Nary 4 months ago, I saw Brooke down in LA. How fortunate that I have been able to see her again, up here in SF this time 'round, over such a short period of time! I was hoping to have some company to come along with me on this occasion but it didn't eventuate. You all know who you are and you should all know that you missed out on another great performance! Anywho, here are some pics from the show!
Brooke tuning her guitar before the start of the show. She played with just one other person accompanying on keys. She was very comfortable and had some lovely stories to share with the crowd. I believe this is the most talkative she's been out of all the chances I've had to see her.
She started out with "Better", which is the one song I wanted to hear that she didn't play last time around so I'm pretty pleased that I was able to hear it this time. Brilliant, just brilliant.
My final picture. Here she is sitting down for the only song she played (solo) on the keys. Of course it was "Arithmetic" (arguably my favorite song) and I would've taken a few more pics during the song except my poor camera phone makes a fairly loud "shutter" sound when it takes a pic. Would've been too big of a disturbance, especially during a song such as this played so delicately.
"Better", "Hosea's Wife", "Deciphering Me", "Love, Where is Your Fire?", "Arithmetic", "Albertine" and "C.S. Lewis Song" is the setlist as I remember it.
Sorry for the poor pic quality. I forgot my regular digi cam so I had to settle for these. Once again, I saw several individuals filming songs...hopefully these will appear on YouTube so those of you who weren't there can experience a bit of the magic that is Brooke Fraser. It's late and it's time for me to go sleep. G'night all!
So, Thanksgiving just happened. I went down to So Cal to pay a visit to as many friends as I could in the short time I had (and through the rides I was able to procure). I'll get to more of the details a bit later on but one of the important things I was able to do while down there was to get pictures off of Priscilla's camera. Here are a few of the selected photos. They date back quite a bit...
Back in December (of 2006!), Darren was commissioned as a 2/LT. I headed over after my Signals & Systems Final so I missed out on the actual ceremony part but I was there for the celebration! Darren, myself & Travis.
Not sure when this is but it's solely here to prove that Sophie is possessed. I think Josh had just chased her down after she got loose...(or I could be making that up).
After Darren's Birthday dinner a few months back, there was an "after party" at Darren's. Here we all are at said after party. The guys all have their priorities straight (that's Wii golf in the back). That's the back of our heads, us being: Me, Darren, Deryck & Josh. And Priscillla is the only one who noticed the photo being taken.
Priscilla on Josh's bike at our old place in Pasadena. Hey Darren, I got an idea on what to get her for Xmas!
More recently, you all will remember that Darren & Priscilla came by the Bay Area for a visit last month. Here are a bunch of those pics. Shortly after arriving late in the night, here we are in the kitchen. I'm helping Darren get a glass of water to drink while Priscilla lines up a candid photo.
We tested out the TV by putting iChat up on the screen. There's Deryck (slightly larger than scale).
During the day of that visit, we made it up to SF city to hang out for a bit. Here are Brandon & Darren at the place we ate lunch.
And, Priscilla & I (and an empty cup of chocolate mousse).
Dinner was had at a sushi place where Kim joined us. Brandon, why are you holding the chopstick like you intend to smoke it?
Our party kept growing while we were there and we were joined just after dins by Christine and her RX-8!
Old Parisians in SF! (The three of us were all on that summer program to Paris back in '04 for those of you who have forgotten or don't know)
The other half of the group (Priscilla, Darren & Brandon) outside of the gelato shop where we ate dessert.
The three of us again. Now, we're at an Irish pub where I chatted briefly with a sizable contingent of South African rugby fans (SA won the rugby world cup earlier that day). They had been partying since 9 am!
Brandon, Darren & Priscilla at the Irish pub (on the other side of the table).
Fast forward to the next day. We had lunch at Prima Deli just a few blocks away from my place here in Redwood City. They had some awesome deli sandwiches and I'm glad I decided to check out this place after having it recommended by a co-worker who used to live in the same neighborhood.
Daniel, Priscilla & Darren enjoying some tasty food. Daniel made the trip up to RWC so that we could bike ride after lunch.
That finally brings us (close to) the present. During my trip to So Cal for Thanksgiving, we had a little mini-Turkey dinner (the day after the actual day) at Darren's new apartment. Darren & I are hard at work in the kitchen preparing for the feast. All three of us had a hand in some part of the cooking process, even Priscilla when she wasn't busy taking pics! :-P
The fruits of our labor: Creamed corn, mashed potatoes, bak choy, baked yam w/sweet & crunchy topping, and, of course, turkey.
Here we are enjoying the feast.
The day after that delicious meal, we went out for some dim sum. Here we are outside of the dim sum place.
Darren's digging into the hah gawr and I'm working on a piece of shu mai (man, my Cantonese romanization sucks).
Priscilla & Gavin.
And dinner later that night. We went to this Thai food place called Chaba (anyone else think that doesn't sound the least bit Thai?). Priscilla, Lianna, Myself & Karissa.
A viewer of this blog recently commented that my posts of late have been short on the food pics. Here's an attempt to rectify that issue. My eggplant, sweet basil & chicken dish from that dinner for all to view. It was very yummy.
And finally, Darren, Priscilla & Lianna from the dinner.
In regards to that Thanksgiving break, I'd most definitely like to thank Kim and her family, Brad and his family & Darren+Priscilla for welcoming me to their homes. Certainly they are all big reasons for me to be thankful this holiday season. Also, thanks to mum who I was able to catch on my last evening in LA since she was on a trip there. Deryck, it's your fault that you went to Disneyland to party with your friends (including a certain, famous, Punahou alum, Korean golfer) instead of hanging out with your infinitely cooler bro.
There we have it folks. I hope that helps to fill in some of the blanks. Enjoy the photos and look forward to a few more as I'll be heading up to the city tomorrow night to catch Brooke Fraser! Woo hoo! Till then, take care folks!
Good day. Work has been busy to say the least and, while it's pretty tiring, it has still been enjoyable for the most part. Thankfully, as most of you know, there's a nice break coming up shortly. Before all the fun that is sure to come (and surely to be shared here on the blog), I thought I'd introduce you to the latest member of my "family" here in Redwood City.
That's Inara, my new bike. 2007 Trek 1600. Currently, she's finding good use as my ride to work and in the future, hopefully as my "long distance" training bike (can't let Daniel beat me up hills on a unicycle!). I'm very happy and getting to and from FoxHollow quicker than ever. On that note, I hope you all have a happy turkey day. Cheers.
P.S. Shout out to Tyra Hammond whose music/voice I've been enjoying as of late. Her work with the Opensouls, the Tornadoes and (her cousin) Scribe (on a track called "Say it Again") are stellar. Have a listen!!
Okay. I've been a bit busy the last couple of weekends but that means I've got a few pretty pics to share with you all. Here goes.
Let's start off with that last weekend in October during which I jetted off to Fresno, CA to visit the Vogelers. I hadn't seen them in many years since they moved away from HI. The last time, it was actually at the USC v. UH game in LA. That was way back in '03. So, suffice it to say, a visit was long overdue. One might ask if I had gone to Fresno, why is there a picture of the beautiful outdoors above? That's because Erik, Robbie & I spent a day visiting Yosemite (I would argue photos of this place are prettier than photos of Fresno).
It was so nice and sunny outside that it just made the photos look incredible. This happened to be my first trip to Yosemite and I was a bit shocked to observe that it really is much more awesome in person than I ever expected it could be.
Half dome. On a side note, I've gotten back into rock climbing (thanks to some co-workers) and I hope to get into shape so that I can have a crack at Half Dome next year sometime. Anyone else game?
One of my favourite natural landmarks: El Capitan. Not sure if I'll ever work up to this but I reckon it'd be quite a personal accomplishment to be able to scale this...
So, all the thanks in the world go out to the Vogelers for allowing me to stay in their beautiful home. It was brilliant seeing them again and I hope to be able to visit them in the near future again. I didn't get to see much of Fresno (proper) but I reckon they are the only (compelling) reason to visit that town... That's Mrs. Vogeler, Robbie, Me, Erik & Mr. Vogeler in the pic btw.
So, many of you have been wondering where it is that I live. I spent a portion of this first weekend in November cleaning up the place a bit so I could take some pictures of it to show you all (and not have it look like a mess). Here are the pics you've all been waiting for.
Let's start in the living room. If you can't tell, the furniture is all courtesy of Ikea. A small matching chair & sofa are separated by a coffee table upon which a kneeling archer replica from Xi'an is perched at the ready to defend my home. I've moved the dining room table into the living room because it allows for more space in the (small) kitchen/dining area and also because it lets me watch TV while I eat.
Speaking of TV, there she is. That's also my front door in the back. And, the antenna is positioned specifically there because that's where it HAS to be in order to pick up all the available digital HD stations...
This mini hallway bridges the bedroom, the bathroom and the living room. The little horsie is also from Xi'an.
Moving on to the bedroom. Bed on the left and desk on the right. NZ flag proudly hanging from the wall as well!
The desk is still a bit cluttered but all is good. Brooke poster to the left, UH foam shaka and Hawaii calendar on my bulletin board and other random items are scattered throughout.
The closet is a good size but the doorway isn't quite adequate. Next to that doorway hangs some Chinese calligraphy (also from Xi'an). Roughly translated, it means to be satisfied and always happy. Inspirational.
Here's the kitchen. It's a bit cramped and a bit lacking in counter space, but it does have gas (yes!).
And finally, the last room in the house, my garage! There's Hippolyta (the H-name I've chosen for her), Constance (my bike) and my homemade laundry rack in the back (suspended from the ceiling).
All in all, a place I'm quite happy to call home. It's so close to work, that I've been able to ride my bike there everyday. With gas/petrol prices as high as they are now, that's something I can certainly be thankful for! Anywho, enjoy the pics. Still waiting on some from 3 weekends ago (when Darren & Priscilla came to visit) but they'll come in time. Take care all and I hope everyone's doing well! Cheers.
Howdy folks. Just keeping you all updated with how things are going for me up here in the Bay Area. Firstly, work has been very enjoyable. I've been doing lots of hands on work helping to create a workstation that will help to automate some processes in manufacturing some of the medical devices that our company make. While I do have a ton of training documents to work through, getting my hands dirty, so to speak, with the process work has mostly kept me away from the mundane task of training. I've been having a lot of fun in the sense that the real work has kept me engaged and thinking. The job has certainly met (and stretched a bit) my expectations in terms of the mental demands but it has pleasantly surprised me in terms of enjoyment. On top of that, I have been eating for free because they stock breakfast foods, snacks, cup noodles and sandwich-making supplies (e.g. bread, cheese & cold cuts) in the fridge! Oh, and I got my first paycheck this past weekend! How exciting! Anyhow, that's how my weekdays have been going. Here are a few pics of what I've been up to on the weekends.
So, a couple weekends back (my first in the Bay area) I headed up to the city (SF) to spend some time with Misha. We had an awesome dinner of pho on Clement St, where there are a ton of neat little shops & hole-in-the-wall restaurants. After dinner, we headed over to this little Japanese market called Genki. Impressively, they stock Hawaiian Sun. Shockingly, we saw this "blast from the past!" I honestly haven't seen this design in 10+ years. I used to love that stuff and it brings back fond memories, but I dunno if I'd trust drinking it...
Genki also sold crepes (yes...odd combination). Here I am with a tasty nutella & banana crepe. It was very yummy and I was impressed with the quality. I, however, still feel that it wasn't as good as one fresh from a Parisian vendor (no disrespect intended). Next time, I'll have to try Genki's specialty crepes where they dump on a ton of extras like ice cream, etc.
This past weekend, I headed down to San Jose to check out UH vs. San Jose State. What was supposed to be a cake walk for the Warriors turned in to an extremely thrilling contest that made me really appreciate college football and being able to see it in person. Hats off to the SJSU Spartans for making a game of it, but they couldn't stop Colt Brennan and the UH offense from sending it to OT and winning it there. Here's the team after the game doing the haka. On a bit of a personal note, it's great that they do that to represent their Polynesian roots, but I really wish they didn't do "Kapa O Pango", which is the haka written and choreographed specifically for the New Zealand All Blacks. Come up with something original please!!!
So, after the game, Daniel, Julie, Richard & I hung around seeking autographs. First we got Jason Rivers' sig before hanging around to see if we could score one of Heisman candidate, Colt Brennan's. There he is still in uniform greeting family/friends right after the game. So close! He actually went back to the locker rooms to take a shower shortly after this photo. So, seemingly no luck there...
But wait! He came back out. He snuck back out in sweats and a hoodie (with hood on) and did his best to hide from the adoring fans (sorta). I heard the backup QB call his name (and he responded) so I headed in that direction and, after a patient wait, was able to get to meet him. Seems like a great guy and is very gracious to the fans for their support. I hope he does well at the next level! Oh, and in the picture, that's him in the middle and the back of my head on the right.
And that's the reward for my efforts. Jason Rivers' (#84) sig on the left, Colt's (#15) on the right (on the thumb...might be kinda hard to see in the photo). Anyways, the foam shaka will be mine once I buy it off Daniel...
So, that's mostly it. Other noteworthy events (that have gone undocumented by photos) include bike riding in Redwood City with Daniel (and discovering Canada College up the road), Patxi's Pizza w/Brandon, welcoming Kim to the Bay Area, Halo 3 at Brenton's and building my homemade laundry rack in the garage (pic of the finished product to come with photos of the rest of the place). Hope that helps to keep you guys up to speed with what I've been up to. I'm just about done with getting the place the way I want it to look so it shouldn't be too much longer before I do the big photo spread. Be patient! Until then, take care folks! I'll see you all later!!!
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