February 2016 | 멍멍!

after 10 months....i finally deleted sim city from my phone. i was addicted to building my town. initially growing it as fast as possible to unlock things as fast as possible before tearing buildings to make the city look more aesthetically pleasing. it's an interesting personality parallel as geeks outhack traffic, and optimize growth potential whereas artsy people build the city for pure design. but its all moot if levels and buildings aren't unlocked ontop of which the games algorithm purposely doesn't give you what you need. systematically hindering long term progress in saving, building, and re-organizing. it's a pretty repetitive game from the get go and for some reason i didn't get fed up with the redundancy until now. i found that it soothed my anxiety and just created a back flow for my brain to senselessly go through the motions....however amanda says..."i think you don't have an every day desk job to keep you occupied for the mundane daily tasks...."

12:01 PM

there are a lot islamic militants in indonesia funded by the middle east. i can understand their motive to attack the west. but even factoring their disregard for their own human casualties, i still can't really understand their logic in the jan 2016 jakarta bombings. in fact, i don't really understand why jakarta would be a city of interest to attack as the population is basically all indonesian locals. if you were to attack a western brand, starbucks, go to a different city or country. jakarta really isn't a tourist destination....and why the starbucks at the sarinah shopping mall when plaza indonesia is down the street??? very confusing....

is it safe here? well, i walked around the neighborhood this morning. i'll probably go for a run on sunday and run right past the bomb site. my friends and family who live here, stayed at work and at home during the blasts and just sent photos and videos to each other...and me....

**update** we drove by the bomb site last night. starbucks renovated. and business was booming on a friday night. mall business was also bustling.

so would you be more scared of indonesian terror attacks (this event killing 7 civilians) or would you be more scared of living in china where irresponsible construction i.e. last years tianjin explosions killed almost 200 and injuring 800. china's frequency of irresponsible construction ethics is quite worse than terrorism....

jakarta 2016 bombing

12:27 AM

it took 2 hours to get there. and it started raining. walked around the hot spring crater for 10 minutes in torrential downpour and then another 2 hour drive back.

Kawah Putih

Website

Directions

446 Google reviews

Lake

Kawah Putih is a striking crater lake and tourist spot in a volcanic crater about 50 km south of Bandung in West Java in Indonesia. Kawah Putih lake is one of the two craters which make up Mount Patuha, an andesitic stratovolcano. Wikipedia

bandung kawah putih

1:30 PM

australia is like the states. colonized by the english a hundred years apart from their colonization of america. so everything is the same. except u drive on the right side. it's like LA. coastal city, plenty of sunshine, relaxed beach life but not pretentious. aussies hit the beach because they enjoy the sun and water sports, la-ers go to the beach to tell everyone they went to the beach.

it's been 8 years since my first trip in australia. i was 40 lbs lighter and wide eyed, thirsty to see and try and do everything. i came alone for a work trip and only spent 3 days in sydney where i met amanda for the first time. she helped me book a hotel in potts point, hotel devere, where i had my first taste of vegemite at toby's estate across the street (now closed). no smart phones and no gps, i trekked the city with a map and a backpack walking into downtown alone, hopefully waiting for amanda to get off work to hang out with me....

8 years later...the lockout laws have changed sydney's nightlife. dead streets, no hookers, no shots, no bottle service, everything was dead....but i came for the beach. i hit the beach every single day and i was just as excited for a swim on the 10th day as i was the first day. u carry ur beach life in the trunk of your car....you feel hot, or feel good, and u drive ten minutes in any directions. find a park and jump in the water. 20 minutes and the day is exponentially better.

i came to eat australian bounty of the land. australian milk tastes sweeter and richer. the butter tastes creamier and a darker golden color. the 5 dollar yogurt from the supermarket was phenomenal. bread is a much higher quality from unmodified wheat flour. lamb doesn't taste as gamey. the beef is fresh. the rock oysters look meaty but when u eat it, its got that creamy uni consistency. prawns, bugs, lobsters, abalone, the seafood is amazing. i came for chinese new year...and the chinese food is also amazing.

amanda grew up in the eastern suburbs. aka 90210 or the hamptons...an affluent suburb of jews and range rovers where the jagged coastline creates haven for the chinese to invade amidst real estate speculation. and so every morning i had a coffee and an avocado toast. and everyday we did something active. like yoga. beach. swim. paddle board. running. and everyday we ate three full meals. and everyday we drank.

make sure you know how to order your coffee. aussies are particular with their coffee. high quality espresso's. all hot. only americans order iced coffees and there's no venti....

intercontinental....

the tiger

a green coke. with 50 percent real sugar...i prefer fake sugar....

yoga....

cruising for dudes...

prawns on the bar bee

a morning paddle...

the ivy...

chinese new year harbor bridge!

she wants to get married here...

coopers - this beer was quite refreshing

kambala sunset...

bondi icebergs...

doyles.... gross...cockroaches...

this is hilarious....

coogee beach

googles...work from home....

year of the monkey...

after a trip to cabramatta...we went to granefville to visit the lebs...

point piper - kind of reminds me of balbianella

hermitage foreshore walk....i did an 8 mile run over 2.5 hours. didn't even feel like much of a run. more like a touristy walk. run walk swim run walk swim. i kept hitting beach after beach and just had to swim in all of them....rose bay, shark bay/nielson park, vaucluse bay, parsley beach, camp cove, watsons bay...doyles...and then i ran back on the other side of the peninsula first along gaps bluff and down along the ocean