The guys are almost 1/2 way through the day now and both still in. On their 2nd break - at the end of level 8.
Sam: 115K
Wei Yan: 41K
Chip Jett sat down directly to Sam's left with 300K. Wei Yan is sweatin' - knowing he needs to accumulate some chips soon. He's got ~25x the big blind, so he's not totally short stacked yet, but they've announced that they've gone < 800 players before the break, so he's got to survive several more hours. Yesterday ended at 12:04am when they hit 350 players, so tonight they will play until 12:04 as well. They guys will need to survive tonight & make it through part of the day tomorrow before they make it to the money. Get some cards & some flops, turns & rivers, guys!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Fwd: DAY 2
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Samuel Padgett
Date: Jul 11, 2007 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: DAY 2
End of level 7.
Sam: 100K
Wei Yan: 43K
Sam
--
Sent from my iPhone
From: Samuel Padgett
Date: Jul 11, 2007 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: DAY 2
End of level 7.
Sam: 100K
Wei Yan: 43K
Sam
--
Sent from my iPhone
Main Event: Day 2
Day 2 for Wei Yan & Sam will start at noon Pacific time (3pm EST) today. After 2 days to rest up and not play any poker, hopefully they will be rested & ready to play. It looks like they should play until about midnight. At the end of the day, there should be less than 1000 players left. A little over 600 get paid. (Last night at 8pm there were ~500 from the 1st day 2 field from the 1,000 players that started). Sam & Wei Yan's day 2 should start with ~1300 players.
Sam start the day with 71,500 chips. Wei Yan has 51,900. Wei Yan calculated that it will cost us about 100,000 in blinds and antes to play Day 2, so we definitely can't sit back. We'll have to pick our spots and sometimes move some chips.
Interesting article on CBS (one of the only sites I can get to from work) about how the pros are dealing with their fame & everyone knowing how they play.
A long time WSOP dealer had this to say
So, I think Wei Yan and Sam will have their tight images at the table, but for the most part won't be drawing too much attention. They will have to be careful about the 1 play that players might remember, but they definitely won't be all out there.
Sam start the day with 71,500 chips. Wei Yan has 51,900. Wei Yan calculated that it will cost us about 100,000 in blinds and antes to play Day 2, so we definitely can't sit back. We'll have to pick our spots and sometimes move some chips.
Interesting article on CBS (one of the only sites I can get to from work) about how the pros are dealing with their fame & everyone knowing how they play.
A long time WSOP dealer had this to say
The player who ends up winning is generally, in my opinion, the player who gets most lost in the crowd," Bowen said. "It's the players who don't flamboyantly make dramatic entrances into the pot that are going to be there at the end.
So, I think Wei Yan and Sam will have their tight images at the table, but for the most part won't be drawing too much attention. They will have to be careful about the 1 play that players might remember, but they definitely won't be all out there.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Main Event Day 1 results
Just to clarify, out of the 6,358 players that entered the main event it looks like 2,395 players are left after day 1. Wei Yan and Sam's chip count rankings are just out of the 680 players left on the day that they played. One more day of rest before the grind starts again. The estimates are that they will need to make it to day 3 before the money, but that of course depends on how fast folks are going out.
Monday, July 09, 2007
From the CardPlayer.com Main Event updates:
I am 154th from Day 1C. Wei Yan is 272nd.
http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/results/7278?day=11407&page=8
http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/results/7278?day=11407&page=14
I've already started looking at yachts and am considering buying a villa in Italy.
- Sam
Mon Jul 09 19:10:00 PDT 2007
Players on Dinner Break
Official NumbersThe tournament details have just been announced. 6,358 players entered this year's main event, creating a $59,784,954 prize pool. This tournament will pay 621 places, with 621st place taking home $20,320 and 1st place place pocketing $8,250,000. The full prize pool will be updated shortly.
I am 154th from Day 1C. Wei Yan is 272nd.
http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/results/7278?day=11407&page=8
http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/results/7278?day=11407&page=14
I've already started looking at yachts and am considering buying a villa in Italy.
- Sam
Day 1C Recap: AC-TI-ON
We played poker almost 16 hours yesterday. We started at noon and weren't done bagging and tagging our chips until 3:45am. Grueling day.
It's been a curious tournament for me so far. My stack has fluctuated wildly, up and down, up and down. Up to 35K, down to 15K, up to 70K, down to 45K, until I finally finished the day at 72,500, 154th for Day 1C according to Card Player.
So I folded KK preflop. Third hand. I was taking my first sip from my first cup of coffee and settling in for a long day of poker. Blinds 50/100, stacks 20K. UTG folds, UTG+1, a young guy with a shaved head in PokerStars gear and black wraparound sunglasses, makes it 425. Folded to me in the small blind. I squeeze my cards. Black Kings. I take back my blind and throw out three purple chips, announcing, "1500." The other blind folds.
UTG+1 stares me down. He hems and haws. He riffles his chips and thinks. A minute passes. "1500, huh?" he says. More riffling. Finally he says, "6000."
Uh oh. I get a sick feeling. I routinely play 200 blinds deep on Absolute, and I hate hate HATE sticking it all in with Kings preflop. You only get action from one hand. I think. 6K to go, and we only have 20K chips. Not enough to play for a set. Too few chips to consider folding the flop if I call here. He raised in early position. I reraised out of the blinds. He has to put me on a monster. And he reraises, after making a show of it.
Isn't there some rule about folding Kings preflop? I don't care. I muck.
After a few orbits, I start to get a feel for the table. I got a relatively tough table draw. A lot of aggressive players who like to move chips. Two of them are from Spain, and they talk to each other in Spanish between hands. Who knows what they are saying. Sketchy.
One of the Spaniards is crazy aggressive, borderline maniacal. He doesn't speak any English. He only knows "I check, I raise!" and "AC-TI-ON! AC-TI-ON!" which he chanted repeatedly midway through level 4. And he moves chips. He will bet if checked to. He will check-raise with draws, air. He doesn't like to fold, but can make laydowns. This guy caught cards and built a huge stack midway through the day. He was two to my right. We played a lot of hands.
One hand I misplayed -- maybe badly -- one of the ones that took me back to 15K chips after the start of level 3:
Blinds 200/400. I have in the neighborhood of 25K chips. Crazy dude covers. He limps first in. I am dealt AQs in late middle position. I make it 1600. Folded back to the limper who calls.
Flop is JJ4 rainbow. He checks. I consider betting, but I don't think he'll fold. It's a scary flop that isn't likely to have hit me. He might checkraise. He likes to make plays. I think he'll bet the turn if I check. I check to induce the turn bluff or to try to check it down, a play I make in cash games sometimes.
Turn comes a 6. He bets as expected, but it's a big bet. 3500. Hm. I stick to the plan and call. I put him on two cards, and I think he'll probably bet the river no matter what.
River is an 8. He leads for 3500 -- again. Ugh. Looks like a blocking bet. I'm getting 4:1. How did I get in this spot? Hm. I call. Maybe it's a mistake.
He flips over 77. I nod and muck, and the other players at the table look confused. It was probably a bad play, maybe my worst hand from Day 1. Having gotten to the river that way, the right thing to do was to SHOVE. I don't think he calls without a Jack.
One more hand from later in the level, one I might have played OK: Same villain. I have about 20K. I look down at 9s9c and make it 1200 from UTG+1. Folded to villain who calls.
Flop 654, two spades. He checks. I bet 2500. He raises to 7000.
A checkraise with these stacks in this spot is generally bad news. I only have Nines, but I'd seen villain checkraise a draw in a similar spot and also check top set three times in earlier hands. He would slowplay a set. As an early position raiser, it's not likely I have a draw. I decide he's probably got a flush draw or maybe a straight draw or some weak gutshot/pair hand. I push. He calls, and flips over 53o. He has a pair and is open ended. We're flipping coins.
Turn is the As. River 8s. My hand is good.
Day 2 is Wednesday. Gogogo!
- Sam
We played poker almost 16 hours yesterday. We started at noon and weren't done bagging and tagging our chips until 3:45am. Grueling day.
It's been a curious tournament for me so far. My stack has fluctuated wildly, up and down, up and down. Up to 35K, down to 15K, up to 70K, down to 45K, until I finally finished the day at 72,500, 154th for Day 1C according to Card Player.
So I folded KK preflop. Third hand. I was taking my first sip from my first cup of coffee and settling in for a long day of poker. Blinds 50/100, stacks 20K. UTG folds, UTG+1, a young guy with a shaved head in PokerStars gear and black wraparound sunglasses, makes it 425. Folded to me in the small blind. I squeeze my cards. Black Kings. I take back my blind and throw out three purple chips, announcing, "1500." The other blind folds.
UTG+1 stares me down. He hems and haws. He riffles his chips and thinks. A minute passes. "1500, huh?" he says. More riffling. Finally he says, "6000."
Uh oh. I get a sick feeling. I routinely play 200 blinds deep on Absolute, and I hate hate HATE sticking it all in with Kings preflop. You only get action from one hand. I think. 6K to go, and we only have 20K chips. Not enough to play for a set. Too few chips to consider folding the flop if I call here. He raised in early position. I reraised out of the blinds. He has to put me on a monster. And he reraises, after making a show of it.
Isn't there some rule about folding Kings preflop? I don't care. I muck.
After a few orbits, I start to get a feel for the table. I got a relatively tough table draw. A lot of aggressive players who like to move chips. Two of them are from Spain, and they talk to each other in Spanish between hands. Who knows what they are saying. Sketchy.
One of the Spaniards is crazy aggressive, borderline maniacal. He doesn't speak any English. He only knows "I check, I raise!" and "AC-TI-ON! AC-TI-ON!" which he chanted repeatedly midway through level 4. And he moves chips. He will bet if checked to. He will check-raise with draws, air. He doesn't like to fold, but can make laydowns. This guy caught cards and built a huge stack midway through the day. He was two to my right. We played a lot of hands.
One hand I misplayed -- maybe badly -- one of the ones that took me back to 15K chips after the start of level 3:
Blinds 200/400. I have in the neighborhood of 25K chips. Crazy dude covers. He limps first in. I am dealt AQs in late middle position. I make it 1600. Folded back to the limper who calls.
Flop is JJ4 rainbow. He checks. I consider betting, but I don't think he'll fold. It's a scary flop that isn't likely to have hit me. He might checkraise. He likes to make plays. I think he'll bet the turn if I check. I check to induce the turn bluff or to try to check it down, a play I make in cash games sometimes.
Turn comes a 6. He bets as expected, but it's a big bet. 3500. Hm. I stick to the plan and call. I put him on two cards, and I think he'll probably bet the river no matter what.
River is an 8. He leads for 3500 -- again. Ugh. Looks like a blocking bet. I'm getting 4:1. How did I get in this spot? Hm. I call. Maybe it's a mistake.
He flips over 77. I nod and muck, and the other players at the table look confused. It was probably a bad play, maybe my worst hand from Day 1. Having gotten to the river that way, the right thing to do was to SHOVE. I don't think he calls without a Jack.
One more hand from later in the level, one I might have played OK: Same villain. I have about 20K. I look down at 9s9c and make it 1200 from UTG+1. Folded to villain who calls.
Flop 654, two spades. He checks. I bet 2500. He raises to 7000.
A checkraise with these stacks in this spot is generally bad news. I only have Nines, but I'd seen villain checkraise a draw in a similar spot and also check top set three times in earlier hands. He would slowplay a set. As an early position raiser, it's not likely I have a draw. I decide he's probably got a flush draw or maybe a straight draw or some weak gutshot/pair hand. I push. He calls, and flips over 53o. He has a pair and is open ended. We're flipping coins.
Turn is the As. River 8s. My hand is good.
Day 2 is Wednesday. Gogogo!
- Sam
Day 1C is done!
Day 2 day 2 day 2
We survived the last level. It ended about 3:30am this morning. We're eating breakfast now at Paris talking about hands.
Wei Yan doubled the first hand in the final level and ended the day with 52K. I finished with 72,500. Average stack is about 50K, so we're well positioned for day 2, which is Wednesday.
Ok time to go to bed
Sam
Talked to Wei Yan this morning as well. They finished at 3:30am and had to bag up chips - so they did not get out of there to well into the morning. That is one heck of a long day of poker! Congrats on making it to Day 2! Rest up for Wednesday, guys!
Day 1C - Last break of the day
Email from Sam:
End of level 5. Huge level for me! Up to 65K chips. One more level
today until we get to sleep...
Wei Yan had a rough 2 hours, unfortunately. He's back down to 22K
after losing a large pot with JJ.
Today has been grueling.
Sam
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Day 1C - 11pm break
End of level 4. Tournament started 11 hours ago. Sam has 40K chips. Wei
Yan is down to 29K. Average stack is about 30K.
Next level: 300/600 ante 50
Yan is down to 29K. Average stack is about 30K.
Next level: 300/600 ante 50
Main Event Day 1C - Dinner break update
Dinner break and both Sam & Wei Yan are still in it!
Wei Yan has 39K. Sam has 29K.
The word on the street is that it will probably go til 3am in the morning.
Day 1B started with 1,545 players and 610 players survived. So that puts it at 1055 players from 1A & 1B advancing to day 2. Today (1C) started with 1706. There have been a total of 4,498 players so far - tomorrow will let us know what the final numbers will be.
I'm headed to bed soon, but maybe Sam will give us an update for all of us East Coasters to wake up to.
Good luck, guys!
Wei Yan has 39K. Sam has 29K.
The word on the street is that it will probably go til 3am in the morning.
Day 1B started with 1,545 players and 610 players survived. So that puts it at 1055 players from 1A & 1B advancing to day 2. Today (1C) started with 1706. There have been a total of 4,498 players so far - tomorrow will let us know what the final numbers will be.
I'm headed to bed soon, but maybe Sam will give us an update for all of us East Coasters to wake up to.
Good luck, guys!
Day 1C - 2nd break update
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Samuel Padgett
Date: Jul 8, 2007 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: The Main Event!
To: Samuel Padgett
End of 2nd level. I have 28K. Wei Yan has 33K.
Sam
--
Sent from my iPhone
From: Samuel Padgett
Date: Jul 8, 2007 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: The Main Event!
To: Samuel Padgett
End of 2nd level. I have 28K. Wei Yan has 33K.
Sam
--
Sent from my iPhone
Day 1C - 1st break
Wei Yan sat down and the dealer pointed out to him that his registration card said Saturday July 7th. After talking with the floor and hoping not to have to play on the last start day, there was a seat available on table 33 - so the day began there.
1st break at 2pm - Sam has 17K, Wei Yan has 22K.
Sam laid down KK preflop on the 3rd hand. Wei Yan flopped top 2 pair with J-10 and had to lay it down the the turn & river being 9, Q - that was a big pot that he lost a few thousand on. Had won big pots with pocket aces and flopping a set of 3s with pocket 3s and was up to around 25K before the J-10 hand.
1st break at 2pm - Sam has 17K, Wei Yan has 22K.
Sam laid down KK preflop on the 3rd hand. Wei Yan flopped top 2 pair with J-10 and had to lay it down the the turn & river being 9, Q - that was a big pot that he lost a few thousand on. Had won big pots with pocket aces and flopping a set of 3s with pocket 3s and was up to around 25K before the J-10 hand.
The Main Event has begun
Wei Yan is at table 68. I'm at 67. Sam has promised to try to send updates, but they're strict about cell phone use.
Andrew went out 26 in the Venetian deep stacks tourney. Out of the money, but Wei Yan and Sam are going to try to convince him to play a satellite.
Andrew went out 26 in the Venetian deep stacks tourney. Out of the money, but Wei Yan and Sam are going to try to convince him to play a satellite.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Main Event
Wei Yan, Sam & Andrew headed off to Vegas Friday evening. Wei Yan went without crutches since his gout has subsided enough to allow him to walk somewhat slowly.
Wei Yan and Sam registered for the WSOP Main Event - start day #3 - Sunday at noon. Since the event is so large there are 4 starting days. The 1st day (Friday - day 1A) started with 1,287 players and only 445 survived the 1st day. Saturday's 1B started with 1515. Over 5K have registered and they are expecting about 7,000 players.
Andrew's Venetian deep stacks tourney started at noon today with 130 entants. As of 8pm Eastern time, he was still in - on dinner break with 37 players left & 18 getting paid. He has 31K - which is slightly below average. Good luck, Andrew. We are all ready to have 3 representatives of our Friday night game in the Main Event!
Wei Yan and Sam have reportedly spent the day at Bally's playing 2-4.
Best of luck, guys! Represent!
Wei Yan and Sam registered for the WSOP Main Event - start day #3 - Sunday at noon. Since the event is so large there are 4 starting days. The 1st day (Friday - day 1A) started with 1,287 players and only 445 survived the 1st day. Saturday's 1B started with 1515. Over 5K have registered and they are expecting about 7,000 players.
Andrew's Venetian deep stacks tourney started at noon today with 130 entants. As of 8pm Eastern time, he was still in - on dinner break with 37 players left & 18 getting paid. He has 31K - which is slightly below average. Good luck, Andrew. We are all ready to have 3 representatives of our Friday night game in the Main Event!
Wei Yan and Sam have reportedly spent the day at Bally's playing 2-4.
Best of luck, guys! Represent!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Last day of Spring
Some old friends came through town today. We missed out on dinner with a bunch of folks at Jason's Deli, but after a night spent on porch on a cool spring evening out on a farm - I'm kind of glad we missed the gathering and made the extra effort. I've been complaining so much about how our cold winter lasted a little too long this year and then went straight to the balmy hot as heck summer, but I spoke too soon. Tonight was gorgeous, and we had a great time hanging out and listening to stories. I guess that's why I'm not in much of a hurry to build a deck on our house. It just won't have that same feel - not in our neighborhood with the houses so close & no trees. But I did learn when it is appropriate to argue with a person pointing a gun at you. Dangerous, but sometimes necessary.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Happiest Place on Earth
So at the end of our family trip to Disneyland, we started out with 11 people in line to see Nemo's submarine ride. After 20 minutes and a chat with a security guard, we were down my uncle. After about an hour, one little one was passed out and so, we were down 2 more. Hit another line switch and we are down another. Then grandma is looking thoroughly bored and totally ready to go home, so then she's outta there and my brother goes with her. After almost 2 hours, we are in the submarine and one cousin apologizes and is outta there - claustrophobia. And then there were 4. Can't say it was fully worth the wait, but I do wonder how they projected images through water onto screens and it's probably worth a 30 min wait once the lines die down.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Familiarity
So when we went to California - we got to visit my old college roommate & her husband (who is also an old college friend). We met their new baby. And, I'm not really ga-ga over peoples babies, but I've come to realize that my comfort level is based on how close I feel to the parents. I see other people walk up to complete strangers and touch their baby. I guess I don't feel a real desire to do this, but I still think it's pretty weird. If I were the parents, I wouldn't want some stranger just intruding into my grocery shopping trip and invading my personal space (er, I guess the baby's personal space). But, I usually have a "I'm getting things done now" attitude when I'm out doing errands anyway - chatting with strangers is not my thing for the most part. Not being shy or unfriendly (but I am still the nerd who is fine sitting in my cube all day) - maybe just more private. But anyway, yeah, I guess I never really feel all that comfortable with a baby unless I am really comfortable with the parents. So Wei Yan and I had a fun time playing with the new 3 month old. And our friends even said it was nice to get a little break from entertaining her.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Golden Nugget - the pool to lounge at
The Golden Nugget recently renovated their pool. If you are ever down on Fremont street - take the kiddies or just lounge out down here when you need a break from the tables. We went at night and it was one of the only places in Vegas where I've seen folks hanging out outside and looking really relaxed. Yes folks, those are REAL sharks in that tank - and, yup, you can slide right through that tank! (OK, it's not open at night, but still very cool)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
WSOP
Saturday, Wei Yan survives the day in Event 15. I stay until Wei Yan makes the money and then around 12:30am head off to catch the shuttle from Rio to Bally's before is shuts down for the night. Wei Yan has to play until 2am before he can sleep. Knowing his in the money, I get some sleep.
Sunday, I get up at 10am and head over to the Rio. Some scary looking women walking around - as in it's hard to tell that they actually are women. I grab some cha sha bao's from the Chinese place and eat while I wait. Noon and I find my table. Luckily they all look like women. At my first table, I'm playing aggressively, but making some descent lay downs. No running into Kings with AK at this first table for me.
The table is real quite. Someone jokes that no one wants to be the first one out. And it's true, once the first one goes, the mood lightens up. This table is definitley a bit quieter than last year (i.e., the women don't suck as bad - bummer) Tables start breaking after about an hour & a half. Kathy Leibert sits down at our table. And yup, we're all quite again. We're all eyeing her sizeable chip stack. Not much happens there. I raise a few times and hold my breath as she folds...the story that could have been. Then we break and I'm moved to a table in the 2nd row. Just a few hands in, it folds around to the small blind who raises to 300 (we're at 50-100). I look down at Queens - I know she's got at least a strong Ace, since she's small stacked & hasn't done anything but fold up til now. I raise to 1K. She pushes for another 750. I'm getting almost 4 to 1 (yeah, I know, not quite) and know I need to get lucky at some point. I'll have 2,500 left if I call - and I know I'm beat but I gotta do it. She has Aces of course and no luck in the cards to come.
Built my stack back up to 4,500 - then did some stupid chasing cuz I was in the small blind and I was back down to 2K before I know it. Folded around to me in the cutoff & I look down at KQ suited & push. Button calls (doesn't push) with AQ and even though the flop came A-8 of hearts, no more hearts and I'm done. 3rd round.
But Wei Yan is still in. While I'm still bummed, it's a few more hours of watching poker. He ends up coming in 89th and wins a little money, so he's 2 for 2 in WSOP events. Can't beat that!
Sunday, I get up at 10am and head over to the Rio. Some scary looking women walking around - as in it's hard to tell that they actually are women. I grab some cha sha bao's from the Chinese place and eat while I wait. Noon and I find my table. Luckily they all look like women. At my first table, I'm playing aggressively, but making some descent lay downs. No running into Kings with AK at this first table for me.
The table is real quite. Someone jokes that no one wants to be the first one out. And it's true, once the first one goes, the mood lightens up. This table is definitley a bit quieter than last year (i.e., the women don't suck as bad - bummer) Tables start breaking after about an hour & a half. Kathy Leibert sits down at our table. And yup, we're all quite again. We're all eyeing her sizeable chip stack. Not much happens there. I raise a few times and hold my breath as she folds...the story that could have been. Then we break and I'm moved to a table in the 2nd row. Just a few hands in, it folds around to the small blind who raises to 300 (we're at 50-100). I look down at Queens - I know she's got at least a strong Ace, since she's small stacked & hasn't done anything but fold up til now. I raise to 1K. She pushes for another 750. I'm getting almost 4 to 1 (yeah, I know, not quite) and know I need to get lucky at some point. I'll have 2,500 left if I call - and I know I'm beat but I gotta do it. She has Aces of course and no luck in the cards to come.
Built my stack back up to 4,500 - then did some stupid chasing cuz I was in the small blind and I was back down to 2K before I know it. Folded around to me in the cutoff & I look down at KQ suited & push. Button calls (doesn't push) with AQ and even though the flop came A-8 of hearts, no more hearts and I'm done. 3rd round.
But Wei Yan is still in. While I'm still bummed, it's a few more hours of watching poker. He ends up coming in 89th and wins a little money, so he's 2 for 2 in WSOP events. Can't beat that!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Caesar's tourney
Yesterday everyone arrived in Vegas. Ate at TAO (Venetian) - it was ok, but I've had better. I mean, we did just get back from HK. Today, we all (mostly) enter the Caesar's $200 tourney. By 7pm, I'm the only one of our crew left and it's down to the final 2 tables. I bust 10th - missing the final table, but now have a good chunk of my ladies event buy in. Mentally exhasted though!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Yup, it's happening
So, CNN posted an article about "Wiitis"" but I like "Wiinjury" better. At least is sounds less wimpy.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
count down to Vegas begins
In just a little over 48 hours from now we'll be on a plane to Vegas. The whole crew + a few new additions will be joining us this year. Decided to go ahead and buy into the ladies event. so that's sunday at 11am. no partying on sat night for me. :-)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
kobe
So the questions is, "What the heck is going on with Kobe?"
Yesterday, listening to Kobe's interview was funny. Halfway through it, Smith told everyone that it was early in LA, so Kobe sounded dumb (my interpretation) cuz he was sleepy. Kobe gave props to Shaq for backing him up then told everyone how the Laker organization was calling Shaq a rip off and fat and not worth renewing a contract with. Not sure Shaq wants a hug from Kobe. He said, he said drama with the Lakers....so lame. Everyone knows that everyone is unhappy with Lakers basketball. Playing out the drama on the national newswire is not the way to fix things. Grow up! Take your $136 Million & play some ball! You think that's what Phil told him?
Yesterday, listening to Kobe's interview was funny. Halfway through it, Smith told everyone that it was early in LA, so Kobe sounded dumb (my interpretation) cuz he was sleepy. Kobe gave props to Shaq for backing him up then told everyone how the Laker organization was calling Shaq a rip off and fat and not worth renewing a contract with. Not sure Shaq wants a hug from Kobe. He said, he said drama with the Lakers....so lame. Everyone knows that everyone is unhappy with Lakers basketball. Playing out the drama on the national newswire is not the way to fix things. Grow up! Take your $136 Million & play some ball! You think that's what Phil told him?
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The Big 3-O
Here's shwee dishing with the ladies on his take on grey's anatomy.
And the guys later that night after the poker had begun. Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Bad day
We went to lunch yesterday at Akashi which is on Hwy 54 between Hwy 55 & Alston (Right next to China Express). When we came back to the car after lunch, this is what we found. The front door was closed, but the window looked like this! Guess they saw a bag I was using as a gym bag on the floor in the back (the windows are tinted and they still saw it). They found work out clothes and nothing else, so they didn't take anything else as far as we can tell, but the window still is going to cost $535 to replace. Good thing we have a glass policy with our auto insurance, so the deductible is lower than our comprehensive deductible.
This really stinks, cuz I normally make sure I don't leave anything on the seats (too easy to smash & grab out of convenience) and I would not leave anything tempting around. But I guess my free lancome tote does look like a "purse" to a dumb guy criminal. On Monday, I left a dirty tuperware container in that bag. It stunk after being in a warm car all day - so too bad I had already taken that home, or else the punk would have had a great surprise.
So, I had to take the rest of the day off. Took a lunch that was already on the longer side, then had to wait for 30 min for the cops to get there, probably another 30 min to write the report and then go to Honda to get the estimate before it started raining. Then another hour talking with insurance. The Durham officer who did the report was really nice, so it helped get me not so mad about it. Still not mad, just bummed at all the hassle.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Taking a Look Around
So the day before yesterday, I met up with some girlfriends from our work softball team. We went to go walk through my pilates partner's townhouse (still under construction) and then we went to Frankie's to get some batting practice before our softball season starts. We got there and they said the batting cages were closed because the machines were wet (guess it really did rain quite a bit on Wednesday) - so on the way to the Ale House, we stopped by my house since neither of them had seen it (or at least all of it).
I gave them a quick tour around - I'm not much of a tourperson, but they were there to see our house. Downstairs was a bit messy, with Wei Yan just getting back from Vegas - but the upstairs is crazy messy. The office & bonus room are probably the worst. So much paper everywhere. Junk mail, craft stuff, catalogs, receipts - it's just everywhere. Well, we are going to make an effort to get some stuff together for the community garage sale in 2 weeks - so perhaps this will motivate us to purge a bit! I guess I just avoid some of the rooms upstairs - or just don't have a reason to go into them that often. But, I was just telling something yesterday, that when our duplex got ransacked & robbed in that year I took off of college, I was the last to know since my room was pretty cluttered. My roommates cries had to make me go back to my room & re-examine where I had left things before I figured it out! Perhaps it's time to clean up a bit. ;-)
I gave them a quick tour around - I'm not much of a tourperson, but they were there to see our house. Downstairs was a bit messy, with Wei Yan just getting back from Vegas - but the upstairs is crazy messy. The office & bonus room are probably the worst. So much paper everywhere. Junk mail, craft stuff, catalogs, receipts - it's just everywhere. Well, we are going to make an effort to get some stuff together for the community garage sale in 2 weeks - so perhaps this will motivate us to purge a bit! I guess I just avoid some of the rooms upstairs - or just don't have a reason to go into them that often. But, I was just telling something yesterday, that when our duplex got ransacked & robbed in that year I took off of college, I was the last to know since my room was pretty cluttered. My roommates cries had to make me go back to my room & re-examine where I had left things before I figured it out! Perhaps it's time to clean up a bit. ;-)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Smart guy in the news
I read an article about this Dr. Collins in the Carolina Review, and then today there is an article on CNN. The article in the Carolina Review was very interesting, because he is a really smart guy, but he also seems like a very stand-up guy as well. In the article, he described the whole competition with a private firm - his guys would sequence a new part of the humane genome & then publish it right away, so the private sector company couldn't sequence the next part & apply for a patent. Publishing the genes also allowed scientist to start using the data right away. He also mentioned that his first look into the human genome was to find the gene for Cystic Fibrosis - took 10 years and tons of money. Thus his interest in mapping the human genome began.
I was at Borders to see my friend Dan perform there - forgot the guy's name so I couldn't find the book he recently wrote. I'd buy the book on amazon, but I'm working on 3 months of Real Simple & Cooking Light magazines that have piled up with all the traveling we've been doing.
I was at Borders to see my friend Dan perform there - forgot the guy's name so I couldn't find the book he recently wrote. I'd buy the book on amazon, but I'm working on 3 months of Real Simple & Cooking Light magazines that have piled up with all the traveling we've been doing.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
the ladies just couldn't do it for me last night
It was late. 4 players left. I'm in the big blind (1,000 - 2,000 blinds, $200 antes) - folds around to the small blind who asks me how much I have (~$26K) and then pushes. Sam is big stack and has me covered. I look down at pocket queens and call immediately. Sam has Q-10. I'm 87% to win. flop gives same an open ended. turn gives him the straight. would have been big stack and dead tired (had survived an all in on the button with 9-7 off, a put me out of my misery so i can sleep push). would have probably helped me (363) overtake sam (375) & peter (404) in the points, but last night was not my night. went out 4th.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Surprise!
Wei Yan's 30th birthday was on Thursday, and we did the usual brazilian restaurant on that day. Then Saturday, with some help from CC and Ted, we got him good! This was right after the surprise when he realized that there weren't 30 people in the house there to just scream at him when he opened the door - they were all there for him.
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it. Wei Yan has never had a surprise party or a big birthday party, so this one was extra special. :-)
Saturday, March 10, 2007
ACC Quarterfinals 2007
This video is one of my favorite memories of the tournament so far. In keeping with some of the terrible officiating that we've seen today, the officials give this one to BC, but it's worth a replay or two.
Roy's boys 
Supporting Hansborough in his return after the broken nose! 
Miami's fan section - yup that's it 
Congrats to State on their 2 upsets so far. Keep it going! Friday, March 09, 2007
ACC Tourney - Day 1
Day one, we take off from RDU at 6:30am. Southwest is oversold, but luckily a few folks take the deal & we get on after a few tense moments. Day 1 is eventful. Games 1-3 are all close, upset city and Game 3 (Duke - NC State) goes into overtime. NC State pulls away in overtime, but up until then it was a close game.
Georgia Tech & Wake kick it off a bit late because of the previous overtime. About 5 min from half time, the officials are calling fouls left and right and the ball is getting turned over - I think we're lucky if we get 20 seconds of action before the game is stopped for 1 reason or another. Half time hits, Wei Yan's contacts are feeling it and even though it's close, Georgia Teck is looking pretty good. We decide to head home, since the game looks to be heading past midnight and we've been up since 4:45am (and that is after heading to bed late after finishing packing). We get back to the hotel just to find out the game is not on TV. Mental lapse. We keep checking the scores and by the 2nd overtime, we just can't hang on & we're asleep before the the game is decided.
After realizing Wednesday night that maybe I should have opted out of the red highlights - in case we get in a game with Maryland or State, I realize that now my hair is Florida State colors! Some one remind me Carolina blue next time!
Georgia Tech & Wake kick it off a bit late because of the previous overtime. About 5 min from half time, the officials are calling fouls left and right and the ball is getting turned over - I think we're lucky if we get 20 seconds of action before the game is stopped for 1 reason or another. Half time hits, Wei Yan's contacts are feeling it and even though it's close, Georgia Teck is looking pretty good. We decide to head home, since the game looks to be heading past midnight and we've been up since 4:45am (and that is after heading to bed late after finishing packing). We get back to the hotel just to find out the game is not on TV. Mental lapse. We keep checking the scores and by the 2nd overtime, we just can't hang on & we're asleep before the the game is decided.
After realizing Wednesday night that maybe I should have opted out of the red highlights - in case we get in a game with Maryland or State, I realize that now my hair is Florida State colors! Some one remind me Carolina blue next time! Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Short week
We are heading off to Tampa, FL tomorrow morning to go to the ACC Tournament. We have yet to sell our 2nd set of tickets, guess we'll have to do that in Tampa. Guess we'll be taking a huge loss on them, but nothing we can really do about that. Darn supply & demand! Hurts to be on the wrong end of that one.
I'm pooped. Even though it was just a few days at work, there have been some changes at work with the charity committee - and that ended up taking a lot out of me emotionally. The money we had control over is now in someone else's hands and we'll just be making recommendations. Trying to figure out what our role is in our growing company and will all the powers that be pulling, pushing & not really considering us. No one will tell us what our role is, and so we'll just have to figure it out and I'm feeling the burden to care not just about what event will have our logo & name all over it, but in using our resources as a group of people to help others who are less fortunate than us. We may have the greatest morale - but I think it is always important to help others and be grateful for what we have no matter how little or how much.
And a big project is coming up, and seems that it will require a lot of leadership skills and responsibilities. So much for taking it easy. Ah, well, all is good - 3 hours in the salon tonight - I think I may end up just forgetting about the color - I'll wait til I'm gray to do that whole deal. Thanks, Car for reading my blog.
I'm pooped. Even though it was just a few days at work, there have been some changes at work with the charity committee - and that ended up taking a lot out of me emotionally. The money we had control over is now in someone else's hands and we'll just be making recommendations. Trying to figure out what our role is in our growing company and will all the powers that be pulling, pushing & not really considering us. No one will tell us what our role is, and so we'll just have to figure it out and I'm feeling the burden to care not just about what event will have our logo & name all over it, but in using our resources as a group of people to help others who are less fortunate than us. We may have the greatest morale - but I think it is always important to help others and be grateful for what we have no matter how little or how much.
And a big project is coming up, and seems that it will require a lot of leadership skills and responsibilities. So much for taking it easy. Ah, well, all is good - 3 hours in the salon tonight - I think I may end up just forgetting about the color - I'll wait til I'm gray to do that whole deal. Thanks, Car for reading my blog.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Pizza Hut pan pizzas
Does anyone eat Pizza Hut regularly? I can't remember the last time I actually at a Pizza Hut pizza. When we were in Hong Kong, we saw a Pizza Hut delivery scooter and we were talking about the whole Pizza Hut thing. Then I remembered the reading program where we read books & then earned little individual pizzas. I think that was really the only time I've really eaten at Pizza Hut. There was a recent article saying how the Book It program is still going, but now under fire because of the whole childhood obesity thing. I can't remember if this was the same thing as the little green worm - where each book was another little round body part that you added to your worm. Does anyone one else remember this? Was the worm thing something else.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Happy Feet winning an Oscar???
I saw Cars and I saw Happy Feet. I did not see Monster House, but Happy Feet did not deserve an Oscar. It was terrible. Yes, the plot was bad. The animation was OK, but I think that Cars had it's own great animation and had a much better story. I've heard that people thought Cars was boring - Happy Feet was plain just 2 preachy stories rolled into 1 movie. Watch March of the Penguin if you want to see a good story about penguins. The music is Happy Feet was just ok. If you want music - watch Dreamgirls. I could not disagree more with Happy Feet winning an Oscar. Maybe I'll watch Monster House just to confirm, I doubt it's necessary to change my mind. Lame, academy.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Carolina vs. State
Wei Yan and I were talking the other day about if I'm competative or not. My conclusion is that I'm not really competative, maybe vengeful, but not so competative. So, fittingly, we happened upong some tickets to the State game and it was quite satisfying. My friend, Bert is the lone guy in State Red! Top Left! On the Jumbo Tron, I can say that he definitely took his licks (hit by at least one t-shirt) and taunting. Much props for school spirit. Good thing Carolina won - otherwise Bert would have been pretty lonely. Apparently the other girl in pink is not a State fan, just a girl wearing a Carolina Girls shirt.
Go Heels!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Feb 20 - Back in NC
After a long plane ride home, we made it back safely!
This is us at the airport with all of our luggage at RDU. We only used 1 of the extra bags we brought, so not too bad (especially since we had to lug our stuff through customs)
This is us at the airport with all of our luggage at RDU. We only used 1 of the extra bags we brought, so not too bad (especially since we had to lug our stuff through customs)
Monday, February 19, 2007
Day 9 - Last full day in Hong Kon
We head to meet a family friend at Sogo. The other cousins have decided to just do something quick, since everyone is running behind. We meet Joanne and search for a place to eat. A lot of stuff is closed, so we eat sandwhiches & coffee at a cofee place. It's a quick meet up, and then we are off to meet some of Wei Yan's family. After meeting another one of Wei Yan's cousins, we get Japanese red bean pastries (the ones they make in the hot molds) and I try one filled with creme, which I've never had before. We decide on heading to Tsim Sha Tsui to shop a little and then to Temple street for more deals.
After shopping, we hop in a taxi & run into a little traffic. We end up getting to Dave's uncle's place at about 7:40pm. Fireworks start at 8pm. The light rain today & cloudy weather is an issue. Some of the fireworks are basekd by the clouds and you can only see the bottoms of the bursts. Dave and Eunice think that it looks better on TV, which it does, but we just enjoy the live view & take pictures/video. Afterwards, we go to Central station, but the restaurant ("tastey" congee) is too full. We head over to Times Square by taxi - and get a good shot of the IFC - it's a bit spookey with clouds covering the top. We eat at a restaurant instead that has lots of Northern chinese food. We see the guys behind a glass hand stretching noodles or making dumplings & putting them directly into the steamers. The food is good here, and again, I'm stuffed. We then head back to start packing.
I don't think any of us is looking forward to the 16 hours of flying, but I think all of us are ready to head home.
After shopping, we hop in a taxi & run into a little traffic. We end up getting to Dave's uncle's place at about 7:40pm. Fireworks start at 8pm. The light rain today & cloudy weather is an issue. Some of the fireworks are basekd by the clouds and you can only see the bottoms of the bursts. Dave and Eunice think that it looks better on TV, which it does, but we just enjoy the live view & take pictures/video. Afterwards, we go to Central station, but the restaurant ("tastey" congee) is too full. We head over to Times Square by taxi - and get a good shot of the IFC - it's a bit spookey with clouds covering the top. We eat at a restaurant instead that has lots of Northern chinese food. We see the guys behind a glass hand stretching noodles or making dumplings & putting them directly into the steamers. The food is good here, and again, I'm stuffed. We then head back to start packing.
I don't think any of us is looking forward to the 16 hours of flying, but I think all of us are ready to head home.
Day 8 - Kung Hey Fat Choy
Happy Lunar New Year!
We get a slow start, but need to be out to visit Wei Yan's grandmother by 2pm. We grab a quick roast pork bun & then arrive 15 min late. She is up & awake today. We wish her a Happy New Year and visit for a while. It's a bit hard to understand her because of the stroke, but she is able to smile on both sides of her face, more on one than the other, but enough that you can tell the left side has regained some mobility. Her eyes light up & she smiles when she recognized Wei Yand or when she sees me smiling at her. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know who I am or can't remember, but it's ok. We find out she is 95.
After the visit, we head back to Causeway Bay. We eat a mini cheesecake (which is more like a cheesecake flavored sponge cake) and check out Lai Chi Kok Park at the Mei Foo MTR station. There are some funny signs of what you can't do at the park, but we do see some Filipina maids playing cards in the park.
We decide on Japanese curry for dinner. Service is the most terrible of the whole trip. The curry gives me a bit of tummy ache, but after Dave finds me some antacid at a store, we end up heading out to check out an arcade. It's in the building right next to the Excelsior. It's pretty cheap - maybe $5 HK dollars at the most for a game. After that, we stop at the same place we got take out dessert before & we get some watermelon & strawberry slushy stuff with mini tapioca balls in it. Sam & Wei Yan head back to the bar at Excelsior for a beer, and I head back to the Apt with Dave. Not a very eventful day, the streets are eearily quite today - most folks are visiting family.
We get a slow start, but need to be out to visit Wei Yan's grandmother by 2pm. We grab a quick roast pork bun & then arrive 15 min late. She is up & awake today. We wish her a Happy New Year and visit for a while. It's a bit hard to understand her because of the stroke, but she is able to smile on both sides of her face, more on one than the other, but enough that you can tell the left side has regained some mobility. Her eyes light up & she smiles when she recognized Wei Yand or when she sees me smiling at her. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know who I am or can't remember, but it's ok. We find out she is 95.
After the visit, we head back to Causeway Bay. We eat a mini cheesecake (which is more like a cheesecake flavored sponge cake) and check out Lai Chi Kok Park at the Mei Foo MTR station. There are some funny signs of what you can't do at the park, but we do see some Filipina maids playing cards in the park.
We decide on Japanese curry for dinner. Service is the most terrible of the whole trip. The curry gives me a bit of tummy ache, but after Dave finds me some antacid at a store, we end up heading out to check out an arcade. It's in the building right next to the Excelsior. It's pretty cheap - maybe $5 HK dollars at the most for a game. After that, we stop at the same place we got take out dessert before & we get some watermelon & strawberry slushy stuff with mini tapioca balls in it. Sam & Wei Yan head back to the bar at Excelsior for a beer, and I head back to the Apt with Dave. Not a very eventful day, the streets are eearily quite today - most folks are visiting family.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Day 7 - Saturday Feb 17th
We wake up and Wei Yan heads out to eat & pick up our laundry, and I opt to stay in and blog a little. I make a little instant coffee that I brought with me and a granola bar that we also brought with us to eat on the plane. Wei Yan returns with Eunice, Sam and no laundry, but has some spicy lo bo gao and squid jook. Both are pretty good minus a few shrimp shells in the lo bo gao and some weird white gelatinous stuff in the jook. I try to ask Wei Yan to look at the white stuff & remember what it was, but not tell me til after I'm done, but he immediately declares that he has no idea what is is. Before I'm done eating, Dave gets back with 2 bags of laundry. Seems that the lady at the laundry was afraid she lost a bag and lied saying that it wasn't there yet, when she was just trying to figure out what she had lost. Finally, she figures out that it's all there, and gave him the laundry.
We head out to the Big Buddha. We have to take a few trains and make a few connections. A bunch of people get out on the Disney stop - it is definitely a far way out there and Dave tell us the ticket price is high. Doesn't take a genius to figure out why it's not that popular. We finally get out at the end of the line & hop on the tram. It's all enclosed except for these vents that create a huge breeze - although I can appreciate how it would help in the winter, it's just cold. I'm glad Wei Yan reminded me that I would need a jacket since it's 5F degrees colder up here. It's a big foggy, but after we get funnelled through a store at the top of the tram, we can see the Buddha. We walk through a small street with a bunch of stores & restaurants. Feels a little like Disneyland and very un-mimimalistic. Dave eats some healthy jelly made from tortise shell - which we get Sam to taste. He declares that it's not that bad, but the rest of us just watch Dave eat the black jelly that he is eating for health reasons instead of taste. We walk over to the bottom on the Buddha. We decide to head up the stairs first. Everyone is a little winded and definitely feels the stairmaster burn. Once at the top we take a bunch of pictures, enjoy the view of the monastary and look around. Wei Yan gets about 4 calls while we are up there so I take off to take some pictures and look around. The inside underneath the Buddha is a round room where there are what look like names written all over with a few peoples' pictures. A few pictures of Buddha and basic stories. I head outside & wait at the top of the stairs for the guys. A lady makes it to the top & her friend asked her in a Southern accent if she felt 70 yet! The lady takes the 70 year olds picture at the top - reward for all that work and then she asks the 2 other ladies if they want their picture taken and they reply something to the effect of them not taking pictures.
Anyway, find the guys and head back down the stairs. The guys then eat some jerky & other snacks that Eunice brought with her (she stayed at the bottom of the stairs). I take a picture of the guys eating their jerky, and then a picture near the entance to the monastary that says "vegetarian food only" - there was no sign in the common central area, but I still find it ironic. Seems more commercial than religious, although I see a few people bowing & praying to the Buddha. We check out the monastary - the temple here is definitely the most ornate. We find out that the monastary is trying to build a new temple about 4 times the size of the existing one - and you can donate for certain things - 1,000 for a brick, 500,000 for a dragon pilar. Then we opt not to eat & head back down.
We grab a bite to eat at the bottom - it's like a Moe's burrito place but with different types of rice instead of tortillas. Pretty good. We head on the MTR back to Causeway Bay for Won Ton Noodle soup. It's a chain that they have in Ontario too - and Dave says that the Ontario branch is better. I try the noodles with vinegar and chili sauce like Dave & Eunice and it's much better than I think it's going to be. Then we stop at a shop to buy dried sea cucumbers. They look like turds in a jar, but at least they have no heads or eyes. There are some dried scallops too - but again, no heads or eyes. Sam & I discuss this fact. It's taking some time, so I check out the back of the store despite the smell. There are some type of lizard dried up & some sea horses that Wei Yan points out, so I report to Sam that we were wrong - they do have stuff with eyes & heads, so it really is that bad. We purchase few more things and then head back.
Then it's off to see Wei Yan's grandmother & meet his uncle's family. It's a long commute. Wei Yan's grandma is sleeping so she ends up not making it to dinner. We go to see her afterwards and the place is really crappy as EVERYONE warns us. We're glad for the warning, but it still is bad. It takes his grandmother about 5 minutes to wake up. When she finally does she does smile quite big when recognizing Wei Yan, but she is pretty out of it still. We leave her after getting Wei Yan's mom on the phone to talk to her and make arrangements to come back tomorrow. After getting back, we head to the Excelsior & meet up with Sam. We opt for the bar downstairs since the streets are packed for the New Year's fair. After some beers (Irish coffee for me) and some appetizers (onion rings & wings) - Wei Yan & I head to check out the fair. It's now 2:30am - and Dave says that it usually dies down by 2am. We finally make it into the fair, and then we are stuck. It's one way down a row of vendors - and you can barely move in any direction. Wei Yan calls Dave & we head sideways and then back despite the one way. We finally meet him at a Coke-a-cola tent & decide to just leave.
We're tired and despite the smoke from the bar, we just sleep. It's probably 4AM now and the streets are still full.
We head out to the Big Buddha. We have to take a few trains and make a few connections. A bunch of people get out on the Disney stop - it is definitely a far way out there and Dave tell us the ticket price is high. Doesn't take a genius to figure out why it's not that popular. We finally get out at the end of the line & hop on the tram. It's all enclosed except for these vents that create a huge breeze - although I can appreciate how it would help in the winter, it's just cold. I'm glad Wei Yan reminded me that I would need a jacket since it's 5F degrees colder up here. It's a big foggy, but after we get funnelled through a store at the top of the tram, we can see the Buddha. We walk through a small street with a bunch of stores & restaurants. Feels a little like Disneyland and very un-mimimalistic. Dave eats some healthy jelly made from tortise shell - which we get Sam to taste. He declares that it's not that bad, but the rest of us just watch Dave eat the black jelly that he is eating for health reasons instead of taste. We walk over to the bottom on the Buddha. We decide to head up the stairs first. Everyone is a little winded and definitely feels the stairmaster burn. Once at the top we take a bunch of pictures, enjoy the view of the monastary and look around. Wei Yan gets about 4 calls while we are up there so I take off to take some pictures and look around. The inside underneath the Buddha is a round room where there are what look like names written all over with a few peoples' pictures. A few pictures of Buddha and basic stories. I head outside & wait at the top of the stairs for the guys. A lady makes it to the top & her friend asked her in a Southern accent if she felt 70 yet! The lady takes the 70 year olds picture at the top - reward for all that work and then she asks the 2 other ladies if they want their picture taken and they reply something to the effect of them not taking pictures.
Anyway, find the guys and head back down the stairs. The guys then eat some jerky & other snacks that Eunice brought with her (she stayed at the bottom of the stairs). I take a picture of the guys eating their jerky, and then a picture near the entance to the monastary that says "vegetarian food only" - there was no sign in the common central area, but I still find it ironic. Seems more commercial than religious, although I see a few people bowing & praying to the Buddha. We check out the monastary - the temple here is definitely the most ornate. We find out that the monastary is trying to build a new temple about 4 times the size of the existing one - and you can donate for certain things - 1,000 for a brick, 500,000 for a dragon pilar. Then we opt not to eat & head back down.
We grab a bite to eat at the bottom - it's like a Moe's burrito place but with different types of rice instead of tortillas. Pretty good. We head on the MTR back to Causeway Bay for Won Ton Noodle soup. It's a chain that they have in Ontario too - and Dave says that the Ontario branch is better. I try the noodles with vinegar and chili sauce like Dave & Eunice and it's much better than I think it's going to be. Then we stop at a shop to buy dried sea cucumbers. They look like turds in a jar, but at least they have no heads or eyes. There are some dried scallops too - but again, no heads or eyes. Sam & I discuss this fact. It's taking some time, so I check out the back of the store despite the smell. There are some type of lizard dried up & some sea horses that Wei Yan points out, so I report to Sam that we were wrong - they do have stuff with eyes & heads, so it really is that bad. We purchase few more things and then head back.
Then it's off to see Wei Yan's grandmother & meet his uncle's family. It's a long commute. Wei Yan's grandma is sleeping so she ends up not making it to dinner. We go to see her afterwards and the place is really crappy as EVERYONE warns us. We're glad for the warning, but it still is bad. It takes his grandmother about 5 minutes to wake up. When she finally does she does smile quite big when recognizing Wei Yan, but she is pretty out of it still. We leave her after getting Wei Yan's mom on the phone to talk to her and make arrangements to come back tomorrow. After getting back, we head to the Excelsior & meet up with Sam. We opt for the bar downstairs since the streets are packed for the New Year's fair. After some beers (Irish coffee for me) and some appetizers (onion rings & wings) - Wei Yan & I head to check out the fair. It's now 2:30am - and Dave says that it usually dies down by 2am. We finally make it into the fair, and then we are stuck. It's one way down a row of vendors - and you can barely move in any direction. Wei Yan calls Dave & we head sideways and then back despite the one way. We finally meet him at a Coke-a-cola tent & decide to just leave.
We're tired and despite the smoke from the bar, we just sleep. It's probably 4AM now and the streets are still full.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Day 6 - Returing to Hong Kong
We wake up a bit late - miss our free breakfast. When we catch up with the others, they report that we haven't missed much. Although Wei Yan is disappointed to have missed bacon. We head out to some square. Here we have double steamed milk pudding - delicious, hot & a little sweet. We have a sandwich that is made of a crispy bread (like a french roll) and a grilled pork cutlet - pretty yummy. We split a coconut bun and then are off to find something else for Wei Yan to eat. There is a street market that leads up to what remains of a church - it's just the face of the church since Eunice says that the rest burned in a fire. Wei Yan finds fried dumplings and I have a tea boiled egg. Then we are accosted by street vendors wanting us to try their almond cookies & jerky. Wei Yan of course obliges them. We decide not to buy anything just yet, since we'll have to carry everything around & our boat is reserved for midnight.
By the end of the road, before we get to the church, we've broken down & buy a bunch of stuff at Pastelaria Koi Kei. After the 4th jerky purchase, Eunice tells Wei Yan that he can't bring unlabelled meat to the US. If it doesn't state that it doesn't have beef with an official "Ingredients" section, then he won't be able to bring it in. So he stops and makes his purchase. The jerky is in individual bags that get sealed up after you make your pick, so he can't really put it back. We get some cookies and then take some pictures in front of the church. We also see a guy making something that seems like a crepe, until I realize that he is putting a slip of nori (seaweed) on it & some powdery cream-colored stuff & wrapping it up. Wei Yan buys 3 - and before I get to the middle of it, he tells me the powder stuff is meat. Odd, but not bad. I think it's probably an acquired taste, but it's actually not too bad. I get some fresh squeezed orange juice which is good because it's not too sweet.
Then we head back to our hotel to drop of our purchases. Then we head to this fisherman's wharf thing that is across the street. There is a huge fake volcano that Wei Yan & I can see from our hotel room. There is also some shops. I buy a coffee and we look at some of the shops. We see some girls dressed in some ethnic clothing & showing folks how to spin some toy - Wei Yan tried to take a picture, and we head off to a shop selling fake hello kitty stuffed animals. Wei Yan joins us and reports that he almost got run over by a cart that was carrying a tour group - some guy started talking to him and that's when he realized that they were stopped right next to him, honking at him while he was trying to get his picture.
We pass by some food, and Wei Yan spots some crispy skin pork. Eunice, Catherine & I are totally stuffed, so we're not sure how he can eat any more. He gets a container of crispy skin pork & roast pork and eventually we all give in & eat a little. We hear a guy talking in English on a cell phone and I decides that he is probably the most stereotypical gay sounding guy I've ever heard in person - not on TV or in a movie - but almost that stereotypical. We've seen a lot of feminine women and masculine men in Hong Kong, but this one is definitely the most out there. No purse though (we've seen a lot of guys carrying their woman's purse, but then also some that have their own). We head over to the Sands. Wei Yan & I head down to the non-smoking section & check out the Caribbean poker. He hits a good streak - even with the dealer informing him that he can surrender/fold. In the end he is up after last night's blackjack. He give the dealer a $50 HK tip - and we conclude that it was probably a bit much considering how surprised the dealer was. Then we find Dave & try our hand at Baccarat. We end up just following him. I guess there is a lot of superstition involved, because we can't really tell why this is interesting or exciting. You bet on either the dealer or the players hand. No decisions after that. We're up a little and before we meet everyone at 6:30, we decide to try the Caribbean poker again. We end up about even, up a few hundred and when I'm cashing out, I think I have $1,150 HK (about $125 US) - and the cashier gives me $1,050 - when I ask her, then end up counting everything in the drawer. After about 10 min, they conclude that no, they were right. Next time I won't ask. Finally we meet up with everyone else.
We hop in a taxi and head over to find some dinner. We end up walking down another alley of shops to a Portuguese/Macanese restaurant. We order some food - ribs, clams, curry chicken, fried chicken (like a fried, breadless rotisserie chicken), and garlic toast. I'm not really impressed with much - I think I only liked the African chicken - the rest of the food I can just not bother with next time. We head back to the hotel & grab out stuff. Now we have so many packages, we head to the docks and we're off on the 1st boat - we get on standby & forget about waiting until midnight.
Once back in the Apt, we put down all of our stuff & head out to find dessert, since I didn't eat much. It's super crowded since a lot of folks are at a fair at the park next to the Apt. Streets are already closed down, which makes it easier to navigate with all the people. We finally find the dessert place - and can't understand anything one the menu. We do see one has an English translation for Bird's nest (which is actually swallow spit) - so we look for something safe & after a bit are able to order. Wei Yan gets some curry fish balls & shu mai & we head back. It's pretty late now, since all of people made it difficult to navigate. When we return to the Apt, Dave is beat and head off to bed. Eunice stays & talks a while. The dessert is some mango & watermelon puree with slices of fruit & tiny mochis. Pretty good & a nice light way to end the evening. When Wei Yan gets to his shu mai, he's mystified - then Eunice tells him that the street vendors put a lot of flour in them dumplings. Wei Yan can't even tell there is any shrimp - it looks like a white dough with a slightly pink coloring! He finishes a few & then dumps the rest.
I spend a while blogging & trying to write down some of the stuff we've done in the last 2 days. Wei Yan is snoring within 5 minutes. He is so knocked out that me squeezing his cheeks does nothing but variate his snoring sounds. I'm done at around 2:30am and we sleep. The bed at the hotel in Macau was like sleeping on a board, so our bed at the Apt, though small is feeling like a cloud.
By the end of the road, before we get to the church, we've broken down & buy a bunch of stuff at Pastelaria Koi Kei. After the 4th jerky purchase, Eunice tells Wei Yan that he can't bring unlabelled meat to the US. If it doesn't state that it doesn't have beef with an official "Ingredients" section, then he won't be able to bring it in. So he stops and makes his purchase. The jerky is in individual bags that get sealed up after you make your pick, so he can't really put it back. We get some cookies and then take some pictures in front of the church. We also see a guy making something that seems like a crepe, until I realize that he is putting a slip of nori (seaweed) on it & some powdery cream-colored stuff & wrapping it up. Wei Yan buys 3 - and before I get to the middle of it, he tells me the powder stuff is meat. Odd, but not bad. I think it's probably an acquired taste, but it's actually not too bad. I get some fresh squeezed orange juice which is good because it's not too sweet.
Then we head back to our hotel to drop of our purchases. Then we head to this fisherman's wharf thing that is across the street. There is a huge fake volcano that Wei Yan & I can see from our hotel room. There is also some shops. I buy a coffee and we look at some of the shops. We see some girls dressed in some ethnic clothing & showing folks how to spin some toy - Wei Yan tried to take a picture, and we head off to a shop selling fake hello kitty stuffed animals. Wei Yan joins us and reports that he almost got run over by a cart that was carrying a tour group - some guy started talking to him and that's when he realized that they were stopped right next to him, honking at him while he was trying to get his picture.
We pass by some food, and Wei Yan spots some crispy skin pork. Eunice, Catherine & I are totally stuffed, so we're not sure how he can eat any more. He gets a container of crispy skin pork & roast pork and eventually we all give in & eat a little. We hear a guy talking in English on a cell phone and I decides that he is probably the most stereotypical gay sounding guy I've ever heard in person - not on TV or in a movie - but almost that stereotypical. We've seen a lot of feminine women and masculine men in Hong Kong, but this one is definitely the most out there. No purse though (we've seen a lot of guys carrying their woman's purse, but then also some that have their own). We head over to the Sands. Wei Yan & I head down to the non-smoking section & check out the Caribbean poker. He hits a good streak - even with the dealer informing him that he can surrender/fold. In the end he is up after last night's blackjack. He give the dealer a $50 HK tip - and we conclude that it was probably a bit much considering how surprised the dealer was. Then we find Dave & try our hand at Baccarat. We end up just following him. I guess there is a lot of superstition involved, because we can't really tell why this is interesting or exciting. You bet on either the dealer or the players hand. No decisions after that. We're up a little and before we meet everyone at 6:30, we decide to try the Caribbean poker again. We end up about even, up a few hundred and when I'm cashing out, I think I have $1,150 HK (about $125 US) - and the cashier gives me $1,050 - when I ask her, then end up counting everything in the drawer. After about 10 min, they conclude that no, they were right. Next time I won't ask. Finally we meet up with everyone else.
We hop in a taxi and head over to find some dinner. We end up walking down another alley of shops to a Portuguese/Macanese restaurant. We order some food - ribs, clams, curry chicken, fried chicken (like a fried, breadless rotisserie chicken), and garlic toast. I'm not really impressed with much - I think I only liked the African chicken - the rest of the food I can just not bother with next time. We head back to the hotel & grab out stuff. Now we have so many packages, we head to the docks and we're off on the 1st boat - we get on standby & forget about waiting until midnight.
Once back in the Apt, we put down all of our stuff & head out to find dessert, since I didn't eat much. It's super crowded since a lot of folks are at a fair at the park next to the Apt. Streets are already closed down, which makes it easier to navigate with all the people. We finally find the dessert place - and can't understand anything one the menu. We do see one has an English translation for Bird's nest (which is actually swallow spit) - so we look for something safe & after a bit are able to order. Wei Yan gets some curry fish balls & shu mai & we head back. It's pretty late now, since all of people made it difficult to navigate. When we return to the Apt, Dave is beat and head off to bed. Eunice stays & talks a while. The dessert is some mango & watermelon puree with slices of fruit & tiny mochis. Pretty good & a nice light way to end the evening. When Wei Yan gets to his shu mai, he's mystified - then Eunice tells him that the street vendors put a lot of flour in them dumplings. Wei Yan can't even tell there is any shrimp - it looks like a white dough with a slightly pink coloring! He finishes a few & then dumps the rest.
I spend a while blogging & trying to write down some of the stuff we've done in the last 2 days. Wei Yan is snoring within 5 minutes. He is so knocked out that me squeezing his cheeks does nothing but variate his snoring sounds. I'm done at around 2:30am and we sleep. The bed at the hotel in Macau was like sleeping on a board, so our bed at the Apt, though small is feeling like a cloud.
Day 5 - Heading to Macau
We meet up at the MTR station and head off to take a Turbo Jet boat to Macau. Once we get there, Sam is ready for coffee at the Starbucks, but it looks like there is some immigration form we have to fill out and we have to go through a line. We head off and the line it actually not bad - it's worse for Wei Yan's cousins, since there are way more HK residents trying to get through. We end up getting on Standby for an earlier boat, so we are off a little early. I'm definitely a little weary of eating or drinking anything - even coffee, when I see our boat rocking like crazy, and we almost fall over when we are getting into our seats, so I'm bracing myself for some seasickness.
Once we get out of the harbor, we start booking, and it's surprisingly smooth. Sam gets his coffee and after about half an hour, I dig into my coconut cream bun from the night before. I think we're still adjusting to HK, since we keep buying way too much - thinking we're in the US and stocking up. Anyway, on the ride, I'm glad that I was so greedy the night before, but then I get even more greedy & wish my coconut cream bun was fresh. The ride takes little less than an hour.
We take a taxi to a restaurant. I know we crossed a bridge, so we're not in Macau - but on another nearby island. The resturant is pretty fancy by our recent standards - table cloths, full set of utensils, etc. Wei Yan's cousin's order - I mention the African chicken that our tour book suggested, but they already saw it in their Chinese guide book & had already decided on it. We get some deep fried appetizers - way fishy for me. Sam says he likes them, and no one else really does, so Dave quickly gives him the last one. Next is fried rice (too bland), bloody duck (I will pass next time, even though it's about the 2nd best dish of the lunch), african chicken (with fried potato slices) & ribs. The african chicken is super super yummy. The bill was kind of expensive, but not compared to US prices.
We walk up the street to another Tim Hau temple. This one is really big - more spread out, but there are large chinese characters painted in red on rocks. One lady is shaking her fortune sticks and I start to get nervous for her when she's been shaking for quite some time & nothing seems to be ready to fall out. We take some pictures, look around, and come back & she is still shaking. Finally something falls out & the guy give her the slip of paper from the stacks of papers behind him that match the stick. They are all in Chinese. There are these large, yellow insence spirals that are hanging everywhere. It takes me a while to figure out that these aren't just decorations, they are actually burning & spewing ash everywhere. We head back down. There is another small temple at the bottom & the opposite side of where we came in. We step in to check it out, but it is very smokey in there. Before we turn around, Wei Yan points out a guy trying to light 3 insence sticks that are as big as baseball bats. But the smoke is too much & we head out. While we are waiting for Sam to finish his photos, we take some more pictures & decide what to do next.
Next it is go carts and then dan tat at Lord Stow's. The dan tat are piping hot & much better than the ones from Excelsior claiming to be from Lord Stows. We then take a bus over to Grand Lisboa. The casino is pretty big - we have to go through a metal detector before entering the casino. No smoking in the casino here. We look around, even ask if they have poker, but all they have is 1-2 carribean stud tables, and tons of baccarat. We look around for 30 min, and Wei Yan gets to play a little blackjack, before we meet up again. We head over to the Wynn. They also have few games that Wei Yan, Sam & I are familar with, so we leave. We take a taxi to dinner. The first taxi driver doesn't speak cantonese very well, and claims that the place doesn't exist. After Catherine figures this out, we all get out & head back to the taxi stand. Finally, the next taxi driver is cool. He even sees a traffic jam, and navigates us around it - through some back streets. On a left turn, he turns so fast, that Wei Yan and I thought he was going to side swipe a car parked on the side of the street. But he narrowly misses it (Wei Yan swears it was by less than an inch). We pull over in what seems like a back alley. It's not a great neighborhood. We walk up some stairs and we are in what looks like a parking lot. There are a bunch of round tables set up outside, with platic bags over them & plastic stools for chairs. We sit down & Dave cleans our utensils, bowls & spoons with the tea. They order and the food comes shortly. First a noodle dish - yummy, the noodles are definitely fresh. Some chinese veggie (looks like green onion but thicker) & seafood dish - very good. Some fish with lemon sauce, also good. We order some white rice (yay! finally chinese food with rice). We get some type of chinese broccoli with chinese sausage. Eggplant & pork in a stone dish for me since eggplant is my favorite. Then soup - with a whole crab in it & some white cubed vegetable. Once we ate, we took a taxi back to Sands. We try to find something to play. We sit down at a black jack table - none of the players around us seem to know how to play. Hitting on 16 with the dealer showing 6 and stuff like that. The smoke starts getting to me, so I have to head downstairs to the smokeless lobby & wait for Wei Yan and Sam to finish up. We head back to our hotel (acoss the street) called Hotel Golden Dragon, and Sam gets his bag & heads of to try to make it back to HK on his own. It's maybe 10:30pm now.
After a long day with crowded busses (and I mean 2x as crowded as the HK buses) and the pollution, I'm done. Macau is pretty much a ghetto of Hong Kong as far as I can tell. With no gambling that I can figure out, so I'm not too impressed.
Once we get out of the harbor, we start booking, and it's surprisingly smooth. Sam gets his coffee and after about half an hour, I dig into my coconut cream bun from the night before. I think we're still adjusting to HK, since we keep buying way too much - thinking we're in the US and stocking up. Anyway, on the ride, I'm glad that I was so greedy the night before, but then I get even more greedy & wish my coconut cream bun was fresh. The ride takes little less than an hour.
We take a taxi to a restaurant. I know we crossed a bridge, so we're not in Macau - but on another nearby island. The resturant is pretty fancy by our recent standards - table cloths, full set of utensils, etc. Wei Yan's cousin's order - I mention the African chicken that our tour book suggested, but they already saw it in their Chinese guide book & had already decided on it. We get some deep fried appetizers - way fishy for me. Sam says he likes them, and no one else really does, so Dave quickly gives him the last one. Next is fried rice (too bland), bloody duck (I will pass next time, even though it's about the 2nd best dish of the lunch), african chicken (with fried potato slices) & ribs. The african chicken is super super yummy. The bill was kind of expensive, but not compared to US prices.
We walk up the street to another Tim Hau temple. This one is really big - more spread out, but there are large chinese characters painted in red on rocks. One lady is shaking her fortune sticks and I start to get nervous for her when she's been shaking for quite some time & nothing seems to be ready to fall out. We take some pictures, look around, and come back & she is still shaking. Finally something falls out & the guy give her the slip of paper from the stacks of papers behind him that match the stick. They are all in Chinese. There are these large, yellow insence spirals that are hanging everywhere. It takes me a while to figure out that these aren't just decorations, they are actually burning & spewing ash everywhere. We head back down. There is another small temple at the bottom & the opposite side of where we came in. We step in to check it out, but it is very smokey in there. Before we turn around, Wei Yan points out a guy trying to light 3 insence sticks that are as big as baseball bats. But the smoke is too much & we head out. While we are waiting for Sam to finish his photos, we take some more pictures & decide what to do next.
Next it is go carts and then dan tat at Lord Stow's. The dan tat are piping hot & much better than the ones from Excelsior claiming to be from Lord Stows. We then take a bus over to Grand Lisboa. The casino is pretty big - we have to go through a metal detector before entering the casino. No smoking in the casino here. We look around, even ask if they have poker, but all they have is 1-2 carribean stud tables, and tons of baccarat. We look around for 30 min, and Wei Yan gets to play a little blackjack, before we meet up again. We head over to the Wynn. They also have few games that Wei Yan, Sam & I are familar with, so we leave. We take a taxi to dinner. The first taxi driver doesn't speak cantonese very well, and claims that the place doesn't exist. After Catherine figures this out, we all get out & head back to the taxi stand. Finally, the next taxi driver is cool. He even sees a traffic jam, and navigates us around it - through some back streets. On a left turn, he turns so fast, that Wei Yan and I thought he was going to side swipe a car parked on the side of the street. But he narrowly misses it (Wei Yan swears it was by less than an inch). We pull over in what seems like a back alley. It's not a great neighborhood. We walk up some stairs and we are in what looks like a parking lot. There are a bunch of round tables set up outside, with platic bags over them & plastic stools for chairs. We sit down & Dave cleans our utensils, bowls & spoons with the tea. They order and the food comes shortly. First a noodle dish - yummy, the noodles are definitely fresh. Some chinese veggie (looks like green onion but thicker) & seafood dish - very good. Some fish with lemon sauce, also good. We order some white rice (yay! finally chinese food with rice). We get some type of chinese broccoli with chinese sausage. Eggplant & pork in a stone dish for me since eggplant is my favorite. Then soup - with a whole crab in it & some white cubed vegetable. Once we ate, we took a taxi back to Sands. We try to find something to play. We sit down at a black jack table - none of the players around us seem to know how to play. Hitting on 16 with the dealer showing 6 and stuff like that. The smoke starts getting to me, so I have to head downstairs to the smokeless lobby & wait for Wei Yan and Sam to finish up. We head back to our hotel (acoss the street) called Hotel Golden Dragon, and Sam gets his bag & heads of to try to make it back to HK on his own. It's maybe 10:30pm now.
After a long day with crowded busses (and I mean 2x as crowded as the HK buses) and the pollution, I'm done. Macau is pretty much a ghetto of Hong Kong as far as I can tell. With no gambling that I can figure out, so I'm not too impressed.
Day 4 - Valentine's Day in Hong Kong
We checked the rate to stay another day at the hotel, but $200 US is no deal - hotels.com even has a better rate. Plus we realize that if we check out on the same day as our Macau trip, it might be more hectic on Thursday. So we wake up and check out around 11am. We decide to pay in cash, since the Excelsior is offering 7.4 and we weren't able to exchange our $20s (all that I got from my ATM before we left) at the bank that was offering a better rate. We're not sure what the credit card is offering, and don't need to carry cash all the way to HK & back again.
We meet up with Sam & Dave and head over to Dave's mother-in-law's apartment (The Apt from now on) with our luggage. Sam tries to get internet access to upload some pictures and that takes a while. Once that's kicked off we head out for noodles. Eunice (Dave's wife) says that there aren't any good Chinese noodle places around, so we head off to a Ramen place. I opt for the curry since I've been craving it since seeing so many pictures in windows. Guess Causeway Bay is where a lot of Japanese tourists come. No pickled ginger or other vegetables though :-( Everyone else likes their noodles, but after tasting Wei Yan's broth I decide I probably won't like it more than Hakata Ramen in SoCal, since I like my broth light.
After lunch ($130 HK for 5 people, including appetizer - yummy garlic beef), we head over to buy tickets for the tram to go see the big Buddha from Eunice's travel agent, but before we finish, they tell us we have to be back by 5pm when the trams stop running. We get a refund and head back to The Apt. There we decide to go to Stanley market. Once at Stanley market, Sam breaks down for some Starbucks, and seeing his weakness only makes me finish going down the escalator and then head right back up to get in line behind him. Coffee costs about the same as it does in the US, at least at Starbucks, but what can we say
At Stanely market, we visit a Tim Hau temple (goddess of the sea). It's really small, but there is a feng shui way - where there is an unobstructed view of the ocean from the temple. We also see a building that was moved from Central - and placed as to not disrupt the view of the ocean from the temple. After all the sightseeing, we head to the markets. Prices here are better, not as good as Temple street, but good.
After a few purchases (some paintings, a hand warmer), we take a taxi to Victoria Peak. We were expecting it to be a little less crowded, but a lot of couples have made their way for Valentine's day. We took some pictures of the view from Victoria Peak - but I don't think any of them do it justice. It kind of reminded me of the view we had from the top of the bald hill in PV, but lacking the distance it wasn't as peaceful. Dave & Eunice head back, and Sam heads to the top of the mall type building to take some more pictures. Wei Yan & I decide to check out what's in the view, since we're already a little bored of the view & the tons of people trying to look at the view. We spent about 30 min at EA experience! The games are cool, but it's a bit embarrassing to have the workers come to help us since we look so lost. The superman game looks cool, but there are always some kids playing it. We see Jackie Chan & Bruce Lee's wax figures, and when we finally head up to the top of the mall, it's so packed! More than a ton of people up there, so we don't spend too much time before we head back down. We find Sam at another Starbucks, and head back to Causeway bay.
Wei Yan and I head out to get a bite to eat, and spend a little time "alone" - which in the middle of Hong Kong amounts to being in a sea of people, but not knowing any of them. We head to try some Japanese octopus balls that Eunice says are yummy. Wei Yan gets some fish ball as well, and we try to find a place to eat them - we end up at Times Square, sitting on the little wall for the decorated pigs display. We sit down in front of "Eight Ball" and get to eating. The octopus balls are really really hot. I decide to try them with the mayonnaise, and like them a little better, but I conclude that they are more fun to watch being made than eating them. We also get an "Egg Ball" which looks like a bunch of ping pong ball of dough put together & curled to make a roll. Surprisingly this is crunchy, but I think it has a bit of a weird aftertaste, so I'm done after eating maybe a third. My back is now killing me, so we head back. After hearing that restaurants are charging a 50% mark up for Valentine's day & that most of them will be booked up well in advance, we had decided to try to spend a little time together, but do valentines when we get back in the states.
We meet up with Sam & Dave and head over to Dave's mother-in-law's apartment (The Apt from now on) with our luggage. Sam tries to get internet access to upload some pictures and that takes a while. Once that's kicked off we head out for noodles. Eunice (Dave's wife) says that there aren't any good Chinese noodle places around, so we head off to a Ramen place. I opt for the curry since I've been craving it since seeing so many pictures in windows. Guess Causeway Bay is where a lot of Japanese tourists come. No pickled ginger or other vegetables though :-( Everyone else likes their noodles, but after tasting Wei Yan's broth I decide I probably won't like it more than Hakata Ramen in SoCal, since I like my broth light.
After lunch ($130 HK for 5 people, including appetizer - yummy garlic beef), we head over to buy tickets for the tram to go see the big Buddha from Eunice's travel agent, but before we finish, they tell us we have to be back by 5pm when the trams stop running. We get a refund and head back to The Apt. There we decide to go to Stanley market. Once at Stanley market, Sam breaks down for some Starbucks, and seeing his weakness only makes me finish going down the escalator and then head right back up to get in line behind him. Coffee costs about the same as it does in the US, at least at Starbucks, but what can we say
At Stanely market, we visit a Tim Hau temple (goddess of the sea). It's really small, but there is a feng shui way - where there is an unobstructed view of the ocean from the temple. We also see a building that was moved from Central - and placed as to not disrupt the view of the ocean from the temple. After all the sightseeing, we head to the markets. Prices here are better, not as good as Temple street, but good.
After a few purchases (some paintings, a hand warmer), we take a taxi to Victoria Peak. We were expecting it to be a little less crowded, but a lot of couples have made their way for Valentine's day. We took some pictures of the view from Victoria Peak - but I don't think any of them do it justice. It kind of reminded me of the view we had from the top of the bald hill in PV, but lacking the distance it wasn't as peaceful. Dave & Eunice head back, and Sam heads to the top of the mall type building to take some more pictures. Wei Yan & I decide to check out what's in the view, since we're already a little bored of the view & the tons of people trying to look at the view. We spent about 30 min at EA experience! The games are cool, but it's a bit embarrassing to have the workers come to help us since we look so lost. The superman game looks cool, but there are always some kids playing it. We see Jackie Chan & Bruce Lee's wax figures, and when we finally head up to the top of the mall, it's so packed! More than a ton of people up there, so we don't spend too much time before we head back down. We find Sam at another Starbucks, and head back to Causeway bay.
Wei Yan and I head out to get a bite to eat, and spend a little time "alone" - which in the middle of Hong Kong amounts to being in a sea of people, but not knowing any of them. We head to try some Japanese octopus balls that Eunice says are yummy. Wei Yan gets some fish ball as well, and we try to find a place to eat them - we end up at Times Square, sitting on the little wall for the decorated pigs display. We sit down in front of "Eight Ball" and get to eating. The octopus balls are really really hot. I decide to try them with the mayonnaise, and like them a little better, but I conclude that they are more fun to watch being made than eating them. We also get an "Egg Ball" which looks like a bunch of ping pong ball of dough put together & curled to make a roll. Surprisingly this is crunchy, but I think it has a bit of a weird aftertaste, so I'm done after eating maybe a third. My back is now killing me, so we head back. After hearing that restaurants are charging a 50% mark up for Valentine's day & that most of them will be booked up well in advance, we had decided to try to spend a little time together, but do valentines when we get back in the states.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Day 3 in Hong Kong
We get a late start on the day, but thankfully we can all report a full night's rest! We meet up with Dave at an Admirality stop (I think) - where the Lippo building is. It takes a while to find our way, but finally we find Dave. Then it takes us another few minutes to find Cafe de Corral and grab a bite to eat. Not too bad - less than $10 US for lunch! Pretty good too.
Then we use our metro pass to head to Ocean Park. It takes a while to get there - but we pass a bunch of indoor car dealerships and St. Michaels Catholic Cemetary (Happy Valley). Cemetaries in Hong Kong are really striking - the graves are all deliniated with above ground markers - not just a headstone. And they are so close together.
Once at Ocean Park, it takes us a few to get situated with the map. It's not too busy, so I can tell it's going to be decent even if the place is lame. But it is definitely not. There is about 6-7 huge escalators that we take up a huge moutain. We watch the bird show, then the sea lion show. Both shows have limited English, but the animals are cute & entertaining, without the need for a script. Then we take these cable cars over to the other side of the park. There, we check out the new jelly fish exhibit! By far the coolest zoo-type exhibit I've ever been to! The jelly fish were really beautiful and facinating. At the end they had these jelly fish projected on the wall, and when they bumped into your shadow they made a noise & moved away! Very fun! The shark exhibit & the coral reef exhibit were also very cool except for all the Chinese people with no sense of space. But it was still very cool. I was busy trying to read a sign for a restaurant and slipped on the last stair of a stairwell we were going down. A small twist & a small scrape, but after waling if off a bit, it's feeling fine. We check out a few more things - the last being the ride at the peak of the park that takes you up - incredible view if you can get over the height.
We head back on the 2nd bus - there is quite a line. We head back to the hotel quickly and then it's off to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet Wei Yan's uncle. He picks us up in his car and takes us to a restaurant. Wei Yan and his uncle take a while to order and after the food arrives he tells me that it's Chiu Chow cuisine, which I've been wanting to try. We finally figure out that Wei Yan's dad and mom both are Chiu Chownese - which is the language that his grandmother in Greenville keeps reverting back to every now & then. The food is definitely different than anything we've had before, but it's all pretty good. After this, Wei Yan's uncle takes us to Temple St. We have to be careful of pick pocketers, but these are more of the Hong Kong prices we were thinking of. We buy a few things, and by now I can tell that my little fall earlier didn't hurt my ankle, but my lower back & neck are aching. When Wei Yan asks if we should head back or keep shopping, I think I answered before he could finish. We part ways with Wei Yan's uncle & take the MTR back to Causeway Bay. After a quick stop at 7-11 to pick up some water, we head back. I'm definitely glad to be off of my feet now! The last 2 days we've been really tired and our feet & legs have been super tired, but tonight I'm definitely hurting in a different way. Now that we've gotten a few of the must-do's out of the way, I think I'll be taking it easy tomorrow.
Sam's pictures:
Then we use our metro pass to head to Ocean Park. It takes a while to get there - but we pass a bunch of indoor car dealerships and St. Michaels Catholic Cemetary (Happy Valley). Cemetaries in Hong Kong are really striking - the graves are all deliniated with above ground markers - not just a headstone. And they are so close together.
Once at Ocean Park, it takes us a few to get situated with the map. It's not too busy, so I can tell it's going to be decent even if the place is lame. But it is definitely not. There is about 6-7 huge escalators that we take up a huge moutain. We watch the bird show, then the sea lion show. Both shows have limited English, but the animals are cute & entertaining, without the need for a script. Then we take these cable cars over to the other side of the park. There, we check out the new jelly fish exhibit! By far the coolest zoo-type exhibit I've ever been to! The jelly fish were really beautiful and facinating. At the end they had these jelly fish projected on the wall, and when they bumped into your shadow they made a noise & moved away! Very fun! The shark exhibit & the coral reef exhibit were also very cool except for all the Chinese people with no sense of space. But it was still very cool. I was busy trying to read a sign for a restaurant and slipped on the last stair of a stairwell we were going down. A small twist & a small scrape, but after waling if off a bit, it's feeling fine. We check out a few more things - the last being the ride at the peak of the park that takes you up - incredible view if you can get over the height.
We head back on the 2nd bus - there is quite a line. We head back to the hotel quickly and then it's off to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet Wei Yan's uncle. He picks us up in his car and takes us to a restaurant. Wei Yan and his uncle take a while to order and after the food arrives he tells me that it's Chiu Chow cuisine, which I've been wanting to try. We finally figure out that Wei Yan's dad and mom both are Chiu Chownese - which is the language that his grandmother in Greenville keeps reverting back to every now & then. The food is definitely different than anything we've had before, but it's all pretty good. After this, Wei Yan's uncle takes us to Temple St. We have to be careful of pick pocketers, but these are more of the Hong Kong prices we were thinking of. We buy a few things, and by now I can tell that my little fall earlier didn't hurt my ankle, but my lower back & neck are aching. When Wei Yan asks if we should head back or keep shopping, I think I answered before he could finish. We part ways with Wei Yan's uncle & take the MTR back to Causeway Bay. After a quick stop at 7-11 to pick up some water, we head back. I'm definitely glad to be off of my feet now! The last 2 days we've been really tired and our feet & legs have been super tired, but tonight I'm definitely hurting in a different way. Now that we've gotten a few of the must-do's out of the way, I think I'll be taking it easy tomorrow.
Sam's pictures:
Monday, February 12, 2007
Day 2 in Hong Kong
I'm well rested after my drug assisted full night's sleep. Wei Yan wakes up several times during the night, and Sam only sleeps for a few hours before waking up at 4am. We decide to get some coffee at the hotel coffee shop - and I order the combo with 2 dan tat - they have a little of carmelization on top, sort of like a creme bruleee, and they are very yummy. We eat dim sum again for lunch (well, at 10:30am, we are eating lunch, and we're not sure what the senior citizens are eating) - no carts again, so we have to order. Bummer since we're hoping we can try some new stuff one of these days by checking out stuff on carts. We get our money changed with Dave's help. We check out some of Dave's favorite food at Sham Shui Po and then head to Mong Kok to look for a watch for Sam & look for some bargains. Yesterdays shopping seemed to yield only sales as name brand stores that are all about the same as US prices.
1st for today:
1. I see a man sitting at tables in an alley for a won ton soup stand (in Sham Shui Po) kick a mouse. The mouse at first seems unfazed, then after being kicked for a second time is gone in a blink of an eye. I tried to show the others, but it is gone before they can look.
2. See a man dressed as a steak. Some promotion is all I can guess, but since his sign is in Chinese, we just take some pictures and leave.
1st for today:
1. I see a man sitting at tables in an alley for a won ton soup stand (in Sham Shui Po) kick a mouse. The mouse at first seems unfazed, then after being kicked for a second time is gone in a blink of an eye. I tried to show the others, but it is gone before they can look.
2. See a man dressed as a steak. Some promotion is all I can guess, but since his sign is in Chinese, we just take some pictures and leave.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
1st full day in Hong Kong
Wei Yan's cousin Dave shows us around, gets us a Metro pass and allows us to check email at his in-law's place. We aren't able to get in touch with Wei Yan's uncle, but do talk to Wei Yan's mom. We checked out Times Square, which is close to our hotel - there are decorated pigs in the front of the Times Square building. Our favorites are the panda pig & the eight ball pig. Wei Yan's other cousin Catherine takes over as tour guide. We try fried, curried fish balls. We also find the local Crispy Creme - and Wei Yan can't resist. The doughnuts end up costing 2x the cost in the US. The fish balls were $0.25 US.
We take the boat to Tsim Sha Tsui. There we eat a Cantonese style dinner - we even eat sweet & sour pork, which ends up being the best dish of the night. We are yawning by 8:00pm and head back on the MTA. I decide to take a sleeping pill since I didn't sleep that well. Sam & Wei Yan definitely had a harder time sleeping last night, but decide that they are tired enough to sleep fine. All in all, I think we walked for 6 hours today, so we figure sleep is in order.
We take the boat to Tsim Sha Tsui. There we eat a Cantonese style dinner - we even eat sweet & sour pork, which ends up being the best dish of the night. We are yawning by 8:00pm and head back on the MTA. I decide to take a sleeping pill since I didn't sleep that well. Sam & Wei Yan definitely had a harder time sleeping last night, but decide that they are tired enough to sleep fine. All in all, I think we walked for 6 hours today, so we figure sleep is in order.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Arriving in Hong Kong
Before our 16 hour flight from New Jersey to Hong Kong (how happy & rested we look!):
Friday 10:30am (EST): We leave RDU
Saturday 9pm (HK time): We arrive in Hong Kong - a little late because of a delay in Newark. Then we take a taxi out to Causeway Bay & check into the Excelsior Hotel. We go out to eat something with Wei Yan's cousin Dave, Dave's wife, Dave's sister Catherine, her boy friend, Sam, Wei Yan & I. The place is know for desserts, but we are hungry & order food. The rice is cooked in a hollowed out bamboo and tastes yummy. We are too full & tired to try the desserts, so we head back to the hotel. Despite the fact that we are all tired, we can't sleep very well.
So we arrived safely! It was a long trip, but we've arrived and still jet lagged! Here are some picture so far:
Friday 10:30am (EST): We leave RDU
Saturday 9pm (HK time): We arrive in Hong Kong - a little late because of a delay in Newark. Then we take a taxi out to Causeway Bay & check into the Excelsior Hotel. We go out to eat something with Wei Yan's cousin Dave, Dave's wife, Dave's sister Catherine, her boy friend, Sam, Wei Yan & I. The place is know for desserts, but we are hungry & order food. The rice is cooked in a hollowed out bamboo and tastes yummy. We are too full & tired to try the desserts, so we head back to the hotel. Despite the fact that we are all tired, we can't sleep very well.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Basketball Heaven
We went out to Champps at Southpoint Mall for the game. My brother-in-law and another friend were out there about 7:30pm and the place was packed. For about an hour, Wei Yan and I were driving around, scoping out alternatives - to no avail. The only other viable options had small TVs and in the time that we were driving around, went from a table for 9 to a table of 4 with a few tables for 2 that we could all squeeze into. Yikes! Already stressed and we hadn't even started the game. BIL tells us to go back to Champps, we might have a table soon. We all converge, and wait for 30 min. Game is starting. A few now head across the street to Firebirds. No sound there, and they close at 10pm. A few more of us head over there. They'll turn the sound off and let us stay til the end of the day. We contemplate pizza and heading to Daniel's apt at half time, but people are trickling in, taking seats at the bar. We sit down & try to call the stragglers to tell them to come to join us. 2 min into the game already! Carolina is down. But they say that we now have a table over at Champps. Forget the drink orders the waitress is literally in the middle of. We slip the waitress a few even though she says it's cool and run over to Champps. 5 min already by now! We sit down, takes forever to get drinks and orders in. So, yes, it was stressful already, but we all couldn't relax until 5 min left in the game. When Carolina finally pulled ahead and then 40 sec left, yes, maybe we can just start relaxing. It is college basketball, so you never know, but the buzzer rings and we are all cheering. As we leave, see Simon Chao - from the HSLL hall at Carolina, in town for the game. Sweet, someone else to celebrate with.
So, maybe I will not watch another game out on the town - unless I have my radio broadcast in my ear, drink in hand and food ordered like an hour before the game. It was fun to have the Tar-Heel cheers going throughout the bar, and a few Duke fans in the crowd to heckle, but definitely stressful. Need reservations early next time.
So, I'd lose to NC State everytime if we can beat Dook at Cameron. All worth it. Congrats to the Bruins for beating USC. Boo to Kwame Brown being out for another 4-6 weeks. I'll miss my Heels in Hong Kong, but kudos to Wei Yan for excellent planning in missing game that were most OK to miss.
So, maybe I will not watch another game out on the town - unless I have my radio broadcast in my ear, drink in hand and food ordered like an hour before the game. It was fun to have the Tar-Heel cheers going throughout the bar, and a few Duke fans in the crowd to heckle, but definitely stressful. Need reservations early next time.
So, I'd lose to NC State everytime if we can beat Dook at Cameron. All worth it. Congrats to the Bruins for beating USC. Boo to Kwame Brown being out for another 4-6 weeks. I'll miss my Heels in Hong Kong, but kudos to Wei Yan for excellent planning in missing game that were most OK to miss.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Passport Renewed & Getting Ready for HK!
Wei Yan went yesterday to the FedEx office to pick up his passport! All done! My boss did know someone at a senator's office, but she actually recommended that we use an private service to guarantee a faster turn around given our departure time.
We have the Duke game on Wednesday, but over the next few days, we'll need to start packing. Here are a list of things I've been told we need to bring:
Our friend Sam will be joining us on our trip. He's getting ready to go back to work after a short leave of absence, so he decided to take a trip before heading back. We haven't decided much about what we'll be doing while we're there - I haven't cracked open the 2 HK books yet! Guess Wei Yan and I will have a decent amount of family stuff to do, so maybe Sam will end up using the books more than we will.
We have the Duke game on Wednesday, but over the next few days, we'll need to start packing. Here are a list of things I've been told we need to bring:
- Toilet paper (Wei Yan's mom just came back from HK and says that many public bathrooms will not provide it. I may have to buy a bigger purse to lug a roll around with us - oh darn!)
- Hand Sanitizer Gel or maybe some travel baby wipes packs
- Pepto & Immodium
- ATM/Debit card to withdrawal more cash if necessary. They say the exchange rate would be determined by Visa (my debit card type). Went to the bank and had them approve my debit card for use in HK already.
- Snacks for the plane. No one is entirely sure how much or often they will feed us on the almost 16 hour flight from New Jersey to HK
Our friend Sam will be joining us on our trip. He's getting ready to go back to work after a short leave of absence, so he decided to take a trip before heading back. We haven't decided much about what we'll be doing while we're there - I haven't cracked open the 2 HK books yet! Guess Wei Yan and I will have a decent amount of family stuff to do, so maybe Sam will end up using the books more than we will.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Driver's in China
Watching these people driving so slow at the driving school is hilarious: Link to CNN article.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Dreamgirls
We went to go see Dreamgirls tonight! I heard all about the nominations, but was mostly excited to see Jennifer Hudson, since I was really mad when she got kicked off of American Idol and I know she can sing. I'm not a huge fan of musicals, but with the Motown/soul music and the great story, I really loved it. Wei Yan thought some of the sequences where they are singing dialogue were a little weird, and some of the scenes with Eddie Murphy made me laugh cuz they had just a little too much resemblance to the "Sexual Chocolate" scenes in Coming to America. So, in terms of story telling, I think it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.
New Year's resolutions!
didn't think much about new year's resolutions this year. I think it might just end up being to work on all the stuff I started before the end of last year, or didn't, but wanted to. mainly exercising and organizing/decorating the house. today after work, finally went to pilates for the first time this year. it was a good session, but I think I can now admit to hurting my left shoulder somehow. guess my body figured it was at least the same year as my 30th birthday, and me falling apart can't wait until the actual day.
so come home & wei yan has cooked me orange chicken from Trader Joe's. I surfed for shoulder injury prevention/treatment info on the web after dinner while we watch the class & how I met your mother. I try out some stretches and exercises and things feel better. after the end of 24 & heroes, I'm off to do some cardio on the elliptical. 25min later I'm feeling quite accomplished.
and I even vacuumed the floor of my bathroom & closet!
Wei Yan actually booked our trip to Hong Kong while I was vacuuming upstairs. So we are off to Hong Kong from Feb 9-20th! Now, he just has to get his passport renewed.
so come home & wei yan has cooked me orange chicken from Trader Joe's. I surfed for shoulder injury prevention/treatment info on the web after dinner while we watch the class & how I met your mother. I try out some stretches and exercises and things feel better. after the end of 24 & heroes, I'm off to do some cardio on the elliptical. 25min later I'm feeling quite accomplished.
and I even vacuumed the floor of my bathroom & closet!
Wei Yan actually booked our trip to Hong Kong while I was vacuuming upstairs. So we are off to Hong Kong from Feb 9-20th! Now, he just has to get his passport renewed.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Death of the Zojirushi Air pot
I've had my air pot unplugged for a few weeks. I noticed some black flecks in the water & unplugged it. Today I finally busted out the steel wool and CLR - hoping to clean up a bit of rust or hard water build up, but after 20 minutes I deem the airpot unsafe and beyond repair. I tried, but it was in vain. Alice gave me that air pot when she left to NYC. This all happened a while ago and with a little work it was back to new. I thought about getting a new one back then, but then I discovered that they are really stinkin' expensive. Maybe we'll be able to find a cheap one in Hong Kong. That airpot had a long & useful life and will be missed...until I get used to the reclaimed counter space that is.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Michael & Judie's NC wedding reception
So after an anti-climactic 3rd place finish on Friday night, we slept in until about 12:30pm on Saturday. After lunch & a few chores, we headed off to Michael & Judie's NC wedding reception. We of course are running late, and when I get there, there are 2 ayi's (aunties) who are manning the greeting table. Embarrassed that I'm so late, I hand one of the aunties the box I made for all the cards, proceed to put my stuff down and then try to figure out what to do. One of the aunties is fluent in english, mandarin & cantonese (she did a fair amount of translating sermons at RCCC) and she knows practically everyone at the reception....so I doubt there is any benefit to running her off after showing up late. Before I can think too long, Nancy arrives and sits down. I join them and try to help with what I can, directing folks to their tables and getting the guys to transport gifts when they pile up.
Michael & Judie had a few new pictures in their slide show. We get to see a ton of folks we haven't seen in forever. We sit at the same table as the Lenfestey's and the Fan's and with all the kids, our corner of the room turns into a play room. The kids were all fairly quite, until the balloon start floating up to the hot lights & popping. One of the toddlers catches onto the clinking of the glasses. Very cute....but Michael & Judie probably couldn't appreciate it much.
After we help clean up a bit & help Dan with loading his car, we head home to watch the UNC game on DVR. All the folks with kids were outta there by 8:30-8:45pm and probably got to watch the game live, but it wasn't bad. We just hope we don't get a call or text from someone to spoil the game. Game was awesome, Carolina played really well and GT didn't seem to have a chance. Spurts of greatness...some very talented kids on their team, but just not enough. Felt bad for who ever it was on GT team that wasn't looking & got nailed in the head with a bullet pass. Pretty embarassing turnover...and there is footage of your coach all but laughing at you.
Michael & Judie had a few new pictures in their slide show. We get to see a ton of folks we haven't seen in forever. We sit at the same table as the Lenfestey's and the Fan's and with all the kids, our corner of the room turns into a play room. The kids were all fairly quite, until the balloon start floating up to the hot lights & popping. One of the toddlers catches onto the clinking of the glasses. Very cute....but Michael & Judie probably couldn't appreciate it much.
After we help clean up a bit & help Dan with loading his car, we head home to watch the UNC game on DVR. All the folks with kids were outta there by 8:30-8:45pm and probably got to watch the game live, but it wasn't bad. We just hope we don't get a call or text from someone to spoil the game. Game was awesome, Carolina played really well and GT didn't seem to have a chance. Spurts of greatness...some very talented kids on their team, but just not enough. Felt bad for who ever it was on GT team that wasn't looking & got nailed in the head with a bullet pass. Pretty embarassing turnover...and there is footage of your coach all but laughing at you.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Madison and the Fern
My parents have a basset hound named Madison. Her previous owners kept her in a crate all day and she would howel all day, so they were planning on sending her to the pound rather than get evicted. My parents gave her a home and she is obsessed with their fern. She likes walking under it and letting the leaves "pet" her. Growing up, I saw my dogs do really stupid things, like chase their tail, bark at the wind, etc. But, I never saw anything like this:
Monday, January 15, 2007
Finally!
Yes, finally I am posting. I've been really sick. I'm hoping that today is the day I finally get through a day without a coughing fit. I've been sick for a little over 2 weeks and trying to take it easy. When I got back from LA, I went back to work right away and tried to do a little too much - and then I was back to super sick again. Cough syrup with codeine is my friend. The $35 co-pay is not, so I'm hoping to shake it before I need a refill.
Well, in LA, we were busy with my friend's wedding before Christimas. A few pictures are here:
Then there was Christmas, getting together with friends, and then I was sick in LA for the last few days & New Year's.
Oh, and for the LA casino's I'm finally up overall for a trip - I usually don't do so well since most players perseive that I'm a tight player and never pay me off. I didn't play as tight as I usually do, and folks folding to me just built up a lot of curiosity to what I was playing since they didn't get to see what I was playing most of the time. Not up much, but I will totally take a positive. Gotta start somewhere.
Well, in LA, we were busy with my friend's wedding before Christimas. A few pictures are here:
Then there was Christmas, getting together with friends, and then I was sick in LA for the last few days & New Year's.
Oh, and for the LA casino's I'm finally up overall for a trip - I usually don't do so well since most players perseive that I'm a tight player and never pay me off. I didn't play as tight as I usually do, and folks folding to me just built up a lot of curiosity to what I was playing since they didn't get to see what I was playing most of the time. Not up much, but I will totally take a positive. Gotta start somewhere.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
new favorite stuff
Aside from Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives and Heros (yes, I know I watch a lot of TV), one of my new favorite shows is The Class. Maybe I miss the gay jokes with Will & Grace gone or something, but the dark humor always catches me a little off guard. The last Thanksgiving episode was pretty funny - check it out on the website for a few laughs.
So, yes, I watch entirely too much TV (and college basketball season has started, so that won't change - it's November, but it's starting to feel a whole lot like March already). But, I did actually start reading a bit lately. The last 2 books I read were:
Goodbye Tsugumi - picked this up at a Barnes & Noble bargain table, not something I do ever, but I'm glad I did. I might check out a few more books by the author - Banana Yoshimoto (unusual name, maybe that's what intrigued me). Not sure how to describe the book - honest, thoughtful, but it's up for grabs if anyone is interested.
The Known World - I think I actually heard about this book when the author was on Oprah. If not, at least that's why I thought I'd heard of it. I guess it took me a while to pick up who all the characters were - since I kept getting only a few pages read at a time, but after I got over that ADD hump, it was very interesting. Black slave owners, the slaves owned by them. Also up for grabs.
Need to decide on a new pda phone too. Been so busy & scatter-brained with the March of Dimes 5K volunteering, that I dropped my pda yesterday & it broke. Maybe I'll ductape the battery in just to be funny...probably the last thing I need to be doing is worrying about trying to learn how to use a new phone, but I was going to get a new pda phone soon anyway.
So, yes, I watch entirely too much TV (and college basketball season has started, so that won't change - it's November, but it's starting to feel a whole lot like March already). But, I did actually start reading a bit lately. The last 2 books I read were:
Goodbye Tsugumi - picked this up at a Barnes & Noble bargain table, not something I do ever, but I'm glad I did. I might check out a few more books by the author - Banana Yoshimoto (unusual name, maybe that's what intrigued me). Not sure how to describe the book - honest, thoughtful, but it's up for grabs if anyone is interested.
The Known World - I think I actually heard about this book when the author was on Oprah. If not, at least that's why I thought I'd heard of it. I guess it took me a while to pick up who all the characters were - since I kept getting only a few pages read at a time, but after I got over that ADD hump, it was very interesting. Black slave owners, the slaves owned by them. Also up for grabs.
Need to decide on a new pda phone too. Been so busy & scatter-brained with the March of Dimes 5K volunteering, that I dropped my pda yesterday & it broke. Maybe I'll ductape the battery in just to be funny...probably the last thing I need to be doing is worrying about trying to learn how to use a new phone, but I was going to get a new pda phone soon anyway.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
In need of a little laugh? I find myself back at these ads. I just can't help laughing, even though I've seen them all several times. pc is so cute and lovable - not what the mac people had in mind, I'm sure. But enjoy my geek humor.
Oh, and for some universal grins. This is on the wall in the Brier Creek Brazillian churasscaria steakhouse:
Yeah! Last laugh is on us! We just have to figure it out....
Oh, and for some universal grins. This is on the wall in the Brier Creek Brazillian churasscaria steakhouse:
Yeah! Last laugh is on us! We just have to figure it out....
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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