Reminiscences of Mr. Wan Hsueh Kan

El Segundo High School Class of 1991 Reunion

2011-03-06T22:42:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

This year will be our 20-year Reunion. I've created a Facebook Event page for it:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133583343376444

Hit me up if you are not on Facebook and I'll keep you informed.

-Ken

Top Chef prices increased

2010-06-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

Just noticed that iTunes is now charging $23.99 for the season. I wonder how high it will go. Seems like in most cases, the older a product is, the cheaper it gets. Not so with iTunes. I guess in the tv subscription case, it is like the drug model. Give a free sample to get them hooked, then charge exorbitant prices later.

Censored by Apple!

2010-06-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Since I still don't subscribe to cable, and I had a $15 iTunes gift certificate, I decided to finally try out the iTunes "Season Pass" subscription model for the latest season of Top Chef (Season 7). To my disappointment (and maybe I should have done more upfront research before buying), I found out that even as a paid subscriber, I do not gain same-day access to episodes. I, like everyone else, have to wait until the next day. Maybe it's not Apple's fault. Maybe it is entirely Bravo's fault. But either way, I'm upset. If I'm paying, shouldn't I get added benefits, relative to non-paying customers? I mean, that's how it works when you subscribe to cable. You pay (indirectly to Bravo) and you get it live, or DVR it and watch whenever you want. One might argue that I'm more valuable than a cable subscriber, since Apple has more personalized data on me than the cable company would.

I could subscribe to Comcast for $29.99/mth on a promotion (though when I look now, it is $39.99/mth) and get way more content. If I work the numbers on the Top Chef Season Pass, it is ~$20 for 16 episodes (based on Season 6). Assuming that is one episode a week, it'd be 4 months worth of programming, so $5 per month. I guess the question becomes, would I get 6X-8X more programming or value from a cable subscription? In my case, probably not, as I don't watch that much tv anymore.

So, why the title of my post? I tried to leave a review on the Top Chef Season 7 iTunes page, basically saying what I did above (but more emotional and more of a rant). So far, my review has not appeared. Granted, my review was more a critique of iTunes than of the show. And there is a disclaimer that the review is subject to editorial review by Apple. But hey, it's not like I was using profanity or saying anything inappropriate. In hindsight, after cooling down for 5 days and now writing this blog post, I realize that for my particular case, it is probably better to do the season pass. It's just hard to justify early in the season because I can watch for free (legally) on Hulu right now. I know later on, Bravo will stop offering free episodes and then I'd have to either resort to illegal downloads, paying (either cable subscription or iTunes), or waiting until the season comes out on DVD.

Just planted (and removed) my first tree

2010-03-18T19:58:00.001-07:00

I finally got my free fruit tree from the Albany City Share; a bare root nectarine. They also had bing and ranier cherries as well as some peaches, but I didn't want to get greedy. So, I just grabbed a nectarine tree. I thought it might be harder to chop down the existing tree (both physically and emotionally), but with the time pressure of limited light, I just got to it and it was quite easy to do the entire process. Now I wait until Sept. Guess I should go test my soil soon, if I'm gonna.

Find more photos like this on Hyperlocavore - A free yard sharing community

Ant Control

2009-12-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Now that the weather has turned wet, the ants decided to invade the house. I thought I could try and live in peace with them, but soon they began their slow spread throughout the kitchen, sometimes congregating in seemingly bizarre places, only for me to discover a crumb. After hosting a dinner party, they invaded the living room, which finally prompted me to take action. For years, I've heard of using boric acid and sugar; I even tried it once when I lived in Oakland, but wasn't patient/consistent enough to perform adequate treatment. This time, I searched Google and found a site at the University of Rhode Island which says to use a 1% Boric Acid, 20% sugar solution. Working in a lab, I interpreted that as 1g of Boric Acid per 100mL of water, and 20g of sugar (sucrose) per 100 mL of water. If you want to do this at home, just follow the recipe given by the website. They say to soak cotton balls in the solution, cover slightly to prevent drying, and replenish the solution when needed. At work, the pest control company uses soda caps (like you find from 2-liter plastic bottles). I decided to try both; soda cap in the kitchen, cotton in the living room. I found the soda cap much easier; not only can you leave it uncovered, but you don't have to refill it as often. The cotton required more attention.

The treatment takes several days, during which you will have to endure a constant stream of ants, but

It's actually fascinating to watch them
They tend to figure out where the easy source of food is, so they leave the other areas and concentrate on the soda cap. So, if you are strategic, you can put the cap in an area that is out of sight if you don't find 1) above to be true.

I think within 3 days, the ants were gone from the kitchen. It's been like 5 days since I put the cotton in the living room, but there are still ants. I decided to replace the cotton with the soda cap and am already seeing progress. One thing that amazes me is that there are very few visible dead ants. Growing up, I'd noticed ants carrying dead ants, so I think they must carry the dead back to the nest; they are like the US military these days, not leaving the dead behind.

I've joined the Jeremy Lin bandwagon

2009-12-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Rich does a much better job, so go read his post:
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2009/12/15/1201646/bow-to-the-jeremy-lin-movement-b-o

Locker Room Report: O'Neil: Immigrant's dream plays

2009-12-11T13:50:00.001-08:00

Locker Room Report: O'Neil: Immigrant's dream plays

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California Academy of Sciences, Sneak Preview

2008-09-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a sneak preview of the new California Academy of Sciences. Amazing. I was really looking forward to seeing the Living Roof:

I was wondering how long it would last, considering the roots would be digging in. The roof is actively managed to keep out weeds and plants with deep root systems (i.e. a pine tree sapling was found and removed).

The aquarium is awesome. Believe it or not, I've never been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After this, I need to go.

I can't ever remember going to a planetarium, so I can't make a comparison, but I could spend hours in there. The show I saw had the planet Earth, with us rotating around it, with the constellations marked out and the Sun . It is the largest, all-digital, planetarium in the United States (in the world?).

Bikes in Portland

2008-08-31T13:43:00.001-07:00

Bikes everywhere. Fixed gear are very popular

Please excuse any typos or general terseness, as this mail was sent
from my phone.

Jace gace

2008-08-31T13:41:00.001-07:00

Sweet/Savory. Art/Food/Beer. Strnge combinations but strangely good!

Road Rash - Haleakala Cycling Summary

2008-08-04T23:49:00.000-07:00

View of Haleakala from the Hana Hwy, just before the turnoff to Haiku. Must have been an amazing sunrise that morning; no clouds on the mountain.

We got to the Maui Cyclery bike shop right about on time, at 8am. Donnie, the owner, was there to greet us. BTW, Donnie is a great guy; lots of advice, super friendly; totally hooked us up with some Litespeeds for the ride and set me, the novice, up with pedals and a helmet. Note to self: buy a new helmet -- that rental got awfully stinky once I started sweating (and the stink wasn't from me). I'd recommend renting through this shop again.

Back to the ride...

Elevation: 512 feet
Maui Cyclery sits in the town of Haiku, Maui, Hawaii. Katie was already waiting for us, albeit at a different bike shop. We told her the shop was next to the post office. Who knew the other shop is located next to a postal center. Anyway, that other shop was a tourist shop, for riding down the volcano. Katie eventually found us and we were on our way.

First part of the climb wasn't so bad. I almost fell at a stop sign, but unclipped in time (I got distracted talking and this was only my second time riding in cleats). The 11-12% grade section up Baldwin actually didn't feel as long as it did when we scouted the route the previous day. Thank goodness. We made it to the Haleakala Highway junction in about an hour. The weather was perfect. There was a cloud covering the sun most of the way, so we didn't get baked. Yet, the rest of the sky was blue, mostly. I'd eaten a granola bar and a banana at this point. Katie had separated herself from the pack, followed by Kei, Howie, and way in the back, me. Arriving at the stop, I fell after forgetting to unclip. Note to self: practice unclipping a few more times before the next stop. Note to others: I didn't make that mistake again.

Elevation: 2500 feet
Arrive at Sunrise Market at about 10:30 AM. Howie says we left the bike shop at about 8:30 AM, so 2000 feet in 2 hours. At this rate, there's no way we'll get back in time, so I'm obviously holding Howie back. No sign of Katie, so we send Kei to chase her. See previous post. The woman working here is super nice (notice a pattern forming here?). Asks me and Howie if we are training for the Cycle to the Sun race, but we are not. I down the rest of my second water bottle, and eat an energy bar. Howie buys more water and hooks me up with more cytomax. I take a leak, which thankfully was clear, meaning I'm not dehydrated. Kei still doesn't appear, so we assume he just kept heading up.
Elevation: 3200 feet
The Crater Road (Hwy 378) begins here. Not very encouraging to see that I have 22 more miles to go.

Elevation: ~5000 feet?
We are on the switchbacks now, Howie and I. He is about half a switchback ahead of me. I hear him talking to someone. Kei? Nope. A white car approaches, and it is Alice returning from the summit. I ask her where she's heading and she says the Grand Wailea Spa. I think she is joking. After the turn, when he's in sight, I yell that I need to rest. I think I'm around mile 5 or 6 at this point. Kei phones and says he's waiting for us ahead, about 4 switchbacks up. I ask him what the route is like (i.e. does it get any easier) and he says it's pretty much the same. So much for hope. After I round the corner and approach Howie, I hear Kei yell to us. He's a small red dot up near where the para- and hang-gliders' launching pad.

Elevation: ~6000 feet
Join up with Kei. I eat some of my dried fruit, down the rest of my cytomax, and Kei refills my bottles. Kei says he talked to Alice (on the phone, she apparently didn't see him b/c she was watching the gliders launching) and she really was going to the spa. Her landlady insisted she go and take it off the rent. Why don't I have a landlady like that? ;-)

Somewhere around here, Kei gives me a few pushes up the hill. Amazing. Shortly thereafter, I tell them to leave me or else they won't summit in time. We're not quite at the park entrance, so this might be around 6800 feet elevation. I eventually catch them at the ranger kiosk. Perfect timing actually, as they just finished paying for me and all I had to do was ride by and grab my receipt from the ranger. Haha, I actually passed some cars on the ascent. Granted, they were waiting in line to pay.

Elevation: ~7000 feet
Stop at the Visitor Center. Go to the bathroom, refill the water bottles. Contemplate waiting for the guys, but decide to push on.

Elevation: ~7200-7500 feet
Mile Marker 14. It's about 2:27pm and about time to turn around, but I decide I'm going to ride until my original turnaround point, 2:30pm. Make it a little past the mile marker, then call Kei to say I'm heading down.

The Descent
Now the reward.
Elevation: ~7000 feet
Reach the Visitor Center in 9 minutes. Go to the bathroom again, top off the water. Hang out a bit at the Visitor Center, then decide I should just head down to warmer weather and find Katie.
Reach the Hwy 377/Hwy 378 junction in 25 minutes from the Visitor Center. I wonder how fast I was going. I got lucky and didn't have any cars in front or behind me the whole way down. I was even luckier I didn't crash. At one point, the wind and flapping of my jacket were so loud that I was convinced there was a car behind me. I looked, but no car. Headed into the left, outside turn faster than comfortable. Rear wheel locked up and washed out a bit, but I recovered.

Met Katie at the store a little ways below the Sunrise Market. Got some chocolate and a sports drink with her, used the restroom, then waited for the guys. After they arrived, we headed down together, Howie in the lead. Not far after the Kula lodge, I crashed. Rewind: we see a car at the intersection. We pass and the car pulls onto the road behind us. We keep to the right and then on a left, outside turn, it happens again. I go in faster than comfortable, brake, and the rear wheel locks up. I guess I hold the brake longer this time because Howie is in front of me, and I have traffic behind me (Kei, Katie, then the car). Next thing I know, I'm off the bike, land on my left butt cheek, and slide 10-20 feet. See water bottle roll down the hill. I feel fine. Kei comes to check on me and I start to stand. I feel my ass and realize I'm touching my skin, or what's left of it. My shorts have torn right through and my cheek is hanging out. The car stops and the driver comes out to check on us. She offers me a ride. At first, I'm thinking I can ride back to the shop myself, but a few seconds later I come to my senses and take her up on the offer. I don't think I want to ride with my ass hanging out of my shorts, and who knows how bad it really is. I learn the driver's name is Kachina and she's on her way to the Katchafire concert. I'm going to make her late to pick up her friend. She's had a strange day, and this tops it off. I tell her it will improve, as her good deed will be rewarded with good karma. She drops me at the shop, gives me some supplies from her first aid kit as well as the towel I'm sitting on, and I send her on her way. Surprisingly, Katie, Kei, and Howie ride up within 5 minutes. They must have been hauling ass down the hill. Once they arrive, I go to clean myself up.

Donnie was totally cool about the crash. Luckily, I didn't scratch up the frame or derailleur. Just scratched up the grip tape, pedals, and rear quick release.

WARNING: what you are about to see may be graphic and inappropriate (not). But, if you don't want to see my road rash ass, look away now.

So, now it's Tuesday, and I'm still trying to heal. I've applied some of the Johnson and Johnson Advanced Healing pads. Cool stuff. My ass actually doesn't hurt too much. My leg hurts more. I guess that's why kids get spanked on the butt, fewer nerve endings.

Oh, the most surprising thing about the ride is that I wasn't sore the next day. I thought I wouldn't be able to walk, but I was fine. I think because I drank so much fluids and ate a lot. I think I had 2 granola bars, 1 banana, 1 protein bar, 8 ounces of dried fruit, 2 clementines, at probably 6 liters of fluids, at least. Not exactly light and fast, and maybe I could have summitted without all the extra weight (I doubt it), but I'm glad I did it this way. Much less pain during and afterwards, which makes it more likely that I'll attempt something like this again.

On the ride, I got a phone call from United Airlines saying my upgrade request was approved. I was getting upgraded to first-class, using my miles. I was glad to hear, as I was expecting to be super sore on the way home. More on this later....

Stuck in Maui

2008-08-03T19:53:00.001-07:00

I suppose there are worse places to be stranded, but it's like being
imprisoned at San Quentin or Alcatraz: you are surrounded by a
beautiful location, yet you can't enjoy, except the view from your
cell. At least I'm drinking a mai tai and it's Raining outside. Would
be worse if the weather was beautiful, but then again I wouldn't be
doing much besies nursing the road rash on my ass. Maybe this means an
extra night in paradise. Battery getting low so will write more later.

--
Kenneth Wan
Dream League
http://www.dreamleague.org

Fwd: Haleakala, descent part 1

2008-08-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mile marker 14. Eight to go. I made it maybe a hundred yards beyond
this sign. With no realistic chance of summiting (would probably take
me at least 2 hours from this point), and the fact that
I'm just plain tired, I'm deciding to call it a day and descend. A

couple miles back I actually had delusions that I would make it, with
Kei, Howie, and Katie cheering me on as I entered the lot. Obviously
delusional as Katie already descended.

At least I reached my secondary goal of making it 2/3 of the way to the top. I estimate at this point the elevation is about 7200' or 7500'.

Haleakala ascent, part 2

2008-08-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just inside the park entrance.

Self-portrait as Kei and Howie had to leave me if they want any hope of summiting before time expires (we have to return the bikes by 4pm).

It's pretty cold now and I'm going to don some arm warmers. Weather at the beginning of the ride was perfect. You could see the summit from sea level (first time I've been able to; the rest of the days the lower mtn has been covered by clouds).

The climbing is getting (has been) pretty brutal and Kei pushed me up a couple of steep sections. I don't realistically think I'll make the summit at this point, but will push on as far as I can. Now, it's one mile, one milestone, at a time. Just want to reach the visitors center right now, which isn't too far. After that, who knows.

Haleakala ascent, part 1

2008-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here's Howie at the Sunrise Market, about 1.5 hours into the ride.

So far, not too tired. Haven't drank as much fluid as planned, but just downed the rest of a bottle of cytomax. Katie took off on the climb, completely missing the market. We sent Kei to chase after her, but don't know if he'll catch her. Will bring him some water.

Next up, Maui

2008-07-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

So, I just got back from South Lake Tahoe for the annual Bill Okano Memorial "Jackpot" Tournament. I didn't get as much of a workout as I had hoped; only played limited time and missed one game entirely. I did end up going for two bike rides, though shorter than planned. The only real hill climbing I did was on Saturday, up Kingsbury Grade, a little bit past the turnoff for the Chart House restaurant. Sunday, I had planned to [attempt to] ride from S. Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City, but my bball game ended up being at 12pm, which only gave me 3 hours before I had to go meet my friend Leo, his wife Claire, and their newborn (well 6-mth) baby Ryan. And, of course, I dilly-dallied by getting a sandwich for lunch, a wrench to change out my pedals, looking for a spot to start riding, etc. And, Highway 89 seemed pretty narrow in spots and didn't appeal to me to ride alone (I was probably looking for any excuse not to get my ass kicked). I stopped by the visitor center and got a biking map, which the ranger pointed out had a bike route from Meeks Bay all the way to Squaw Valley (or you can turn east toward Tahoe City and beyond). She also did not recommend riding Hwy 89 at Emerald Bay (though she didn't look to be a cyclist herself). I could see why she said what she said, though, as the ridge above Emerald Bay was very narrow. So, after driving to Meeks Bay, I ended up only having 1 hour to ride. But, at least I got to try out my new pedals and shoes; this was my first time riding with cleats, so I figured something easy might be better anyway, rather than tipping over on my bike on Hwy 89.

Oh, so why all of this training and the title of this post? Well, I'm heading to Maui tomorrow for Riza's wedding. Kei and Howie want to cycle up Haleakala volcano. Yes, UP the volcano. This course is 36 miles, EACH way, with an elevation gain of approximately 10,000 feet. Needless to say, I'm going to get my ass kicked. Good thing is, I can always just turn around and head downhill. My goal is to go at least half way. OK, the real goal of course is to go all the way, but I'd be content with half.

Here's more info if you are interested:
http://www.gocyclingmaui.com/faq.html
http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com/haleakala.htm

Apparently, there is an annual ride up Haleakala, so we aren't entirely crazy. I can't believe the times those top finishers do it in. I'll definitely be on the bottom end of the time scale, with the 60-year-old set.

RC Car race pic

2008-06-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

RC Cars

2008-06-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Had a nice blast from the past this afternoon with my nephew, Zig.
Watched some radio controlled car races put on by the local hobby shop
in Petaluma, CA. They hold races every 2nd and 4th Saturday in the
parking lot near Trader Joe's ( the hobby shop is there too, but since
I don't know its name or location Trader Joes is the next best
landmark). Anyway, most of the racers were adults, probably a little
older than me, so it really was a blast from the past. Guess they
never gave it like I did after middle school. Most of these cars were
gas powered, much faster and sturdy than the plastic Yamiya (?) cars I
used to build/race. They did have some smaller scale cars like mine
though. The coolest thing was they had transponders in each car so
they could auto count laps. These races were about how many laps one
can complete in a given time.

Some travel tips for Cambodia and Thailand

2008-05-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind, I only went to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Bangkok, and Railay Beach (Krabi). Oh, and when I mention the Lonely Planet guide book, I'm referring to "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring", 2008 edition. Their Thailand specific book probably has more detailed info, at least it better have more detail.

That said, here are some things I learned along the way, in no particular order:

Bus stop restrooms. Lesson: Pay the kid. Explanation: The kids trying to get money for the bathrooms at bus stops on the way to Siem Reap are not begging. Our tuk tuk driver in Siem Reap, Nat, says it is common to charge people 500 Riel (~US$0.12) to use the bathrooms. He says even he will get charged.
Negotiating prices. Lesson: Do it. Explanation: Sometimes it works if you let the seller offer a price first, then counter. Don't worry about getting "ripped off" the first couple of times: it allows you a chance to gauge what prices should be. Without any prior knowledge (i.e. guide books) of what a reasonable price should be, sometimes the only way to find out is through trial and error. Once, when looking at sunglasses, I didn't say a word (not intentionally) and the vendor kept lowering his prices. He even told me, "you know, you can negotiate prices". Haha, I know. It was great, because he got down to pretty close to where I was willing to pay. Oh, and it often helps to give a final offer with a smile. That worked 2 of 2 times for me to get my final price. I held firm and then finally smiled with the same offer and they gave it to me. And, it really is true what the books say, it's not about getting the lowest possible price, it is getting the most agreeable price to you and the vendor. If the price is what you are willing to pay and believe to be reasonable, and the vendor agrees, then there you go.
Railay Beach.

Getting there/back. Lesson:book a return trip to the airport through your hotel/guesthouse/or tour operator. Explanation: This was especially true for us in the low season, when it is hard to get a boat. It was cheaper for us to do so than to hire a boat for just the 2 of us. Or, wait an indefinite amount of time for the boat to fill up. In the high season, you may be better off going directly to the boat operators. Getting to Railay, we took a shuttle from the airport, so I can't comment on whether to book transportation through the hotel.
Food. Lesson: Explore. Explanation: Railay Beach is tiny. You can cross from East to West in less than 15 minutes' walk, probably less than 10. The cheap, local food is on the east side, just north of Yaya Resort. We spent a day or two with sticker shock, until Jessica brought me to a local food stand. Thank you Jessica!
Rock climbing. Lesson: Do it. Explanation: Railay is the place to climb. There are at least 3 outfitters here. We went through King Climbers and had a great experience. I'd never climbed before, my roommate had been climbing for 1.5 years. Aibe runs the joint, located between the Railay Princess Resort and Yaya Resort. Tiq, our guide, was fantastic. Super nice, mellow, all around good guy. I think this is the correct link to King Climbers, but I'm not sure.

Taxis.

Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Bangkok. Lesson:Pay the tolls and surcharge. Explanation: Like the guide book says, go to the taxi stand just outside the terminal. The driver will use the meter. What the book doesn't tell you is that you are responsible for the tolls. The taxi stand gives you a piece of paper describing when you are responsible for tolls and a surcharge, and when you are not. Unfortunately, it is a little confusing about the definition of "Greater Bangkok". I argued with the driver when we reached our destination, but eventually paid him, figuring it wasn't worth the fight. Thanks to my friend Abbie who later confirmed the driver was not ripping me off.
Meters. Lesson: Insist on them. Explanation: Speaking of taxi drivers and rip-offs...Lonely Planet is right: insist on using the meter when taking a taxi (unless you absolutely know where you are going, how far it is, and how much it should cost). I was about 5 minutes walking distance to Wat Pho (which I didn't know at the time), it was raining, and I was late to meet my friend, so I decided to hop in a cab (going the wrong direction, of course). He wanted to charge me like 200 baht (~US$5) but I insisted he use the meter. Even taking the long way around the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, it only cost like 30 baht.
Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Lessons: Don't exit the freeway and insist on the meter. Explanation: Again, thanks to Abbie for the heads up. If your driver exits the freeway just before getting to the airport (watch the signs), then he's taking the long way. The freeway goes directly into the airport, so make him get right back on. And, again, it was cheaper for us to use the meter from the Banglamphu district of Bangkok to BKK, even with horrendous morning traffic in town.

Damnoen Saduak floating market. Lesson: Shop around. Explanation: The only time we did a flat rate was for a taxi to the floating market. I think we paid a bit more than we would have if we took a taxi to the bus terminal, then a bus to the market, but we figured it was worth the time savings. So, if going to Damnoen Saduak floating market by taxi, be sure not to head into the first several parking lots: they are more expensive. I think the first guy tried to charge us 1000 baht, while LP suggests 150B to 200B per person. I don't know where the main pier is exactly, but we drove quite a ways in before turning ( left) into some area, which seemed much more active than the first lot. Lonely Planet says to take the bus to the pier, but we didn't see any buses, so maybe we weren't at the main pier yet. In any case we were able to negotiate a boat that was similar in price to Lonely Planet's suggested price. Actually, now I forget if we paid 300B total, or 300B each. Anyway, pretty close regardless. The market wasn't like those I've seen in posters but the posters might be old, as Lonely Planet does say the market is geared more towards tourists now than being an actual marketplace where locals may shop for everyday goods.
Air con. Lesson: Get a remote. Explanation: Look for rooms that have a remote controlled A/C. You can fine tune the temperature and make other adjustments. Everyone seems to be carrying Lonely Planet books in Cambodia and Thailand, so guesthouses LP recommends fill up faster. Mostly, the reviews were accurate. It's just some of the tiny details that might be left out. For example, we first checked into the Rambuttri Village Inn (our first choice Lamphu House was difficult to find [you have to look hard as it is towards the back of a tiny alley], and when we did it didn't have the room combinations we were looking for). RVI was pretty much a concrete dorm room, see pic. LP wasn't kidding when they said "there's not much atmoshpere to speak of". Stark white walls, but hey, it was clean, there was tv and air con! Speaking of air con. Here's why you want a remote. RVI's a/c unit was basically on/off, unless you are 6'2" like me. I even had to stand on a chair to turn the stick (they pulled off the knob) to try and adjust the fan speed and temp. It must have been even harder for Tracy. Anyway, didn't help. Woke up too cold, turned off a/c. Woke up too hot, turned on a/c. Repeat. The next day, we went exploring for a new place to stay. Settled on Happy House Guesthouse. Nice staff, better "atmosphere" in the room, and remote controlled a/c! You can set the temperature, control the fan speed, etc. Much better sleep, and same price as RVI. There was construction next door, but the front desk clerk was accurate in saying when it started (~8am?). I didn't notice it at all at night. The picture on the left is almost exactly the room I had, sans flowers on bed and candle.

Sigh

2008-05-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

My last post from SE Asia. I'm trying to burn up some baht, so decided to log on and post. The internet rates here in Railay are ridiculous, relatively speaking: 3 Baht per minute, which is roughly US$4 per hour. I think rates in Bangkok, in the tourist areas, were half to a third the cost.

So, that was a nice segue to the sticker shock I experienced when we arrived on Railay Beach. That, and the weather, were making me very unimpressed. But, after settling in for a day, things got better. First the weather, which makes the west beach much better looking. And, when the tide is high, the east beach is decent. It's amazing the difference between high and low tides.

Tracy has pretty much been rock climbing the entire time. She signed up for a 2-day lesson, which turned into 4 days of climbing. I watched her climb the first day (Thursday) and then explored the peninsula a bit, but apparently I missed out on most of the good stuff. Though the peninsula looks small (you can walk from the west to east sides in about 10-15 minutes), there is a lot more to find north-south. And, what looks like a jungle ending, reveals paths to climbing sites if you just venture in a bit. And, some of those sites have accessible views for non-climbers. Especially good is a cave you climb to (via ladders) on the Thai Wand (sp?) wall off of Phrah Nang beach. I never did make it up the rope to the lagoon and lookout. Next time I suppose.

I tried climbing for the first time on Friday. Did ok. Learned how to belay and lead belay right from the start. Crazy. Made it up 2.5 climbs before pooping out. Scraped up my fingers on that last climb, and arms just got too tired. Pool time after that!

On Saturday, I tried a "Discovery" scuba dive. That was fun. So much more to see when you can stay underwater. And it is so cool to be able to use air as a ballast like the dolphins do (I think they do).

Today, Sunday, I tried another half day of climbing. Made it through 3 full climbs this time without too much incident. Climbed a 6a(?) level wall, whatever that means. All I know is it was the hardest one I did and I got stuck in one spot, but the two Andreas' and Bao (my belayer) helped me get unstuck.

Oh, before I forget, we met Jess(ica) and Tik (Tracy's climbing guide), who were awesome. Jess showed us some local haunts which was really great, b/c it got rid of my sticker shock, and the food was local and some of the best we had on the island. Tik let us climb with him and showed Tracy a ton of stuff. He's just so chill and generous. Actually, all the locals here are super nice and I think once you are around for a while, they just accept you into their community.

OK, have probably burned enough baht. Will post more later (yeah, you've heard that line before).

Greetings from Bangkok

2008-05-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Finally have some time to sit and write. So much has happened since my last post. We made our way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Along the way, I was able to sample some truly local delicacies: tarantula and grasshopper (or cricket).

When we arrived at the siem Reap bus station, we were swarmed by tranportation vendors peddling their services (mostly or all tuk tuks). Around here, it's all about who asked you first. You'll hear this a lot: "remember me, I asked you first." So, yeah I went with the first guy to approach me, though I do remember hearing someone yell out earlier, " you with the glasses..." The people here are quite proficient with their English. Our "sales rep" sounded like he'd returned to Cambodia from the States. Turns out he wasn't the driver but instead just the guy rounding up customers. He also tried to sell us accommodations and a tour package. Upon arrival at the Golden Banana Guesthouse (yes, it is run by a couple of gay guys and is lgbt friendly), our driver offered his services to be our tour guide the next several days. When I declined our cheap fare suddenly tripled from 1000riel to 3000 Riel ($0.75). No worries, we kind of expected this anyway, seeing as the original fare was ridiculously low (side note: this is one of the few instances where my general impression that most people here are honest and helpful and have two sides: business and personal. Business-wise they will try to negotiate as much as they can get up front, not that they are trying to rip you off. But after a price is negotiated thats final. Personally, they are quite nice and helpful.) So back to the fare...I gave him $1 for his trouble.

Greetigs from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2008-05-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! Arrived in PNH yesterday morning. Flight was ok. Tracy got a window seat, but that stuck me in the middle. Would have preferred and aisle of course. Kei was at the airport to meet us with his friend, Nancy, who has a local hookup here. Checked in to a guesthouse and did a little bit of sightseeing: went to the Central Market where I decided to dive into the local food scene with both feet. Ordered some interesting drink from a vendor who spoke no English, so I just had her make something for me. A coconut milk base with cellophane noodles, some unidentified fruit, and ice. The ice worried me, but as I write this email, I have not had any digestive problems yet. Also ate a bowl of noodles with pork blood, and just about any other chicken part. I think I identified some chicken liver (maybe it was kidney as it didn't taste like liver) and maybe a heart. It was a curry base. Also tried a pan fried rice cake stuffed with chives.

Dinner was less interesting. We went to a Khmer restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. It was ok, not amazing. Had some ice cream at a local shop later. I actually wanted shave ice, but orderd the wrong thing: "mixed fruit ice", which I assume would be ice, not ice cream.

I'll leave out the sightseeing of the former Khmer Rouge detention center, as it is rather depressing.

My life as a drug lord

2007-10-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've been back from Mexico for about two and a half weeks now, and am finally ready to write about it. I think it's because I've finally compiled some pictures from the 1000+ (and counting) that were gathered from various people on the trip. Hard to choose from them all. I organized about four hundred into a slideshow, and uploaded fifty seven to my Facebook and PicasaWeb accounts. Could probably have done more, but the Facebook plug-in for iPhoto only allows sixty uploads at a time. And since Google kept giving me an error when uploading to Picasa, I just decided to keep the photos down to fifty seven. Plus, do people really want to look at more than four hundred photos at one time?

So, as I keep telling people, Tulum was amazing and horrible at the same time. OK, not horrible, but it could have been better. Amazing group of family and friends. The setting was beautiful: fine sand, turquoise water, almost private beach. Casa Magna was beautifully yet simply decorated. Simple luxury. Yet, beyond the amenities (freshly prepared breakfast, lunch , and dinner; sea kayaks; snorkeling gear) something wasn't quite complete. Perhaps my expectations were too high. After all, my sister had booked the place and she is known for some amazing finds on her vacations. And, Casa Magna was once part of Pablo Escobar's drug empire. OK, this can't be confirmed, but it is definitely something that the Casa Magna website promotes. One of the owners, Melissa Perlman, admits herself that it is unclear who the original owner was. [Note, I got this information directly from the Casa Magna website: http://www.casamagnatulum.com/]. Anyway, I digress. All this hype about Pablo, and the descriptions on the website definitely made me think this was going to be a luxurious vacation. I also knew from the website that all food, excluding alcohol, was included; there would be limited electricity and no air-conditioning.

When we arrived, we learned we'd be staying in Casa Magna 2, the bigger and most recently renovated of the two villas. Great. Bigger place, same price. Place was beautiful, and all to ourselves. Showers weren't fresh water, no problem. My first shower, I wasn't patient enough and thought there was no hot water. So I took a cold shower, which considering how horribly hot and humid it was the first day, felt refreshing. Slowly, over the next few days, I learned that other people were not so lucky. They actually did not have hot water. And, nobody was really complaining, so it was just in random conversations that things came out. I think some people may have just assumed that the "eco", as in ecological not economical, part of the resort description meant not having hot water, I don't know. I think some people might not have even had running water (I certainly did not for the first few hours of our last day there).

Bugs. Oh boy, were there bugs. It being hurricane season, the mosquitoes were out in force. I started out just using OFF or whatever weak stuff they sell in those spray bottles, but I had to bust out the Jungle Juice from REI soon enough. A couple of mornings I awoke to find mosquitoes inside my netting. One of those mornings, I killed five! Inside my mosquito net! After that, I made sure to inspect the netting before I climbed in for bed. Believe it or not, I wasn't the worst off. Some people had holes in their net. Others were just getting bit more than I (a rare situation). One evening, I tried climbing a coconut tree and found myself covered (a very slight exaggeration) with fleas. I immediately ran to the shower to rinse them off. Speaking of fleas, almost all of us brought some home, so the misery of insect bites continued at least a week after we returned. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. And anyone who is reading this from the trip, I swear it isn't me who gave you all the fleas by climbing that damn tree. I think the fleas were all over the sand and on the dogs.

Speaking of dogs, there were like 8 dogs running around the property. They were friendly, of course, though one new dog arrived sometime around Thursday night and growled at me on my way to the kitchen. Aside from that, they were nice. A couple were mangy and I didn't want to pet them too much. Anyway, I think they were introducing the fleas. Some of the dogs kept wanting to get into people's rooms, Rob and Emily's in particular. They would scratch at their door around/before sunrise and wake them up. Other's apparently tried to climb into bed with some folks. Another, or two, actually shit on the floor inside the room. Not something you want to happen to you while you are on vacation, without pets. A lot of us are or were pet owners, so it's not like we have anything against dogs.

I think bringing home fleas was the icing on the cake, or maybe the straw that broke the camel's back. Though I think the breaking point was reached far in advance of leaving. Two couples actually left Casa Magna for nearby digs two nights before we left.

Food. Food was great. Kitchen staff was wonderful. They catered to our various needs: special meals for the children, no onions for Cyndi. Maybe someone else didn't like onions either. Meal times according to our schedule. Alcohol price was exorbitant, but I understand that's how places make their money. And, maybe it was a deterrent to drinking. Casa Magna is, after all, a place to cleanse the body and mind. It definitely deterred me from drinking too much, after racking up a $60 bar tab the first night, maybe two (US$6 margies, US$3 bottled beer). Getting sick helped limit my alcohol consumption too (I got no sleep the first night as the air was so thick I couldn't breathe, no sleep the second night either, as I was getting mild stomach cramps; third day I was a zombie, but recovered after sleeping 12 hours that night; I think it must have been heat exhaustion). One problem with the kitchen in Casa Magna 2 is that the refrigerator didn't work. They left us a cooler (more a bin) with beer and ice the first night or two, but all the ice melted within a couple hours. They finally brought us a proper cooler, but still not as good as the one I have at home. This was just a minor inconvenience. It wasn't as if we were cooking our own meals. Though, I know some of the parents were annoyed b/c they couldn't store milk for the kids.

The staff was wonderful, especially Javier and Josh. Though we did wish they would have closed our windows for us one day. We were out on an all day excursion with Josh, when some scattered t-storms rolled through (though not on us). My room, 2nd floor, did not have an awning, so the rains just blew straight in. There must have been an inch to an inch and a half of water. Same with Pele and Pilar's room, though their's was from a leaky roof, in addition to an open window. Cyndi had a partially leaky roof and open window, but luckily was confined to her bath area. Surprisingly, the rooms downstairs were unflooded, due to awnings protecting them. I think Jim and Erin's room partially flooded as well. We ended up helping the limited staff (it was probably 8pm or 9pm, so understandably limited) sweep out the water. Javier was so helpful with that effort. I felt a little bad calling him in to take over for me but I felt for a moment that I wasn't paying good money to labor. After a moment of guilt, I resumed sweeping while asking Javier to look for more squeegies.

Finally, our last night there was on my sister's birthday, so the staff threw a party, piñata and all. The kitchen prepared a special surf and turf meal (did I mention that the staff, like Javier, went out fishing or divng every day for fish, lobster, etc.?). I think that was the best meal of the week (though I did miss another lobster night when sleeping for 12 hours). Josh, Jen(?), and Sascha (sp?) helped blow up balloons manually. Free margaritas and beer. Sort of. That was probably the downer of the night (and not that much of a downer really), but there was confusion over the alcohol. Originally, the staff had said the drinks were on the house, but then Melissa said no. Then she reversed herself and they were indeed free, I think to help make up for the inconveniences of the week. But later, when we went back to our villa, I heard the drinks were only free during the dinner party, not when we got back to CM2. Then, some staff brought over margarita mix and a bottle of tequila, saying it was on the house. Turns out, there was barely enough tequila for a pitcher of margies. All that waffling really made the apology seem disingenuous.

So, the trip was great overall, but could have been fantastic/fabulous. Maybe Casa Magna just has some kinks to iron out. After all, they have just recently (within the year?) opened villa #2, but based on the reviews on Trip Advisor, this may be an ongoing concern. My sister posted a review there, to which Melissa responded. After objectively reviewing what she wrote, my sis pulled her review. However, one thing Bonnie told me that Melissa had said is that Casa Magna was supposed to be more of a villa rental, where we are independent, than a 5-star hotel. I think if that had been the case, it would have been perfect. I would have loved to get into the kitchen and whip up some Coco y Cacao. However, we couldn't really use the kitchen. No refrigerator, no utensils, cookware, not that I searched very hard, but the kitchen was definitely not inviting. Also, I think there is a discrepancy between the web site and it's implied sense of luxury, and what Melissa is saying we were supposed to get - a villa rental. I don't normally think of daily maid service when I rent a cabin in Tahoe, only when I stay in a hotel. In general, I guess I would have preferred something a bit more defined. Either roughing it or luxury. This "rustic luxury" was almost like a tease. Here's a beautiful locale and villa, but yet it isn't as comfortable as it suggests. Or maybe it would be better in the high season, when the weather is better.

Finally (again), just to put things into perspective, most of this group is a bunch of seasoned travelers, myself excluded. OK, I've done my fair share of traveling over my lifetime, but much less compared to the rest of this bunch. Not only have they traveled personally and professionally, but they have worked in/with many hospitality/food service professionals (i.e. Joie de Vivre, Peninsula). They are heavyweights in branding, so basically, what I'm saying is they know what they are talking about.

2007-09-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

"Wild" turkeys trying to get into my building at work. My question is, are wild turkeys normally this tame? If so, I now know why we eat them for Thanksgiving dinner.

And the winner is...

2007-09-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

???

My little t-shirt modification in anticipation of the upcoming announcement.

Zig climbs the steps at Point Reyes Lighthouse

2007-08-28T21:08:00.001-07:00

So proud of my nephew, Zig. He made this climb all by himself: 308 steps (see picture below) and about 30 stories. Geez, that sounds so high. It makes me wonder if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe 10 stories? But, I figure with 300 steps, at roughly one foot per stop, that'd be roughly 30 stories.

We saw a grey seal from the top there. Too bad it was overcast that day, otherwise it'd be even more beautiful. If you haven't made it out to the Point Reyes National Seashore, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, we couldn't spend more time there, as it was a spur of the moment trip.

2007-08-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

Dreamleague history

2007-08-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

My teammate, Keith Wang, sent us a link to a You Tube video of our basketball team the other day. Pretty damn cool. I knew Rich sometimes filmed games, but normally they are just little clips from his camera. But this time, he had someone (Johnny Harrington) put together a nicely edited video. Based on the footage, I'm guessing it must have been our November 5, 2006 game against Setai Cossa. I'm mean, how many times do I score even 2 buckets a game? Apparently, I scored 3 that day. The video shows me dishing out at least 2 assists, too, but they weren't recorded. Surprising, because I think Rich was scorekeeping that day, and he never misses a beat. So, maybe Johnny just clipped it up to make me look better. Thanks Johnny! haha.

2007-08-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Formula D @ Infineon

Mozza still great

2007-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Did some shopping on La Brea today. Figured I'd go eat at Mozza while I was in the area, hoping Nancy might be at the restaurant (she was not). The wait was quite reasonable this time (10 minutes). Of course, I was dining alone and it was 2pm on Friday, but hey not bad. A couple arrived just before I was to be seated, and they got a spot next to me right away. Also sat next to another solo diner, who is head of HR at City of Hope, where my boss once worked, and happens to have attended Stanfurd. Oh, did I mis-spell that? ;p She attended the infamous Big Game, where the "The Play" happened (link to video here). I think I have met one other person who was at that game, but her story was the best I've heard. She says she and her friends were down on/near the field when it happened, thinking they (Stanford) had won the game. They had no idea "The Play" was happening. A friend came down from the stands later and told them what had happened. They couldn't believe it and thought s/he was joking, until it finally set in. What a let down! And to make things worse (for her), she and a friend were staying with another friend who attended Cal, so they had to endure a whole night of defeat.

Anyway, back to Mozza. The pizzas are still excellent; in fact, I think it was better this time around. Maybe because it wasn't as busy, so the pizzaiolos aren't as rushed. And I got one of the best seats in the house, again. It's great sitting at the bar in front of the pizza oven. You get to see the pizzaiolos do their thing and watch all the great product coming out of the oven. Plus, both times I've been there, the people at the bar are so friendly. I guess that's the beauty of sitting at a bar area. I don't know why, though, but I haven't experienced this as much elsewhere. And I definitely did not think LA would be so friendly. Maybe I don't dine at the bar enough.

I did, however, forget how bad traffic is here in LA. I went to the South Bay (Torrance) today for a haircut. Funny, it turned out my friend Alice was in the same exact area. Too bad we weren't able to meet up -- she was on her way to meet another friend for lunch. Thought we might meet up later in Beverly Hills or after that for dessert, but I guess she got tied up. Anyway, it took me about an hour to get from Torrance to Mozza (what area is that? Melrose, Fairfax, Hancock Park, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills?). Geez, L.A. has so many area names. Maybe they are subnames of districts. SF is so much easier, even though I still get a lot of the neighborhoods confused up there. So, basically, between 11:30am and 5pm, I got a whole three things accomplished: haircut, lunch, American Rag. Can you imagine the productivity boost the LA economy would achieve if there was decent transportation and less congestion?

Giants vs. braves 7-23-2007

2007-07-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Bonds vs. Smoltz. 0-2,1bb, 6 inning

Lassen Volcanic National Park

2007-07-05T22:01:00.001-07:00

My good friend, Iris, just visited from Hong Kong. It was so nice to see her. I think it has been 2 years since we last saw each other, at Jiller's wedding in Hawaii. I decided to take her camping, since I know she likes to hike and I figured it would be something she normally doesn't get to do much back in Hong Kong. Apparently, there is hiking and maybe some camping there, but she says it is not very safe to do so -- there are "bandits" waiting to jack you.

I've been talking about visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park for several years now, but never end up doing it. I also considered Hendy Woods in the Anderson Valley, and a couple of other places, but as it was such a last minute trip (didn't start looking for sites until Sunday, July 1), I figured a) we'd stand a better chance of getting a site at Lassen, as they have some first-come-first-served sites; b) I've been talking about seeing Lassen for so long; c) Lassen isn't much further than Hendy.

I'm really glad I decided on Lassen. It is a beautiful park, on par with Yosemite, but less crowded. OK, granted I've only been to Yosemite twice -- only once in my adult life -- so I can't really give a complete review on either park. Can you imagine Yosemite, during the Fourth of July week, having plenty of campsites available without reservations? And to hike a trail completely alone? We didn't see one person on our hike to Echo Lake. Well, I'm exaggerating a bit; we did see some people finishing their hikes as we started ours (we left a couple hours before sunset, hoping we'd get in some night hiking). Maybe I shouldn't be broadcasting this -- it'd be nice to keep Lassen a secret. But, I think that is unavoidable, as we learned they are building a lodge there in the next 2 years. They were also building a new entrance and presumably new visitor's center at the entrance.

If you are the stay up late, drinking and hollering type of camper, then Lassen may not be the place to go. It seemed like everyone had turned in by 10pm. There was only one other group that we could see was still awake after 10. I wonder if Lassen attracts a different type of crowd. There were definitely more sites reserved after the Fourth, so maybe we just got lucky and picked a good time to go.

We weren't able to hike Lassen Peak, from which I hear you get magnificent views of the Sacramento Valley and Mt. Shasta. We could see Shasta while driving up I-5. Next time, I'll have to stay for a week. There are many other places I want to check out, like the cinder cone and painted dunes. Things to look forward to.

2007-06-16T19:12:00.001-07:00

CAn you say Poo Holes?

2007-06-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

Bodega. The 'Snapple' store. "Underground" clothing & shoe store. Buy a Snapple.
Mass Ave & Clearway

2007-06-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

@ Chicago O'Hare

2007-05-30T22:55:00.001-07:00

Barret @ Jupiter

Eat at Bill's, continued

2007-05-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

Watched "Eat at Bill's" on Saturday evening. It makes me want to go start a farm, even though I have absolutely no idea how a farm even operates, let alone how to grow anything. But with Bill's support, I can do it! ;-)

Here's an even better review, and overall great blog.

It's a good, low budget documentary and it's always interesting to find out a little bit of local history. Plus, Bill is a fellow Cal alum.

Go Bears!

Eat at Bill's

2007-05-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

Was just going through my cell phone's notepad feature and came across the somewhat cryptic note "TangeRineman.com eab". Was this meant to be "tangerine" + "man"? Or some other funky combo? Why did I capitalize the R? By mistake? Well, going with the obvious, I went to tangerineman.com, but this came up with a web site for Pixie tangerines. This couldn't have been what I was looking for. What about the "eab"? I tried to append eab to tangerineman.com, but no luck. Good 'ol Google. Typed in "tangerineman eab" and voila. Now I remember - this is a documentary about Monterey Market in Berkeley. As I'm sitting at home on such a beautiful day, here's a perfect excuse to get outside, buy some groceries, and buy an interesting (hopefully) documentary. I'll let you know how it is.

Brief (for me) summary

2007-05-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Just, sort of, got back from China. Trip was fantastic. Forbidden
City was awesome, and loved the Great Wall, though I would have
enjoyed it more if we had more time there. Food was mostly
excellent, especially the prices. You can check out some pics at
http://picasaweb.google.com/oskibear95

The captions pretty much say it all. Although, the roast duck at Li
Qun was so-so, but they had the best "pi" (wrappers) - they were
paper thin, like the Vietnamese rice paper. I'll try to transfer the
pics of Li Qun later - they are on the cell phone and it won't work
without a SIM card. Hope the pics are stored in the phone memory and
not the card. The duck was better at the famous Quanjude Roast Duck,
but their wrappers were way thicker.

Didn't eat anything too "exotic". Had the opportunity to eat bumble
(or honey) bee and grubs, but opted out - I didn't want to order a
whole dish, and was too chicken to ask to try a single one of each
(or maybe it was a convenient excuse not to). Most exotic thing I
ate was duck intestines and duck kidney. Normally don't care for the
filter organs, but the kidneys were pretty good - better than the
intestine.

Didn't have enough time in Shanghai - only 2 full days - and one of
those days we went to Suzhou. But, had a great lunch in Suzhou at
Song Helou. Was disappointed with Xiao Nan Guo in Shanghai, but
maybe was expecting too much and/or didn't order the right things.
Nanxian Shao Long Bao was good, but I think Din Tai Fung beats it as
far as thinness of wrapper goes. All the locals supposedly go to
Nanxiang, though. I assume it is cheaper, but my aunt did the
ordering, so I can't say for sure. There is another place, Crystal
Jade, in Shanghai that is supposed to be slightly better than DTF
(even thinner wrapper), but didn't go there. Ate at Jean Georges on
the Bund as well - they have a pretty good deal on prix fixe lunch
(~US$25-30), and had a nice afternoon tea at Moon Sha across the
street. I think I ate 4 meals my last day. And I have to say, the
fast food there is pretty good - even the fast food shao long bao.