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.
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: society, self, food, Communist Revolution, Mao, love, parents, life, china, Communism
[poster via Stefan Landsberger]
This weekend was an interesting one. Along with finally finding a trustworthy and knowledgeable mechanic for my car, I visited one of our family friends who happened to own a Japanese restaurant in Antioch. I am a sashimi fiend and when my Dad asked me to go over and take some pictures of the finished architecture and design project, I was quick to ditch my economics homework and head on over.
It think I will withhold his name and just call him Mr. L. I knew he was a talker, I’ve heard him go on and on about his son (Berkeley physics grad) and his hopes and dreams for him. I am not here to discuss his parenting – which I do find a bit unsettling in its mercilessness.
This particular time I went over we sat down and he started talking about something that he never really discussed with me before. He told me about how love was viewed under the Communist regime. In his youth, during the revolutions of the 70s, there was no time for petty things like love. There was only China to love. And oh did the youth love China.
My generation’s parents, those born in China during the mid-to-late 50s all have experienced a certain prescribed form of love. Love, as universal and human as it may seem, was something controllable by the government. They simply had to encumber the youth with so much nationalism and so many duties associated with such nationalism that they thought love to be a waste of time – hours and hours that could be used towards revolution.
So love was simple, quick and utilitarian. Oh, she’s a hard worker, not terribly ugly and gets along with my family. Done. Run down to the marriage office, get a license (which in that time was a fairly new thing) and then you’re done. There was no concept of dating or choices. When the opportunity arose, you just simply tied the knot then got back to pushing Mao’s goals forward.
To say that Mr. L. was a revolutionary is an understatement. He was a party leader. A man who cried real, angry tears during Mao’s fear-induced purges. The Tienanmen square incident still bubbling in his veins. He was a passionate comrade of the old guard. He believed fiercely in the social values that Mao tauted but became disillusioned after those promises fell short. Needless to say, he put his love of China over love over any woman.
Now, he tells me this is the single greatest regret of his entire life.
So i’m taking a break from reading this:
Today was a relatively awesome day. I had almost forgotten that I had switched my morning section so I rushed to find 20 Wheeler, which turns out, is in the catacomb-like belly of the building. After that section, I realize now the GSI team and Prof. Delong really mean it when they say we are “guinea pigs” for this class.
After a harrowing Chinese oral presentation and surprisingly understandable Econ discussion, I went to the dreaded money hoarding bookstore. At this monetary hell-hole, I sacrificed 247 bucks for two measly books, a study guide (because my French economics professor does not explain slides) and a really crappy stapler. From the business standpoint, I can see why they include no staples, but from a good-will to the customer standpoint, WHY!?!?!
I then jumped on my bike and raced towards home. Two seconds into my daily downhill extravaganza near VLSB, the bottom of my jeans catches the chain-guard. My leg is then trapped with the whirling motion of the pedals and I wildly swerve to gain balance again. The result is a nice sized whole in my jeans (repairable!) and a really scared me. I’m going to have to go invest in one of those pant-leg-velcro-reflective-bands so I don’t die.
Oh, and tonight, I made some fried rice with egg and minced pork. To my surprise, it was absolutely delicious. I coupled it with some Miso soup with tofu and I had a fine meal. I’m proud of my housewife abilities (as Chris would call them).
Before I get back to Keynes, here’s a interesting snippet from my reading so far:
Praise, therefore, the beauty of the flame he wishes to touch, the music of the breaking toy; even urge him forward; yet waiting with vigilant care, the wise and kindly savior of Society, for the right moment to snatch him back, just singed and now attentive.
Amen, Keynes, amen.
‘Tis all.
Three random cool things discovered with Asian roots:
1. beard papa’s cream puffs
Japanese food is expensive – unless it is beard papa’s. I went to the new (freakishly expensive) Westfield mall in the city, next to the Metreon, and saw this crazy cream puff store. Chris told me it was cream puff chain from Japan and it looked too interesting not to try. It was yummy – flaky outside and cool creamy inside. I kept thinking they would go great with some tea. If you’re ever at the city, head on over to the Westfield, gawk at the shopping insanity, then get some beard papa’s! (The name itself is awesome enough)
2. A Path of Tears
**The Korean says: “Let’s break up.”**
How is this not the most brilliant thing to come out of youtube for a long, long while? I like the great mixing of physiological and artistic themes. The music is spot-on and the artist captures the nuances really well. It really makes you consider how destructive relationships can become and how the chaos within contrasts with a seemingly calm exterior.
3. Bek Se Ju – ginseng white wine
I hate soju. Therefore, my concept of korean spirits was completely in the negative. Then, I was introduced to Bek Se Ju. Translated to “hundred year wine,” this finally casts korean liquor in a better light. It has a slightly sweetish, very earthly taste and it goes down very well. Unlike soju, which elicits an automatic gag from me, Bek Se Ju is very easy to drink, slowly or not. It was a good night!
‘Tis all!
Today our apartment had our end of the year party that had been postponed way too many times. It was both a final get together and a way of sending Chris off (he’s graduating) and for me, Carlos as well, (he’s going to Argentina and I’m not going to be here for the spring).
I always complain about the shabby quality of Berkeley folk and how so many of the kids here I just cannot stand. However, today was one of those “glass-half-full” kinda days. Thought this school does have its share of idiots and greedy bastards, the good people I have met are absolutely astounding – not in number, but just in quality.
More of the same after the jump.
Wow. What a packed last couple of days. First of all, it was the weekend where my mentorship club has our yearly IAM Retreat. This year, we had about 21 disadvantaged high schoolers come from all around California. Some kids even came from Southgate down in SoCal and took the bus for 8 hours each way, DAMN.
They came on Friday and immediately I knew this was going to be a good group of kids. They sat through some lectures and then we had our faculty luncheon. I had the pleasure of talking to one of our Sociology professors about the current education system for a long while. She talked about how the No Child Left Behind act was greatly depressing in the fact that it pointed out the issues of our education system, but failed to fund it adequately. Educational funding … always promised, never delivered. Professor Muller (who teaches Physics for Future Presidents) came in also. He is a good foot and a half taller than he seemed in lecture. He brought in an asteroid to pique the kid’s interest. Wonderful guy, really.
More after jump!
Last time we left off with more of the same. Well, the other half of spring break has been … more of the same with spurts of genius. Tobias and I just played some house tag this week, basically. He came over after I went to his house and we played some massive basketball. We played with some old folk who had apparently only shot threes their entire lives and two young’uns who just set picks for each other and shot. Honestly, not so fun when a team sport becomes a tandem dance.
When it was only our group, the competition was fierce as hell. People got cut, punched and pushed. Jaeman managed to rip my thumb all the way back to the back of my hand after he reached in during a crossover. Wonderful. In addition, I suffered a twisted ankle (remedied immediately by an ankle brace) and some random cuts.
Pain and all, that’s the best kind of basketball if you ask me – competitive and beautiful.
Drive left, cross, stop-step, take the jump – shot!
Spring break has been local for me. Like I said in the other post, SF is a great escape when my other (more elaborate) plans fall through or are planned completely too late. Since this plan was dead from the get-go, SF IT IS!
So, the basic summary of what occured: video games, food, Scrubs – not necessarily in that order.
Full tantilizing tale after the jump!
Just so that you don’t think I eat at lavish restaurants on a daily basis, here’s dinner in the good ol’ apartment.
It was a meal of epic proportions. We boiled water, we ripped open packages of unknown powders and other delectable freeze-dried substances (Chapagetti). We added two eggs for protein and whipped out the Kim-chi as a side dish.
Our extravagance knows no bounds. We even used the foods section of today’s NY Times as our makeshift picnic blanket. Grab some water and a coke and we’re set for dinner!
Oh, it’s late. I better rest up to make sure my week ends better than it began. I’m sure the dinner is not going to provide much energy in the morning. Soy bean milk and a half of a blueberry muffin better wake me up!
Note to self: vitamins are your friends.
