Back home

So I'm back home in Los Angeles now, and happy to be back. This blog hasn't been updated in a month so I feel the need to update everyone on my status.

Some stuff:
- I went back to New England for a weekend to celebrate Tiff's birthday. I'm sorry I didn't tell yall but I was only in Boston for pretty much a day, which left very little time to spend time with other people. Next time I'll stay longer and make sure to take the time to say a proper hello.
- Reconnecting with high school friends is awesome. I didn't realize I missed these guys so much! And there's so much to talk about with them because we haven't sat down together in years! Unfortunately, I got sucked into playing Diablo 2 with a few of them. I am now playing a level 47 barbarian. At least it's not as time consuming as World of Warcraft haha.
- Getting ready for the real world is really scary. I'm currently looking into buying a car and it's a bit intimidating to think about the things I have to do afterwards: move out to San Fransisco, support myself permanently, pay for my own insurance, go to work for a long time potentially... yeah... lots to do.

- Anthony

Road Trip Part Three: Two stories that AKL and JHL won't tell you...

You may have read AKL's diligent posts about our glorious cross-country roadtrip. Most of it is accurate. He did, however, leave out some details that I will reveal now:

Anthony gets pulled over, nearly shits pants*

*it is unknown whether or not AKL actually shit his pants

We were making our way through East Bumblesheeze, NM, myself piloting the Sunflower and AKL driving someone else's 2006 Subaru Impreza. Apparently, though, AKL was tailgating me, and apparently we were doing 83mph in a 70mph zone. Even more surprising was the fact that there actually are policemen in New Mexico (houses have electricity, too...who would have thought). Anyway the officer flips on the lights to pull AKL over. AKL obliges while the Sunflower makes a stealthy escape, zooming over the next hill then ducking a right onto Jim's Rd. a few miles down.

Now, while AKL maintains that he was calm and collected during the ordeal, eyewitness accounts from JHL, MMF, and JIE indicate otherwise. Instead of just giving the officer the requested insurance and registration cards, AKL proceeds to blabber nervously for 5 minutes about how he usually does follow the 3-second rule and that he doesn't ever tailgate and that he is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry. At one point AKL was so painstakingly shaken that the officer inquired, "You seem nervous, are there drugs in the car?" Adding to AKL's panic was the fact that the car's insurance was expired. Oops. Somehow AKL escaped with only a written warning. A few minutes later he calls my cell: "Where are you? We need to stop somewhere soon." Simultaneously I received a text message from JIE: "to change his pants". Enough said.

To AKL's credit, however, he did have reason to be worried. He was a California-licensed driver caught breaking the law in New Mexico driving a car with Vermont tags belonging to someone whose name he did not know and whose insurance had expired with three other random people in the car, one of whom probably resembled a Mexican drug lord or the shoe-bomber Richard Reid [cough, MMF]. Props to New Mexican police for being so chill.

JHL strikes questionable poses while AKL takes pictures from his knees...yep, it was pretty weird

It's normal to take pictures of your friends during cool events like roadtrips. It's azn to take pictures of yourself using the ever-familiar "extended arm" method. It's just plain weird for two dudes to take half-naked photos of each other in homosexually-suggestive positions.

Here JHL is...well I don't know what the hell he's doing. I think the idea was that he was crawling out of the desert back to civilization. To me it looks more like the VHS cover photo of some sort of cheap Vietnamese desert-porno. Or maybe Jesse is doing it doggy-style with an invisible desert coyote. While AKL was busy snapping shots from different angles, I took a quick picture of the full scene:

Picture Update of San Diego

Jesse and I are trying to get settled in San Diego. It's been a fun-filled few days for us. I'm uploading a few pictures. Prepare to be turned green with envy!!!

Boston Red Sox vs. San Diego Padres

We got a chance to catch a baseball game with Yunja and her cousin. Jesse, the always die-hard Yankee fan, rooted for the Padres, who ended up getting beaten 4-2.

New Discovery @ In-n-Out!

It's called "chopped chilis" in your burger!! You can't notice it in this picture, but there were chopped chilies in my double double! It's part of In-n-out's "special menu" which aren't mentioned anywhere. It's always fun to try them out. (Props to Robin!)

Pacific Beach, CA

Caught another sunset. This time at the lovely Pacific Beach in San Diego.


I just liked how the rays of light shined into the ocean. Very cool.


Birds flying along the beach behind some nice looking clouds.

More to come soon hopefully. Until next time!

- Anthony

San Diego - Week 1

So here we go...I'm about to embark on an experience that will forever be the epitome of "bumming around"...a full month of doing absolutely nothing...as a result...I'm gonna organize this by weeks so I don't get too depressed when I see how short my entries are...

Los Angeles:


Before reaching the actual SD part...I gotta explain how I ended up there...

So after our cross-country road trip through the states...I stayed with Anthony for about four days in koreatown/LA...



These four days consisted of a few experiences that seemed to repeat over and over again....

Eating the best food you've ever had on successive meals
-you know how sometimes your in a moment and you just feel like its perfect...nothing could beat it...NOTHING...well...I felt like that at every meal that I had at anthony's house...it actually gets frustrating because as delicious as the beef stew was right now...you couldn't help thinking that that next meal was gonna be even better...(anthony's mom is a REALLY good cook)
-tho i guess it also helped that on the road trip...buddy and the conservative right...forced us to eat burgers and fries everyday of the stinkin week...white ppl...

Feeling 100% completely out of place
-so I feel like I've always been able to somewhat feel like I've belonged...whether in a random state in the south...dancing with senior citizens...or even giving out water pitchers to crazy ppl at hospitals...but these past few days I've never felt soooo out of place...
-two words: language barrier. so k-town is a place where literally you could survive without knowing english...its a part of a LA that consists of a 40 block area where all the stores are korean and everyone speaks korean...
-so I go to this barber shop...and I can't communicate at all with the barber...I point to my hair and say it needs to be thinned...and the guy (who is probably an amazing barber)...looks at me with a look that really scares you when hes holdin a razor in one hand and a scissor that could slit your throat in the other...now that I think about it, its a good thing I didnt point to my neck...
-at anthony's home, I had a bunch of meals where it was just me and anthony's entire family (which is pretty awkward already)...but the best part is that all the conversation is in korean simply because anthony's parents are much more comfortable in speaking in korean...so dinner would consist of me sitting there having no clue what anybody was talkin about..and tryin to laugh at the right time so I could be as polite as possible...
(I noticed there were a few times where I had no idea what I was eating and eating things incorrectly...it definitely made his parents chuckle a little bit...so for future reference...if your ever feeling awkward and want to break the ice...do somethin stupid like eat rice with your hands..cause I don't care what kind of cultural barrier there is...people will laugh)

(now that I think about it...its kinda awkward and I can't believe I'm going to say this...but I feel like this whole experience was kind of like when your visiting your gf's parents for the first time...you get to the house...you "meet the parents"...and you try to impress them as much as possible...I mean for sure my experience differed a bit...in that I'm just trying to be polite and not come off as insensitive...but either way...from this experience...I learned that you really gotta think twice about that korean girl especially when her parents dont speak a drop of english....or your had better learn korean...fast....)

picture of the day:




















ha ha...this is what happens to your mug when you leave it around the house...i wonder if anthony's mom has any idea what anthony has used that mug for...

well...this is too long a post...so I'm going to leave the actual San Diego stuff for next time...

Road Trip Part Two

So we've finally reached our final destination. We rolled into Los Angeles on Tuesday, late in the afternoon. I'm very happy to be eating home-cooked Asian food after a week of eating out, fast food, and random junk food.

Locations we've hit after Dallas:

• Carlsbad, NM: We tried to get into the Carlsbad Caves but unfortunately they closed before we got there... at 3 PM. That was a downer.
  
• Roswell, NM: We're in the area anyways right? Might as well try to find Area 51 and run into some aliens.
  
• Alburquerque, NM: We stayed at Alburquerque for the night and checked out the night life.
  
• Four Corners: This is where four states meet. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (notice how they're all quite squarish) have borders that intersect in single point.
  
• Grand Canyon, AZ: Luckily, we were able to catch the sunset in time here
  
• Las Vegas, NV: What happens in Las Vegas... stays in Las Vegas =P. But the cool thing was that the WSOP was being held there so we wandered around watching top poker players actually playing poker!
  
• Los Angeles, CA: Finally home! Drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and caught another sunset on Newport Beach.

So here's our cross country trip (provided by Google Maps):

Take a closer look using Google Maps!

More log entries:

• T stands for Texas... and trucks: There are way too many trucks in Texas. Every other car we saw in Texas is a truck. And it's not JUST a truck, it's A TRUCK. Decked out and monstrous.
  
• Anthony almost gets a ticket: I got pulled over for going 80 on the highway (limit was 70). Apparently I was following Buddy's car too closely. It was a very scary moment, especially when the police officer looks at the insurance for the car and says, "It's expired." In California, it's illegal to drive without insurance and you get a ticket and a really steep fine. Thank goodness he let me go with a warning. Apparently the owner of the car had insurance but was negligent enough to keep her papers updated. -_-;
  
• Most common phrase in New Mexico: "What the hell are you doing here?"
• It's so hot it's painful: Tom's Hot and Spicy is so amazingly, painfully hot and spicy. I was sweating after eating around five of them. I like it!
• Best pickup line ever: Outside a bar in Alburquerque, Job fearlessly walks up to a crowd of girls, points to Jesse, and says, "Do you think he's Japanese?" One girl happily shouts, "I'm Japanese!" and looks intently at Jesse as he begins to quickly walk away. Job is left pointing at Jesse's back looking confused. (As I am writing this, Jesse says, "Please know that Job was drunk at this point.")
• Things to try in the middle of a highway at night: We were driving out of the Grand Canyon after catching the sunset and Job has the brilliant idea of stopping and turning off all the lights in the car. It's pitch black and rather frightening. You should definitely try it.
• What is it your period?: Whenever we eat out, Jesse orders cranberry juice. We give him a lot of shit about it. However, the last meal we had together, Job, Jesse, and I all decided to order cranberry juice. I think we might be "synchronizing."
  
• All Asians look alike... maybe: Job and I were walking to registration at Hooters (we stayed at their hotel in Las Vegas) and there's a pretty blond waitress looking intently at me with a shy smile. I stare back, confused. As I pass by, her smile widens and she says, "Nice to see you again." At this point I am thinking, "What the hell is going on?" In the post-incident discussion, we conclude that she probably confused me for another Asian who is just as good-looking and awesome.

More pictures:

Group picture with Bendall and his brother (Forth Worth, TX)


I call this my Windows Wallpaper (Somewhere in NM)


Street lamps in Roswell are appropriately decorated.


On the road out of Alburquerque


Hmmm... (Cuba, NM)


Windows Wallpaper Replacement #2 (Somewhere in NM)


Four Corners


Looking out into the Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon, AZ)


Shot of the Grand Canyon right after Sunset (Grand Canyon, AZ)


Hoover Dam, AZ


Johnny Chan! (WSOP @ Las Vegas, NV)


Playing with shadows on the beach (Newport Beach, CA)


One last sunset on the beach (Newport Beach, CA)

I'll put up all my pictures on the house server... and maybe facebook.

- Anthony

RoadTrip Part One

So we're currently staying with Bendall in Dallas, TX and we've managed to get some downtime due to a sudden massive thunderstorm.

Roadtrip team:

1. AKL
2. BJM
3. JHL
4. JIE
5. MMF
6. Gipper (Buddy's brother)
   

Locations we've hit:

1. Boston, MA
2. Philadelphia, PA
3. Nashville, TN
4. Memphis, TN (w/ SXB)
   
5. Hot Springs, AK
6. Dallas, TX (w/ BSK)
   

Here's some interesting things I've logged:

1. New Yorkers are either crazy or retarded: Mikey and I were driving on the freeway through NYC and we saw a bunch of kids toss a bike off of a footbridge onto incoming traffic. We were right behind the big rig as the bike fell smack front of it. Seriously... wtf?
2. New Jersey = Sim City playground: Driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, I started feeling as if I was witnessing something straight out of Sim City, where the architect just went crazy. Electricity poles going everywhere, power plants at odd locations, constructions rigs arranged in the most bizarre patterns, and endless highway connecting everything together.
3. Broken signs offer comic relief: We saw a sign in big red letters that spelled, "Speed." Probably because the "reduce" part of the sign was broken.
4. Starbucks doesn't make the cut: Now that my MIT career is over, I thought that I could cut back on the energy drinks. I took a Double Shot expresso to stay awake for my 1 AM to 6 AM driving shift. It barely helped. I should've bought a Red Bull instead like I usually do for all-nighters.
5. There is a difference! There is a difference between authentic, Southern Sweet Tea and Arizona Sweet Tea: Authentic Sweet Tea is even sweeter. Sweet!
6. Dirty South is HOT: Southern folk definitely know how to look good. Botta took us to a bar called The Flying Saucers in Memphis. Let's just say that we spent most of the night looking rather than talking. I think the highlight of the night was when I went off to buy a round of beer and I come back to see an Asian MILF hitting on Jesse (she looked like she was in her late 20s but she's actually mid 30s) . Ask him about it.
7. Buffalo (x8): Apparently the word "buffalo" eight times in a row forms a grammatically correct sentence. Who would've thought?
   
8. Where be the Asians? Jesse and I started to keep a headcount of the number of Asians we've seen on our roadtrip. We're lucky to have passed double digits. We feel discriminated already.
   
9. Sunflower seeds and sleep prevention: Botta passed on some amazing advice for our roadtrip. Sunflower seeds are almost guaranteed to keep you awake while you drive because you are so focused on getting at the seed inside. Job and I have tested this and we agree. Screw the Red Bull! Sunflower seeds are healthier and you can spit the shell at people you don't like (aka Jesse when he starts sleeping).
10. WTF is CrackerBarrel? We've seen this place come up so often on our roadtrip that we've decided that we should actually go and see what this place is. We're very curious.
11. Creative city names: Arkadelphia and Texarkana were our top picks. Runner-ups included New Boston, Paris, and Pittsburg. Seriously guys, can you get any more uncreative?
    

Some pictures from our trip:


New Jersey where you at?


What my dashboard started to look like after 8 hours of driving.


Whoa wtf? (Scotland, VA)


And the confusion continues... (Nashville decided to build their own Parthenon)


Country Music Hall of Fame (Nashville, TN)


Live band action... this guy was simply amazing with the harmonica (Memphis, TN)


It's only Thursday! Why are you all out?! (Memphis, TN)


The childhood home of Bill Clinton and Hot Springs National Park (Hot Springs, AK)


Two days later... Texas! (Texarkana, TX)

Yes I realize this has been a ridiculously long post. Another, even longer post will probably come after Tuesday when I get back to LA. Until then...

- Anthony

So to let you know we're still alive...

Most of us are in the Boston area right now... finishing up Senior Week and waiting to graduate. We're still looking for a place to live in San Diego, but hopefully we'll get that done soon. Here's our plans for the summer:

June 14th - 19th : Roadtrip from Boston all the way to Irvine.
June 22th : Stay in LA with the Biston
July : San Diego!
Late August : Start work at Google!

- Anthony