Monday, May 26, 2008

guys night out

this is what happens when four dudes get bored on a sunday night.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Reunited

Last night, we all went out for some pho & ramen for the first time in at least a couple months. The part of Tim is played by Mike Y.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Let's Groove Tonight!

As promised, the video from Vegas.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

New York, New York, Nevada

Things I Miss about NY:

1) convenience - bodegas. 24 hour delis.

2) places staying open until 4am (altho have discovered that a couple places out here are open that late or later).

3) not having to drive when you go out - have to look for parking, pay for parking / parking ticket / cover - and then leave at 1:30am. and get there by 10pm. ew.

4) shopping - I'm pining for you, East Village shops!

5) food - Momofuku!

6) walking around.

7) riding my bike around. I hope that thief is enjoying my bike!

8) seeing shows - and ohmyrockness.com.

And so we went to New York this weekend!



The hotel in Vegas, that is. (yuck yuck) Walking around the miniature version of New York felt a bit monster-from-Cloverfield-like.

It was underwhelming because the shops were not real NY shops/bars (ie Magnolia Bakery, Serendipity, CBGBs - that would have been awesome!) and the building models felt too small.



However, the rollercoaster was suprisingly scary!



I scream like a girl. Simon belts out a were-dog-coy-ote combo. The footage was also reminescent of Cloverfield.

We went there for Simon's birthday, and were very conservative. Might even say we had the Frommers experience of Las Vegas (whose demographic seems to be upscale yuppies in their mid- late forties - based on our China experience).



We had lunch buffett at the Bellagio:





Overall, the brunch was just ok, but that duck leg was Ammaazzing. Thank you fleeting vegetarianism to allow me to sample that.

We saw the Bellagio water show:



They played God Bless the USA. Is this a July 4th celebration in the Midwest accompanied by an all you can eat Ribfest? I was disappointed that it was all white instead of different colors, but the parts where it shot up like a geyser were pretty cool.

We walked down the strip and passed all the opulent hotels. It felt like Rodeo Drive - as opposed to Las Vegas. My favorite was the Venentian - by far.




Pretty stunning!

Simon made us walk all the way down the strip to Treasure Island because he thought they had $1 craps. 7 hotels (all with $10 minimum tables) and 2 hours later - he pulls open the doors to Treasure Island and says - "Oh, I think the $1 craps was in Belluxi, Mississippi." Meanwhile, Justina's and I's feet are throbbing. We ended up playing $15 craps minimum table and my lucky rolling won us about $100 each! Thank you beginners luck.



That night we ended up making a video that may possibly be beyond our editing capabilities - but that video will be up soon. We shot it in our hotel room, which was Piimmp. It was a one bedroom suite at the Signature at MGM.







I got the craps bug - and that's all Simon and I could think about doing the second day. - we tried to re-summon my craps luck - but we lost $60 each. Then I won $40 back in blackjack. Tim met a guy in the bathroom who was down $100,000 for the day. Is it more shocking that he was meeting people in the bathroom or that someone lost $100,000 and wasn't phased?

The glassed-eyed people at the slots, the lack of windows and no immediately discernable way out of the casinos added a dash of sadness to the environment. In addition to that was an element of cheese, such as the show, "Thunder Down Under," which featured PG 13 gyrating Australian gigolos.



But the most disturbing thing out there were posters of a diesel Carrot Top.



Which led to the debate - do stars come to Vegas to peak - like Hannah Montana is doing - or to die - like Carrot Top. I guess both? For Carrot Top - his future looks bleak:



* via mishmash.com.

All in all, an unsinful visit to Sin City.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Little Tokyo



Spent a lot of time in Little Tokyo last week. Apparently there are only 3 official Japantowns left in the nation. San Jose, LA and San Fransisco. So I feel lucky to be close to one.

Dan, Tim, Simon and I had Boba and Ramen at a famous noodle shop - apparently The Original (it was not as good as Momofuku tho!). Dan made a good point - was it really before the noodles in Asia?



Little Tokyo has a cute village plaza that has a consortium of little shops - vintage clothes stores, sneakers, octopus balls, mochi and bakeries, toys etc.



Thankfully, the anime figurine comes with "alternative soft brest parts in which you can put gel inside." Wonderful.

These Nikes cost $4500.



(There were only 50 made in collaboration with Stash - a graffiti artist from NYC)

The inaptly named Family Mart doubles as a Spencers Gift Shop.



I was the only one immature enough to find it entertaining. Dan, Tim and Simon were not amused. However, Simon and I let out a nostalgic sigh upon seeing Pocari Sweat and Oolong Tea in the fridge (as seen in China).

We went back again with my cousins Jennifer, Christina, my Uncle Randy. We had Japanese Curry for lunch.



They had their first pinkberry. I paparazzi her azz.



We went to the Murakami exhibit at the MOCA.

Murakami mocks Manga.



That is his spunk.

Murakami animates Kanye West's music video, "Good Morning."



Meh. Right? (the track here is the intro version, which is not the same version used in the mv)

There was also a really cute short by Murakami, which my uncle aptly referred to as, "The poop story." Unfortunately I do not have it.

I bought this t-shirt - designed by Japantown's own Jared Leto.



Also got green tea as big as your head.



Definitely going to go back to Little Tokyo and take time to shop.

I love exploring the area. There's random cool pockets. Areas I want to check out: Downtown Silver Lake, Eagle Rock (just heard about this last night from Dyana - it is supposed to be like the East Village in NYC), Runyun Canyon, Chinatown, Pasadena and Malibu. LA is a lot different than the douchebaggery I imagined. Of course, once in a while, it's apparent.



There's no rhyme or reason to why I find a koochy comb amusing, but not pick-up truck balls.

Day 11323

of Simon's life (plus or minus 4 days according to Justy). Here is how he spent it.