i'm the type of girl who likes to get emotional. i'm not particularly picky about what kind of emotion, as long as i get a pang of something. even when i get angriest or saddest, there's a detached part of me relishing the feeling from afar. after all, it means i'm not dead yet.
call me sentimental, melodramatic, exhibitionist, whatever. it's all true (which is probably why i can't get thru a non-fiction book to save my life--not enough emotion). maybe it's due to the fear of boredom characteristic of so many gen y'ers (b/c we're the generation that hasn't suffered, so we need something to fill the space created by the freedom*).**
Phew, ok. all this is to say that i'm not feeling much emotion at all in this goodbye to hk, even tho it's a huge life change. i don't want to go out blubbering, but it'd be nice to have the appropriate solemnity to gain at least a bit of closure. instead, i'm skipping out like i'm going on an extended vacation (which i am, yay new zealand), and my brain has totally missed the fact that i will not see a lot of these ppl ever again (thank god! JUST KIDDING. you see what i mean? still cracking jokes at the 11th hour).
but then again, maybe this is just another effect of globalization and the internet. or maybe this is uli's fault. he's the guy who has permanently left hk for about 6m now, and i still run into him every week or so b/c he's popped into town for some random errand (which, incidentally, is more often than i saw him before he left). thanks for robbing me of my cathartic goodbyes, uli. OR, maybe it's b/c hk is one of those cities that you never really leave. like neverland. it keeps a bit of your young adult self, and in return, it leaves something under your skin (pollution mainly). ok, now i've hit the sap. peace out brothas.
*maslow's hierarchy? also, can we claim that our formative unifying experience is terrorism? i think not. altho seeing those towers crumble on tv scooped out my insides with a spoon, the emotion was mainly voyeuristic and ephemeral. the only lasting change in MY life pre and post 9/11 is more inconvenient airport procedures (and of course, whatever damage 8 yrs of republican party schutzstaffel politics caused). no lasting fear and no lasting hunger = no formative experience. actually, given the constant bombardment of the sensationalist media, none of the classic boogeymen are capable of scaring me anymore; my crippling fear is of being left to deal with the paperwork when the dust settles. i am doomed to be worn down by the minutia. actually, is it a contradiction to be afraid of boredom? if you are afraid, then you are not bored, right?
**we are also the generation that rambles***
***and also the generation that likes to make broad generalizations based on limited personal experience****
****and b/c jon is technically a gen x'er, he is perfectly content to sit in front of a computer all day and be grungy while i'm pulling my hair out in a bout of ADD.
9.12.2008
9.05.2008
every time i tell someone i'm moving to the uk...
they give me advice on where to live. what's with that? i have no idea about london geography, so when they spout off about this area next to that tube stop, it's in one ear and out the other with some polite nodding in between.
9.03.2008
time flies
yikes! a month without posting and a week to go. august flew by in a blur. every weekend featured at least 1 beach ulty session, maybe a wakeboarding session, and the occasional junk.
the best junk was the private one that kristin invited us on (LOOK AT ME! CHILLIN' WITH THE HIGHROLLERS!), with the devoted speedboat and the donuts of death. these things seriously FLEW thru the air and bumped your backside something furious. luckily, i only fell off once, and since i was lying on my stomach, the fall was just a couple of barrelrolls before landing on my side. jon wasn't so lucky...i think he may have done some flips before landing on his head...and grant managed to barrelroll thru the rope, picking up some impressive burns on his arm. huge adrenaline rush tho. probably one of the most exciting things i've ever done to date (soon to be changed by new zealand (!!!!) ).
and then of course, there were the olympics. the tv at work is right over my shoulder, so i spent a good portion of the days watching tennis, swimming, track, and volleyball. absolutely gleeful when the US relay team beat the frenchies--a lot of our traders are french. my mother is in love with michael phelps--my dad is jealous. she keeps asking if "our jon" could train to be a swimmer. i told her that he hasn't got the pain tolerance, and she agreed that he is a bit of a softie (awww). i'm very glad the US basketball team pulled it out. USA! USA!
TWO DAYS OFF B/C of TYPHOONS! that's 3 to hit this summer! ppl always die on typhoon days b/c they see a lull in the storm and think, oh, that's a good chance for a swim or a surf. idiots. no sympathy.
what else? mmm...went to singapore last weekend. my first foray into what a colleague calls "the real life version of disneyland". i quite enjoyed it, and now i wish i had taken a non-frisbee weekend there. we stayed in little india, in a "hotel" where the shower was right above the toilet and jon could stretch from wall to wall. the fields were a 10 min walk away, and the best part is that there's a fresh food market right next to the fields. so every day for lunch, we had our fill of prata and biryani. not the best for playing on, but meh, it's our last asian tourney so we can do as we please. for dinner, we went to the food stalls in china town. i love laksa. kristin found some yummy crispy wantons, and we washed it down with root beer floats and soursop ices. also, i found that i don't like cactus juice.
and for our last weekend here, we're shopping for hiking boots and playing the beach hat tournament. i will definitely miss this place.
the best junk was the private one that kristin invited us on (LOOK AT ME! CHILLIN' WITH THE HIGHROLLERS!), with the devoted speedboat and the donuts of death. these things seriously FLEW thru the air and bumped your backside something furious. luckily, i only fell off once, and since i was lying on my stomach, the fall was just a couple of barrelrolls before landing on my side. jon wasn't so lucky...i think he may have done some flips before landing on his head...and grant managed to barrelroll thru the rope, picking up some impressive burns on his arm. huge adrenaline rush tho. probably one of the most exciting things i've ever done to date (soon to be changed by new zealand (!!!!) ).
and then of course, there were the olympics. the tv at work is right over my shoulder, so i spent a good portion of the days watching tennis, swimming, track, and volleyball. absolutely gleeful when the US relay team beat the frenchies--a lot of our traders are french. my mother is in love with michael phelps--my dad is jealous. she keeps asking if "our jon" could train to be a swimmer. i told her that he hasn't got the pain tolerance, and she agreed that he is a bit of a softie (awww). i'm very glad the US basketball team pulled it out. USA! USA!
TWO DAYS OFF B/C of TYPHOONS! that's 3 to hit this summer! ppl always die on typhoon days b/c they see a lull in the storm and think, oh, that's a good chance for a swim or a surf. idiots. no sympathy.
what else? mmm...went to singapore last weekend. my first foray into what a colleague calls "the real life version of disneyland". i quite enjoyed it, and now i wish i had taken a non-frisbee weekend there. we stayed in little india, in a "hotel" where the shower was right above the toilet and jon could stretch from wall to wall. the fields were a 10 min walk away, and the best part is that there's a fresh food market right next to the fields. so every day for lunch, we had our fill of prata and biryani. not the best for playing on, but meh, it's our last asian tourney so we can do as we please. for dinner, we went to the food stalls in china town. i love laksa. kristin found some yummy crispy wantons, and we washed it down with root beer floats and soursop ices. also, i found that i don't like cactus juice.
and for our last weekend here, we're shopping for hiking boots and playing the beach hat tournament. i will definitely miss this place.
7.23.2008
7.21.2008
Of course, Robin. Even crime-fighters must eat. And especially you. You're a growing boy and you need your nutrition. - Batman*
one of the big BIG BIG things i'll miss about hk is it's ability to make me feel far far away from everything. mostly, i just like going to the beach.
saturday, jon and i spent 2 hours wakeboarding in lamma next to the fishfarms. the water was kinda choppy (it was raining in big wave bay where we normally wakeboard), but sitting at the boundary of rain and sun (slightly in the sunny side of course (stay on the sunny side, always on the sunny side, stay on the sunny side of life--TWO THREE FOUR!)) was awfully pretty. and i managed to give myself whiplash (and maybe a mild concussion?) by forgetting how to wakeboard, sigh. after a big breakfast at frying pan, we met with a few others at the mui wo ferry terminal for a 9km hike to pui o. as far as hikes go, it's not very challenging, but it's one of the more scenic ones i've done here (which i think is saying a lot). we saw lots of strange flowers and huge butterflies and stick insects (!!) and mating bugs (we interrupted a pair who had chosen the footpath as a romantic hideout. they flew apart as soon as we approached). we even found a hidden helipad. i postulated that it was a secret spy helipad for chinese gov agents or drug lords or something, but tim said it was in case someone got hurt on the hike (deduct 10 pts for lack of imagination). oh, and apparently, the top 5 things jon would take if he were stuck on a desert island are 1) tv 2) playstation 3) shotgun 4) power generator (for the tv+playstation combo) 5) something else frivolous. notice anything missing on that list? AHEM. AHEM. COUGH COUGH HACK! yes, thanks for bringing your betrothed. love you too dear.
we got to pui o just in time to start a second beach game (it wasn't really a coincidence that we were hiking there...the issue with pui o is that you feel so cut off from everything...that, and the sand). the sand is very firm and fine grained, which is to say, bad for laying out on, very very good for running on. and very very good for sticking to everything. i played a couple of points before deciding my time was better spent in the water (which incidentally, has a very good (read: low) salinity level and bigger waves than most hk beaches--they hold surfing clinics here too, which i guess we can do if we ever get bored on the weekends).
sunday was way more chill, altho i woke up with what felt like a hangover and a very sore neck (i blame the wakeboarding). we watched dark knight (finally!), and it definitely wins the award for the best batman movie so far. altho, if you think about it, not much of the plot makes sense, which i guess is why you shouldn't think about it too much. for those of you too busy/poor to visit me, i live 2 blocks away from where they shot that scene of him standing on the escalator. all of those places are right outside my house, and those tall buildings he's crashing thru are right near my office. it makes me feel mildly important and very special. like, i could've met him wandering around! and then i could've shown him some damn good eating places.
one HUGE complaint about the mcl-jp cinema in cwbay: it doesn't have any bathrooms!!! what kind of theater doesn't supply bathrooms on the way out?! i've been sitting in a dark room for over 2 hours, sipping on caffeine, crossing and recrossing my legs b/c i don't want to miss anything, and you reward me with...NO BATHROOMS?! the theater exit doors lead straight down a flight of sketchy stairs that deposit you into the main lobby outside of the paid area. even on the way into the theater, the bathroom next to the concessions sucked. it only had three stalls, none of which flushed, AND the floor is so shiny and black that you can actually see the person inside of the stall (not that i spent a huge amount of time looking, but i did notice). needless to say, as soon as the movie finished, i dragged jon thru the crowded streets by his arm until we reached a suitable sushi restaurant with a suitable pee place (quote: "OW").
we spent the rest of the weekend finding 2 new bookstores (not new new, but new to us, which is uber exciting b/c one of them is pretty comprehensive and the other one is an outlet, where everything sells for ~$39--the downside being that everything is grouped by price so not even fiction vs nonfiction categorizatons). i bought 3 new john irvings plus 2 saint exuperys and 1 terry pratchett (i know i know). the bookazine outlet is 2 blocks away from my flat in an old sketchy building with THE sketchiest elevator i've ever been in. it's a very small box a bit larger than a telephone booth with a folding door--you know, one of those doors that you thought weren't legal anymore. when the thing moved, you could see the walls moving outside. the outlet was only on the third floor so we eschewed the elevator in favor of the stairs, which btw, had uneven landings (as in the floor sloped and dented).
on the fifth floor, there's an absolutely lovely (and very hidden) nepalese restaurant (lovely horizon or something). it's behind an unmarked red door (no signs or ads for it outside the building either). it's gotta get all of it's business from word of mouth b/c god knows it's not getting anyone wandering in off the street. it has very good momos (himalayan dumplings) and curries, plus the added incentive of everything on the menu being less than $50. i had 3 lassi's for a total of $45!! that's unheard-of for a restaurant in central. the serving pace is leisurely and the courses came 1 by 1 (which is not necessarily my preferred way to enjoy a meal), but it gave us plenty of time to relax on the cushions and watch the bollywood music videos on tv. and that's my weekend in not quite chronological order.
* quote courtesy of http://greatsayings.blogspot.com/2005/03/batman-and-robin-quotes.html
saturday, jon and i spent 2 hours wakeboarding in lamma next to the fishfarms. the water was kinda choppy (it was raining in big wave bay where we normally wakeboard), but sitting at the boundary of rain and sun (slightly in the sunny side of course (stay on the sunny side, always on the sunny side, stay on the sunny side of life--TWO THREE FOUR!)) was awfully pretty. and i managed to give myself whiplash (and maybe a mild concussion?) by forgetting how to wakeboard, sigh. after a big breakfast at frying pan, we met with a few others at the mui wo ferry terminal for a 9km hike to pui o. as far as hikes go, it's not very challenging, but it's one of the more scenic ones i've done here (which i think is saying a lot). we saw lots of strange flowers and huge butterflies and stick insects (!!) and mating bugs (we interrupted a pair who had chosen the footpath as a romantic hideout. they flew apart as soon as we approached). we even found a hidden helipad. i postulated that it was a secret spy helipad for chinese gov agents or drug lords or something, but tim said it was in case someone got hurt on the hike (deduct 10 pts for lack of imagination). oh, and apparently, the top 5 things jon would take if he were stuck on a desert island are 1) tv 2) playstation 3) shotgun 4) power generator (for the tv+playstation combo) 5) something else frivolous. notice anything missing on that list? AHEM. AHEM. COUGH COUGH HACK! yes, thanks for bringing your betrothed. love you too dear.
we got to pui o just in time to start a second beach game (it wasn't really a coincidence that we were hiking there...the issue with pui o is that you feel so cut off from everything...that, and the sand). the sand is very firm and fine grained, which is to say, bad for laying out on, very very good for running on. and very very good for sticking to everything. i played a couple of points before deciding my time was better spent in the water (which incidentally, has a very good (read: low) salinity level and bigger waves than most hk beaches--they hold surfing clinics here too, which i guess we can do if we ever get bored on the weekends).
sunday was way more chill, altho i woke up with what felt like a hangover and a very sore neck (i blame the wakeboarding). we watched dark knight (finally!), and it definitely wins the award for the best batman movie so far. altho, if you think about it, not much of the plot makes sense, which i guess is why you shouldn't think about it too much. for those of you too busy/poor to visit me, i live 2 blocks away from where they shot that scene of him standing on the escalator. all of those places are right outside my house, and those tall buildings he's crashing thru are right near my office. it makes me feel mildly important and very special. like, i could've met him wandering around! and then i could've shown him some damn good eating places.
one HUGE complaint about the mcl-jp cinema in cwbay: it doesn't have any bathrooms!!! what kind of theater doesn't supply bathrooms on the way out?! i've been sitting in a dark room for over 2 hours, sipping on caffeine, crossing and recrossing my legs b/c i don't want to miss anything, and you reward me with...NO BATHROOMS?! the theater exit doors lead straight down a flight of sketchy stairs that deposit you into the main lobby outside of the paid area. even on the way into the theater, the bathroom next to the concessions sucked. it only had three stalls, none of which flushed, AND the floor is so shiny and black that you can actually see the person inside of the stall (not that i spent a huge amount of time looking, but i did notice). needless to say, as soon as the movie finished, i dragged jon thru the crowded streets by his arm until we reached a suitable sushi restaurant with a suitable pee place (quote: "OW").
we spent the rest of the weekend finding 2 new bookstores (not new new, but new to us, which is uber exciting b/c one of them is pretty comprehensive and the other one is an outlet, where everything sells for ~$39--the downside being that everything is grouped by price so not even fiction vs nonfiction categorizatons). i bought 3 new john irvings plus 2 saint exuperys and 1 terry pratchett (i know i know). the bookazine outlet is 2 blocks away from my flat in an old sketchy building with THE sketchiest elevator i've ever been in. it's a very small box a bit larger than a telephone booth with a folding door--you know, one of those doors that you thought weren't legal anymore. when the thing moved, you could see the walls moving outside. the outlet was only on the third floor so we eschewed the elevator in favor of the stairs, which btw, had uneven landings (as in the floor sloped and dented).
on the fifth floor, there's an absolutely lovely (and very hidden) nepalese restaurant (lovely horizon or something). it's behind an unmarked red door (no signs or ads for it outside the building either). it's gotta get all of it's business from word of mouth b/c god knows it's not getting anyone wandering in off the street. it has very good momos (himalayan dumplings) and curries, plus the added incentive of everything on the menu being less than $50. i had 3 lassi's for a total of $45!! that's unheard-of for a restaurant in central. the serving pace is leisurely and the courses came 1 by 1 (which is not necessarily my preferred way to enjoy a meal), but it gave us plenty of time to relax on the cushions and watch the bollywood music videos on tv. and that's my weekend in not quite chronological order.
* quote courtesy of http://greatsayings.blogspot.com/2005/03/batman-and-robin-quotes.html
7.16.2008
birfdays
to celebrate my birthday this year, i made my parents buy me some fireworks. it took a bit of convincing...my dad was absolutely sure that i'd burn down our house and our neighbors houses--he's such a city boy. luckily, my mom grew up amongst 2 very rascally brothers, so she was all for the scheme.
so on my last night at home, july 3, we ate some chocolate cake and set off what turned out to be 3 very loud whistling/spitting/sparkling tubes. i kept thinking some finicky neighbor would come outside to tell us off (stupid foreigners who don't know when independence day is...).
and then on my actual birthday, naomi made me some yummy japanese curry and served us chocolate cake crumble out of martini glasses. we wanted to watch the painted veil, but her dvd setup objected, so instead we watched little man on hbo...that movie is special...if anyone is looking for a drinking game, you should watch it and drink whenever someone gets hit in the balls.
jon hid my presents in the bathroom (the poo is wishing me "happoo birthday")
and a few random pics from last year that i found on my camera (i've always associated wakeboarding with my birthday, since our inaugural trip was for my birthday last year):
so on my last night at home, july 3, we ate some chocolate cake and set off what turned out to be 3 very loud whistling/spitting/sparkling tubes. i kept thinking some finicky neighbor would come outside to tell us off (stupid foreigners who don't know when independence day is...).
and then on my actual birthday, naomi made me some yummy japanese curry and served us chocolate cake crumble out of martini glasses. we wanted to watch the painted veil, but her dvd setup objected, so instead we watched little man on hbo...that movie is special...if anyone is looking for a drinking game, you should watch it and drink whenever someone gets hit in the balls.
jon hid my presents in the bathroom (the poo is wishing me "happoo birthday")and a few random pics from last year that i found on my camera (i've always associated wakeboarding with my birthday, since our inaugural trip was for my birthday last year):
7.09.2008
notes from home
going home with jon is definitely better than going home without jon. i don't want to seem sappy or anything, but i get cranky when i pine...
airlines are getting stingier, which i think is fair. i'd much rather have to pay for food than pay more for tickets, but i was kinda surprised when my 5 hour flight from san fran to atl didn't offer to feed me. i was more surprised on my way from montreal to san fran when air canada tried to sell me a blanket and pillow for $2 (they assured me it was mine to keep--great, thanks guys).
as expected, once home, my mom spent the first 2 days pampering me and the last 2 days guilt tripping me about when my next visit would be. i told her i wouldn't come home next year b/c i wanted to spend all my vacation time in europe. we'll see how that goes. my dad showed his love by fiddling with my computer. the battery on my lenovo went kabonk so he bought me a new laptop for my birthday. it's a gateway something or other, and everything is bigger/better/faster AND it can play high def movies...but i miss my eraserhead mouse. i guess i'll get used to the touchpad eventually, but that eraserhead and i have a lot of good memories together (how am i supposed to play minesweeper with a touchpad?!).
as part of jon's grand tour of georgia, we visited:
airlines are getting stingier, which i think is fair. i'd much rather have to pay for food than pay more for tickets, but i was kinda surprised when my 5 hour flight from san fran to atl didn't offer to feed me. i was more surprised on my way from montreal to san fran when air canada tried to sell me a blanket and pillow for $2 (they assured me it was mine to keep--great, thanks guys).
as expected, once home, my mom spent the first 2 days pampering me and the last 2 days guilt tripping me about when my next visit would be. i told her i wouldn't come home next year b/c i wanted to spend all my vacation time in europe. we'll see how that goes. my dad showed his love by fiddling with my computer. the battery on my lenovo went kabonk so he bought me a new laptop for my birthday. it's a gateway something or other, and everything is bigger/better/faster AND it can play high def movies...but i miss my eraserhead mouse. i guess i'll get used to the touchpad eventually, but that eraserhead and i have a lot of good memories together (how am i supposed to play minesweeper with a touchpad?!).
as part of jon's grand tour of georgia, we visited:
- stone mtn: jacque caught me up on all the old high school gossip at miss katie's--the place where tiff used to waitress. they throw the "hand tossed rolls" at you; they used to throw the fried pickles too, but now they just come on a plate along with a bunch of other free fried foods (mmm...sweet potato fries and onion peels).
- coke museum: it's a lot fluffier than what i remember, but maybe that's age talking. the coolest part was seeing all the failed coke products (eg coke black--coke with coffee added). AND we got to meet the polar bear!
my mom, pretending to be a coke bottle.
jon amongst the natives
in the tasting room
a tornado went thru atl a couple weeks before we did, and it actually broke a lot of windows in the skyscrapers! how scary would that be?!
the plaza outside of the coke museum supplies loiterers with bouncy balls. here is me, refusing to run after the ball when jon is plainly kicking it in the wrong direction. playing with these balls set my knee back at least 3 days recovery time. - six flags: we rode THE best rollercoaster ever. bar none. like, totally, THE BEST. it's called goliath. it takes you 200 feet up in the air (as high as acrophobia, the ride where you go up and drop straight down...every park has one of em)--that's 32 seconds of upwards going before you start downwards going. and then you downwards go FAST. it's the metal version of the great american scream machine. a modern classic. no loops, no frivolousness. just drops and speed. marvelous. there's also a superman where the seats go horizontal after you get on, so essentially, you're riding with your belly facing the ground...which would make me feel like superman, except your knees are bent (imagine a seated position), so instead, i feel more like a cow...MOOOO. anyways, i definitely think six flags GA beats six flags NE. there's nothing in new england that can even begin to compare with classics like the monsters' plantation and the log flume. speaking of classics, i cannot believe how rickety wooden coasters now feel. i thought my skeleton would get rattled to pieces. and, they've gotten rid of the viper. RIP.
funnel cake!and then we tried to go whitewater rafting in tennessee (ocoee, where the 96 olympics canoeing happened), but it was closed, and we didn't find out till we got there, so the day went towards visiting rock city (a very posh private garden turned public), eating bbq, swimming in a swimming hole (i needed to get wet somehow), and outlet shopping.
on tues/wed/thurs, they don't open the dam upstream of this place...so instead of rapids, you get pools.
i finally bought some work clothes. shopping in the US just feels better than shopping in HK. i know what stores i like, i know what size i am, and the salespeople are much more helpful (usually). i even felt comfortable enough to buy two dresses--the first dresses i've bought, incidentally, since middle school (i got tired of borrowing arati's clothes whenever i had to go to a function). speaking of shopping, we finally got that second guitar for rockband. now we can have a full fledged four member band! yay!
the weather held up beautifully for jazzfest (thanks meriweather--apparently, no one except me and dordor knows that meriweather is the blue fairy from sleeping beauty...jin even thought that sleeping beauty was the fairytale where she eats an apple and falls asleep...um, close but no cigar). everyone still looks exactly the same, except kathy looks cooler. phne had an awesome tournament, but i forgot to tell her to her face. smite now calls dor "dodo", which totally threw me off. and shuangy was still sick (altho worse this time than usual). and yelena is still beautiful (altho dordor is the only beautiful one who did the wave for me).
personally, i had a meh tournament. i am now solidly a reset handler...i'm too lazy to cut. i threw two completed backhand hucks to kdob, but turned two awful backhand hucks to stacy (one was a decision error, one was an execution error). i also had a perfect pass from jin bounce off my chest in the endzone (which hasn't happened to me in years). ah well. we lost to storm by a chunk in the semi's (after losing to fusion by 1 in pool play--everyone thought we would win until we lost. boo). at least we got to do the beaver cheer thrice and the log roll twice (once for james and once (sorta) for stacy). i love the log roll.
it was very good to see everyone again. liver gave me three boxes of girl scout cookies, and i'm still working my way thru the thin mints (after sneaking them thru both US and HK customs). today, i'm jetlagged and depressed to be back in dreary hk, where it's supposed to rain for the next 6 days.
3 cool cats.
6.26.2008
6.22.2008
all about me (in shanghai)
for once, this tournament was more frisbee than food. i think 60-70% of the stuff i ate this weekend was bought from a convenience store (yum! chinese yogurt and tea leave eggs!).
i had one of my better defensive tournaments and one of my crappier offensive tournaments. in our first game against beijing, i got 2 d's on boys cutting deep. one of them i just managed to get in the way and fluster him, the other one, i actually jumped and knocked the disc away (yay!). on offense, i got run thru d'd twice (one might've been a foul/strip, but i didn't call it)--my excuse on the clean one is that i thought i had successfully bodied her out, but she has really really long arms (weak excuse, i know).
in our second game against ringers (of fire), i got a point block on my girl (who is a handler), but it was caught anyways (not by the intended reciever, so i think my point block counts since it significantly changed the path of the disc).
and then in the game against korea, i dropped a pull in our own endzone. otherwise, i don't think i did too much in this game, but jon had a standout lay out d on a poach.
in prequarters, we played gaizabang, who played a trapping zone going both ways (despite the lack of wind). i'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out that they played man d on the middle handler (usually me), so if i stood upfield, behind one of the cup ppl, the far handler could pinch in for an easy dump. i also managed to "catch" the game winning goal...i was looking for a loopy flick to the back cone (my girl was standing on the front cone even tho i was in the middle of the endzone), the throw goes up, hangs a bit, i see some guy coming to poach it, so i jump for it. i'm touching the disc on both hands (so arms raised) when the guy hits me hard in the ribs (shoudler? body? i have no idea), and the disc spins out of my hands. i'm somewhat winded and call the foul. the guy doesn't contest. apparently, by the 11th edition, this is a goal?! i wish the guy had contested...it wasn't a close game, but still, that's a crappy way to win. oh, and then they gave me the mvp award, one of their jerseys, despite the fact that i got beaten deep twice...i had a bid on one, but i didn't take it, b/c i'm bad at bidding on d...i'm also not so good at the running and jumping thing...i can either run or jump, but if i have to do both, i'm screwed. (they might've chosen me b/c i'm roughly the same size as the average japanese man--the shirt is a medium and it fits me perfectly).
in the quarters, we got thoroughly schooled by the phillippines allstar team. unlike all the other country teams, the phillippino team is actually local kids (not expats), so it's AWESOME that they are SO GOOD. they had us at 7-0 before we posted our first point, which i will boldly take credit for. i called a 3 female handler set, with 3 guys standing really deep in the endzone, and 1 guy as the german. the german's job was to stay out of the way. the three of us worked it to about midfield, when someone passed it to the german, who promptly threw it away to one of the deep guys (BOO MEN!). we got the turn near our own endzone, and we worked it up again, and this time it worked (YAY LADIES!). anyways, really fun, really intense game. the phillippines went on to lose in the finals to shanghai, after beating them the day before in pool play and being up 9-7 after half (i hear the game was tied 12-12 but shanghai took the next 3 points to win. i'm very impressed with shanghai's mental fortitude as a team. time and again, they play really close games and manage to come from behind to win in the finals/semis/whatever, which is even more impressive given they don't ever sub their men on sunday).
we won our consolation match handily against singapore. they played a fm zone d. during one point, i was winging, and half heartedly cutting for a pass (b/c a 200 lb guy was covering me), but i guess my handler had a lot of confidence in my abilities, b/c she threw it, and i caught it, and then the 200 lb guy barreled into me (not making any effort to stop/change directions/soften my landing). he managed to wrench my knee and knock me all the way out of bounds. i held onto the disc, but called an injury sub. i'm having some trouble bending my knee today (i've got an appointment with the physio tomorrow). BOO MEN!
between semi's and finals, we had the first ever women's exhibition game. it was sloppy, sloppy ultimate, but at least it happened. and i played it with my iffy knee, and it felt ok (running feels better than walking, incidentally, but i don't get why b/c stairs are AWFUL).
all in all, a very fun time (probably my favorite tournament that i've played with junk). props to dara, jesse, and eileen for being solid pickups, props to terry for making the upgrade. oh, and guess who else was there? TIM TUTTLE!
i had one of my better defensive tournaments and one of my crappier offensive tournaments. in our first game against beijing, i got 2 d's on boys cutting deep. one of them i just managed to get in the way and fluster him, the other one, i actually jumped and knocked the disc away (yay!). on offense, i got run thru d'd twice (one might've been a foul/strip, but i didn't call it)--my excuse on the clean one is that i thought i had successfully bodied her out, but she has really really long arms (weak excuse, i know).
in our second game against ringers (of fire), i got a point block on my girl (who is a handler), but it was caught anyways (not by the intended reciever, so i think my point block counts since it significantly changed the path of the disc).
and then in the game against korea, i dropped a pull in our own endzone. otherwise, i don't think i did too much in this game, but jon had a standout lay out d on a poach.
in prequarters, we played gaizabang, who played a trapping zone going both ways (despite the lack of wind). i'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out that they played man d on the middle handler (usually me), so if i stood upfield, behind one of the cup ppl, the far handler could pinch in for an easy dump. i also managed to "catch" the game winning goal...i was looking for a loopy flick to the back cone (my girl was standing on the front cone even tho i was in the middle of the endzone), the throw goes up, hangs a bit, i see some guy coming to poach it, so i jump for it. i'm touching the disc on both hands (so arms raised) when the guy hits me hard in the ribs (shoudler? body? i have no idea), and the disc spins out of my hands. i'm somewhat winded and call the foul. the guy doesn't contest. apparently, by the 11th edition, this is a goal?! i wish the guy had contested...it wasn't a close game, but still, that's a crappy way to win. oh, and then they gave me the mvp award, one of their jerseys, despite the fact that i got beaten deep twice...i had a bid on one, but i didn't take it, b/c i'm bad at bidding on d...i'm also not so good at the running and jumping thing...i can either run or jump, but if i have to do both, i'm screwed. (they might've chosen me b/c i'm roughly the same size as the average japanese man--the shirt is a medium and it fits me perfectly).
in the quarters, we got thoroughly schooled by the phillippines allstar team. unlike all the other country teams, the phillippino team is actually local kids (not expats), so it's AWESOME that they are SO GOOD. they had us at 7-0 before we posted our first point, which i will boldly take credit for. i called a 3 female handler set, with 3 guys standing really deep in the endzone, and 1 guy as the german. the german's job was to stay out of the way. the three of us worked it to about midfield, when someone passed it to the german, who promptly threw it away to one of the deep guys (BOO MEN!). we got the turn near our own endzone, and we worked it up again, and this time it worked (YAY LADIES!). anyways, really fun, really intense game. the phillippines went on to lose in the finals to shanghai, after beating them the day before in pool play and being up 9-7 after half (i hear the game was tied 12-12 but shanghai took the next 3 points to win. i'm very impressed with shanghai's mental fortitude as a team. time and again, they play really close games and manage to come from behind to win in the finals/semis/whatever, which is even more impressive given they don't ever sub their men on sunday).
we won our consolation match handily against singapore. they played a fm zone d. during one point, i was winging, and half heartedly cutting for a pass (b/c a 200 lb guy was covering me), but i guess my handler had a lot of confidence in my abilities, b/c she threw it, and i caught it, and then the 200 lb guy barreled into me (not making any effort to stop/change directions/soften my landing). he managed to wrench my knee and knock me all the way out of bounds. i held onto the disc, but called an injury sub. i'm having some trouble bending my knee today (i've got an appointment with the physio tomorrow). BOO MEN!
between semi's and finals, we had the first ever women's exhibition game. it was sloppy, sloppy ultimate, but at least it happened. and i played it with my iffy knee, and it felt ok (running feels better than walking, incidentally, but i don't get why b/c stairs are AWFUL).
all in all, a very fun time (probably my favorite tournament that i've played with junk). props to dara, jesse, and eileen for being solid pickups, props to terry for making the upgrade. oh, and guess who else was there? TIM TUTTLE!
6.04.2008
chained to a rock
i feel a bit like prometheus. every week, my thumb heals, and every weekend, i go to bang it against the side of a boat again. wrapping it helps with the blisters but not the bruises. last weekend, i accidentally wrapped the wrong thumb. three more races before the season ends. i will miss it.
and then, the wakeboarding will begin again.
and then, the wakeboarding will begin again.
5.30.2008
procrastinating from procrastinating
i know i know! i'm way behind on my posting, but i really really wanted to share some things that are easier to share first (i.e. spam):
re fashion and retail:
re the best vocation ever: who DOESN'T want to be a gurgitory athlete?
re becoming inspector gadget: we're one step closer to controlling robot limbs with our thoughts. unfortunately, we need to have a chip implanted in our heads, with wires trailing out of it...and i wonder what happens if the wires get wet...do monkeys bathe? anyways. do do do do do inspector gadget, do do do do do...DO DO! DO DO!
to keep me honest (and b/c i love lists), upcoming posts:
re fashion and retail:
“We as a business cannot afford to have a customer take a second look and ask, ‘Do I need this?’ ” said Bud Konheim, the chief executive of Nicole Miller. “That is the kiss of death. We’re finished, because nobody really needs anything we make as a total industry.”
AHA! and AMEN! except the super nifty sporty things that make my blood flow more efficiently and keep me cool/warm/dry all at the same time. these things, i cannot live without.re the best vocation ever: who DOESN'T want to be a gurgitory athlete?
re becoming inspector gadget: we're one step closer to controlling robot limbs with our thoughts. unfortunately, we need to have a chip implanted in our heads, with wires trailing out of it...and i wonder what happens if the wires get wet...do monkeys bathe? anyways. do do do do do inspector gadget, do do do do do...DO DO! DO DO!
to keep me honest (and b/c i love lists), upcoming posts:
- yangshuo trip
- jeju tourney
- beijing trip
- your mom
- your face
5.04.2008
GO SMITE!
from rsd:
Backdoor finals: MIT vs. Dartmouth. A rematch of the semi's yesterday that MIT narrowly won. The experience of the MIT program (sMITe alumnus Darlene Ferranti and Jin sorry-I-don't-know-your-last-name-and-actually-I'm-not-even-sure-if-you-went-to-MIT coach the team) helped re-center the players after a tough loss in the front-door finals -- to re-warm-up they played a game with a beach ball, which seemed to lighten the mood and loosen everyone up. They come out fired up; Dartmouth, although tired, is determined to join their male counterparts in Boulder. The first half is close. MIT has less trouble with the Dartmouth zone than other teams; they're not afraid to put it over the top of the cup, or put it deep when given the chance. Dartmouth isn't afraid to put it deep either, and there are a couple of exciting exchanges of huck-D-huck-turn-huck-score. In the second half, the backdoor path of Dartmouth begins to show. Their cutters start looking tired and timid again, and MIT is still running strong and making crisp cuts. Catherine Seaborn and Erika Swanson lead sMITe with precise breaks and hucks from the former, and all- around balls-out play on both sides of the disc from the latter. Princess Layout only manages to score 1 point in the second half, as MIT takes the second bid from the NE, 15-8.
4.29.2008
yangshuo
a couple of weeks ago, jon and i took advantage of the deadfest holiday to visit yangshuo. yangshuo sits about an hour away from guilin amongst some ridiculous karst scenery. limestone hills rise out of flat green fields. groves of orange and pomelo trees.
saturday, it drizzled, spreading a mist over the mountains--made me feel like a monkey king, somersaulting in the clouds. we took a bus to a village famed for its pickpockets (they've stolen all the way to india),
where we rode a
to the green lotus caves. 
Spelunking goes hand-in-hand with the holey mtns.
For lunch, we had the local delicacy, beerfish, but jon couldn't handle the bones.
And then we rode a "bamboo" raft down the Li river (the raft was actually made out of pvc pipes painted various shades of green). the scenary was beautiful, but i was FREEZING the entire time, and jon had to pee. as soon as we got off, jon sprinted for a bathroom, leaving me to pay...i didn't have enough RMB, so i tried to pay in HKD, but some stupid chinese tourist with a fake LV wallet told the guy that my HKDs were fake..."are you sure those are HKD? i've seen hkd, and they didn't look like that"--and then he proceeded to pull a $20 out of his stupid fake wallet. yeah, duh, of course a 20 doesn't look like a 100, but the damage was done. we had to wait till jon came back to pay in rmb.
atop some rooftop in a village that bill clinton visited. fang gui (our guide) grew up here.
saturday, we rented 3 bikes and went riding in the countryside, stopping at various parks along the way. this one has a 1000+ yr old banyan tree...and monkeys.
speaking of monkeying around...we spent RMB40 to roll around the river in a human hamster ball. standing was impossibly hard--knees and elbows flying all over the place.
after eating a home cooked meal and a ton of fresh pomelos from fang gui's yard, we went to a cave near moon mountain that the villagers used as a hiding place during the japanese invasion. we had to enter by boat, but eventually, the path rose above the underground stream for 3kms of pretty amazing tunnels. the whole thing was lit by naked bulbs...it felt like a scene from macguyver. in the middle of the cave is a huge mud pit with a mud slide. the mud was freezing, but if you stayed still, you could trap pockets of warm air around your body (like a frog). we wallowed for a bit before tramping the rest of the way covered in the stuff.
that night, we decided to spend the rest of our RMB food hopping. the rules: 1 restaurant, 1 dish, 1 drink, 1 postcard written. turns out, we didn't actually write that many postcards...a 1:1 food to drink ratio is bad news for me.
this was our last stop, mc blues. they had some pretty good snickers milkshakes. b/c it was sunday night, the whole top floor was deserted. as soon as jon asked me to play a word game, i knew. the first word game was a warmup, spelling some sentence about subway sandwiches. i played along. the second game popped the question. and then he got down on a knee and started talking, and i didn't hear a single word he said b/c 1) i was drunk and 2) HOLY SHIT! i was so overwhelmed that i accidentally said yes, altho the original plan was to say no the first 2 times so that he'd have to do it thrice, like in all the good old fairytales. i did still have enough of my wits about me to say that he better ask me again tomorrow morning to see if i remember any of it. it's really not fair getting a girl drunk before you ask her to marry you. it's not. anyways, by this point, i figured he didn't have a ring, but then he pulled out the my little pony box. it was a unicorn with the ring taped around its horn. ah fairytales.
the next day, we signed up for a half day climbing course. yangshuo is supposed to have the best climbing in all of china (self-proclaimed by yangshuo-ians). thru a combination of pulling and tugging and hanging on for dear life, i managed to get to the top of some of these routes. the guy belaying (sp?) me must've been exhausted. like hauling a piano up the stairs. jon liked it enough to want to find some walls in hk.
and here is the other regional delicacy: field snails. the shells are stuffed with ground pork, so you have to really suck to get the snail meat out. it's a noisy, juicy mess, but also quite satisfying to hear that POP when the snail shoots into the back of your throat.
west street, where the backpackers come.
saturday, it drizzled, spreading a mist over the mountains--made me feel like a monkey king, somersaulting in the clouds. we took a bus to a village famed for its pickpockets (they've stolen all the way to india),
where we rode a to the green lotus caves. Spelunking goes hand-in-hand with the holey mtns.For lunch, we had the local delicacy, beerfish, but jon couldn't handle the bones.
And then we rode a "bamboo" raft down the Li river (the raft was actually made out of pvc pipes painted various shades of green). the scenary was beautiful, but i was FREEZING the entire time, and jon had to pee. as soon as we got off, jon sprinted for a bathroom, leaving me to pay...i didn't have enough RMB, so i tried to pay in HKD, but some stupid chinese tourist with a fake LV wallet told the guy that my HKDs were fake..."are you sure those are HKD? i've seen hkd, and they didn't look like that"--and then he proceeded to pull a $20 out of his stupid fake wallet. yeah, duh, of course a 20 doesn't look like a 100, but the damage was done. we had to wait till jon came back to pay in rmb.
atop some rooftop in a village that bill clinton visited. fang gui (our guide) grew up here.
saturday, we rented 3 bikes and went riding in the countryside, stopping at various parks along the way. this one has a 1000+ yr old banyan tree...and monkeys.
speaking of monkeying around...we spent RMB40 to roll around the river in a human hamster ball. standing was impossibly hard--knees and elbows flying all over the place.
after eating a home cooked meal and a ton of fresh pomelos from fang gui's yard, we went to a cave near moon mountain that the villagers used as a hiding place during the japanese invasion. we had to enter by boat, but eventually, the path rose above the underground stream for 3kms of pretty amazing tunnels. the whole thing was lit by naked bulbs...it felt like a scene from macguyver. in the middle of the cave is a huge mud pit with a mud slide. the mud was freezing, but if you stayed still, you could trap pockets of warm air around your body (like a frog). we wallowed for a bit before tramping the rest of the way covered in the stuff.
that night, we decided to spend the rest of our RMB food hopping. the rules: 1 restaurant, 1 dish, 1 drink, 1 postcard written. turns out, we didn't actually write that many postcards...a 1:1 food to drink ratio is bad news for me.
this was our last stop, mc blues. they had some pretty good snickers milkshakes. b/c it was sunday night, the whole top floor was deserted. as soon as jon asked me to play a word game, i knew. the first word game was a warmup, spelling some sentence about subway sandwiches. i played along. the second game popped the question. and then he got down on a knee and started talking, and i didn't hear a single word he said b/c 1) i was drunk and 2) HOLY SHIT! i was so overwhelmed that i accidentally said yes, altho the original plan was to say no the first 2 times so that he'd have to do it thrice, like in all the good old fairytales. i did still have enough of my wits about me to say that he better ask me again tomorrow morning to see if i remember any of it. it's really not fair getting a girl drunk before you ask her to marry you. it's not. anyways, by this point, i figured he didn't have a ring, but then he pulled out the my little pony box. it was a unicorn with the ring taped around its horn. ah fairytales.
the next day, we signed up for a half day climbing course. yangshuo is supposed to have the best climbing in all of china (self-proclaimed by yangshuo-ians). thru a combination of pulling and tugging and hanging on for dear life, i managed to get to the top of some of these routes. the guy belaying (sp?) me must've been exhausted. like hauling a piano up the stairs. jon liked it enough to want to find some walls in hk.
and here is the other regional delicacy: field snails. the shells are stuffed with ground pork, so you have to really suck to get the snail meat out. it's a noisy, juicy mess, but also quite satisfying to hear that POP when the snail shoots into the back of your throat.
west street, where the backpackers come.
4.16.2008
kickin it old school
we downloaded streetfighter II turbo on the wii, but we can't play it with the wii controllers...you need the SNES or N64 ones...luckily jon figured out that they plug into the same ports as our ddr pads, so now we're kicking ass on our feet. it's really much harder to do the combo moves, but i imagine it'll be a much better workout. my life is silly.
4.14.2008
toscars 2008
the theme was "a night with the maharajah"...which is basically an invitation to dress up as an indian stereotype...luckily, i had a bengal tiger outfit ready to go. i'm actually pretty proud of our last minute costuming efforts. jon's family is in town, so we had to come up with costumes for 6. all we bought was a monster roll of bubble wrap and 2 things of aluminum foil. i figured ppl could be creative. boy, was i right.
and the best part of all of this? we still have a HUGE roll of bubble wrap leftover!
and the best part of all of this? we still have a HUGE roll of bubble wrap leftover!
4.11.2008
lots of stuff later, but first, a question:
where do people find friends if they 1) don't play ultimate and 2) don't go to church?
ok, i lied, a second question:
is it a unique expectation of our generation to have friends? i mean, everyone wants to fit in, but does it seem like we have this special need for people with whom we can share ourselves more platonically and more honestly? is this an expectation set up by sitcoms like friends and sex and the city? that we'll have ppl we can sit around with in coffee shops and talk about deep issues or nothing at all? that these ppl will not only tolerate but love our shortcomings?
it seems to me, that in our parents' generation, love was the holy grail of relationships. people expected to have a terrific first kiss, a terrific first time, a terrific, loving husband/wife. our generation is more jaded about love...we know it doesn't always work out, that a lot of ppl end up settling or divorcing or whatever. relationships require work, and we're ok with that. but we don't expect friendships to require work. we expect to have great times naturally and easily. after all, it was easy as kids right? your best friend was the kid you saw the most (unless that kid beat you up or something). but wherever you lived, you found someone to hang out with...even if you didn't like that person very much, as long as they could pitch a baseball and swing a bat (my requirements). plus, i guess most kids don't have the strongest personalities anyways, so not much to clash with...all my memories of childhood friends are of things they DID not things that they THOUGHT. and in a school full of freaks, chances are there's someone freakier than you willing to tolerate you, right?
but as "adults" there are so many more layers to peal thru...not to mention the lack of a forum where you can meet ppl. is that why so many of us go binge drinking till who knows when? or why ppl generally spend months feeling lonely when they move to a new city (barring ulty players and churchgoers of course)? i've had a couple of conversations with a couple of nonulty and nonreligious ppl about this recently...i mean, not deep conversations, just about them feeling lonely and not knowing where to find enduring friendships...i guess i've just been really lucky. thank god for ultimate.
ok, i lied, a second question:
is it a unique expectation of our generation to have friends? i mean, everyone wants to fit in, but does it seem like we have this special need for people with whom we can share ourselves more platonically and more honestly? is this an expectation set up by sitcoms like friends and sex and the city? that we'll have ppl we can sit around with in coffee shops and talk about deep issues or nothing at all? that these ppl will not only tolerate but love our shortcomings?
it seems to me, that in our parents' generation, love was the holy grail of relationships. people expected to have a terrific first kiss, a terrific first time, a terrific, loving husband/wife. our generation is more jaded about love...we know it doesn't always work out, that a lot of ppl end up settling or divorcing or whatever. relationships require work, and we're ok with that. but we don't expect friendships to require work. we expect to have great times naturally and easily. after all, it was easy as kids right? your best friend was the kid you saw the most (unless that kid beat you up or something). but wherever you lived, you found someone to hang out with...even if you didn't like that person very much, as long as they could pitch a baseball and swing a bat (my requirements). plus, i guess most kids don't have the strongest personalities anyways, so not much to clash with...all my memories of childhood friends are of things they DID not things that they THOUGHT. and in a school full of freaks, chances are there's someone freakier than you willing to tolerate you, right?
but as "adults" there are so many more layers to peal thru...not to mention the lack of a forum where you can meet ppl. is that why so many of us go binge drinking till who knows when? or why ppl generally spend months feeling lonely when they move to a new city (barring ulty players and churchgoers of course)? i've had a couple of conversations with a couple of nonulty and nonreligious ppl about this recently...i mean, not deep conversations, just about them feeling lonely and not knowing where to find enduring friendships...i guess i've just been really lucky. thank god for ultimate.
4.02.2008
ajkle;aghakd (in memory of yelena's blog)
the past couple of weekends have been some sort of fantastic. we didn't have the gumption to figure out a trip over easter weekend, so we decided to eat the HKD6000 that we would've spent instead. i had to cover the desk on friday, which meant coming in in frisbee clothes at 10am, going to the gym at 1, having lunch till 3 (at union bar...pretty good burgers), coming back, answering a few emails, and vamoosing at 6pm. and for all that, i get a day in lieu. i love working holidays.
that night, we splurged at stonegrill, a steak place that serves up it's meat raw on a 400 degree C slab of rock. jon's wagyu was slightly disappointing given the price (the most expensive thing on the menu, incidentally), but my superprime (whatever that means) was fantastic. plus some of the best scalloped potatoes i've ever tasted. i've never liked steak before, but man, this stuff was good. jon says we should go again...provided we don't order the wagyu, it shouldn't break the budget.
saturday, we hiked the twins and watched charlie wilson's war, dinnered at chili fagara, a small szechuan place that was too hot for me. jon liked it fine tho...i think we have different types of spicy tolerance...i can take mexican spicy till the cows come home, but szechuan spicy is beyond me. i will say that the mapo tofu there is the best i've had in hk.
sunday, we brunched at caramba, a swanky mexican place that doesn't carry ketchup and charges $22 for extra salsa! normally, these are enough to condemn any restaurant in my book, but mexican is hard to find in hk. plus, they serve a pretty mean breakfast burrito. then disc, then to kristin+grante's for guitarhero. also, they were leaving for cambodia the next morning, so we had the (always pleasurable) duty of cleaning out their fridge--homemade lasagna and cheesecake, come to mama.
monday, we went on a 45km bike ride, from tai mei tuk to shatin. tai mei tuk is a pretty busy little place. it sits next to a reservoir that they drowned a village to make, but the reservoir is no longer used b/c they get their water from china now. the bike etiquette is crazy. ppl ride really slowly and swerve all over the place. i almost killed a kid who was coming into a turn on the wrong side of the track...we were in a tunnel, both going downhill, so i couldn't see him at all. why would you ride into incoming traffic like that? and while riding across the reservoir, we saw a man with a bloodied head being lifted into an ambulance. another man had caught a really big fish (like the length of my arm) (unrelated incidents).
the masses thinned as we got farther from tai mei tuk. most of the riding was quite pleasurable, and relatively flat. a nice outing in the countryside with the sun shining and the air clear (we were pretty far from the city). i favored passersby with my rendition of doe a deer (a female deer!)...i only sing the verse where they shout the notes (RAY! a drop of golden sun...MEE! a name...). in shatin, we found a track that didn't kick us out when pulled out a disc (most places are all "no flying saucers!"), so it made a nice destination for the bike ride.
bike riding is a private affair. i felt like all the ppl who were going a different pace than i was were in a different dimension. you can do all these things you wouldn't normally do b/c in a second, ZOOM! you were outta there (or zoom! they were outta there)! you didn't have to share the time, so you couldn't possibly offend anyone (right?).
oh! and they also rented out these family death carts. they're 4-wheeled contraptions where the 2 ppl in the back pedal, and the rest of the ppl sit in a basket-like seat in the front. the front also tends to be wider than the back, and i think there's a steering wheel, but the driving wheels move independantly so if the two peddlers pedal at different speeds, then the cart turns independantly of the steering wheel...and if front wheels happen to be misaligned then the cart tips over. b/c they're hard to maneuver, these carts tend to crash...and most often, ppl place their babies and grannies in the front basket, and of course, no helmets. i can't believe it.
and then last weekend, instead of going to the sevens (the drunkest weekend in hk), jon and i dragonboated, brunched in stanley, climbed the twins in record time (58 min for him, 68 min for me), got massaged at sunny's paradise (not sketchy, i swear, but i'm peeved that the boys have TWO plunge pools and the girls only have saunas), watched HORTON HEARS A WHO (!!!), and had dinner at crystal jade. Horton Hears a Who is a fantastic movie. i was a bit worried going into it that i had outgrown non-disney animated movies, but yay, i haven't. fav quote: "i said what i meant, i meant what i said, an elephant's faithful 100 percent!". i'm gonna find a way to work it into a cheer, b/c seriously, have you heard a more cheerful thing? the animation will blow your mind too. the level of detail in the water, in the forest, etc...wow.
recently, we've discovered the pleasures of corned beef. so cheap, yet so delicious. fry it up with some scrambled eggs and onions, slather it with some horseradish sauce, and voila.
this weekend, we embark for yangshuo, which is supposed to be a backpackers paradise near guilin, famed for limestone "forests" and climbing/biking. hope the weather holds. hk is grey and bleary...back to winter.
that night, we splurged at stonegrill, a steak place that serves up it's meat raw on a 400 degree C slab of rock. jon's wagyu was slightly disappointing given the price (the most expensive thing on the menu, incidentally), but my superprime (whatever that means) was fantastic. plus some of the best scalloped potatoes i've ever tasted. i've never liked steak before, but man, this stuff was good. jon says we should go again...provided we don't order the wagyu, it shouldn't break the budget.
saturday, we hiked the twins and watched charlie wilson's war, dinnered at chili fagara, a small szechuan place that was too hot for me. jon liked it fine tho...i think we have different types of spicy tolerance...i can take mexican spicy till the cows come home, but szechuan spicy is beyond me. i will say that the mapo tofu there is the best i've had in hk.
sunday, we brunched at caramba, a swanky mexican place that doesn't carry ketchup and charges $22 for extra salsa! normally, these are enough to condemn any restaurant in my book, but mexican is hard to find in hk. plus, they serve a pretty mean breakfast burrito. then disc, then to kristin+grante's for guitarhero. also, they were leaving for cambodia the next morning, so we had the (always pleasurable) duty of cleaning out their fridge--homemade lasagna and cheesecake, come to mama.
monday, we went on a 45km bike ride, from tai mei tuk to shatin. tai mei tuk is a pretty busy little place. it sits next to a reservoir that they drowned a village to make, but the reservoir is no longer used b/c they get their water from china now. the bike etiquette is crazy. ppl ride really slowly and swerve all over the place. i almost killed a kid who was coming into a turn on the wrong side of the track...we were in a tunnel, both going downhill, so i couldn't see him at all. why would you ride into incoming traffic like that? and while riding across the reservoir, we saw a man with a bloodied head being lifted into an ambulance. another man had caught a really big fish (like the length of my arm) (unrelated incidents).
the masses thinned as we got farther from tai mei tuk. most of the riding was quite pleasurable, and relatively flat. a nice outing in the countryside with the sun shining and the air clear (we were pretty far from the city). i favored passersby with my rendition of doe a deer (a female deer!)...i only sing the verse where they shout the notes (RAY! a drop of golden sun...MEE! a name...). in shatin, we found a track that didn't kick us out when pulled out a disc (most places are all "no flying saucers!"), so it made a nice destination for the bike ride.
bike riding is a private affair. i felt like all the ppl who were going a different pace than i was were in a different dimension. you can do all these things you wouldn't normally do b/c in a second, ZOOM! you were outta there (or zoom! they were outta there)! you didn't have to share the time, so you couldn't possibly offend anyone (right?).
oh! and they also rented out these family death carts. they're 4-wheeled contraptions where the 2 ppl in the back pedal, and the rest of the ppl sit in a basket-like seat in the front. the front also tends to be wider than the back, and i think there's a steering wheel, but the driving wheels move independantly so if the two peddlers pedal at different speeds, then the cart turns independantly of the steering wheel...and if front wheels happen to be misaligned then the cart tips over. b/c they're hard to maneuver, these carts tend to crash...and most often, ppl place their babies and grannies in the front basket, and of course, no helmets. i can't believe it.
and then last weekend, instead of going to the sevens (the drunkest weekend in hk), jon and i dragonboated, brunched in stanley, climbed the twins in record time (58 min for him, 68 min for me), got massaged at sunny's paradise (not sketchy, i swear, but i'm peeved that the boys have TWO plunge pools and the girls only have saunas), watched HORTON HEARS A WHO (!!!), and had dinner at crystal jade. Horton Hears a Who is a fantastic movie. i was a bit worried going into it that i had outgrown non-disney animated movies, but yay, i haven't. fav quote: "i said what i meant, i meant what i said, an elephant's faithful 100 percent!". i'm gonna find a way to work it into a cheer, b/c seriously, have you heard a more cheerful thing? the animation will blow your mind too. the level of detail in the water, in the forest, etc...wow.
recently, we've discovered the pleasures of corned beef. so cheap, yet so delicious. fry it up with some scrambled eggs and onions, slather it with some horseradish sauce, and voila.
this weekend, we embark for yangshuo, which is supposed to be a backpackers paradise near guilin, famed for limestone "forests" and climbing/biking. hope the weather holds. hk is grey and bleary...back to winter.
3.28.2008
double trouble and bubble
i love pepperidge farm verona cookies. they're the oft overlooked fruit ones. The sidepanel of the packaging describes the Art of a Cookie, which i thought would be a pseudo-recipe...you know, like, with ingredients and what not (the finest handpicked flours, etc). instead, the first thing it lists is: THE SOUL OF A BAKER! oh yeah, find a baker, pluck out his soul, spray it thrice with the spit of the fire-bellied toad (bombina bombina), and there you have your raspberry filling.
my coworker is a goat. like a goat, rushabh is a herbivore, but other than meat, he'll eat anything. today, he ordered vegetable buns from crystal jade, and we caught him eating the buns along with the paper on which they're steamed. also, those extra 8 peeps that merrick left from yesterday? yep, rushabh ate those too, all while muttering about how mediocre they are. reminds me of that simpsons episode where homer accidentally boils his pet lobster (oh sob...i miss him...marge pass the butter).
my coworker is a goat. like a goat, rushabh is a herbivore, but other than meat, he'll eat anything. today, he ordered vegetable buns from crystal jade, and we caught him eating the buns along with the paper on which they're steamed. also, those extra 8 peeps that merrick left from yesterday? yep, rushabh ate those too, all while muttering about how mediocre they are. reminds me of that simpsons episode where homer accidentally boils his pet lobster (oh sob...i miss him...marge pass the butter).
3.27.2008
you know where it's going
peeps are on sale at wellcome--$3 per pack of 5...
...
...
i bought 3 packs (very restrained), and forced our newest colleague (he joined 3 weeks ago) to chubby bunny them :-D. merrick, the colleague, is a very small guy who eats salad everyday for lunch. i had hope tho b/c he has a very mobile face. alas, he only managed 6 before the drool got the best of him. he spit the peeps into the trash. poor peeps. at least he left me some to microwave. RAARRR MONSTER PEEPS!
...
...
i bought 3 packs (very restrained), and forced our newest colleague (he joined 3 weeks ago) to chubby bunny them :-D. merrick, the colleague, is a very small guy who eats salad everyday for lunch. i had hope tho b/c he has a very mobile face. alas, he only managed 6 before the drool got the best of him. he spit the peeps into the trash. poor peeps. at least he left me some to microwave. RAARRR MONSTER PEEPS!
3.26.2008
appetizers
goccia, in a mad advertising scheme, just spammed me their menu for a 5 course dinner. apparently, for $888, i can eat things like "crashed potatos" (mayday mayday!), "crayfish foam" (rabies adds just that extra soupcon of je ne sais quoi), dried cod mousse, and warm cherry soup. maybe i should've gone into chefery after all. i'm a pro at funny names on funny ingredients. lessee...we could have such delicacies as flicked spinach in clownfish (pants) sauce, airbladder stuffed with foie gras, and for dessert, squirted cinnamon.
but seriously, why all the innovation in food? do ppl's palates really get bored? mine certainly doesn't. i can eat tomato soups till the cows come home (and then i'll have a burger thankee). variety, sure, i'm all for variety. but at the end of the day, gimme the good ole classics.
oh, and in an update in my life, i'm hungry (all the time. no, even more so than usual. usually, i'm not hungry but can eat an inordinate amount b/c in a past life i was (briefly) a goldfish (until i popped)...now i'm actually physically panging in my tummy constantly...and regardless of what i eat, i seem to never be full...which is actually quite nice, but still weird).
an initiative: i am trying to work the interjections "sweet soya sauce!" and "dagnabit!" into my speech. if you talk to me, pls help out by telling me shocking/disappointing things.
but seriously, why all the innovation in food? do ppl's palates really get bored? mine certainly doesn't. i can eat tomato soups till the cows come home (and then i'll have a burger thankee). variety, sure, i'm all for variety. but at the end of the day, gimme the good ole classics.
oh, and in an update in my life, i'm hungry (all the time. no, even more so than usual. usually, i'm not hungry but can eat an inordinate amount b/c in a past life i was (briefly) a goldfish (until i popped)...now i'm actually physically panging in my tummy constantly...and regardless of what i eat, i seem to never be full...which is actually quite nice, but still weird).
an initiative: i am trying to work the interjections "sweet soya sauce!" and "dagnabit!" into my speech. if you talk to me, pls help out by telling me shocking/disappointing things.
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