12.27.2007

new york, new york

I know this post is long overdue, and I probably should have just skipped it and blogged on about India.  However, I just couldn't feel right glossing over what was an awesome trip to New York.  In four days, I ended up sampling tons of NY's finest culinary delights!


Thanks to Eric and Joey, who put me up in their wonderful Wall St. apartment!

The details may be a bit off, but here's what I had while I was in town.

Day 1.  Eric and I grabbed drinks and some awesome sliders and pigs in a blanket at Ulysses, a popular Wall St. hangout.  Then we met up with Gerald and headed up to East Village for some Crif Dogs and Kenka.

Day 2. Ess-a-Bagel for breakfast.  Man, I love NY bagels.  Then to the Greenmarket at Union Square with Gerald and Christina.  After a quick visit to the MOMA, we went for cupcakes at my favorite cupcake shop - Buttercup Bakery.  For dinner, we made the long trip to Fort Lee to So Kong Dong Tofu, a soft tofu stew house (soondubu).

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Day 3.  Eric, Joey and I kicked off the day at Joe's Ginger for steam dumplings (IMO way way better than Din Tai Fung), which I then followed up with some Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.  In the afternoon, I treated my high school friends to a food tour around my old neighborhood -Joe's Pizza, Sullivan Street Bakery, Kati roll, Rice to Riches, oysters from Chelsea Market and Pinkberry. Finally, we polished off the night at Chicken and Rice on 6th Ave.

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Day 4.  There was no way I was leaving NY without having a cubano from Sophie's.  Prior to that, Gerald and I grabbed bialys at Kassar's in the LES.  Finally, I bought a few sandwiches for the flight at Province Chinese Canteen.

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12.12.2007

done!

Fall quarter is over! Off to New York!

12.05.2007

the big jacket

It's time to break out the big jacket in Chicago. I was trying to hold out as long as possible, but when the weather turned cold last week, and we got a feew inches of snow last night, I had to take the big North Face jacket out of the closet (along with my big boots).

Although I actually really like the snow and winter, I'm looking forward to being back in Pasadena for a long winter break.

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11.29.2007

new york

A few weeks ago, I purchased a $75 ticket from Chicago to New York, in order to spend some of the holidays with my high school friends. Although I may shorten the trip due to some recent issues, I am still very excited about eating at all of my favorite cheap eats. Here's the tentative list (which will grow over time):

- Kati Roll
- Halal cart on 6th Ave (chicken and rice)
- Cubano from Sophies
- $2 falafel sandwiches
- H&H bagels
- wonton noode soup
- steamed pork and crab dumplings
- roasted nuts
- Katz's pastrami
- pizza, pizza, pizza!

11.20.2007

thanksgiving

I'm back in Pasadena for a nice, long Thanksgiving break (we get the whole week off at b-school!). Things have been a bit hectic with a lot of school, work and family thing going on, but overall things are good. I'm sorry for the lame update, but there really hasn't been much new lately. Highlights:

- I've finalized my summer plans and will be in Palo Alto next summer! Although, hopefully, I will be living in Noe Valley again, as I loved my old neighborhood near Dolores and 24th.
- Upcoming trips include a wedding in LA and a trip to India in March, and potentially a week-long trip to Central America next August. I am definitely trying to take advantage of my student schedule to do some traveling.
- I haven't finalized my schedule for next year. I didn't get into the Finance II class I really wanted, so that threw my entire schedule off. I'll definitely be taking Entrepreneurial Finance and Microeconomics, and Global Initiatives in Management, but aside from those three classes I don't know what other two classes I plan on taking. I'm hoping to major in Entrepreneurship, Finance and Social Enterprise.

That's all for now. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

11.12.2007

another week

Wow, time really flies. This was another busy week, as I was back in Northern California from Monday to Wednesday taking a second look at a couple of firms. I am pretty sure where I will be going next summer, but just need a few more days to mull over my decision.

School has also been busy, as we had a final paper for one of my classes due on Friday. This week has flown by, but not without bumps. Unfortunately, things are so busy, I haven't been a good group member in all of my classes. This is especially true in Finance, where I decided to cut my losses early on and work on other classes. I am the nightmare member in that group, as I have contributed little this entire quarter. Although I did OK on the midterm, I think I'm screwed for my peer evaluation grade. At least my group members for my other teams like me (I think).

In regards to food, it's been a pretty hearty week. On Tuesday I ate at Houston's in SF for my sister's birthday, then on Wednesday I requested to have lunch at thee cafeteria of the firm I was meeting with, just to get the lay of the land. Other solid meals have included dinner at Buffalo Joe's in Evanston on Friday after the school's big marketing competition, brunch at Fox and Obel on Sunday, and a big steak dinner tonight at Kinzie Chophouse.

Hope to have a more exciting report next time!

11.04.2007

recommitment

Ok, I know it's been a long, long time since I've last posted regularly, but I'm taking a stand here and saying that I plan on making at least weekly posts to my blog. I can't promise that these will be lengthy, earth-shaking posts, but they'll be better than nothing.

This past week, I flew out to San Francisco with Lauren for a quick recruiting trip (for her). As usual, I ate tremendously well in the city:

Dinner at Jardiniere: This French restaraunt was incredible. The four of us (Lauren, myself, a firm associate and her boyfriend), split four appetizers, three desserts (plus one compliments of the chef), two bottles of wine, and each ordered a different entree and dessert wine (except for me). Although my Berkshire pork entree was only a bit above average, everything else was very much above average, especially their scallop appetizer and ice dessert.

Lunch at Myth Cafe: Excellent sandwiches and sides, similar to my last visit. Lauren and I split the turkey avocado sandwich, as well as a mixed green salad, mac and cheese and home-made chips. That description truly falls short of the true measure of each item. For example, the mac and cheese was served fresh from the oven in its own serving dish with four different cheeses and a breaded top.

To-go dinner from Out the Door: I have yet to try Slanted Door or its takeout version, Out the Door, and a Vietnamese sandwich sounded like the perfect thing to bring onboard for an in-flight dinner. My Saigon roast pork sandwich was amazing. The quality of the pork and vegetables and sandwich size (about 1.5-2 times the size of a standard banh mi sandwich) easily overcame the high price $7.50 (the cost of about three normal banh mis). I will be back during my next trip to SF next week.

Yes, I'll be back for a few more firm visits (plus my sister's birthday) - arriving Monday and leaving Wednesday!

8.25.2007

busy busy

Man, these past few weeks have flown by!

- Greg and Kelly's wedding
Congratulations to a fantastic couple! Lauren and I had a blast at their wedding, and as always, it was great to catch up with everyone. As fate had it, the hotel we booked through Priceline was the same hotel the wedding party was staying in!

- OCI
I finished two weeks of Northwestern's on campus interviewing program. Long, but worth it as I am now excited to start learning more about the firms and eventually find out where I'll be next summer.

- Moto Dining Experience
Winnie and I had a great dinner at Moto through a Visa Signature promotion. I took lots of photos, but forgot the details about the food. Luckily, Chicagoist was there as well and had much better notes about the meal.

- KWEST
Tomorrow I leave for one week in the Galapagos!

8.15.2007

chicago distance classic

This past weekend I finished the Lasalle Bank Distance Classic, a fairly tough half-marathon considering the heat and humidity in Chicago. I was shooting for under two hours, but just missed it as my body gave out in the last two miles - all I had to run were two 10 minute miles to finish under two hours, but I couldn't do it. I'm still glad I was close to my target time though :)

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Now I'm in the midst of interviewing for firm positions for next summer. 10 down and 17 more to go in the next week and a half!

8.10.2007

san francisco weekend

I had a fantastic weekend in San Francisco, as I was in town for a job fair this past Saturday. Here's how it went -

Friday
Early (6:00AM) flight from Chicago to Oakland, but thankfully I was able to hitch a ride with Bert. After arriving we visited my sister at her office, dropped off our stuff, and I took Bert to check out Fisherman's Wharf. If you haven't been to Musee Mecanique, I highly recommend it. Even though it's new location is not as cool as it's old home in the Cliff House, it's still worth a visit. Plus it's free, and most machines are only 25¢. It was a bit of a disappointment, as I couldn't complete one of the strength games that I used to be able to do with ease in the past. Here's the hammer game I hope to conquer on my next visit:

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Saturday
I had to rush to the career fair after having a delicious Chinatown breakfast with my sister. The career fair took up most of the day, but I was able to run out to Yuet Lee for lunch with a bunch of my classmates also in town for the fair. For dinner, a bunch of us went to Cha Cha Cha, and then closed the night at Matrix Fillmore.

Sunday
I was hoping to squeeze in arun while I was visiting, but I forogt how cold it gets in SF over the summer. Instead, Jennifer, Emily, Eric and I all met for brunch at Zuni Cafe. Their hamburger had been on my list for a long, long time, and it did not disappoint. Then Jennifer and I went to the Asian Art museum, which had two very impressive exhibits - Tezuka and a Japanese woodblock print master. From there we went to the Legion of Honor, which also hosted a cool exhibit. Along the way, Jennifer dashed my hopes of every owning an original piece of art by my favorite artists. Finally, I drove down to San Mateo for a fun dinner at Kingfish with my old BUILD co-workers.

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Monday
Although I had a 4:45PM flight out of Oakland, I attempted to squeeze as much SF as I could in one morning and afternoon. I had breakfast in Chinatown again, then met up with Gerald and one of his FCI friends. We took a short walk around Chinatown and North Beach before driving out to the Mission to meet Thien for lunch at Taqueria Cancun. Then we went to Tartine Bakery for dessert, and finally Gerald drove me to the airport from the city.

All in all, a superfun trip!

8.01.2007

congratulations chris and bo!

I flew back to Los Angeles this weekend to attend Chris and Bo's wedding. The ceremony was in Palos Verdes, and the reception was at the Trump National Golf Course along the coast. I had a great time, the wedding was beautiful, and as always, it was great to see my family and friends back in LA.

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Now it's back to class, with two midterms and multiple papers and memos due this week!

7.23.2007

road trip!

Even though this was a busy weekend, with on-campus-recruiting and fall class registration deadlines, but I still made time for a fantastic road trip to Milwaukee. After relaxing all-day Saturday, I have planned to do a ton of work and research on Sunday, until I woke up to an email about watching the Giants play the Brewers in Milwaukee. After some quick phone calls and logistical planning, four of us were off to Wisconsin!

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Three more weeks before the Chicago Long Distance Classic Half Marathon, and I've got a lot of training to do!

7.16.2007

pitchfork

Even without much prior knowledge of the bands performing, the Pitchfork Music Festival was one of the coolest music festivals I've ever been to. I spent nearly all of Saturday at Union Park, and most of Sunday afternoon and evening. Here's why it was so awesome:

- Public transportation. Getting there couldn't have been easier, as the park was right off the Ashland stop on the Green Line, and only three stops outside of the Loop.
- Great music. Although I knew of only a few bands in advance (The New Pornographers and Of Montreal), I enjoyed listening to most of the acts.
- Superb planning. The festival was spread across three stages, and the layout/schedule was planned perfectly such that there was no overcrowding or volume interference at any of the shows.
- Flatstock. This trade poster festival at Pitchfork was awesome. I've always been a fan of cool concert art, and this was a collection of companies that all made cool, unique, modern posters for indie rock bands and venues.
- Affordable prices. The two-day ticket was only $35, and most impressively, bottled water was only $1!!!

7.11.2007

wow! time flies!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted! Sadly, my return post will also be a short one, as this is one crazy week for me. Who'd have thought that my summer class schedule would be even busier than my routine during the regular school year?!

A lot of it has been trying to catch up after missing a week of class while I was in Pasadena, but even before I left town class has been mad busy. I plan on posting a better update next week, once things calm down and I've turned in my assignments for this week.

6.15.2007

festivals galore

People weren't kidding when they told me about all of the outdoor activities in Chicago over the summer.

All summer:
Movies in the Park
Millennium Park Free Programs

Upcoming:
Taste of Chicago
Wicker Park Summerfest
Plus tons more...

There was even a World of Warcraft festival this past weekend, Darkmoon Faire!

6.14.2007

boat tour

I went on my second Chicago boat tour yesterday. My first one was the "Barge" Review last fall, when they packed law students onto a boat, in the cold, with nothing but an open bar to entertain us. Basically we all got trashed and I remember little of the actual Chicago architecture.

This time around, the weather was much better but my city views were limited as I didn't want to deal with the crowded roof deck. My favorite views were when we were in Lake Michigan facing the city, with the sun going down.

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Afterwards we tried to get the whole LLM group of 30+ students into Timothy O'Tooles (the only place we thought could fit all of us). However, they were being extremely strict with checking IDs - even on a Wednesday evening at like 8:30PM. Not used to carrying around their passports, a bunch of LLMs only had their student ID cards, or ID cards with no age info, so sadly, most of them ended up just going elsewhere (although I'm sure they enjoyed much better food).

6.13.2007

land of the free

As a child, I was a library rat. I could spend all day, every day, inside the library. It was always quiet, cool, and filled with exciting ways to kill time. In addition to reading books, I could play Oregon Trail and other educational games on the Apple II's, watch old videos on their film reel machine, and look up news articles of all sorts on the fancy microfiche machine.

One of the first things I try to do when I move to a new city is get a library card. You can always count on libraries to provide free wireless internet, movie and book rental, and sometimes a few other cool bonuses. However, the Chicago Public Library tops what I know of the last two library systems I used (New York and San Francisco). First off, they have an awesome Museum Passport program - library members can check out free passes to Chicago museums that are good for one week and for up to four adults! I picked one up yesterday for the Art Institute.

Then today I learned that Chicago public libraries also give out free tickets to Ravinia! Each library only has a limited supply for each night, and each member can only request a total of four tickets for the whole season, and up to two for any one event. Call your local library to see what free concert tickets you can score! (Too bad they don't have Lollapalooza tickets!)

6.12.2007

long day of tests

I took time off work on Monday for a long day of tests. I woke up bright an early to take a long statistics exam, in order to hopefully waive out of DECS-433, which is the introduction class to statistics for business and economics. I took tons of statistics and probability in undergrad, so all of the problems about confidence intervals, covariance, probability diagrams, etc. actually began to make sense by the end of the three hour exam. However, the understanding may have come too late for me to pass the waiver exam...

Immediately folllowing the waiver exam, I headed to the law school to proctor the LSAT and make what turned out to be a long $75. The meeting kicked off at 11:45AM, and although I had a small room of only eleven nervous test-takers, it still felt like forever until we finished at 5:30PM. At a certain point I started wondering if it was worth it, but the I realized that $75 can go far on my stretched budget. Plus I read over half of A Fine Balance while making sure there was no LSAT funny business.

After a quick refresher at home, I met up with friends at my favorite Hawaiian place in Chicago, Aloha Grill. No matter how much I though about it, I can't help but order the Combo BBQ Mix plate everytime I go. I swear, next time I'll get a mini-plate and spam musubi...

This morning, I overshot my El stop as I was completely engaged in A Fine Balance. I won't run the story for anyone by posting my thoughts on the web, but let's just say I found the book completely depressing. It almost made me never want to go to India.

In other news:
Tomorrow I'm going on an architectural boat tour!
Coming up this weekend, Taste of Randolph Street!

beach, zoo and the blues

After a late Saturday night, I decided to start my Sunday slowly. I slept in (very very rare for me, especially in the summer), and waited for Jack to call me to go to the beach. After he and his friends finished at Ribfest, Jack picked me up and we headed out to North Avenue Beach. He and his classmates spent two years at Kellogg without ever visiting the beach, but we had a good time relaxing in the sun. On the way back to the parking lot in Lincoln Park, they wanted to stop by the Lincoln Park Zoo, another Chicago landmark they were visiting for the first time before graduating next week. I've been there a few times already, but it's always enjoyable (and free!).

After having a quick dinner at home, I bussed down to Grant Park for the Chicago Blues Festival. Although I only caught about an hour of the festival, I thought it was really cool.

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In other music news, here are some albums I got this weekend that I'm looking forward to checking out:

- The Bravery, The Sun and The Moon
- Nelly Furtado, Loose
- Killers, Sam's Town

6.10.2007

busy saturday

Saturday morning kicked off with me waking up Jack. After a fun game night with law school friends, I met up with Jack and his Kellogg buddies at Sound Bar for a late night of watching Jack dance.

I had ambitious plans for Saturday:

Printer's Row Book Fair - Although this didn't match up to the SF Library Annual Book Sale, it was still impressive and lots of fun. Before used book shopping, I usually like to have a list of books to pick up. I quickly jotted down a short list of books I wanted: Devil in the White City, What is the What and The Namesake. Although I didn't find used copies of anything on my list, I ended picking up five other books: A Fine Balance, The Human Stain, China Boy, A Thousand Acres and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. All for $20 total!

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Ribfest - After building up an appetite book shopping, I went straight from the Loop to Lincoln Square to Ribfest Chicago. Along the way I finished half of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a very light sunner read, on the 30 minute train ride. At Ribfest I promptly gorged down seven rib samplers, each a small plate with 2-4 bones off a baby back rib rack. With my appetite sated, I took the long train ride home and spent a few hours recovering at home before going out again.

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Jess's birthday - After a big rib lunch, I followed up with all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Para II. After sushi, we merged Jess's party with another birthday party from the law school, hitting up Trinity Bar and Maxbar. Along the way, we were surprised by the Chicago World Naked Bike Ride!

6.08.2007

chicago #1

One list where Chicago comes in #1: A sportswriter's basketball scorecard

And for those who don't know, I'm rooting for the Spurs. Gotta support West Coast dominance (although the window is rapidly closing on my beloved Lakers)!

6.07.2007

busy weekend

Here's how I'm hoping my weekend will turn out:

Friday night: Game night at my place
Saturday morning: Printers' Row Book Fair
Saturday afternoon: Ribfest Chicago
Saturday night: Jess's birthday dinner (happy birthday Jess!)
Sunday morning/afternoon: Study for statistics waiver exam
Sunday night: Chicago Blues Festival

oci bidding

OCI (on campus interviewing) bidding begins for us on June 25, ending July 23rd. For those of you who remember on-campus recruiting in undergrad (it was quite an ordeal), that pales in comparison with law school OCI. There were almost 700 firms from all around the world (with more being added constantly) looking to meet with prospective interns and sumer associates. It's crazy! I've heard horror stories about spending weeks and weeks traveling to callbacks across the country before finding a position, but I'm hoping that I can narrow down my decision early in the process and be done with it all in just a few weeks.

In other news:
Next week I'll be attending the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago's Annual Installation Reception. I've really enjoyed meeting people and getting connected to the Asian American legal scene in Chicago.

6.06.2007

upcoming events

I'd like to start off by thanking Seyfarth Shaw for hosting an NU alumni, current student and admitted students reception tonight. They served a fine pomegranate martini, as well as tasty mini roast beef sandwiches with popover buns. Plus, it's always nice to network with attorneys and learn more about my future career.

Here are some upcoming events in Chicago:

6/7-10: Chicago Blues Festival
6/20: National Townhall on Hate Crimes: Asian Americans and Hate Crimes, 25 years after the death of Vincent Chin
7/13-15: Pitchfork Music Festival
7/18: THE DECEMBERISTS with the Grant Park Orchestra

In other news:

I bought a Weber 121020 Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grill today for summer grilling on our patio deck. It's been so long since I last barbecued!

6.05.2007

summer reading (and eating!)

I kicked off my summer reading last weekend with two books by great authors.

First up was The Yiddish Policemen's Union (YPU), by Michael Chabon. Chabon also authored The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a Pulitzer Prize winning blockbuster that inspired me to venture from science fiction and fantasy into literary fiction. YPU does not live up to Kavalier, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. I'd still recommend this mystery tale of a has-been Yiddish policeman set in an alternate Alaska.

Next was A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini's follow-up to The Kite Runner. Similar to YPU, A Thousand Splendid Suns does not live up to the incredible emotional roller coaster of The Kite Runner, but it is still a captivating read nonetheless.

I haven't decided what to read next. I've started Yellow, based on a friend's recommendation, but it hasn't gotten my interest yet.

In other news, I had lunch at a great Korean restaurant today. My manager took me to San Soo Gap San, where I had a fantastic Dol Sot Bibimbop, served with tasty panchan. Its Lincoln Square location is a bit of a trip from Streeterville, but I'm sure I'll be back.

months later...

I'm on summer break now! I can't promise I'll be better about posting, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.

First return post (aside from this one) coming soon...

2.10.2007

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. Since I won't be posting as often, I decided to go with a simpler look. I'll also try to take and post more pictures this year. Things have been good since the New Year, but school has gotten really busy this semester with all kinds of extracurricular stuff.