Filed under: posts | Tags: apexi, cars, do-luck, Evo, rexpeed, stikiller, tanabe
[via STikiller.com]
If you know me, you know I love cars. Like any good owner, I love my evo. It’s a USDM 2005 GSR. Now that I’m actually employed (!!!), the range of possiblity on where the evo is going has expanded. The first thing that is going change is my GReddy counter-weighted shift knob. It has been great, but it is extremely scratched, the fitting is off and I want a different feel. But that’s a small fry detail.
Powerwise, I am going to be very gentle. ECU reflash, some tinkering with the boost psi (no annoying BOVs) and a turbo gauge are given. I am also liking GST’s open air solution sounds about right, but may be a bit on the ricey end. After all, I will NOT be making enough power to say my intake in my bottleneck. I will be going for a catback /w nothing touched from the catalytic converter up (I know this will restrict my possiblities). The Tanable Touring Medallion and the Apexi NOIR are strong contenders for being realtively quiet (under 90 decibels) as well as allowing for better breathing. However, I believe they both taper at some point so they are not true 3” exhausts.
With that said, I don’t want to make too much more power, but just enough to get an extra “kick.” The evo is fun stock, and I’m not trying to beat z06s in a straight line (hah).
Cosmetically, there’s some carbon fiber that is going on. I’m looking into a replica Do-Luck front lip. I love how this lip looks. I also love how the JDM rear looks, but it is around 700 dollar and requires mods to both the license plate holder and the rear low-speed crash beam. “Evo-dave” JDM lights front and JDM evo 7 lights in the rear. I don’t believe the crazy prices vendors charge for JDM lights when there’s a reputable evolutionm forum member who does them for a fraction of the price. Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to put a HID kit in there. Finally, I am debating whether or not to swap my huge wing for a rexpeed c-style wing.
Misc. stuff I need to do. Get that keying mark taken care of, so I need to find a reputable detailer in the Bay Area. I need to get my 30k service and get that 80 mph whine taken care of. (T-case of death?)
Eventually, going to slap some all black shoes on those Falkens. Yup. Obviously, this plan will not be carried out overnight, but this should be a fun ride.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: cars, economics, Fang Datong, Fast and Furious, happiness, Nintends DS, Rhythm Heaven, Shanghai, sights & sounds
A few things going on right now, the most important of which is an agonizing wait for the results of of my final round interview with a leading economics consulting firm. I feel I did fine during the interview and case, but who knows? These things tend to have a way of surprising you.
(This next paragraph is for those who are interested in the otherwise boring on-goings of economics)
My thesis which is about the One Child Policy and its Effects of Women’s Education, is coming along daintily. I have found a newer, more trustworthy dataset, but it will limit my usage of certain statistical methods. I will have to check in with my advisor to make sure it’ll work. I am getting a nice self-led crash course introduction to SAS though. 
On the entertainment front, a few items of note.
Fast and Furious was good. It wasn’t deep, or intellectually stimulating, but from a auto-head POV, it was pretty sweet (minus that atrocious MY2009 STi). I really liked the beginning which paid homage to one of the forgotten greats in American muscle history – the Buick Grand National. These turbo’d Regals are in my mind, still the epitome of no frills American power.
Of course, this movie featured a lot of great cars, including a whole myriad of American classics as well as an awesome scene with an R32, R34 and GTR Nissan Skylines. Honestly, I even thought the fighting scenes weren’t half bad. If you can get over the cringe of a few typical F&F lines, then go watch it!
Rhythm Heaven (リズム天国ゴールド) for the Nintendo DS. With the release of the “new” Nintends DSi, recently released games have not been given the spotlight they deserve. I recently started playing this gem of a game and it is wonderful. It’s like a good mix of Warioware with Elite Beat Agents. It is a collection of rhythm-based mini-games that are all very original and clever. This is the kind of game the DS was made for. Hours of boredom assassination! Check the quick vid of the mini-games in action:
Khalil Fong, a.k.a. 方大同 (Fang Datong). Mr. Fong here (courtesy of my wonderful Serena) has answered my prayers for some different Chinese music. Born in Hawaii then moving to Shanghai (yes!) when he was 6, Khalil possess a less prototypical sound. He a stronger idea of bass and rhythm than his peers and I personally think he sounds Mraz-ish. An added bonus is that his English pronunciation is native, so when he adds that English phrase between the mandarin, it doesn’t add all that cheesiness.
Here are few songs of note:
(1) Love Song from the album Wonderland
(2) Singalongsong (English) from the album Orange Moon
(3) 三人游 (pinyin: san ren you) from the album Orange Moon
Whew. That was a good, long post.
‘Tis all.
Today was the last day of the last spring break I am going to enjoy in a while. What a damn fine day. I woke up at around 10 AM in order to get to Napa by 12:30. I was going to attend a birthday lunch @ Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. After quite a hectic ride, (a guns-drawn arrest by the highway, incredible traffic and poor signs), I finally arrived at the quaint little restaurant. The food was quite delicious – I had the Braised Lamb Shoulder – and I went away feeling quite happy. We then hit up a sparkling wine winery, where we saw a middle aged couple make-out like it was Senior Prom. Quite awkward.
I took some pretty pictures of Napa, but here’s a nice little surprise in the parking lot of the winery:
Nothing like a Duc under a nice day. I’m pretty biased towards Monsters, but these are fine too.
I arrived back in the Bay Area around 6 PM and went out to eat with Bo and (surprise!) Jaeman, plus Susanne. We ate some ramen and got to the business at hand – a bowling competition. It was UCLA vs. Cal (as usual) with Bo and I having a handicap as it was technically 3 vs 2. However, the other team’s lowest score was divded by 10 to keep things reasonable. Cal won 3 of 4 games. I bowled terribly, but usually ended strong. I did have a terrible game of 94 though. I haven’t bowled under 100 since elementary school. Fail.
Not to be a smug bastard, but I have a damn great life. I need to remember that more.
And tomorrow I get to spend some good time with the person that makes it so great. See you in Berkeley!
‘Tis all.
I was up in Tahoe last weekend with my girlfriend, her sister, her sister’s friend (who was celebrating her birthday) and some random people who are now friends.
First of all, I improved my snowboarding abilities. I can now create large, slow S’s down a green-level mountain. Yep. I did have a nasty fall where tumbled a bit and strained my left shoulder, but no long-term harm done. I am painfully sore however. On the mountain, with adrenaline, wind chill and fear, you don’t realize how much energy you are exerting but boy does it hit you the next day.
In other news, I have a Chinese Economics Midterm tomorrow. The professor is this badass who decided to tell us nothing about the midterm other than that it would be fair. I am a bit worried about the vagueness of that information, but since I know a bit about China and have been following the lectures, I don’t think I will epic fail.
On a totally unrelated note, I was walking to class today and had forgotten both my keys and my wallet. As luck would have it, these two women pulled over and asked me if I could spare two bucks because they were empty on gas. I looked at the driver straight in the face and told her I was sorry,but I did not have my wallet on me.
She shot me this look which can only be described as pure mistrust and hatred. Her passenger just looked despairingly at me. The driver asked me:
“Are you Christian?”
Me: What? (A truck just passed by)
Driver: “I said, ARE YOU CHRISTIAN?!”
“No.”
They drive off. The fact that I was not Christian fended off what was surely to be a series of guilt-provoking lines about responsibility and such. I think people should really reconsider using religion as a means to attack people. It really doesn’t give off the right message.
Now, I could be totally off-base and she was only going to give me a free bible, but her eyes told me otherwise. Anyways, that was the most eventful part of my day – plus my unexciting A-/B+ first paper for my public policy class. Damn, that paper was bad – I’m pretty lucky getting what I received!
Okay, that’s all I gots.
‘Tis all.
1. Phoenix beats L.A. sans Nash and Amare.
Muahahaha. Yes, I know we were blown out last game and L.A. has no Andrew Bynum, but I don’t care! Grant Hill has an amazing defense:age ratio.
2. Everyone I know needs have watched Dr. Horrible by the next time I see them, okay?
http://www.hulu.com/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog
In particular, know this number right here:
3. Second-round interview with aforementioned economic consulting firm. Yum.
4. I have 5 more pages to write … good night!
Filed under: posts | Tags: employment, food, left 4 dead, nba, Suns, Valentine's
I haven’t updated inkless in a while, I know. I’ve been both busy and distracted. I’ll try to keep updating as the time continues, but no guarentees.
The only downers in my life: unemployment and the slow, agonizing fall of the Phoenix Suns. Tomorrow, Amare (or rather, Amar’e) is being put on the free-agent list and most likely going to leave Phoenix. Terry Porter is going to be cut and Nash is going to be the best point guard in the league surrounded by lackluster offense. I think the only awesomeness that could come from this trade is if Luol Deng goes to Phoenix. Hah!
This weekend was Valentine’s weekend plus Tobias’ birthday party, PLUS the All Star game. Had some breakfast in the city with the girlfriend and some friends on Sat. @ Mama’s in North Beach. Good stuff, great service. Highly recommended if you can bear the hour+ wait.
I also recently put together a desktop with a wolfdale processor and a mid-range graphics card. Technology really does become exponentially better as time progresses. The thing runs remarkably quiet, cool and fast. A few friends and I picked up a copy of Left 4 Dead. I have now lost a few hours of my weeknights to INCREDIBLE fun.
In other news, I have an interview with an economics consulting firm on Tuesday. Wish me luck!
That was a quick little update. More to come, hopefully.
UPDATE (2/18): Looks like Amar’e is staying a Phoenix Sun!
Filed under: posts | Tags: china, mario kart, relationships, school, sights & sounds, youtube
First and foremost. This thing just plays in my head over and over when I’m biking in the morning.
The blue shell is coming
so I’ll go ahead
If you hang behind
it’ll hit me instead
but never look back
cause I’m down but not dead
I’ll catch up to you
Nerdy, yes. Awesome? YES. (and also yesterday’s news, but who the hell cares?)
I’ve come to realize starting a new relationship is very different each time. This one is so natural and strangely free of those awkward moments, at least for me. My life is so uncertain right now in so many different aspects, but spending time with her grounds and calms me. A good start.
In other news, the next week is my last week of classes with a day of finals coming in two weeks. School is almost over! I think some people are already heading home so I’ll try plan some kind of get together when I have some time. I will have a good window of time between the 18th and the 24th. Who needs to pack for China?
If anyone wants anything from the cheap labor pool that is China, give me a ring or a comment or some signal.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: Chinese music, Nikon D40, photography, Shanghai, Thanksgiving
Oh wow, Monday is going to be the start of December! How quickly this year has passed – it was been incredible. It seems just yesterday I was in Shanghai celebrating my 21st. Now I’m a few weeks from my 22nd.
[Via kenrockwell.com]
I picked up a Nikon D40 off Ebay today. It was 40% off with live.com’s 30% cashback and my other 10% off coupon. I couldn’t resist. After all, there’s nothing like a DSLR to capture a city like Shanghai in its winter glory. All I need now is a nice Hoya UV filter and a LCD protector and I’ll be set.
Thanksgiving dinner was really good. My family and I headed over a family friend’s home over in Fremont. We were joined by 3 other families that we are pretty close with. We had TONS of food. I literally started eating right when I entered their house to the moment I left. It was a good mix of Chinese (Shanghainese) and American Thanksgiving foods. We had the obligatory turkey, but we also had things like green onion pancake, various soups, tofu dishes, salmon sashimi (?), etc, etc, etc. Dessert consisted of a Coldstone ice cream cake and a mu-er soup. (No idea what mu-er is in English, but it is a kind of fungus).
On the alcohol front, we had (6) bottles of champagne, (4) bottles of wine, a dessert brandy and the other misc. drinks like rum and coke, etc, etc. Being the youngest “adult” in the bunch, I am usually picked on in terms of drinking. I had to open all the bottles of champagne and hurt myself opening two of them. In addition, I was challenged to drink with 3 people, so in the end I had 2 glasses of wine, 3 glasses of champagne and a surprisingly strong glass of dessert brandy. I was okay but had to hide as they opened another bottle of red.
It was nice to see everyone doing (relatively) well and having a good time. It’s pretty nice to spend the holidays with three different generations of people who get along so well.
Ok – different subject. I’ve been trying to find good Chinese music but they all seem SO SIMILAR. If any of you can point me to some Chinese music that had a quicker tempo, I will be indebted to you. Zhou Jie Lun was good for about 3 CDs, I need something new!
I hope you all had a good one.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: art and lit, family, John Legend, Kanye West, music, Ronald Jenkees, Shanghai, Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is coming up! From now until that time, I don’t really have any academic obligations! I’m so happy. Only my nuclear family is here in the U.S. so we tend to go to spend Thanksgiving with family friends. This year, like many years, we’re going to one of our family friend’s place in Fremont. We’ve known them forever. They used to live next to my Dad when he grew up in Shanghai and I’ve known their daughter since I was 6 or 7.
I haven’t seen these people since we went down to San Diego together last summer. It’ll be good to see old faces again. Also, my friend is getting married so it’s always fun to drink with her and her fiance and joke about how terrible their lives are going to be.
There’s also this 8 year old girl named Bubbles whose family will also been there. She called me one day (like on a Friday) and asked if I could go over and play. Haha, I just told her I had to write a report of some kind – which confused the hell out of her 7 year old brain. Anyways, it’ll be nice to talk to her again as well. She’s really, really smart for a little kid. She understands complicated social cues already.
I won’t see the rest of my family until mid-December, but this time it’s going to be extra special as we induct new members into our family. And what a family we are – they have no idea what they are getting themselves into. I actually have two cousins getting married. One will be straight forward. 300 people. A banquet, done. The other is some small, but lavish 300,000 yuan affair on some island. This should be interesting, to say the least.
I started listening to the new Kanye album, 808s and Heartbreaks. I kinda like it. I like the beats and the background way more than the vocals. There’s something about autotuned voices that doesn’t fit right with me. Sometimes, the effect can really add something, but when it dominates the album, it gets old pretty quickly. In other musical news, “Greenlight” from John Legend’s new “Evolver” is quite excellent. I’m still waiting for someone to use Ronald Jenkee’s “disorganized fun” (see previous post).
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
‘Tis all.
