joie de liliou

Observations from Korean drama, "Only You"

2011-01-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Who knew that the secret to winning a 100 million won cooking prize was to add a green tea bag and bean sprouts to instant noodles? And that winning and instant noodle cooking contest could win you an all-expenses paid cooking school experience in Venice?!

Eunjae's mom is the toughest mother i've seen in all dramas by far. She represents the average Korean woman outside of the big cities--truck operating, hitting, tough talking, sidewalk spitting, soju drinking...

How realistic is it than an aspiring chef can't even tie her own shoes? That's not "cute" that's a learning disability on a kinesthetic level.

Whenever they show scenes of a young Chaebol guy working in his Chaebol office, don’t you notice that he’s always looking at physical pieces of paper rather than a computer? In fact, he usually doesn’t even have a computer on his desk! Korea has the #1 broadband network in all of Asia, yet these guys aren’t given desktop computers for their work?

Why is it that father-less children are named similarly? Jingoo (Only You), and Jinju (Creating Destiny). Coincidence?

I want to eat Honeyjoon’s mom’s chili paste with cream pasta. It looks so good. It brings grown men near to tears.

Koreans can be so invasive with physical space, yet there is still somehow a buffer to keeping personal information. Like, it's amazing that Eunjae’s parents don’t even know who Jingoo’s father is!?! Not even a hint!

What keeps our attention in these dramas? The heightened tension when the most OBVIOUS questions are not asked nor answered. When Honeyjoon confronts Eunjae about the father of her baby, he asks only two questions: 1. Is it Hyunsung's 2. Is it from another boyfriend? Um, hello, why not ask, “Is it MINE?!?”

Going back to personal space, women don’t share information of the father’s of their children, but they sure have no problem not only checking who’s calling on other people’s cell phones, but they also like to ANSWER it as well! This is a writer’s trick to quickly show to others that two people are in fact, hanging out together.

When they show people driving, do you ever take a look at the outside scenery? Don't you notice they're actually going r-e-a-l-l-y slow and the drivers look away from the road a lot? Clear and obvious indication that they’re being TOWED with a mounted camera on the back of a truck.

There needs to be a support group or classes for Korean 2nd Bananas. Maybe some of the groups could be called, "I Have No Pride When it Comes to You." "Where is My Will?" "How Did I Get So Whipped When All I've Done Was Hold Her Hand...Once?" Or the probable most popular class, "Um, Hello, There are at Least 10 Million Other Women in Seoul?!"

Whenever they show families sitting to eat in the living room, do you ever notice that everyone crowds around ONE side of the table? There's no live audience, so no need to leave one side of the table open....

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when i saw the way she cooked pasta that was stuffed inside the chicken, especially when she was using the fork to take it out. Ewwww on so many levels.

I noticed a hand santitizer spray that was at the bottom of the restaurant greeting podium at the front door of the Italian N1 restaurant. Interesting. “Hi, welcome to Italian N1, will you please clean your hands before you eat our food?”

And that's all for now. Stay tuned for the next volume!

Ivar's

2010-09-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

This is what we need in the Bay Area--fresh Pacific Northwest seafood deep fried to perfection. I've yet to have a comparable fish and chips experience like Ivar's.

Back in the day, we used to choose between Skippers and Ivar's. For some reason, we always went to Skippers. I remember the fishnet floor and the ahoy there atmosphere.

I've been to Legal Seafoods in Boston, and I can honestly say that it does not compare to what you find in the Pacific Northwest.

2010 Revival

2010-09-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. Facebook, school, work, endings, new beginnings, tough realisations, new friends, gaps and longings...

Penny is back.

Facebook, Playdates for Adults?

2009-06-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

It has been ages since I've last posted. I've now got a Facebook page but my queries are confined to ridiculous "quizzes" which help you to understand, "What font are you?" "What character in Star Trek are you?" "What kind of cheese are you?" You take the quiz and your friends comment.

It's a structured social playground. Like a play date for adults. Scheduled and structured social participation.

And I'm still mildly addicted. I have yet to find out how to manage the updates. I don't need to know the daily status points of a bored housewife acquaintance. "I need a nap." Or, "What's that piece of cheese doing on the sofa?"

I rarely post a status. Mostly you might see, "Penny is..." And not because I'm trying to be cute, but I can't figure out how to prevent myself from updating my status unintentionally.

Other weird things on Facebook:

-Why did my ex- invite my parents to FB? They promptly signed up, knowing nothing about Facebook and suddenly they appear as my ex's friends!?
-Why does my ex's new gf want to constantly post on my wall (I've now discovered how to "hide" my wall. Woo hoo)
-Why do people put their name, email, phone, photo, and birthdate on their profile?
-Why did i initially think it was fun to add people from high school? (I ended up de-friending most of them, this was before i discovered the privacy tools)

Anyway. Am back to my blog. It is like an old friend. My log of life.

Discourse

2008-03-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

I once taught an English conversation class that was 50% Brasilian/Mexican and 50% Japanese and Korean. Guess which group was more outspoken? If you guessed the Brasilians, you would be correct. The Brasilians dominated the class, demanded my attention, and kept up a lively energy in the classroom. The Asian students were quieter and more reserved. It was definitely unbalanced.

Before you jump to the default "Asians are quiet and shy" stereotype, listen...

What do you think the Brasilians thought of their Asian classmates? They complained about their lack of participation. "Why are they so quiet?," they asked me, "Don't they like us?" "Why are they so shy?" The Asian students said, "They are so loud, why do they not let anyone else speak?"

In the next class I brought in a basketball, a "bowling ball," and a rugby ball. "Today," I announced, "We're doing to learn about discourse styles." For all of you English teachers out there, yes, I'm referring to the work of Susan Steinbach!

"Discourse styles? What is discourse?" Silvana shouted out. Well, not shouted, but you get the picture.

"Discourse is the way people communicate, I'm talking about conversatoin styles. We're going to talk about how different cultures communicate." I explained.

I had a few students come up and demonstrate (without speaking) a round of bowling. One student took the ball, stepped ahead of the others and "rolled the ball" down the lane. When he was done, another student stepped forward. I then jumped in. "What if I were to grab the ball out of the hands of the one bowling? Is that acceptable?" Everyone agreed that doing so would be rude.

I next had students demonstrate basketball. One student held the ball, and 2 others were trying to steal the it from her. She then started down the "court," and another student stole the ball and took off in the opposite direction. "Is it OK to steal the ball in this situation? Is it OK for everyone to grasp at the ball at the same time?" Everyone agreed that this was acceptable.

I finally had a small group demonstrate a rugby scrum--minus the violence. A student grabbed the ball and started "running down the field." Another student jumped in, pushed him aside, and stole the ball. Another student pretended to knock that student to the ground, and went in another direction. "What's going on here?" I asked. "Chaos," a few students replied. "Is it OK to steal the ball? change directions? Push people in order to get to the ball?" Everyone agreed that this was acceptable.

I later talked about the work of Susan Steinbach. She is an English teacher who described discourse styles in terms of sports.

Bowling reflects the conversation styles of "high-context" and hierarchical cultures. Turn-taking is very important. It is considered rude to just break into a conversation. This is typical of some Asian cultures, Swiss German culture, according to Steinbach.

Basketball represents the conversation style of North Americans, Australias, and British. Conversations can be fast paced, can change direction, and the object is to speak and be heard.

Rugby represents a conversation style in countries like Latin America, Greece, or Russia. It is normal and acceptable to interrrupt, raise your voice, and start speaking while others are still speaking. Consider where the weather is hot (or cold, in the case of Russia) and the food is spicy---you'll probably find a rugby style of conversation.

Afterwards, it was understood that the Asian students aren't necessarily "quiet" or "shy," but they were waiting their turn to speak. Brasilians realised that they needed to allow for others to jump in. The Asian students began to take chances--they jumped into conversations, and spoke out a lot more.

It is interesting to think of the "sports" we play in our lives. Being from where I'm from, we're rubgy players all the way....

Metroethnicity

2008-03-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I've got a multiethnic background and am a hybrid of a few different cultures. What is foreign to me is being rooted in one culture or country with blood relations and knowledge of a "homeland," (region of a country), ancestors, and lineage. In terms of my ethnicity, it has always been a contruct I'm piecing together...

I've recently read a very interesting article called, "Metroethnicity, language, and the principle of Cool," by John Maher.

Here is an excerpt:

"Metroethnicity is a reconstruction of ethnicity: a hybridized ‘‘street’’ ethnicity deployed by a cross-section of people with ethnic or mainstream backgrounds who are oriented towards cultural hybridity, cultural/ethnic tolerance and a multicultural lifestyle in friendships, music, the arts, eating and dress."

No surprises here... The article goes on to discuss the ties between language and identity. In this age of globalization, I am fascinated with the way countries either accept or reject global perspectives and to a degree, identity. What they accept, why they reject other things, and how it encourages some countries to revisit their cultural heritage in new ways. Consequently, how does that affect one's identity in countries around the world, speaking English as a Lingua Franca?

Globalization encourages self-assertion to a degree we've never seen before. I think this crosses all frontiers and cultures. And it's not about "becoming American." It's about "lifestyle emancipation," as Maher puts it.

Even if I was tied to my biological roots/land, would I still seek a "lifestyle emancipation" from my culture? I wonder.

New Tagline

2008-03-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Here it is: "You're ah-ha moment is my reality."

Seriously. I should make t-shirts.

Namdaemun

2008-02-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

Sad. A 600-year old wooden structure gone just like that... Unbelievable.

Am copying the words of my friend Graham, as he expressed how it would have gone down if it had taken place in Japan: "Amazing that they didn't have some sort of super fire-fighting system thing in place. I can imagine the Japanese having some sort of super-duper apparatus that would flood the whole thing in 10 seconds flat at the first hint of fire. Or would have secretly rebuilt it without using anything flammable, yet having it still resemble 600 year old wood. Actually, if it were in Japan, it probably would have burnt down hundreds of years ago, and have been rebuilt post-war in ferro-concrete...." We both agreed that if this happened in Japan, that the one held responsible would definitely commit suicide in disgrace. I took it a bit further saying that he'd do it old school--sword to the gut.

Koreans felt that it was like watching a good friend go down in flames. For me, it felt like a distant relative that I never met but got to know through photo albums and stories of other relatives.

Democrats

2008-02-02T22:02:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I'm still undecided. Hillary or Barack?

My not so secret wish is that Barack Obama wins by a wide margin and chooses Al Gore as his Vice-President running mate. So what if Barack is a cousin of Dick Cheney. So what if Al Gore has the worst reputation amongst his secret service guards? I don't care. We clearly cannot have four more years of another Republican.

Where do you measure up? I'll tell you my results if you tell me yours...
http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

Rain

2008-01-31T22:45:00.000-08:00

It's completely blustery here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I love it. Surely it is the Pacific Northwest that lives in me. I love that sharp and crisp cold. I love razor edged mountains lined with snow. I love wearing scarves and floppy warm hats. Having said that, I've been in California long enough to appreciate breaks of sun in the winter. Grey skies will always be comforting.

Sometimes I wish I could look out at this sort of scene (see photo)--and spend my days sipping green tea, reading, writing, napping, warming my legs under a kotatsu...feeling peaceful. I miss that part of my life in Japan. The simplicity and the dreaminess. The friendships that kept my heart warm through the 3-meter snow winters. I was happy to visit those good friends earlier this month. This photo was taken from our room at the Mukaitaki in Aizu-Wakamatsu. What I would give for an hour in the spa baths about right now, just before going to bed.

Sometimes I wish I could spend my days as a lifeguard at Onekahakaha Beach in Hilo, Hawai'i. Responsible for very little. The big thing of my day would be to remember sunscreen and figure out what kind of bento I would eat for lunch. There is no doubt that Cappy and I will be retiring there. She will be writing the novel of her dreams. I will be blogging and cooking for our family. We'd sit on our veranda eating freshly picked lychee. We'll have picnics on Coconut Island with our friends and families. I am looking forward to those days. They are still quite far away.

Presently, my life has become robust as I'm settling into the rhythm of 2008. Cappy and I have joined a triathlon training team with the incredible ladies at See Jane Run. Spring semester has brought cheer back into my life. I'm finally seeing tracks on the road. In other words, my dissertation is taking shape--in my mind at least. In other news, one of my favorite couples has just become engaged. They're in Tokyo now, but soon off to Sydney and Sweden. My best childhood friend is recovering from chemotherapy. And lastly, a good friend and I have hatched a plan to create the community that we seek.

I will certainly return to my normal snarkiness tomorrow, but for now I feel thankful and light...

Spring Semester

2008-01-28T10:32:00.001-08:00

Catch up:

I'm back in the world of quantitative vs. qualitative research, dreaming of international education conferences, $100 textbooks, study breaks, and classmates... I find school to be the perfect antidote to my annoyances with work. I find the excitement of this past week's departmental meeting to be as fun as a night out in a club. My desire for late night or mid-afternoon clubbing has been temporarily quelled. Although, my association with clubs has been tarnished forever (in a good way, really) In any case, I was honestly quite happy at school this past weekend.

I've recently re-connected with some great friends this past month, both here in the States and abroad. The fact that we've not seen each other for over ten years, or have become too busy in the last few years to hang out reminds me of what I cherish the most--those with whom I share significant context. Those kindred spirits and their incredibly open, intelligent, and generous minds and spirits....

I'm hanging on to these last few days of January. I have a good feeling about 2008. For me. And you.

Poetry for the Day:

High is our calling, Friend!--Creative Art
(Whether the instrument ofwords she use, Or pencil pregnant with ethereal hues,)
Demands the serviceof a mind and heart.

-William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Nishi-Aizu

2008-01-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a lovely and familiar view of Nishi-Aizu, Japan--the town where I lived from 1993-1995. This was taken from the local Banetsu line that trundles all the way to Niigata. I had forgotten how gorgeous it is up in the north.

I spent so many hours gazing out at this landscape. Through four seasons, through trips back and forth to Tokyo--always with a box of Salad Pretz and a can of green tea. I was either happy to be leaving to a place of anonymity or relieved to be coming back where everyone knew me. Or rushing back thinking I had left my iron on atop my 6 tatami floor. Though rushing is a bit of a stretch, considering there were times that I thought I could run faster than the local train.

This return to Nishi-Aizu was very special since with Cappy by my side. We arrived at the Nozawa stop at 11.45 in the morning. We stepped out onto the familiar station platform and lugged our suitcases up the stairs and across to the other side. I had worried about what we'd do with these heavy monstrosities while walked about the town. Thankfully, the station attendant agreed to store our suitcases and backpack. It was a huge relief.

On this day, the skies were their usual grey, melted snow ran along the side gutters, and the familiar chilly air stung my ears. We walked through the narrow streets. I pointed out the cow that lived down the street from me, my old homestay house, my apartment, the space where I parked my scooter, and my friend Chieko's AC Club. It was the only bar in town with Guinness on draught and real Italian spaghetti. No big deal, except it was one of 3 or 4 restaurants that I went to on a regular basis. Does 7-11 count as a restaurant, though?

The highlight of the day was visiting the nursing home where I used to volunteer. After ten years, I wasn't sure any of the residents that I helped would still be there. Thankfully, I met one of them. When we entered the main dining room, I saw a woman sitting in a wheelchair just in front of the door. "Oh my god, Aiko Suzuki?!" I was amazed-- and the nurse was surprised that I remembered her name. Suzuki-san is now 96 and still had the same caring eyes and bright smile. When asked if she remembered me, she smiled and nodded her head. I used to wheel her out from her room to the dining room. She'd utter questions and tell me stories....I'd just look at her and shake my head--totally not getting what she was saying. She'd just laugh and keep on talking to me.

We made it back to the station in time for the 3.23 train. I knew that the sentiment of this day would be realised and cherished at a later time, but felt the beginning of it as Cappy and I waited on the platform. When asked how I felt about returning, all I could think about was how small it seemed. The town seemed as if I had been looking at it from a bird's eye view. I clearly remember not really being able to see beyond the pine tree borders and mini-mountains back in '93-'95. I guess that is a thing of age and subsequent life experience.

Being in Nishi-Aizu was certainly a nice break from the concrete mega watt land of Tokyo. Although I was deeply satisfied for having re-connected with a few people, I was equally thrilled to be departing. Back when I was 23, I was open to anything. You'll have to do a homestay for one month. OK. Live here. Sure. Work here. Sure. Shop here. OK. Eat lunch in this room today. Sure. Teach a class every Monday night here. OK.

Within minutes of heading down the tracks, my town was already fading away once more. This time, as the train pulled out of Nozawa station, I felt an amazing sense of freedom.

Bump of Chicken

2008-01-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Are you kidding me? Bump of Chicken is a rock band that has set out to "change the history of rock and roll." Who knew that such a monumental transformation may come from a band of thin Japanese dudes from Chiba?

So why Bump of Chicken? Is it an extension of their rebellion to deliberately mashup the English language? I mean, who really owns English anyway? Not the native speakers, I can guarantee you.

What kills me is that the misuse of English is intended--that their self-love surpasses the desire for a familiar and appropriate use of English.

This band name is perplexing to me as Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Ruth's what?! Who is Chris, does he/she belong to Ruth? Jesus Christ.

Tokyo

2007-12-29T23:21:00.000-08:00

The rumors are true...

Penny and Cappy are braving the skies bound for Tokyo, Japan. This trip marks Cappy's first time in the Land of the Rising Sun. I've not been back in ten years. In 1997, I was climbing the steep hills of Itaewon much too often and eating chili and rice at Korean Wendy's--longing for Hawai'i. In late April of '97, I was able to pop over to Saitama for a women's weekend, as well as a quick trip up to my old junior high school in Nishi-Aizu, Japan.

We leave tomorrow and arrive on the afternoon of New Year's eve.

I know I'm not as young and limber as I was in 1993, but we'll try to push through the pain of the whirlwind week and a half that I've planned.

No matter what--the jetlag and sleep deprivation, density, lights, and cigarette smoke will all be worth it once we're dipping our toes into the hotspring waters at Mukaitaki...

Globalization

2007-11-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Globalization is often misappropriated. Too many people equate globalization with internationalism, or worse, multiculturalism.

My two thoughts on globalization for today:

1. The 58,000 gallon oil spill in the San Francisco Bay Area is just one more collision between the environment and the unfettered capitalism of a global economy. They say that the oil will never be cleaned up.

2. Globalization is the ability for an isolated individual in his mid-20's to acquire the financial power of a state, if not country. Yes, I'm speaking of the 50+ billion dollar mind of Facebook. A young American white man in his mid 20's.

Who knew that social networking would be the new General Motors? Perhaps we can all start discussing how we'll deal with the ineviable environmental migration. We brag about our generators, SUV hybrids, and bottled water as we prepare for the mass migration to Alaska or Iceland. Both of which should be near tropical in 20 years...

Catch Up

2007-11-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hello my dwindling readership,

I've cut over to MySpace, Yelp, and LinkedIn....and have thusly reneged on my regular blog duties.

Headlines:

-Cappy and I are heading to the concrete metropolis of Tokyo, Japan after the New Year. Our New Year plans are non-existent. Hopefully there will be some savory vending machine options. We land at 4pm on Dec.31. Our plans include a quick download of Tokyo offerings, a trip to Fukushima prefecture and possibly a venture southward to Hiroshima. Must get going on the planning side of things...

-Am back in the world of libraries, reading lists, and long hours in the classroom. I am thoroughly enjoying school, my classmates, and everything I'm reading. It is true that as you get older, you certainly have a smaller window of time for maximum brain effectiveness. I am currently negotiating this theory while balancing full-time work. So far, I do not have a headache every day as I did the first week of class...

-Am training for a mini-triathlon. My brother and Cappy tell me that 400 yards for the swimming portion equals about 16 laps in the pool. Thankfully I've been pushing it for 20 laps (where one lap is up/back the 25 yard width of the pool). The triathlon sprint is not until Spring 2008, but am trying to get my cardio sorted out way before then.

-My brother and his family have adopted a 4 year old Dalmatian called "Lady." Apparently, she loves the kids, loves sleeping, and seems very happy to have been rescued from her former life. She was a breeder of tiny black and white fur balls. Now, she seems content with wearing beads and various accessories applied by her new 9-year-old sister.

I must go but before I do, I will leave you w/some links:

Keeping One's Word in the 20th Century:
http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

It's horrific yet true:
http://www.iabolish.org/

Yours truly,
Penny

San Diego

2007-09-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

This restores my faith in the presence of humanity in politicians--those with the courage to stand behind their beliefs:

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=26888@kpix.dayport.com

Quite moving, refreshing, and restorative.

Back to School

2007-08-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm an official student. The honeymoon of the orientation and first class has worn off. I'm now a doctoral student at the University of San Francisco.

I love it so far, but I've had a headache for 3 days straight! What is happening!?! Cappy tells me that it's normal--I'm clearly not used to academic reading and thinking.

A comparison:
My mind is like a soccer player who hasn't been on the pitch for ages but has kept up jogging for fitness. Turning years of on/off jogging into strenuous fits and starts for professional soccer is proving to be a situation. But not one that I can't overcome.

It's the making money part that gets in the way, really.

In my Master's program, I was working part-time. I had entire days that I could spend at the library and 3 hour evening classes as opposed to four hour Saturdays twice a month.

Nevertheless, I feel alive.

Gombei

2007-08-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Have been seriously craving good Japanese food for a while now. For those of you who know me well, you know I go through particular food cravings.

Sometimes it's a streak of peanut butter and jelly sandwich dinners. Or more recently, Rice Crispies cereal with sliced banana.

Lately, it has been Japanese food. And I'm not talking sushi, but regular teishoku. A well balanced tray of starch, soups, a side dish, and a main dish that my grandma used to make.

Living in Oakland, you've got your choice from various Korean or Chinese "sushi" restaurants. Not a hater, but TNT rolls with extra Korean spicy tuna in the middle and baked salmon on top is NOT sushi. And the local Cantonese speaking guys rocking the hachimakis are definitely spirited and slap together a "Shrek" roll with the best of them, but... I always leave feeling filled, but not full.

OK, but I can deal. I know i'm not in the middle of Ginza. However, i recently had an experience that drove me to near disapparation to the middle of the Tokyo metropolis.

The happening went down like this:

So it's a weeknight and Cappy and I are in a huff about nothing. Read: extreme hunger. We pull up to a local "sushi" place, knowing full well it's farm team sushi and nothing like the real deal.

Firstly, this place is filled with various Asian ethnicities, Latin, African-American, Caucasian, you name it. Don't strain your eyes looking for Japanese people because they are not here and would seriously catch hell if they ever did end up here....

We ordered the Lambada Roll. I know, I know, I know... What was the essense of the Lambada you ask? Spicy tuna and salmon slathered with avocado and tobiko. It was filling, yet unappealing. Kind of like how people can be totally attractive yet revolting at the same time? Like that. Delicious yet wrong.

But this was the worst part. I ordered tendon. As you know, tendon is supposed to be tempura sitting atop a bowl of rice, with that lovely tendon sauce drizzled over the top. What arrived at my table certainly resembled tendon. But there was no sauce!? No big. Just need to ask for the tendon sauce and all will be well.

I managed lure a Korean server over to our table. I probably had the look of one who had accidently rubbed wasabi in my eyes. She comes over and I say, "I think they forgot to put the tendon sauce here." She then gives me a puzzled look, as if to say, "Are you really wearing gym clothes in my dining room?" She got the question however, and shuffled away with the same puzzled expression.

At this point, I'm thinking I'm not going to get any sauce at all. It's not going to happen. Or, she'll come back with apologies saying that it's been a busy night and she rushed out the dish. No problem, I'd say. I'm not about to cause any trouble, you see.

I look up 3 minutes later and she's walking my way holding a small bowl. I'm all happy because i'm thinking "self-drizzle!" But as she set the small bowl down, i realise, it's tempura sauce!?!?

I spent the rest of the dinner miserably dipping my super sized tempura veggies into a bowl of tempura sauce that had been seriously ladled with ginger. Case in point: the carrot piece resembled those gigantic pink erasers we used in elementary school. Remember those? They had the toughness of a bar of soap and made mincemeat of that news sheet paper we used for penmanship practice....

Again, not a hater but this experienced just ramped up my authentic Japanese food craving tenfold.

Yesterday with a lot of happiness and high expectations, Cappy and I were able to make our quarterly pilgrimage to our favorite Japanese restaurant in San Jose. Gombei is a life saver. It is my years in Tohoku and years of my grandmother's cooking all in one little cafe.

I had some perfectly grilled hamachi teriyaki, Sendai style miso soup, pumpkin croquettes, tsukemono, rice and salad. Cappy was without words for her stuffed aburage, sashimi, miso soup, salad, and rice.

The flavors, the small dishes, the shoyu/mirin taste, the perfectly fluffy yet sticky rice...

All was well in my world.

Bliss

2007-07-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

Feast your eyes on chicken laulau, fried rice, and tsukemono from Kuhio Grille in Hawai'i. Yum! I wish I had taken more pictures like this of various meals from all of my favorite restaurants. Clearly, I was too involved with the eating process to get the camera out.

Highlights:

Late nights with my mom indulging her Korean drama craze. This time it was "My Lovely Sam-Soon." I realised it is not just my mom. All of her friends are totally hooked on Korean dramas--viewed at high volume and sometimes consecutively until early morning. Swimming with the kids at Onekahakaha Beach, Itsu's ice shave, Coconut Island, karaoke and Hawaiian puupuus (appetizers) Hilo style at Bamboo Garden, catching up with relatives and old friends, fireworks, a day at the Hilton Waikoloa, Tex's Malasadas, etc.

Will probably write more about this trip in the week to come.

What wonders a week under the Hilo sunshine has done....

Hilo

2007-06-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

To the right you can catch a 1964 glimpse of Hapuna Beach on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Not much has changed, however--unless you count the ginormous Hapuna Prince Hotel that now resides up the hill from the beach. Hapuna is one of the few white sand beaches on the island. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Let the tourists flock to Maui and Waikiki, I say...

Good news: We'll be driving up to the "Poke Truck" in Hawai'i in less than 24 hours! This will be our fourth trip to Hilo together. That means in the five years Cappy and I have been together, we've gone "home" once a year. We missed Hawai'i in 2006, but I'm sure we'll make up for lost time.

Thankfully, we can now fly directly from Oakland to Hilo without catching Honolulu airport's Wiki Wiki to the inter-island terminal. That means we leave here around 4pm and arrive in Hilo close to 7pm. Brilliant.

Although i've been looking forward to the trip, it will be the first time since I was an infant that I've not stayed in my grandparent's house. It's now on the market and my parents have new digs. I know it's ultimately just a structure of wood and stone, but I have a bittersweet feeling about it all. It's extremely hard for me to imagine anyone else peering out to Hilo bay from my grandparent's deck, or seeing other cars parked in the driveway. My parents' new place is up the street. I've already promised myself that I'll close my eyes as we pass by the old house. Not meaning to be melodramatic, but it's the only structure in this world where I feel entirely safe.

Am looking forward to:

-Spending time with the niece and nephew.
They're currently enrolled in Level 3 basic swimming classes at the YWCA. Read: transitioning from dog paddle to the basic crawl. Hopefully my nephew won't have too many "time outs" this year.

-The aforementioned "Poke Truck."
Apparently a local guy prepares a few different kinds of poke, loads up his truck, and parks next to the KTA supermarket. My dad (a poke expert) claims that the Poke Truck's garlic ahi tuna poke is to die for.

-Sharing my slide to dvd (and jpeg) project.
As you know, (from what I've said and written) I've spent TONS of hours on this project. I really look forward to sharing it with my parents. You probably know this if you've been talking to me recently but I've had 2800 slides scanned and converted to jpeg. Then I chose 500 select images, compiled a soundtrack, and had a DVD made. My mom claims that she may not make it through the entire DVD. I know what she means. I cried a lot putting this project together. I'm at the point now where I've seen the images so many times, that I can watch it as if I'm watching an episode of Top Chef.

-Swimming at Onekahakaha Beach with the kids.
In the slides, particulary from 1971-1974, there are a lot of images of my brother and I being held up in the water by our parents and grandparents. Now things have evolved---now we're the ones swimming with the kids, sitting on the very same steps, standing under the same brackish water shower...

-Seeing my childhood friend Teri and her new baby, Ryder
With Teri and her friends I: bought my first bottle of vodka at 17, had my first taste of Hawaiian pakalolo, drove without a license behind the sugar cane fields near Hilo Hospital, and attended YWCA's Summer Fun Camp. The memories.

I can go on here but the dog needs to be walked, things need to be packed, etc.

Aloha.

Quiz

2007-06-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hey now, it's time for a quiz of sorts!

The topic is: IKEA product or Cirque du Soleil show? Here's how it works, I'll call out a word, and you shout out "Cirque du Soleil!" Or "IKEA!"

Ready? Go!

1. Nouba
2. Kooza
3. Inreda
4. Ka
5. Fira
6. Agerum
7. Mandal
8. Varekai

The things that pass through your mind on a Friday afternoon....

Chapeau!

2007-06-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary a few weeks ago, we tried Chapeau!. It is now officially one of my favorite French restaurants in the city. I want to bring all of my friends here one by one, two by two, whatever it takes until everyone I know can recall the designs of the faded yellow Provence-like murals on the wall.

The warm hospitality, the succulent and delicate flavors, the quaint and down to earth ambiance, the passion of the host/chef, the superb service--what else is there to say? I'm in love.

I had the mesclun salad with warm brie and walnut pain, salmon with spinach, lentils, tomato, prawns and mussels, and a heavenly praline cake. Cappy had oysters, the day boat scallop appetizer, monkfish with lobster risotto, and a trio of sorbets. All were wonderful, not overpowering, heartwarming and delicious.

Phillipe (host/chef/sommelier) greeted us heartily upon our arrival, and sent us off with kisses. He's a passionate French man who has been known to chase down people blocks away just to thank people.

Aqua (SF) is like the fabulous one night stand with a rock star---one who is unattainable, not one you'd not settle down with, but will always stand out in your mind. But Chapeau! is the one you fell in love with, the one who became your best friend as well as lover--and best of all, being with them is the promise of a lifetime of one night stands.

Go to Chapeau! to recall your French holidays, indulge yourselves, and remember not only what good French food is all about, but also how it should be enjoyed. Also, the $25 early bird prix fixe is not a bad option for a weeknight or Sunday...

Under the Weather

2007-06-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for 6 days straight now. It's to the point where I've forgotten what it is like to have energy for my own life. I don't mean to sound overly melodramatic, but it's true. Haven't you been so sick before that it completely knocks you down? I literally can't imagine what it's like to have had the energy to get all the way to S. San Francisco, work all day, come back, go to the gym, and still have energy to cook dinner?

Climbing stairs at home has been a Herculean effort. And if you've been here, you know that we have about 5-6 stairs leading to the loft. The dog has even been looking at me with her eerily humanlike "What's wrong with you?" look.

Being sick is almost like a vacation, but sleeping in your own bed, and no change of scenery. My wonderful Cappy has been running here and there for medication and juice, making me homemade chicken soup with tofu, and that sort of thing. I've picked up a book that I've been meaning to read for a very long time, am catching up on my New Yorker issues, am staring at the walls, sleeping...

In the sense of vacation, I mean that it's a severe mental break from work. I'm also finding myself missing every day things I used to enjoy. Meeting and catching up with good friends, going to the gym, shopping for groceries, seeing movies. I feel like I'm grounded.

Am not feeling sorry for myself, though it seems as such. I just am feeling really compounded by this lack of mobility. It could be much worse.

This past week has made me realise how tough it would be to not be able to live a life that is right before me. And I know this cough, fever, lung infection and lethargy will eventually fade away.... but it makes me sad for those who are afflicted with diseases that won't ever go away.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian has recently been released. I'm one who never felt he deserved to go to jail. It's sad that his assistance with the patient with Lou Gehrig's disease set off a controversy that blamed him for suggesting no other alternative for those afflicted with ALS.

I've never been close to the debilitative effects of any serious disease, and for that I am lucky and I hope to continue to be lucky. But I do feel that if it got to the point where my life didn't measure up for me, I would love the freedom to take control of my life. Inevitably, Kervorkian says that many who know they have the freedom to take their own lives, are imbued with more energy to fight their illness.

Thankfully Oregon gets it. And I really miss Track Town Pizza from Eugene. The best west coast pizza. Have got a serious pizza craving. Arinell in Berkeley or Track Town. Yummy. I must be feeling slightly better.

Disney

2007-05-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

Disneyland and Universal Studios with the kids was just as you'd expect. It was absolultely wonderful, exciting, and full of laughter. It made me think feel that I want my own kids. Almost.

Here's an image of our hotel. It was a 5-minute walk from our hotel room to the Disney turnstiles. This hotel also has a child friendly rooftop pool. It was perfect for a mid-afternoon swim break before returning to Disneyland for the night.

Being a quasi-parent for the weekend granted us exclusive yet temporary membership to a club that I didn't know existed. Or rather, one that I knew existed but one that I never wanted to join. The club I'm referring to is the society of parenthood.

As i looked around, many phrases started to make sense: "I'm going to count to 10," "Please keep your hands to yourself," and all of the strategies necessary to negotiate with young kids.

Am I ready to give up the freedom of downtime anytime and relatively clean food/toy free floors? Maybe I am creeping more towards a resounding yelp of "yes!" Rather than feeling stressed out and overly burdened, I actually liked being responsible for two young ones.

I know that one weekend is not nearly a true test of one's parental metal, but I know now that it's becoming more and more appealing. What I loved most about this weekend was listening to laughter--pure and in the moment joy.

My nephew's favorite rides: Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. He didn't like Indiana Jones at all, but loved Buzz Lightyear's Asto Blasters. My niece loved Indiana Jones and the Jungle Cruise. I know we could have shown them Disney California--but it's hard to be enthusiastic about that part of the park. It's kind of like suddenly rooting for a team like the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Carolina Panthers. Don't know them, they weren't around when I was young...

Notes on Disneyland:

-Splash Mountain re-opened after what seemed like years of refurbishment. After a grand debut, it promptly broke down again. Sad kids and an almost sadder Auntie : (

-The hairdo of teens and tween boys these days, or at least in Southern California, is a shaggy long mop. I wonder when the super coiffed Spandau Ballet hair will make its comeback? Maybe by the time my nephew is 14... I'm crossing my fingers.

-The Disneyland Railroad was out of operation. No cheesy dinosaurs between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Boo.

-The new and improved Space Mountain more than exceeded my expectations. The lights are digitally coordinated with the twists and turns. You actually feel like you're in space.

-Tomorrowland is much more alive with the opening of Space Mountain. The re-surfacing of the Finding Nemo Submarines will bring more vivacity to that area. It has been so depressing on trips past when Space Mountain was being refurbished and Nemo was in its conceptualization phase.

-Cinderella's Castle was much smaller than I remembered it. Perhaps I've seen too many images of Neuschwanstein castle...

I would love a special VIP tour of Disneyland:

-The interior of Space Mountain and Indiana Jones with the lights on.

-The basketball court inside the Matterhorn

-Walt Disney's apartment in Cinderella's Castle and Club 336 (New Orleans Square)

-Architectural tour of Pirates of the Caribbean. How many floors does it occupy? How does the water recycle within the ride? Are there any special rooms off the ride path?

I'd seriously love to quit my job and become a Disney Imagineer. I'd love to put my efforts towards something that brings joy and happiness to hundreds and thousands. If I worked at Disney, I always wanted to work the Pirates ride--for the costumes. But I also think it would be fun to operate Peter Pan.

Clearly, I'm in a post-Disney state of mind.

Update

2007-05-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Pennylane Productions--or the promise of it--has left the stratosphere. In comes the reign of Liliou from a land of waking sentiment, cynicism, and dreams. All PP posts remain as originally posted. And no animals were harmed in this transition--if you don't count the Tubular One's emotional neglect around people food.

Liliou is:

-unapologetic and true
-corn dogs not hot dogs
-forest moss
-Aizu and Akaka Falls
-double dipping

Why the change? All signs point to my Scorpio rising propensity for psychic regeneration. For the past 3 months, I've been re-directed, rejuvenated, and inspired by new things in my life.

In any case, we're very excited about our upcoming trip with the niece and nephew. Apparently my nephew Ryan has been waking up everyday telling my brother, "Bye Dad, I'm going to Disneyland." The concept of time is a tough concept for this little guy to grasp. He lives in the here and now. Next week, the following week, two days from now just doesn't make enough sense.

Being a huge Disneyland fan, I've had a lot of fun planning our trip. I've got our fastpass strategy down, and am thisclose to planning out an attraction schedule. I've found the perfect hotel. I've put more planning time into this trip than trips Cappy and I have taken. Rather than being spontaneous, I've had to plan out certain things. There are obvious considerations to be made when traveling with kids. However, I have stopped short at the risk of scaring not only Cappy, but also myself. There is nothing scarier and more suffocating than having a schedule that maps out each hour of the next four days.

As far as the child-friendly considerations:

All necessities (and perceived necessities) have been purchased: handiwipes, snacks, tiny ziplock baggies for the snacks, tickets, Disney scrapbook, sun lotion for kids, etc. Many questions have been asked/answered. Is it OK to bring a 7-year old into the ladies room? What do they like to eat for breakfast? What will their energy level be like at 10.30 pm? Would the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios be too scary? Which kid likes raw vegetables but not cooked vegetables? Do they like Mexican food?

Both kids have been to Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea a few times, but I still think Disneyland Anaheim is better. There are six rides and churros stands that don't exist at T.D. Or maybe they do have churros, but I don't remember.

In any case, the fun starts in less than 24 hours!

List

2007-05-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

Things that I've been craving lately:

1. A corn dog
2. Higashiyama onsen
3. AC/DC
4. Strawberry milk
5. Hearing the creaking floors of the Hilo house
6. Diving into the pool in Mtn. View

Playlist:

1. Rene and Akemi Paulo's "Here is Happiness"
2. Kitaro "Island of Life"
3. Elvis "Stuck on You"
4. Nat King Cole "That Sunday, That Summer"
5. Bing Crosby "Swinging on a Star"
6. Cocteau Twins "For Phoebe Still a Baby"

New Nicknames for the Tubular One (though she's no longer tubular):

1. Mistique
2. Fat Rabbit
3. Little Marsupial

Great Films I've recently seen:

1. Little Children
2. My Architect
3. Curse of the Golden Flower
4. The Painted Veil

Cappy and I did a brisk 3.5 mile hike this last weekend--albeit sneezing all the way. I can't seem to find 2 minutes of non-sneezing between 7.30-10 on most mornings. Seriously, the Bay Area has gotten much worse for asthmatics!

Two Bits

2007-04-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

Lately:

-MacArthur Maze Meltdown
Literal meltdown. For those of you not in the Bay Area, this happened. I know it won't last long, but my commute this morning was probably the best ever. Many people took public transportation or worked from home today--whatever the case, my commute was about 35 minutes, both ways. A friend told me that the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was stopped up on Friday night due to another truck that crashed and was on fire.

-New Ringtone
I got tired of the Monk's chanting every time a call came in. I've now got my ringer set to AC/DC's Back in Black. I think "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" may have been the first, or one of the first, cassettes I ever bought. Totally call me, I love hearing those first guitar lines...

-Great film: Children of Men
Loved it, so much so that I am now reading the novel. And this is not a typical thing in Penny's world. Watching the film, then reading the book, I mean. Warning: don't watch the film and special features in one sitting. You'll know what I'm talking about when you've got the DVD at home with you.

-Furikaki
I've always loved this Japanese condiment, but I've loved it especially last week. Had an ochazuke fit which perfectly suited me last week. Another bout of the flu. Yes, again.

-Sistas in the Pit
Cappy and I had a party recently. The lead singer/guitarist was in the house (she's dating a good friend of mine). I had no idea that she is a well-known DJ, nor that she was musical. I thought she had cool hair and really liked the party games we played. Anyway, I think this group rocks. They describe themselves as the love child between Jimi Hendrix and Sade. Brilliant.

Have a great week.

Project

2007-04-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

I've taken on a project of monumental proportions...

What is it?

In a downstairs closet at my parents' house, there is now a large empty space. Until March 2007, 33 slide boxes from 1964-1976 occupied two large shelves in that closet. Each box was featured titles such as: "College Days," "Summers in Hawai'i," "Trip to Montreal" "Summer 1976," etc. Back in the day, 35 mm slides were all the rage. Over the years, my dad broke out the slide projector one or two times so we've not seen all the slides in years.

My parents' 43rd anniversary is coming up this summer so I thought it would be a great present to have all slides converted to DVD. So now, after many hours and a borrowed light box from my friend/co-worker, i've now got the slides into 58 stacks of 50 slides. It has been a tremendous effort. Am now finding the energy to compile the accompanying soundtrack. Thus far, I've gathered tracks by: Bing Crosby, the Flamingos, Nat King Cole, Rene and Akemi Paulo, Dean Martin, Elvis, the Beatles, etc. Once this is complete, i'll be ready to send the box off to here, in Utah.

It has been interesting to see my parents' photos from their early years--in other words, the days before my brother and I came along. They had a full life before we came along--why would they not!? But still, it's interesting to hold up images of your parents lives pre-kids. Why would I imagine that life began for them when we arrived? They were like any other young married couple--starting new jobs, buying their first home, hosting New Years parties, taking silly pictures of each other, taking care of a dog...

The baby shots of my brother and I are untraditional. There are no shots of a mother cradling a red and shrivelled newborn and celebrations amongst balloons and cigars. No pictures of a proud papa posing on the side of a hospital bed.

Our baby pictures showed a different kind of slideshow--the first of the series shows my parents posing in front of the airport, next you see an airplane rolling into the gate, then traveler's aide workers carrying babies and toddlers, and finally, big smiles of the new parents who've just been handed over their new babies.

Hopefully, i'll get these slides ready to be sent out by the end of this week

Disneyland

2007-03-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me well, you know that I'm a big Disneyland fan. That said, I'm strictly a Disney park fan. I don't own or wear Disney t-shirts, hats, and jackets, and don't have a Mickey Mouse paraphernalia or DVD collection. I mean, I can barely muster the patience to sit through a full length animation film.

Google "Disneyland fan" and see how whacky it gets. Many of us Disney fans in our later 30's share a common bond. We didn't grow up with the internet and CDs. When we needed information for a book report, we went to libraries studied the dewey decimal system. We can recall the A-E paper tickets and the dire difficulty of deciding which E ticket ride to go on: Pirates of the Caribbean or the Jungle Cruise. Tarzan's Treehouse was the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. By the way, this was my favorite attraction as a child, as well as the now defunct Submarine. Thankfully, it will re-submerge in the summer of 2007!

In this picture below, you can see my younger brother and I enjoying a chocolate Sees lollipop We're at the Disneyland hotel. It must have been around 1974; I was four and my brother was two. We were on our first trip to Disneyland with our parents and grandparents. I can still actually remember some things about that trip...

I am lucky to have such wonderful memories of family trips to Disneyland. My grandparents and parents spoiled us rotten. We were lucky to have the full Disney experience many times before we became cynical teenagers.

Since this picture was taken, we returned as a family to the park in 1976 (Anaheim) and 1985 (Tokyo). Over the years, I visited Disneyland with high school friends, college friends, girlfriends, and with my brother after college. In 1995, and against the wishes of my then girlfriend, I visited Paris Disney. As a French person, she couldn't understand that I'd take a whole day out to run around in a place she called "a kingdom made of bubblegum" (rough translation). Whatever. Needless to say, it did not have the "Disney" feel to it, but I enjoyed it just the same.

My dream job when I was younger was to join the Imagineer team. My dream was to design and conceptualize new rides. I even had an idea for a whole new "land" to add to the park. Unfortunately, I quickly learned in junior high school and high school that math and science was not my thing.

Well, maybe I don't necessarily need to be an Imagineer. All I want to know is what the overall architecture of Pirates of the Caribbean looks like. How is that building built? How many levels does it house? Are there backlot breakrooms behind the big scenes?

All of this Disney nostalgia has come about because Cappy and I have made plans to take my niece and nephew to Disneyland later this Spring. They have both been to Tokyo Disneyland (and the accompanying Disney Sea) a few times, but they both haven't been to the Anaheim Disneyland for a long while--I'm talking pre-Winnie the Pooh and the new Autopia. And this is the first time we're traveling with the kids.

This upcoming trip is nearly exciting to me as the first time I ascended the escalator at Châtelet-Les-Halles in 1994. I guess this says a lot about where I am in my life. Does that mean I'm finally turning the corner on the kid bit? Perhaps...

The best thing now is that both kids are taller than 40" which means they can ride on almost anything. Also, if you could see all the emails flying back with my brother and sister-in-law, you wouldn't be able to tell who is more excited--the aunties or the kids?

I Love Sushi

2007-03-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Feast your eyes on chirashi sushi, agedashi tofu, and garlic calamari from Bellevue, Washington's, "I Love Sushi." We all shared the calamari and tofu. My parents had tempura and my niece and nephew shared a "Caterpillar Roll." My brother had an amazing tofu steak and my sister-in-law enjoyed....I can't remember. Some kind of sushi roll maybe?

You'd think there'd be an abundance of quality Japanese restaurants where I'm currently living. Sadly, there is not. A co-worker told me that near authentic restaurants can be found in San Mateo, but I have yet to explore that area...

Seattle, or I should say the Eastside (Bellevue/Redmond), is becoming decidedly similar to many other American urban cities. The live/work lofts are invading towns; Walgreens, Jamba Juice, and Crate and Barrels are following you everywhere you go. Rather than Pacific NW restaurants, there are Ruth's Chris Steakhouses (what does this name even mean??), PF Changs, and the overrated Cheesecake Factory's all over. Ugh.

Needless to say, I did re-realise how much I love the Pacific Northwest. I love the cool crisp air and the lovely shades of green everywhere. And the great Japanese restaurants!

I've just re-read this entry (about 30 min. after having written the top bit) and have noticed a quirky habit of mine. Ever since I was able to write, I've recorded nearly everything in my life. Weird unimportant things and big things. I was apparently an early follower of Joan Didion's claim, "We write to experience life twice. Once in the moment and once more in retrospect." This is not verbatim, but you get the picture.

Also, and perhaps neurotically--from my earliest diaries to every travel journal I've ever written, I recorded what everyone has eaten. From family trips to Japan, to summers in Hilo, I had nearly every dinner recorded. Maybe not everyday, but at least 3 out of any given week.

Typical journal entry from 4th grade: "Today I saw Brad playing kickball. In class, we watched a movie about colonial life. I went home and practiced piano. We ate meatloaf and rice and salad. I helped mom do the dishes." (Brad = my big crush of 4th grade)

I'm not sure why I did this. I still do it, to an extent. There has to be some comfort in knowing what I ate in Paris on New Years Eve 2005? Maybe. Why do I feel compelled to record meals? Well, not every meal. Just certain ones during certain times in my life.

I once imagined what it would be like to record your entire being. Say, if you had amnesia and "forgot" your entire life. How much could one record to recall their former life, personality, habits, hobbies, etc. ? My "life recording" would have weird entries that I'd ponder in my post-amnesiac state. "You never eat pork but you enjoy the occasional hot dog or prosciutto. You have a pathological fear of holes and you prefer dog people to actual dogs." What the hell?? Would i like the one I've recorded, would I be able to relate to myself or even make sense of the "old" me? I often think of this on my drive in to work. I have no idea why.

Anyway, back to the recording food bit. A few months ago, Cappy and I stopped into Cody's Bookstore in the city. I found a book published by a guy who photographed everything he ate for one year. Everything. Every snack, breakfast, and hungover late night meal. Now that's taking it a bit too far. Then I realised there are copious blogs on this same topic. To do this for myself would be not only uninteresting, but absolutely frightening.

In my mind, recording things I've eaten in writing is not the same as a photo journal of everything. Maybe it's a bit OCD. I don't think so.

I'm a nut.

Renegade

2007-03-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what is going on in this picture?

You're looking at an animal escape simulation drill at a Tokyo zoo.

The mini can (car + van) is attempting to head off the "renegade ape." Now here's an important question: would the zebra stripes actually confuse or amuse a real ape? In any case, you know a lot of thought went into that paint job. The vehicle probably bears a special mark, "To be used expressly for animal escape drills."

Not to worry though--the ape was successfully apprehended by a lethal, yet virtual shot from a tranquilizer gun.

I am certain that this drill warranted an opening and closing ceremony with appropriate aisatsus. Was the renegade ape sent off with hearty "banzai" cheers? And how about the selection process for the ape... Surely it was deemed too "dangerous" for a woman. I'm certain that the "ape" had to go through some semi-rigorous warm up drills, both before and after his "escape."

What is even funnier is that this ape apparently frightened the hell out of a few children. I've since lost the article, but the look on the children's faces was priceless. It was not a look of horror--for the ape was clearly nothing like a live mammal. Rather, the look of horror was probably due to the horrific face that was created.

It was constructed with what looked like felt in various earth tones. The eyebrows were heavy and severe. The mouth was drawn from a disfigured clown with a demonic grin. Spooky. Definitely spookier than a real ape.

Poor children.

School

2007-03-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

It's official. I am now a doctoral candidate student. The road from, "I'm thinking of applying to graduate school, " to "All of my application materials have been submitted," to "I've been accepted" has been pretty fierce. Months of waiting, doubt, and despair. It hasn't sunken in quite yet, but the celebration began last night. I'll be whittling away my free time and embarking on 3-5 years of slog starting Fall 2007.

Why? Why now? For all the cons, there are a million pros.

Specifically, the sentiment from this quote:
"Is the life I'm living the life that wants to live in me?" -Parker Palmer

Cubicles are not normal environments for humans. And technology is like fruit--gorgeous but unreliable. You never know if that gleeming apple is going to be crunchy, mushy, or housing a worm. It's just not my passion.

I want to live.

GD

2007-03-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Laurent Manrique of Aqua is an international playboy with extra flair when it comes to inventive French/Asian cuisine. Each dish arrives spectacularly dressed with white gold cufflinks and Manolo Blahnik slingbacks. One leaves an Aqua dining experienced refreshed, inspired, and enchanted.

Gary Danko however, is your quiet unassuming uncle who once made a mini art deco table/chair out of a soda bottle cap and wire. The ambiance of his restaurant recalls the comfortable feeling of watching Little House on the Prairie DVDs--you're awashed with a feeling of indulging yourself with a tried and true classic, unpretentious, and wholesome. Sitting in the mirrored dining room, images of the homes of nearby patrons flashed into my mind: their dark wooden staircases, beds with 2000 thread-count sheets, with lighting and decor comparable to the dining room itself.

The service was impeccable as one would expect from a restaurant listed as a Relais au Chateaux establishment. The feeling was very adult Disneyland--from the clean cut staff with their polished and rehearsed repartee, and as many smiles that one encounters at the floating market in Thailand. Or in Thailand in general. The atmosphere is festive--about 6 people were celebrating birthdays in our area of the dining room, including yours truly. I half-expected a banner to float along the ceiling "Welcome to the Happiest Dining Room on Earth!"

Typical dialogue:

Customer: "I'd like to try four courses"

Note:
Gary Danko allows patrons to select 3-5 courses. You can mix and match to allow for 1 appetizer and 3 main dishes, 3 appetizers and one dessert, etc.

GD waiter: Excellent!

Customer: "I'll go with the trio of créme brulée with cookies, blueberry French toast with maple syrup emulsion and salted almond ice cream, pineapple upside down milk cake with walnut streusel and burnt caramel ice cream, and baked chocolate soufflé with two sauces. And I'd like them all at the same time. And also, the a.c. is quite strong in this corner..."

GD waiter: Absolutely! Most excellent choices, just brilliant! I'll bring over a pashmina shawl to drape over your shoulders. (said in a rapturous yet controlled tizzy)

Before I list the dishes we enjoyed, I'd like to state that Mr. Danko has the best pastry chef in town, if not North America.

Cappy:
Seared Ahi Tuna with Avocado, Nori, Enoki Mushrooms and Lemon Soy
Roast Maine Lobster with Abalone Mushrooms, Edamame Beans
Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Spaghetti Squash, Cipollini Onions, Sour Cherries and Almonds
Trio of Créme Brulée with Cookies

Me: (Winter Tasting Menu)
Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Salsify and Lettuce Cream
Horseradish Crusted Salmon Medallion with Dilled Cucumbers
Guinea Hen Breast and Confit Leg with Cornbread Pudding, Brussels Sprouts and Quince
A Selection of Farmhouse and Artisanal Cheeses Presented Tableside
Baked Chocolate Soufflé with Two Sauces

It was a phenomenal experience. We left with hearty greetings, a morning muffin (pineapple upside down cake), and a signed copy of the menu.

Hats off to Cappy for this wonderful birthday dinner!

Lists

2007-02-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Because I feel unoriginal yet inspired, here are some lists a la Tyra Banks.

Favorite Breeds of Dogs:
(even though I'm allergic and prefer dog people to actual dogs)

1. Pugs
2. Corgies
3. Shih-Tzus
4. Daschunds--the sweet ones that don't bark
5. Papillons

Favorite Desserts:

1. Itsu's Ice Shave (Hilo, Hawai'i)
2. Cafe 100's Peach/Pineapple Turnover (also Hilo)
3. Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
4. Hazelnut Gelato
5. Fresh Strawberry Shortcake

Things that make me happy:

1. Drawings from my niece and nephew
2. Knowing I've made a difference in the lives of my students
3. Cappy's deep belly laugh
4. Emails and "talking story" with my mom
5. Working out at the gym
6. Onekahakaha Beach with my niece, nephew, and Cappy
7. These words/phrases: "Fax Successful" "Yes!" "Receiving message" "Meeting Cancelled" "Your reservation is confirmed" "This is not a bill" "

Favorite All-Time Songs:
(a few of many...)

1. The Unforgettable Fire- U2
2. Where's the Ocean -Toni Childs
3. Perfect Circle-REM
4. Island of Life-Kitaro
5. Question of Lust-Depeche Mode
6. In this Heart-Sinead O'Connor
7. Over and Over-Morcheeba
8. Song to the Siren-This Mortal Coil
9. Marlene Dietrich's Favorite Poem-Peter Murphy

Guilty Pleasures:

1. Star, In Touch, and Us and me--uninterrupted on the couch by the window
2. Spa Chair pedicures
3. Vh-1's Behind the Music
4. True Crime on screen or in print
5. Costco samples--even though I KNOW what an English Muffin tastes like...
6. Listening to DeBarge, the Jets, and Klymaxx at work.

More lists to come. Or maybe not.

Todd

2007-02-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

It's been a long while. So long in fact that I've nearly forgotten that I have a blog. As of late, and as usual these days, I can't be asked to spend recreational time on the computer apart from work. My diary is not online, things have been hectic, and I've been forgetting to jot down potential entries. And also toss in a cold/flu that has lapsed and relapsed more times than necessary.

A bit of a catch up then?

As you know, and if you don't-- i'm still mired in the world of educational technology. I remain the dispassionate one about pastries as i swirl about in my day-to-day world of baked goods. That said, I have have learned why Microsoft's Vista is clever yet vindictive, and why the ADDIE Model and Rapid Prototype Development may become a part of my daily vocabulary. Good times indeed.

Thankfully, I have tossed many other bean bags in up the air... and some due to for landing any time now : )

And I'm not to thrilled to report that the Tubular One is now no longer a senior citizen. According to her vet, she's now geriatric. I've been contemplating the purchase of the book, Older Dogs for Dummies to help her deal with her challenges. The spark in her eye has dimmed, but she still hobbles around on her constant search for baby carrots. From the way she keeps her nose to the ground, I'm not convinced she believes that her bc's actually come from the refrigerator.

I've devoured these two films in the past week or so: Jesus Camp and Devil's Playground

In a recent past life, I must have been a religious fanatic. I feel that I was isolated geographically and emotionally from the outside world. Kept away from things and shunned from others. One who lived and breathed dogma, pleats, and pastels. Maybe I ate copious amounts of jello mold and smiled at people I didn't like? There's no other explanation for my recent Christian coalition of film.

I am fascinated by the ways and ideas that overly govern lives. I certainly believe that a higher power gives strength and is a spiritual compass, and is a code of conduct, etc. But it rings highly untrue for me. Yet, the lifestyles of the fanatic utterly fascinate me, albeit from a double glass window perspective.

Thus, I am certain of the strenuous imprisonment that I must have faced in a recent past life. Since I was young, I've had an aversion to any/all types of commitment. Identity, politics, sexuality, geography, religion, awareness--you name it. For my sins, I'll be born into a tightly knit Mennonite community. Then in my next, you'll certainly find me running guns and girls for the Lord.

Oh and I have to mention Top Design. My hairstylist/drag queen Scott claims that another interior design show was much better Top Design. Let me just say that I'd watch anything hosted by Todd Oldham. He is the cutest design nerd, like the boy I used to have a crush on in junior high school. What is it about this man? His misshapen hair and smile? His cartoon-like voice? His sincerity? His hipster downtown clown fashion?

I want Todd to be my best friend. I want to take him shopping, I want to invite him to my dinner parties, and meet him for happy hour after work on Fridays. The show is itself is OK, the contestants are boring, and the judges aren't that exciting either. But, with a host like Todd Oldham, it doesn't matter. He so totally rocks.

Sushi

2007-01-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

What you see here is the beginnings of a multicultural sushi party--part Iron Chef, part birthday party... Add a few bottles of sake, edamame hijiki salad, squid, miso soup, wasabi peas, ice cold Sapporo and a few good friends, and you've got a raucous dinner event.

It was absolutely intoxicating and I'm not even speaking of the fermented beverages. The sushi rolls last night were easily much better than any restaurant in the greater Oakland/Berkeley vicinity.

The multicultural aspect was represented by a few interesting rolls: Leslie's South of the Border Burrito roll, Lorrie's Kolohe roll, my Korean roll, Cappy's Chop Suey Roll, TA's S.E. Asia roll, and so on....

Other things:

-Though most of us couldn't feel our extremities, we managed to find things to keep us warm in South Lake Tahoe last weekend. Notably, we found solace in a drink called the "Toasted Drop" at a bar called 19 on the top floor of Harvey's casino. If you don't know what i'm talking about, or haven't been there, you should definitely check it out.

-I recently attended a JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching) Alumni Shinnenkai dinner for those ex-JETs in the Bay Area. Most of the ex-JETs were in their 20's--they either just returned or had been back in the States for a few years. The dinner was at a San Mateo restaurant called, Chika. They are known for, or should be known for their Japanese spaghetti, croquette, and seafood gratin. I can't wait to go back to Chika, preferably very soon.

When I was a JET in Fukushima-ken, it was before the time the internet was widely used. I talked to someone about how it would have been great to have had the technology that exists today. Rather than instantaneous emails, IM chats, and things like Skype, I actually hand wrote many letters and on occasion-- dragged the Board of Ed's waapuro home on my bike. For photos, I snapped them on my small shoe size Olympus camera. When the roll was shot, I walked it to a photo shop who then printed out my photos for me to collect a week later. When I wanted to speak to my family, we tried to shoot for once every other week.

I wouldn't say being technology insufficient was really that much of an inconvenience. I mean, would I have really taken advantage of all the things that I got into in my small town?

My town, Nozawa, could be best described as a one 7-11 town. When I got my paycheck--I trundled over to the local hardware/Target-like shop. I'd plunk down cash for rubber boots, and trivets that I didn't need. I spent hours volunteering at the local nursing home--which was probably better spent than surfing the internet and chatting with friends back home. I read books from cover to cover. I greeted elementary school students who'd show up at my door with Pocari Sweat, bags of chips and snacks, and coloring books. I spent time with my good friend Chieko at her bar, the AC Club. This restaurant/bar could have been in the middle of Osaka. They had a wonderful Italian menu and Guinness on top. To this day, I still miss the AC Club's special-- Spicy Italian seafood spaghetti. Perfectly cooked pasta, spicy shrimp, fish, and squid and a shared bottle of Beaujolais (an Aizu favorite) with Chieko afterwards...

I hope to visit Nozawa again at some point this year, or next. As for the sushi party, I'm thinking that should be a weekly event. OK, monthly.

January

2007-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I've been awful about posting in the last few months. Mostly because I can't be asked to get back on a computer after spending nearly all day typing, uploading, and editing at work. I see that it's been a few weeks since my last posting, and nothing appears for 2007. Sad.

Latest:

-Magic. Cappy got me a beginner magic set--yes, a real magic set. I won't be slicing anyone in half, but I am now able to pull off some basic card tricks. I've always had skewed visions of becoming the first queer Korean/Japanese-American street magician. If you didn't know this about me, we've clearly got to catch up. Will I perform for friends and co-workers? Highly unlikely. Will I be the coolest magic Auntie to my niece and nephew? Mostly definitely. Will I have given up this magic thing by my next blog posting? Perhaps...

-A friend and I were discussing the joys of being Asian-American in suburban American public schools. First music ever bought? Me: The Xanadu cassette soundtrack. Her: J.Geils Band. Favorite fashion? Esprit--essentially, Garanimals for pre-teens. Shared wonderment: When we look through our old yearbooks, we noticed something similar. The raccoon eyed-big hair-rocker girls still look like they're about 25 years old. Why is that?

-Cappy has secured reservations at Gary Danko for my birthday! I'm very excited. By the way, I share my birthday with Chris Martin of Coldplay, the new James Bond, Karen Carpenter, Lou Reed, Jon Bon Jovi, and Dr. Seuss.

-I've finally submitted everything for my grad school application. Thankfully, Jonathan Cainer says that just a bit more patience is required and I do not have to defer gratification for too long. An arbitrary reading, but one that gives me a bit of comfort.

There are a bunch of other things I'd like to write about, but it seems we're about to be going... We're heading to South Lake Tahoe very soon. I'm hoping it won't be a 5+ hour crawl up a slippery slope. For as much as I'm looking forward to gliding over powder, I'm also looking forward to a racuous roadtrip with some good friends.

Whirlwind

2006-12-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt that you've lived a year in two weeks? Or something close to that? The past few weeks have been a whirlwind and the reason why I haven't been posting recently. Here are some of the things that have kept me away from my computer:

Hilo comes to Oakland:
The cheery Libra-Army Horse with the bling, the charming tropical storm, the woman of every hour, the social butterfly with more friends than Oprah, the Tubular One's new best friend, a.k.a. my mom--was here for a visit earlier in November. Her visits are always like protracted slumber parties with Diet Pepsi. Our friends were treated to her colorful stories and infectious laughter. I remember growing up how I always felt that my friends found my mom a lot more fun than me. But thankfully now I can stand back and admire her without anger or jealousy. She has the ability to engage people in a disarming way, can charm anyone, and can probably sell grains of sand to a lifeguard at Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore.

The visit was somewhat bittersweet however. My aunt and her daughter also were in town from Hilo--which is one of the reasons my mom came to Oakland. For as fun as it was, we were also very sad about my aunt's diagnosis of ALS. The good news is that my aunt is now being treated for the early stages and is surrounded by wonderful friends like my mom and her family. What has been amazing is that friends and co-workers have come forward with information I never knew. A co-worker told me that her grandmother was diagnosed with ALS at age 70. My good friend wrote me an email about how she worked for a ALS physician at the University of Chicago. Another friend is going to let me know about the current ALS stem cell research at UCSD. I've been learning so much.

Ayame Kai:
Ayame Kai is the annual Holiday Bazaar at the Buddhist church in Seattle. For over five years, my mom has been peddling her Hawaii-made goods at this fair of sorts. If you've seen her o-musubi towels, you know what I'm talking about. For me, Ayame Kai means heavy lifting at 7.30 a.m. (unloading the truck in the rain), and putting on my happy face from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Last year, Cappy modelled a dress, which drew a big crowd. Unfortunately, this year Cappy was sidelined after a long business trip in Miami.

What is Ayame Kai like? Imagine swarms of Japanese-American ladies with silver and purple hair reaching and grabbing for towels, t-shirts, and purses. They turn our booth/table into a feeding frenzy--kind of like koi fish at feeding time. The morning hours of 10-12 pass like minutes. We sell and sell, ladies stop to chat with my mom, we trip over each other reaching for the cash box, we help three people at a time... It's a situation. Now here's the unfortunate bit of this year. Usually, the church sells bento boxes--rice, teriyaki chicken wings, and tsukemono. This year, the cooks were on strike due to an inter-church misunderstanding. By the time I went to the food concessions a little after noon, all that was left was mochi, brownies, and snickerdoodles. No spam musubi, no curry rice, no fried saimin. We lunched on Diet Pepsi and crumbly cookies.

Las Vegas
Family members from the Big Island and Kauai crashed into downtown Las Vegas for a long weekend of wedding frivolity. We were stationed at the Main Street hotel. It felt like the lost red light district of Honolulu with saimin and spam musubi. The wedding was in an ultra chic "chapel" at the Mandalay Bay hotel. The reception was at the Venetian. The best part of the downtown Hawaii-Vegas experience was the ability to get portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice for breakfast with side orders of kim chee and poke. And for some reason, I always tend to win big with dealers wearing Aloha shirts.

Beatles Love/Cirque du Soleil
All I can say is "Wow." I got tickets for Cappy and I, and also treated my parents for their birthdays. If you don't know about this show, it might be because it only opened in June of 2006, so it is fairly new. Apparently there are 6500+ speakers in the space that seats 2000.

I've not been a huge Beatles fan in my life. I mean, I've appreciated them and can sing along to many of their popular songs but I never would called myself a fan. Not anymore. I often thought the Beatles were overrated, but I realised that I only thought that because they've been over-exposed. The original recordings snapped and buzzed as if we were right in the recording studio. The version of "Strawberry Fields" and the mash up involving my "A Day in the Life" brought me to tears, literally. It was gorgeous.

We sat in the lower orchestra seats just near the side stage. My dad, who generally sleeps in anything from Shakespeare to weddings was very much awake. He kept pointing and saying, "Hey look there! Look over here! Wow, look at that puppet!" It was very endearing. After the show, my mom told me that the music brought her back to the days when her and my dad were dating. And now 40+ years later, they're still together.

I think the best part about the Beatles Love show was the anticipation. We knew we were in for a treat, but had no idea what to expect. It was really a transformative experience, at least for me. I developed a new love for the music and a creative bug. Or so I wish. At various points during the show, I kept thinking that I'd love to quit my job and concentrate 24/7 on a new skill like the cloud swing or the tissus. How many people concentrate on one skill for years and years?

I've not been able to mention the Bridal Shower or the trip to Chuck E. Cheese with the niece and nephew. Both of these warrent separate entries, for obvious reasons.

I'm off in search of ginger crab for you know who. The effort to dismantle a crustacean is infuriating. So much effort for so little reward.

Hummer

2006-11-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

True story:

My brother and sister-in-law took the kids to McDonald's last week. This is not a regular thing, but a once in a while special treat.

All was fine until our nephew Ryan opened up his Happy Meal. He was not too thrilled with the toy. Not at all pleased. You see, his last Happy Meal offered up a 3-inch Hummer. This time he wasn't as "fortunate." On this grisly day, he received an ugly Ronald McDonald doll for his sins.

He wasn't going to take this sitting down. Not this Aries-Dragon boy. Apparently, he then walked up to the counter and pleasantly asked if he could get a Hummer toy instead. "Oh I'm sorry," the young woman at the counter cooed, "We gave out Hummers last month. We have a different prize this month."

Unsatisfied with this response, but anger in check, he then boldly asked, "Can I talk to your manager?" Oh, yeah, have I mentioned that Ryan celebrated his 6th birthday last April?

At this point, my brother noticed that Ryan had been gone for over five minutes. As he walked up to the front counter, he found Ryan was gazing up at a tall man wearing a brown tie. Clearly, the manager. He was calmly explaining the Happy Meal toy policy to a very attentive little boy.

Satisfied with the answer, Ryan smiled politely and said energetically, "Thank you!"

Now, I'm not sure I would have been so bold to ask to talk to a manager of any kind, at age 12, much less six. Ryan has an unapologetic savvy confidence about him that I don't always see in many adults, much less other six year olds! What a funny kid.

And what weekend with kids is complete without a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, a.k.a., Germapalooza? We braved the Pachinko parlor-like bells and whistles, flashing lights, the rodents of unusual size singing and playing air guitar in the "Pizza Time Theater," and kids running all over the place. It was our niece's 9th birthday. Ayu and Ryan loved it.

I was thinking of things that I would loved, if only they came around sooner in my life. Chuck E. Cheese, Toys R Us, a new water slide at the Kona Surf Hotel, and McDonald's Playland came on the scene when I was 12. Though my brother was in heaven, I felt cheated. I was just beyond the age when things like that would have been thrilling.

Actually, my first memory of McDonald's Playland was a bit painful. My grandparents took us to the newly remodeled McDonald's in Kailua-Kona for breakfast. We usually stopped there before our long drive back to Hilo on the other side of the Big Island. I guess I was a bit over zealous and somehow got myself stuck in the "Hamburglar" Tower. Jesus Christ. It took a bit of relaxation, flexibility, and pre-teen meditation to get out of that iron contraption.

Technology brings a whole new world to kids these days. I remember being excited with Intellivision. Black and white Atari asteroids no longer held its appeal. After Intellivision, there was no going back...

Computer games for kids are insane these days. My niece is able to purchase, name, decorate, train, feed, clothe, and jump Arabian horses. Ryan grips a realistic racing steer wheel and races through the desert, city, and highway. It's like their imagination is worked out for them already--all they have to do is go out an experience click and scroll. Well, that's probably not true, but it seems that way.

This past Sunday night, my niece had to create a poster of her heritage. I was shocked and amazed to watch her gather and print out her research in less than 20 minutes. She's amazing and only 9-years old. In no time, things were downloaded, printed, glued, constructed, and colored. Perhaps what she does is the norm for kids these days. It just blew me away.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to have had internet access in elementary school. When I had to do a book report or paper, my mom used to drive my brother and I to the nearby Newport Way public library. We enacted our dewey decimal system skills and located heavy books. Rather than googling an image, I would get my brother to sketch out things for me. I thoroughly loved hunting down information, writing notes, and making copies.

I just wonder what is lost with all the shortcuts to so much information. Maybe kids build other skills? Perhaps instant internet access removes ambiguity tolerance and the virtue of patience. Asking for the manager at McDonalds, anyone?

Kids these days grow up with the confidence that everything and anything is available by simply moving a little mouse on a screen. It's so odd, isn't it?

ALS

2006-11-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Anatomy of a Fatal Neurological Disease:

-Certain fatality within 2-5 years of diagnosis
-Ultimate loss of motor coordination and muscle atrophy
-Loss of voluntary movement
-Retention of basic senses
-Retention of memory, personality, and intelligence
-Difficulty breathing, swallowing, speaking

This is a brief description of ALS (Amytrophic lateral sclerosis) commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Unfortunately, I've become very familiar with this in the past 72 hours.

My mom's best friend from Hilo flew to the Bay Area this week. After one short hour with a specialist at UCSF, she was diagnosed with ALS and coldly given the worst prognosis anyone could imagine.

I suppose when you dispense death sentences on a regular basis, one probably develops a professional indifference. The specialist at UCSF was terse, cold, and indifferent. But for those who travel across the Pacific Ocean however, a sentence of 2-5 years of life could be a bit warmer, don't you think?

Pisces Thursday

2006-11-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

For all those afflicted with a Sun in Pisces, Jonathan Cainer would like to tell you...

If efficiency were the dominant principle in the creation of the universe, all the leaves on all the trees would be the same shade of green. Nature isn't always economical in the way she uses up energy. The cosmos was surely created by some very lavish, extravagant impulse... and if the inhabitants of this earth have big ideas, it is because they too have this same generous spirit keeping them alive. Be led by your heart today. It really does know where it is going.

This is tremendously reassuring, yet unnecessary. I do have a strong vision of where I'm headed. So given that: the democrats are now awake/have awoken others, I've secured two recommendations for my skool application, I've gloriously re-discovered Blue Bell Toll, Britney finally dumped Kevin, and my car is ready for pick up...all is right side up. For the moment.

Transitory

2006-10-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the tip of Mauna Kea's 13,796 feet tall volcano mountain will become immersed underwater in 80 million years. I can't even fathom what a million years would feel like, much less 100 years. They say the Big Island sinks one foot every hundred years under the enormous weight of the volcanoes.

So all of the Hawaiian islands have been biding their time on the Pacific plate, while we're presently biding our time over Hayward fault. This is humbling. Saddening, even. Makes my internal snarkiness over annoying trivialities seem like pointless waste of time.

But is it a waste of time? Tiny trivialities annoy me right now. When I'm cut off on the Bay Bridge, my adrenaline level does not register the blessing of time and the big picture.

This recalls the most obvious, bordering on boredom question--why is it so hard to live for the now, when we're striving to live for later?

I mean, why spend the best years of your life avoiding sugar, cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, random acts of debauchery, McDonalds and white flour? If I reach 80, will I feel that my life had achieved some golden status--having avoided the wonderful misdirection of dangerous vices? What would that Golden Girl Scout feeling be?

Hawai'i will disappear. If humans make it that far--they will be living in intelligent homes, mentally transporting themselves to and fro, and will subsit on a mentally guided menu that can be downloaded and invisibly applied to the blood (or cholorphyll) stream. Should we prepare now the annals of island existence?

If 80 million years is so far off, why does it make me sad? And if the little things don't really matter, why have a flurry of little things put me in a bad mood?

Herbal Bistro

2006-10-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do here in the States is go out for brunch. Wake up later on a Saturday or Sunday, get dressed, walk the dog, get the paper, and head out to a small cafe. Going out for brunch was not very common in many of the places I lived abroad--and it was the one thing I really missed about the States.

Now I can consult the Zagat San Francisco for tons of amazing breakfast cafes. Some specialize in cornbread pancakes and others in homemade corned beef hash and eggs. In the past four years, Cappy and I have established a nice rotation of great breakfast restaurants.

Last Saturday however, we inadvertently tried something new. Cappy stumbled upon a "Crêperie" not so near our neighborhood. She rang my cell phone and waved at me from across the street, pointing to the place she was walking into. I was in Long's buying Motrin--left the house with a terrible headache.

So I arrived at the "Crêperie." Cappy was waving at me with a giddy and amused look on her face from a table next to a faux brick wall. There were "Parisian" decorations everywhere. The menu was typed in a Mac II font and turkey-ham was listed in every instance of meat.

There should have been washers and dryers in the back room though--if you know what I mean....

Top 10 Signs That You MAY Be Dining in a Pot Storefront:

1. You're one of two patrons at 10:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning

2. Reggae music is blasting at a Saturday night volume

3. It takes nearly 15 minutes for lukewarm cups of coffee to arrive at your table

4. CASH ONLY signs are enthusiastically posted in more than one place

5. One waiter is visibly straining with his whole body to squeeze oranges for an 8 oz. glass of juice

6. There are half empty bottles of wine standing behind the counter. However, the menu only features non-alcoholic beverages.

7. You feel a sudden and unexplainable craving for beef jerky, pizza, and potato chips

8. The two staff people look like they should be fitting you for fins and a dive belt, not frying your eggs

9. One waiter makes 5 very casual trips back and forth to your table (in the space of three or so minutes...) each time, with a very friendly and mellow smile on his face:

1st trip: The food
2nd trip: Forks
3rd trip: The water you asked for 15 minutes ago
4th trip: One Spoon (!?!)
5th trip: Salt

10. Your paid order ticket goes into a special box in the top drawer of the register

Good times.

Dyke Dolls

2006-09-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the site/store called DYKEdolls ? Their aim is to "redefine culture one girl at a time." Whose culture, I wondered to myself?

Anyway, they sell the world's first lesbian action figure dolls. There are even different categories of Dykedolls: the butchie Bobbie dolls, Baby Dyke dolls, So Cal skater chick dolls, etc. You can even accessorize your dyke dolls with a leather harness/dildo or a tanktop and briefs. Unfortunately, there aren't any fanny pack-tie dye-Michigan-women's fest-mullet lesbians. Now that would make a killing, that's what I'd call a lesbian action figure.

Great concept, I say!

And get this, in addition to store locations in NYC, Baltimore, Virginia, and L.A., you can also get your Dyke Doll fix in Iceland, Spain, and Italy.

But get this---as you know, Asian adoptions are getting quite expensive these days. Korean babies seem to top the list, with Chinese babies slowly climbing the charts. So how can you get your own Asian baby for the low price of $11.00?

How about the dolls simply called "mommies?" Feast your eyes on the heartwarming image (just above) of two white mommies, Kelly and Christine, and their precious little Soo Jin. What the fuck!?! Apart from the fact that they resemble a papier mâché figure I made in high school, it's just wrong.

But then I was thinking, why isn't there a DYKEdoll boutique in Seoul? Too bad. How else will the little Soo Jins of Seoul dream of a better life with not one, but count 'em TWO white lesbian mommies in America?

Don't get me wrong, I think the concept of this company is great. Would I buy a dyke doll for myself or anyone else? No, but just like bobblehead dolls and Japanese comic books, I can appreciate the appeal for many.

In the mid-90's I spent a heartwrenching year (and a few months after that in the later 90's) in Seoul, South Korea. My main purpose wasn't to bring English to the Children of Choson, but to do some research on my own adoption.

To make a long story short, what I learned was pretty repulsive. KSS (Korean Social Services) had a pretty tight and greedy hold on anyone trying to conduct any blood relative research. Basically, if you wanted them to open a drawer to begin looking up your records, it was about $25, then for them to browse through some files, you're set back another $25, and so on.

Somehow, and with the help of a good friend/adoptee activist, I was finally able to visit the baby orphanage where I supposedly spent the first 9 months of my life. I was even given a special "tour" that was set up for me.

Imagine a room full of toddlers, boys and girls between the ages of 2-6 frolicking together in a room without furniture. Imagine a few raggedy dolls peering up at you from the floor--looking as sorry as the kids themselves.

The only light came from a large window way above their heads. Painful. Even more so to hear that some of the kids' parents actually lived down the road. Many kids were placed in the "orphanage" for reasons such as: "Their parents already have one girl and didn't want another," or "Her father just lost his job." Hmm. Perfect excuses to kick your kid down to the local orphanage.

I was also introduced to some "special kids" who had a room of their own. These were boys and girls with various handicaps, or downs syndrome. And to shield their special eyes from the light, let's just say this room saved the orphanage a lot on monthly electric bills.

All this for the love of bloodlines. I don't condone white women, or anyone who wants to adopt babies from Korea. But I am sickened by the attachment of Korean adoptees to a really great action figure concept.

What's wrong with white lesbians adopting Korean babies? Nothing. What's wrong with DYKEdolls promoting the Korean "baby mill" in the year 2006? Everything.

Wink

2006-09-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

What is it with people (not cats) who wink? I'm not referring to the sassy come hither winks. I'm talking about the business wink. The at-work wink. What IS that? And how does the male corporate wink differ from the female corporate wink? What has brought this on? Let's explore this shall we?

i've been "winked" at by two different people at work. Once by a scruffy older gentleman with a corner office, who despite the immediate mental associations, is actually a cool guy. When I sat down with him in one of the first meetings i had with him, he threw his hands up at a chart and said, "This makes no fucking sense!" Brilliant, because I love people who curse out loud. The second winker is female. I'll get to her in a second...

So the older gentleman wink.... I was emerging from the kitchen with a frothy beverage, and he was headed in the opposite direction. I smiled my usual cubicles-are-not-meant-for-humans-but-I'm-pushing-through-the-pain grin, which was met by a quick and chirpy wink, if winks can be chirpy.

Here are my quick and dirty interpretations:

-"Hey...you're on my radar!"
Possible Meaning: I'm familiar with the work you've been doing, so keep it up?

-"How YOU doin'?"
Possible Meaning: This is how I greet ALL the ladies!

-"Hello there"
Possible Meaning: My bank account frickin' kills, how YOU doin'?

All reasonable guesses, none too offensive. My take on this is sociological. I mean, what's the point of letting that in?

But on to the second aforementioned female winker. The occurances are so random:

Situation 1:
I'm talking with someone and she walks by, and does the passing-by-wink

Situation 2:
We're talking about nonsensical things and she'll say, "so i basically eat an apple every morning.." and then the period-end-of-the-sentence-wink!

Situation 3:
I'm talking to other people, she walks into the room, catches my eye and there it is, another hey-i-see-you-wink!

For some reason, i find her winks to be less predictable, yet with more wacky interpretations. Quite frankly, I find them a bit annoying. They're like shorthand or something. Shorthand, for what? Is it a conspiratorial in-the-trenches thing, a secret club sans club thing, or an unconscious nervous thing? There's no need to decide!

So what would you say? Male winker: possible meaning 1, 2, or 3? Female winker: compulsive tick or hey-you're-my-people?

I really don't think that neither of the male nor female winks are flirty in nature, given the space in which they were delivered. And yes, you never know, but my senses tell me that the corporate wink is one that is part conspiratorial and part revelational.

One can easily keep a lot repressed in a corporate environment--true thoughts, feelings, opinions, attitudes, etc. So maybe the wink is the only harmless and untraceable flag that waves amongst people breathing recycled air? Its message can't be saved into a hard drive, not cc'd to anyone else, nor forwarded via voicemail. A well choreographed wink can simply disappear into the air, silent yet resolute....

Maybe I should stop analysing and start drafting my own wink strategy?

Request

2006-09-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

A brief service announcement from Penny:

It has been a while now that I've entered the blogosphere--it's weird to think that I actually have a blog, quite honestly. We're talking of one who works in a high tech company, but is not one who gets overly excited with gadgetry and technology. I know, tell me about it. I feel like the only one working at Dunkin' Donuts who doesn't like pastries.

So now, a little over a year and 100+ blog postings later, I'm happy to be in regular correspondance with a few of my regular reader friends. Thank you for the continued support! Though you don't post your comments online, I do appreciate how your email comments turn into longer email discussions.

But what about the others?

Here's my humble request to other frequent "anonymous" posters and silent readers at pennylane productions. Yes, I'm talking to you! I've seen you here every other week or month or so. You click around, snicker, jeer, and maybe even roll your eyes a bit!? What's up? If you're a friend of mine, you've got my email--so drop a line every now and then! Tell me who you are, what you're up to, and what you really think.

I must say it feels rather odd to to know that regular anonymous comment posters or unidentified readers keep reading without saying hi. It's almost like people wandering through your house, opening drawers and looking at books on my nightstand--then quietly slipping out the back door. I suppose that's the "brilliance" of anonymous viewing--that fantastic and voyeuristic view into people's lives. But I'm no Zach Braff, who seems content with a website and thousands of anonymous readers and comments. Me? I'd like to know who I'm drivelling to.

Identify yourself, silent reader and/or occasional commenter. Cheers.

Lately:

-My quirky and unreliable Samsung phone has been dropped, slammed, and kicked one too many times. A co-worker suggested that I invest in a Sprint phone from Costco--thereby assuring me a phone for life with their return everything anytime policy. She claims a man had successfully returned a $3 bag of potato chips. What might have been the issue there? Too salty? An unreasonable ratio of oil to actual potato? Anyway, I was able to get a swanky ultra thin phone. Now I can treat camera snapshots of the Tubular One with sepia tones and little cartoon stamps. Brilliant--for those who like stuffed animals in cars.

-My venture into the world of academia has taken flight. That is to say, I'm gathering my passport, taking care of innoculations, trying out travel umbrellas, updating my Lonely Planets... Is it like riding a bike? I hope so.

-A few small trips... Cappy and I are looking forward to a family wedding in November. Las Vegas baby! Though, I guess the reception at the Bellagio won't be so bad : ) We also may be headed here for a taste of fall later in October with some friends. Apparently this place is LGBT and dog friendly!

-Latest Lotto fantasies:

1. Soundproof room with a killer drum set
2. Small condo in the city for convenience when I'll be spending more time near a library
3. House in Hawai'i for weekends and holidays (preferably Big Island--Puna or Hakalau)

And lastly, signs that you've got this nasty bug I've acquired:

-you can't get enough sleep
-you've got aches and pains
-you feel that feel you literally can't get out of bed for more than one day
-coffee doesn't taste/smell good

Ugh.

NYC

2006-09-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

What can I say about our trip in the East Coast? It was all about the food, or a lot of it was. The best part about dining in NYC is definitely the possibility of 11 pm dinner reservations.

The dining experience was definitely a refreshing departure from the low fat/low cal California cuisine.

Here is a list of the highlights. My top 4:

Carnegie Deli
http://www.carnegiedeli.com
Totally famous and very touristy. Cappy had the "Woody Allen," 1/2 corned beef, 1/2 pastrami, and I had the pastrami. I probably should have had the corned beef as it was absolutely perfect. The sandwiches feature enough meat for a small family, a dish of 5-6 pickles, and crinkle-cut fries.

Now, I don't mean to be a buzzkill on this whole NY deli experience--but I thought it would be great to show the possibility of such a monstrous highly stacked sandwich, but then in actuality, serve something more reasonable. Or allow people to choose something they can actually finish. The highly stacked sandwiches struck me as kind of obscene. But Americans tend to have a soft spot (literally) for the sputtering over-the-top joy of oversized portions. In Tokyo, the "Woody Allen" sandwich could easily feed a family of four.

Unfortunately, we didn't have an appetite for the famous cheesecake, nor a sidedish knish. A knish, I've learned is essentially is a pastry packed potato. In any case, I did wonder--which kind of food is more aligned with heart disease? New York deli food or local Hawai'i lunch plates?

Aquagrill
http://www.aquagrill.com/menuspage.htm

Earlier in the summer I was a bit enthusiastic about our heavenly dinner experience at Aqua. My heart is still with Aqua, but our experience at Aquagrill was also something extraordinary.

We were blown into the front doors (literally, thanks to Ernesto) at 11 pm. The dining room was buzzing with energy as if it were 7.30 pm. I had Alaskan halibut that was as tender as sole with a sauce straight out of a small cafe on the Île-de-France. A light and slightly tangy Dungeness crab and watercress salad was carefully placed on top of the fish. Cappy went for the Diver Sea Scallops and risotto. I can't really comment further on her dish because I was quite wrapped up with the halibut and crab.

We ordered their special dessert, the "Saturday Night Soufflé." It was a lovely hazelnut soufflé with freshly dripped chocolate and kahlua sauce. We're not generally dessert gals, but who could resist? At the end of the night, the host/manager whispered to us that that the dessert chef had made one more soufflé for the staff. She then got us a small plate with a bit of it, which was also shared with the waiters. Nice.

Aquagrill is known for their friendly and laid back atmosphere. People are very real and hospitable. In fact, the biggest shock I had in NYC was seeing how friendly people were in SoHo, Tribeca, the West Village--all over really. People would go out of their way to help you.

In fact, I'm not sure this old NY joke stands anymore, at least not in the West Village area:

Question: How do you ask for the time in New York?
Answer: Do you have the time, or should I just go fuck myself?

Now it's more like...

Question: Do you have the time?
Answer: Sure--oh wait I don't. Let me walk you to a place with a great clock made of spoons and marzipan.

Balthazar
http://www.balthazarny.com/splash.html

A very Parisian experience in SoHo. Great, great great. Though NY is now smoke-free, I could still visualise the secondhand smoke hanging in the air as our cheese platter made it's way to our small table. Apparently, they've got an amazing brunch.

Sunny Palace
http://www.sunnypalace.com
Great dim sum. Chinese-Americans in Jersey. It's actually much better than anything Chinese I've had in the Bay Area or possibly even Vancouver B.C. for that matter.

Hobbit List:
These are places we'd like to have tried, but unfortunately don't have the Hobbit multiple-meal capacity, nor the will to make up for it with extra exercise:

1. Papaya King
http://www.papayaking.com
Hot dogs and a smoothie for under $3. Who could resist? We walked by this place, but we were heading elsewhere for dinner.

2. Degustation
http://events.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/dining/reviews/21rest.html
Check out the menu. I'm still sad we couldn't get to this one.

3. Jane
http://www.janerestaurant.com
Could we somehow airlift this place and plop it right down near Lake Merritt, Oakland?

NYC vs. SF

Food:
SF/NYC (tie, a very close tie)

Vibe:
NYC
For me, it kind of approximates the pre-dot.com SF--less attitude and less pretension from conservative transplants from the Midwest and East. And I may prefer the Korea-like passionate truth heartiness and soul, and creativity and energy.

Transportation:
NYC

Weather:
SF
No contest.

Energy:

SF
Ten years ago, my answer would have been NYC. Though I love the creative bustle of NYC, it now feels something I'd love to visit more frequently, rather than reside in. SF is thankfully far away from the neurotic state lines of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and less about the I-can-trace-my-ancestors-to-the-Mayflower thing. Also, I love being close to nature with the amazement that you couldn't possibly be so close to a major metropolis.

Also, NY feels like a dysfunctional relationship. One that thrills and inspires, but drains and depletes. SF feels like a perpetual crush, less heavy on commitment, but easy to get caught up in for years that seem like weeks.

Place I'd rather live:
SF
Though--a loft in Manhattan to visit for shopping, dining, theater, music, and Christmas wouldn't be bad either.

Santa Barbara

2006-09-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Am writing this from Santa Barbara. Just got back from the East Coast, but had to make a quick work trip to the land of the perpetually tanned and just-out-of-the-spa peeps. Specifically, the township of immaculate shrubbery and exotic cars, a.k.a. Montecito. I'm staying here in a room facing the ocean that I can barely see through the coastal fog.

The last time I was in this "town" (or rather, a resort villa for the rich and famous) I ran into one of the rich and famous, literally. We nearly knocked each other over. See if you can guess who I'm talking about. Think 80's Brat Pack. Male. No, not Emilio Estevez. Not Judd Nelson--(wait--who else was in the Brat Pack anyway?? And why do I have all this useless knowledge in my head??) Need more hints? His brother was recently divorced from a two time Academy Award winner. OK, if you still don't know who I'm talking about, you're probably too young.

A few more clues/observations: he really does have rosy red cheeks, he's just a tad taller than I am, he drives a black Mercedes, and he's very polite. A couple of years ago, I was walking down State Street in a stride faster than my usual local Hawaiian turtle pace. I was looking up at a building on my right, and suddenly felt the side of someone hitting my left shoulder. I turned to my left and uttered a "oh sorry," and heard a familiar voice utter the same. I then heard a woman's voice call "Rob!" I looked up and realised that I ran into Rob Lowe. Woo hoo. Didn't he videotape himself and a few underage girls at a Democratic convention a few years back? Isn't he a total Schwarznegger supporter? Eeew.

So, here I am in Santa Barbara two years later. Once more for a work trip, but with a different company. I haven't run into a celebrity yet. I was too tired after our all day long meeting for any celebrity stalking. My co-worker here from Seoul would love to run into Brad Pitt though. How special.

The only person I'd like to run into today is someone who'd be willing to do a 2-hour Swedish Massage for free.

I'll be posting very soon about our trip to the East Coast. Here's a bit of a preview:

-We realised that the 295 and the 95 are not the New Jersey Turnpike, but totally lead you to it

-We experienced a "Woody Allen" at the Carnegie Deli

-We visited the Hogwartian Bryn Mawr and Mall-like UPenn

-Had some fun late nights in SoHo

-Saw Rent (my first time, Cappy's second...and I LOVED it)

More stories and observations to come. Notably, my case of culture shock and surprised appreciation of the very friendly and chill folks in NYC. It was amazing and quite surprising to have encountered people in NYC that were actually much friendlier than those in the Bay Area. I'm not kidding.

More on that later.

East

2006-08-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Kelly asked me if I ever get culture shock when I'm on the East Coast. Good question. Of all the places I've been in the U.S. (not many compared to Europe/Asia) I thought I would have felt the most culture shock in Greensboro, North Carolina. Apart from the numerous "Praise the Lord," and "REPENT" signs that seemed to appear every 50 yards--I didn't feel so out of place. Odd. Maybe it was because of the company I was in, or that the humidity reminded me of Hawai'i.

There were things I had never seen/experienced before. People talked about "prayer chains" and how entire congregations set up a domino effect of prayer for a little girl who happened to catch a rather brutal flu virus. People had compact three bedroom homes with large trampolines in their grassy backyards. I watched kids stuff down saltine crackers after coating it in ranch dressing. I walked through a super market called "Harris Teeter." I heard Vietnamese women with thick North Carolina accents. I witnessed people actually making the rice you boil in a bag.

But there was something in Greensboro that made me feel less of an alien. What was it? Of course it was the food. There was a passion and heartiness to the food that reminded me of the way people are with food in Hawai'i. Or rather, the preoccupation and deeply felt connection to it.

I discovered Cheerwine (a cherry flavored soda), Brunswick stew, Moravian lemon cookies, hush puppies, NC style bbq, and Crock Pot beef roast, and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. Even today, I get appreciative and warm smiles from N. Carolina natives when I mention my knowledge and love of Brunswick stew and Cheerwine. I'm certain I'd have a similar reaction if I met someone from Greensboro who professed their love for loco mocos or portuguese sausage eggs and rice.

So about the East Coast--and that was what I intended to write about here. In about 24 hours, Cappy and I will be buying up copies of Us, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and In Touch for our flight to Newark Liberty. We'll spend about 6 days wandering about New York City, Long Island, Philadelphia and a bit of New Jersey.

List of things to do:

-Katz's deli. I can't wait to turn through the turnstile with my ticket for a Kosher pastrami sandwich. Pickles. And probably a nap right after.

-Ground Zero. After a bit of deliberation, I've decided that I'd like to visit the memorial. I'm not looking forward to the sellers of 9/11 memorabilia--t-shirts and flip photo albums of the burning twin towers. Reminds me of the lady selling postcards at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Grisly.

-Cappy Landmarks. Would like to see where Cappy went to high school and college. Where she worked on the Pennsylvania Main Line, where she grew up in Long Island, her favorite place for dim sum in Manhattan, etc.

-SoHo and Tribeca. We're staying at a hotel in the downtown area near these neighborhoods. It's been a long while since I've walked through these streets. The last time I was here, I bought an ankh necklace that I've not seen since I bought it. The Hunger was my favorite movie back then.

-A Cheesesteak sandwich in Philadelphia. It is true, Cheese Wiz is an ingredient. I can dig a 4000 calorie sandwich. Jesus.

There is a bit more I'm looking forward to, but I can't get to that right now.

Hawai'i Transplant

2006-08-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

A while ago I received a forward called, "You know you're from Hawai'i when..." It was a list of things that only those from Hawai'i would recognise about themselves. It was quite funny and true. My good friend and Oah'u transplant mentioned that it we needed a similar list for Hawai'i transplants. Though I just spent summers in Hilo, I grew up in a mainland community of Kauai and Oah'u transplants.

So here's my list:

You know you're a mainland transplant from Hawai'i when....

-You suffer a lot of awkward silences among those mainland folks who just don't get your jokes with playful racial overtones

-You're the only one clamoring to help do dishes at the ends of dinner parties

-When you notice people leaving a party, you rush to make a plate for them

-You silently scoff at those who actually take home the food they bring to a party but then remind yourself that you're not on an island

-You wince when people ask, "So, is your family Hawaiian?" And you're clearly of Asian origin

-You can turn your pidgin on and off with the greatest of ease. Or, you sometimes forget that you indeed speak another dialect!

-"Care Package" means dried squid, li hing mui, One Ton chips, and packages of poi rather than scented candles, lavender bath salts, and potpourri

-You understand where the song line "...and no go out with Mits Funai" comes from and still laugh out loud about it

-You feel an immediate sense of warmth when you inadvertantly hear pidgin being spoken in a public place

-You gravitate to Hawai'i festivals just for the food--and even if the beef stew is junk, you still feel satisfied

-People always gush, "You're SO generous" when you're just acting naturally

-You want to call your friend's parents "Uncle" and "Auntie"

-You have fun guessing the island of another Hawai'i transplant based on the pidgin slang they use

-To you, a casual dinner means you can wear a t-shirt, shorts, and slippers

-You feel a hint of shame when you tell your non-Hawai'i friends that you actually enjoy eating SPAM

-Everyone around you seems to speed walk in comparison to your easy stroll

-Whenever the topic about Hawai'i comes up you're the "expert" even if it's about a place you've never been to

-When in Las Vegas, you always stop at the California hotel for some good local food

-You've taught people that to make their palms face inward when making the "shaka sign," and not outward like a tourist

-At a potluck, your dish is usually the ugliest, but most satisfying

-It still takes you a second to realise that "flip flops" means slippers

-People think you're "overly obsessed" with food. (...unless they are Chinese)

-You naturally take your shoes off when you enter a house

-You feel that walking on carpet with shoes feels funny

-You have a large shark's tooth hanging down from your rear view mirror

-You stop to smell the papayas at Berkeley Bowl even though you would never buy them at nearly $3 each

I'm homesick. I hear ATA has cheap flights: Oakland-Hilo.

Locked In

2006-08-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

My friend/co-worker and I fired back emails today about our favorite 4AD groups. She was listening to the Cure and mentally moping as she claims to have done from ages 14-17. Good times.

I just heard on NPR that our musical tastes are pretty much set between 14-21 and that after the age of 35 it's hard for adults to get into new music. Hmm. I've been emotionally grounded with melancholic electronica from the grey skies of Britain.

Most of my adult musical consciousness was undoubtedly framed by what I listened to between the ages of 14-21. And this was anything and everything British: Duran Duran, Erasure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Talk Talk, The Cure.

Speaking of Depeche Mode...

In high school, Trent and I would drive out to a lakeside park on Mercer Island, smoke cloves and carry on this way: "Isn't strangelove about S&M?" "What is the real emotion expressed if one declares, 'i need to drink more than you seem to think before i'm anyone's...' and "Is Blue Dress about the fact that Martin Gore likes drag queens, or maybe that he likes to wear heels from time to time?" And the ever uplifting, "What do you think is the least painful or preferable way to die?" Trent: drowning (he was a merman) Me: while asleep.

Now i don't feel so bad over the age of 35, unable to connect with new music that you'd think i love but really can't stand.

Summer

2006-08-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

I've been missing from the blogosphere for most of this fastly disappearing summer, this is true. I have been doing a mental record of the travels and exploits of Penny, Cappy, and the canine centenarian. Not everything, but a few things thus far...

Russian River:
Who knew water ankle deep in parts could be so much fun? How many women does it take to row a canoe upstream? The answer: 3. Two to paddle/steer, and one to shout out directions--imagine a sundrenched cockswain armed with organic hops and arugula. The Tubular One wasn't too keen on the canoe bit. She was more fascinated by the nearby web footed ones. You could nearly hear the T.O.'s telepathic shouts of glee, "My food source! My food source! Now all I need to do is dig up some sweet potatoes..."

Side note: I really believe that pets should only eat foods that they can feasibly track and kill. I knew a cat who ate a dry mix of lamb and rice. Lamb? This is hilarious to me. Can you imagine a feisty feline attacking a mid-sized lamb for dinner? In my mind, this upsets the natural order of things.

Anyway, at Russian River--snacks, scrabble, and a Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency marathon (!!) guided us through the night before we got back to the river the following day.

We're headed back to Russian River this coming weekend, but with an increase of five more gals. I see more beer, rounds of Texas Hold 'Em, and even more excuses to head to Monte Rio's Sonoma Wine and Cheese shop.

Summer Movies:
Didn't see many this summer. Our best film moments have been courtesy of Netflix. We did see "Scoop" on its opening night. We were the youngest members of the audience. I smirked rather than laughed. All i can say was that the popcorn was really great.

Work:
An upcoming release has taken most of my time. Read: half-eaten lunches at my desk, little time for shoreline walks, and too much time staring at a computer. Apart from the Tahoe retreat, it's been quite engaging. Life fulfilling: low. Career building and good times w/colleagues: high.

Misc:
Fun barbeques and picnics, our Bouillabaisse adventure with Fabrice and Jen, swimming and strawberry/passion fruit tapioca smoothies, great reading, a lot of tennis, and general subdued mayhem.

For those of you know who know and understand my thing with Morten Harket, read on... I've just received the DVD "a-ha Live at Vallhall." The DVD includes footage of the lads hanging out before a concert--being their usual passionate extroverted selves. And the added bonus of a flash created video for "I wish I cared." It has made my top ten list of all-time favorite music videos. Also in my top ten: Duran Duran's "Is there something I should know?" and Madness' "Our House," among others.

I've learned recently about another 4AD darling, "Blonde Redhead." The sound? Kind of like Bjork with a hippie electronic backup band. A vocally careless Japanese singer. The sound is raw and very real. I keep seeing visions of Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" video whenever I listen to this music. Well, just the song "Elephant Woman." I'm not sure why.

Summer travel will come later for us. We'll be heading out to the E. Coast for real this time. It's high time I visit the tennis courts where Cappy developed her killer backhand, her high school, her childhood home in Long Island, and a NYC hot dog. The last time I was in NY was a very long time ago. At that time, I had this crazy thought that a Smith MSW was something I had to do, and that moving to Seoul w/my French girlfriend was going to keep us together.

This time around I'd like to see what the city (NYC) looks like from a spiritually sober place.

Will it seem as noisy or more so? Will I be able to locate my long lost friend Geno S. in Brooklyn? And where are those big round rocks in Central Park? Is the dim sum in New Jersey as good as Cappy's mom says it is? And lastly, I will finally experience a proper Philadelphia cheesesteak sandwich. Is Cheese Wiz really a main ingredient?

Mass Games

2006-07-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

While in Paris a few years ago, Cappy and I happened upon a great documentary about North Korea. I remember furiously translating the French subtitles for her while at the same time, trying to absorb this incredible documentary. We kept saying to ourselves that it would never air in the United States, and how fortunate we were to catch it on French TV.

The documentary is called A State of Mind. It follows one year in the life of two girls in Pyongyang. They were training for the Mass Games--the world's largest choreographed gymnastic performance---read: brainwashing at staggering proportions. It's a monumental event that takes place a few times a year.

The two girls, Hyon Sun Pak and Song Yun Kim are the two girls that speak to the camera with an energy that seemed passionately aloof. They rarely looked directly into the camera. When one confessed that her goal was to perform for the General, she exuded as much enthusiasm as a 17-year old seeing a McDonald's playland for the first time.

One marvels at the mass synchronicity, flexibility and extreme display of unity. It's easy to get swept away in the spectacle and forget that only a chosen and well-nourished few are able to participate in these "games." And that the chosen few of Pyongyang are entitled to one television station for a maximum of five hours a day. The national radio plays in all apartment units. Residents may soften the volume, but they are never allowed to turn it off completely.

Parts of the documentary recalled images from The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, or Mein Kampf. Quite frankly, it made the Nazi party look like toy soldiers playing line-up in a gymnasium.

In August of last year, I remember seeing free advertising postcards for the Mass Games in Beijing. These colorful postcards were lying on the counter of a coffee shop. This coffee shop was on the first floor of the ultra modern Beijing skyscraper. This is the building where our Beijing team has their headquarters.

I remember how the postcard advertised the Mass Games as some phenomenal spectacle. I also thought it was funny as the coffee shop was off to the side of a Jaguar/BMW dealership.

Go Game

2006-07-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

It may be no secret that Cappy and I have been thinking of sending in a video for the Amazing Race. America has not seen a team like us. We're totally unique. Our quirkiness would make for some racuous reality TV, I'd say.

We've even gone so far as establishing who would have the burden of certain tasks. Anything to do with heights: Cappy. Eating bug larvae: Penny. Putting together puzzles: Cappy. Getting on the first flights out of any country: Penny.

The reason I write about this is because I got a taste of what this madness might involve. It had nothing to do with TV actually....

This past week, I spent three days at a resort in Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, it wasn't with Cappy, who would have loved the pristine tennis courts and close proximity to the lake.

I was up there for an all-company work retreat. Initially, the idea made us all nervous. People from our offices in Asia, South America, Europe, and headquarters would be there, we'd have roommates, not much down time, etc.

So what does this have to do with my Amazing Race aspirations? I participated in a high-tech team building activity called the Go Game.

80 of us were broken up into teams of six. We were given a superhero lunch box containing a text-message phone, an envelope, and a digital camera. The "missions" were creative, mind-boggling, and adventurous.

Missions involved teams creating a 20 second video with themes like "Historical Ballet" where you had to act out a historical event with ballet. Or interact with actors who were planted around the resort. One planted actor was a woman in a white dress. She was crying hysterically. Our mission was to find her, assess what was wrong, and console her. If we were successful, she'd give us a clue.

The game was fast paced and dynamic. Along the way on a particular mission, we'd run by other teams delivering pick up lines to "actors," singing songs in French, or choreographing interepretive dance routines.

My team came in 2nd place out of 12 teams. We were quite pleased with ourselves. The digital photo that may have catapulted us up to the top 5--an engineer posing in his birthday suit as Rodin's "The Thinker."

I've already broken it to Cappy, but I may have found another Amazing Race partner. My team captain and I were a perfect pair. At the end of our game, we agreed to call each other to send in our own Amazing Race audition video. Perhaps one day you'll see us: "Bob and Penny--Co-workers."

Personal Training

2006-07-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

John Spencer Ellis. Gunnar Peterson. Bob Green. Do you recognise these names? You might if you were a celebrity, professional athlete, or Janet Jackson. These guys are personal trainers to the Hollywood stars and the rich and famous. OK, so celebrities also get a lot of help with surgery and weekly Zone diet deliveries, but many can afford personal trainers who work with them for months, or even years at a time.

So I've got a personal trainer, but I'm no celebrity. My only 5.5 minutes came ten years ago on a SBS TV special in Seoul, Korea. If I'm being honest, I didn't understand fully what was going on that day in the studio. It seemed to be some national adoptee telethon/orphanage documentary. Cue SBS's sentimental violin soundtrack here...

In any case, I've just completed a grueling ten sessions with a personal trainer of my own! Personal trainers are those perpetually fit men and women you see at the gym. I used to think they were like drill seargents or the captain of the basketball team with a whistle.

Thankfully, I've found a trainer with an impeccable bedside manner, similar to the manner of many IT technicians. You know, those who know a lot but don't make you feel bad for what you don't know or can't do. Billy is exactly that kind of a personal trainer. His clients are all across the board: hefty AC Transit drivers, housewives, boxers, college athletes, and me. He is able to get results with each and every client he has because he knows how to push people without "pushing" them, you know what I mean?

Here's why I decided to sign up with Billy:

As you know, I spend my days in a cube farm. Though I'm fully ergonomic in a Herman Miller Aeron chair, I don't get up and around that much. The last time I invested in exercise was Boot Camp at Lake Merritt. Doing crunches with flanked by geese droppings wasn't really my thing --at 7.15 a.m., no less. Indoor soccer is too frantic and all about conditioning, but not toning. And left to my own devices, I'd run for 35 minutes and lift a few weights here and there and call it a "workout."

I thought it was time to take this fitness thing to a whole new level. Rather than dish out a blow-by-blow account of each session--and the rancor, pain, and obsession of it all--I thought I'd write out a list of the best parts.

Top Ten Reasons Why Personal Training Rocks

1. I could/would never put myself through an hour of what Billy puts me through
2. I had no idea what my "core" was or how important it was to strengthen
3. All the different weight machines used to intimdate me
4. As stated above, I used to think running for 35 min. and crunches was a total "workout"
5. I need TONS of motivation and encouragement. On my own, it just wasn't happening
6. I never thought it possible to have toned arms, especially in six short weeks
7. A good trainer understands how training brings total physical and emotional fitness
8. I've never slept better and I am in a much better mood most of the time
9. The rewards can be immediate and noticeable
10. It gives you an overall foundation of strength, perfect for cross-training

If you live in the Bay Area and would like to know more about personal training with my man Billy W. just let me know!

North Pole

2006-06-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else catch the fascinating Fresh Air interview about the North Pole? A NY Times reporter Andrew Revkin talked with Terry Gross about his recent trip to the North Pole.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5484338

Apparently there are companies who've bought the rights to certain commerce channels from Russia to Europe. This is for the future when the ice melts enough to allow that passage.

Great.

Jack

2006-06-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently a highly territorial and declawed Tabby chased this bear up not one--but two trees. Jack the Cat hissed at this bear, sending it straight to the top.

I had no idea New Jersey felines were that gutsy, it must be something in the water?

I know exactly how our Tubular One would react to a black bear. In her cheeky way, she'd skip up to it--tail wagging in her friendly play bow pose. She really doesn't believe any creature is immune to her charms.

Aqua

2006-06-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Cappy and I celebrated our 4-year anniversary with a 2.5 hour culinary love fest at Laurent Manrique's Aqua in the Financial District of San Francisco. I say love fest because we were killed with culinary passion. We indulged ourselves with the Chef's Tasting Menu which included 7-courses of pure ecstasy.

Overall, it was a wonderful night. Each dish topped the last, service was impeccable, and we couldn't stop smiling before/during/after each dish. We walked out feeling the warmth from the waitstaff with their knowing smiles--they deliver food heroin and they know it.

We were killed with love. It felt like being on a roller-coaster. With each dish delivered, it seemed as if we were constantly climbing up the track incline with giddy anticipation, and screaming on each descent--enjoying every tiny bite. And just when we thought the thrills were over, we'd turn a corner and start climbing upwards again...

The chef's tasting menu featured a 7-course barrage of soul satisfying bliss. Here are some of the highlights:

Smoked Sturgeon Cannoli with American Caviar, and Chives
Parmesan-Black Pepper Soufflé with Dungeness Crab, Sea Urchin, and Chive Butter
Gazpacho with Trout, Grapes, and Herbs
Sea Bass with Porcini Mushrooms
Beef with Veal Jus and Potato Gnocci
Yogurt mint lime granita

I may have forgotten a dish or two. Each tasting dish was small, completely satisfying. The wine and champagne menu resembled that of a Thai beach bungalow restaurant. Pages and pages--about 25 to be exact.

The aforementioned service was impeccable. The waitstaff was intuitive and very friendly. I could imagine their employee handbook was borrowed a bit from Disneyland, slightly modified..."treat each guest as if they are a good friend, but keep enthusiasm from being over the top..."

We left the restaurant feeling as if we were ending a short sojourn on a tropical island. We were greeted with half a dozen thank you's, handshakes and French accented greets like, "we hope to see you again soon!" Though I know all that hoopla is part of waitstaff logistics, and totally a part of the 4-star experience, it still felt warm and natural.

If you've ever enjoyed a dinner at Aqua, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I highly recommend it, especially for a romantic anniversary!

Next up for our 5-year: Gary Danko

Yolanda

2006-06-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a windy path upwards on the backside of Mount Tamalpais. This was not taken by me at a section of the Yolanda trail, at Phoenix Lake. This reservoir park is located between the towns of Ross and Kentfield in the Marin.

Cappy, Lorrie, and I did the 4.4 mile loop this past Sunday in the height of sunshine. We met up with some cool mountain breezes, wild strawberries, baby pink roses, and a tree leaf that resembles bay leaves. To me, this leaf in particular smells like a dental office.

There was a slightly terrifying moment. At one point during the hike, we were on a narrow path under low hanging trees. Something huge was flying directly over our heads, expertly making its way through the branches with its 3-foot wingspan. Or at least that's what it seemed like to me. "It's a vulture!" Lorrie cried out. I had this sudden feeling of terror, like we might be crossing paths very soon with a carcass of some sort. It flew over our heads again. Cappy thought she saw another vulture! At a closer look, it seemed that the vulture's head and neck were red. Eewww. I decided that it was a slim flying turkey--which assuaged my fears. Thankfully we didn't see it/them again.

Next weekend we're heading out to the Palace of Fine Arts for San Francisco's 28th Annual Ethnic Dance Festival. We'll be cheering on my friends who will be dancing the P'ungmul, a Korean folk dance. Apparently, it is a dance that is associated with student activism. The only thing I've associated with Korean student activism is tear gas. I've walked through it three times on various occasions near Seoul National University. It will be good to replace this association with one less toxic.

Remote

2006-06-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

Thoughts from working from home today:

-A Bose sound dock with ipod blasting throughout is great end of the week therapy
-1001 distractions (not sure actually, if this is a benefit)
-We really need to re-organise our shoe closet
-The Tubular One sleeps/snores a LOT
-I need to put an end to this procrastination

Recently purchased/frequently played songs on i-tunes:

Energy Is You-The Hitman
Reflects an energy and spirit that I must get in touch with very soon. This song reminds me of early 90's techno.

Turn It Around-4 Strings
I love all of their songs. Gorgeous voice. I love soul in non-soul music.

Justified and Ancient-KLF
Everyone has certain songs that immediately bring back vivid memories. This song brings back a very powerful time in my life. A trip to L.A. in the spring of '92 that changed my life...

Close to My Roots-DJ Moule (The Cure/Beastie Boys mashup)
This song puts me in an instant good mood.

OK, no more procrastination....back to writing, editing, and uploading...

Reviews

2006-05-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

The Da Vinci Code

I expected that perhaps some of the critics in Cannes might have gone overboard. You know, passing on their love for the American "novelist" who allegedly plagiarized Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh's Holy Blood Holy Grail. Well, I've discovered with my own eyes that the critics were right on target. Here's how I knew: I slept through about 40% of the film. The worst part of the film: Every scene involving Tom Hanks. The best part of the film: Some of the camera work in a few scenes. I can sum it up in two words: major snoozefest. I'd rather endure a three hour animated film or back to back episodes of Dr. Phil. Seriously.

X-Men The Last Stand (spoilers...)

Apparently Halle Berry demanded a bigger and tougher role since Catwoman completely flopped. OK, but did they have to kill Xavier to make that happen? (Do i really care--am not much of an X-Men fan really...) Anyway, lately it seems that the recent trendy equation for film/TV is this: Kill for Credibility! I guess Brett Ratner took that equation one, no, two steps higher. I wish there could be a Hogwartian film just about life at the mutant school. Or a serious mockumentary about mutant life and the various powers they possess. Like, how would one be able to mentally transcribe? Would that be because that mutant had a lot of teachers in the family? As I said, I'm not big X-Men fan, but for the two hours or so that I spent in the theater, I forgot about cube farms, office politics, and the fact that time was carrying me through Memorial weekend at breakneck speed.

Here are a few tidbits from recent Netflix brain candy rentals. Great films for when I don't want to think, which is generally after 6 p.m. these days... If I'm still watching beyond the first ten minutes, it's generally a good sign.

Last Holiday

Queen Latifah needs to come out already! It's getting pretty painful watching her pretend to be smitten with rapper-actors. That said, it was a fun film except for the very unnecessary subplot involving Timothy Hutton's character. Queen Latifah and Gerard Depardieu worked like walnuts and brie--great pairing and therefore the most sincere relationship of the whole film. I've always liked Queen Latifah--she has a whole lot of that Piscean charisma. That said, can someone tell her agent to stop getting her Wal-Mart commercials?

The Family Stone

Hated this film in the first 10 minutes. Why is it that in a Blockbuster film the gay people, people of color, and people with disabilities are all embodied in one or two characters? One gay man is short, white, and deaf. His partner is black and was permanently fixated in the kitchen. Everyone else is "pretty" and "normal." So annoying. Another distracting point--I love Sex in the City, when I saw Sarah JP playing an uptight character, all I saw was "Carrie" having a bad day because of too small Manolo Blanicks. I applaud anyone who actually made it through this film.

Rumor Has It

I expected to actually detest this film as well, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Don't ask why because it seemed to have everything going against it, namely: Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner. Shirley MacLaine's was doing her "I'll put on a pot of bourbon," thing and killed (i mean this in a good way) her lines with her rough and tumble grace. Kevin Costner wasn't as insufferable as I thought he'd be--his character was, so that was enough. Mark Ruffalo's character was appropriate, sincere, and realistic. Generally, the story was interesting for a cheesy premise...it was OK for me. Read: it kept me awake for the whole film.

Race

2006-05-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

Cappy and I were corralled by our friends to not only get up at 6.45 a.m. on a Sunday, but also get on the bart and get ready to run by 8 a.m. This is no small feat! For the first time in the six years I've lived in the Bay Area, I participated in San Francisco's traditional Bay to Breakers Race.

I've realised that running on a treadmill four times a week does not afford you the fitness to run concrete streets with inclines and dips a plenty! I was generally the last person of my crew to jog into our frequent pit stops, but it was hard to concentrate on running when there was so much to see.

The Fandangers (pictured above) were my 2nd favorite costumes of the day. (Thanks Chronicle, I couldn't be asked to bring any electronic gadgets with me.) We caught up with these people at mile 6 or 7. My first favorite were four guys dressed all in red with frizzy blue wigs. They had tags on them that said, "Thing #1, "Thing #2, and so on..." We saw them downtown, but not after!

We crossed the finish line at around 10.30 a.m. We skipped the festivities at the Polo fields, and hopped on the extremely packed N-Line. We headed to our favorite breakfast restaurant around 9th and Irving. Egg scrambles, hash browns, and toast never tasted so wonderful. Cappy's NY steak and eggs was well-deserved. This girl ran like there was no tomorrow.

Bay to Breakers was a lot of fun. I had one of those, "I love San Francisco and all the funny people," days. I've not had one of those days in a long while. It was perfect running weather--sunny, yet overcast. Everyone seemed to be in a jovial mood, including myself. Despite Sandra's near fatal tortilla incident, we were thankfully all injury free.

And speaking of all those tortillas, I couldn't help thinking that it was a pigeon dream come true. Whole streets blanketed with mushy maize! There must have been a binge increase of ounces of each pigeon in San Francisco.

So anyway, with the help of something little, orange, and different, I was feeling no pain by the afternoon. One of us had the great idea in the late morning to make reservations at Piedmont Springs. At four o'clock that afternoon, we were happily soaking in an outdoor hot tub.

Favorite announcement of the day, shouted out at the hill section of the race: "All racers please stop to party! Fail to do so, you will be cited!"

Notes to self:

1. Eat more than a banana before attempting to get through a 12K
2. When you're up and moving at 6.45 on a Sunday--3 p.m. can feel like 8 or 9 o'clock at night!
3. Try to wake up earlier on Sundays to get more out of the day
4. Try to remember point #3 in the future
5. Post-race hot tubs greatly reduce muscle cramps
6. Bands shouldn't play songs by the Killers. A bad cover version can interrupt running flow...
7. Remember to use wrist wallet for next year's race! (We'll be back...)

Cuisine

2006-05-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is not an entry about sushi, just thought this photo was particularly appetizing and colorful. Do you ever have times where you're hungry but really have no idea what you want to eat? I've been in this phase for about a month now. I'm not sure what it is about.

When I lived in Japan, I didn't eat much sushi. Teppanyaki, yes. Curry rice, yes. Tendon, chicken katsu, okonomiyaki, and niku jaga, yes. 7-11 oden and Lawson's spicy chicken nuggets, yes. Dango, Mos Burger (!!), and corn miso ramen, yes. But I can count on my hands the amount of times I ate sushi. Or maybe I've just forgotten.

Here are my top 5 cuisines:

1. Japanese
2. Korean
3. French
4. Thai
5. Algerian/Mexican/North African

You notice that Italian and Chinese didn't make it. Why not Italian? I'm too overwhelmed by the excess of cheese and tomatoes. Though I love pizza and pasta, I'm not in love with the rest. Why not Chinese? Two words: duck and pork. Can't do either--but I do love hot dogs.

And the mention of Algerian? When Cappy and I were in Paris, my ex-took us to the most amazing restaurant near the Oberkampf metro. I think it is called "Les Trois Freres," the three brothers. It was not my first Algerian dining experience, but certainly the best. I love North African/Jewish cuisine. I love couscous as much as kim chee.

But why don't I have much of a specific appetite these days? Perhaps if I had Japanese okazu delivered a few times a week (I'm thinking of my friend Erika in San Diego) I might not worry about this problem.

Well, I'm actually craving something specific right now! Thankfully, Cappy and I have some fun dinner plans tonight. It might involve coconut curry, steamed fish, and garlic green beans. At least, that's what I want to order!

Lately

2006-05-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

As of late:

1. Gregoire's take out on Piedmont Avenue. Take-out taken to a brilliant new level.

2. Keren Ann's new CD La Biographie de Luka Philipsen. A lighter version of Carla Bruni, a bit of Dido. Very soothing, and just great music to work to.

3. Oxygen--my indoor soccer team. We surprised ourselves with a 12-4 win last week only to be humbled this week with a devastating 6-0 loss. Winning is so much more fun.

What went wrong? I blame it on the music. Usually the Bladium plays upbeat and energizing music during games. Last night, at the beginning of the second half, Paul Young's "Everytime you go...away..." totally slowed us down. Later, I blamed a missed scoring opportunity on the agonizing guitar solo of a Van Halen song. We played against a team called "The Latinas." They were tough and highly skilled. At minute 35, we actually reverted back to a 3rd grade version of kick and run soccer. Brilliant. Thankfully, this was our last match up with them.

4. Clinique Bonus Time! Recently I spent a few hours at a swanky outdoor shopping mall in Walnut Creek. It's clearly an adult Disneyland--second to the Venetian at Las Vegas. Imagine faux European façades showing off Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma. Lest you be not taken by the McArchitecture, Godfather lite music fills the air. Happy blonde families stroll hand-in-hand. The captain of the local high school lacrosse team snuggled with his cheer bunny near a fountain. Whew. I had flashbacks of the city I grew up in, but thankfully the Italian music reminded me that I'm indeed in the throngs of Nor-Cal. And did i have a good shopping day? You bet. It was a glorious retail experience.

5. Girls weekend in the Pacific Northwest! Cappy and I spent this past weekend kicking it with mom up north. On the agenda for the weekend: dinner at a Caribbean restaurant near SeaTac airport, movies, dim sum, an art/craft fair, iced vanilla lattes, reminiscing, laughing. Bellevue Square and its environs is turning into a mini-Beverly Center. Seriously. I felt like I was in L.A. at times. My high school (Newport) is getting a major facelift. I guess that's what happens when you make a Newsweek list.

6. Personal Training at the Bladium! It's time for Penny to move beyond Pilates, Samba Beat classes, and indoor soccer... Stay tuned for the new adventures of Penny and her new trainer Billy W.

7. Bay to Breakers on May 21st Penny et al. will be starting off early on Sunday morning. Costumes TBA--read: we have no idea what we're wearing. You hear "Go!" then after 15 minutes, the crowds allow you a steady walking shuffle. Now that's a pace I can keep.

And lastly, we're happy to report that the Tubular One has fully recovered from the injuries she sustained last weekend. The T.O.'s usual dogsitter was in Mexico, so we took our little camper to San Francisco's Pet Camp. The vet says she may have hyper extended her knee and shoulder muscles. We attribute this to her overly rambunctious small dog play group. Oops. Next time, it's the Older Gentler Dog playgroup.

Corporate

2006-05-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

So i've clearly fallen off the posting wagon--though not for lack of material. I've got tons of content in my head, but have been reluctant to spend more time online than necessary. Unfortunately, that has left little time for posting in the blogosphere.

I've got a bunch of postings in a half-baked state, that have been sitting around since mid-April. I'm cleaning up a bunch of them and putting them out there. Here's the first of them...

For those of you who know me well, you know that my working life up until 2004 was marked by the beginnings and endings of classes.

Though I could have probably made more money bartending or zookeeping rather than teaching, I was rich with perspective. I taught children and adults here in the States and in Asia. And this is a strangely true fact--because of my previous job, I can say that there are photos of me posing w/various students from every city/country in the world including: Oman, Cape Verde, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Jakarta, Sakahlin, and Macau.

When teaching, I remember coming home at the end of the day, completely exhausted from talking. There was actually a point when students would ask me, "What's your dream job?" And being completely honest, I'd sometimes answer, "This!"

As you may know, for the past two years, my days have been spent in a high tech cube farm.

I have absolutely no regrets, but have been thinking about how different my working life is now, compared to the past 13 years.

For the past two years, I've been talking much less. I have IM conversations with people who sit on the other side of a wall. I overhear engineers speaking in a jargon that I can hardly understand. I recently had an hour long conversation about the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. And, now, rather than running from class to class, I sit in a cubicle. A great benefit is looking over my shoulder and seeing the nearby Cow Palace, downtown Oakland across the water, and planes continually landing and taking off from SFO.

...Oh and I don't have to pay for coffee every day.

Here are my top 8 corporate truisms that I've observed and heard about in the past two years:

1. Never Underestimate Anyone
At any random company meeting, you could look to the person to the left of you, and to the person to the right of you. Realistically, one of these people could become your manager within one week, one month, or one year.

2. Fairness is an Illusion
There will always be someone in your company who does much less than you, has less education than you, does not have knowledge or skills appropriate to their task--yet makes more money than you.

3. The Bottom Line
You thought this was just a positive all-company mantra. Then before you know it, a corporate brushfire clears out entire sections of cube farms. "The Bottom Line"--believe it, there is no other God.

4. Watch Survivor
This show reflects the very principles that one encounters in the corporate world. Women of color are either ridiculously suspect or exploited for their diligence and reliability. White men protect each other--only if they see themselves reflected or align with someone they hope to be, or hoped to be. Alliances are very real, but ultimately flimsy and worthless. The only immunity idol is a strong tolerance for ambiguity and the ability to walk the walk on a daily basis.

5. War and Poker
Some men really do use these unforgivable themes when discussing business and computer engineering! "We're not holdin' aces, but we're not ready to fold just yet..." Or the abominable, "This gives ammunition to the theory...." Yuck.

6. Indirectly Direct
All important communication is indirectly direct. Read between the lines. The energies you feel through the walls tell you all you need to know.

7. It is About Who You Know, and Who Likes You
Sometimes executives are executive for a reason beyond their qualifications!

8. It's Not Unusual: People in their 30's and 40's Can and Do Act Like Junior High School Kids
When I was young, I thought people over 30's were adult, reasonable, wise, and mature. I still think that, but for a much smaller minority.

In my mind, unleashing yourself in a cube farm on a daily basis means that you accept the known terrors. It's kind of like owning property on or near a major fault line. You know the potential risks, but get in the elevator everyday.

That's all I dare to spill for the moment.

Seattle

2006-04-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of sunny Seattle, Washington taken from the front deck of my parent's house. You can see the gorgeous zigzag of the Cascade mountains, Lake Washington, Mercer Island... and if you look closely, my high school.

The point of this photo today is to show that our weather has indeed gone north. Apparently we've swapped out our blue skies and sunshine for Seattle clouds and rain!

The grey skies are no match for the upcoming Moon in Cancer, however. This will be coming to us at 06.15 GMT. Get some kleenex, call your mother, snuggle up with your pets, and cook up your favorite comfort food....

In the next two weeks, (and beyond) you can find Penny and Cappy here. We've signed up for a club membership to go along with my indoor soccer season. Incredibly, this place is about five minutes away. There's a rollerblade hockey rink, two indoor soccer fields, a climbing wall, exercise machines, basketball, two rooms for aerobics classes, a proper boxing ring, and a restaurant/bar! All in a re-developed airplane hangar in Alameda! Who knew?

Cappy and I will be here--climbing, jogging, and chasing balls on synthetic grass until the sun comes out. And by the way, if you're in the Bay Area and would like a guest pass, give me a call!

Bones

2006-03-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I was looking for easily digestible no-brainer reading material for early morning bart rides. I recently came across a book called Secrets of the Tomb Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Perfect bart reading material. It's totally Star Magazine in book form--it reads like a news article, and no surprise as its author was a former NY Times reporter. Why the hell would i care though? Why can't I just finish Animals in Translation before skipping to another book? What is wrong with me?

Like many people (probably none who read this blog...) I am fascinated with secret societies. Not because I feel I'm missing out, but more for the sociological/psychological aspect. Some of the things I've read in this book reminded me of certain aspects of a quasi-secret "society" I was involved with a long time ago. And when I say quasi-secret, I'm referring to secrets told under oath that aren't worth guarding for life, nor repeating. And it led nowhere near paths of power, paths of homosexuality and other debauchery, but not power. And when I say a long time ago, I mean ancient Penny history. Don't even ask me about this.

About the book: Skull and Bones is the ultimate old boy's club at Yale. It started in the early 1830's by a Yale student who studied in Germany for a year. This student befriended the leader of a secret society that used a skull as it's logo. Apparently this group was an outgrowth of the 18th century Illuminati, but that's another story. So the American student then returns to the States and starts up Skull and Bones at Yale.

A few grisly facts about Skull and Bones:

-Some of the artifacts of the Bones tomb include: Nazi memorabilia, Hitler's silverware, the skull of Geronimo and Pancho Villa, more skulls, coffins, and skeletons

-Members are guaranteed financial security for life and have access to an exclusive island retreat complete with a luxurious mansion and women at their disposal

-Many "Bonesman" have been Supreme Court justices and Presidents (George Sr. and Jr., and John Kerry among others )

-Skull and Bones created the American Psychological Association, the American Historical Association, and the American Economic Association and place their own members as presidents

-They didn't admit women until 1990

-Skull and Bones provided financial backing to Adolf Hitler

-Members founded the law firm that represents the NY Times and control the wealth of the Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Ford families

-Initiation involves mud wrestling and lascivious acts in coffins

I guess one could ask, which American institution is not controlled or influenced by Skull and Bones? It's like the question of Britain, name one country they haven't colonized? They're not so secret are they? And who are the others? I think I may have met a member back in '96 but that's another story...

To find out who may be a Bones member around you, simply call out, "Skull and Bones." Members take oaths to immediately excuse themselves whenever and wherever they hear this.

The Catholic church and the Bones have a lot in common. Both bring few into the inner circle, need to control and possess, have extensive influence, need lavish costumes, and a lifetime of security. Both are completely deluded and equally reprehensible. Gross.

Who are you, recent reader? I can hear your mouse clicking through the blog... What are you thinking of this blog so far? Silent judgement, amusement, disgust, boredom, indifference? And i know what you're thinking, who writes "bulgari" as one of her interests? There's a long story with that one, mate, je te jure!

Anyway, my next possible forage into despicability: Scientology.

Clutter

2006-03-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

In general, I hate clutter. When I look around and see mounds of things stacked, piled, and crammed together it makes me feel nauseous. Seriously--when I'm around it, I can be near short of breath. A deep unsettled feeling overtakes me. I don't suffer from OCD, it's more of a phobia. I'm clutterphobic. What's up with that?

Somehow, somewhere along the way I developed a fear of acquisition. Some people are afraid of cockroaches or spiders. With the exception of tiny rodents, the only other thing that frightens me is clutter. Stuff. Lots of it. Mounds of disorganised clutter. Quite frankly, I'd rather see a spider on the wall. Or a cockroach. Really. Well, only if it were very small and wingless.

A major clutter offender was my homestay mother in Japan. The mayor of the town I lived in felt that the town English teacher should spend one month in a homestay before living independently. Since it was the first time I had lived in another country on my own, the idea didn't really bother me. It was actually a wonderful experience. Wonderful, except for the clutter.

The Usuki's had a lovely two story house in the Japanese countryside. It was similar to the house pictured above. Mr. and Mrs. Usuki were in their late 40's, and had one one child called Chess, an 8-year old Shiba Inu. Inside, it was a lovely disaster. I stopped count at 5 calendars in or around the living room area. The room next to the kitchen was stacked high with books and boxes. There were two dish cabinets on the wall. There was actually a leather sofa in the living room area, but it was buried under books, magazines, and small boxes. Despite the heavy clutter however, it wasn't messy. There's a difference between organised clutter and a real mess. After a month, the clutter became invisible. By that point, I was on my way out to my own apartment.

Maybe this clutterphobia started when I was young. There was a clutter disaster in the home I grew up in. Between the kitchen and living room, there was a long counter. My brother and I sat at this counter whenever we had people over and there wasn't room at the big dining room table. This was probably the only time the counter was clear.

Whenever we didn't have company, the counter was a repository for anything and everything: my mom's calendar, packets of pictures from the previous summer, recipes, papers, mail.... I can't even remember what exactly cluttered this counter!? A whole lot of nothing, really. When I tried to clean it, I invariably tossed out something out of importance. It was an endless cycle of frustration.

I've contemplated hiring an interior designer who would create a space that is "masculine in design yet feminine in atmosphere," like this place. Ha! But seriously, I'd love to get some swanky interior designers to "minimalize" our space here, but what I'd really be doing is paying them a shitload of money to throw away our stuff!

Blog topics on the horizon:

-The "PF Chang-ification" of Bay Area restaurants
I've been writing down my thoughts on this. A curious experience in a Mountain View Shanghai restaurant convinced me of this phenomenon. I'm convinced that it is sweeping Chinese-American restaurants in the South Bay. Maybe it's not a new phenomenon, maybe it's completely obvious. Regardless, I must give voice to it once and for all!

-My thoughts on The Obake Files Ghostly Encounters in Supernatural Hawai'i
I picked this up in the Hilo Airport back in January. It was meant for light reading on the plane, but lately I've been reading a story here and there before going to bed. This might explain all the strange dreams I've been having recently...

-Back to School?
Am contemplating a return of a life of quiet hours in libraries, talking to people face-to-face in real time, no more business casual attire, etc. Pros: great reading lists, opportunity, rejuvenation, access to a swimming pool, new communities. Cons: endless reading lists, peanut butter and jelly lunches, and the inevitability of being caught talking to myself in libraries. Current status on this undertaking: Undecided and unsure, yet inspired.

Offline

2006-03-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

So I've been MIA in the blogosphere for most of the month of March. I'm still enthusiastic about my little cyber vanity piece, but I can't find the time these days. I'd love to say that I've not posted because i've been stuck in the sand at Anse de Source de l'Argent, but the reality is not that spectacular. Lately, I can't be asked to be online much outside of work.

Currently Reading:
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin, PhD

Recent film seen:
V for Vendetta

New undertaking:
Indoor Soccer at the Bladium in Alameda

Latest i-tunes purchase:
Anything Box "Worth"

Favorite Mash Ups:
Bizarre Light Triangle by New Donna
Mustang Intergalactic DJ Moule

I'm recovering from the drain my intensive 2-day read-a-thon of Dan "It was a dark and stormy night..." Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Have jumped into Angels and Demons against my will, though the cliffhanging chapters are really getting on my nerves. Angels et al is is great bart reading, if i ever get up early enough to take it. With all the track fires and bomb threats, I'm feeling a bit safer navigating ma petite poubelle over the Bay Bridge.

So i've turned instead to Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation. Ever since I finished the chapter called "How Animals Perceive the World," i've been finding myself identifying contrasts that animals and autistics would notice....shadows, shiny glaring puddles on the sidewalk, and yellow signs...

Shrimp

2006-03-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

We recently saw Hustle and Flow on DVD. I thought Terrence Howard was brilliant and could understand why he was nominated for best actor. For a week after the film, that Three 6 Mafia song re-played in my head, over and over. So, I've written up some alternate lyrics. For those of you who know me well, you know very well my propensity for the absurd. I'll share those here and now, though they don't translate too well in the written form. I'd have to sing it for the full effect:

It's hard out here for a pimp
No money to get my hair curled and crimped

It's hard out here for a pimp
No money for juice box and shrimp

It's hard out here for a shrimp
All the big sharks think that I'm a wimp

Am nearly 15 pages from finishing The DaVinci Code, a.k.a. adult Harry Potter. Since the whole world has read the book, i thought i'd buckle down and get it over with. And that i've done, in record time. It's McLiterature crack-- i can't put it down. I woke up in the middle of the night to read about 20 pages, it's dire. In any case, it has been a welcome diversion from language acquisition theory and my work in Beijing. All I can say thus far--it's a surprise that Jesus was a mortal man??

Have you seen Google Earth? Last Friday at work, I was able to drop in on most of the places I've lived. I was even able to spy on the rooftop of my parents' home in Bellevue, Washington. Intriguing and frightening. Is it just me or can Google Earth further enable any stalker or would-be terrorist? If you were one who wanted to inflict mass harm, couldn't you just Google Earth your whole plan? However useful, all I can say is that this new tool left me a bit seasick.

What's next Google? The ability to hear anyone's voice? We'll just type in a phone number and download an audio sample of anyone's 2-minute greeting? Want to know what people are eating? We'll be able to type in a random name and get a live feed of the contents of their refrigerator. How high is your thread-count? Simply type in a number in the 150-1000 range and Google will pinpoint those who slumber with the same amount of softness as you.

Oh, and a co-worker told me that she saw a full recipe for crystal meth in a paper much like the Bay Area's Guardian. It didn't just list the ingredients, it spelled out the exact amounts of each ingredient, as well as why Sudafed was key to the whole recipe. Brilliant!

Happy Near End of the week....

Raves

2006-03-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Lately:

1. Newly discovered Windows Movie Maker on my work computer. I've had this computer for a little over two years and had no idea of this program. Two and a half minute documentaries now fill up my desk top. Good times.

2. Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied"

3. "Tortilla a la Espanola" from Alegria's

4. Great blog, new to me (friend of a friend): http://metropolitician.blogs.com/
Check out his entry about Daniel Henney (!!) and Hines Ward

5. Lonely Planet's The Travel Book

6. Lococo's on Piedmont. Their "Spaghetti with Meatballs and Peas" is a soulful experience.

7. Cooper, the neighborhood Daschund. He no longer resembles garden vermin and has developed the warmest and most endearing personality. He has a major crush on our T.O. but she can't be asked to bother with stubby excitable pups. She's all about opposites--she wants someone heartier, fluffier, taller, and calmer.

Apparently, "the Sun is presently in the most harmonious alignment with revolutionary Uranus. This powerful conjunction has the ability to "dissolve old images and allow a larger, freer self to emerge." Woo Hoo. If you're a Piscean, it says that we must pick up things we began in 1999. I know what that is for me--how about you, my fellow Pisces pals?

Doves

2006-03-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

So let me explain what happened the other day...

First i should preface this with an earlier incident:

It was March 1999 when my beloved grandmother passed away. We were very close and I absolutely adored her. She passed away kind of unexpectedly and I've never really gotten over it. So in March, we all flew to Hawai'i. We were pulling out of the driveway to go to her funeral.

All of a sudden and out of nowhere, a beautiful white pigeon appeared. Now, in all the years i spent in Hilo, i NEVER saw this kind of bird, not ever close to the house, actually, not anywhere. This bird stood behind the car as we were reversing out of the driveway. The bird took a few steps back, the car reversed a bit, then it took a few steps back again... As we began our descent down the small hill, this mysterious white bird remained standing at the top. She watched our car go all the way down the hill. I immediately knew it was my grandmother. We all knew.

Fast forward to my birthday, March 2nd 2006. My grandparents were always great about my birthday, they never forgot, even when they got really sick. Lately i've been thinking a lot about them. On this day, I wore a special ring--my grandmother's most treasured piece of jewelry.

So anyway, i'm at work and it's about 3.30 in the afternoon. Cappy calls me in distress. "There are two DOVES that somehow got in!" At first, i thought she said "two ducks." Great, I thought, a field day for the Tubular One--her food source yapping and flapping all over the place. Then I realised she was saying "doves." Me: "Oh my god, open the windows!" Cappy: "I can't they're dive bombing me! They're perched up really high!" Now here's the weird thing, we only had one window open slightly. We've NEVER had birds enter the space in the four years we've been here!

Apparently these two grey doves, one male and one female were flying all over the place, perching here and there. Thankfully, a very freaked out Cappy was able to find a helpful neighbor. She helped her put out some bread and open up the windows.

The male bird was the first to fly out, yet the female bird took her time. She seemed to perch from various places: the track lighting rail, and nearly each exposed pipe and vent. The female bird finally did fly out, but not before having a long lingering look at Cappy.

Later, Cappy realized that the doves weren't really dive bombing, just checking out the space. She said, in retrospect, that they seemed protective and curious. I laughed to myself imagining my grandparents' mischievious year of the monkey spirits. After all the ruckus, some parts of the floors looked like a bridge underpass and the table tops looked like the night after a 70's drag show. Tiny feathers everywhere.

And I absolultely felt that I had a visit that day. It was a wonderful gift.

Decathlon

2006-02-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took at the University of Oregon Art Museum. I have vague memories of hiding out here... reading poetry by Shelley and sipping dark coffee. Ms. Sharmaine swears that she took some black/white photographs of me here for a project, but I can hardly remember that... On this day however, my experience was less than peaceful.

Cappy and i wandered into the Art Museum around noon on Sunday morning. After about twenty minutes or so, we walked upstairs to see the Asian Art collection on the 2nd floor. This featured artifacts from Korea and China. We walked into a large room with Chinese scrolls and paintings on the walls. There were miniature models of pagodas on wooden stands. At the end of the room there were costumes encased in glass, as well as jackets, helmets, robes, etc. Suddenly, we both felt intense waves of energy. It was like invisible ribbons of dark grey clouds were swerving in the room. At least, that's what I could visualise from the feeling I got. Immediately, we both acknowledged that we had quickly leave that room.

Cappy felt intense energies emanating from the artwork--a feeling of outrage and anger. She said the energy she picked up felt extremely draining. For me, i felt fear because i am always afraid of rage. I also felt severe sorrow and pain. It felt like something had a grip on my heart and was yanking it from my body. This might sound odd, but it made me think of the dementors in Harry Potter. A dark spirit that zapped out positive energy...

When we finally skipped down to the last step on the first floor, Cappy looked intently at something and sighed heavily, "Oh, no wonder." I looked at what she was pointing to. There was a sign that identified the exhibit that we escaped from--it was called "Life and Death in China." Things like this don't scare me. What was amazing was that it took about 30 minutes for me to feel as if i had my heart back.

Have you ever had an experience like this? I've had similar experiences at the Native American Museum at the University of British Columbia and also at an African store next to the Piedmont Theater in Oakland. I might write more about this kind of thing later. Maybe not.

But anyway---

It was a wonderful roadtrip. Unbelievably, we reached Ashland, Oregon quite late Friday night. At one point of the drive, we were driving 20 miles an hour through an intense snowstorm near Mt. Shasta. Good times.

Highlights of our trip:

-"The Decathlon" at Track Town Pizza in Eugene, Oregon. Though I've been all over the world, there are only two pizzas that are most memorable to me. The first is the pizza in Napoli, and the second is Track Town. Seriously. I love everything about Track Town. The honey wheat crispy crust. The photos of Steve Prefontaine on the walls. The wooden bench seats.

-Walking around the campus on a quiet Sunday morning. I walked Cappy through the amazing Triple A building (Allied Arts and Archictecture), the Erb Memorial Union, Willamette Hall, through the Art Museum, and the Knight Library.

-Courteous and considerate drivers who let you pass with a wave and a smile. This is a Pacific NW thing--when taken to the extreme, it can be just as dangerous as any Bay Area driver.

-Dropping in on the Hillcrest Winery, a small family operation in Roseburg, Oregon.

-Drinking "Rubinator" at the High Street Cafe. The High Street Cafe is a small pub that serves comfort food and the one of the only kinds of beer that I actually enjoy drinking. "Rubinator" is part Ruby, which is a raspberry beer, and Terminator, which is closest to the Irish Guinness. I'm not a beer person, but drinking Rubinator is as easy as it was sipping Smithwicks in Dublin.

-Attending the closing night of Eugene's first Asian-American film festival. We saw "The Grace Lee Project." The one Grace Lee that I know was actually featured in the film. She was the pixelated blob walking around Seoul.

I was reminded of a few things:

1. I never want to live in Korea again (seeing Grace Lee in Seoul...)
2. Eugene loves Steve Prefontaine
3. I actually do enjoy beer sometimes
4. Oregon is predominantly white
5. I am still shocked that I'm a Californian

Road Trip

2006-02-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Friday) we embark on our first roadtrip of the year. This might imply that there are more to come, but quite frankly, I can't be asked to do more than a few roadtrips per year. Something about sitting in a car forever, seeing signs like "My Destination 300 miles" kills me. And we're bringing the Tubular One. That should be interesting.

We're leaving tomorrow afternoon with the goal of reaching Ashland, Oregon. We should make that in 5-6 hours. However, I've read that there's a 30% chance for snow on our way up. Great. We'll definitely be carrying chains with us. For those unfamiliar with Ashland, it's a quaint little town 15 miles north of the California border. It's home to the annual Oregon Shakespeare festival, polenta pancakes with warm marionberry sauce, mountain biking, skiing, music, and Victorian B&B's. And us, for one night.

I've been there once a long time ago. I saw "A Winter's Tale," and "The Tempest" at the outdoor theater in the middle of summer. Unfortunately, we won't be staying there too long though. After breakfast with friends, we'll continue our trip north to Eugene, Oregon. Home of the Ducks, the Bijou theater, Excelsior, Track Town Pizza, and my home for five years a long time ago.

It's been about thirteen years since I left Eugene in the beginning of July in 1993. A lot of things were going on at that time--graduation, coming out, packing, my first Gay Pride (San Francisco), preparing to leave for Japan that August for two years... All of my grandparents flew over from Hawai'i. My parents and brother were there too. I was getting back together with someone and breaking up with someone else at the same time, the same week. Oh, and I wasn't out to my family just yet. Total chaos.

I've decided to take this trip with Cappy as kind of a pre-birthday getaway. My birthday is not too far off, and not too welcome, i might add. Eugene is not only where i went to school, it's also the first city i landed in when i flew over from Korea at 9 months. In the freezing winter of 1970, my parents drove down from Seattle, Washington to pick me up at the Eugene Airport.

One year while in school at the U of O, a good friend of mine kidnapped me for my 20th birthday. She made me cover my eyes and she drove me to some "secret location." When i finally was able to see, i opened my eyes to an incredible sight. A flood of blue lights flashed before me, running up and down. My friend was able to somehow drive us to a spot that is near dead center of the runway at the Eugene Airport. She had no idea what it meant, by bringing me there. I think I told her, but not for a few weeks. It really didn't dawn on me until then...

So i have this nagging thing in me. I don't know what it's called. I'll re-watch films, re-read favorite books, re-read journal entries, and order the same thing over and over again in restaurants. Lately, i've felt more desire to revisit places I've been to, rather than discover new places. Or maybe, and i think this is what that's all about--I'm trying to re-trace my steps with Cappy. Next, but in no particular order--we'll visit her school, my favorite places in Japan, Ko Tao, Thailand, and eventually Korea.

Oil

2006-02-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Post-Syriana thoughts:

Tyranny is tyranny wherever you go. Every battling country elicits the newly immigrated or disenfranchised to do their dirty work.

P.Diddy and the character Prince Nasir Al-Subaai have much in common. Precisely shaved, not into giving back to their communities, greedy, and highly ostentatious. Also, more sadly, in order to keep their current administration's game plan, they need to continue to be just as they are.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
-John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)

All for now. I'm sick because of the above, and also physiologically.

Soccer

2006-02-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

Another season with the ladies in green and white striped jerseys has begun. Eclipse is the name of the team we played against tonight. Final score: Eclipse 2- Poppers 2. I'm in no better shape this season, but enjoy it much more. The games are a welcome change from the hours i spend in a cube farm.

On my way down 880 last night, I was thinking of the names of soccer teams I've been on:

The Golden Eagles--2nd grade-4th grade
The Rebels-- 5th grade-6th grade, same team as above, with more attitude
The Cobras--High school, State select team. Very competitive. Hated it.
One Last Time--High school, Fun team. We all wore #10 jerseys. Loved it.
Diablitas--2000-2001 The infamous team of Dolores Park and the World Cup Indoor League
Circus Animals--2005 Outdoor co-ed. Never again.

The other day my mom and i were reminiscing about all the soccer teams i've played on. We brought up a few names i hadn't thought of in ages. One of them was Kris H. She was a teammate of mine on the "Cobras." She had hair like the guy from the Flock of Seagulls, but it was dark brown. Spiky bangs covered most of her face. She hated high school and i wonder if she hated soccer too? She seemed perpetually enraged, but in a quiet way. To me, she was the sweetest person you could ever meet. She smoked clove cigarettes minutes before walking on the field--and then proceed to run like lighting all over the field for two 40 minute halves. Incredible.

Cassettes

2006-02-03T15:56:00.000-08:00

I recently started taking inventory of old cassette tapes that have been sitting in an old leather case since 1995 or so. I'm either throwing them away or replacing them digitally, via i-tunes. I've found a few sentimental favorites though.

First cassette bought: Xanadu the Soundtrack
Most loved in 5th or 6th grade: Pat Benetar "Crimes of Passion"
Most worn out cassette: U2 "The Unforgettable Fire"
Totally forgotten but loved : The Sugarcubes "Life's Good"
Most played in 1988: Depeche Mode "Black Celebration"
Gift tape that I never listened to: Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
All Time Best Mixed Tape: The one by the girl from Geneva

Mixed Tapes. i've kept a few of the best recorded cassettes with clever or romantic titles. It's funny to look at the cracked plastic cases encased in dust and think that at one time, they were my life. Rather, the makers of the tapes were. Or so i led myself to believe.

Of all the mixed tapes i've received in my life, some of the best were from a boyfriend in college. Presently, he's a junior high school English/drama teacher in a Portland, Oregon. Last i heard, he's married with two or three kids. Thankfully i completely escaped that fate... living in that overgrown town, driving a minivan, being bored out of my mind... but i still love the music.

A few of the best selections:

Swingin' Party--The Replacements
The Only Thing that Shines--Shriekback
My Bag-- Lloyd Cole
Uncertain Smile--The The
It's Only Life--The Feelies
Beyond Belief--Elvis Costello
Hearbreak a Stranger--Bob Mould
The Other Way of Stopping--the Police
Soon--My Bloody Valentine
Good Good Things--Descendents
Train in Vain--The Clash
Ana Ng--They Might Be Giants
Just Like Honey--Jesus and Mary Chain
Head On--Pixies
Carolyn's Fingers--Cocteau Twins
Deep Ocean, Vast Sea--Peter Murphy

Remember the "rules" of mixed tapes? Side A was usually the warm up for the hard hitting Side B. When i say hard hitting, i'm referring to the songs that implied, "Hey i like you, you could be my next big thing..." when you felt it, but couldn't say it. You never put a song by the same artist on one side, nor right after the other by that same artist. For the exciting surprise factor you didn't list the song titles. You decorated the cover by carefully pasting images on the paper jacket thing. Mixed tapes were given within the first month of dating, not first week.

Then came the ability to create CDs. The best part of that was being able to be precise about the times of songs, to not overflow the CD, nor fall short of the space available. In the world of mixed tapes, there was always that problem of finishing Side B, but seeing that smidgen of space left on the cassette, and the horror of beginning to record a song that cuts off.

Now one can created a mixed CD in less than 3 minutes. Great, but a lot is lost because of it. In my mind, it was a relaxing and structured way of pining. All these things: searching for the perfect opening song for Side A, rewinding/forwarding, carefully printing on the cassette jacket so the ink didn't run, the joy of handing it over and receiving it, analysing lyrics, playing and re-playing...

Encore

2006-01-31T15:28:00.000-08:00

More Lists of 3's:

Foods you’d think I love but don’t:
-Peking Duck
-Unagi Donburi (unagi anything)
-Avocado

Hidden Talents:
-Flipping a Fried Egg with smooth wrist/pan action
-Pen Twirling (ambidextrously, to boot)
-Dig Dug High Scorer

Recently purchased itunes songs:
-Happy When it Rains-- Jesus and Mary Chain
-Come Dancing-- The Kinks
-Near You Always-- Jewel

Hobbies/Interests that are SO not me:
-Gardening
-Arts and Crafts
-Antiques

Things you’d think I can’t stand but actually like:
-Vacuuming
-Hot Dogs
-Eminem

Movies you'd think i like but don't:
-Gia
-Moulin Rouge
-Bound

Matrix-like Skills I’d like to download:
-Complete Fluency in Mandarin and Spanish
-Instant and Lifelong Physical Conditioning appropriate for triathlons and soccer games
-Magic (I’d be the first Korean-Lesbian Street Magician)

Tomfoolery

2006-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

So we brought the petulant Tubular One to a local dog park this past weekend. All week, she had been pouting and whining--something along the lines of "you guys never take me to the dog park anymore! It is the year of the dog now.... he-LLO!?" She then herded us into Cappy's car, and took her place... Two front paws on the middle arm rest and face forward like a captain off to sea. Cappy turned the keys to the ignition, and we were off.

We finally pull into the overflowing parking lot. At this point, the Tubular One was panting at the window and ready to jump out. The sight of all the burly Rottweilers, black labs, and Australian Sheep dogs was enough to make my eyes water and nose run. As we approached the fenced area, I tightened my grip on T.O.'s cheetah leash--could she hold her own with the big dogs?

Thankfully, we spotted a separate fenced in partition for those dogs under 30 pounds. Phew. Although our T.O. loves to flirt with big fluffy boy dogs, we thought it more appropriate for her to romp with other short-legged creatures. Less chance for an "incident." Ha.

The small dog section was awash with white fluffy puffies in pink sweaters, chihuahuas with snarls and growls, and a score of mini Yorkies playing street basketball sans street and ball. They were a tough group. I soon realised we shouldn't be be fooled by their canine duds and fashionable grooming.

Instinctively, Cappy picked up the T.O. as we surveyed the lot. Thinking it was OK, we finally placed the T.O. on the ground. We might as well have been lowering her into a shark pool. Within two seconds, she was surrounded by a collective mass of yelping fur. The T.O., on her best behavior started out with her usual play bows. Seeing that the other fluffie toughies were all about rough and tumble tomfoolery, we scooped her up again. We placed her down on a grassier patch, but no sooner, the fur gang was at her heels again.

Moral of the story: The Napoleonic syndrome is not restricted to humans. And to the Tubular One, be careful of what you wish for--you may get it...and then some!

3's here, shamelessly copied from the folks at Lunamania (1.28.06 entry). Somehow the list is limited the list to threes, so off i go...

Three books I can read over and over:
-The Material World: A Global Family Portrait
-The Journals of Dan Eldon: The Journey is the Destination
-Lonely Planet: France

Three Places I've lived:
-Near Seoul National University, Seoul Korea
-Nishi-Aizu, Japan
-Market/Guerrero S.F.

Three TV shows I love:
-6 Feet Under
-VH1's Behind the Music
-Iron Chef

Three highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
-Curb Your Enthusiasm
-Weeds
-Xena the Warrior Princess

Three places I've (recently) vacationed:
-Mendocino, California
-Hilo, Hawai'i
-Lake Tahoe

Three of my favorite dishes:
-my late grandmother's nishime and chicken long rice
-chop chae
-lomi salmon, poi, and lau lau

Three sites I visit daily:
-nytimes.com
-jonathancainer.com
-imdb.com

Three places I'd rather be right now:
-Asleep and wrapped up in our 1000 thread count sheets
-Mukaitaki, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan
-Disneyland (in the midst of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)

Gibberish

2006-01-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

i'm in love with a new group. New to me that is. They're called Sigur Rós which comes from the very common girl's name Sigurrós in Iceland.

Their music is esoteric and heavenly. It's like moody Icelandic Enya meets arctic Deathcab/electronic Cowboy Junkies. Is it Canadian? Is it trip hop Bjork? Hard to pin this down. But the result is lovely.

What i find compelling about this group is that they have an unusual approach to lyrics. Apparently most of their songs are sung in Icelandic, but some are sung in an invented language called "Hopelandic." This is a kind of a "gibberish lyric that fits the music and acts as another instrument." Jónsi the singer, sings in Hopelandic to fit the melody before there are vocals.

At some point they must have decided to go with the perfectly fitting gibberish, rather than figuring out lyrics. Brilliant. And would i or anyone non-Icelandic be able to distinguish the difference of Hopelandic and Icelandic? i can't tell if Hopelandic is absurd or genius. i just think it sounds pretty wonderful.

By the way, I wonder if Elizabeth Frazier of the Cocteau Twins used some sort of Scottish gibberish--could anyone figure out what she was saying?

Cities

2006-01-12T23:48:00.000-08:00

My Year in Cities for 2005:

Apparently someone has a blog or site where people list the cities they've been to? You're supposed to list cities you've stayed in, drive by cities don't count.

Starting point:
Oakland, California

San Francisco, California
Monterrey, California
St. Helena, California
Yountville, California
Mendocino, California
Truckee, California
Reno, Nevada
Bellevue, Washington
Hilo, Hawai'i
Beijing, China
Paris, France
Reims, France

2006 Projected:

Tokyo, Japan
Koriyama, Japan
Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan
Niigata, Japan
Beijing, China
Hilo/Kona, Hawai'i
Seattle/Bellevue, Washington
Eugene, Oregon
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Livingston, New Jersey
Long Island, New York
New York City, New York

....by the way, i'm not yet sure what i think of the "My Year of Cities" blog. What do you think?

In a way, it makes me think of how much I don't explore my immediate surroundings. Not referring to the Bay Area, but i've been to more cities in Europe/Asia than in the U.S. Hopefully we'll get to the cities on the East Coast mentioned above. It's about time i see where my Cappy grew up and went to school.

Time

2006-01-10T23:34:00.000-08:00

C.S. Lewis wrote about the mystery of time in a letter to a friend of his on December 23, 1950:

"Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time. (`How time flies! Fancy John being grown-up and married! I can hardly believe it!') In heaven's name, why? Unless, indeed, there is something about us that is not temporal."

Fish are clearly at home in their environment. Perhaps our uneasinesss with time suggests that humans were not created to live in this world. In any case, we're obsessed with time. I've got book called "A Sideways Look at Time" and i've not had time to read it yet. Go figure.

But it's true--we act as if we're surprised with the passing of time. Sadly, i can say that i don't know Hilo all that well now. You know you don't know a small town when you can't suggest a good restaurant anymore. When my mom asked me where i wanted to eat, i named restaurants that had either closed or changed hands. Sad. It made me think of the Hilo that existed when i was young. The Wendy's that was a chiropractic clinic is now a Starbuck's. Roy's Gourmet became Kay's Lunch Center, but is now, "Kalbi Express."

I was reminiscing and feeling nostalgic about things i no longer see in Hilo. Reading the above bit from C.S. Lewis was reassuring--why should i be so awestruck that a town has changed much in 10-15 years since i spent so much time there?

So, rather than listing and lamenting on things gone by in Hilo, i'll list 3 semi-new things to me that i noticed:

1. The Poke Truck with their motto, "We make em' like you like 'em" (See picture above) If you're not local, or have no idea what poke is, here's a clue. We didn't stop to pick up some poke here--my dad's recipe is better than any chef in Honolulu. Actually buying poke is like the equivalent of a Baskin and Robbins employee paying for a scoop of Jamocha Almond Fudge. Dad was actually offended when i brought home some ahi poke from KTA supermarket one day. Well not totally offended, but his first comment was, "no mo enough chili pepper..."

2. On the corner near the airport, there's a drive inn that has been home to many fast food restaurants. When i was young it was Dairy Queen, then it changed to many short lived local plate lunch houses. The former DQ has finally found a well-liked resident, "Verna's." Unless you've heard about the food there, you might miss it if they didn't have their great sign that greets people at a busy four-way stop: "If no can, no can. If can, Verna's!" We got Dad an extra large grey Verna's t-shirt (with the aforementioned logo of course!) and we all recited "If No Can, No Can, If Can VERNA'S!" at various points throughout the trip. Extra points if you can decipher what their slogan means. We came up with a few variations...

3. De la Cruz ice shave truck. They stop in at the parking lot of Onekahakaha beach on weekends to serve the hungry kids tired of drinking saltwater. They sell anything from manapua, gravy burgers, rainbow ice shave, li hing mui, to hostess ding dongs. i've not seen the old Filipino couple who operate the truck in years. i was happy that we happened to be at the beach that day.

And no, i'm still not out of vacation mode. i'm still thinking about the lifeguard thing.

Waipi'o

2006-01-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

For those of you unfamiliar with Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island of Hawai'i, it was the home of to the kings of old Hawai'i. Most of the taro that is cultivated for poi is grown in the lush valley. It takes about 2 hours to drive there from Hilo, via the small town of Honoka'a.

For all the summers i spent on the Big Island, i had never been near Waipi'o Valley. Unbelievable right? It's kind of like local people here in the Bay Area who've never been to Alcatraz. Or not. You know what i mean.

Over the holiday, we spent an entire day on horses from the Waipi'o Ridge Stables. It was my surprise treat for Cappy on her birthday. i opted for the 5-6 hour "Hidden Waterfall" ride. i know what you're thinking--5-6 hours can be dire for those unaccustomed to long hours in a leather saddle. And would Cappy thank me or hate me for such a surprise? Thankfully, we weren't on horseback for the entire time. And though we were a bit sore, it was totally worth it.

The brochure promised a wonderful "...journey along the rim of Waipi'o Valley to the top of Hi'ilawe, one of Hawaii's highest and most beautiful waterfalls." The extra special Hidden Waterfall ride promised even more wonderment: "As we ride deeper and deeper into the rainforest we encounter a series of smaller, beautiful waterfalls and secret pools. Soon it's time to tie up your horse and hike down to a very private waterfall spilling into a pristine ginger lined pool."

Cappy was assigned to the shortest horse of the bunch, Kaleo. She later described this horse as an "ornery donkey" because he failed to respond to her constant tugs on his rein. He didn't give up a single opportunity to graze on the green grass, ferns, and anything else in his path. It was basically a constant "drive through" for Kaleo.

My horse was called Roddo. He was a 20-year old horse derived from the Spanish stock of horses that first occupied Hawai'i. He was thankfully not as voracious as Kaleo. And for some reason, he decided that he would listen to me. My only complaint was that he loved to trot spontaneously which was brilliant, though painful.

The Hidden Waterfall was exactly that. We rode up the mountain and our horses waded through shallow rivers to get to it. You didn't have to dip a toe into the water to know the water was freezing. Still, there was no way we were killing ourselves for 2 hours to not swim in the "pristine ginger lined pool." Not to sound cheesy, but it was that. Though the water was arctic, it was completely refreshing. We had a picnic lunch of sub sandwiches from Blane's Drive Inn in nearby Honoka'a.

After a brief dip into the aforementioned arctic waters, we got dressed and got back on the saddle, literally. The prospect of another 2 hours back to the stables seemed fun, yet painful to my increasingly strained back.

It's funny. The whole experience seemed so cheesy and unreal, both from the brochure and the actual experience. In the moment however,it felt so normal--as if we ride through tropical forests on horseback every morning. It's odd how things feel nearly ordinary in the moment, yet totally glossy afterwards. I can easily recall the sound of the breeze weaving through the eucalyptus trees, the sound of horse hooves trudging over rocks, and the silence except for the steady footsteps of 10 horses in single file through the jungle.

Match Point

2006-01-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

My favorite Woody Allen films are: Annie Hall, Alice, Mighty Aphrodite and Small Time Crooks. Though i wouldn't say i'm a serious fan, i appreciate his sense of humor a great deal. As far as his personal life, i can't be asked to analyze that. There has been so much buzz around "Match Point," i thought i'd check it out.

If you've not seen this film yet and/or intend to, be aware that there are some spoilers in the paragraphs below...

In my mind, the main reason that this film is being heralded so is because it offers his fans a much needed break from the usual Woody Allen experience. We're spared the whining, self-indulgent casting, and plots that are a bit too clever (e.g. Melinda and Melinda).

Frankly, the plot line is really tired. Working class guy marries into wealthy family, has an affair, but refuses to give up the life he has become accustomed to, and someone ends up dead. The conclusion is hokey yet cynical. You've seen this film before. Though, even though you recognise the story and could predict where it was going, it was still pretty riveting.

The casting was natural and fitting, especially with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. He does a wonderful job disguising his strong Irish accent--you get the feeling he's been trying to do that his whole life. Woody Allen made London seem more appealing than it actually is, from indoors that is. Chris'apartment with Chloe was amazing, but i wondered if it was actually an office building they used as their loft just for the film.

The editing was flawless. i'm a big fan of editing that doesn't give too much away, nor leads you on too much. It's a lot like the pace of a good waiter in a fine restaurant....the perfect amount of space from the time you sit, to when you order your drinks, when the plates are brought out and cleared...

I left the film thinking about things in life that have happened out of sheer luck. Things that have seemed too outrageous to be real. And though i'd love to finish this thought, i can't seem to at the moment.

Year of the Dog

2006-01-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

Hawai'i was wonderful...

Am putting some thoughts together--i am still wistfully processing the whole experience. Currently i feel like leaving the corporate world and becoming a lifeguard at my favorite beach in Hilo. i liked encountering pleasant and friendly drivers who would smile and wave from their cars for me to pull ahead. i liked that i could go places and people would ask my last name, and they'd know my family. i liked going to the beach every day and having the biggest decision be what kind of shave ice i was going to have that day. i'm clearly not over my vacation. More to come on that.

i can tell you about the horrendous flight over, however:

Apparently, we flew to Hawai'i on a day of a huge tropical storm. This storm was tracked across the Pacific stirring up 25 foot waves. A normal 4 hour flight turned into a 5.5 hour nightmare.

Usually turbulence has been a rough patch of clouds or wind. i grip the armrests and it's over. This time, the turbulence was intense and long-lasting. It lasted for over twenty minutes two different times. The "fasten your seatbelt" light was on for most of the flight. There was at times that eerie silence that comes when people are too scared to move. Some people screamed when the plane dipped for about five seconds, then tipped heavily to the left. i found myself wishing and praying that it would stop, and thinking at certain moments that i'd never see my family again.

At one point, the plane was silent except for a boy in the back who was talking loudly, "Dad, if the we crash will the plane protect us?" Comforting and exactly what you want to hear at 20,000 feet above the Pacific!! At one point, i realised that the experience of turbulence was quickly surpassing my fear of dentists.

We landed horribly wibbly wobbly at the Honolulu International Airport. After a comforting plate lunch, we headed to the airport bar for a much needed drink before our inter-island flight later that afternoon. Enough about this.

We have stumbled into 2006 the Year of the Dog. We're all about the dog here at pennylane productions--i am a dog and i live with a dog. Am i a dog person? If you've always associated being close to fur with not being able to breathe, i think it's difficult. i can say that i'm a dog person by fate, as those i'm close to love dogs.

Apparently, one born in the year of the dog is:

-loyal
-honest
-selfish
-stubborn
-eccentric
-trustworthy
-a good leader
-reliable
-compassionate
-anxious

We get along best with Horses, Tigers, and Rabbits.
We worry a lot.
We're good listeners.

And guess what, we're going to have a very good year.

Aloha 'oe

2005-12-23T00:18:00.000-08:00

The last pennylane production posting for the year 2005. It's nearly midnight on December 22nd, seconds away from the very beginning of the 23rd--the day of our now 3rd take off to Hilo, Hawai'i.

i am overjoyed at the thought of Christmas morning with the two little ones filling the house with giggles and joy. That said, there is a bittersweet feeling that i no doubt will be trying to conceal.

Without going into too much explanation and detail, my grandparents house will be going up for sale in late 2006. This house where i spent every summer of my life from one years old until 22 years--will be soon reduced to a visceral memory. Goodbye to the creaky wooden floor, the tattered shoji doors, the ocean view, the intricate zodiac front door handle, the slippery orangey garage floor...

At the end of the day, or should i say, when we take our last breath of air on this planet, it matters very little what material objects we possess. Least of all what kind of house you occupied, invested, or grew up in. So it goes.

When you're a child, you feel the house you're most connected to will always be there. It never occurs to you that the wealth of your memories might not always have tangible footing in a particular room or hallway. As an adult, the memories seem to blend together powerfully into a quick film in my mind. It feels mildly devastating to think the house will soon reside solely in memory.

Here's a thought that soothes me: Perhaps one can feel OK to let go of a house when it is certain that its former inhabitants have taken flight. In that sense, i've recently seen my grandparents together laughing and happy in my dreams. I'm quite certain that they're continuing their world travels together. i think they're pretty much over the house. i hope to be as well...someday.

Positive bouyancy for this holiday season--that's my mantra.

A few songs that are tiptoeing quietly through the air here:

Misguided Angel---Cowboy Junkies
Love it when a song of theirs comes out of nowhere on the ipod shuffle. Comforting sadness.

Where's the Ocean---Toni Childs
First heard this song in 1993. It haunts me to this day. What do you see when you hear this song? i imagine a very foggy beach in the late morning or late afternoon. The time just before the sun comes up or goes down. And when i say it haunts me, it means i totally love it.

Perfect Skin---Lloyd Cole
"...she's inappropriate but she's much more fun..."

Pennylane Productions is signing off for the year but before i go:

Resolutions for 2006:

1. Eat more carbs
2. Italjet scooter (wait, that's not a resolution, but it is one less car...)
3. More acupuncture
4. More drums
5. Definitely more surfing
6. Less sneezing (see #3)

World 66

2005-12-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've come across a great website allows you to create a map of all the countries you've been to in the world, in the U.S., and in Europe. This is a map that represents those countries i've visited. You can create a map of all the states you've visited, all the Canadian provinces you've visited, and all the countries in Europe you've been to. All of the countries i've been to in this image represents 14% of the world, according to World 66.

I have yet to travel to South America and Africa and would like to wholeheartedly. Top of my list: Salvador de Bahia, Brasil and Ghana, Africa. Also: Taiwan, New Zealand, Turkey, Finland, Shanghai, Ecuador, Cambodia, Belize, Honduras, the Truk Islands and the Seychelles (Anse Source d'Argent....)

To everyone i know living in different corners of the United States, Europe, and Asia --all the best for the holidays! Hope to see you in 2006 : )

Rotation

2005-12-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

Go local:

1. Hunan Village, near the Grand Avenue Theater
Totally American Chinese--most die hard H. Villagers are non-Asians who order veggie noodles, sweet and sour chicken, and moo shu pork. What makes this one of my favorites is the fact that they make the absolute best hot and sour soup in the Bay Area. The level of spiciness tends to vary from really spicy to mild. The dishes other than the aforementioned soup are unremarkable, but you'll enjoy the ambiance here. My favorite part about Hunan Village is the owners. They've run the restaurant for 15+ years and know their regular customers by name. They've observed children grow from toddlers to high school students. Their hospitality, warmth, and friendliness is unmatched. An excellent choice for mid-week days when you're hungry but uninspired and too lazy to cook. They'll always greet you with a smile and you'll be glad you stopped in.

2. Jong Ga House, 372 Grand Avenue
The owners were part of the restaurant "Koryo Sushi" on Telegraph. Apparently once that restaurant got on its feet, the owners quietly slipped out the back door to open this one. It's located in a residential area, so you're not able to grill your kalbi. Excellent, efficient friendly service even when it gets really busy. In my past life at Mills College, i sometimes accompanied my Korean students here. They trekked here weekly and often brought their French, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Brasilian friends. My favorites: mandoo guk soup, chop chae, dolsot bi bim bap, dobu jigae, and barbeque chicken. Cappy loves the cold noodles they serve just after you order, the fried flatfish and the barbeque shrimp. Jong Ga staples: i happily use the basic Korean i know, i always think i'm seeing someone who looks just like me before i realise it's my own mirrored reflection (duh...it gets me every time), and i feel empty and lost if i don't eat here more than a few times a month.

3. Drunken Fish, 3314 Piedmont Avenue
Don't let all the bottles of sake fool you. This is a Korean joint. Those too tired to get back over the bridge on a Friday night can experience Korean freestyle sushi at it's best. Tantalizing? You have to see it to believe it: TNT roll, Shrek roll, Mexican Roll, Titanic roll. Avoid all the "Japanese" entrees, miso soup, and most appetizers. Go right for the obnoxious and inappropriate rolls that double as food art. I mean this endearingly. Where else can you check out the REI bridge and tunnel lesbian fashion (so sexy) as you ponder the architecture of the Titanic roll you just bravely ordered. Please say you hear the sarcasm and yes, i'm so going straight to hell. Forget about quick service--just don't order your mini-monstrosities all at once. Once you accept the uncommon mixtures...avocado with spicy tuna deep fried with salmon and teriyaki sauce--you can then really enjoy it. Just don't bring/go with your Japanese friends straight off the jet. Or do...you'll be amused with their subtle derisive glances at the Shrek roll dropped off at the table next to you. You can remind them that they do put CORN on pizza and stuff potato salad in sandwich buns.

4. Los Cantaros Taqueria, down the street from Jong Ga House on Grand Avenue
This is the new tacqueria that opened up just down the street from Jong Ga House. Apparently, this space has been about four or five restaurants in the last fifteen years. We think they've finally created a keeper. Not bad: Veracruz salad, chicken mole, chips/salsa, homemade tamale specials, enchiladas, and sopes. Take out is a good option on busy nights. It's not Pancho Villa in the Mission, or La Corneta in Glen Park, but the food is fresh and the people are friendly.

5. Full House Cafe, 3719 MacArthur Boulevard
In my humble opinion, Full House is the best breakfast cafe in Oakland. They do ordinary things really well. Best breakfast items: cornmeal pancakes, pecan waffles, huevos rancheros, chicken/beet scramble, and their above average diner coffee. Also, their fabulous grits is an alternative to house potatoes and fruit. And they make bacon extra crispy if you request it. The best part about Full House is the diverse group of people. Gay/straight families, young hipsters, chatty old school war vets, artists, hung over Mills students, etc. Note: hit up an ATM first. It's a cash only joint.

There are others i've probably forgotten. i'm only listing reasonable quick go to places when we're hungry but can't be asked to put something together at home. In a future blog, i'll list all of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area and beyond. Or maybe i'll list a few now:

1. Bouchon -Yountville
2. Chenery Park-Glen Park
3. B44- Belden Lane
4. Gombei- San Jose Japantown
5. Koryo Sushi-Berkeley
6. Saul's Deli -Berkeley
7. Pomelo -Snowy Valley The Cuban Fried Rice plate absolutely.
8. Jeanty at Jack's The "Soft Boiled Egg and Escarole Salad with a Warm Bacon Vinaigrette" is to DIE for. Again and again.

Zap

2005-12-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

i'm waiting for cappy to finish something on her computer so we can get going here. The time thing still doesn't work on my blog but i can reveal that it's early Friday evening and we're off very soon. i will stop writing when it's time to go.

Totally self-indulgent quirky lazy jibberish:

-i like seeing Christmas movies when it's nowhere near Christmas, and not so much when we're in the midst of the holidays

-i love eating dried mango. The big bags from Cebu at Costco are my new favorite thing

-Arizmendi pizza with yams, purple onions, goat cheese, and pecans is divine. Unforgettable.

-i admit that i would like to see Coldplay in concert. i found out that Chris Martin and i share the same birthday. A singing Pisces elf. And i don't care if they're overproduced, overly serious, insufferable, annoying, and loved by kids in high school. Ugh. i love their music. Chris Martin has a slight lisp, have you noticed that?

-Great Christmas memory: Waking up when i was 7 or 8 and seeing a new Barbie Townhouse fully set up in my room. It would have been nice to unwrap it, but it was a spectacular thing to wake up to.

-If i could zap myself anywhere in the world today, i'd go here: Mukaitaki (minus the sakurasashi and koi...) Zap, zap, zap!! Not working.

P.S. Special shout out to my Kiwi friend Graham in Fukushima-shi. Stay warm and enjoy some Tohoku ramen for me!

Sounds

2005-12-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

What is that sound? That similar guitar line, that new wave pop sound, it's so familiar. Who does it remind me of? A little research shows that everything comes back to the Beatles.

So let's start with my new favorite band, the Killers....

The Killers were influenced by Duran Duran, who were influenced by Blondie, who was influenced by David Bowie who was influenced by the Beatles...

Same as above for the below:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs---Blondie---David Bowie---the Beatles
Franz Ferdinand---Joy Division---David Bowie---the Beatles
Arcade Fire---David Bowie---the Beatles

If i were in a band today, i'd say my influences are:

Duran Duran, This Mortal Coil, The Beloved, Crowded House, and New Order. What kind of sound would that be? Moody dance music that is best enjoyed behind the wheel or while twirling at home with a glass of wine. Of course withe the glass of wine set down before pre-twirling... Like i'd be in a band again--but why not, life is too short to not do what you love. Right now i love the drums. Right now i love many things.

Recent favorite songs:

All These Things That I've Done--The Killers
Maps --Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Reptilia --The Strokes

i absolutely love The Killers these days. i've not liked a new group this much since i discovered the Postal Service. And i've not liked a singer like the groovy Korean girl Karen O. (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) since i first heard Hope Sandoval a long while ago.

Note:
Somehow the time function is not/hasn't been working properly on my blog. i have no idea what time will appear below...

Recently

2005-11-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's all about the little things:

-Visiting with Cappy's Mom and my parents this month. Good times.

-A week long break from Boot Camp.

-Re-connecting with my long lost friend Michael via Hipster. i first met him at a JET conference at the Portopia hotel Kobe in 1994. We lounged about for 2-3 days in various seminars, enjoying the time away from our small towns. We were on the lookout for other LGBT life forms, laughing at/with quirky Canadians, and chatting up Ingrid from London.

-A new Cafe Del Mar CD

-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Repeat viewing needed, especially for the first 15 minutes. Though, i missed the house elf situation with Hermione and a lot else that wasn't included in the film.

-A bit of Christmas shopping done early.

-A very odd dream where i was salsa rollerblading in my elementary school gym. i was totally smoove and wearing all brown.

-Pistachio gelato from Ciao Bella at the Ferry Building.

-The Tubular One's red rain jacket and the happy way she flaunts it.

-Consuming Gia's biography like potato chips. Perfect bart reading. Now i've got to see the movie which i've totally not seen yet.

-My new happy boots.

And another Tuesday gone...

Pidgin

2005-11-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

pidgin n. (pjn) A simplified form of speech that is usually a mixture of two or more languages, has a rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, is used for communication between groups speaking different languages, and is not spoken as a first or native language.

My friends have always told me, "Your parents have an accent." Unless they were from Hawaii, they may have assumed my parents weren't native English speakers. My parents speak pidgin English but they switch to standard English when not around others from Hawaii. After studying linguistics in grad school, i was finally able to tell my dad that he was not just a Kona boy who never lost his accent, but one who is bidialectal and therefore linguistically complex. Ha! That's exactly what he said.

My favorite comedian: Rap Replinger "Poi Dog"
I listen to bit of Poi Dog at work sometimes when i need a good laugh...

Match the numbers and letters:

1. Who wen cockaroach da cookies?
2. Geev um!
3. Try wait!
4. No talk li'dat!
5. I go talk to you bumbye.
6. Shoots!
7. No make A, eh?

A. Hold on!
B. Try not to make a right fool of yourself!
C. Who ate/stole all the cookies?
D. Talk to you later.
E. Don't speak in that manner, it's unbecoming!
F. Bring it! (Give it your all)
G. Sure, I'm game!

Check your answers here! (Thanks Tara!)

i speak pidgin:

-with my parents and extended ohana
-with certain friends from Hawaii
-with Desiree but not Trinity
-when i'm tired and can't be asked to speak properly
-at times with Cappy (who is picking up pidgin slowly but surely)

Aloha and Happy Thanksgiving!

Seattle

2005-11-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Top 10 things i love about Seattle:

1. The crisp chill

2. Ivar's Fish and Chips especially that chowder...

3. Friendly drivers. Though, sometimes friendly to a fault.

4. The Cascade Mountain backdrop behind the city

5. Thai Ginger. The best Thai food outside of Bangkok

6. The energy, the laid back friendliness, diversity, quirkiness--think back of pre-dot.com San Francisco...

7. The Harvard Exit Theater

8. Linda's Tavern

9. Capitol Hill

10. Pike Place Market

Today:

Dim Sum for Dad's birthday and then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...individual popcorn bags for me, my mom, and Cappy. Just say no to extra salt and butter i say. Maybe no popcorn. After dim sum at Sea Garden, there's usually no need to eat for 3-5 days.

Boom Boom Chak

2005-11-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

Think for a second. Can you name one thing you really love to do and could happily do it everyday--but have not really done much of it in your life? It has to be something exciting yet meditative, challenging, yet easy to learn and totally fulfilling on a psycho-emotional level? It's also something that has ruined lives as well as created them. Now, do you have that thing in mind? Or, possibly more than one thing?

For me, this describes the way i feel about the drums. Those who know me understand my drum thing. When i see a drum set, am near a drum set, or am playing around with my electronic drum set--it's always an exciting thing. Perhaps i was born with the excitement of drums in my blood. Maybe my birth peeps were rhythmically inclined. Or maybe i was a drummer in a past life. Whatever the drum thing is, i have it. It's an extremely meditative and wonderful thing.

My first drum "lesson" was in Nishi-Aizu, Japan. My teacher was the drummer of the town band, "Paradox." By day Sato-san delivered chocolate milk and peach juice to places like the town offices and the board of education. I went to his studio a few times a week. i learned a basic beat and played that to his keyboard rendition of every Beatles song you can think of.

i had my first proper drum lesson last night. i could go on and on about it. One hour felt like about ten minutes. My teacher has a studio in the building that houses Moulton Studios and Club Seen magazine at Polk and Sutter. This drum lesson was like visiting a remote tropical island. Absolutely heavenly, but impossible to live there. Ahmed convinced me that i could fly into the island pretty regularly and that it didn't have to be a once a year fantasy vacation hour. So now, with regular lessons i might be able to add a few more new beats to my "boom boom chak tiss boom boom chak..."

Pennylane Productions is bracing for some Jupiter in Scorpio action. Apparently, i have from now until November 2006 to be consumed with inspiration.

My Favorite Piscean

2005-11-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

Last night as i left work there was a breeze that passed over the parking lot that felt atypically tropical. i heard the nearby seagulls at the shore and felt a wave of nostalgia. Not sure for what precisely. My thoughts wandered to the days i spent in rural Japan. I was in the midst of my 20's and had a lot of time to read, think, and smoke. A lot of smoking, unfortunately. One writer that kept me positively buoyant was my favorite Pisces gal, Anais Nin (1903-1977). This woman really knew how to use a diary.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes of hers. Each of these have been profound at different times in my life--especially the Japan/Korea years and thereafter:

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."

"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, or a new country."

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it."

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

"Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live."

"People living deeply have no fear of death."

"There are many ways to be free. One of them is to transcend reality by imagination, as I try to do."

Are there any other Nin fans out there? Reply silently, telepathically, or anonymously. i'll take calls off air.

Lucky Penny

2005-11-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

i am superstitious and overly conscientious of things like:

-Voices that ring out from nowhere in native american museums
-Attending to salt that falls out of a dispenser
-Black moths that appear on door screens
-Prescient dreams
-Black cats
-Deja vu
-Lucky PENNIES!

Recent Lucky Penny Story:

While walking along the shore of Lake Tahoe this past weekend, i saw a bright shiny penny in the middle of the turtle grass a.k.a. Thalassia testudinum--the blades are large and flat, kind of like golf grass. Knowing that we were heading to Reno later in the evening, i happily picked it up.

Hours later the pennylane crew arrived in the heart of Reno. We walked through the Silver Legacy to the casino of Circus Circus. Agreeing to meet in an hour near the escalators close to the slot machines, i set out on my way to fortune and glory. My first stop was a roulette table. i bet on the day of my birthday, and won. Beginners luck. Cappy cheered me on, "It's the lucky penny!" After the thrill of winning $5, i needed a slight break from gambling. i then watched Cappy slay everyone at the blackjack table. OK, she won a few hands. Well, she won occasionally. Well, let's just say the dealer Arlene from New Jersey had a good night.

i wondered how Sandra and Leti were doing. i stopped by the roulette table where they had parked themselves. They seemed excited with some wins here and there. i took a seat at their table and thought about placing a bet on the two green numbers. With my lucky penny firmly in my grip, i quietly pushed my chips up to the line that straddles green 0 and 00, and took a deep breath...

People all around were putting chips down all over the number grid. The roulette dealer then waved her hand over all the chips on the table, "No more bets please!" She then tossed the little white ball on its way around the roulette wheel. i looked away from the wheel and after a while it started to slow down. i was chanting "green, green, green!" in my head. The little white ball bobbed around from number to number like a freaked out popcorn kernel. It finally slowed down and settled on the green 0!!! Completely stunned, i asked the dealer to cash me out.

i did not think it could happen again, but decided to try again. i was caught in the temporary addictive thrill of winning. i wandered over to a completely empty roulette table, and plunked down chips--again for either the green 0 or 00. Yes, i hit it again. This time, the little white ball landed on the green 00. Again, i cashed out immediately.

So i won twice. Unbelievable. How much did i win? All total about $300, but considering i only spent about $50, i was very happy.

It was steak and lobster for all of us, courtesy of me, and my lucky penny. i'm going to write something cheesier than Fondue and French brie here, but i don't care....

Mid-sized rental car for the weekend: $95
Travel size shampoo/conditioner: $6.50
Roadtrip dinner at In and Out Burger: $12
4 Mexican hot chocolates by the lake: $9

Being able to treat my friends with unexpected winnings: Priceless

A Night with the Larry Mullen Band

2005-11-10T23:39:00.000-08:00

Yeah, i wish i took this photo... i was lucky to have worshipped in the church of Bono for a few hours on Tuesday night. It was a true rock and roll show with amazing pixel light curtains, and a wonderful playlist. Bono and Edge were en fuego. And, there was an amazing stroke of luck that i'll get to in a minute...

Firstly, i have to say that neither MLK, Bad, nor The Unforgettable Fire was played. All was forgiven (by me) when i heard the first few chords of a song i adore. It was way underplayed in its day: One Tree Hill. Although Bono seemed to have forgotten the words to most of it, it was a brilliant three minutes.

Back to our gorgeous stroke of luck....

Cappy and i were happily settled in our unreasonably pricey nosebleed seats in section 202. The unforgiving roof even curled over our heads, blocking our view to those directly across from us. In order to see the stage, try doing this: look down and to the right on the floor three feet away from you. Let's just say i could "crush" the whole stage with my thumb and forefinger. All that notwithstanding, we were giddy and loved the set by Damian Marley.

So it was about 15 minutes until U2 was to come on. The buzz and excitement in the arena was palpable. Suddenly some guy runs up the stairs and shouts out to the section to the right of us. Immediately, people jumped out of their seats, grabbed a ticket from this man, and tore down the stairs. Worried that they might be tickets to the floor (not inside the now full ellipsis) i didn't really worry about it. After a few minutes of watching people in the right section flying down the stairs, my fabulous Cappy stood up and hiked up a few stairs to see what was going on...

The next thing i know, she's shouting, "give me your ticket, give me your ticket..." i hand her my ticket and in exchange we were given two seats to section 107. For a clear idea of where we were and where we ended up, look here. Look where it says section 202. Now find section 107. We were about 4 rows up from the floor. Perfect. Front and center. An already amazing night became magical. Two minutes later, the lights dimmed. And Bono appeared about 100 feet in front of us.

i've said before that i admire my girl's intuition and quick action...well, tonight i became an even bigger fan of U2, and Cappy too!

Note: We found out later that U2 generally buys out many tickets in the best sections, and then releases those seats shortly before the show--to obviously prevent severe scalping and ticket profiteering. Then, the venue staff picks a severe nosebleed section, and lets those folks exchange their tickets for the best seats in the house.

So thank you Larry Mullen and your bandmates, for the amazing seats and thrilling show.

Dig Dug and Turkey

2005-11-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else but me enjoy playing Dig Dug on a Game Boy? i'm totally addicted. It's a great game to play on the bart. It wakes me up better than coffee and i see tunnel patterns during the day whenever i look up from my cpu screen. Another favorite game: Galaga. Totally reminds me of Waikakea Plaza's Fun Factory (Hilo, Hawai'i) circa 1982. Other than Tetris, i can't be asked to play any other video games that are out now. They confuse me and bring out a side of me that is distinctly Korean in nature.

A friend just got back from a month long trip all over Turkey. Over the years, i've been lucky to meet many Turkish students who have been the warmest and most generous people i have met. i've not yet been to Turkey but i'd like to. Did you know that a typical Turkish breakfast is fresh tomatoes, white cheese, black olives, bread with honey and preserves, and sometimes an egg omelettes? This sounds wonderful to me.

97% of Turkey lies in Asia, but it is grouped as a European country for the World Cup...and for their bid to join the EU. Many Turkish people tell me that they see Turkey as a Middle Eastern country. i had my Turkish coffee grounds read in Paris a few days before 9/11. Thankfully, it was a nice reading that has since proved to be unbelievably accurate. Also, in Turkish, "C" is pronounced like a "J."

My friend Ozlem in Istanbul says:

-Girls like to play basketball in Turkey, but not soccer
-All kids in Turkey love hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries.
-Hockey is not a popular sport in Turkey
-People do not eat turkey sandwiches in Turkey
-You pronounce the city "Izmir" like this: Iz-Meersh
-The hero of Turkey is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He established the Republic of Turkey and saved the country from attacks by other countries.

All of this information is related to a work project i'm currently involved with.

Speaking of work:

It's recording time again. I'm looking to cast voice talent (read: my friends and acquaintances) for interesting bit characters. Specifically, i need people who have accented English, or not. i'm currently seeking: Thai speakers of English, a man and woman w/a British accent and/or a Scottish accent, and/or an Irish accent...and anyone else with a velvety smooth kid friendly voice. If you've ever wanted to do some fun voice over work, or have in the past--talk to me.

joie de liliou

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