sure that I'll at least wait until my next paycheck, so I'll keep you all posted.

In terms of upcoming events in San Francisco, here's what I've heard about (and that sound interesting) so far:

Jan 16 - May 2: Cartoon Art Museum - Drawing the Sword: Samurai in Manga and Anime
Feb 3-7: 7th annual San Francisco Ocean Film Festival
Feb 6-7: San Francisco Fine Print Fair
Feb 12: Slow Food San Francisco and the Ferry Building presents: "Food From the Heart"

settling in

2010-01-04T22:39:00.004-05:00

I've lived in my new apartment for exactly one week now, and I do feel quite settled in already. Of course, all my stuff arrived on the first day, while Lauren's stuff does not get in until tomorrow. Last week went by in a blur, as it was mostly unpacking and shopping for furniture/household goods. The only big purchase we've made so far is a mattress for the guest room, although I've got quite the shopping list for when I start making money.

Here's the list in tentative order:

1. Larger HDTV. I'm thinking something along the line of 37" to 42", since our living room space is a bit limited. However, that's also a much better price point, so I'll be able to afford a 1080 screen, rather than a 720.

2. Desktop PC. This is largely a splurge, since I've already got my MacBook and an old netbook. However, I would like a more powerful PC for both media viewing as well as World of Warcraft. Buying a desktop computer used to be priority #1, but I've been getting used to using my laptop for WoW, so this has dropped down to #2. Unless I see a really good deal.

3. Roku / Popcorn Hour / Internet media device. I have been dying to get one of these for a long time, and even more so now that there's a ethernet connection right behind the TV. Of course, I'll wait until I purchase a new TV before getting a Roku (or like device) - but hopefully that'll be soon after my first few paychecks!

Those are probably the most important big purchases for now, although I do need a bunch of smaller miscellaneous stuff. If I really have extra money, I would probably upgrade my D40 to a D90, but camera stuff I want is a whole other post...

2009 recap

2009-12-20T18:58:00.008-05:00

Greetings family, friends and curious internet surfers!

This year has been quite a big one for me, and I had ambitious plans to send a newsletter along with my Christmas cards detailing what I've been up to in 2009. After all, I figured I would have nearly seven months of free time after graduating in early May, and even counting after finishing the bar in July, I'd have a full five months before starting work. Of course, we all know how time flies, so without any further adieu, here is my year in review!

Big events:

- Law school graduation (May) - It was a great three-year run, but I'm definitely ready to move on!

- Business school graduation (June) - An equally great two-year run, and I don't think I could have lasted a third year!

- Took the bar (July) - Easily the hardest test I've ever taken.

- Moved back home to Pasadena (August) - I wasn't sure how things would work out once I moved back home, but now there's no question that I'll miss spending time with my parents and eating home-cooked food every night.

- Passed the bar (July) - Whew! Thankfully, my ten weeks of studying 6-10 hours per day, 7 days a week, paid off!

- Moving to San Francisco (starting December 28) - Now it's time for me to start the next leg of my life, and I'm very excited that I'll be back in San Francisco after a four-year hiatus. Although I'll miss my parents, this means more time with family and friends in the Bay Area (including my nephew Matthew)!

Places I went:

This was a pretty big travel year for me, as I wrapped up grad school and went on a plethora of trips.

Bahamas (January) - Long weekend in Freeport with the Kellogg Rugby Football Club. Although we lost our match, we escaped the fiercest storm of the winter, and plus I got a mohawk!

Wisconsin (February) - I tried my hand at snowboarding in the Midwest, and the rumors are true. It's flat out there.

Peru (March) - Had a great trip with my parents and younger sister visiting Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca during the first half of my spring break.

Los Angeles/San Francisco (March) - The second half of my spring break included hanging out in LA and SF. I got to see my nephew, baby cousins and also the World Baseball Classic championship game at Dodger Stadium!

Durham, NC (April) - Traveled once again with the rugby team for the Duke MBA Rugby World Cup and left as the winner of the loser's bracket (losing only twice to Columbia)!

Auburn, CA (May) - Lauren and I ventured into California gold rush territory north of Sacramento for Amy and Brett's wedding.

New York, NY (July) - While taking a short study trip (we still put in at least six hours a day in our hotel room), Lauren and I went all out and treated ourselves to a no-holds-barred, decadent and truly memorable meal at Per Se. Gerald, thanks for getting us the reservation!

Pasadena, CA (August) - Not technically a trip, since I was moving back home, but I did make it in time to attend Mark and Erin's fun wedding.

Korea (September) - Toured Korea with the Andys, as we went all around Seoul (including the DMZ area) plus took the train down to Busan where we hit the beach and sampled the local sefood - including live, raw octopus!

China (September) - From Korea, I flew to Shanghai, where I hung out with a bunch of school friends. Apart from Shanghai, I climbed Huang Shan with Howard and Matt, and visited Shenzhen and Hong Kong with Jack. Plus, along the way, I got to see a bunch of old friends from Berkeley.

Australia (October) - For the next big trip, Lauren and I went down under and traveled the length of the eastern coast of Australia, traveling to Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), Melbourne and Adelaide.

Seattle, WA (November) - I've wanted to take a domestic train trip for a long time, and I finally made it happen with a 35-hour train ride from Los Angeles to Seattle. I was accompanied by Dave, a law school buddy, and we also got to hung out with a few other friends in Seattle, including my old fraternity big bro and my younger sister's best friend.

Arizona/New Mexico/Texas (November) - In lieu of celebrating Thanksgiving at home, I took a bus trip with my parents and grandmother to visit the American Southwest. We made it out to White Sands, New Mexico, as well as Carlsbad Caverns (also in New Mexico), passing through Phoenix, Tucson and El Paso.

All in all, it's been a whirlwind year for me. It seems like just yesterday that I was ringing in the new year, and now I'll be going forward with my new career in just a few weeks! I've been horrible with my blog these past few years, but updating it regularly will be one of my new year's resolutions, so please feel free to visit the site next year to see what I've been up to.

Happy holidays, season's greetings, and best wishes for an incredible 2010!

Warmly,

Mike

the clique

2009-12-19T00:09:00.001-05:00

left to right: Blue, Paulina (Blue's wife), McTater, McDrake, Jennifer (Dalbert's wife), Dalbert and Yusaku

mike wu, esq.

2009-11-21T11:47:00.002-05:00

I passed! Now to catch up on nearly half a year's worth of postings. I'll try my way to work backwards: Seattle -> San Diego -> Australia -> China -> Korea -> Graduation

seoul food

2009-09-02T02:48:00.001-04:00

My first full day in Seoul, and Andy and I have spent it just hanging out, and eating whatever we choose. There's been a lot of fried goodness so far, both sweet and savory. The other Andy gets in late tonight, and then I'm hoping we are gonna scarf down some meaty eats!

to seoul!

2009-08-30T19:15:00.002-04:00

It's been incredible living at home this past month since the bar exam, but tomorrow I depart for my first real bar trip - three weeks in Korea and China. I've never set foot in Seoul, where I'll be exploring the country with two law school friends (Andy and Andy) and then traveling to China, where I'm hoping to meet up with a bunch of different family and friends in Shanghai.

I haven't been great updating my blog recently, but I can sum up the past month pretty easily - family, friends, food and Warcraft. I don't think I've done anything that fall outside of those four categories.

I'll try my best to update from Asia, as I'll have my handy new little (actually TINY) netbook. Hopefully I can get as much updating done real-time, as I leave for Australia one week after I return from Asia.

my neck is tired

2009-08-13T02:54:00.000-04:00

From trying to see meteors.

all done

2009-08-05T09:59:00.002-04:00

Aside from shipping a few boxes and some bathroom and kitchen cleanup, I am all done and wrapped up here in Chicago. Definitely sad to leave, but I'm really looking forward to moving back to California!

Also, I'm all done with the bar, which is very awesome! A lot of people had told me not to worry and the bar really isn't that bad, but I was still pretty worried. I would agree that the exam was not that difficult, but it's still probably the hardest test I've ever taken. The only reason why I think it was OK was because I studied like nuts this entire summer - 6 to 10 hours every single day for nearly two months prior to the exam. Anyways, I'm saving my celebration for November 20, when the results come out. Let's hope I pass!

:(

2009-07-17T20:16:00.002-04:00

I'm starting to have serious doubts about my ability to pass this bar exam :(

like and dislikes

2009-07-11T21:56:00.003-04:00

I really like Freaks and Geeks. I just finished Disc 3 of the series, and my feelings are mixed. I'm happy because I really like the series, but sad because I know it'll be ending soon. Too soon. If you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you go and check it out. Especially if you're a cheesy romantic nerd at heart (which I am).

I really hate studying for the bar. I was feeling prepared and up for it, up until last week, when I started feeling some slight pangs of stress. I think it may have been caused by my lack of studying while I was in New York though, as I'm feeling slightly better now that I am back in the mix of studying everyday (including have class Saturday and Sunday this weekend!).

photo project

2009-07-08T14:43:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to start my own photo project ever since reading about the 1000 Portraits project on Flickr. Here's what I've decided on: I will photograph all food that I consume for the next week. Basically, any non-liquid that goes in my mouth will be photographed.

I think this has a few consequences. First, I think I'll probably be less inclined to eat really crappy junk food since I know it'll be kept in the photo records (likely). Second, this may drive me to eat food that will be more fancy, since I know it'll get photographed (less likely). I have a feeling that it'll be a pretty boring set of photos of just the same old food I eat all of the time. Sadly, I don't eat at places like Per Se all of the time (or even infrequently).

glowing rectangles

2009-07-05T12:13:00.004-04:00

For the 4th of July, my friends Andy and Andy hosted a little BBQ, which unfortunately got rained out (rain on the 4th!! What's up with that Chicago?!!). Anyways, we had a great time inside Andy's apartment and while I was there (feasting on bacon-wrapped, cheese-filled hotdogs and Korean BBQ tacos), I got to check out Andy's 23" widescreen LCD monitor. I'd been thinking about getting one ever since I first saw the deal on CNET's Cheapskate blog for a $179 24" new monitor.

I decided to pull the trigger yesterday (only $139 with the eBillme rebate!) and it got me to thinking about an Onion article about staring at glowing rectangles. In addition to the LCD monitor, there's definitely a part of me that really wants a Kindle as well. That got me to thinking about all of the glowing rectangular screens I own and use:

- TV

- Lenovo Ideapad

- Macbook

- PSP 2000

- Nikon D40

- Casio Exilim Z850

- Canon SD1000

- Blackberry Pearl

- iPod Nano

I wouldn't say that 90% of my time is spent staring at these, but I'd say a good 25% minimum, and maybe even more...

per se

2009-07-04T23:55:00.002-04:00

I finally made it! In my opinion, Per Se was my best dining experience so far! Other near comparable dining experiences are probably Alinea, Gary Danko and Michael Mina. Of course, while I was in NY, I also visited some old favorites, plus another new place that had been on my list for a long time - Burger Joint.

thursday

2009-06-26T15:45:00.003-04:00

Nothing too exciting yesterday. I stuffed myself during lunch at David Burke's Primehouse, with their three course $20.09 lunch. I opted for their gazpacho, dry-aged burger and some delicious dessert I forget the name of. In the evening I met up with some of the rugby grads at Northside Grill out in Wicker Park. We were thinking about going to Violet Hour, but it got vetoed as too expensive and too romantic for a bunch of dudes.

dodgers vs. white sox

2009-06-24T15:33:00.004-04:00

Thanks to LSU's stellar performance in the College World Series, I was lucky enough to get a fabulous pair of tickets to the Chicago White Sox game last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sadly, the Dodgers didn't show up the last time I saw them at Wrigley Field, but the team had a great game last night, with the hitting and pitching both showing up - finishing with a 5 - 2 win.

In anticipation of receiving my wide-angle lens, Sigma 10-20mm, this week (it came in today!), I borrowed a friend's wide angle, a Tamron 11-17mm that didn't autofocus with my Nikon D40. Even without the autofocus, I think the pictures came out pretty well.

With my 18-55mm lens:

Two shots with the 11-17mm manual focus lens:

busy thursday

2009-06-19T17:11:00.002-04:00

For the first time, I'm falling behind with my BarBri homework, mainly because of grad week and other obligations this week. It's been a great fun-filled week though, and definitely worth falling behind a bit in my studies. Last night, I made three stops:

Joanna's surprise party - Joanna's husband, Mike, organized an awesome surprise birthday party for Joanna. Happy birthday Joanna!

Avec - Lauren's friend Ed is in town, so we decided to take him out to a favorite Chicago late night restaraunt. As usual, the dates were awesome, and I love their focaccia.

The Violet Hour - After dinner, we made our way to Wicker Park to The Violet Hour, a hidden Chicago speakeasy. Although the drinks were pricy at $12 each, the ambience was great and the drinks themselves excellent.

dress-for-weather

2009-06-19T16:00:00.001-04:00

This product kills me. I kind of want to get it.

La Crosse Technology WS-9740U-IT-NL Wireless Temperature Station with Remote Sensor and Dress-for-Weather Icons

summer catchup

2009-06-18T15:45:00.005-04:00

Looking back after five post-graduation weeks, I've actually had a pretty good summer so far. Given all the catchup, I'll just try to list what I've done so far.

Sun Wah
I've been meaning to check out their Beijing Duck special - $30 for duck served three ways: with buns, as a soup, and as a fried rice. It was actually pretty legit with huge portions, but probably not as good as anything in CA.

Charlie Rose interviewing Karl Rove and James Carville
Even more protesters than the Gore event, but at least there were way fewer annoying hecklers interrupting.

Deepak Chopra @ Kellogg
I haven't read any of his books, but his speech about the role of leadership in building global prosperity was pretty interesting.

Dillo Day 2009
The Decemberists play a free concert in the Northwestern campus.

Cubs vs. Dodgers
Dodgers lose this game, and leave with a 2-2 split with the Cubs.

Rugby Banquet
End-of-year banquet at Timmy O'Tooles for the KFRC - greatest club at Kellogg!

Rugby USA vs. Wales
Over 6,000 in attendance at Toyota Park to see the Eagles play Wales (and unfortunately lose).

Urban Belly
No pictures, but this place was tasty, albeit a bit pricy.

Printer's Row Lit Fest
No purchases this year at the book fest. I'm saving it for SF's Big Book Sale.

Kellogg Korean BBQ - Boo-il Galbi
This was part VI of a recurring Kellogg event, each more wild than the last. Unfortunately, I drove to the dinner and had to leave early before the craziness commenced.

Ribfest
I didn't eat as many ribs as the first time I went, but this time a group of us camped out in the middle of Lincoln Ave. with some cheap store bought beer and just enjoyed the evening.

Wells Street Art Festival
Although I wasn't planning on making any big art purchases, it was still nice to take advantage of some relatively nicer weather to walk around and then stroll back home via Lakeshore.

Whirlyball with the Turkeys

They need to bring this to the Bay Area - it's awesome! Plus, the Jive Turkeys (my Kellogg section) are awesome!

Grad Ball at the Nature Museum
The last Kellogg hurrah before graduation. It's finally starting to sink in that school is over...

Ok, so I'm now caught up and will be back with more summer updates!

long time no blog

2009-06-18T15:31:00.001-04:00

I keep meaning to catch up, but can't seem to overcome the hurdle of getting onto Blogger and actually creating a new post. Here's hoping this post creates some momentum!

dead in a day

2009-04-01T18:59:00.002-04:00

The grad committee set up a game of Assassins at the law school, and I didn't even last a day. I was actually warned that my killer had asked a friend about my schedule, but totally forgot. I was "killed" two minutes before class was due to start, when I peeked out to check if I was in the right room (I was the only one in class)!

one more day...

2009-03-11T12:44:00.001-04:00

One more day until I fly to LA, and three more days until I leave for Peru!

eating frenzy

2009-03-02T12:13:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I last posted, but I've been on a nearly unprecedented eating binge starting the week of my birthday. I'll try to list every where I've been in the past two weeks:

Avec

Lao Beijing (twice!)

Perry's

The Grill on the Alley

Hop Haus

Frontera Grill

Topolobampo

Cafe Spiaggia

And yesterday I went to a really great event - the Greater Chicago Food Depository's First Annual "Soup Off"(recap here) - which was a lot of fun. Also Chicago Restaurant Week has been extended to March 6!

last day at 30

2009-02-17T12:02:00.003-05:00

Wow. I usually amble straight through my birthdays without a second thought, but for some reason thinking that today is my last day at 30 is a bit ominous. The more I think about it, 31 feels a lot older than 30... 30 is new and fresh, whereas 31 means you've already been in your 30s for over a year :(

Another thing that kind of bummed me out today is that I recalled a bunch of emails I sent to myself before I started law school. While I was in New York, I wrote emails to myself that would be delivered in one, five and ten years. Seeing as how I never got the one year email, it means that the message never got delivered, or it got caught in my spam filter. Either way, it would have been nice to know what I wanted to tell myself earlier. I think next time I'll just write a letter to myself in Word, and save it somewhere I won't open it.

big fat refund

2009-02-05T10:27:00.002-05:00

For the past few weeks, I had been waiting eagerly for my W-2 so that I could file my taxes and get my refund. Too bad I totally forgot about the stack of mail I picked up and left on my counter last week. I found it yesterday, and immediately filed my taxes online courtesy of TurboTax - free federal, $9.95 state (at least for us poor students). I'm looking forward to receiving my huge refund (woohoo for the Lifetime Learning Credit!).

However, chances are that I will blow it all soon on restaurants, camera gear and travel...

weekend update

2009-02-03T13:57:00.003-05:00

Another solid weekend.

Friday was Kuma's Corner with Andrew and Tyler. Monster meal as always, although the wait is a turn-off.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to go snowboarding at Cascade Mountain in Wisconsin. Definitely way smaller that anything I've been to in California, plus you had to wait longer in the lift line than it took to come down. Still, it was fun to go boarding and the snow was at least decent - packed but not icy (for the most part). Afterwards, we went back to our suite at Comfort Suites, and ordered in Pizza Hut. After a late night, we visited the world's largest Culver's on our way back on Sunday. The Butter Burger had been on my list, and it did not disappoint - very solid fast food burger. Also surprisingly delicious on the trip were the fried cheese curds, which tasted pretty much like fried cheese (surprise?).

damn comcast!

2009-02-03T13:51:00.002-05:00

Last night, Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations, featured the great city of Chicago. Being excited about the show, I emailed a bunch of friends to remind them to set their DVRs, never imagining that when I came home I discovered that I don't get the Travel Channel! Luckily a friend has it on his DVR, so I definitely plan on catching it soon. At least I can read his blog post now so I can understand what everyone is talking about.

weekend update

2009-01-27T12:36:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was a pretty good one. Friday lunch at De Pasada, evening Bulls game (competitively close until the last few minutes when the Raptors blew them out), Saturday lunch at Lao Beijing (where they have an excellent all-you-can-eat hot pot special which includes appetizer dishes), Saturday night birthday party at MaxBar, Sunday museum visit to the Art Institute, and evening game night in Evanston.

2009-01-23T10:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday a few of us went to the new Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Lincoln Park. The burger was pretty darn good aside from the fact that I wish I had known the regular burger is a two patty burger (like In-and-Out's Double-Double). I prefer just one patty on my burger and if I had known, I would have ordered two of their "little burgers" instead. The fries also came in huge amounts, and Cajun is definitely the way to go. I also appreciate the free peanuts, although seating is so sparse that take out may be the best bet. I went with the bacon cheeseburger with BBQ sauce, but next time I'm planning on trying a traditional single patty burger with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

lunch club

2009-01-20T18:17:00.002-05:00

So for my last few months in Chicago, I've decided to institute a lunch club where I plan on going on a destination lunch each week. By destination lunch, I mean somewhere either good/new, and planned in advance where friends are invited (although I do enjoy eating alone, that wouldn't make it much of a club).

Last week's inaugural meal (for the lunch club, not the government), was at Rosebud Steakhouse for their awesome burger. This week I plan on hitting up Pizano's Pizza for some supposedly delicious "thin crust pizza."

Speaking of the real inauguration, I showed up at my 10:50am Evidence class wondering why less than half the people were there. Once I realized that it was during the inauguration, I quietly stepped out of class to watch on the big screen the school had set up. By them time I returned to class, so had a few other students. I am glad I decided to watch the speech instead of sit in class, as I'm sure the inauguration will go down as one of the great historic moments in during my lifetime (and Rule 407 didn't seem that hard to understand).

new portrait

2009-01-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

I also got a new haircut.

krfc bahamas tour

2009-01-20T15:01:00.002-05:00

I spent this morning posting photos from an awesome weekend in Freeport. Click here for the album.

official portrait

2009-01-14T20:42:00.002-05:00

Not mine, but Barack Obama's official presidential portrait has been released (click the link to download your own copy!). As the site mentions, it's interesting that It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera. Much better than mine below.

first dslr

2009-01-14T19:01:00.001-05:00

I took the plunge and decided to buy my first digital SLR camera, the Nikon d40. Here's my first uploaded pic (an awkward self-portrait).

turtles all the way down

2009-01-13T12:25:00.001-05:00

I love Wikipedia. My professor just the term "turtles all the way down." I thought I knew the origin, but thankfully Wikipedia easily confirmed it :)

milk

2009-01-12T14:44:00.005-05:00

Watched Milk this past Saturday and it was fantastic. Most inspiring biopic possibly ever. Glory may be the only thing that comes close, but I couldn't really think of anything else. On a personal level, the movie made me proud as a soon-to-be San Francisco resident.

Although people are raving about Slumdog Millionaire, I thought it was good but not great. Millions, another movie by Danny Boyle, I thought invoked stronger feelings. However, I watched that movie ages ago, so I may need to revisit it for an accurate comparison.

fantasy in my youth

2008-11-09T22:58:00.002-05:00

Although I was an avid reader as a child, I was also captivated by a number of fantasy movies that amazed me for a long long time. I watched Dark Crystal earlier tonight as part of a Jim Henson retrospective at the Gene Siskel Film Center, and it brought back memories of how fascinated I used to be by some of these movies. Here's a short list of old favorites:

- Hobbit
- Time Bandits
- Labyrinth
- The Neverending Story
- Dot and the Kangaroo

history

2008-11-05T15:18:00.003-05:00

I was there! Thanks to one of my friends who brought me as her guest, I attended Obama's rally at Grant Park in Chicago. We got there at around 9:15, just a short while before CNN declared Obama the winner. Even more shortly thereafter, the big screens broadcasted McCain's consolation speech. No way did any of us think it would be over that early! The event ran smoothly - no big crowds, minimal crush in the line to get in, very easy event overall, and I'm extremely glad I went!

chicago iff

2008-10-24T17:15:00.003-04:00

So I almost can't believe that the Chicago International Film Festival is over halfway over, and I still haven't seen one film. Here are the movies I'm thinking of checking out this weekend:

Go With Peace Jamil: After avenging his mother's murder, Jamil provokes the ire of local crime linchpin Mahmoud—brother of Jamil's victim—and finds himself caught in a deadly, seemingly inexhaustible sequence of violence that permeates a feud between Sunni and Shiite rivals in Copenhagen. When his best friend becomes the latest victim, Jamil will be faced with a harrowing decision: flee or fight. 87 min. Arabic, Danish with English subtitles.

Jerusalema: A poor boy in rural South Africa grows up to become the country's self-proclaimed Robin Hood, hijacking groups of buildings from white slumlords and offering to sell part of them back in exchange for improved living conditions. With never a dull moment, this modern crime story takes some unusual turns to become a parable of justice versus vigilantism. 118 min. English, Afrikaans, Xhosha, Zulu with English subtitles

The Wave: Rainer Wegner is the hippest—and most unorthodox—teacher at his high school. But when the anarchy-espousing prof is stuck lecturing on autocracy during the school's project week, he decides to conduct a little social experiment: He turns his classroom into a dictatorship. The collective mentality is infectious with students, and soon their radical enthusiasm spills out of the classroom. Inspired by a true story. 102 min. German with English subtitles.

The Good, the Bad and the Weird: South Korean Spaghetti Western? With imaginative director Jee-woon Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters) at the helm, anything's possible. Three of the country's hottest actors star as outlaws colliding with the occupying Japanese army and Chinese and Russian bandits while on the hunt for a treasure map in the Manchurian wild of the 1930s. 120 min. Korean with English subtitles.

sent from my...

2008-10-15T16:34:00.002-04:00

I recently took the plunge and bought a used Blackberry Pearl to try out before I get shackled to one at the law firm. I'm loving it it so far, but I'm still undecided on whether to include the "Sent from my mobile device" message on all of the outgoing emails sent from the Blackberry. I understand that it is supposed to excuse any typos in my messages, but my emails have typos even if not sent from my mobile device. Anyways, I have it turned off for now.

I'm also looking forward to visiting the Apple Store one of these days to check out the new MacBooks. I'm not sure if I love the new design. They are much lighter and smaller, but the change I think I will miss the most is the mouse button. I understand how most people use the trackpad to click nowadays, but I still prefer the tactile feel of the actual button. Just now I thought about how much I used to love going to the Apple Store in Soho to use their free internet when I lived in NY - both before I hooked up internet at home, and during the many times we experienced connection problems.

vegas baby!

2008-10-13T17:44:00.003-04:00

I got back Saturday night from a Vegas trip with a few other early BUILDers. It was a short, but very fun trip. Here are a few of the things we did:

- Dirty Hypnosis: We are still on the fence about the validity of the hypnosis.

- Terrible's chicken fried steak: Delicious!

- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: My second time watching it, and just as good as the first time I saw it.

- Lance Burton: The big tricks were a bit cheesy (and I still plan on searching the internet to discover how they were done), but the sleight of hand tricks were impressive.

- Buffets: The Mandalay Bay buffet was way better than the Monte Carlo one. Way better.

puppet retrospective!

2008-10-13T17:41:00.002-04:00

From November 8 through December 4, the Gene Siskel Film Center is pleased to present a major retrospective of the innovative film and puppetry work of the legendary Jim Henson (1936-1990), creator of the loveable Muppets and a host of other extraordinary characters that have for decades served as childhood icons and grown-up delights. Marvel at the scope and appeal of Henson’s work for its groundbreaking artistry, introduce a program or two to your favorite moppet, or simply indulge your nostalgia for those happy Muppet Show days.

I'm definitely gonna try to catch The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth!

cupcakes

2008-10-04T13:33:00.002-04:00

On Friday, Lauren and I also made a trip to More, a new cupcake shop in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, but here's what we had:

- Bacon brown sugar maple: Sadly, this cupcake did not live up to expectations. The cupcake itself was dry and crumbly, and the frosting didn't seem to complement the cornbread texture. There was a decent amount of bacon baked in, so at least that delivered.

- Salted caramel: This cupcake was a bit better, but also not fabulous. The cupcake actually had a caramel center, but the frosting and cake itself were forgettable.

The place just opened about a month ago, so hopefully the product will improve over time as the concept is promising.

nick and norah

2008-10-04T13:24:00.002-04:00

I loved Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist! It definitely topped Can't Hardly Wait as my favorite post-80's teen romance flick. I definitely like this batch of new teen/early college actors better than the 90's bunch of Freddy Prinze Jr. and Lindsey Lohan era movies. In other movie news, I grabbed the brochure for the Chicago International Film Festival and am looking forward to catching some festival movies at the AMC River East.

In the world of sports, the Dodgers have a chance to sweep the Cubs tonight! I'll be heading to Wrigleyville, but I likely won't be sporting any of my Dodgers gear as it can get crazy over there - especially if the Cubs lose tonight.

weekend update

2008-09-29T09:42:00.002-04:00

Not too much to report:

- Saturday night was CIM Ball, Kellogg's first formal of the year. Unfortunately, I totally thought my KWEST preparty started at 6:30, when it actually started at 5:30PM, so I missed a large portion of the hanging out beforehand :( I also used iMovie and iDVD for the first time ever to make a DVD slideshow and it was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I think the hard part was organizing photos and learning the software, but once I figured those two things out, it was fairly simple to put together. I'm hoping to stream something online soon, and will post a link once I've found somewhere to upload it.

- On Friday I caught a matinee ($8.50!) show of Ghost Town, which I actually thought was pretty good. I can't believe how much movies cost now! Or maybe I'm just more surprised that the AMC by my house has eliminated the student discount down to only Thursdays!

In other news, the Dodgers won the NL West division and made the playoffs! They'll be playing the Cubs, so I'll have to refrain from wearing my Cubs hat even if it rains (at least until after we beat the Cubs).

exhausted...

2008-09-25T10:09:00.003-04:00

Wow, I can't remember the last time I was this physically beat. It's definitely a great feeling, although it makes for me moving around and walking much slower than usual. It all started with the Define & Refine class at Holmes Place. I took one of these last year and got my butt thoroughly kicked, but I thought I'd try it again. Once more, I was reduced to using lower weights than most of the seventy-year-old women in the class. My body is just not built for stamina.

I've been a regular online shopper since my freshman year of college, but I thought I had slowly weaned myself off impulsive online purchases. The peak was the summer I spent interning at a GPS company where Gerald and I easily spent maybe $50-100 a day combined buying random stuff online. My purchases had slowly cut back, until Amazon introduced their "Gold Box" specials. Now I check every day multiple times what they have "on special." Recent purchases have included three seasons of X-Files, a storage ottoman, Rock Band for PS2, Trivial Pursuit Digital edition, and much much more.

early weekend update

2008-09-20T19:56:00.004-04:00

It's been a few days since my last post, so here's what I've been up to:

- Playing Capcom Classics Reloaded. I've finished Street Fighter II and King of Dragons, am working on Street Fighter II Champion Edition, and Knights of the Round. Ghosts and Goblins is way too tough for me, and I haven't gotten around to any other games.

- Thursday night was bar review at Funky Buddha - my first time there, and definitely the best hip hop club that I've been to in Chicago. The only bad news is that the bar held up a bunch of my friends in line, so the birthday boy and girl that I went out to celebrate with ended up at a different bar :(

- I took Lauren, her brother, and his friend to a short culinary tour of Chicago. We started off with Giordano's upon their arrival on Thursday, then Friday we had Hot Doug's (for their duck fat fries on Fridays), and today we started off with dim sum at Phoenix Restaurant in Chinatown and closed out dinner at La Pasadita. In between we also stopped by the Shedd Aquarium, where I was extremely disappointed to learn that their Oceanarium is closed - and that's a good third of the entire aquarium!

t.g.i.w.!

2008-09-17T20:38:00.002-04:00

Woo hoo! T.G.I.W.! This has been a pretty solid week:

- Last night a bunch of went to Quartino to celebrate Andy N.'s birthday and followed it up with Berry Chill!

- Tomorrow morning I have a massage appointment at the New School for Massage!

- Friday I'm going bowling at Lucky Strike and hopefully getting lunch at Hot Doug's!

- Today I completed Final Fantasy 1 on my PSP. Time for a new game!

my back, my butt

2008-09-16T11:43:00.004-04:00

I woke up this morning with some weird tightness in my upper thigh/butt. I have no clue how it happened, but it's definitely strained in some odd fashion. In addition to my ass pain, my back has also been hurting this whole semester due to carrying humongous law school books again. To alleviate my pain, I've been meaning to get a student massage, but it appears both student clinics in Chicago have raised their prices to nearly the cost of a non-student massage:

Cortiva Institute

The New School for Massage

This upcoming weekend, I'm hoping to catch at least one night at the Hideout Block Party - either Saturday for Neko Case or Sunday for New Pornographers!

silver spoons

2008-09-15T21:22:00.003-04:00

One of my dreams is to someday own my own arcade video machine. It always makes me think of Silver Spoons. I couldn't remember much of the show (until reading about it on Wikipedia), but I always did remember how awesome I thought they were for having real arcade games in their mansion. Maybe someday...

chicken and waffles

2008-09-15T11:46:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, I went with some friends to Chicago's Home of Chicken and Waffles as a goodbye lunch for my good friend Nan who will be studying abroad in Spain this semester. The place was down in Bronzeville, which was a bit of a trip, but definitely worth it. I think all of us were surprised by how nice the interior was - nothing at all like the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles I grew up with in Pasadena.

music genius

2008-09-15T11:25:00.002-04:00

Genius, a new iTunes add-on is awesome! After iTunes 8.0 was released, I thought it was just another standard update that followed an iPod announcement. However, once I read a little more about Genius I decided to give it a shot. It takes a while to install, as it have to sync with the iTunes store, but now that I've got it all set up, it's made some fantastic playlists for me! This is especially helpful as I've got a ton of music given to me by friends and family that I've never even listened to.

Also, I've pulled out my old Grado SR60 headphones. I purchased these almost 10 years ago, but ended up breaking one of the speakers off. 10 years later, I've been bringing them with me every time I move, even though one headphone was unattached and the pads had deteriorated beyond belief. However, in a spurt of productivity, I superglued the headphone back on, and purchased new earphone pads and am now listening to an awesome set of headphones!

I also realized recently how much I use the word awesome. Alot. I realized this after instant messaging with a friend and using the statement "that's awesome" three times in a row without thinking about it. I'll try to reference my thesaurus more, but no promises.

blogging decision

2008-09-15T11:20:00.003-04:00

So, it's already week four of law school and I haven't been blogging as much as I would have liked. The main reason for the lack of posts is probably my desire to write good posts (rather than short blurbs) coupled with my procrastination and inability to spend more than ten minutes writing a post.

Therefore, I will experiment with a new blogging method - namely treating it as a twitter/status update type of blog. I'll try my best to really just post my random thoughts on a daily or more frequent basis. This way, I hope to add more posts, but probably at the expense of the well-written posts you have come to enjoy once a year or so (maybe even longer. probably even longer.). <-- How do you treat periods within parentheses? Should they never be in there?

t.g.i.f. (hopefully first of many)

2008-09-06T08:59:00.003-04:00

It's going to be a nice semester, what with my four-day weekends. I'm sure they'll get busier as the semester progresses, but this week I seriously had nothing to do. In fact, if I wasn't volunteering at CIM today, I'd have no clue what to do today since I've already done my share of errands, exploring the city and playing video games on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday:

Howard came over to help me set up Rock Band, which we played for an hour before heading out to the law school's welcome back party. It was great to catch up with everyone, and then unexpectedly, I decided to extend the evening by going to the bar review at Sheffield's. It was lots of fun and we closed the bar down, but I'm probably still trying to recover from that late night.

Friday:

Met with the school registrar to make sure I'll be able to graduate - thankfully I only need 26 units, which shouldn't be too bad. Lauren and I went to Crisp for lunch, which was not only good, but eerily exactly like how it is described in its Yelp reviews (Doug, the owner, really is unbelievably helpful and friendly). After lunch, I did some t-shirt shopping at the Threadless retail store, and we also dropped by Pastoral, a cute little cheese shop.

Following Lakeview, we walked down to Lincoln Park to visit the zoo. On our way, we also stopped by the Lincoln Park Conservatory, as well as the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool. We walked past the Nature Museum, but we decided to save that for another day. Finally we made it to the Lincoln Park Zoo. By the time we got home, I was so pooped from the food coma and all of the walking that I slept from 7:00 - 10:00 pm, before waking up for dinner and then going back to sleep again until the morning. I can't believe I slept for so long!

Tonight I'll be headed to Millenium Park for a free event held by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company - "Dream Chicago."

back in class - basic federal income tax

2008-09-02T14:35:00.001-04:00

boo :(

congrats pac-10!

2008-09-02T08:08:00.003-04:00

Although I missed the game, Cal's completely revamped offense delivered a great win against Michigan State on Saturday. Go Bears!

Also, great job to UCLA last night on upsetting Tennessee and representing the Pac-10!

:( vacation's over

2008-09-02T07:58:00.002-04:00

Today marks the end of my last summer vacation and the first day of my last year of school ever. I know, that was probably a horribly written sentence, but I'm sad and depressed from having to go back to school again.

Reflecting back on this summer, I've had a wonderful time:

- Summering at Cooley: I don't think there is a thing I would change about my experience. The firm was exactly what I was looking for - great people, ideal work, pleasant culture, etc.

- Being back in the Bay Area: There's no where else I would even consider going.

- KWEST Portugal: I was initially a bit worried about KWEST, as it can be a crapshoot who you get in your group. Thankfully, we had an awesome assortment of diverse personalities and cultures that blended perfectly. The spirit of the trip was a perfect blend of relaxation, culture, nightlife and personal interaction.

Here's hoping my last year of school goes as well as the first 18 years of elementary/middle/high/undergrad/grad school!

i'm back!

2008-08-31T17:57:00.002-04:00

I'm back from a week-long stint in Portugal - about four days in Lisbon and three in Albufeira. I've got one day left of summer vacation tomorrow before I start class on Tuesday! Yikes! Anyways, I hope to post pictures soon.

In the meantime, here's my shocker for the day - one of my favorite comic strips, For Better or For Worse is ending today! I can't believe it! I've read this comic for as long as I can remember, and I'm a bit moved looking back on my years spent with the Patterson family. I guess Lynn Johnston is starting with whole new material, but I'm still sad to see the story end...

long weekend recap

2008-08-20T15:19:00.003-04:00

After finishing up work on Friday, Lauren and I departed on a redeye flight for a long weekend in upstate NY. I didn't know what to expect from upstate NY, but thankfully it ended up being surprisingly fun.

Friday:

- Board 11:00PM flight to Syracuse, with a one hour layover in Chicago.

Saturday:

- Arrive in Syracuse at 9:30AM. Picked up our rental car, a white Mustang, and headed out to Vernon Downs Hotel. Unfortunately, even though we called ahead numerous times, we still had to wait almost two hours in the lobby before getting to check into our room, as their standard check-in time is 3:00PM. In the meantime, we watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, which was pretty good.

- Attended wedding at Hamilton College in their campus chapel.

- After resting for a bit, we took the wedding trolley to the reception at the Oneida Community Mansion House, which used to host a some kind of wild free-sex social experiment.

Sunday:

- I was extremely excited once I learned we were only 30 miles away from Cooperstown, NY - the National Baseball Hall of Fame! It was awesome, and Lauren was nice enough to be patient with me as I went through the entire museum (although I easily could have spent double the four hours we were there).

- Checked into Artful Lodger, our B&B in Clinton, NY.

- Watched Tropic Thunder - awesome movie!

- Got some mediocre pizza which we had to eat on the floor of our B&B room as we didn't feel like sitting outside with some other people in the living room area.

Monday:

- After my day of baseball, it was Lauren's turn to decide the itinerary. We ended back near Cooperstown to visit the Bear Pond Winery, Ommegang Brewery and the Fly Creek Cider Mill, all really fun destinations.

- Our 7:30PM flight out of Syracuse was delayed, such that we barely made our connecting flight in Dulles before landing in San Francisco at about 1:00AM.

- Took the shuttle bus back to Anza Parking and finally returned back home!

All in all, a great weekend!

last day

2008-08-15T19:45:00.002-04:00

:( Today was the last day of my summer position at Cooley. I had an incredible time, and was extremely sad to say bye to everyone. I was planning on leaving right after lunch, but ended up staying until almost 3:00PM to say my farewells (although I did get totally lost on the second floor - there were parts where I seriously had no idea where I was).

Foodwise, I had my last lunch today at the Village Pub in Woodside. Very fancy place. Although the pub burger came highly recommended, I can't say it was all that incredible. Highlights were the corn soup with fritters, the duck liver mousse, and the apricot sorbet. It was nice though, to have a final lunch with a bunch of awesome associates without partner supervision.

Anyways, I'm off to upstate NY tonight, taking a red-eye flight to Syracuse (layover in Chicago) for a wedding in Clinton. After that, I'll be back in the Bay for a few days, then in Chicago, and finally departing for Portugal on Sunday.

last full week in sf

2008-08-13T13:28:00.002-04:00

And it's been a busy one. Monday night was dinner at Delfina (warning - loud website. why!?). Last night, we had dinner at my old manager's home in Russian Hill. I picked up Pauline's Pizza, which made it onto Michael Bauer's top six pizza places in the Bay Area. Tonight I'm planning on meeting up with classmates at Zeitgeist, and tomorrow my sister is having us over for dinner at her house. Finally, on Friday, Lauren and I take the red-eye flight to Syracuse for a wedding in upstate New York.

cooley coworkers

2008-08-12T18:36:00.003-04:00

Have I mentioned how awesome my coworkers are at Cooley? They are really awesome, especially in my quad.

weekend highlights

2008-08-11T20:27:00.003-04:00

Before I forget, here is the recap for this past weekend:

Friday 8/8:
- Last day of work for all of the other summer associates. I'll miss everyone a lot, but hopefully I'll see everyone next year when I return (hopefully to Cooley but at least to the Bay Area)!
- Went to two house parties - one in Palo Alto and one in SF. Upon stepping on a scale at one of them, I learned I've gained 20 lbs. in the last few months!

Saturday 8/9:
- Went for a short run outside. I think I've been having back pains when I run as a result of the added weight and my knee (which I may have reinjured last week at office Olympics).
- Lunch at Barracuda Japanese Restaraunt for a birthday party. All you can drink Sunny Delight mimosas for $6 and some decent rolls.
- Dinner at Bushi Tei. We met up with Jason, Misty, my sister and Gerald. Gerald was visiting from NY and was the celebrity guest of the evening at our table (but not at the restaraunt, as Mr. Hanes of Hanes was also there). Dinner was fabulous and it was great to catch up with J and Misty, who are expecting soon!
- Drinks at Mauna Loa. We were pretty wiped out after a four hour dinner, so I couldn't stay out too late.

Sunday 8/10:
- Lunch at Beretta. It was a family event where we had lunch with Winnie, Jennifer, Emily and baby Matthew (who gets more and more adorable).
- After lunch we visited the Designs Within Reach warehouse sale at Fort Mason. I score an Eclipse Lamp for $20 and a Primary Pouf (a really beat up one) for $10.
- Dropped by the Ferry Plaza building. I picked up some gifts and we also snacked on Acme bread and cheese from Cowgirl Creamery - the cave-aged Gruyere may have been the best Gruyere I've ever had.
- Watched Definitely Maybe. Not too bad, but very predictable.
- Ordered Thai delivery from a place in the Mission. It wasn't Osha, but it was still pretty tasty.

i'm terrible

2008-08-06T14:18:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I've barely been posting to my blog this entire summer. I had such high expectations, as all I planned to do (and all I did do) was eat, explore and have fun. I'll try my best to catch up, but no promises as I just haven't been good about posting ever since I left NY.

rotten apple

2008-07-19T21:57:00.001-04:00

My MacBook is back in the shop for the same problem as last time. Before it was having problems going to sleep, but now it's completely wacky and turns on and off on its own accord :( I've got lots of pictures to upload, but I guess now it's got to wait the 7-10 days the service should take (if they can ever fix it).

Tonight I go to Gary Danko!

long weekend recap

2008-07-08T22:31:00.002-04:00

I must say that I had an incredible long weekend. Here's how it went:

Thursday, July 3, 2008

I left work early to help prepare for my cousin Jeanne's wedding in Woodside. The wedding was beautiful, and it was great to see all of my family members who flew into town for the celebration.

Friday, July 4, 2008

After a long morning of Law and Order, Lauren and I went for a walk in the Mission, capped off by lunch at Pancho Villa. I think I still prefer El Farolito over Pancho Villa, but it was still pretty darn good. In the late afternoon, we drove out to Ocean Beach where we met up with Jeanne, Robby, and most of their wedding party. Although I didn't spend any time on the beach, we parked in Golden Gate Park before heading to Pacific Catch for dinner. Finally, we drove from the Sunset to the Marina to catch the fireworks. Sadly, the weather was extremely cold and foggy, so we all froze along the Marina while watching colored fog.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

I can't seem to remember anymore what I did, but I'll try to recall and update this post.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Lauren, Jennifer and I went for a ride along the coast as I took them to their first visit to Stinson Beach. After sitting out in the sand for an hour to two, we stopped by Muir Woods on the way back for a nice, short afternoon hike. We go lucky with parking, as the lot had been full when we passed by earlier, but we ended up with a spot fifty feet from the visitor center. We did the Ocean View trail (about 3 miles), and it was the perfect afternoon 1.5 hour hike. Upon our return to the city, we feasted at House of Prime Rib, hiking gear and all.

All in all, an awesome long weekend!

burma super-long wait

2008-06-25T16:05:00.002-04:00

Last night I met with my sister and her friend to have dinner at Burma Superstar. Reviews on the internet had mentioned long waits, but also gave rave reviews to the Burmese cuisine, so I was pretty excited about my first visit to the restaurant.

Upon arriving, we scored an awesome parking spot right in front of Burma Superstar, which seemed fortuitous given the typically terrible parking situation in the Richmond. After being told we had a 45 minute wait, we were happy to kill time walking around the neighborhood. We stopped by the florist / fish shop on Clement, which is easily the craziest fish store I've ever been to. Then we browsed the bookshelves at the two Green Apple Bookstores.

Upon returning to Burma Superstar after about 40 minutes, we were told we still had another 30 minutes to go! Being the patient selves that we are, instead of complaining we went down the street to Quickly, and devoured a bag of perfectly fried popcorn chicken (way way waaaay better than what you'd get at Popeye's or KFC). Finally, we returned to Burma Superstar and looked miserable while crowding their doorway until they finally sat us.

After the tremendous buildup, it made it very difficult for the food to live up to the wait. I really can't remember the last time I waited an hour and a half at a restaurant to get seated. My favorites by far were the Vegetarian Samosa Soup and the Rainbow Salad, although my sister and her friend liked the Mango Beef and the Pea Shoots the best. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me (and who knows when I'll be back again to chance the wait).

great season

2008-06-18T10:22:00.002-04:00

Due to a work event last night, I was unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) unable to catch Game 6 of the NBA championship series. Although the Lakers lost, I'm happy about the season we had. At the start of the season, I did not expect to see us challenging for the NBA title, and even after we acquired Pau Gasol, it was a pleasure to see the team gel and make it to the top of the Western Conference. Now I just hope that there won't be any residual fallout next season due to the embarrassing blowout last night.

As far as work goes, many people have asked how the internship has been going. Monday was my first day at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, and I finally finished computer training yesterday afternoon. I'll be starting my first assignment today, so let's hope all goes well from here on out!

whew!

2008-06-16T00:27:00.001-04:00

Lakers finally win a close one!

first 24 hours (and then some)

2008-06-14T22:32:00.002-04:00

Wow. It's barely been 24 hours back in San Francisco, and I've already accomplished so much.

Things kicked off with seats in a luxury suite at AT&T Park (which I still call Pac Bell Park). Lauren's firm booked an incredible suite with an open bar and unending supply of sliders, sausages of all varieties, nachos, cookies and fruit. It was also a sold-out game where the Giants, victims of Barry Zito's poor pitching, fell to the Oakland A's. Memorable moment: when the sprinklers turned on in the middle of the ninth inning, during the pitcher's windup.

Today (Saturday) has been a busy day. After dropping Lauren off at SFO, I hit up Tartine Bakery. Then Howard picked up Nan, Kari and I with his Zipcar and we went to Shanghai House for lunch. Then the North Beach Festival where a bunch of us split lobster rolls at the Lobster Shack. Finally, Nan and I came back to the Mission, but not before sampling a prok vegetable bun in Chinatown, and ice cream at Bi-Rite.

i'm back!

2008-06-13T20:58:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I'm back in San Francisco! More thoughts to come. For now, I'm off to a Giants game!

done!

2008-06-12T22:30:00.002-04:00

I am now officially MBA-certified! Now I have about 15 hours to clean up and pack my apartment before I leave Chicago for the summer!

san francisco!

2008-06-12T14:02:00.002-04:00

I can't believe this time tomorrow I'll be on a plane headed to SF!

Here are some tidbits from today's SF Gate news:

Quiet in the great outdoors: Where to find it - or not

Exploratorium's Superstition Obstacle Course

Different sort of free Wi-Fi starts to thrive

new look

2008-06-11T11:35:00.001-04:00

I should be studying for my final exam in a few hours, but instead I am cleaning my apartment (with the help of two hired house cleaners) and contemplating transferring this blog to wordpress for a new look. Here's a first look at a draft of the new site.

studying = :(

2008-06-09T16:33:00.005-04:00

In an attempt to study, I walked over to my neighborhood library. I figured if I didn't have my computer, then I'd be forced to study. Instead, I took a 15-minute power nap (head down on the table, heads down, thumbs up style). Waking up refreshed, I am now hogging the sole public computer in the library to update my blog (my lethargy was probably caused by Chinese breakfast from Yung Ho).

After I fly back to Chicago tomorrow, I've got two more finals left - Operations and Money Market and the Fed, bith tough courses to study for. I have an IEOR background, so it's hard for me to feel the need to study for Operations, and I've discovered that my interest in repos, the treasury bill market, bond operations and the like is insufficient to motivate me to study.

In the meantime, here's what my mind is wandering off to:
- Trying not to think about the Lakers (at least I'll be spared from watching Game 3 as it's during my flight on Tuesday). Either we'll have come back, or we'll have given up the series.
- What to do my first weekend back in SF. I'll definitely be at the North Beach Festival, as well as going out Saturday night to celebrate my return (please feel free to suggest venues).
- Leona Lewis reminds me of classic Whitney Houston.

bye bye wai po

2008-06-08T11:47:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I said goodbye to my grandmother on my mom's side (Wai Po, as my sisters and I called her). Thank you to everyone who has offered their condolences and warm thoughts throughout this difficult time.

Wai Po was an amazing person, and I will never forget her kindness to all, her love for our family, and her humility and modesty with which she lived her extraordinary life. My grandmother's passing was peaceful, and in the comfort of her own home surrounded by her children. I am thankful we were all able to fly back and spend time with her on numerous occasions these past few months, and take solace in knowing that she is reunited with my grandfather. Wai Po, we love you and miss you so much.

summer anxiety

2008-06-04T11:53:00.001-04:00

So tonight I attended the last Kellogg lecture of the school year. I've finished two final assignments, and have two more exams to go next week. Tomorrow (or today) in the morning I need to wake up at 4:30AM to catch a 7:01AM flight out to San Francisco for my firm's orientation. Then, I return to Chicago on Tuesday, take exams on Wednesday and Thursday, and promptly fly right back to SF on Friday.

I've already mentioned my nostalgia for the first year of Kellogg (see a Kellogg section slideshow here), but I am starting to get bit nervous about my summer internship. What if I mess up?! What if I make some horrible, inexcusable gaffe?! Anyways, I think it was reading these two pieces on the web that got me anxious:

How Not To Succeed As A Summer Asssociate

Advice from the Corner Office: Use Google; Avoid Grammar Gaffes

i love turkeys

2008-06-04T09:40:00.001-04:00

Last night the 2009 Jive Turkeys capped off our first year at Kellogg with the first annual Turkey Roast. As I told many people, I am really feeling much more nostalgic at the end of this year, then I was at the end of my first year of law school. Maybe because at law school we never had to perform a choreographed thriller dance in turkey gear. Or is it dizzy bat and CIM Olympics that tug at my heart? Or, maybe the fact that being in a section named Jive Turkeys is so much cooler than being in "Section 4" at the law school.

No, what I think really is the cause of my nostalgia for such a short lived moment (which is actually not even over yet), is the amazing people that make up the Jive Turkeys and the overall Kellogg community. I knew going into Kellogg people would be different from at NU Law, but I now truly feel fortunate to be able to befriend so many smart, funny, caring, accomplished and considerate people. Many people have asked if I will be around next year, and I promise that as the reigning "Kafe Kellogg Konnoisseur," I promise to be back for more turkey goodness next year.

To my Kellogg readers (I know there's at least one of you), farewell for now and good luck on your finals and summer internships!

thunderstorming

2008-06-03T13:12:00.001-04:00

I don't care how much people complain about the "cold" weather in SF. It's raining so hard here I thought it was snowing for a second. Plus the thunder is one of many things distracting me from my take-home final. (although the weather does look nice for later in the week when I will be in CA).

fitness

2008-06-02T14:04:00.002-04:00

So I've already broken my latest resolution - to eat one piece of fresh fruit a day. However, I will try my best to uphold it until I move to San Francisco, where I will vow to stay true at least until the end of summer.

I'm also very excited about the Nike marathon training, which kicks off June 28!

last weekend in chicago

2008-06-01T22:08:00.006-04:00

Yes, this is my last weekend in Chicago before I leave for the summer. I think I've done a pretty good job of making the post of it though:

Friday (as mentioned earlier): Korean BBQ and Kellogg party

Saturday: Laundry in the morning, then I headed up to Evanston to check out Dillo Day. I caught the tail end of Ted Leo, as well as the start of Broken Social Scene's set. They had a huge mud pit set up in front of the stage, so I decided to lie out on the lacrosse field's artificial turf, take a nap and read Midnight's Children. Then after my Clif Bar dinner, it was time for Kellogg's Casino Night, capped off with BK.

Sunday: After a quick swim and workout, I continued to clear out my refrigerator by having 20+ potstickers and more for lunch. After lunch, I headed up to Wicker Park for the Do Division Street Fest. It would have been another solitary Chicago day of exploration, but I ran into some law school friends, and I ended up having a great day - three new t-shirts (from Renegade Handmade and Penelope's) and I got to try a new pizza place (Crust)!

As supposedly the "Midwest's first certified organic restaraunt," the pizza was just OK. The Wild Herb and Cheese was my favorite, as we also tried the Shroom and Margherita.

this weekend

2008-05-31T14:23:00.002-04:00

Friday started off great, with Korean BBQ at Hae Woon Dae, and then a party at Vida Lounge thrown by the Latin American and Hispanic Management Association (LAHIMA).

For today, I'm spending the morning and early afternoon cleaning up and doing laundry. There are a couple of big events going on in Chicago, but Kellogg's last formal of the year, Casino Night, is tonight, so I've got to head up to Evanston. Therefore, it's likely that I'll try to check out Dillo Day 2008 - I'm hoping to make it up there in time to see Broken Social Scene.

Not sure what tomorrow's gonna look like, but I'm thinking of checking out the Do Division Street Fest.

memorial day weekend

2008-05-30T11:39:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures from my brief trip to California:

Dolores Park - my favorite park in the city.

Bi-Rite Creamery - This place actually has a shot at displacing Mitchell's as my favorite ice cream in SF. Pictured is the salted caramel (with rocky road underneath).

My nephew Matthew spending some time on his belly. He's a huge adorable 3-month old getting bigger everytime I see him!

Wyatt lives a few houses south of my grandmother, so I got to drop by a BBQ they were having on Sunday. They do a good bratwurst.

My dad, Jennifer and my other grandma went to lunch at Sinbala - a Taiwanese Sausage place that supposedly clears $10k net a day!

my aches

2008-05-25T12:48:00.003-04:00

After arriving in San Francisco yesterday afternoon to meet my family, my parents and my younger sister made new travel plans and spent the evening driving down to Pasadena. My grandmother is going through the final stages of cancer, so we decided to spend the rest of the weekend closer to her.

Anyways, today I woke up with a major crick in my neck. I think it's likely caused from sitting four hours on the flight from Chicago, and then another five hours on the drive down to Los Angeles. Then again, it may be from playing Final Fantasy Tactics in bed before I went to sleep. In addition to my neck, my knee is also aching. This one is definitely due to the injury I sustained a month or so ago. Plus, I have a feeling all of this is also related to just getting old :(

movie or workout?

2008-05-23T17:38:00.002-04:00

What should I do? Work out or go watch The Singing Revolution?

Update: I worked out, then went to ESPN Zone with Jay to watch the Lakers crush the Spurs. Overall, a very good night.

next weekend: do-division

2008-05-23T13:28:00.002-04:00

In addition to a few Kellogg events, next weekend I plan on going to the beach and checking out the Do-Division Street Fest & Sidewalk Sale. I went last year, and scored some cool stuff.

If you're in town for the summer, one of my favorite events last year was the Pitchfork Music Festival (which included the Flatstock 17 Poster Convention). Three day passes have sold out, but I think it's still worth it, if only for a day. I would probably pick Saturday myself, as I've been listening to Vampire Weekend recently, and they sound like they'd be great live.

ribs and cupcakes

2008-05-23T13:17:00.003-04:00

Last night I finally made a trip out to Smoque BBQ. Aziz and I are trying to make the most of these last few weeks in Chicago, and made last minute plans for some good local eats. The layout and seating arrangements were interesting, given the class on queuing we both had earlier the day (one line people - it's just more fair!).

Here's a blog post about a cupcake place I hope opens up before I leave: More - featuring savory cupcakes (blue cheese and port, corn with bacon and maple)!

am i a total nerd?

2008-05-22T17:58:00.002-04:00

I had assumed most people, if not everyone, would know who George Takei is. How wrong I was. Anyways, I went to see him speak at an undergrad Northwestern event, and he was really awesome. I wonder how Jerry Springer did as the law school's commencement speaker.

books

2008-05-22T17:23:00.002-04:00

I'm hoping this summer I'll have a lot of free time lounging around in San Francisco to catch up on some reading. Here's my short list so far:

The Boat

Profiles in Courage

Mysteries of Pittsburgh

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

blogging

2008-05-22T16:37:00.002-04:00

The NYT has an article about blogging, Exposed, that I found really interesting.

Although it's been a long time since I've blogged regularly, I can really relate to many of the feelings of the article's author. Recently, I've been having a lot of thoughts about how much I miss blogging regularly, like I did in NY, and how I need to start again. For me, I love the fact that my thoughts are on record, and I can share them with anyone that is interested.

The main conflict for me in regards to blogging is often I think of something that I'd like to blog about, but I don't think it's substantial enough to be interesting so I end up forgetting about it while I am trying to think of more material to add to the potential post. Therefore, going forward, I will just start posting a bunch of random thoughts as soon as they occur, and break them into smaller posts so that I don't feel pressured into waiting until I have enough content for one big post.

absent minded

2008-05-21T18:13:00.002-04:00

I was totally planning on posting something else, but I totally forgot what while I was browsing through pictures of Rashida Jones. I'll try to remember, but in the meantime - Go Lakers! Big game tonight!

karen vs. pam

2008-05-21T17:58:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, I ended up rewatching Season Three of The Office. It only reconfirmed by belief that Karen (Rashida Jones) is way way hotter than Pam (Jenna Fischer).

weekend update

2008-05-19T22:39:00.002-04:00

I can't help but start with a shake-a-fist update - my U-Pass ran out last week! The U-Pass is an unlimited CTA pass good for use on the El and Chicago city buses. I use mine frequently, and was surprised when it was coming up invalid this weekend. Turns out the pass expired on May 16, even though Kellogg doesn't end until June 13! Totally a bummer, but after some cost-benefit analysis, I'm gonna bite the bullet and order a Chicago Card.

This past weekend I spent Saturday night at English for a birthday party, and on Sunday our advisors for the India trip invited the class to a dinner at one of their homes. Overall, it was a relaxing weekend, as I did little work and just ran errands.

bye bye bans!

2008-05-16T09:58:00.003-04:00

I'm sure everyone has heard about the California Supreme Court's overturning of the state's ban on same-sex marriages, but there was another ban that got repealed yesterday as well (although much much much less important).

Chicago Overturns Foie Gras Ban - just one more reminder that I need to visit Hot Doug's before I leave for the summer (the only restaurant where the foie gras ban was enforced).

big game tonight

2008-05-16T09:55:00.002-04:00

I think I haven't been this excited about the NBA playoffs in a while (since 2004 maybe?). tonight is the big game 6 at Utah for the Lakers. Drama hater that I am, I really really hope we close them out today. I get so nerve-wracked that a game 7 would render me completely useless.

oh hai (hello in lolcat)

2008-05-14T15:15:00.003-04:00

Lolcat - has anyone else heard of this? My flickr greeting today was in lolcat, so I looked it up and it's actually pretty funny. I may be inspired to create some Lolcat images myself someday.

With 'LOLcats' Internet Fad, Anyone Can Get In on the Joke