due to recent familiar events at home, my mental well being has deteriorated to a level where im sporadically day dreaming about whimsical human mortality, death, accidents etc. it's accompanied by dry painful pressure on my eyes, heavy breathing, a stiff neck and a serious penchant to go overboard with consumption. it was good to see friends i haven't seen in 3 years, now married, now newly dating, now a father. then it was good to have victor hsu come and finish off the night. i woke up very woozy this morning but still managed a full day of puppy shopping with john du. it's in these homo moments of one on one time where the idiosyncrasies of character are revealed and explain the origins of overall persona. we had talks of pre-nups, immigration rejection and tax audits, all while hunting for a new puppy. and here she is! we have the same birthday 12.12. we'll be celebrating her birthday every year!!

6:06 PM

congratulations esther...u still manage to look 16.

5:51 PM

고래

really dan? really?

8:08 AM

to make the day even more annoying...american airlines just said my ticket from NY-LAX is no longer useable. and now im here trying to figure out when to purchase one way journey because my LAX/NARITA and NARITA/TPE legs now need a fee for date changes. oh im flipping pissed.

7:21 PM

"我在跟你講話, 你給我跪下..."

what would you say to something like that? i been bitchin' about it for years. and i even think to myself "is it really that bad?"...
but how can i make up shit like this?

and yes. i did kneel.

4:35 PM

it feels like high school to be sitting on your friends couch waiting for your parents to pick you up on a sunday night. 'cept "sitting on the couch" was the only thing about the weekend that felt like high school. and amidst the hours and hours of lounging around on the couch watching tv, eating take out, and talking about chicks, chomo turns to me and asks "when did you have the most fun in your life?". there's definitely a somber bass note in a question of that nature. an understated grim reaper of fun toll implying "the best days are over...sigh". i replied, 2005. he thought about it and nodded. the star alignment of 2005 rallied all my closest peers for a good stretch of inebriated and unheralded goodness which thanks for xanga has most of it documented with pictures. that energy - was temporarily restored by a conference call with a raccoon earlier this week which in effect induced a weekend reminiscent of 4 years past. it all started with my snowboard finding its way to third floor cafe. and i found myself stuck in a conversation with sisters about salad tossing. dan cho spent the night rapping and drinking hien-ekens. 3 hours later, before stepping out the door i hear "yo, im gonna short citi at 2 bucks. and cover at 50 cents"...who ever would have thunk citi would be at 2 bucks and one to have the gall to short it at 2 bucks. i'm still not over the fact that we have a black president. (fyi, im liberal but i dont vote liberal). so as the banks were getting nationalized on friday (if only...)...i spent the day with esther @ mt creek. we borrowed the californian term "chilling" caught up, for the first time in 5 years. we analyzed the midwest palate (steak, pasta, beer, carbs, chain restaurants), we analyzed the midwest fashion (old navy performance fleece and stone washed jeans), we analyzed the midwest mba personna (do good-ers and good people)....which was completely shot to the ground when chomo showed up for dinner. boarding was awesome, so was my salmon dish @ lucky strike. 3 hours after that, in the peak of winter windchill...a fat tax ensued @ tenjune. then someone went whale hunting. and then that whale sucked in a pair of small hands into her vortex of pain. i mean, really dan? really? please come pick up your phone and your dignity. the vicious cycle continued the following night. we planted a charming seed the night before but on saturday a new seed came to us. it was a night of "are u single?", "tequila", "bedazzled goggles" and "whoa, she's still hot".

my board looks so angry next to your pandas....

10:58 AM

LIQUID GOLD...

7:04 PM

5 years since i read kerouac's on the road. and im back in the same place i read it. now reading this article...

"the single bag theory"

- let me introduce you to the single bag theory of packing. it will not only change the way you travel but quite possibly the wy you live. the underlying principle of single bag paacking is that anytime you go away for more tha nthree days, no matter if you go for 30 days or f5, you will always bring the same bag. also with some minor fine tuning, you will fill this bag with the same things...this may sound limiting but it's actually a liberating approach to trip prep. you see, the first time you single bag pack, you will be packing for life. you will be taking a critical eye to your possessions and deciding which items make it onto your away team and which will be demoted to the junior varsity....

then the article moves on to "exceptions" of kiteboarding, snowboarding, blah blah.

-"the soul baring aspect of the initial single bag pack is a rebirth. it will give you a new attitude toward the acquisition of property. you may find yourself in the changing room at the gap discriminatingly asking yourself if those jeans are really "bag worthy"

10:37 AM

in case you guys were wondering...this is what a $40 dollar pizza looks like. famous ben's pizza on spring street in soho. new york style pizza. typically ordered with cheese/xtra cheese or pepperoni at around 3 dollars a slice. now we had one delivered at 18++ dollars a pie. with 6 toppings at 3++ dollars a topping. whtat a pizza. a forty dollar pizza.

7:18 PM

only recently has my tongue adapted a snobbish taste for wine. age, not necessarily, maturity has seemingly brought upon all these changes in my habits, body composition, likes/dislikes, instincts, reflexes, acceptance, etc. i have a feeling biological clocks compensate not only for age, but also for boredom. it's not hard to distinguish good and bad wine, but the delicacies of the fermented grape extract has always been overlooked by wine induced sleep. i remember just last year, happy hours with colleagues were drowned in cheap and expensive whites and reds and rather than having any appreciation for the pairings of food and wine, weather and wine, mood and wine, companionship and wine, whereas i just drowned in the wine. however, as of late, most notably the past week, i've had cravings for vino with my appetizer, with my entree, even following my cocktail. though my motor mouth still feels handicapped from a wine slowdown but my body seems a bit more accepting towards red lips.

i recommend 2 pinot noirs:
1. hitching post 2006
2. kali hart 2005

9:14 AM

you go somewhere for an interview and come back with stitches. that's never a good sign. and after a week on the west, i think i've crossed off most of the to do's. mexican food. in and out animal style burgers. hollywood. fake breasts. traffic. mall shopping. sunglasses and people watching. i didn't get a chance to eat korean bbq cuz other than the new lax laws on US visa's for koreans that have created a huge influx of korean hookers in k-town, i didn't want to emanate smokey grilled beef and sesame oil. so post grammy's and amidst a recession, we had nine-thirty because the online menu looked promising with a raw bar and french bistro type fare. unfortunately the menu turned out to be american style steak-frites which meant overcooked beef and dry pork, which luckily was not my portion because i stuck with the upper half of the menu; salad, brussel sprouts and a bottle of hitching post. a great wine. i recommend it. not the restaurant.

i still luv you didi.


thank you alexia and michael!


so i was just asking my mom her opinion on the lapel on my suit. she, disinterested, replied with a terse "ok" which immediately followed a "我問你一個問題...are those scars on your hand going to heal? cuz it's really ugly". i would think that most moms would first ask "how's your hand doing? are you in pain? did you put on the ointment?" but of course, superstar mom only cares about the scar. it's these little things that you grow up with that essentially mold a bigger fraction of your adult life. in fact, the scar was the first thing i thought of when i got the bite.

1:45 PM

the nickname "cameltoe hannah" is one of those great free-associations that was developed in my college days that has decided to implant itself in my memory forever. the difference this time around is that she has moved to calipornia and is on her way to getting married. that sparked the epiphany i had last night. as the years pile up, and these friends that i used to see everyday for that certain time frame of my life (college, hs, summer program, work, etc), now i only get to see them once every few years. and we probably get dinner and probably get some drinks. the next time i see them, someone's going to likely be introducing a wife, and a few years after that maybe some kids. then 20 years down the line, someone is saying to their children "i've known uncle alex since i was about your age, we used to...blah blah blah". my dad would always introduce these random friends that he was best buddies with back in tw, indo, middle school, college etc...and i was always rolling my eyes at the lack of communication...and here i realize the same thing is going on with me, probably an even more exaggerated comparison because my parents came to the US for a better life and I sidestepped the option to stay in this "better life" to go back abroad. c'est la vie.

attacking a soon to be married woman is quite a bit of fun...especially when she's checking out my breasts.

unfortunately she's given up twinkies...but i know she's still got the dance moves (the fax machine paper jam is my all time fav) "bumblebee tuna down the aisle!"

so-crates is still a so-crates...

all u can eat shabu shabu is not a good choice before a whiskey bar.

then of course SIHAN showed up and all hell broke loose.

and his trouble maker girlfriend downing whiskey sour drinks.


underneath the new look black framed glasses/fitted blazer simon leung, california has also added the "don't drink and drive" responsibility gene. "i would love to just pound one right now...that's what i would love...i just can't"

these pics were bound to happen


trying to pick up chicks with my bandaged arm.

10:39 AM

1:47 PM

"stop taking pictures and go to the doctor!" - s. leung.

adrenaline is quite a funky thing. no pain, no common sense, no doctor, and a lot of blood. some call me a hero cuz i saved a chihuahua, i just think 我很倒霉. there's no one to blame except that damn unleashed piece of sh*t rascal pup that came flying out of the front door towards my leashed pitbull on the sidewalk. u can try to domesticate a pitbull all you want, but once those hormones and instincts kick in, he's going for the CHOMP CHOMP on the neck. i was walking didi, and a small dog comes flying out of the front porch. didi caught the mini dog by the neck and i headlocked didi to the ground screaming for him to let go. we wrestled side to side for close to 10 seconds before i jammed my hand into the jaws of death for him to let go. the mini dog ran back home. and i was left in shambles. 3 stitches on right index finger. 3 on my left arm. gashes on left knuckle. street skids on both knees. im gonna tell women at the bar i was protecting my family's honor. chicks dig that stuff. HAHA.

9:28 AM

life's all about having your friends around. that's what makes football so great, its an excuse every sunday to get together. and when football season is over, people look for other excuses....thanks for the i miss u text chomo..."its weird not having temptation by my side".

"it's great having a friend like victor, life can get boring, all he wants to do is eat, drink, and drink some more and then eat again. it's like fluff fun, not that hardcore drug nazi fun....i would love to go to vegas with jump." - s. kang.


so excited about first superbowl in the states in 4 years, i started eating paper towel. just like niku!

6:31 AM

"i hate this godforsaken city where u have to effing drive everywhere!...i bet there is half as much casual sex as back in NY" - danny lax.

california is an ordeal. so is hanging out with danny lax. when u put the two together, it's one big mess. he made reservations for 7.30 @ comme ca and his poor buddy got there 10 minutes early. right as alexia and i hit the freeway, i get the call "hey can you come pick me up? i just got a flat tire. i hit the curb while checking the gps on my iphone". (that's what saving 15 bucks on a non-gps rental car does to you). so we pick him up and danny, being the distracted inconsiderate patron of the hilton, is completely disinterested with the manager who's helping him fix his flat tire. as he walks away i ask if he tipped the manager. he replies "oh, i should huh?" hahaha....ten minutes later....i hear him talking aloud in the backseat "i wonder if i can expense the 20 dollar tip on the company"...!!!!

as for comme ca? it's like a subpar balthazaar, pastis, schillers, and the list goes on. wine was good. oysters were good. bone marrow was good, but when a bag of bones cost 2 dollars and they're charging 14..ehhhh. alexia's veal shank was good. impressive plating with a two long shank bones sticking upwards. boulliabaisse was not good. i dont think lax's scallops were good, nor were michaels steak frites.

my house. and the waitress asks "do you drink cognac?"
"no, im not black"
HAAAA

1:15 PM