*edit* Thanks to Traci, I now have the group pic from Dim Sum. Check it out below.
Hello all. Just a quick little update to tell you guys what I've been up to recently. It's been a pretty busy week trying to get rec letters for my Whitaker Fellowship application and finishing up the Personal essays. All will be done this weekend so that I can get it in the mail and to their door by monday (deadline is tuesday). Wish me luck. Thanks to the well-wishers and those who have kept me sane. On to the photos...
Dinner at the BCD Tofu House w/Carie some night a couple of weeks ago (I believe it was the night before the car show). First time there in a long time and I had a nice reunion with the Curry Soon (soup) shown above. That's beef bulgogi at the top right as well. Mmm...tasty Korean food...
Allan moved into his new place just over a week ago so Brenton and I had to give him some sort of welcome. So, we put a sofa cushion up against the door and he was caught completely off guard. Real sweet apartment Allan, real sweet.
Here's a photo of "Kert" after a peer leadership thingy (take a close look at the name written on the box). To be honest, I only went cuz there were leftover Togo's sandwiches. How hard is it to spell Kurt? I sometimes question the listening comprehension and/or spelling competency of food service personnel...
We (Traci, Kurt, Claudia, Ryan, Me, Darren, Brandon & Priscilla) took a trip out to Ocean Park for a bit of "Yum Cha" action this past weekend. Good times and delicious food. Always a good combination.
One of my favorite items...a fried bao. I haven't had this since my first trip to Hong Kong way back in the day. Glad to see it's back in the rotation!
Last but not least, we were heading over to Brandon's place that same night when we saw this racoon stick its head out from the sewer. This is probably one of the most bizarre (and oddly cute) animal encounters I've ever had! Reminds me a lot of the stuffed animal racoon I had as a kid.
Anyways, Happy Chinese New Year for those of you in the know and hopefully I'll have some better pics to put up sometime in the near future...just as soon as I get all these assignments out of the way. Give me a week and I promise I'll be a bit more joyful. Well, take care everyone!
Howdy folks! Tonight I bring you the 2nd post of the new year and a photo blog from my trip to the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show held at the LA Convention Center. I made the trip to the show with Brad (his pics are up at his site), a pair of James(-es?) and Carie. We spent well over 2 hours cruising the aisles, snapping copious amounts of photos, ridiculing the junk cars and drooling over the nice cars. All in all, it was a lot of fun (though, not as much fun as it would've been if we could've test driven some of the cars). The following 30 photos were selected from the larger collection of pics that I took and feature what I believe to be the best of the best on display. I would like to warn you in advance that viewing these pictures may lead to a strong urge to buy a new motor vehicle. You have been warned...
*Click on the pics below to view a larger sized image.
We start the blog with two beautiful Italian supercars: (L) The Ferrari F430 Spyder is a stunningly beautiful and epitomizes what an exotic car should be. The convertible top means you can enjoy the sights, sounds and speed on the open road with the open-air freedom provided by a drop top. (R) The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is yet another beautiful car from the Italian automaker's stables. Not only do you have a 12-cylinder engine ready to scream to life at a drop of a pedal, you also have 2 extra seats in the back so that you can bring along 3 other friends as you tear up the road!
(L) A concept car designed by Maserati. I'm not sure what the specs are but it looks lovely and has an undeniably exotic look. (R) A pair of Bentleys for those of you who might want a car that emphasizes luxury without compromising the performance. We have the Continental GT in blue and the Continental Silver Spur in...well...silver.
Continuing on, we have two Lamborghinis here. They brought all 4 cars in their product line all in the same beautiful white colour. It was quite a pretty sight. (L) Gallardo Spyder, which is a ridiculously fast convertible. (R) Murciélago, which is a bigger, even more powerful car...here in the hard top style.
This is probably the car I most wanted to see at the entire show (and many other people felt the same way). This is Bugatti's all new Veyron. The only number you really need to hear is 1001. That's how much horsepower this thing can develop at full gallop (from 16 cylinders no less). That's both terrifying and exciting. The car is also quite well styled and I do like the blue/black 2 tone color scheme. If I were to get this car, however, I think I'd go with the all black one which simply screams sexy. If I could just find $1.2 Million...
(L) The Spyker C12 Laturbie. The styling, both interior and exterior, reflect a strong aviation influence (though, I'm not sure if you can see that in the pic). (R) The Saleen S7. Probably one of the few things on four wheels to come out of the US over the past several years that actually merits a spot with these other cars (the only other worthy car might be the Ford GT).
Lotus was the automaker I most wanted to see at this show (Ferrari, Porsche, Mazda and BMW round out the top 5). Anyhow, the cars they produce are true to the spirit of sports cars. Quick, agile and focused on performance. It's all about the driving experience with these cars. (L) The Lotus Elise is a compact, open air car that is a joy to drive (if the virtual version on Gran Turismo is anything to go by). (R) The Lotus Exige is the hard top derivative of the Elise.
In addition to getting a photo of the Exige, I was also able to get a pic with the car and, subsequently, one inside it as well (thanks to James' inquiry). Let me tell you, sitting in that car was amazing. It was nice and snug like a race car should be without being uncomfortable. I really wouldn't be against getting this car and I actually would be able to afford it since it's only $50k (quite cheap for a car of this level)!
(L) There was a huge exhibit of modified cars and parts suppliers (think blingingn rims" and tricked out cars ala fast & furious). Since I'm not really into that sorta thing, this is the only car pic I took down there. No surprise, it's actually a factory modified, Mazda Speed MX-5. The paint job (pattern) is similar to those on Mazda race cars (including the 787B car that was the only Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 hr endurance race). (R) This is the Mitsubishi Eclipse Ralliart Concept Car. I dunno exactly what is conceptual about it (since it looks a lot like the regular Eclipse) but it has a nice sporty look about it and I do respect Ralliart for their contributions to rallying.
(L) Speaking of rally...here's a Subaru Impreza WRC (World Rally Car). The name on the side is Solberg (Norwegian Petter Solberg) who is Subaru's lead driver in the World Rally Championship and a former World Champion. I hold Rally drivers in very high esteem since it requires so much skill to be quick in that sport. (R) Another incredibly beautiful car. The BMW M6 is the "M" (BMW's performance division) version of their 6 series sports coupe. A 10 cylinder engine allows this car to go pretty damn fast too.
This is the Lexus LF-A Concept Car. Quite a bit more angular than last year's concept (can't remember the name) but the idea is the same: create a luxury super car and I, for one, think Lexus have done a decently good job (well, in the looks department). We'll have to see if this car will actually make it to production...
(L) A Volkswagen concept car that catches the eye because it only has 3 wheels. It certainly seems like it was inspired by motorcycle styling. (R) Staying with VW, here's the Golf GTi. It's a "hot hatch" that rides quick and has been well received by journalists around the world. If memory serves me, the New Zealand Sunday Star Times named it their Car of the Year for 2005!
(L) The McLaren Mercedes SLR is an amazing car and another stunningly beautiful super car. They brought this car last year and so that's probably why I'm not quite as enthusiastic as I was year ago. With that said, it's still amazing to behold this car in person! (R) The Mazda CX-7 Concept Car. It's an SUV styled w/Mazda's "zoom-zoom" philosophy. So, it has that sporty look and it supposedly drives sporty as well.
(L) This one goes out to Ryan because of his eco-friendliness. A Saab 9-5 powered by Bio-diesel. (R) The new Jaguar XK. It's a nice evolution of the previous one. And, how about that slogan!
The Porsche Cayman S is new this year and fills the void between the Boxster and 911. I'm actually quite a fan of this new Porsche and I like how it has the unmistakable look of a Porsche without being too similar to a 911.
Finally, I ended the night looking at the first car I saw last year. The Carrera GT just has an allure about it that instantly snatches your attention and makes you want to hop in for a drive. It certainly is up there on the list of the best cars money can buy! Let's hope I'll one day get a chance to go for a spin!
Well, I hope you guys enjoy checking out the pictures! Congrats if you were able to make through all the pics! I'm not sure what else is on the cards for MLK weekend but hopefully something blog worthy happens and, if so, you'll hear about it next week. Until then, have a good weekend everyone!
Happy 2006 to everyone! I'm back at USC after spending just over a week back in Hawaii. Home was awesome and, after being away for 6+ months, it sure was nice to be back! Unfortunately, I got sick (on the same day as the Rose Bowl as well...yes, THAT Rose Bowl...no further comment) and that really limited what I was able to do while I was home. Anyways, here are some pics from my last week in New Zealand.
Here I am on Christmas Day holding a Weta in my hand. The Weta was simply sitting outside the door of the house where we went for Christmas Lunch and so my Uncle said "why not take a picture?" So here it is. In case you're wondering, a Weta is an insect found in NZ. If you've seen King Kong, some of the insects in that scene where the group was attacked by all the "creepy crawlers" were modelled on Wetas (look closely...it's easier to see if you check out the trailer).
After Christmas, the extended family went up to the holiday home up at Omaha Beach (presumably named after the famous beach in Normandy, France). It's beautiful there. Omaha Beach, NZ that is. I absolutely love it!
All along the beachfront community, they have placed 5 of these Teko Teko (Maori Tiki statues). Here, I do my best imitation of the pose.
The beach was particularly beautiful that day and it was nice and warm. Water was a bit chillier than typical Hawaii conditions but it wasn't too bad. I really wished I could've stayed a bit longer cuz I bet New Year's at the beach house would've been pretty damn sweet!!!
Well, that's just about the end of NZ. Very sad indeed! Regardless, I'm back at USC for my Senior Year (semester really) and it's been a lot of fun so far. I've seen a ton of people even though I've been back less than 48 hours. By the way things have gone so far, I can tell this should be a semester to remember. I'm very much looking forward to it all! Au Revoir for now!
I'd like to start off by wishing you all Merry Christmas! It's currently the night before here (will be Xmas Day in an hour and a half to be exact) and there's a load of events that I've got to look forward to tomorrow (in addition to the present opening). Hopefully I can get a ton of family pics to post for you all to see! The two other big things to point out during this post are: 1) This post officially brings up the 1/2 century of posts on this Blog of mine. In the great tradition of cricket (since it is cricket season here in NZ), I raise my bat to the crowd (you guys)! 2) I sold my first ever car today! Au Revoir to her (I don't think I officially named her, but I had been calling her Eliza) and I wish her the best of luck with her new owner (who's name also happens to be Adrian). I will miss her a lot particularly since she treated me so well and got me all around NZ. She was simply amazing.
That's all for now I guess. Look forward to a future post detailing my Xmas & post-Xmas activities. Happy Holidays and take care!!!
G'day folks! I'm here in the midst of my break between semesters and, unlike my usual breaks, it's been pretty busy. As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been splitting time working at the University of Auckland's Bioengineering Institute and my Aunty's company called "Brewcraft" (specializing in selling home brew alcohol kits...brew your own beer & spirits sort of thing). Unsurprisingly, work has taken up a lot of my time recently. It has been really fun though, particularly working at UofA and getting to see how BME works here in NZ. It's also been fascinating getting involved in a research project and seeing how that side of things work because I'm probably gonna end up doing some graduate studies. Anyways, here are a few pictures to sort of outline what I've been up to...
My family went to the New Zealand Guangzhou (Canton) Chinese Association Picnic out in Western Springs (near the Auckland Zoo). Events that took place at the picnic included: Chinese Santa gift giving, tug of war (my team won once and my Gung gung's team won everytime), mini-cricket session, looking at the elephants through the fence and a few other things as well. In the pic above are my cousins Brittany, Taran, Josh and Caitlin. They just got some popsicles and were in the process of enjoying them when I snapped this pic. It was a hot & humid day so the ice blocks were a welcome treat!
I got to catch up with my good friend Lianne last week which was great since we're both ridiculously busy nowadays and rarely get to meet up. She took me out to dinner at Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant in town where we enjoyed the above meal. She got the salmon fettucine with a creamy mushroom & spinach sauce. I opted for the steak with a potato croquette and spinach risotto. Both were delicious (yes, I did get a taste of the pasta). Gotta love Italian food! Lianne, you're the best!
Here's the project I've been working on at the University of Auckland. For those of you who are curious as to what we did, we loaded a pelvis and measured the strain at specific points on the pelvis. The goal is to use the experimental data collected and compare the results to those from a computer model created by the PhD student I was assisting. The experimental data will be used to assess the validity of the model. Just being involved was a great experience and I am grateful to the faculty & students over at the Bioengineering Institute for letting me take part. Who knows, after graduation, I may find myself back in Auckland working on a project of my own!
And finally, in preparation for the sale of my car, I took out the Pioneer speakers from my Skyline and put them into my Aunty's car (which had crappy stock speakers). This was quite an experience as well since I was learning as I went. Sorry for the crappy cameraphone pic. This isn't a particularly groundbreaking or anything but I took a pic so I thought I'd show you guys.
Well, I hope you enjoyed all that. It's nearing Xmas and I have yet to do my shopping so this will be an interesting week. I'm really looking forward to going up to Omaha Beach with the family and having some fun in the sun. Billiards, cricket and biking will probably be in the mix as well. As always, BBQ's are a staple of the NZ Summer experience. Look out for pics from that! Afterwards, I'll most likely be headed home to Hawaii in time for New Year's (I hope). On that note, Happy Holidays everyone and take care!!!
*edit*
I saw these shoes at the sports store today. That just about sums things up nicely!!!
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