desperately unrehearsed

long time no see and the world's safest car

2009-06-13T22:57:00.004-05:00

so it's been a long time since i last posted.

a lot has happened since then. i went to new orleans for a bachelor party. went to wisconsin to play golf and hang out with the korean students before they all left for home. finished three final projects and one take-home exam, play back to back days of golf and drinking, and began packing to move out of my apartment.

unfortunately that didn't leave much time for posting blogs, but you haven't really missed out on a ton of stuff.

but this is a neat video on MB's take on the world's safest car... it's a lot of airbags but some pretty amazing tech if they get it to work. the seltbelt airbag is fascinating if not excessive.

photo of the day

2009-05-15T09:23:00.002-05:00

good photographer
super hot photo
that'll be all for today

[via nejat talas]

would you like a green stairway, why yes i would!

2009-05-14T09:27:00.001-05:00

this building has a great clean design. it's a box shell, but hides a grass stairway to a green roof. the back of the stairway is in the center of the photo above.

for some reason a beautiful curve like the one created by the bottom of the stairway that expands to meet the left wall is a nice juxtaposition to the strong angles of the box frame of the house. (that sounded nerdy than required... it's nice when curves and straight lines are mixed - there much better)

a awesome view from the staircase. the coolest thing is you can only access the roof from inside the house...

view from the roof.

view from inside, looking at the staircase.

[via contemporist, the architects are kwk promes]

are we all the same?

2009-05-13T08:44:00.000-05:00

this is a pretty cool concept that this photographer came up with. from what i can tell i likes setting up for photos and loves photoshop. he takes photos from the same location, over and over again and compiles different people from different images to create a theme... i'm not sure if all the of the people in the image were taken at that location or if they were transplant from an entirely different location. but based on the lighting, i'm guessing they were... otherwise he's photoshop skills would be utterly insane.

cellphones

all in red

taking photos in times square

women

kids, kids, kids (i love this one... it's the same location as the top one)

[via v1 gallery]

i love simple things

2009-05-12T09:00:00.003-05:00

so when i was in elementary school - i used to have an old braun travel alarm clock as my bedside clock. i don't remember how i got it, i definitely didn't buy it myself, but i remember it was very easy to use, just two simple dials in the back, one to adjust the time and another for the alarm. there was button on the top to set the alarm and that was it.

over the years, i lost the clock (probably between house moves we did as a family) but i remember trying to buy one a few years back, but couldn't find the one i wanted. i thought about getting it as a travel clock. but like most people i've switched to using my cellphone as an alarm clock, but there is something great about using a simple analog clock and leaving the cellphone on the other side of the table.

i'm not sure if i'll get one (maybe when i start working on the road a lot next year) in the meantime my cellphone seems to work alright, even if it seems i have to keep on living the digital lifestyle.

[reminded by valet]

best sushi deal in town

2009-05-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

so M told me about this place that has good sushi (with an all you can eat option for $20) that was nearby. i scoffed at the idea since e-town doesn't have great sushi options (i don't think that chicago has great options as compared to bigger markets on the coasts (NYC, LA, SF, etc.) but this place was great... sure it's not going to be 5 star sushi, but it was fresh and very reasonably priced.

since it was lunchtime and went with the ramen (which is even harder to find than sushi, and it was good... not as great as the stuff in little tokyo in LA, but still - very good for what it was. it came with a side of california roll - nothing amazing but super fresh avocado which was nice.

all in it was 8 bucks which is good value. the decor looks more like a fish market than a restaurant which is probably why they don't have as much overhead. simple, white and clean. what's not to like? sure it's not fancy, but let's be fair, this is e-town anyway.

next time i'll have to go for dinner and get some real sushi.

Sea Ranch Fish Market
518 Dempster Street
Evanston, IL
847-492-8340

neoclassic: will it work?

2009-05-07T09:47:00.001-05:00

so the whole neoclassic look is starting to surface... first it was olympus that came out with a concept that was pretty interesting - it was a mix of analog looks with digital guts and a nice fitted leather shell to round out the old school aesthetics. it looks like nikon has come out with a similar concept but this is aimed more downmarket (the olympus one had a classic rangefinder look which would have been in the 500+ range for sure. but my guess is that this one would be more mass market and in the 350+ range... since the guts of the camera would probably retail for around 250-300.

i definitely like the concept... the only probably with neoclassic design is that digital camera lifecycles are too short these days and cameras as an "investment" is no longer true. so getting a non-transferable nicely fitted leather case either built in or on top of the camera seem a bit of a waste.

but i guess we'll see... i am happy that cameras are coming out with some more innovative design.

korean fried chicken: reminds me of the good ole days

2009-05-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

korean fried chicken always begins with the trifecta of condiments. jalapenos on the left, pickled radishes in the center and a salt/pepper blend on the right. normally you dip the chicken in the salt/pepper (since it's not seasoned) and you eat the radish and jalapenos afterwards. the radish is sweet and a bit sour and of course the jalapenos are spicy.

this is the chicken with a "salad" of shredded cabbage with a "thousand island dressing" which is actually a mix of ketchup and mayo.

you can't each chicken without beer. we had two kinds last night: OB and Hite.

we also had spicy rice cakes after the chicken (they actually ran out of chicken which is crazy for a chicken place, but it was tuesday night and i guess they weren't expecting that many people??)

this is a cold stirfried salad with conch, i had to look up what a conch was in english... it's a marine snail that lives inside those really pretty shells.

to finish off the meal we had yellow watermelon. yup yellow! never had it before, but it was amazingly sweet. they said they bought it at h-mart so i'm looking forward to picking up some soon.

Overall - it was a decent meal - i think we've had better fried chicken before, but still it was good to have some old school korean food.

Hourglass
3658 W. Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, IL 60686

spoonettes

2009-05-05T18:18:00.003-05:00

as we all know there are some classic problems with appetizers... the largest of which is the small plate supply issue. it's always a pain to obtain a large number of plates for appetizers or you have to make the appetizers holdable without a plate. if you're attending a party or function and waiters come by with appetizers you're limited with options to things you can grab with your hands and not get messy and eat in a somewhat dignified manner right?

but not anymore - now with the new spoonettes, a spoon shaped filo dough, you can bake edible spoons to "plate" your appetizers... it will even hold liquid (or sauce) if plated just before serving without getting soggy.

it's not super cheap - 3.50 euros for twelve, but still if you're hosting a party for ten, it's not much to get a package and serve your appetizers with a little extra flare.

now if this doesn't seem like a pressing issue to you, that probably means more important things are on your mind - like the bank stress test results that came out today. but what's the fun in talking about that... spoon shaped filo dough is cutting-edge innovation.

working on the farm

2009-05-03T23:07:00.004-05:00

every farmer starts his day off with a hardy breakfast... and in this case we mean start our day by eating breakfast at 1pm and and by hardy we mean enough fattening food to kill a cow.

above we have a waffle covered in butter and syrup, hash browns covered in grilled onions and cheese, two pieces of buttered toast, two sausage patties (which were off screen) and two or three scrambled eggs. all of this was provided by waffle house (it was my first time going there... not sure how many more times i'd go) i ate most of what you see on the screen, which did not feel good shortly after consumption. still it did feel manly.

panoramic view of part of the farm.... we shot roughly where the guy in the center of the image in standing. (click on any of these images for a large version)

panoramic view of the front of the farm from the road, super green grass and the weather was just beautiful.

tree in front of N's old house... which sat on a five acre plot... lots of grass which was nice... would make for a great place to have summer bbq's out back.

that's a day old calf - he had a twin brother who is with his mom. this one was still getting the hang of his legs so he was a little slower to run and join his mom. i was a bit to close to the fence when i was taking the photos and got a semi-aggressive visit from the mom who wanted to make sure i knew she was the boss. it was duly noted.

this is the tree that the MBA students cut down with an ax. the old fashion way. and if you were wondering... how many MBA students does it take to cut down an tree with an ax... the answer is four.

the one behind it was later also cut down. but with a chainsaw... which is also super cool but in a different and infinitely less tiring way.

what happens when you give a road flare to a bunch of exhausted guys drinking and eating chicken wings late at night? you get photos like these.

technical info:
ISO: 100
shutter: 5-8 seconds
aperture: f/4
stabilized on a car hood

overall it was a great trip, even if with the long drive and the bitch middle seat.

going to the farm

2009-05-02T00:39:00.002-05:00

so today the roommates and i (along with two of our friends) drove seven hours to ohio to go to a farm. actually we didn't get to the farm today. we're going tmw, today we went and stayed at N's parents' place. we had a great dinner and played pool and video games in preparation for a big day of working on a farm. clearing trees and operating heavy machinery. should be a fun time.

i should mention that our friend S bought an ax so he could cut down a tree the old fashion way. that should be a riot.... then again he is canadian so maybe that will give him an edge.

more tomorrow.

jump rope

2009-04-29T09:58:00.004-05:00

so everyone has things that they never learned to do and wished they had learned. jump rope is one of those things for. now to be fair to me, when i was a kid, i used to jump rope when the rope operation was done by two people at each end of the jump rope, like when we were in the school playground. i could even do the kind when they had two jump ropes... since all that was really needed was the ability to jump and a decent sense of timing.

but apparently i don't have enough brain power to time, jump and twirl a jump rope simultaneously. i've definitely tried from time to time over the last couple decades. and the general conclusion is that it is now entirely too shameful to continue to "practice" at a gym. so instead i'll just have to buy a jump rope and be humiliate by something little school girls can do, in the comfort of my own home.

M did give me some sound advice. she said that the light plastic ropes are harder to use because it's difficult to get a sense of timing with them. instead she suggested i use the harder plastic type we used back in elementary school since the extra weight helps build your sense of timing.

my idea was to buy a leather one because it had a bit more weight. but wasn't so cheezy as getting the plastic one.

the whole reason jump ropes came up were because i wanted to think of ways to stay in shape on the road as a consulatant. since jump rope is a great cardio exercise and a jump rope takes almost no space in your bag, it's a great option for working out... along with a heavy duty stretch band which i already use for trips.

but i've got to learn how to use a jump rope first, so we'll see how it goes. i'll report back later.

camera equipment is a drug addiction

2009-04-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

sorry for the absence in posting, these days i seems just slightly behind on things, which is weird... but i'm back on the ball. i think it's cause i'm sleeping more than i probably normally do and the incremental hour of sleep comes at the cost of my blogging time. but we're back on track with plenty of content ready to go!

so there are a couple things in life that i love and at the same time consider to be a complete addiction. they are golf and camera equipment. while i've never had a lust of the newest golf gear (my friends back in LA definitely did, we'd go to the store to check out the newest and often biggest club and see if it was worth the markup) i've always been pretty happy with the hand me down clubs i've gotten from my dad. to be fair though, he did buy me a quality driver and a nice wedge.

but camera equipment gets me all crazy. like look that this new camera - the d5000... doesn't it look perfect for travelling around the world with a compact but powerful enough dSLR? so i can take amazing photos of all the cool things i'm going to see? and it's less than $800 new - that's a steal!

except this is just silly really - i have at least $5k worth of gear here not to mention what i have back in LA, but i never use it. my main dSLR is perfectly usable and should still be for probably another 12-18 months, before a real upgrade makes sense for personal use. but still i just use my $400 G7 and my refurbished $120 SD1000 more than i use my two dSLRs.

so while i drool over new gear, i always have to stop myself and stare at my bag of gear and remember that i need to use that more... or else i can't buy shiny new cameras. damnit.

devon street hole in the wall

2009-04-23T22:59:00.004-05:00

tonight M and i went out to a little hole in the wall on devon street for some quality indian food. i got a tip for H that this was a good and cheap place to have a simple dinner. it definitely was both of those things.

i ordered the combo 3, which was chilli chicken and lamb kabob with rice and a small salad for $11. which was a great value considering i got a cup of soup and flat bread for free! so that was amazing.

the atmosphere definitely wasn't the best in the world, but it was one of those places where they worry about the quality of the food and not so much about how it looks. i'm not sure how they turn a profit with prices like that, but i'm not one to complain both good food at a great price.

M got the tikka chicken - not sure how much that was, but she seemed to enjoy it. i'll definitely need to ask H for more recommendations before school ends.

JK Kabab
6412 N Rockwell St
Chicago, IL 60645
(773) 761-6089

razor sharp knives are hot

2009-04-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

so the first lesson you learn about using a kitchen knife is that a sharp knife is better than a dull knife. dull knives leading to slippage and the a lot more cuts and accidents. i've had my fair share of cuts over the years because the knives in my mother's kitchen are almost all dull (except the one decent knife i had professionally sharpened so i could have something decent to use).

but now that i have my shun chef's knife... i wanted to make sure i could keep it super super sharp. i got it over winter break (a christmas present to myself) along with a honing stick to help maintain its edge. but i didn't get a sharpening stone - since it would be a while before the knife would lose its edge enough that it'd need one.

fast forward 3.5 months and the the knife is still sharp, but not as sharp as it was when i first got it. so i got a 1000/6000 grit waterstone. it's made in japan and the 1000 grit side (think sandpaper but more like clay than a coarse grit like sand) is used to get it reasonably sharp and the 6000 side gives it a mirror like finish and super sharpness.

after soaking the stone in water for 10 minutes (that's why it's called a waterstone), it took less than 10 minutes to get the knife sharp enough to cut through a piece of paper with ease. i think i could get it a little sharper with some practice, but still i think once a month of sharpening will keep my knives sharp. and sharp knives are hot.

going back to college

2009-04-19T09:22:00.001-05:00

i'm back in w-town for an alumni career panel for asian american heritage month. the panel was pretty large and had a diverse group of alums from class of 84 to 02 (that would be me). people were from all different backgrounds and overall it was a pretty interesting dialogue.

what's almost more important was that this was my first time back to the school since i graduated seven years ago.

i got in friday night and went out to dinner in n. adams... on the drive over the entire way i read all the signs and a flood of memories of school came back to me.

super stop and shop
friendly's
mt. greylock bowling
mass moca
dunkin donuts
mcdonalds

it was weird to be back i have to say... a lot has changed, new buildings everywhere and some old ones are gone. baxter hall - the student center i was in when i saw what happened on the morning of 9/11 is gone. is till remember exactly where i was when i realized what had happen. but now i'm near that place in the new student center (which is stunning) thinking about old times gone by. and coming here so far from home (be it LA, korea or chicago) still this place feels like home. i've missed not working about locking your door, not eating fast food (cause there is none), not buying anything because the five stores in the town all close at 5pm (makes e-town look like NYC btw).

but most of all i miss the stars. there are almost no lights in w-town at night. and if you go for a walk down to cole field - which i used to do all the time, you can see so many stars. the only place i remember having a more beautiful night sky was in patagonia - but it wasn't fair because it was the southern sky, so the newness of the stars and their position caught me off guard.

it may be a little too cold to go for a night walk out to cole field, but it's nice to know that some things never change.

in a barbie world, there are still real women

2009-04-18T09:15:00.002-05:00

elle europe has released a new cover with a series of famous women with no makeup or photoshop in response to popular response that many of today's covers present an unrealistic image of women. sophia coppola and monica bellucci were two of the women brave enough to participate.

i 'm sure many of you have seen dove's commercial on beauty and how most firms photoshop the hell out of an image to create an idealized beauty that no one can reach. (this is also true for men - i remember andy roddick being very upset that his arms were photoshopped to look bigger than they are on the cover of men's health a few weeks ago.)

i'm glad that this is happening - i know that everyone loves idealized beauty and i have to admit that i've done more than my fair share of photoshopping my images for fashion work. but at the end of the day... few things are more beautiful than a woman's raw beauty.

what would you be if you were a car?

2009-04-17T08:53:00.002-05:00

a long time ago - i think maybe in college - i was doing some team building exercise and everyone was asked to write down what each person would be if they were a car. the general consensus for what kind of car i would be was a vintage gray porsche, like the one below. at the time, i didn't really appreciate being associated with something old (i didn't think much of vintage things). i think now i look back and see their opinion as quite a complement.

i had completely forgotten about this memory until i stumbled across a post about vintage racing posters from porsche. they're super cool in their own right with great design and styling for poster. i feel like these days everything is geared towards overstimulation to grab your attention for the few milli-seconds. i love the retro colors and clean layout.

[via vintage porsche posters]

q 2.0 is complete

2009-04-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

i received the completed books from the printer after returning from spring break. it took me a while to distribute them, but the majority of them all out now. i still have a few copies left for those who i may have forgotten in the first pass. i took a quick snap of the nine copies (less one i had already given out). if you have one - let me know what you think. i haven't even had time to look at it myself. i've been busy working on photography things and reading new quotes in order to start the next edition (version 3.0?), but my guess is that that one won't be for a long while.

if you'd like one - please ask, i love to give out the remaining copies.

going out for some korean food

2009-04-15T09:22:00.001-05:00

.
side dishes

t
spicy pork tofu stew (what i had)

spicy fish soup (what v had)

bibimbap (rice with meat and vegs) (v's second dish)

my college friend, V, who now attends bschool with me was craving korean food pretty bad at the end of last quarter, so we decided to hit up some local k-food and catch up. even though we go school together - we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like.

funny thing is that our conversations always drift back to the same things we used to talk about 10 years ago. crazy to think that we started college almost 11 years ago...

on the plus side, i finally figured out exactly what V did for a living before coming to bschool - for some reason i was always very confused about it before so it's funny that i finally got it figure out six years later. my friends say i'm slow - apparently they are quite right.

it had been a long time since i had soon doo bu (the spicy tofu stew), the last time i had it was actually the same place - i came with N and we had a small feast - as usual.

overall it was great to catch up and have some korean food (although it did make me miss home).

Arirang

741 Civic Center Dr
Niles, IL 60714

(847) 966-7072‎

this is what happens to lost luggage??

2009-04-14T08:33:00.003-05:00

so i came across this interesting website, where this guy buys permanently lost luggage from the airlines and then takes all the clothes out and photographs them. at first it seems almost like a public service he's doing... until you realize that none is looking for this stuff... it's all been written off as lost somewhere while i was coming back from my crazy weekend in miami and i'm moving on with my life.

probably the airlines had to pay the people for the stuff they had lost. so they're just happy that someone is taking the luggage off their hands and giving them a bit of cash.

and then i thought - i like this as a photographic endeavor... it's like cataloging butterflies or some other kind of animal. placing them out on a white surface and taking photos of everything in the same way in order to create these very ordered and structured images.

now i know that this might seem boring to most people, but the process of doing this seems like a bit of adventure to me (clearly it doesn't take much for me to get excited about something if taking photos of clothes in the exact same manner repeatedly gets me excited).

and finally the voyeurism of the whole process hit me. first it's just trying to understand who these people might have been and looking at what they brought on their trips.

but then you start asking yourself some funny questions... like why did this guy bring more pairs of underwear than socks... wouldn't you think that the number of underwear and socks should be the same? or maybe they were in another bag that didn't get lost.

and girl who brought this small black bag... what awesome trip was she on that she needed a slutty nurse outfit. maybe it was around halloween? or maybe it was just a normal wednesday for this person. her other clothes seem pretty normal - she even brought a raincoat hoodie. but she also brought a bikini - so hoping for sunny weather but prepared for rain? and most importantly where is the underwear... there doesn't seem to be any. maybe she goes commando - maybe the guy who took the photo thought it better to omit it from the image... who knows...

then i think about color patterns and outfits that these people probably wore like how the guy below has a good balance of colors in his bag, but the girl seems to be leaning towards the reds and yellows a bit more (maybe not surprisingly she had a red suitcase).

so clearly i have no life, but i think this is amusing and spent a good ten minutes wondering about these people's lives and another five minutes wondering what people would think if they saw the contents of my travel bag. still it was a great little distraction from my reading. i hope you enjoy it.

[via isthisyourlostluggage.com]

the closet of my dreams

2009-04-13T09:53:00.001-05:00

so i'm not sure if it's a sad reality that i've thought a lot about what my perfect closet would look like. but if you've seen my closet, you'd already know that i'm really organized with my clothes. people have different reasons to be organized... they like to be tidy, they like to have structure to a large space, they are obsessive compulsive... or like in my case, they are extreme utilitarians.

i like my closet organized - simply because i like to be able to find a specific item in the least amount of time possible. i guess i should admit that - this isn't the only reason why i like my closet organized. i do enjoy - how clean it looks when things are all in order.

(for a long time - i actually removed clean clothes from the dry cleaners and put them back on my own hangers - they looked better without the plastic covers and the thin white hangers) - i think i realized after a while that this was a bit too much - although i am tempted from time to time to take ten minutes to do it.

anyway - i saw an article online about this guy's designs for a closet, and i have to say, it's awesome. i love the exposed layout and the lighting for the closet. the only closet that i've seen that was cooler than this one is in the korean movie, old boy. the closest is pretty much a black cube that splits into four smaller columns and each column is a mini closet. so you want into the opening cube to get your clothes and change and then walk out and close the cube back into it's original shape. sure it's not practical, but damn it - it's awesome.

sadly - i don't think i can get the old boy closet, but this closet may be possible. (they cheated a little because all the clothes are white, black or gray - so it looks so clean), but in reality, it wouldn't look as nice. then again most of my stuff is blue, gray and black, so i guess i don't have too much to say.

[via rimadesio]

clean lines, futuristic look, simple colors

2009-04-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

there is something to be said for interesting art. i guess this would count as illustration more specifically, but i love the mix of some comic book styling with figure art work in these images. i love the neutral colors with the blue ink accents. for some reason i've always been fond of blue ink in work. almost all of the pens i own use blue ink. i have at least two fountain pens with blue ink. i love architecture drawings because they often do their initial sketches with blue pencil. i'm not sure how this became a post about blue ink, but i have to say... it has so much more character for me.

in any case enjoy the art. i think i need to start putting things on my wall when i move into my new place.

[via Jason Thielke]

on a mission for the perfect weekender's duffle bag

2009-04-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

so much like my friend N who managed to find a bag he really liked (a diesel, double duty bag with a fashion forward urban look of black and silver paint). i am searching for a perfect weekend bag.

something that's:

car and airplane (carry-on) friendly
simple, but modular (inside pockets would be nice)
high quality and long lasting
moderate in price ($200-400)
not leather
fashionable enough for the next five years

right now the front runner is monocle's porter boston bag. it has almost everything i want, but is a bit pricey. its in the $420 range. it has the porter brand behind it. porter is a strong bag brand in japan, know for smart design and durability. i think the monocle premium attached to the bag is what's pushing the price up, but then again it may be exactly what i'm looking for. so we'll see if i can't find something in $300 range, which would be awesome, but if not... i may end up getting this in the summer.

the evolution of advertising....

2009-04-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

i guess it sucks the most to be an ACD... not sure what that is... my guess is assistant creative director?

[via iamprettysure]

nude self portraits with a healthy dash of steampunk

2009-04-09T09:13:00.001-05:00

there was a time when i was really into urban landscapes and within that period, i was briefly interested in urban "decay". i abandoned it because it was too time consuming to find these locations (most of which are exactly safe places to be in the middle of the night).

but i came across this photographer/artist who takes nude self portraits in abandoned urban locations. the photos show a pretty stark contrast from the rusted metal to the color of her skin. i'm not sure how she managed to set up all these shots, i can't imagine it was easy by any means. not to mention it must be cold.

[via mirukim.com]

damn teens - with their awesome science projects

2009-04-08T10:35:00.001-05:00

so take four spanish teens (18-19 years old) and you give them a hundred bucks and what do they do? no they don't get smashingly drunk on a friday night. instead they buy a weather balloon and strap a digital camera and send it to space to take some awesome photos.

while i write as if i'm bitter about this (which i am a little - i wish i had done this - it's an awesome idea) i'm encouraged by the stuff that people are doing. i don't think it would have ever crossed my mind to try to do something like this when i was a senior in high school. of course google earth and digital cameras weren't around at the time, but that only dates me as having gone to secondary school in a "pre-digital" age. which my sister thinks is hilarious. she's never known a world with cellphones, digital cameras and google.

this is the sort of thing that i find inspiring, if a bunch of kids can do this... i need to get my act together and start doing some amazing stuff too.

[via the telegraph]

monocle's recipe for a better retail experience

2009-04-07T17:11:00.001-05:00

20% - a passion to constantly innovate
15% - service-minded, smartly dressed, enthusiastic staff
15% - obsessive attention to detail
15% - a unique, original product mix
5% - a memorable, welcoming scent
5% - good music in the background
5% - flattering lighting
5% - treats with all purchases
5% - impeccable packaging
5% - an inviting facade
0% - attitude

while i haven't written about monocle yet, it is probably my current favorite periodical. and while that post has been held by esquire for sometime, i think that this new magazines covers more of what i'm looking for than esquire (it does lack on the lifestyle things a bit but i'll live with that).

the cover story on their current issue talks about the current state of global B2C and specifically retail. they've dedicated a large section of the magazine review different retail operations around the world and analyze why its been successful. they draw out some interesting conclusions about the differences in levels of service (and consumers' expectations of service as well) both are much higher in asia than they are in the western world.

i think some of the things are somewhat obvious, but i think the concept of treats with all purchases makes a lot of sense, from the times that i've received a little parting thank you gift for being a customer, i've always feel better about the brand.

another big section was devoted to store design and stores they thought did a good job understand the balance between maximizing the customer experience and communicating the brand/concept of the store. some stores hold their concept steady across regions (e.g. uniqlo) and other change more to meet local customer shopping preferences.

i guess the summary for me is that there two things to doing retail well: outstanding service and attention to detail. Personally i think this is true for most consumer facing businesses, but even more so in retail.

[via monocle.com]

confessions of a bad cook

2009-04-06T14:15:00.004-05:00

so gordon ramsey tests all his cooks by making them make scrambled eggs. there a many things i can cook decently, but strangely enough scrambled eggs are not one of them. i can make an omelet, a frittata or a souffle but i'm terrible at scrambled eggs. it's kinda shameful how bad i am at making them. i have been in the past sorely tempted to buy a couple dozen eggs to just practice making them. it seems like something a cook should know how to do. but i could never get myself to do it. its just wasteful to cook all those eggs and not have anyone eat them. i guess i should try to trick some people into being guinea pigs.

an interesting note is that ramsey cooks his eggs in a pot, a non teflon coated pot. then again if you put in that much butter for three eggs, i'm not surprised they don't stick to the pot.

beetle battle armor

2009-04-05T08:56:00.001-05:00

i saw this post a while ago - i think over spring break actually, but haven't had a chance to blog about it. it's pretty amazing, flipping through the slides to think about the evolutionary process that these beetles must have gone through to develop the armor and the horns that they have.

just look at this... that is a massive weapon - it's got to be a quarter of the size of the rest of its body length. and it just doesn't look like something that would be pleasant to deal with. it kinda reminds me of the jaws of life actually, but in reverse.

i really hope that those pincers don't come together, that just can't be right. i guess it could be used to pick up things and move them along (and not only for crushing other insects, but considering how big the insect is... those aren't small pincers by any means).

for some reason this reminds me a a dump truck if it was designed by people who were tripping on something. obviously the color is just out of this world. add to that the odd dump truck like shape and the giant horn (maybe for mating prowess) and finally the fur. that's just a funny mix of characteristics.

btw i like how i didn't really bother to read the information about the beetles, instead just made up my own conclusions based on silly observations. i guess this is what it would be like trying to teach a little kid about science. they just fill in all the details with their imagination. good times.

[via nyt science]

if i made quilts, they'd look like this

2009-04-04T07:06:00.000-05:00

so i'm not a big quilt person. i think our family had one, but it was more of a blanket with a quilt styled cover. but anyway - if i made quilts, i would want them to look like this. well maybe not this particular guy's face on it, but something bold like it. i love the strong colors and the tie-dye effect he uses. the break from the typical pattern effect helps the face jump out at you. and while i probably wouldn't want a giant face on a quilt draped over my sofa, still the concept is great. great design needn't be limited. quilts are awesome too.

[via lukehaynes]

east and west chicken soup

2009-04-03T08:43:00.002-05:00

this version had pasta in it, instead of rice

i haven't made soup in a while and i definitely haven't made stock from scratch. so today is a good a day as every to decide to make some.

i started with a roasting hen and a bunch of vegs. vegs included onions, celery, carrots, ginger, and garlic. first i prepped the chicken by cutting it up into pieces (breasts, legs, thighs, and wings) i removed the excess fat and then browned all the pieces in two batches in a large pot with olive oil. after browning the chicken i removed it and tossed in all the vegs which filled up the pot a good 3/4 of the way. i sauted the vegs for a good 10 minutes to really breakdown the fibers before adding the chicken back in and enough water to cover. the vegs had broken down a lot by now so they weren't taking up nearly as much space.

after boiling everything for 20 minutes. i removed the meat and left in the chicken bones to simmer for another 40 minutes. i drained the liquid into a tuperware and discarded all the vegs and bones.

i had to cool the stock overnight to let the fat settle at the top and remove it. the stock wasn't as clarified as i wanted it to be so i strained it through some paper towels to catch the smaller fat globules. what was left was an tasty but bland chicken stock. i used very little salt thus far in the liquid. the meat and vegs were both seasoned before they were browned/sauted. overall the stock had a very rich taste due to all the vegs but had a clean finish due to the removal of the fat (and lack of salt).

thus far i was say this was a very standard western approach to chicken stock. in order to make it more asian. i used riced instead of pasta and added asian mushrooms, more garlic, daikon radish, red chiles, winter onions, extra firm tofu, and soy sauce (instead of salt). the only non-asian ingredient i added was some shallots.

the dish had a very clean finish - mostly due to the red chiles which had a bit of heat at the end of the palate. the biggest asian flavor was definitely the daikon which pretty quickly imparted its flavor on the soup. the cooked chicken from earlier was shredded and added in the last moments so it wouldn't get too tough from over cooking.

the remaining stock was frozen in an ice cube tray so it can be used in the future with dishes requiring some stock.

now a bb storm user

2009-04-02T09:11:00.004-05:00

so my future employer doesn't support the iphone, so i'm not back to the bb after an unfortunate accident with my iphone in amsterdam. so now i'm with the storm - no idea how to use it and not sure how to get it all connected to everything but i'll have to read the manual tomorrow and get it all sorted over the next couple weeks.

iTunes DJ - Crowd style

2009-04-01T09:00:00.003-05:00

so i'm no longer an iphone user which sucks, but this is a pretty cool new feature for iphone partiers. the iTunes DJ feature now allows for crowd selection of music - so if you had an iphone at a party run on itunes (or a club that runs this feature with its music) you could vote on what should be the next song and even suggest stuff on your own. which is pretty sweet. welcome to the world of crowd-sourcing.

someone test this out and tell me if they like it. i can't do it...

[via wired]

a return to swimming?

2009-03-31T09:30:00.000-05:00

i swam 2,000 yards yesterday (1.83 km) for the first time in about a year. nothing tells you you're out of shape like swimming. i could barely get through 100 yards 15 minutes into my workout. still i'm surprisingly not that sore today which is always a nice feeling.

there are lots of bittersweet things about swimming for me:

you can't listen to music - which can be boring, but calming since you can't hear anything so it's really a time to think
you stink of chlorine even a day after you swim (of course if you've grown up with that smell you sorta secretly love it)
you're going back and forth in a straight line in water - it's boring, but you are semi weightless which is always a great feeling

i love mashups so hard

2009-03-30T08:52:00.003-05:00

digital music has led to the explosion of audio mashups. and now with youtube and digital video, we have A/V mashups which are amazing. this guy, kutiman, takes all sorts of different videos and combines them together to make original music. it's nothing short of amazing. he has eight songs out right now.

[via youtube's kutiman]

spring break: top 3

2009-03-29T11:10:00.011-05:00

dublin: (N and i are in complete agreement)
1. guiness brewery

2. howth (fishing town near dublin)

3. grafton street

edinburgh:
1. cliffs near edinburgh

2. (N) edinburgh castle, (me) pub night

3. (N) pub night, (me) whiskey shop/train ride to london

london:
1. Seeing our friend, P

2. (N) phantom of the opera, (me) marlybone & regent's park

3. (N) london eye, (me) phantom of the opera

amsterdam:
1. anne frank & vincent gogh museums

2. (N) touring the red light district, (me) the nine streets

3. (N) finding the diesel bag, (me) pancakes

N's top 3 overall:
1. anne frank & vincent van gogh museums
2. seeing P and phantom of the opera
3. guiness brewery

my top 3 overall:
1. cliffs near edinburgh
2. seeing P and marlybone
3. pub night and whiskey train ride

a meal with no photos

2009-03-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

before leaving for spring break, i made a small filet of chilean sea bass in a white miso paste. it's normally black cod miso, what you find at most good japanese restaurants, but unfortunately there was no black cod at the market.

the sea bass (which also not a good fish to buy for the environment) was the best they had, i thought about halibut, but the texture wouldn't work. the miso paste itself was easy to make, and the fish is normally supposed to sit in the paste for at least 2 days to really absorb the flavor of the sweet miso. but i only had 5 hours, which still worked out fine. it was just more subtle than it might normally be.

along with the fish, i made a cho-gae tang (korean clam soup with spinach). it starts by making a simple clam broth (clams boiled in water). i took our the clam meat pretty early on, in order to prevent them from getting too tough. i let the shells boil away in the water to give it a healthy clam flavor. there was also a touch of beef broth to give it a little depth and some fermented soybean paste (the good homemade stuff). i tossed in some jalapenos to give it some late kick. i strained it all through a sieve and some paper towels to make it a super clear broth.

i chopped up some spinach and blanched it. along with the spinach and the clam meat, i chopped up some mushrooms, garlic and green onions. i tossed them all into the now clear broth and brought it to a boil again and it was ready to serve.

very simple and clean - good for the body with the iron from the spinach and the calcium from the clams. i forgot to tap photos because i was running a little late on time, but next time.

day eleven: flying back home

2009-03-27T01:06:00.003-05:00

i know i haven't posted about day ten, don't have time for that right now. but will write it on the plane and post when i get back to chicago. it's pretty early in the morning right now. 7am, all packed and showered and ready to walk to the train station, jump on a train to the airport and wait for 9.5 hour flight back home. not sure i'm looking forward to it, but then again i haven't done much reading on this trip so hopefully i'll get a solid five hours in. add in a couple hours of sleeping and a movie and i think we're in good shape.

on a side note, N has been farting up something fierce. it should qualify as a toxic gas at this point. the windows are wide open, i'd rather freeze to death with fresh air and die with smelly gas.

the whole trip has been an amazing romp around the UK and amsterdam. N and i have shared our top moments on the trips, which i'll compile and post tomorrow. i think we both preferred scotland and amsterdam to london and ireland for their beauty (the mountains and the canals). and on that friendly thought, i'm off.

day ten: amsterdam - the final day

2009-03-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

woke up this morning not feeling too terrible. not nearly as hungover than i thought i would. i got up around 11 and N didn't get up until 12:30. he didn't remember much of what happened last night. so we lounge in bed and pieced the night together. we didn't end up leaving the hotel till 3. the weather still wasn't great and i wasn't feeling well. for some reason N slept in his street clothes which was odd. then again we were both pretty smashed the night before so it's not a complete shock.

we pretty much drank a ton of water and watched more tv, the only thing of note was a documentary about jumping great white sharks off the coasts of south africa, california and australia.

we headed out to a pancake place that was recommended in one of our guidebooks. N got the standard american pancakes with maple syrup and a ton of bacon. i got blini's with a goat cheese spread and a side salad. both were alarmingly good food and small (but filling and healthy) portions. we had more water and set off to find a new bag for N. we stopped by zara again to see if they had anything that he might like, unfortunately they didn't. next we headed off to the flagship diesel store (it was three stories - so pretty big), but they didn't have the bag we saw at the other diesel store, my guess is that the other one was in the premium shopping area, half a block down for LV and gucci, etc. so they had the bag which was part of diesel's high end collection (black gold). so we decided we had to walk back down to the first diesel store in order to get the bag. we stopped by at least a dozen stores along the way to the store, but couldn't find anything better than the first bag we found. so we get back to the diesel store and find the bag. the saleswoman was remembered N and we chatted for a while before he got the bag. he was tempted with their watches as well - since they fit the style that he likes - urban fashion - as opposed to strong fashion forward.

after buying the bag we headed back up and stopped by an irish pub for a beer. i was strongly against the idea, but the thought of not having a drink on our drinking spring break trip, seemed outlandish. so i had a murphy's red ale and N had a heiniken extra cold. we both had a tough time putting them back, but i didn't feel as terrible as i thought i might. still i wasn't feeling great.

we saw a wagamama's next to the irish pub so we jumped in to get a nice noodle bar dinner. we had some fried chicken pieces for a starter, i had a diet pepsi and N had a kirin. he had a beef soba stirfry which came out much sooner than my pork cutlet ramen. i was really looking forward to the ramen broth which would help my stomach ache and dehydration. even though i had been drinking water for 7 hours at this point, i was still dehydrated which is a scary thought. we were thoroughly full at the end of the meal and headed home.

we picked up some more beers for N - a six pack of regular grolsch, i got some gatorade like drink and more water. when we got back i finally connected to the internet and posted the two days i was behind. we watched some more tv and N took a nap as usual. we spent some time packing and getting things sort of in order since we had to get up at 6:45am the next morning we didn't want to rush in the morning to get ready. after N's nap he started pushing through his beers and i was surfing the web and catching up on some reading.

after he finished his beers, we headed back out to the red light district. there was a big group of scottish football fans (read: soccer) and they were out in full force. definitely a few hundred of them. i mean they were everywhere with their kilts and hats and all. we stopped in at the bulldog for a beer for N and then did a couple laps around the area. we discovered we had only been to half of the area and explored the other half. there was a good reason the homeless guy didn't show us the other side, it was mostly men dressed as women. after wandering around for a bit more we headed home. N was hungry again by this point so we stopped by KCF for some late night snacks. we took them to go and watched south park while chowing down. it was the amazing "what what in my butt" episode with butters. N went to sleep almost immediately after eating, which explains why he won't up hung over the next day.

day nine: amsterdam

2009-03-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

today could be easily summed up as it was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

got up at nine today and went out for a run in the rain. i wasn't feeling great after all the drinking and eating yesterday. i needed to work it off. and the rain definitely didn't make it easier. although its nice to run in the rain. for the most part it didn't rain that hard so it was alright.

got back and woke up N and headed down to breakfast at 10. the bacon and coffee were good, the powdered eggs weren't. but still not a bad start to the day. we got cleaned up and headed out to the anne frank house at 11:30. it was a slow start but with the rain getting worse around 11, we figured slow was better.

we walked about 10 minutes in light rain to the anne frank museum. unfortunately i didn't listen to the advice of the web and forgot to buy the tickets in advance. so we waited outside in the rain and cold for a good half hour. the museum was extremely moving and sad. the space itself was less compelling than the story. i think i read her diary when i was much younger (maybe middle/high school) i don't think it left a super strong impression on me. N and i were really moved by what they went through and how young she was when she was writing (she died when she was only 13). as we walked back for lunch, we had a conversation about genocide and the recent and current campaigns going on that americans know little or don't care to know about.

it was getting quite cold now and with the rain we were getting pretty wet. it was in the low 40's by this point. i had two tshirts, a patagonia wool base later and a military style shell (for the rain). N only had a long sleeve shirt, a tshirt and a thin zip up jacket. we didn't have umbrella so we were both wearing hats. for the most part it wasn't raining hard, but a constant drizzle.

we made our way to mcdonalds again. this time we both got quarterpounders. N got a chicken sandwich on top of it all. afterwards we walked down the street to Zara. N had never been to one and wanted to check it out. it makes sense that he wouldn't have been in one since none of their clothes would fit him. next we stopped by H&M. N needed a new hat because his cap wasn't doing great in the rain. and it wasn't really keeping his head warm. he tried on hats for a while and looked in the mirror for a long time for each one. it was almost like shopping with a girl. finally he picked a tan paperboy hat which worked well for the rest of the day. he also picked up underwear because he didn't pack enough. it's primarily because he showers twice a day so underwear demand is 2x the normal amount. i thought about making a supply and demand chart to better illustrate this, but realized that would be too awesome and sad at the same time.

i picked up a white hat as well for fun. we left H&M and decided we didn't want to carry this stuff around so we headed back to the hotel which was only a ten minute walk away. we checked email and bought the van gogh tickets online. we dropped the stuff off in the hotel room and took a little break watching music videos. N was making fun of pop music and sat through all of pussycat dolls' "bottle pop" and counted the number of times they said bottle pop. 57 times. so he made his point. of course now we had that sound stuck in our heads for the next couple of hours.

we took the tram down to the museum and saw a giant line for the tickets. we had to pay a little extra for getting them online, but it was worth skipping the long line. the museum itself was amazing. i had a seen a huge van gogh exhibit in vienna last fall, but a few key pieces were missing. the museum had a special exhibit called the colors of the night (the centerpiece being starry night). the museum had piece besides van gogh's works, primarily of artists who were influential in the development of his style. N had a great time except for the floor of drawings (which he doesn't like much at all). we got to much of his famous works: the man with the red hat, his room, self portraits (although not the infamous one), the flowers works (although again not the famous iris one). we saw the hayfield one - i can't remember the name. it always reminds me of a bad dream which is why i love it. i'll have to look it up and post it. the night paintings were stunning of course and starry night was worth the trip on its own.

after we left the museum we walked through the premium shopping area to find a nice weekend duffel type bag for N. his current bag is little more than a gym bag and has two broken zippers. hardly the way to travel. we found an interesting style at diesel, but it was in black and we were looking for something in green. we hit up hermes, tumi and ralph lauren (mainly for me). didn't find anything amazing besides the diesel bag, so we jumped back on the tram and hit the market for more beer. that was the beginning of the end for me.

we had five and seven tallboys a piece. we ate the rest of our deli meat and cheese for a light dinner. unfortunately i may have eaten something that wasn't kosher. but being dehydrated plus a lot of beer plus some funky deli meat did not lead to good things. after dinner and predrinking we walked down to the theater. we got a five euro discount because when asked if i had a coupon, i said i wished i did. so we saved ten euros. we had a few more beers at the comedy show boom chicago and then it was the end of me. i was violently ill even before intermission. and spent most of the second half of the show in the bathroom trying not to die. at some point i dropped my iphone in a glass of water so who knows if it'll work when i try to turn it back on. i'm trying to let it dry out before i try to power it back up. when i was came back out, N was talking to a guy and girl from texas. the girl was living here now and the guy was visiting her. they were ex's. she was trying to pawn him off on us tomorrow so she could look for a job. this whole conversation to me seemed silly in general. i was also trying my best not to puke. after some not so subtle suggestions i convinced N that we should head back.

N wanted some burger king, so he went in and got two sandwiches, fries, onion rings and something else. i waited outside. we wanted back and met a south african women who walked back with us for much of the way. when we got back, N tried to have me drink water, but that wasn't working. he ate his food and thankfully N gave me some tylonel.

day eight: london to amsterdam

2009-03-26T13:57:00.003-05:00

got up pretty early today. 8:30am (which is alarmingly early if i was at school). got up again before N and went to the library to check my email and shower. woke up N at 9 so we could leave by 9:30. finished packing and left money for the guys whose place we were using (A & R).

because we had so many traveling issues the day before we probably over to the london city airport earlier than we needed to. we walked to baker street station and then took the jubilee line nine stops to canning town out in zone 3. we thought we'd have to get off the tube and walk to the direct light rail to take the train to the airport, but they were connected so all we had to do was walk up to another platform and wait for the train to come. so that was a big time saver. it was a cold ten minutes for the train. we were on an exposed platform on a windy morning. the train itself was smooth and easy enough, three stops and we were in the middle of the airport terminal. it only cost us 2.20 pounds to get from baker street to the airport which was another plus.

we got there at 10:45am for a 1pm flight. so super early. the airport itself is in an industry area right by the water so it was pretty gritty. but the airport itself was great. it was all self check-in only so we got our boarding passes in a minute and went to have some breakfast at the cafe. N had a chicken club and i had a chorizo argula sandwich. another great plus was that the entire airport had free wi-fi. it's where i wrote the previous post, while waiting to board for the plane.

the flight was only 40 minutes on a small jet plane. the seats were slightly smaller than the standard seats which was hilarious because N could fit in them... so he was extremely uncomfortable the whole flight. i took a twenty minute nap which was nice. i have to say BA does a much better job than american airlines. they served us sandwiches and drinks for free on a 40 minute flight. that's unheard of in the states!

once we got to amsterdam we bought a map (the first time we bought a map) and jumped on the train into the city. from central station we had a 20 minute walk south into the city to get to our hotel. the place was a good deal at 60 euros a night for a big room with breakfast included. we walked around after dropping our bags. we found the nines street right behind where our hotel was which was great. i found this great denim stop with hundreds of different kinds of jeans from the states, europe and japan. the area was by far my favorite neighborhood on the entire trip. N and i both thought we could totally live in the area. i actually stopped by a realty window to see how much places in the area were going for. the canals and the narrow streets were beautiful. N found a massage place and he was dying for a massage so he got a 90 minute massage while i continued to walk around and then sat down at a bar across the street to walk for him. i found a model agency which was interesting, i thought about going in and see how the models were in amsterdam, but i already knew they were pretty good on the whole. not paris or milan, but strong. at the bar i finally got to catch up on some reading. i read most of an old copy of the monocle. i have two more left to read on this trip. they'll probably have to wait till the flight back. it's 9.5 hours so i feel like i should have plenty of time for reading.

after the massage, N was starving. i had three beers at the bar so i was pretty full. but we found an argentinean place after searching for a reasonably priced meal for a while (food in amsterdam is pricey). we order chips with guacamole and two steak dinners, which were pretty good if only for a change of pace. N was still hungry so we stopped by the market next to our hotel and got some fresh bread, deli meats, basil and cheese. we made sandwiches for dinner part two. we also bought six grolsch tallboys and six heineken tallboys (for the next day). we ate in our hotel room while watching some tv. N had a few drinks at dinner and another four here. i had two more. so we were extremely full and pretty happy. N almost fell asleep but we decided to check out the red light district instead. we met an old homeless american (at least he said he was) who told us hilarious stories about the place and give us a little guided tour of the whole area. there were loads of people around, lots of guys of course, but lots of tourists: couples, families. it was kind of a weird vibe. we stopped into a bar to grab another pint and then headed home. we watched tv for a while since we needed to sober up before heading to bed.

new posts delayed

2009-03-25T08:34:00.001-05:00

i don't have easy access to wi-fi here and have written posts on the netbook without being able to post them. i will post when i get the chance.

london clouds go away

2009-03-24T07:25:00.004-05:00

view from the london eye

*you really need to see the full rez version for the effect

day seven: london - the tate modern and a musical

2009-03-24T04:21:00.002-05:00

got up at 8:30 today... pretty early for this trip. took a shower and tried to wake up N at 9, but that didn't work so well. i left to check my internet while he got ready to go. we planned on seeing westminster abbey in the morning and then buy tickets to phantom of the opera and then meet P in the financial district for lunch.

things didn't go exactly as planned. it was the first day on our trip where things didn't go ultra smoothly. we got to the marlybone station, only to realize that we were supposed to go baker street station (which was only a tube stop away, but still) we found the whole tube system to be very confusing, i guess it was constructed ages ago so it can't be helped. it's also generally hard cause of N's height. we got onto the gray line (jubilee) but after two stops (we needed to go three), we were all told to get off. so instead of waiting for the next subway train (the platform was completely packed), we decided to walk from green street (next to buckingham palace) to westminster.

a side note: the vindaloo revenge was definitely causing N problems. he needed to use the restroom no less than five times throughout the day. so just keep that in mind.

so we walked to westminster - only to find a giant long line. we were running short on time and didn't think we'd be able to make lunch with P on time, so we decided to skip the abbey. we jumped back on the tube to leicester square to buy tickets. we got decent tickets for the 7:30 show and jumped back on the tube to monument station to meet P. there was a bit of miscommunication so we hit up a starbucks for a bit to wait for P. P took us to a place nearby called the fine line. N and i had the chicken salad sandwich with fries and P had the burger. apparently burgers in the UK are more like overcooked meatballs more than anything else. we had a pint of carling beer which was great. after lunch P walked us to london bridge where we said our goodbyes. P won't be back in chicago till may, but hopefully we can see him then.

from london bridge we walked south and then west towards the tate modern. we did a quick walkby of the globe theater, but it seemed too touristy for us. we hit the tate modern for a while, it was great to see some good art on the trip, we'd been to the national gallery the day before but it wasn't the same. i got to see a few rothkos which is always a treat. N had a good time overall which was great. i picked up a couple things in the shop and we headed out towards the london eye. it was sprinkling a little bit when we left the tate, it was the first time we had bad weather the entire trip.

on our way to the eye, we came across a wagamama, a semi fast food, sit down noodle place. N had ate the same amount as me at lunch so he was hungry at 4. i was fine, but wanted to taste it again. so we ordered a couple beers and some duck dumplings and a chili beef ramen. i had a couple dumplings and a bite of the ramen since i wasn't really hungry. N destroyed the rest.

after wagamama, we jumped on the eye and got some great views and photos of the city. the day was cloudy and it had rained recently but the clouds broke just as we got to the top of the eye and the city was beautiful. we had tried to buy a bottle of wine to share (P said it's what people do), but we couldn't find a place. they were also checking bags so it's a good thing we didn't try.

after the eye, we walked back towards the theater district, but found that we had a good hour and a half before we needed to grab some food. so we found a corner pub and sat down for a few pints. N had lagers and i had a local bitter (oak cask drawn). halfway through my first pint, i had said i could drink 2.5 pints in five minutes. N egged me on and said that i couldn't do it. so of course i bought two more pints on the spot and drank them all in 5 minutes. N gave me an extra two minutes, but i didn't need them. as you can imagine i was extremely full and about 15 minutes later i was pretty drunk. N had only had one beer, so over the next hour he had five. before we left we had one more each putting me at 4 and N at 6. we also calculated the approximately alcohol to weight ratio for most of our drinking. N needs to have 1.4x drinks to whatever i am drinking in order to get drunk. this is due to the weight difference between us. this assumes we have the same drinking strength which is for the most part true.

now we're drunk and running late for the show, we head over to mcdonalds which is was N really wanted since the day before. i have a chicken sandwich and he has a quarter pounder. then it was off to the show. we bought mini bottles of champagne for the show which was a crazy idea, N was instantly super drunk after drinking his. it was pretty good so i drank mine a little slower. i managed about 45 minutes into it before i was dying to use the restroom. thankfully there was an empty row behind us so after we ran out to pee we didn't have to disturb anyone for the rest of the show.

the show itself was alright, but a bit too campy for me. it was so amplified, i couldn't tell if they were really singing or not. it only confirmed my love for opera since they really have to sing like mad to get across what they're trying to do. the music though was great, it was the only musical i've seen and the last time i saw it was 15 years ago i think. N wanted to leave to go drink more, but we decided to stay. instead we had peroni's at the bar at intermission and met some locals. a nice middle-aged couple from the suburbs of london.

after the show we took the tube back home. we had to finish the remaining scotch since we couldn't take it on the plane with us. so we drank and watched keeping the faith on tv. we weren't pretty at this point. i don't remember when we knocked out, but it was after midnight.

day six: london's touristy stuff

2009-03-23T04:18:00.002-05:00

today we got up at 9:15 or so. we were slow to get ready because we knew it was mother's day in the UK and on sunday things don't really open up till pretty late (i.e. noon!) we headed out around 10:15 or so and walked down towards where P lives. N stopped to get a coffee and we managed to find a great fish and chip shop, but unfortunately it was closed on sunday. we walked down to oxford street (the main street for shopping in the west end) we didn't really see anything we wanted so we kept going towards piccadilly circus and the theater section, we got in line to buy tickets, but with only one window open we realized this would take way too long. so we decided to keep on walking down to the national gallery.

we weren't in the national gallery for long, N got pretty bored, pretty quick. and too be fair we didn't recognize many of the portraits or the painters, so it wasn't as interesting as if it were americans. we were there for less than an hour i'm sure.

after that we sat in trafalger square to get situated and then walked down to big ben and the parliament building. after taking photos of it, (N was in a few - i was in none as per usual). we walked over to westminster abbey. unfortunately it was closed to tourists for church services so we decided we needed to come back tomorrow to check it out. instead we kept walking (we did a TON of walking today) to buckingham palace and saw the guards doing their thing.

afterwards we headed back up towards marlybone so we could find a nice place to eat. we came to a small area north of oxford street and wigmore off james street. we had some good italian pasta for lunch. i had a fresh pasta with mushrooms and N had something with braised venison. he also had two appetizers and gelato for dessert. we also ordered a nice white wine for a change of pace.

after lunch we headed over to the monocle store to check out a travel duffel we had our eye on for a while. unfortunately they didn't have the color we wanted in stock so i just picked up a couple issues i had missed and we left to find a cafe for an afternoon espresso. we found one a few minutes away.

we got back from all this around 4:30 or so. the reason i know this is cause N wanted to rest for a few minutes, which ended up turning into a big nap. i left around 4:50 to the library to use the internet: find a hotel in amsterdam, check for flights from london to amsterdam, etc.
i didn't get back till around 6 and N was still asleep.

we had a long debate over what we should do on a sunday night. there wasn't much going on in the city so we were debating between seeing a movie (either lesbian vampire killers - it's an inside joke or gran tarino). we decided that we'd have indian food and hit the gym at LBS. we had super spicy lamb vindaloo and chicken tikka marsala along with chicken tikka and samosas as appetizers. we had garlic and onion naan and two orders of rice. N destroyed dinner as usual. he had two pints as well. i was keeping off the booze since we were hitting the gym. we learned over dinner than N has napped 4 of the 6 days on this trip
. the vindaloo was probably in the top three spicy versions i've had. we were super full as usual and i had a wicked stomachache from all the spicy food.

we waited tll 10pm to go to the gym. its the third workout on the trip, which isn't bad at all (one every other day pretty much), i'm hoping for one more tuesday morning before flying out to amsterdam and maybe a nice run around the canals in amsterdam.

got back around 11 from the gym. we surfed the TV for a while, and managed to find a terrible ashton kutcher movie. N is having a grand time watching it, and i'm trying to finish up this post before watching the first part of another korean movie. the first one was pretty good, finished that today... the english title was "i like it hot" it was about three girls, a middle aged woman, her daugther (who is in school) and their cousin (who is in her mid-twenties. it was sorta a romantic comedy i guess, except it wasn't very romantic, or very funny. so i'm not sure how to describe it. hopefully the next one will be better. it does make me miss korea a bit.

day five: getting to london

2009-03-22T11:57:00.001-05:00

woke up at 9 today and managed to drag ourselves downstairs to have a nice scottish breakfast before starting our day. J had to make it back to the airport to she could take a flight down to london and back to the states. we were taking the 12:30 train down to king's cross which put us in around 6:30 at the latest. due to the maintenance the 4.5 hour trip was lengthened to 6 hours. after breakfast and packing up, we took a cab to the train station, J parted ways there by jumping on an airport express bus. we bought tickets, but decided than an hour wasn't enough time to tour the castle so we decided to take the 11:30 train instead. it was a 4 hour train ride before we were to jump onto a bus for an hour. the train ride was great, we listened to music the whole time. I did reading and N worked on his song list, he's making an album!

the two big pluses for the trip were the free wifi on the train (and power plugs for the laptop) and the scotch we bought the day before. we drank most of the bottle between the two of us, within three hours. it wasn't a big bottle, somewhere between an half bottle and a full one. anyway it was amazing, extremely smokey. the taste stays in your mouth for hours afterwards. on the bus ride, N slept the entire time but laying across two adjoining rows. i just looked out the window and listened to more music.

once we got into king's cross (we had to take a short 20 minute train into the station) we realized it was about 5.25 hours and not the 6 hours we expected. so that was good news. we jumped on the underground and made our way to the LBS campus where our friends' had a place for the quarter to crash. they were out somewhere in europe or africa, so we could use the whole place. we had a lot of trouble with the keys, the guy they were subletting from had come by and locked the second lock on the apartment. we didn't have the second key, so we were starting to look for hotels when the house manager had come back and let us in. that would have been really annoying if we had to find an hotel.

N tried to do some laundry and i went out for a run around our neighborhood and regent park. i made it to the zoo before all the scotch from the afternoon caught up with me. that wasn't pretty at all. N really wanted to eat pizza hut for some reason and i had seen one on my run, so we went there for dinner. we had two large pizzas, well i had three slices, N had most of the rest of it, we took half of it back for a snack/breakfast.

once we got back we called our other friend P who recently moved to london for work. we found out his place is only a 20 minute walk from our apartment, so we decided to walk off our dinner and check out the area. we made our way through marylebone and found the monocle shop that we really wanted to check out. we met up with P and his wife's family (who was visiting from the states). we gave P the scotch that we bought him. it was a ben nevis (something that's not super easy to get in the US). it was matured in bourbon casks so it had a peppery fruity finish. he and his family loved it, which was great. we all had a little. afterwards, we headed down to the corner pub and had a few beers. we caught up about london and leaving chicago, the pros and cons of being an american in the UK. we had a few more pints of tribute beer, which N liked a lot and i found a little sweet. N swears it had a grapefruit flavor, but i'm not so sure about that.

in london the pubs close at 11pm so we finished our beers and decided to call it a night. we didn't want to head to a club, instead we decided that we should meet up again earlier in the evening to drink or have dinner. we also decided that we were going to catch a show on monday night. probably the phantom of the opera (it's the only musical i've seen actually, but in LA). we were going to have lunch with P near the river on monday too. the highlight of the night was when P called our roommate C in the US, who was probably in philly or montreal at the time and left him two hilarious voicemails. after the pub closed, we head out and walked back home. we didn't get to bed till 1am or so. N was having issues with the washing machine and i was watching a korean movie on my laptop.

random photos of edinburgh

2009-03-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

half hour before sunset in edinburgh

small sample bottles of lots of different kinds of whisky - look at all the different colors

view of the castle from hollyrood

day four: edinburgh

2009-03-20T19:31:00.000-05:00

got up at 11:30am, not feeling the best, but it's been worse back in chicago. J had a terrible headache and N is doing surprisingly fine. it was brought to my attention that last night i drank at least 16 beers. N had at least 17 and 5 shots of jack. it was one crazy day.

today we got up late and were even slower to get out. we were out until 1pm after everyone took showers and got ready to go. J didn't even come out. wasn't feeling well at all. she was planning on meeting us at 3pm at the parliament building. so N and i went to a burger place (except i left my map at the B&B so had to run into a nearby hotel to grab another one). we grabbed some burgers and rested up before we walked to the parliament building. it was the first time we didn't have beers with a meal on this trip. J arrived a few minutes late, but we decided instead of heading to the castle. we would climb the giant hill called hollyrood behind hollyroodpalace
. it was a good 45 minute hike up some pretty steep grass in order for us to get up to the top. we had some amazing views of the city and the sea from there before climbing back down.

after the hard hike we made our way to the castle, but got tired and decided to take a quick cab ride.
unfortunately we got to castle a half hour too late so we were turned away. instead we made our way to the whisky store for some scotch. we did a tasting of four different scotches and ended up getting something fruity for our friend in london and a super smokey one for ourselves. it's smoked with peat so it's very intense. at this point J still wasn't feeling well so she went back to sleep. N and i headed out for the train station to see if we wanted to get train tickets to get down to london. we decided to hold off until we knew how much things cost by taking a flight down. due to some maintenance issues the 4.5 hour direct train ride would be a 6 hour, 2 train and a bus ride affair down. i think we still might take it, for the experience and to see the british countryside.

after the train station we headed back to the area we had dinner the night before and had some food a local pub. i had steak pie and N had onion rings, haggis fritters, soup and fish and chips. after dinner we head back to south bridge to have drinks at a live music bar. the first band that was up had some great cover songs and we just sat around listening to music and throwing back some beers. we were pretty tired from the day before and the hiking (even though we sleep 11 hours last night). we decided to head back a little after 10am. on our way back N got hungry again and we found a pizza place that's supposed to be the best italian thin crust pizza in edinburgh. he got two pizzas to go. when we got back J was up and feeling better and had a couple slices of pizza. N had an entire pizza to himself. J and i had most of the other one.

tmw we're saying bye to J and checking out the castle quickly before we jump on a train (hopefully not one that has 2 connections) to london.

day three: edinburgh

2009-03-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

we got up super duper early in dublin in order to catch the first flight out to edinburgh. it was quite cold out and extremely foggy. it had a great atmosphere to it, the way you'd think dublin would be in books, dark, cold and foggy. the lights were casting a very strong yellow hue.

we got to the airport via taxi and waiting in line to checking. unfortunately ryanair only allows one carryon, so we both had to check in our duffels. i had to keep my laptop with me of course. we rushed through security because we thought we were running late (as it turned out the flight left a bit later than planned so we were fine.) but also because N really needed an exit row to be comfortable. ryanair's seating operates like southwest, so we got in line very early on. thankfully N and i got an exit row.

surprisingly i slept for most of the one hour flight, while N read. yup read at 7am. once we landed we headed into the city on the express bus which took us to waverly station (the second largest station either in the UK or outside of the london ones, i can't remember). anyway from there we walked just until we found a mcdonalds. we were so hungry he had to eat something. and we needed coffee. N got enough food for three people and i had the standard sandwich, hashbrowns and coffee.

after eating we made our way down to our B&B which was recommended by the NYT. it was farther than i had hoped it was. a good 20-25 minute walk from the center of town. the place itself was beautiful with a lot of care put into the furniture. the house has a backyard with a little garden and across the street is a large park.

as soon as we got here, N took a three hour nap. i did some more research on edinburgh and points of interest and then decided to go for a workout. i ran for a good half hour and then did prisoner squats and push ups in the park. when i got back from working out, N was still asleep for another hour before i had to get him up so we could head out.

we headed back toward town to get some lunch. we had a few hours to kill before we'd meet up with J. we hit an italian deli to have some sandwiches. N ordered an app, sandwich, milkshake and of course three beers. i had a sandwich and the beers.

after lunch we headed over to a nice dept store, because we heard there was a great view of the city. we sat at the bar and had budvars for a while enjoyed the afternoon sun and of course the view.

we stayed here too long, because we were supposed to go to the national gallery, but we drank for too long. we decided to find the restaurant where we wanted to have dinner and then headed back to pick up J. things were getting a bit cold so i picked up a military green shell jacket at H&M. oh and we got more beers to drink at the B&B when we got back. J had 2, N and i each had 3.

we headed out and walked back up to the city and climbed calton hill to get a view of the entire city. it was just before sunset. afterwards we headed down to mussel inn for dinner. we had an insane amount of mussels, which was great. and of course more beers. after eating like crazy we headed over to a neighborhood bar. there were no tourists there at all, it was dark and all wood. we had some great beers. i had a cask ale which tasted amazing and N had a stout beer. J and N did shots of jack for the rest of the night, with N doing beers in between shots.

we were out till around 12. and while walking home got a bit lost (we were drunk). we decided to jump into a cab and get home quickly. once home we pretty much passed out immediately.

day two: dublin and howth

2009-03-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

so we started behind schedule a little bit. this morning N didn't get his wake up call and wasn't ready to go at 9:30 as planned. i woke up at 8am and wrote the earlier blog post, did some web surfing for our day etc. but after a 20 minute delay we were off to the races.

the city yesterday seemed off, and we realized that for a national holiday things are normal, today the city seemed much more alive, with loads of normal people doing what they would do on a wednesday. we walked past temple bar and grafton street (the areas we were at the night before and they seemed soo much better, more real. i'm not very verbose right now... super tired really, so bare with my simple descriptions.

we headed towards the guinness storehouse (their factory). we decided to walk because it was a beautiful day. it was a good 30 minute walk to the other side of town, but worth it. we managed to see lots of little side streets that had great character. when we got there, we bought tickets and did our own self guided tour. you could tell that guinness spent a ton of money on the tour, everything was really geared towards the customers. one interesting sidenote, we tasted roasted malted barley, which tastes great... after tasting that a few times, the taste of roasted barley definitely came through in the guinness we had later. we rushed through the second half of the tour to get to the gravity bar, the bar on the top floor of the storehouse that overlooks the rest of dublin. it was beautiful up there, especially with our guinness. unfortunately, after your first guinness (which we had before noon), you have to go down one level (which is still really high up) to buy more, the first one is part of your admission price, but to avoid overcrowding at the gravity bar they sent people to other bars in the building.

we were pretty hungry at the time, having not eaten breakfast or lunch, but we decided to have a few more pints before we head out. long story short, a few turned into more than a few and we were there and feeling great for a couple of hours. by two something we were loving life, but starving. so we decided to head out and get some food.

on our way back to grafton street for some food, we bumped into R! who we totally didn't expect to see... what a small world. R and his fiancee were heading over to the storehouse. i guess bschool and beer go hand in hand.

so we finally walked back to grafton street (with a bathroom break in the middle at some random pub). we had more guinness and N had chicken tenders and a quesadilla of all things. i had Shepard's pie. we had a super late lunch at 3ish and headed back to the hotel to change and get ready to head out of town.

we got directions and the lowdown to howth (rhymes with both), which is an upscale fishing village on the edge of town. we took the commuter train (twenty minutes) and walk around for a good hour and a half. soaking in the salty air and the green hills. the area looked like how ireland should be. windy, green, sea air, small towns. we found a house where yeats lived in for three years and made our way back to the town to grab some seafood for dinner. we had dinner maybe 3 hours after we had lunch. which i thought was very funny.

i had super fresh fish and chips - very light and not oily at all. N had a seafood risotto. no guinness there, so he had Heineken. took the train back into dublin and home by 8:30. we were both falling asleep on the train. i'm sure N is already long asleep. i needed to check some stuff for scotland and decided to write this before heading back over to the UK. we need to be up at 4:20 to take the cab to the airport, so tomorrow will be a pretty exhausting day. then again N will still get 7.5 hours so he can't really complain. i'm hoping to squeeze in six.

no really plans for tmw, we're meeting J at 5pm so until then, not sure what we'll do. i'm sure we'll keep ourselves busy.

dublin photos

2009-03-18T04:02:00.001-05:00

still on the plane

first guinesses in dublin!

N's jumbo breakfast for lunch

my fish and chips

two down, undisclosed number left to go

day one completed: dublin

2009-03-18T03:39:00.003-05:00

so where was i? right.... we came back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. we were drinking the carlsbergs and getting cleaned up. at least i thought we both were, instead i wrote my blog post and continued drinking and took a shower only to find that N was asleep the whole time. but he quickly caught up.

we managed to get a few tips of where to go (to avoid most of the tourists) the temple bar area is apparently totally overrated. so we headed out towards the temple bar area to check see what the fuss was (or wasn't) all about. the area was definitely not our scene. first off it was really touristy, very expensive and filled with drunk college kids. we stopped at one bar for a quick beer and moved on to grafton street (further south from temple bar). we found a couple nice bars and ended up at one for a while. we switched away from guinness at this point because it was so heavy. i don't remember what we were drinking, i almost want to say it was bud light, but i wasn't ordering the beers so i don't know. up till this point N was definitely behind, but managed to catch up (or so he says) at this bar.

by this point we were starving and left the bar in search of a decent place to eat. we were told that there were some good italian places in the area. we managed to find one and ordered a deli meat starter, a bolognese and a prosciutto argula pizza. oh and more beer. peroni for me thank you very much. the pizza was great, it was pretty big (i only ate half of it, N at the other half and his pasta). it reminded us of the pizza at omaggio's that we used to eat all the time last year. we're still bummed that it's closed now.

after dinner we needed to find a place to drink some more. we found a nice "corner" pub that had an older crowd. the bartender was an older gentleman and we grabbed another pint of guinness. at this point we were losing steam i think. to be honest things get a little blurry around here... i think we only had one drink here and then left, but i'm not sure to where exactly.

i do know that it wasn't that late - maybe 10pm, but we pretty tired. i forgot to mention that earlier in the day N committed his first old man act - he fell asleep immediately after a video was turned on and the lights were dimmed. hilarious.

anyway - so it was around 10, and we were making our way back to the hotel. and we came across burger king. yes the BK lounge follows us even to europe. so we hit the BK. no cheesy tots, but they did have these jalapeno poppers which were great. N managed to put down a lot more than i could.

after our BK break, we found a store to grab some powerade (thank god, i think i would have died without it). and knocked out for a good 8 hours.

agenda for today: guinness storehouse in the morning, irish breakfast for lunch, and visit a nearby sea town.

day one: dublin continued

2009-03-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

from here on out, i can't guarantee the quality or specificity of our adventures. there are a multitude of reasons for why this is the case... and i won't comment on them... see the above statement re: no guarantee of quality.

we arrived in dublin and made our way to our hotel but it wasn't ready for us, so we dropped our bags and made our way to get some food. the hordes of people who were surprisingly not drunk were making their way to the parade. we decided to go with the flow with the hopes of finding some decent irish food for lunch. we had missed breakfast so we were starving.

we managed to find a place called Flanagan's, which was on the main parade street, the place was empty since everyone was watching the parade. the only neighbors we had were also americans who were stopping for lunch spread out across two tables. N had the jumbo breakfast for lunch (which included beans, two sausages, ham and chips - read: fries), i had fish and chips with a side of vegs. we had two pints of Guinness to wash it all down. the meal was great and the Guinness wasn't bad at all. :)

after lunch we headed towards the old jameson distillery to check out irish whisky, which i hadn't had much of over the years. the tour itself wasn't all that interesting, anyone who know anything about making alcohol (or read a wikipedia entry about it, knows just much as anyone who would have gone through the tour), but the great part of the tour was that we were volunteers to do a tasting to compare scotch, irish whisky and american whiskey. we tasted johnny black, jameson and jack daniels... the differences were pretty astonishing. nothing puts things into contrast than drinking things side by side. N still preferred the scotch. i think the clean finish of the jameson was nice. i think the 12 year version would have been more complex (the 5 year just didn't have enough depth).

we walked back towards the hotel by taking the river pathway (we got lost a bit trying to find a distillery in the first place). thankfully the hotel had our room ready, but they didn't have our two twin room ready... instead we go two separate doubles!!! so i'm in my own room right now, nursing a carlsberg and write this before we head out to the pubs and enjoy the rest of the evening.

tmw - with any luck we'll head out to Guinness' storehouse and see how it's made. i'd love to make it out to the irish coast, but that may be asking for more than we'd hope.

i'd post photos, but that requires more coordination than i can muster at this point. so that might be after the trip.

day one: dublin

2009-03-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

the flight over was surprisingly easy. it started off great with C's recommendation that i apply for united's status match. i dropped an email to united's customer service over the weekend with the hopes that i would get my status upgrade on the back leg of my trip, but they processed it monday morning and by the time of my flight (monday evening) it was ready go to! so free upgrade to economy plus (which cost N, travelmate and partner-in-criminal $90!).

we had a few pints of beers to grease the wheels before take-off, which really took the edge off, except i had to really go to the bathoom when we were on the plane and had to hang out until 15 minutes after takeoff. besides that the rest of the flight was cake. had the chicken dinner and popped some simply sleep and waited for the sleepy time to hit me.

twenty minutes later i was out cold. i guess i'm getting used to sleeping on flights (it used to be that i could never sleep. on my flight to and from korea for my summer internship, i didn't sleep either way - then again it was business class and i was pretty comfy and had lots to read). actually thinking back to those flights, it didn't sleep to combat jet lag more than anything else.

in any case, slept for 4 hours, just in time to have some yogurt and coffee before touchdown. one weird thing that always happens is my arms fall asleep when sleeping sitting up. my circulation must not be very good, since my hand almost always goes numb... i woke up a few times only to have to raise my hand straight up in the arm in order to have the blood drain. so just imagine me half asleep
- with my arm fully raised, trying my best to go back to sleep.

N didn't sleep as smoothly as i did, but i'm sure he'll make up for that tonight after all the drinking. we're waiting in london for our next flight to dublin, which boards in 15 minutes. more later.

just watch this

2009-03-15T09:00:00.002-05:00

i don't have anything else to say.

roasted bone marrow - it's what's for dinner

2009-03-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

from flickr - roasted bone marrow with toast and parsley salad

while this trip to the UK and amsterdam isn't about the food (besides some good fish and chips). but one thing i am looking forward to eating is roasted bone marrow. it's something that isn't impossible to get here in the states, but isn't that popular. it's not a rich man's food - although these days i think it's making a surge as a delicacy. i first saw it on anthony bourdain's travel show where he visited the UK and had what looked to be just amazing marrow. my guess is that it will be super rich and fatty, much like foie gras but with the beef undertone.

psuedo-science + typography = awesome!

2009-03-13T09:00:00.003-05:00

click for larger version

so to add to my love for typography, science and mashups, i stumbled upon this... a periodic table of typography. i'm not sure why this is so interesting - maybe the whole being an ibanker has something to do with it. if you haven't seen american psycho with christian bale, the entire scene about their business cards is both a classic and full of truthiness. looking at card stock weight, paper color, font, emboss and of course font are critical. and while this is less important these days for cards, we definitely look at other shops work and disect their decks to the same level of scrutiny...

"they mixed arial and times roman all over the place - that's just sloppy."
"their paper is just too thin... you can see through to the next page."
"their paper is too shiny - if i need a mirror i'll buy one."
"their formatting is totally inconsistent - that's just unprofessional."

anyway - getting back to the typography. it's awesome - i need to read up on the history of it.

[via why me design]

USB keys!

2009-03-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

so press releases on these usb drives have been coming out over the last couple weeks. i think they are great for the main stream audience. you can put them on your key chain and they blend right it. a great little gift for people who don't have a convenient usb drive.

as for me, i have my usb on a little dongle on my cellphone. not to mention i usually don't know where my keys are so this wouldn't work for me.

[le Cie key product page]

Vietnam 2008

2009-03-11T09:12:00.001-05:00

from the top of the hotel bar in hanoi

the legendary tiger beer, so good, i want one right now

the french influenced hanoi train station

outdoor food market in hanoi

why don't we have more coke ads like this in the US - i'm missing out on so much

old lady

halong bay

halong bay with boats

stained wall with stamps (couldn't figure out what the stamps meant)

after my summer internship in korea, i flew down to vietnam for a week with my kwestmates from morocco. we split our time between saigon and hanoi (although i posted more photos in hanoi than in saigon). we wanted to spent some more time in the central and middle part of vietnam, but didn't have time due to people's flights out - we all left at different times. M and i ended up spending too much time in hanoi, but that was already.

the two highlights of the trip were the food and halong bay. we sprung for the deluxe version of the overnight bay cruise and while we had a big debate over whether it was worth it. it was definitely the right choice. the accommodations on the boat were the best we had the whole trip - which was funny. the food was amazing - lots of fresh seafood and the views were stunning. the hardcore a/c didn't hurt. oh and we went sea kayaking and M hated me after that. i'm not a good kayakmate.

the food was just so great - i'll post photos of just food soon - just thinking about it now makes me want to go out and eat some food. not just pho - although i would love that right now too.

to photograph or to not photograph that is the question

2009-03-10T20:50:00.003-05:00

a few people know that i'm considering winding down my photography efforts and moving onto new activities. those who have always known me to take photos, they believe it is bizarre that i would just decide to give up shooting. even those who have known me before i started photography (i.e. my family) think it's odd that i would give it up, especially since only a few months ago i was considering shooting more after i finished school. but i think it may be time to shift my focus onto new endeavors.

but first a quick recap: photography became a main time commitment after junior year in college. that's when it started getting a bit crazy. pretty much since then till now, it's been the majority artistic outlet, before that time it was the classic visual arts: drawing and painting. over the years music has taken more and more time - mostly classical music (going to prague and austria for thanksgiving is a good example). oh and there was a year or two where paper making was an interesting hobby. if i went back to it i think i'd be much better today. but i'd like to visit japan first.

i'm not sure where i'll go next - i've always had a love of furniture, but i need a shop to start that... and that won't happen for a while. design is intriguing in general - specifically product design - a trip to the nordic countries and japan (design meccas) over the summer would be amazing, but the summer travel list is already so crowded - but more on that in a future post.

i've thought about other random things like typography. but i'm already weird enough as it is... creating my own font will only waste the little social capital i have.

any thoughts?

i won the mac n cheese battle by default

2009-03-09T09:05:00.000-05:00

without the onion, garlic, bacon topping

with the topping

so we had a mac and cheese battle last week, but it turned out not to be much of a fight... with everyone so busy with work and papers, i was the only one who made a dish.

the cheese was a mix of mild cheddar and a little colby. i used the tyler florence recipe, which starts with a rue base and whole milk. it has an onion, garlic, bacon topping which is awesome. i added bread crumb as well to add a little more crunch.

i wish the cheese had more kick to it, so maybe all sharp cheddar will work better the next time around. a little parm cheese might work as a topping as well since it has a strong nuttiness to it. at least the decent stuff does anyway.

all in all it wasn't a bad dish. i wish i had more of it before everyone devoured it.

i want to live in a shipping container

2009-03-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

so not many people would say that they want to live in a shipping container, but i would love to, even if they didn't look as nice as these. the idea of living in a pre-fab shipping container, might seem a bit low brow to some, but for me i think there's a modern quaintness to it. there is something for a compact and movable residence that has some appeal to me. i think it would work well in urban and country environments. what i'd like most is to convert a warehouse into a giant loft, but that will have to wait for a while. i have the idea in my head, but i fear that by the time i have a chance to create this place, it will seem too much like a bachelor pad (which i don't mind at all, but i figure i'll be married by then and it'll be a problem for the family). in any case - you have to love the creativity and the extended use of shipping containers as a residence.

[via gizmodo]

i <3 audrey

2009-03-07T09:00:00.005-06:00

audrey's work is probably one of the first living illustrators that i knew of and loved. she had a gallery showing in LA a couple years ago and it was literally overrun with people. now to be fair it was a small gallery in silver lake, but it was spilling over onto the street and there was a huge line just to get in to see the pieces. i would almost describe it as locusts. i'm glad to say that it was totally worth it.

her pieces which are almost all of women have an eeiry beauty to them. they often has a mix of sexuality and death in them and sometimes draw from japanese motifs (both art and pop culture - read 'anime'). unfortunately purchasing a piece is very difficult - but i would seriously consider it if i could get my hands on one.

[via audrey kawasaki]

a nice dinner at home on a saturday night

2009-03-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

pear honey crostini with parm cheese (some had garlic too)

argula salad with bacon, roasted walnuts, parm cheese, honey lemon vinaegrette

ribeye steak with roasted carrots and garlic mashed potatoes

chocolate mousse with fresh whipped cream

last weekend, i had a nice dinner with SY making dinner. started with a crostini and salad and moved onto the main course - a very rustic steak with potatoes and carrots. we finished dinner with a mousse that i made the day before.

the crostini had a bit too much garlic at times and the mousse was a bit too salty - which i regret. but overall everything turned out great.

wood ceilings

2009-03-05T09:00:00.002-06:00

as i'm sure you're starting to notice, i'm on a bit of a design kick as of late. when i saw this house it reminded me of the condo in LA. it was the first place we decided to use dark wood floors, which is pretty uncommon in the asian community. we went really dark wood which gives a certain modern feel. it also tends to suck the light out of the room, especially at night, because the floor absorbs much of the reflected light.

that being said, i still think this house looks amazing. i love the ceilings - it seems almost like the ceiling is the exposed underbelly of the floor above you. it also kinda reminds me of what it would be like to live inside an oreo cookie. dark on the top and bottom and white in the middle? so maybe that isn't the best analogy, but it's late at night and i'm half asleep. taking a step back though, i really do appreciate the natural approach of the design and the stark white walls i think works with straightforward use of the wood. i would describe it as honest.

[via yashima architects]

i love graphic arts

2009-03-04T09:05:00.000-06:00

so i posted about mucha a while back, but i wanted to make sure that i kept posting about graphic arts and illustrations in general. i'm a fan of the works above. they remind me of the type of stuff i used to do before i move into photography. i used to work with ink, charcoal and chalk.

this work above, i pick, because of use of "splattering" ink in combination with fine detailed drawing of faces. (sometimes the faces are harder to see than in others). it's a bit more sophisticated than other stuff since it uses multiple view points in the collage - so the images get to you turned around and take a little time to unravel what all the elements are and how they're interacting.

i definitely don't want to get too artsy fartsy, so i'll end by saying i think the stuff is really radical. yeah, sweet.

[via byroglyphics]

brasserie jo

2009-03-03T09:10:00.000-06:00

Kwak Belgium Beer

Tarte Flambee Classic, Fromage Blanc, Onion, Bacon

Fondue Savoyard

Onion Soup Gratinee, Baked With Gruyere

Atlantic Salmon, Braised French Lentils, Horseradish Crust

Salade Niçoise, Ahi Tuna

Sauteed Skate Wing, Caper-Brown Butter, Pommes Puree

10oz. New York Strip Steak, Mustard Butter

Roasted Duck Breast, Duck Leg Confit, Pommes Puree

Chocolate Mousse with Vanilla Cream

Floating Island with Lemon and Vanilla Cream

so what i hate about restaurant week is that it's supposed to be a cheap meal to try out a place. but in the end it's never like that, instead you hate the prix fixe menu and end up ordering something off the normal menu which is more expensive and not the cheap taste you were hoping for.

at brasserie jo, the prix fixe menu wasn't any cheaper. in fact they let you order the items a la carte... what's the point in that? the odd thing was the rest of the menu was reasonably priced. so ordering off the normal menu was a better value... definitely not my normal restaurant week experience.

the restaurant had a nice atmosphere in river north. it was a bit of a ride getting down into the city. it was pouring, and i mean really pouring. i've never driven in chicago with that much rain. we could barely see the road while driving. not to mention i didn't have an umbrella so we got wet.

my roommates C and N were joined with our good friends N and J (i know it's all cryptic, but deal with it). we ordered a bunch of appetizers and shared. we ordered different main courses, of course C got the duck. how could he resists, he's practically addicted to it. not surprisingly roomie N got the steak. and the girls got fish. my guess is they wanted something a little healthier. the funny thing was that J didn't know that she had ordered a french salad with tuna. she thought it was a normal dish.

the skatewing was great - it was sauted in butter and has the texture of a scallop and the flavor of a very mild fish. it was the second time i had skatewing in as many weeks. the first time was with SY at blackbird.

the desserts were great. the mousse came out in a big dish and was served at the table. and the floating island was sorta half marshmallow and half meringue in texture (with a little lemon zest).

brasserie jo

130 S Green St

Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 666-9813

[via brasserie jo]

random quote

2009-03-02T09:00:00.004-06:00

picking the first of anything, always seems like a giant step. a step that people will judge all future steps upon. the weight of such a decision can be almost crushing upon my shoulders. until i realize that no one cares what i do and then i become quite free and carefree, making decisions rashly and without much deliberation. the innumerable joys of being unknown.

"when you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win."
- ed macauley

i think the quote was used in some nike ads. mr. macauley was a famous basketball center so his reference was directed more towards sports. but i think it's generally applicable. i've used the quote for motivation over the years. and although i'm not a competitive person, its always helped to remind me that there are others out there who are hungrier, pushing harder, sleeping less to get better.

the ex's gifts dilemma

2009-03-01T09:29:00.001-06:00

so i heard this debate over the years and it was recently reraised during a wine party a week or two ago. the question is, "what do you do with gifts your previous ex's have given you?"

so the stories follow almost stereotypical lines.

a guy is dating a girl and only after a while the girl finds out that some or all of the half way decent things the guy owns was bought by an ex. a good example would be nice wardrobe, let's say it turns out that it was an ex that dragged his sorry ass to the mall and swapped out all his crap clothes for something respectable.

as the new girlfriend does it bother you that all his stuff was bought by an ex? do you take him to the mall and make him get new stuff? i think most people would be ok with it... who cares about clothes right? not i think it's a little different if the piece of clothing is something you think it is really cute. if the guy's favorite pair of jeans makes him look super hot... do you get annoyed that it was an ex that did that? she probably thought it was super hot too.

of course this goes both ways... it's almost cliche that a girl might have a favorite sweater or shirt she wears at home to lounge about that's oversized because it was her ex's. and now it's the guy whose annoyed. what do you do?

common strategies:

you don't tell them what they don't need to know. i mean who needs to know where stuff came from right? the past is the past. of course that's how we approach our stuff, but if we find out that someone else's stuff came from an ex, it's a violation of trust. it seems like this tactic (which is used by both genders of course) tends to apply most to women and jewelry. you get a nice piece of jewelry, you're not going to just stop wearing it... cartier is cartier dammit it and no guy is going to stop it from being a nice thing to wear. fair enough, but isn't that a bit of a double standard?

that leads to strategy 2: lie, lie, lie. eventually people get curious and start asking nosing questions and you can't fight them off forever right? you have to give them an answer. and this is were parents, siblings and close cousins who you never spoke of come into the picture right? "oh my sister bought me those jeans." "my dad bought me this for my birthday." i mean who is so insensitive to argue with that. it's not like people are going to do fact-checking... unless they're crazy. but then again, building trust with lies is not the world's best idea right?

which leaves the last strategy: telling the truth. i think someone said that if you have to tell the truth you are either boring or naive. clearly the guy is one cynical dood. of course the pros are that you come clean and figure it out, all good on paper and for trust building, blah blah blah. the con: you could lose a lot of your stuff. and that kinda doesn't seem fair right?

so what to do? as with many things in life i learn all my life lessons from television. the show, how i met your mother, has an entire episode about this very topic. Second 2, episode 16.

[via cbs - how i met your mother]

the first and last time i make korean soybean soup in my apt

2009-02-28T09:05:00.006-06:00

the raw ingredients before the soybeans, tofu and water

so working with korean fermented soybeans is a very smell process. working with homemade fermented soybeans is a lot worse. and i think it's pretty smelly and i grew up with this stuff. guess what my roommates thought. i think they were debating if it smelled more like vomit or poop. to their credit i think they wisely decided it was somewhere in between.

in any case, it was my first time making it and i was curious to know how it would turn out, beyond the fact that one of my roommates couldn't stand the smell and actually had to leave the living room to his smell free bedroom.

still, having waded through all the objections, it turned out pretty good for a first try.

the main ingredients:

fermented soybeans
onions
green onions
large few anchovies
dried mushrooms
dried shrimp
garlic
tofu

fermented bean soup with tofu

overall impressions:
i would have liked to put some meat in there, but unfortunately i forgot to pick up a little pork for the stew. also the addition of potatoes would have added more starch and body to the soup to make it more into a stew (which is how i prefer it). i also didn't strain out the larger pieces of fermented soybeans which i would probably do in the future - except my roommates would probably evict me for trying it.

galbi with kimchi and pickled radish

the saving grace was that i had made a big batch of korean bbq, galbi, so the guys were pretty happy with that. and once that started on the stove, the smell of the soup was definitely overshadowed. the only thing if i wish i had was some good dried seaweed. but we'll do that next time.

upside down teacups

2009-02-27T09:01:00.002-06:00

creative design is always a plus right?

i'm not sure how they did this... but i love the concept of using tea cups and saucers as lights. the integration into the shelf is probably the hardest component since it needs to hide the wiring, but i love the idea and could see this adding the right minor touches to a small cafe. or as a shelve/light in a breakfast room. the shelve can work as a place to put cookbooks, magazines and other items, why the lights work in the evenings when the breakfast room needs more ambient light.

[via apartment therapy LA]

cut brooklyn

2009-02-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

having used my new knife for the last two months, i have to say having a quality knife is worth the $100 for sure. first of it's a joy to use - full stop. cutting is easy and fast. but more importantly if it's probably maintained it will last forever.

i hadn't thought of a knife as an investment, something that could actually be given to someone down the road, but i think i've been convinced that super quality knifes can be.

that doesn't mean that such an investment need only be a purely utilitarian tool. these days true craftsmanship seems hard to come by. everything is mass produced and nothing seems to be made in small batches with care. (except kettle chips it seems - if you believe the marketing).

so i've stumbled across joel bukiewicz, the owner/operator, of cut brooklyn. he makes craftsman knife of superb quality. the knives start around $200+ and have a very distinct look to them. from the video you can tell they are razor sharp.

so if anyone has a few bills they are looking to get rid of - feel free to buy me a sweet knife.

[via cut brooklyn & cool hunting]

blackbird

2009-02-25T09:27:00.010-06:00

an amuse bouche: cuttlefish with avacado puree and watercress

west coast mussel soup with white fish, saffron, garlic and basil (super salty)

sauteed skatewing with sarsaparilla, sorrel, pickled pear, parmesan and fried rosemary

slagel farms organic pork belly with parsnip-olive, black eyed peas,
black trumpet mushrooms and sweet potato jus

SY's entree image was blurry, so i can't include it here,
but the name of the dish is below:
roasted monkfish loin with black sesame panisse, endive marmalade and pomegranate

toasted coffee cake with parsnips, black walnut dacquoise and coconut pudding

meyer lemon curd with quince, pumpkin seeds and elderflower sorbet

SY kindly bought me dinner at blackbird in the west loop. the atmosphere was definitely more hipster than evanston to say the least. SY noted it had a relaxed NYC feel to it. the late twenties crowd was in full effect even though it was a tuesday night (although it didn't fill up - its sister restaurant avec was packed).

the service was always great throughout the dinner. the water glasses were always full and help was always around to help you.

the food presentation and construction was amazing and unique. the use of sweet elements in main courses and savory in desserts was definitely interesting. they never took away from the overall dish. they only added another level to them.

unfortunately almost the entire dinner was too salty for both of us. so much so that i was almost too hard to eat one of the appetizers. i let them know that they should be concerned and to their credit they sent over three different people to ask me what had happened and how they could best correct the issue. my main course was properly seasoned thankfully, and very delicious. but SY's dish was still a bit too salty. and that was a shame because the monkfish was beautifully prepared.

blackbird
619 w. randolph st.
chicago il, 60661
[link]

spring break: UK and amsterdam

2009-02-24T09:11:00.002-06:00

the tentative schedule!

march 17-19: dublin
(for st. patrick's day)

march 19-21: edinburgh
(for scotch, castles and bagpipes)

march 22-24: london
(and england in general)

march 24-26: amsterdam
(undisclosed activities)

status: tickets are purchased, housing is still in the works

modigliani

2009-02-23T08:55:00.009-06:00

you know how people ask you what your favorite "x" is? favorite movie, book, band, song, etc. well i have a hard time with those questions. there are too many choices - too many things i love to just go and pick one as the head and shoulders favorite for a category. i always ask if we can narrow down the field... can i pick my favorite classical pianist - probably chopin although rach does rock my boat (pun most definitely intended). often times i don't get such latitude in my conversations.

fortunately my favorite painter (which isn't cutting up artist too much - it's hard to compare the different mediums if you ask me) is amadeo modigliani. and italian painted around the turn of the century. he died young (at the age of 35) which is a terrible shame because his work was really amazing!

artist's notes:

he is known primarily for his portraits which often have a manneristic anatomy (especially the elongated neck)
the subjects also often have a strong african tribal mask influence. as seen by the almond shaped eyes with no pupils and the long elliptical faces
the faces are almost always tilted to the left or right (social psychology has a meaningful section on the passive signals of tilting - just do a google search for head tilt and psychology. there are still papers talking about it)
the colors are often very muted natural tones (i.e. lots of brown shades)
the painting stroke style, i think, resembles a cezanne-esque etching. especially for the backgrounds of paintings and his landscapes. but uses a more delicate line for figures with almost no texture to the stroke. (almost like an illustration at times)

ok i'm going to stop with this cause i'm having flashbacks of my art history papers from high school! although it was one of my favorite classes in high school, along with microeconomics. (let's not discuss how both art history and economics were my top two - clear it tells you i have some weird issues.)

in 2005, during one my very few days off as an ibanker, i flew to dc to visit my dear friend I and check out the largest US exhibit of modigliani works. there were around 90+ pieces which is a huge percentage of his works (remember he died young). it was a great exhibit, i remember I saying i was acting really weird, i was completely mesmerized and just trying to soak it all it. the pieces were on loan from many different museums and they were going to go aboard to europe and the opportunity to see them all again would be very difficult.

two lights and a girl

2009-02-22T11:09:00.000-06:00

so i can't remember when i shot this photo actually. i think it was in 2005. it was so long ago i wasn't logging the image capture data. but i was the first time i worked with a number of artists (hair and makeup) who i would later work with repeated. it was a good shoot over all - we were shooting for a competition - i was brought in for the shooting. the only really annoying part was that the shoot side was so far from where i lived. it was in deep in orange county so it took almost an hour to get down there. i think it was near disneyland.

in any case, the polka dot shirt and blue dot over her idea was my idea. i think it was a nice mix of ideas. we also shot something other looks including a geisha style that everyone seems to think is a star wars thing. haha!

the set up was simple - moderately high shoot through umbrellas. one might have been a soft box, but i think both were shoot-thru's.

things i want: zero gravity chair

2009-02-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

i first saw this on the web a couple years ago. first off it's a cool piece of design. it works as a normal chair, a posture correcting chair and a zero gravity chair. to move between the different functions is really simple due to the design of the angles of the back/bottom of the chair. supposedly all you need to do is shift your weight and the chair will move with you. (how very segway-esque of it) i've always wanted a lounging chair and but haven't been able to justify a lounging chair with limited space. usually i'll end up with a love seat sofa which can seat two normally, but still be great to lounge on when people aren't over. still when i have a lot of reading to do, it would be great to have something like this to lean back on and proceed to quickly fall asleep in.

then again knowing me, i'd probably wake up and not remember i was in the chair and fall out of the damn thing and hurt myself. but that shouldn't stop you from getting one. unfortunately this is just a concept chair from the dutch designer firm, stokke, who primarily make baby furniture. still a guy can dream.

[via stokke]

risotto and salad - a balancing act

2009-02-20T07:09:00.002-06:00

most of the ingredients before i hacked them up

so i've put off this post for a while now. at least two weeks, so i need to write it or i'll forget what was in it. i made a two part dinner, but they were complementary.

the salad was a spinach salad with roasted pumpkin seeds, manchego cheese and a honey lemon vinaigrette. it was topped with a seared rib eye steak (had a great salty crust to it). the salad was the balancing act for the main dish which was...
mushroom, asparagus and leek risotto with bacon

the salad was very straight forward to make, i need the lemon to really cut through the richness of the risotto. and it worked out perfectly. the risotto on its own would have been too heavy.

the risotto was a multi step process to say the least. the asparagus was first blanched and the vegs were all cooked separately before the risotto itself was started. the chicken broth was heated on the side and was up to temp before starting the risotto. i used a few pieces of bacon (for a meal that fed 4.5, N counts as at least 1.5 persons). after rendering i removed the crispy bacon to add back in later in the process. then the rice process started. used white wine before moving to the broth. about two thirds of the way in, i added the vegs and the bacon back in. it took longer than expected overall and dinner was served a good half hour late.

overall it was a good first real shot at risotto. i had a made a couple in college, but it was in a big group, this was the first time i had made the whole thing from top to bottom. next time i'd really liked to make a seafood one, maybe make my own shrimp stock from shells. we'll see though, it's a lot of work.

the finished product

netbook purchased

2009-02-19T09:00:00.007-06:00

samsung nc-10 (not mine, mine won't be here for a few days)

after many late nights reading about netbooks and battery life and all sorts of reviews... (not to mention two false starts in purchasing them) i finally bought a samsung nc-10. i actually bought a asus and another samsung (both of which i cancelled) before finally buying the one i did. the main reason was that the time i spent thinking about buying one wasn't worth the delay of waiting to get one a couple months down the line. it was just easier and better for me to get one and move on to bigger and better things. (the quotebook is now the top priority on the project list, followed by spring break planning - post on that coming up soon).

the main reason i got the one that did was for the battery life and the build quality.

lots of reviews up the battery life with normal use (including wi-fi) at 6-6.5 hours. that's prefect for what i'd like to use it for. be it all day at school or on my spring break trip (it also has a built in sd card reader so that makes my life a lot easier).
the keyboard is also listed as best-in-class and with it being smaller than the standard keyboard and being spoiled by the thinkpad keyboards which are simply industry best-in-class. i figured what the hey.
the biggest negative is that it's more expensive than most netbooks (although you pay for quality so it's not a huge deal). also new and better netbooks are bound to come around, but again it's not a huge concern for me. in 18 months if they're leaps and bounds ahead then we'll figure something else out.

the only thing that really stinks is that the netbook won't come for a few days.

the best meal of the day

2009-02-18T09:14:00.003-06:00

the hands down best meal of the day has to be breakfast. do you remember the old denny's commercials about having breakfast for dinner? the guy was always wearing flannel. anyway i digress... there is something about eating the all american meal that just makes me so happy.

a couple weekends ago, we went to walker brothers' in wilmette. the guys had forty niners, which i hadn't had before, but they were great! super thin, almost crepe like pancakes that seemed to be cooked directly on the heat on only one side, so the top side (which ends up being the bottom when served) is soft and just barely cooked. super delicious. N of course also ordered an entire second meal. he and i got the same thing.

my favorite breakfast has to be corn beef hash with eggs, hash browns and a side of sourdough toast. it's probably been my fav since middle school. i remember the first time i had corn beef hash i thought it was terrible. it was back in my youth, when i thought mixing of foods was a terrible idea. so the idea that beef and potatoes were mixed together was just blasphemy. clearly i've gotten over it by now. corn beef hash is actually my mother's favorite breakfast food too. so call me a mom's boy, but i know what i'm going to order.

Walker Brothers Original Pancake House
153 Green Bay Rd
Wilmette, IL 60091

Greece - Spring 2002

2009-02-17T09:36:00.001-06:00

in 2002, i went to greece with W's family and beside playing the de facto tour guide (being a classics almost major makes you a supposed source of information), i took a bunch of photos with a film camera. my old n90s. all the images were shot in either black & white or color as seen and then scanned into the computer circa 2002 so the scanning quality wasn't as great as it is these days. that being said i worked pretty hard to get the images to have a nostalgic feel to them. the black & white in particular i did a lot of tweaking with settings and the film to get the texture i was looking forward. i miss the days of finesse. anyway greece was great. i never got a chance to go to the islands so that's a bummer, just all the historical sites i had learned about for four years. the next place i really wanted to go after greece was italy - the other classical location, but i didn't get the chance to go until 2007 before bschool (five years later).

from the top of an amphitheatre

i can't remember what temple this was

a random greek road, but its a recreation of a bresson-cartier image i LOVE

from the top of a monastray looking over a valley

sight of the original olympics (well sorta)

valentine's day: swan lake

2009-02-16T09:11:00.003-06:00

so valentine's day has come and gone. and while i have no exciting valentines news. i did make swan creampuffs for a dinner party. it's been ages since i last made them. the last time i can remember was back in college actually. so it's been a LONG time. nevertheless they turned out well. i think i misjudged the swan neck piping, it was a bit too big at first and then a bit too small. but still on the whole they were great.

the whipped cream was hand whipped of course and super yummy. thankfully i had a handmixer this time. i've literally hand whipped whip cream dozens of times, and it's not something i look forward to do anytime in the near future.

oh people have asked where i learned to make this. i can't remember really. i first made them in high school. desserts were actually my entry in the cooking world. (even though i'm not a big fan of sweets). on the whole though, cream puffs are one of the simplest desserts to make. pretty much just water, salt, sugar, flour, butter and eggs. plus the whipped cream later on and the powdered sugar on top. probably took me 1.5 hours from start to finish. but there was a good amount of waiting time in the middle. hell i took a shower while waiting.

things i want: ring flash edition

2009-02-15T09:51:00.000-06:00

one of the many photo toys i've wanted for ages is a ring flash. but unfortunately, the one i really want, the profoto ring flash, costs at least $900 not to mention the attachments and the power pack, which in and of itself costs another $2,000.

so i'm glad a camera mounted flash version came out. now i'm not sure i want to spend the $200 it costs, but i hear the build quality is good. the strobist has given a pretty good review.

if i was shooting alot more these days, the decision to buy it wouldn't be too hard, but these days i dont' shoot too often, so maybe with some time off this summer, i'll shoot more and grab one of these. i think the storage of the thing is also a bit awkward since it doesn't really collapse. (and it isn't adjustable for different cameras - another little annoyance).

i think the netbook is higher on the is of things to buy than this baby. but sooner or later, she'll be in the bag.

[link to ray flash product page]

notcouture

2009-02-14T09:00:00.003-06:00

looking for a place for interesting fashion trends?

looking to buy your lady friend something that is way more tasteful than she thinks you're capable of?

look no further. i love notcouture cause it always finds great pieces that you might actually by for someone. most of the stuff is for women, but there are a few things for guys. i was pretty tempted by an old partner style leather brief case.

the coat to the left i thought was great. the cut definitely something i hadn't seen recently. although i'm not sure if the short cut sleeves would work in a place like chicago, maybe in the spring or fall. the balloon shape of the bottom of the coat i think is what makes the coat.

so it being valentine's day, i figured i'd add something that the boys might want. just end over to agent provocateur. a lingerie boutique that featured kate moss as a the spokesmodel.

5 minute setup and a couple friends

2009-02-13T09:29:00.001-06:00

the interesting thing about the shoot was that the ambient light was still on. i couldn't turn it off because i shot during a club fair. but with the right settings i managed to kill the ambient light without losing the strength of the strobes. the photos themselves were fun and needed little if any modifications in photoshop. a little curves and color correction (due to the mixed light readings).

image data:

ISO: 100
Aperture: f/13
Shutter: 1/60

Flashes
Manual mode
Power: ¼ + 0.3
Zoom: 70mm
Through umbrella
2 feet away on each side

ju-jistu and aikido

2009-02-12T09:15:00.003-06:00

i spent a good nine years doing ju-jitsu. under the ju-jitsu umbrella were a number of more specific disciplines that i studied.
things like

judo (throwing)
aikido (non grabbing defense)
wari-jistu (battlefield techniques)
pressure point
joint lock
weapons
iai-jistu (swordsmanship)

and while there were many great practical things i learned from studying what is translated as the gentle way. our goal was never to actively harm people, with the except of wari-jitsu, which were battle field techniques and were meant to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible in order to end the fight. many of the martial arts have a large philosophical component to them. having a deep understanding of the philosophy of the art helped to improve techniques and improve the quality of your life over all.

aikido was developed as a peaceful form of self defense. is can be translated as "the way of harmonious spirit" or "the way of the unified life energy". not exactly the kind of name that strikes fear in your enemies right?

aikido in its strictest form has two interesting ruless:

the first major rules of aikido is that you are not allowed to act first. that means all the techniques are reactive. you can be beat people up after learning the techniques, because they all require someone to act upon them in order to engage them. for me this was a big deal. restrained reactive strength is a hidden power. the key learning for me was that you don't have to go around telling people how strong you are, if they test you, you can lay it out there and that's more than enough.
the other somewhat odd rule is that you are not allowed to make a fist in aikido. you're not even allowed to grab someone. so you traditional striking, can't punch a guy who is trying to punch you. you can't even grab him when he's grabbing you and pushing you around. so you've got to be thinking... what the hell kind of martial art doesn't allow punching? the idea was that you didn't need to punch a guy to defend yourself. you don't need to meet your opponents aggression with equal or greater aggression in order to defeat him and save yourself. there must be a better way. i think in life this is too often how we try to settle confrontations, escalation.

so you can engage until someone is trying to beat the crap out of you and you're not allowed to strike back or grab the guy. great... what the hell can you do? i mean the guy wants to beat the stuffing out of you....

instead of trying to match your opponent's aggression, in aikido you use your "chi", "qi", energy, force, momentum against them. so instead of pushing against something that is pushing you... you pull... and add your energy or momentum to their own. that's why it's call the way of the unified life energies.

the first lesson technique i learned was to learn to block a strike and pull the person closer to me... the idea was that if you do it right, the person will fall forward, because they aren't expecting you to pull them forward. they are expecting either to hit you or for you to resist their momentum with your own. now i know this doesn't sound like much of a technique, but if done right... and if there is a big brick wall behind me... there is a good chance the guys face will smash right into that wall. and all i had to do was block and avoid a punch. let the wall do the striking.

in think in life the lesson is similar, we'll always come to situations were the energy, momentum is against us... and pushing against it will only make us tired and most of the time, we'll lose. why not instead take that momentum and use it as a positive force. think: "if life gives you lemons, make lemonade". this was just another more concrete way for me to think about it. the additional detail here, is the minimized use of energy in getting things done. a brick wall can do more damage to a guy's face than my fist. it's much harder and can't break.

the amazing thing about aikido is that a grandmaster can take on a roomful of skilled martial artists on his own and not break a sweat. he is so good at using our energy to hurt us, he barely uses any of his own. while i was getting tossed around the room i kept thinking, wouldn't it be great to be able to harness the energy of my enemies and even those around me to help me get things done. so i learned delegation flying across a room at the age of 14.

the last thing i wanted to say as that just because this is a self defense martial art, doesn't mean it's not powerful or dangerous. because people can take your momentum and add to it. it's much like taking a merry-go-round and instead of pushing against the momentum, adding more and more spin to make it faster. but after it gets fast enough, if you sudden stop the merry-go-round, everyone flies off.

case in point: there is a wrist lock takedown in ju-jitsu. it's a great way to disable someone who grabs your shirt. but if you use aikido you can easily break the guy's wrist with almost no effort. what's worse you can dislocation his shoulder and make him land on his head first with minimal effort. (a version of the technique is shown in the picture above). so yeah... they ain't fooling around.

what a great find!

2009-02-11T17:08:00.002-06:00

so my sister sent me this link because she thought i would love it. she knows me too well! this is a crazy awesome site!!! i mean sloppy joe's on a donut? that' is genius....

but i have to say the best one that i actually might be tempted to eat is the double bacon hamburger fatty melt. i mean using bacon grilled cheese sandwiches as slices of "bread" for a quad stacker hamburger melt is amazing. i'm kinda speechless. it makes me want to eat white castle. mmmm.... white castle.

[via thisiswhyyourefat.com]

grey, black and LIME green

2009-02-10T09:00:00.001-06:00

while i know it goes against many of the home decor rules in the US in general. i'm a big fan of dark colors in rooms. i know, i know it makes the rooms look smaller and darker and light doesn't reflect well and all that stuff, but it's just a lot cooler since everything is so bland in most houses. the condo in LA we did with dark brown wood floors and a grey and deep blue combination for the living room and kitchen. the blue was only on one wall in the living room (but a very big wall and in all of the kitchen) it gave it a more modern feel and didn't make the room seem small at all. it also helped that the living room received a lot of light during the day.

as for this photo - i think black is very bold. i would probably only prefer it for a den or a study, and this one seems to look like such a room. but i love the grey stripes and especially the lime green sofa. maybe people know i'm not a fan of the color green in most cases, almost always in clothes... it reminds me of shrubbery and trees. but i've warmed up to lime green and here it works great as an accent.

i don't know if i'd go with the cowhide rug on the floor... that's a bit much for me. but the high gloss black paint on the door is pretty sweet - good contrast with the matte finish of the rest of the room.
[via apartment therapy LA]

rustic comfort food: how a carrot stole the show

2009-02-09T08:51:00.000-06:00

there are few things better than really fresh vegetables!
(carrots, yukon gold potatoes, red onion, garlic)

the same ingredients, but chopped up with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme

after roasting in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees

sauteed chicken breast with bacon, garlic and melted cheese

while the main course was supposed to be the chicken breast (which turned out great, the use of bacon helped to keep the chicken moist as it cooked). the added cheese was a luxury more than anything else while it cooked through in the oven.

but what really stole the show was the super sweet carrots in the roasted vegs. i added no sweeteners to the vegs, but the carrots turns out to be super sweet. having younger carrots i think helped a lot (and of course a little salt helps draw out the flavor). they also had a great texture to them, with good initial bite leading to tender center.

actually a friend later came over and picked through the roasting dish and ate all the leftover carrots! so you know it's gonna be good.

who uses gold spray paint, that's what i want to know

2009-02-08T09:23:00.005-06:00

this is a photo from my only solo shoot of a male model. i've done a couple with groups that included men, but this is the only one that i did of a guy. i think we were going for a very euro look, especially since it complemented his look. the great thing about it was the location find. it was in the middle of nowhere in LA and there was a black dumpster that had gold spray paint on it. now mind you, not yellow, gold. that's hard to find, and generally super awesome.

as with all things in life, the little details are what make things great. the black dumpster was actually originally green and the black paint was peeling off, to give you another color to the right. that helped to add that urban edge that i was hoping for (along with the graffiti of course).

i did have a key learning at the end of the shoot, i don't know how to pose male models. since i work primarily with women, i don't know the masculine poses that best feature men. it was a frustrating experience, that's probably why i haven't shot one since.

no shoot diagram on this one... there wasn't much to it, just available light. no bounces, no strobes, just plain and simple.

iso: 100
aperture: f/4
shutter speed: 1/250
exposure compensation: -0.3
focal length: 84mm

trends to watch: baby bloggin

2009-02-07T09:46:00.004-06:00

so i don't know much about this first hand since i don't have a baby. and none of my close friends have baby blogs, but baby blogs are the new big thing these days.

as my roommate C, who loves his niece-in-law's baby blog, put it it's a great way for the family to share information with friends and extended family. people can opt in and the parents don't have to worry if they've forgotten to share with someone.

and i guess as our generation who use the internet a lot more and many use rss readers on a daily basis (i go through serious withdrawal if i don't use my bloglines), it makes sense to use a blog.

and doing a little google leg work again, it turns out babies are a big eff'ing deal. there are sites for how to help you start your baby blog. a billion and one celebrity baby blogs (all unauthorized of course).

i'm curious to know if this will really take hold for our generation. and all kids will have their early years captured in the cloud for our google overlords to hold forever.

chalkboard paint: a nerd's dream come true

2009-02-06T09:40:00.009-06:00

so i read a blog called apartment therapy LA (the also have a NYC version) to inspire me to better design and decorate my apartment. thus far, i've changed nothing - but in my defense i'm moving out in five months so i don't want to make big changes that i'll only have to take down. but i am thinking about what i might do in my new place come the fall.

and i came across the coolest concept, at least if you're a nerd like me. painting your walls with chalkboard paint. now all your walls can double as chalkboards!!!

let's stop for a second and acknowledge a few things:

chalkboard walls are super awesome
i am a nerd and admittedly like writing on chalkboards
they also double as a cool textured black wall
why the hell did i not know about this early???

doing a quick google search i realized that most people do this on a wall in their kitchen, which makes a lot of sense. i would love to write down what dinner was on a chalk before before inviting friends over.

[via lifehacker]

[via kitchann style]

the photo above is a guy who make one of his bedroom walls into a chalkboard and drew a design on it. i 'm not sure if it's in chalk or something else, but the concept is pretty cool.

[via apartment therapy LA]

chili take 3 & cornbread

2009-02-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

so no new photos here (the stuff looks exactly the same, but tastes better!)

here are the new changes:

addition of small cuts of steak in addition to the coarsely ground beef (improved mouth feel)
tomato paste and a reduction in diced tomatoes (reduces the liquidity of the chili while maintaining the tomato flavor)
no broth of any kind (trying to minimize the liquid in general)
addition of lime juice later in the cooking process (lime was always in there, but much of the acidity was cooking out or absorbed since it was added too early)
more chili powder to amp up the chili flavor in the dish
more jalepenos for heat
another, but more mild chile for more chile flavor and some heat

overall impression: definitely the best version so far, i've also increased the batch size in order to make leftovers for the next day, but it never lasts more than one extra day with three guys in the house

new things to try for round 4:

cook things slower, current cook time is less than 35 minutes!
more vegs of some kind, maybe leeks, i love leeks

cornbread
not to be overshadowed, the cornbread includes jalepenos, corn kernals, and pepper jack cheese. this batch was a little undersweetened. i like a touch of honey in my cornbread to balance the heat of the chiles and the richness of the cheese. it was also a bit overcooked... so it was a little drier than when my sister makes it.

math nerds & xkcd

2009-02-04T09:08:00.003-06:00

this is just awesome.... to be totally honest, i could totally see myself agreeing with such a proof and saying "your math is irrefutable". the fact that she has a slide that shows the candlestick ranges and presentation pointer is so hot. man i'm a nerd.

sad truths that you should consider before continuing our friendship:

i used to carry dry eraser pens, just in case i needed to write on a whiteboard
i still carry a presentation clicker with integrated laser pointer in my bag for impromptu presentations
i think statistics is sexy hot and used it get through a first round consulting interview

be very afraid.

[via xkcd]

cai guo qiang

2009-02-03T08:14:00.005-06:00

there are few living artists i'm supremely amazed by, but cai guo qiang is definitely one of them. i first saw his work on a documentary about the rise of chinese artists on PBS. he was doing super interesting work with gunpowder. first off, anyone who blows stuff up and calls it art is already a hero in my book. secondly, the stuff is really beautiful. it often bears a likeness to old chinese landscapes. the way he would do it is take gunpowder and fireworks and pour it out on large pieces of paper, wood, stone and then lay a heavy piece of stone on top of it and then light it up, the pressure of the ignited gunpowder would create patterns on the surface. keep in mind that i saw this documentary in college. the fact that i even remember that is small miracle.

amazing use of gunpowder and fireworks

when still at college, a new piece he created was on display at Mass MOCA in north adams. it was a stop motion exhibit of a car driving and flipping over and crashing into a wall. it was similar to the animal exhibits below. but with cars, the gravity of the pieces had to be soaked in. installing the piece must have required a crane or at least a big fork lift. i wish i had seen the wolf exhibit below - i think it would have been stunning. his pieces typically take up a great deal of space (the car exhibit took up at least 250 feet of space).

an incredibly emotional piece with tiger shot with dozens of arrows
physical recreation of stop motion style photography

probably my favorite series are the variations of tigers shot with arrows. i've also seen this piece in person, but i can't remember where. it is definitely an emotional experience seeing tigers shot with dozens of arrows in contorted. it's pretty intense in person since you can walk right up to them. and really seeing anything pierced dozens of times is a little scary.

an incredibly emotional piece with tiger shot with dozens of arrows

another gunpowder piece

[via cai guo qiang]

all cameras are now disposable

2009-02-02T09:21:00.005-06:00

you can tell your kids that there once was a time when cameras were long lasting pieces of equipment. sadly those days are now gone, at least for those in the know of such nerdy things as expected useful life of a digital camera. the comic strip is features a duck photographer and depicts a lot of the issues and comic happens that occur in the weird life of a photographer. the very exchange above actually happened to me. well almost, the guy didn't point to a trash can, but he did tell me that it was actually cheaper to get a new camera with better specs than it would be to fix my current one. he said for my compact point and shoot a year or two ago and then again for the dSLR a year ago.

it's a bit crazy to think the digital cameras have the same life cycle as a cellphone. hell at least with cellphones people get insurance so they can last the two year contract they're shackled with. not most don't for the digital cameras. not that i blame them... most of the time it's just silly to get insurance on digital cameras, because if you replace it with your current model when you break it. it's old news anyway. (i bought at least 4 cameras where the LCD screen on the back cracked and because the camera had no viewfinder, it was worthless - to be fair, i only did it once, the other three times were cameras i bought for family members - you know who you are.)

in the end though, cameras that used to be a family item (i.e. one good one per family) are not becoming personal consumer items - multiple cameras per person. the ipod is already there for its target consumers.... i mean how many ipods do you have?

i have two: an iphone and a shuffle

sooner than later people will have multiple cameras, specialized for occasion. which is exactly what i have.

ultra compact digital - for clubbing, everyday events because it's small enough to fit in my jean pocket
high-end compact - for travel (don't want to lug a dSLR and a bag of lenses)
dSLR - for action stuff or important shots like families or weddings
film cameras - cause i've had them and they're old and awesome

and while all of this may be a bit overkill, sooner than later (assuming prices go down and they will continue to do so) there will be cameras that are specifically designed for things like nightlife that have

special flashes for shooting people in the dark (think flash that leaves no shadows!)
allow you to shoot yourself in the group
allow you to send your image to your friends on the spot

and it's not just nightlife, but all sorts of niche functional design. it should be interesting when it evolves in that direction. but in the meantime... camera model upgrades are released every 9-12 months, sometimes less, so don't think of that camera purchase as an investment. it's disposable, like a diaper.

via what the duck]

peruvian cuisine

2009-02-01T09:49:00.002-06:00

ay ay picante

a number of places in chicago are BYOB which is a great thing. saves money and allows people to drink whatever they'd like. we had lots of different beers (including some that J made himself over the summer!) N and i are dying to make our own beer and got the low down over dinner. we also had a number of different wines including a semi sweet white which wasn't up my alley.

the night definitely started off with an interesting turn of events. the place (which is really in the middle of nowhere in the city) was so small that when we arrived we realized there was no waiting room - mind you it's five degrees outside. not that's fahrenheit. so it's cold. we noticed a few member of our group walking towards a house and going into a basement... three houses down in the basement... that was the waiting room. just too weird to make up. i kept thinking when i was down there that this was the setting for a play. awkward conversation and mingling of different groups waiting for a peruvian dinner that never seems to come.

we waited for a good 40 minutes before we could be seated in the actual restaurant. thankfully the food was amazing! below are the meals we ordered. (there were twelve of us but i only got photos for my roommates' dishes - they were kind enough to let me snap a pic before they started digging in). the appetizers were great too, but i didn't get photos of those. especially the red onions which were marinated in lime juice and olive oil. simple but so delicious.

by 11pm (we did sit down at the place till 9:20 or so) we were completely stuffed and crawled into the car and staggered home.

lamb braised in inca corn beer

farmer's fried steak

peruvian sirloin steak

swimsuits in the winter

2009-01-31T09:09:00.003-06:00

pacific palisades, ca

few things are worse than shooting swimwear in the winter months. even in LA. the only way to get this shot was to shoot at night (or with a little trickery at dusk) we shot this an hour before the sun set. it was pretty cold at the beach, i would say low 50's. and while i wore jeans and a sweater, the model was in a bikini and a thin top. she actually started turning blue during the shoot, which is when we ended it. the shoot lasted 30 minutes max. probably the fastest and most productive shoot i've ever done. we were highly motivated to get it done quick. afterwards we treated ourselves to in-n-out.

you might ask why we shot swimwear in the winter, but since stuff goes to print in the winter to be released in the spring for the summer, you normally have to shoot two seasons ahead, so winter stuff in late summer. models don't seem to mind that as much since they tend to get cold easier than get hot.

iso: 100
aperture: f/9
shutter speed: 1/400
focal length: 48mm
flash: two strobes as noted in image above

never let me down & wordle

2009-01-30T08:34:00.003-06:00

lyrics from j ivy from kanye west's never let me down

it was a while ago when i first saw this type of "word collage". i think the first time was actually a video of the monologue from pulp fiction. i found a better example from v for vendetta and embedded the link below.

the one i created above is called word collage, it's been popularized as a visual way of showing the importance and repetition of words in a given text. it's been used in presidential speeches as of late, but can be used for anything. i'm not sure if the site that did it for me, wordle, actually chances the size based on importance. it was would be great if it did.

the lyrics themselves are inspiring in their own right and include them below.

We are all here for a reason on a particular path
You don't need a curriculum to know that you are part of the math
Cats think I'm delirious, but I'm so damn serious
That's why I expose my soul to the globe, the world
I'm trying to make it better for these little boys and girls
I'm not just another individual, my spirit is a part of this
That's why I get spiritual, but I get my hymns from Him
So it's not me, it's He that's lyrical
I'm not a miracle, I'm a heaven-sent instrument
My rhythmatic regimen navigates melodic notes for your soul and your mental
That's why I'm instrumental
Vibrations is what I'm into
Yeah, I need my loot by rent day
But that is not what gives me the heart of Kunte Kinte
I'm trying to give us "us free" like Cinque
I can't stop, that's why I'm hot
Determination, dedication, motivation
I'm talking to you, my many inspirations
When I say I can't, let you or self down
If I were of the highest cliff, on the highest riff
And you slipped off the side and clinched on to your life in my grip
I would never, ever let you down
And when these words are found
Let it been known that God's penmanship has been signed with a language called love
That's why my breath is felt by the deaf
And why my words are heard and confined to the ears of the blind
I, too, dream in color and in rhyme
So I guess I'm one of a kind in a full house
Cuz whenever I open my heart, my soul, or my mouth
A touch of God reigns out

- J. Ivy

[via wordle.net]