Where in the world is Amy G?

Disneyland September 2009

2009-11-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

I went to Disneyland with Derek in September 2009. It was a lot of fun, and a much needed break from staying at home and doing next to nothing. We had a great time, and wish we could go again soon!

Hanging out with the Cars crew

In front of It's A Small World

By the waterfalls in California Adventure

Japan October/November 2009

2009-11-18T18:07:00.001-08:00

Mom, Marie, and I went to Japan at the end of October 2009 to visit family in Tokyo. My grandma had suffered a stroke, so we all rushed over there to make sure she was doing ok. It turns out that she is going to be ok. Here are some pictures that I took while we were there.

Display case of fake food. Everything in it looks real enough to eat!

Marie and Mom. Smile!

Yes, they sell celery by the stalk...

At the bread store you can pick up all kinds of yummy pastries and breads. This one happens to be shaped like a bear =)

The view of Tokyo on top of Sunshine Plaza in Ikebukuro

A gigantic cell phone on the side of a multi-story electronic store

Dinner with the whole family

Brooklyn February 2009

2009-02-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,
It's been a while since I've been to a place where I was able to take pictures. I did go to So Cal in October 2008 to Disneyland with Derek, but we didn't get a chance to take that many pictures.

So here I am about 5 months later updating my blog with the adventure that I took recently. I went to NYC 14-16 February 2009 to visit my college roommate Amy B and her newborn Brielle. My friends Lili and Jenni (my roommate neighbors from Mudd) also came along to visit the new baby girl.

While we were there we admired the 2.5 month old, and got to hang out and eat some yummy food. We wandered around Brooklyn mostly, but it was a good time to catch up and spend sometime with each other.

The reason why we made the trip: baby Brielle. She was sleeping peacefully some of the time. Other times, she wasn't so peaceful. =) She was a little noisy when she did her business, and let us know when she was uncomfortable or hungry, but cute and sweet throughout =)

Lili and Brielle say "YAY!"

Jenni holding a very alert Brielle

View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Promenade. A lot of folks were out enjoying the nice weather!

Jenni, Lili, and Amy B

Waiting outside Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn. We got there around noon. Within 5 minutes of getting there, the line was at least 15 people long. Good thing we beat the crowd!!

Amy, Jenni, and Lili waiting patiently for food!

Jenni was a little bit cold waiting outside Grimaldi's Pizza. Amy seemed to be fine =)

Yumm....Roasted pepper, onion, and garlic pizza. I'm sure our breath smelled amazing!!!

The half eaten olive, extra tomato, mushroom pizza =)

Seeing the sites in DC

2008-03-24T20:08:00.001-07:00

On Friday, our one full day away from the bball arena, Roy and I went on a bike tour of the sites around DC. One of the stops was in front of the White House. Many people were there camping out waiting to get tickets to the annual Easter Roll, which are handed out on a first come first serve basis. I looked very dorky, as always =) I must say though, my hair was less poofy for the rest of the day thanks to the helmet...

Another stop was along the World War 2 memorial. In the background is the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial.

This was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the bike tour. The place was very crowded with tourists...so we fit right in =)

After the bike tour we roamed around town trying to find a place to watch the first set of basketball games for the day. We tried going to ESPN Zone and a few other restaurants (we even contemplated watching it at a McDonalds that had the game on. But we finally ended up at a place called Austin Grill where we saw Davidson beat Gonzaga, and Western Kentucky beat Drake. From there we decided to go up to the Georgetown area and go to the university there. So we trekked up the hill toward the Georgetown area and took a look at the very cute homes and shops. We ended up at Georgetown University (as pictured above). We managed to find the student center, and despite students being on spring break, we found the area that the game was being projected, and we watched Georgetown University beat UMBC. It was the first time that I had watched the game of the team that was playing from the actual university when they were not playing on campus. It was a lot of fun =)

We went back to the mall, and caught the sun set by the Lincoln Memorial. I decided that this was my favorite memorial among the many along the mall. It was great to be able to see the Washington Monument being reflected into the pool of water.

On Saturday we went to the National Air and Space Museum, where some of the items from the Museum of American History was temporarily placed while that museum was under construction. There were many cool artifacts from American culture there, including THE Kermit the Frog. He's the best!

The Wright Brothers first flying airplane was on display at the National Air and Space Museum

Sunday was Easter. Prior to the trip, Roy had the brilliant idea of attending Easter service at the National Cathedral. We went to the 8am service, and got to attend Easter service with hundreds of people. The church itself is Episcopalian, and since that what my family is, I was pretty familiar with what was going on. The cathedral itself was gorgeous and huge!

I LOVE March Madness!!!!

2008-03-24T19:21:00.001-07:00

From 19 March 2008 to 23 March 2008, I traveled to Washington, DC, USA to do two things:
1. Watch the 1st and 2nd Round of the 2008 NCAA Men's College Basketball Championship at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC on Thursday 20 March 2008 and Saturday 22 March 2008
2. Be a tourist in Washington DC.

I accomplished many things during the trip...
- watch the 1st and 2nd round at a venue for the NCAA Men's College Basketball Champship...check!
- watch a team playing in the tournament from the college's campus while they are playing at another venue while they are playing a game in the tournament...check!
- visit the capitol of the USA...check!

So the saga began about a year ago, 2007, when I looked up the venues for this tournament in 2008. I discovered that one of the hosts was Georgetown University in Washington DC. I thought it would be awesome to attend the tournament, as well as explore a fantastic city. I decided to apply for these tickets, and in the meantime bought a pair of tickets straight from another host, North Carolina State where they would be playing in Raleigh. If I didn't get the DC tickets, I could at least go to NC. But, as of June 2007, I discovered that I was going to be a recipient of the DC tickets. So with the help of my friend John, I sold the NC tickets. As for my travel buddy, my friend Roy from college, graciously volunteered to attend the tournament with me. I was all set!! In February 2008, I received tickets to the DC game and we were all set.
This is Roy in his UCLA sweatshirt.

On Selection Sunday we found out who would be at our venue. Xavier vs. Georgia; Purdue vs. Baylor; West Virginia vs. Arizona; Duke vs. Belmont. We were definitely excited!!!
This is prior to tip off of the first of the 3 double headers we would be witnessing over the course of 2 days. I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! =) There weren't very many people when we got there, but by the end of the games, the place was packed!!

New Years Food

2008-01-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

One of the things that you are supposed to do for the new year in Japan is eat lots of good food! Here is just a sampling of what was on the menu...

(Family picture before the feast!)

(This is the layout of the table that we set. The black thing in the middle is a sake serving thing. Prior to the meal, everyone had to take a sip of sake, from the youngest to the oldest, served by the "head of household". The sake had some herbal thing in it, and it wasn't very tasty at all. Everyone grimaced when they had to take a sip...)

(Nimono - A variety of root vegetables and shitake mushrooms, simmered in soy sauce for flavor, garnished with green beans. This is one of my favorite dishes!)

(Fresh crab = yum!!)

(From the lower left corner of the tray: Kazunoko - pickled herring row...not a favorite but I will eat it; Sweet chestnut mash thing - it's like dessert!; Kuromame - black beans that have been cooking for days; Tsukemono - picked radishes; Ikura - a cone of salmon eggs wrapped with a picked turnip.)

(char siu pork garnished with kamaboko (fish cake) slices...both were very delicious!!)

There was also a lot of sashimi, but I don't think I got a picture of it. In any case, it was delicious as well! At the end of the meal we had ozoni, which is chicken soup with some spinach and carrots and ball of mochi (rice cake) or two. It is very filling, and it topped off a very good meal. I was very very full for the rest of the day, and I felt like I was off to a good start to the new year =)

New Years Eve in Japan

2008-01-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

On New Years eve, while the rest of the world celebrates the new year with fireworks and parties, the Japanese are praying. New Years is a cultural holiday in Japan, with an integration of religion, tradition, and culture. One of the traditions that many people partake in is eating soba as the last meal for the passing year. We did that. =) On New Years eve, another tradition is to go to the temple and say thank you for a wonderful previous year, and pray for a wonderful upcoming year. Since it's a one of a kind event, we decided to take a trip to Kamakura, about 45 minutes away, to go to a temple there to ring in the new year. We left the house at 10, and came back at 3:30am on 01 January 2008. Happy New Year!! =)

(It is tradition for the monks to ring the temple bell 108 times to mark the new year. At this particular temple, people can line up to ring the temple bell. This is a picture of when it was my turn to ring in the new year =) I got a good sound out of it!)

(Dad in front of the temple bell which is underneath the little wooden structure in the background. Many more people after us were eager to ring the bell as well.)

(This isn't the best picture, but we really weren't able to take a lot of pictures. This was taken at another temple, where we waited to climb the temple steps to throw in our donation and pray for the upcoming year. There were a lot of people here waiting to say their prayers for the new year.)

Sites in Tokyo

2008-01-08T20:28:00.001-08:00

There are many, many things to see in Tokyo. This is only a fraction of what there is to see in Tokyo...

(There are 34 million people in a 30 mile radius around central Tokyo. It is almost twice the size of New York City. Much of the city had just as many people crowded into an area, just like in this picture near Ueno station. These were people going shopping to prepare for the coming of the new year.)

(Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo has the Tokyo Tower. We didn't actually go up the tower since the line was about 30 minutes deep)

(Attempting to walk down a busy street in the Harajuku neighborhood. It is an area popular among younger people for trendy fashions and brand name stores.)

(This is one of my favorite stores in Tokyo..Itoya. This is the sign outside the store. It is 9 floors of stationary, office supplies, and office furniture. It is nothing like Office Depot or any of those stores in the US. They have an entire floor dedicated to pens and pencils. I bought a few myself because they were just so cool!! I am such a dork..=) )

(In the Ginza district there is a Nissan Gallery/Showroom. There is no sales...there are just at most two cars on display. This time the soon-to-be-released GT-R was on display. It will also be on sale in the US, and I'm sure people can't wait to drive it! =) )

(A picture of gyoza (pot stickers) we ate in a chinese restaurant in the Ginza district. They were about 3 times the normal size of pot stickers...and soooooo good!!! Not exactly a tourist attraction...but I thought I'd post it anyway =) )

Family in Tokyo

2008-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Tokyo the nite of 29 December 2007. We spent the rest of our trip in Tokyo, staying til 03 January 2008. It was really great to be able to hang out with everyone after many days of traveling.

(Going around the table...my cousin Hiroshi, grandma, Auntie Ryoko, Mom, Dad, Marie, Uncle Masaharu, cousin Isao, and Auntie Fumiko. We are at the table getting ready to pig out and eat our new year meal =) )

(Mom, Dad, Uncle Masaharu, me, Marie, and Auntie Fumiko...Hiroshi took the picture...we were all in downtown Tokyo near Tokyo station admiring the christmas lighting display along two blocks of the city)

(going around the table...grandma, Auntie Ryoko, Dad, Mom, Marie, Uncle Masaharu, Auntie Fumiko, and cousin Isao...we were sitting down to eat our first home cooked meal (potatoe croquettes) of our trip. It was delicious!!)

(This is my childhood friend Rie, who lives in Japan now. She and I have known each other since we were babies, so we're basically family! Apparently we're a little older now... =) )

Food in Kyoto

2008-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

On our last day in Kyoto, we went to a restaurant called Ganko in Kyoto Station. (There are about 50 restaurants in Kyoto station. The place is huge, and we got lost trying to find this place numerous times!) We had a wonderful meal, and here is what we got!

(Tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlet) and fried chicken)

(The mega meal! It was wonderfully presented, and included sashimi, some cooked veggies and fish, and a make your own tofu thing to the right. Basically, they light a little light under the soy milk, and you're supposed to let it boil, then add some salt solution to make it more solid. It had an interesting taste, and I thought it was ok, but it didn't taste like tofu I'm used to cooking with. The presentation was the best for this meal, and it was almost too pretty to eat!)

(Ikura donburi - salmon eggs over sushi rice. Salmon eggs are soooooo good!)

(An assortment of sushi. This is the meal I actually ordered. I had better sushi while I was in Saga, but it was delicious...can't complain!! =) )

Temples in Nara and Kyoto

2008-01-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

After Hiroshima, we went to Kyoto and visited the nearby city of Nara on 28 December 2007. Nara was the capital of Japan in the 8th century, and was known to be where Buddhism and japanese art had flourished. We were able to see some very old buildings and sites here.

(Dad, me, and Marie in front of Tohdaiji Temple. This is a huge building that housed a gigantic metal Buddha. It was raining a lot this day, but this was definitely worth walking through the rain for!)

(Unfortunately, because of the lighting in the temple, it was extremely difficult to take a picture of the Buddha while capturing how massive it actually is. I am pretty sure it was at least 5 stories tall! The lotus leaves alone were taller than most of the people visiting!)

(Another very nice temple in Nara is Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It was sort of in remodeling stages, but it is known for having these hanging lanterns all around the temple)

(This is the 5-story pagoda in Kofukuji-temple grounds. It is featured in a lot of postcards and photos of Nara)

After visiting Nara for the day, the next day we had a little bit of time to spend in the city of Kyoto, so we decided that we had time to visit one temple. We decided to go to Kiyomizu-tera Temple, one of the more famous temples in Kyoto. Marie and I have been there before, and this time there were tons of tourists out visiting the grounds. It is one of my most favorite temples in Kyoto.

(The main building of Kiyomizu-tera over looks the city of Kyoto.)

(The supporting structure underneath the main building is amazing. It is mostly wood, and it is cool to see the way that everything criss crosses underneath the building into the mountainside)

(The main building as well as the surrounding buildings and the pagoda in the background. The grounds to this temple are very large, and the main building is just a small portion of the overall temple. It is like walking through a park!)

Yumminess in Hiroshima

2008-01-08T19:00:00.001-08:00

Hiroshima is known for an excellent dish called "okonomiyaki" (literally means something cooked the way you like it). It is basically a pancake looking thing that is anything but a pancake. It is filled with lots of veggies, noodles, egg, and any meat you want. We went to one place in Hiroshima, and this is how they made their version of okonomiyaki

(She spread cooked yakisoba noodles onto a hot cooking surface and spread it out into a flat "sheet" of noodles)

(On another section of the cooking surface, she poured a very thin flour based batter and spread it into a circle, almost like a crepe. On top of that she sprinkled some sort of seasoning)

(She then took a handle each of cabbage, bean sprouts, meat, and other veggies and piled it on top of the pancake thing)

(Once the crepe was crispy, she flipped the whole mountain of veggies over so the veggies and meat could cook. It was amazing that veggies didn't just spray out everywhere!)

(Back to the noodles...she made sure that they were crispy, and then folded the noodle pancake in half.)

(She then fried an egg on the cooking surface, and while it was still cooking, she transferred the veggies on top of the crispy noodles. She then took the whole veggie, meat, and noodle mountain, and transferred onto the egg.)

(She then flipped the whole thing over, egg side up.)

(In the end, the okonomiyaki is served with okonomiyaki sauce, some green onions and greens on top, and tah dah!...dinner is served!!! This was one of many wonderful meals we had while in Japan. The crispy noodles and veggie and meat and egg combo made for a very filling and yummy meal!!)

Sites in Hiroshima

2008-01-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

We were in Hiroshima on 26 December and 27 December 2007. On the first day, we went to the island of Miyajima. The weather was beautiful!! The island is about a 30 minute train ride and a 10 minute ferry ride away.

(There were a ton of deer roaming around the island, especially near the tourists. They are known to be messengers from God in Japanese culture, so the townspeople take care of them and make sure they are safe and don't hurt any tourists.)

(The 5-story pagoda in Miyajima)

(Marie and Mom inside of a very old building in Miyajima, next to the 5 story pagoda. Everything in there was made from massive trunks and pillars of wood. It was very impressive!)

(Dad, Marie, and me in front of the shrine gate to Utsukushi Shrine. This shrine is known to be "floating in water" because when the tide comes in, it makes it look as though the whole thing is floating on water. We were there during low tide, but it was still very beautiful and impressive. You can see the gate in the background on your approach to the island as well.)

(Dad, Mom, and me inside the shrine with the gate in the background.)

(Miyajima also features the world's largest wooden rice scoop...I have no idea why they did this...but they have it on display...)

On the 2nd day in Hiroshima we went to the atomic dome and peace memorial museum. It was a very sombering place, and it was a little bit depressing. But the whole park and museum is devoted to peace, and making sure that something as horrible as nuclear warfare and weapons never gets used on anyone again. It was a very educational experience, and the museum was well done. It showcased the history of the city of Hiroshima prior to and during the war, and then explained why the bomb was researched and made and why Hiroshima was chosen to be one of the targets. The exhibit then went to explain what happened at the exact instant the bomb went off, including the 3000C core that explored 600meters above the city. The exhibit then showed the current state of nuclear weapons and which countries have them and the peace agreements that have been signed by various countries not to have or test weapons. It then went on to talk about the aftermath of the bomb, including some artifacts that survived the blast as well as an area explaining the effects of radiation on the human body. It was all depressing, but also educational.

(A memorial honoring those that died due to the bomb. Each year more names are added as those victims die from radiation effects.)

(The atomic dome at the entrance of the Peace Memorial Park)

(The Peace Memorial Museum)

(The Children's Peace Monument. It represents all the children that died because of the bomb. In the little rooms there are 1000s of origami cranes, folded by children around the world. It is based on the true story of Sadako, who died of leukemia after the war, but folded 1000 cranes because of the folklore story that says that if you fold a 1000 origami cranes, you will be happy and healthy again. Sadako eventually died, but finished folding all 1000 cranes.)

Mom's old stomping grounds

2008-01-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

The main reason for visiting Fukuoka and Saga was to see Mom's extended family, as well as possibly visit the area that she was raised. We definitely got to see her old stomping grounds! =)

(The temple that Mom played outside of, along with the other neighborhood kids. Apparently the monks always yelled at them for making too much noise)

(Mom's elementary school. It was mostly wood construction when she went there, but it's basically still there.)

(The monkey bars are still there...the same as when she went to school there. They look kinda short...)

(Back when my mom was growing up, she said she basically lived in a slum/ghetto. The houses were tiny and put up as quickly as possible. The area isn't that much better...it's safe...just shabby, but she wasn't able to find her exact home.)

(The creek that ran behind the house. She used to play here with her friends!)

(A stone carving of a "kappa"-river god/mischief - climbing over the bridge going across the creek now. My Mom said that the creek seemed a lot wider and bigger when she was younger...but then again, she was also much smaller =) )

Sites around Fukuoka

2008-01-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

On our 1st night in Fukuoka, we decided to visit the renowned yatai (portable eating dinner carts) along the river. There were many vendors selling yakitori and ramen. These vendors rolled their carts along the river everday around 3pm, cooked and served up their food for many guests eating right up onto their cart, and then shut everything down and rolled their carts away at 5am the following morning. It was a very interesting eating experience. My mom's leg was up against the tire and I was resting my feet on the bumber. The ramen was good though!

(The family eating ramen on the yatai. It was a little cramped, but it was good food and a good time talking to the chef and chief of operations)

(There were many of these yatai out on the waterfront. I think there were about 30 out the night we were walking around..and they were all busy!!)

On our 2nd day in Fukuoka, we did some site seeing. We took the bullet train to a nearby town called Iwakuni. There we saw an awesome bridge that spanned the river, made out of stone and wood.

(The bridge spanning the water. It was interesting to walk over in that to get up and down, there are steps. The tops of the arches feel very...round...)

(The underside of the bridge. It was very interesting to see how they supported the arches.)

Visiting Family in Fukuoka

2008-01-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

(Eating dinner with the family in Saga. The sushi was awesome in Saga! The neat thing was that although it looks like we're sitting on the floor, there is actually a hole underneath the tables so that you can hang your legs underneath, as though you're sitting at a "normal" table. It made sitting and eating very comfortable!)

From Okinawa we moved onto Fukuoka and stayed there from the night of 22 December 2007 to the morning of 26 December 2007. While we were there we went to Saga, about a 30 minute train ride from Fukuoka, to visit my Mom's Aunt and her family. I had never met these folks before. We went to pay respects to my mom's mom's father, and then to my mom's uncle (mom's mom's sister's husband) who died about 5 years ago. They were very nice, and were very welcoming.

(Marie and I on the train on the way from Fukuoka to Saga)

(Mom with her cousins Naomi and Kazumi. Mom hadn't seen either of them in at least 30 years! It was a very nice reunion, and it was great being able to meet them )

(My mom's cousin's dad's grave site. It was very interesting to see the various cemetaries and stones in Japan. They varied from Okinawa to Tokyo. Just an observation)

Sites in Okinawa

2008-01-06T15:13:00.000-08:00

On the 2nd and 3rd days that we were in Okinawa, we did a little bit of site seeing around the island. Rieko and her mother took us into the country and went to see her brothers farm and vacation home. Then we went to the northern end of the island and visited the botanical garden there, and got a personal tour from one of the groundskeepers there who was Rieko's cousin. We also went to see Shurijo - a castle in Naha that was part of the Ryuku lineage that ruled over the islands from the 15th century. The island was very driveable and everyone was very laid back and friendly. The weather was much like it is in Hawaii this time of year. We had one night where it poured sheets of rain (so much so that we went out to get food with our umbrellas, and came back sufficiently soaked to the bone), but otherwise the weather was sunny and temperate.

(Dad and Marie in front of the building inside the botanical garden on the northern part of the island. There is a wonderful aquarium that is also in the same complex, but we didn't have the time to visit there. It is supposed to be one of the best aquariums in the world)

(An example of some of the gorgeous orchids that were in the garden. There were also tons of tropical plants and hibiscus on exhibit)

(The family in front of a flower crab that greeted you at the entrance to the park)

(The main building in the Shurin Castle complex. It had an interesting and informative exhibit on the Ryukyu culture that used to rule over the islands. It was also the site of one of the G8 summits when Japan was the host country)

(Fukushuen garden in Naha city. It is a chinese garden that was supposed to symbolize the friendship between Okinawa and the chinese culture. It was a beautiful garden, but it started raining while we were there. We frantically had to go to the convenience store to get some $5 umbrellas...which we eventually left in our hotel room in Fukuoka =)

(Marie and I along the coastline of Okinawa. It was a little blustery, but the sea was clear and blue and very nice!)

Food In Okinawa

2008-01-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

I could describe it all...but here are some pictures of the delicious food we ate

(Sata Andagi - Okinawan sweet donuts...slightly larger than donut holes...very good!!)

(Goya Champuru - bitter melon stir fry that has bitter melon, bean sprouts, scrambled egg, and other veggies..yummy as well!)

(Black sesame crusted pork cutlet. It was very tender, and the black sesame had a little bit of salt in it, so it was salty and crunchy...very good as well)

(pigs feet - it's an okinawan specialty. It's been simmered all day, and the fat is mostly gone, and what's left is collagen and the "good for you" parts of the meat. It was tasted ok, but I wasn't comfortable with the texture.)

(Two kinds of Okinawan soba noodles and fried rice. The noodles are flatter than normal soba noodles...very good!)

(umi budou - which translates directly to "sea grapes". It tasted like a caviar, but not as salty)

(okinawa bento lunch - an assortment of veggies and rice and tofu. Across from my tray is a bento that includes pigs feet...again, not my favorite =) But my lunch was awesome!!)

(Orion beer brewed in Okinawa...Japanese beer is very light and not that robust in flavor. I thought it was drinkable, but not really to my liking.)

Digging up the family tree in Okinawa

2008-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

My Dad's side of the family is in Okinawa. While we were there, we got in touch with some folks to figure out where his family came from. We stayed in Okinawa for 4 days,and had a good time there. We met some very nice people, ate some good food, and went to see some awesome places.
We met up with the Gishitomi family, and although their name is slightly different, the chinese characters that make up their name is the same as our family, and it is pretty rare.

(Mom, Gishitomi-san, Rieko-san, Dad at the botanical gardens in Okinawa. They were very gracious hosts to be showing us around the island)

We also caught up with Mr. Takara, that keeps track of families in the Oroku district in Naha, Okinawa. Him and his wife were able to help us track the Uehara side of my Dad's family.

(Mr. Takara and his wife, with Mom, Dad, and Marie)

We were able to visit the Uehara grave site, which looks like a giant retaining wall on the side of a mountain, but it is actually a gigantic tomb.

(The tomb)

(Area to leave flowers)

(Paying respects to the Uehara family)

We were able to see Gishifu-jima, which is an island off the coast of Okinawa, and is probably named after one of my ancestors. That was pretty awesome =)

(Gishifu-jima)

We were able to figure out some stuff about the family, but for more details on the Gishifu side, we would have had to gone to an island called Ishigaki. It was a little too much out of the way, plus it would have been more digging amongst old documents.

Japan 2007/2008

2008-01-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

From 18 December 2007 to 03 January, 2008, my family and I went to Japan to do some family digging, visit some relatives, do some sightseeing, and just vacation in Japan. We started off the trip in Okinawa, then went to Fukuoka, then took the train to Hiroshima, then took the train again to Kyoto and Nara, and then took the train to Tokyo where we spent new years with my mom's family. It was a really great time!! (Above: Dad, Mom, me, and Marie in front of the Shuin Castle in Okinawa)

Annie and Sean's Wedding

2007-10-19T01:27:00.000-07:00

The weekend of 13 Oct 2007, I went down to LA to visit some friends as well as attend Annie and Sean's wedding extravaganza. Their wedding was wonderful, the reception was great, and all in all it was a good time. I was able to see a lot of friends from Mudd that I hadn't seen in a while, and I was able to stay with Daniel and Jeannie in Pasedena. These are just a few pics from the weekend.

Lemme tell you about my trip there. I was trying to be good and take portland's public transportation system to the airport. I got on the trolley...but was caught in a standstill of traffic, and it took 45 minutes to go about 10 blocks. So I got off and ran (with luggage in hand) through downtown Portland to transfer to the train. I got on the train, and rushed through the terminal in order to check in. There I find out that my flight was delayed by 2.5 hours. Grrr..

I ended up falling asleep both at the airport and on the plane. I got to LAX at 11pm, about 2 hours after I was supposed to actually be there. Roy, Lili, Daniel, and Jeannie all were kind enough to meet me at the airport. But my bags had not come off the plane. In fact, our entire flight was waiting for the bags to come. After waiting for about 45 minutes, we decided we were all starving, and decided to go to in n out without my bags. So we went and had some in n out goodness (hamburger,no onions, fries light). and then went back for my bags. Sigh...it was a long trip...

This is Jenn and me at the reception. We know each other through at least 4 different people, but we never really were able to talk to each other. But we were able to chit chat during the wedding, so now we're definitely only 1 degree apart from each other =)

Tammy, Annie, me, Lili, and Cat at the reception. All Mudd girls. Yay!

Carman, Lili, and me at the reception.

Me and Matt. We were proctors together our senior year at Mudd. I think he was much cooler than I was =)

Steve and Cecilia. I think they were both a little tired from the wedding day.

Kurt and Renee. Fellow Oregon folks making the trip down to Cali for the wedding and for in n out =)

Eric and Carman at the reception.

Annie, the bride, and me at the reception.

Vipul and me at the wedding.

Annie and Sean during the ceremony. It was definitely sweet and a tear jerker!

Mikey and me at the wedding

Wes and I at the wedding

Dessert in Manhattan

2007-09-08T13:58:00.001-07:00

Wilson took me to Black Hound which serves up wonderful desserts. I got a berries in chocolate cup with a vanilla yogurty custard thing. It was sooooo good, I had to take a picture of it! We ate it in New York's Union Square amid skateboarders, crazies, locals, and tourists. There was so much action going on in the street at 11pm at night. It was awesome!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

2007-09-08T13:56:00.001-07:00

Amy and Wilson live near Jacques Torres Chocolatier, known for the outstanding chocolates. We stopped in intending to get the highly advertised frozen hot chocolate. They had their normal hot chocolate, but it was a nice summer day, so frozen sounded much better. This was not a frappacino or a milk shake. This was the richest, thickest chocolate milk, frozen to perfection. I got mine spiced (which is like Mexican hot chocolate). It was not too thick to drink through a straw, but heavy enough where I realized that this was hot chocolate on steroids. It was rich and creamy and chocolately and heavenly. I could not finish. As much as I wanted to, my body would tell me that if I took one more sip, I would die from OD-ing on chocolate goodness. So throughout the weekend, I kept the frozen goodness in Amy and Wilson's fridge, and sipped on it every so often. I think I got through 3/4 of it over the next 2 days, and I don't think I ever finished it. It was unforgettable, that was for sure =)

Wilson and Amy along the Brooklyn waterfront

Me in Brooklyn with the Manhattan skyline in the background

Running in Central Park

2007-09-08T13:55:00.002-07:00

On Monday, 03 September 2007, Amy, Wilson, and I went running in Central Park. We road the subway to Columbus Circle, and then started out little jog. There were tons of people out and about. They closed the inner road to cars, so there were joggers, horse drawn carriages, strollers, walkers, roller bladers, and tourists. There were people in the grassy areas, reading, sunbathing, and picniking. It was a gorgeous day, and the running, although a little bit hotter than I'm used to, was fantastic.

Wilson and Amy after our run in Central Park
Amy and I after our run

After running, we went uptown to the Harlem area to 107 W. 109st. This is where my dad's family lived for 9 months during WW2. They were released out of their Topaz, Utah internment camp earlier than other families, but they were still considered a threat to the west coast. So the government moved them to New York. The building was definitely still there, and it looked like any other apartment building in the city. It was strange to think that this was a place of refuge for my family during a very tense time in history.

107 W. 109 St. The apartment building is still very much there

Me standing at the entrance to the building

We then went to the NYU area to eat lunch and cupcakes at Crumbs. It was all very good, and I got to see Amy's business school building and the NYU campus. All in all, it was a great day in New York. =)
Amy and Wilson debating how to cut the cupcake

The chocolate blackout cupcake from Crumbs

US Open 2007

2007-09-08T13:55:00.001-07:00

Part of the reason for this trip to New York was to go to the US Open in Flushing Meadows. The Billy Jeane King Tennis complex is located next to Shea Stadium in the Queens area of NYC. I got a day and night pass good for Sunday, 02 September 2007. With this particular pass, I can get access to the entire complex, along with reserved seats in the main stadium, Arthur Ashe.

After oversleeping, I got to the complex via subway at 1pm. Already, the place was bustling. There were matches going on all over the place, and I wasn't quite sure where to begin. I figured out that I could get a little ear phone radio thing if I was an American Express card holder (sponsor), which I am, thanks to the swoosh. So I got one, and it was already tuned into the Open broadcast, which was for the US Open attendees, and the TV broadcast. Over the course of the day, I could tune in and figure out how the matches that are being broadcast on tv are going, and the open commentary told me which matches were being played on which courts. There are a total of 15 playing courts, along with Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong, and the Grandstand as "show" courts. Its a lot of tennis. But it was a lot of fun.

All day long, I could go from match to match, and stay for a game or two. If I got bored, or heard a better match going on, I could just leave and go to the next court. I made sure to see some types of matches that aren't normally on tv, like the mens and women's doubles, along with some mixed doubles. I went into the various gift shops, where you could buy everything from tennis rackets to a gigantic tennis ball. I was tempted to get the big tennis ball, but it was a pricey $40.

In terms of the big names, I got to see Henin, Venus, Nadal, Moya, Jelena Jankovic, and Ferrer. The matches at Arther Ashe stadium were quick and unexciting. So I just went there to use the facilities and to buy my souvenir cups (one was a beer cup, and the other was a rather nice acryllic cup with a yummy melon martini) =) The nose bleed seats (where I was at), had a fantastic view of the Manhattan skyline, but not such a great view of the matches =)

The Manhattan skyline from the nosebleed seats (where I was sitting) at Arthur Ashe stadium

I ended up spending a lot more time at the Grandstand and Louis Armstrong stadiums. They had better matches that went into 3 or 5 sets, and the fans were definitely more into it. Some of the international players definitely had their fans from their home country in the stands. It was a lot of fun. =)

Carlos Moya vs. some german dude in the grandstand court. This was the most fun court to be at because the fans were very rowdy and cheerful =)

I also decided that I liked the mens matches better than the womens. The women seemed to insist that they could not play with fans distracting them...like taking their seats, or coughing, or breathing...it didn't make me like them very much. The men however seemed to encourage the bustle of the fans, and wanted everyone to cheer and yell. It was much more fun =)
If you are ever in New York during the two week long Open event, I highly recommend going. The first week is definitely cheaper, with more matches per buck. The second week is pricier, but perhaps more quality tennis. Anyway, go if you can!

Me at the US Open at the USTA tennis complex

Me in Arthur Ashe stadium. I think that's Nadal playing in center court

Lost in New York...already...

2007-09-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to go visit Amy and Wilson in New York for the 3 day labor day weekend. The tickets were really cheap...$250 for a round trip, non stop flight from PDX to JFK. There was no reason not to go. I left Portland on a red eye and go to JFK around 8:30. I told Amy I had arrived, so I got onto the Air Train to get on the A train to NYC. I got on the subway, and knew I had to get off at the High St. exit in Brooklyn, and then call Amy from there.
Well, I was a little tired, and I managed to fall asleep on the subway (yeah, brilliant...), and I ended up waking up at 14th St. I figured that there were no numbered streets in Brooklyn...only in Manhattan, so I realized that I had passed the stop. So I got off, went to the other side, and waited for the next train to come. The MTA lady was kind enough to tell me that I was supposed to get on the A train when I asked her if this was the right platform to stand on for the High Street exit. She however did not tell me that the A train did not stop here, and that I would have to board the E and then transfer at the next stop onto the A. Well, after 2 E's go by, I finally figure it out (I was on 3 hours of airplane sleep...my brain wasn't all there....) I got on, and eventually made it to the High St. exit. I gave Amy a call, and she directed me to her apartment complex. The doorman asked me where I wanted to go, and I said apartment 4F. He asked me my name and I said Amy. He said, "No, what is YOUR name." I said "Yes, that IS my name. I am also an Amy...". Oh. Well, he lets me go up, and I finally get into Amy and Wilson's lovely apartment. I told them about the events that lead to my 45 minute delay. 20 minutes in the city, and already, lost. Fantastic!!! =)

Camping at Crater Lake

2007-08-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of 28/29 July 2007, I went to Crater Lake with Ian and Janel and their friend Kevin from Seattle. We left at 7am on Saturday, and drove down to Eugene where we caravaned the rest of the way with Vipul, Patima, and Jun. We got to Crater Lake around noon, and from there, it was all fun and sun =)
This was MUCH better than my first camping experience last year, where Vipul took Marie and I to the coast, and it rained for most of the time we were out there. This time around, Ian and Janel had everything all organized, and the weather was great, and everything went pretty smoothly. It was a lot of fun, and the experience made me want to continue with camping. However, the back was a little sore, but hiking actually made it feel a lot better =) Here are some pics from the weekend.

Did I mention that this lake is blue?! It was amazing to see

Crater Lake is as blue as can be. It is beautiful!

Me at a look out over the lake

On Saturday we hiked in an area 20 miles away from Crater Lake where there were hot springs. There were several hot springs here, but not all of them were fit to take a dip in.

This was the main natural hippie hot tub. Ian and Kevin took a dip...Janel and I were amused.

Ian and Kevin hiking down the path to the boat landing for the Crater Lake Boat Tour that we all took on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, and the 760 ft. vertical over 1.2 miles was an awesome butt work out on the way back up! =)

Ranger Mike was the tour guide.

This is the "Old Man on the Lake". It is a log that has been floating in the lake since the late 1800s. It was first documented then, and it's been floating since. It is supposedly 40 feet long, and about 4 feet stick up over the water. It was the coolest part of the lake =)

A PB&J break after the boat tour. That's Ian, Kevin, and Janel.

In San Francisco for Brian and Jamie's wedding

2007-07-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend of 07 to 08 July 2007 to visit family and friends, and to attend my friend Brian and Jamie's wedding. I have known Brian since we were in kindergarten! The two of us, along with Barry, spent a lot of time together in elementary school. We went to seperate middle schools but got back together again for high school at Lowell. We went our seperate ways after high school, but our parents are still very good friends, and we hear about each other all the time. Brian finally tied the knot with his long time girlfriend, Jamie, and now they are living happily ever after =)

This is the view of San Francisco from up on top of Twin Peaks. It is a bit foggy, but if it weren't, then it wouldn't be San Francisco =) My friend Casey and I got here via his brand new, sweet Jetta GLI. =)

Brian (groom), Jamie (bride), me, and Barry at the reception

Me and Barry. We've known each other since we were 5!

Seattle 2007

2007-07-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Roy and I kissing the pig displayed outside Qwest Field

On 29 June 2007, I met Roy and Daniel at the Goose Hollow Max Station at 16:30. They had arrived earlier that day, and we decided to meet in Portland, then drive up to Seattle that night. We went to happy hour at Jakes Seafood Grill, which was fantastic, and then made our way up to Seattle.

We met up to go to Seattle for two reasons
1. to go to Safeco Field to watch a Mariners game
2. to go to the Experience Music Project (EMP) to see the Disney exhibit

But first, Friday night, we drove up to Kyle's place, and met up with his friends to go on his girlfriend's, Rachel's, father's boat onto Lake Washington. We all piled into this boat, which was very nice, and got to ride out onto the lake to get a night-time view of the Seattle skyline. The moon was very bright out, and it made everything that much prettier. I had been to Seattle a few times, but never saw the skyline from the lake, or from a boat, or at night. Doing all 3 at once was an awesome treat!

Saturday, we started our day at the EMP, located in the Seattle Center. There, we saw the Disney exhibit, but also an exhibit on Jimi Hendrix. The dude was crazy. Amazing, but very crazy. (We also started the day at 9am, when Kyle's roommate's entire family came in to help him move out of Kyle's condo...that was awesome).
Daniel taking a picture of Key Arena

Roy (left) and Daniel waiting in line to board the monorail (I don't think that's how they normally smile)

We then headed to Pike's Place Market. Roy had never been to Seattle, but Daniel and I have. We experienced the throwing of the fish, and then the famous first ever Starbucks. I have yet to find out where the 2nd ever starbucks is located.
Me in front of Pike's Place Market

We then headed to Safeco Field, where the Mariners were playing the visiting Toranto Blue Jays. Now, the whole reason for me to be excited about coming to Safeco was to experience the IchiRoll, in honor of CF Ichiro. However, eating sushi while watching a baseball game just doesn't seem right. So I ended up with the usual ball park fare, which was fine, and was completely satisfied. I'm sure the Ichiroll is delicious, but maybe if it were in a restaurant, and not a ball park. The Mariners won, 8 to 3, and we were all pretty impressed with all that Safeco had to offer. I must say though, that I miss the MLB. It sucks having to drive 3 hours just to watch a decent baseball game.
Me outside the left field entrance of Safeco Field

Something that Portland is lacking...a Major League ballpark

All in all, the trip to Seattle was a success. I had fun hanging out with Roy, Daniel, and Kyle and company, and it was just a very enjoyable and satisfying weekend!

Harvey Mudd Girls in Oregon

2007-06-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

During Memorial Day weekend, 25-28 May, 2007, my friends Amy B, Lili, and Jenni came to Portland for our inaugural annual reunion. The four of us lived in the same hallway all through college. Amy and I were roommates freshman and sophomore year. Jenni and Lili were roommates all four years in college! =)
Amy B is currently in NYC working for ASME, and she hooks me up with the trips to Puerto Rico and China
Lili is a super engineer at Sandia in ABQ, NM, where she is saving the world from nuclear disaster!
Jenni is an awesome high school math teacher in Simi Valley, CA. She's also working her little butt off at Cal state Northridge to get her Masters in Education.
And I am, well, Amy G.

Here are some pics from our weekend in Oregon! (I would write more, but not in the mood for this posting...)

At Powells trying to figure out how many out of the stack of 15 books Jenni should keep. This was way more fun than school =)

Some of us were tired after spending time in Tillamook and along the Oregon coast.

Amy B, Jenni, and I at Multnomah Falls. It was very early in the morning.

Not the greatest pictures of all four of us, but it's interesting seeing where we are all at now.

Our feet in the sand! =)

Amy and Lili at the Cheesecake factory prior to eating a lot of food! =)

At the Tillamook Cheese Factory...not Amy B's most favorite place in the world considering she is lactose intolerant... =)

We are the most touristy people on the trail at Multnomah Falls. But we work hard!! =)

Jenni in front of Fairy Falls, my personal favorite. =)

Amy B needed a lot of help crossing the watery areas. I'm sure she's thrilled that I posted this picture. =)

Me leaning on Haystack Rock

Me, Lili, and Amy =)

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks!

2007-04-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the see the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals on 22 April, 2007, 1:20pm at Wrigley Field.
Mikey, Shelley, and Pablo waiting for the L.
Mikey and me
Get on the red line, and get off at Addison to see the Cubs at Wrigley
The scoreboard at Wrigley
Fans watching from the rooftops of the houses around Wrigley field
Oh yes, and there was a baseball game. I did end up eating cracker jacks, but no peanuts. The Cubs came back in the 9th, but ended up losing to the Cards in the 10th by 3 runs.

Drinking around downtown

2007-04-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Mikey, Shelley, Pablo, and I ended up spending Saturday night eating good food, and drinking good drinks. Our first stop was a Japanese restaurant called Kizoku (www.kizokusushi.com) that Mikey frequented. It was very good, with interesting rolls, and terrific presentation.
Next came a walk over to Nacional 27 (www.nacional27.net), a latin restaurant. This was good:
and so was this...

Then we went to a wine bar called Cru (www.cruwinebar.com) on Deleware and Wabash, where Mikey and I shared a flight of red and a flight of white, and a cheese flight for the four of us. I am not the wine expert by any means, but it was pretty good. (I prefer beer or hard stuff, but this is good too)
Then finally we went to a tequila bar where I had a pineapple mojito (no tequila, I know), but it was very good. It was a fun and happy Saturday night.
Note: Mikey lives near a chocolate factory, which was making something or another all weekend. It smelled sooooooo good around his condo!!!

Architecture and Chicago

2007-04-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Mikey and I decided to go on an Architecture Boat Tour while Shelley and Pablo went to Millenium Park. (We'd been there, they'd done the tour before). The tour came highly recommended from Chicago natives (Janel, Ian, and Allen), and after being on the tour, I will also highly recommend it. The tour guide lady gave the history of each of the famous buildings, along with what type of architecture each building exhibited. I had a couple of favorites:
John Hancock building - took 5 years to complete it, used 1/3 less steel than would usually have been required for a building of that size, and it is home to the Signature Room, which has a lovely view of the Chicago area, especially the ladies bathroom, as I discovered during my last trip to Chicago.

Merchandise Mart - This is presently home to numerous design/home decorating vendors. But I mainly like it because of the bronze busts on the outside that are displayed on pedestals.

Marina City - It's like a corn cob on the river! I was wondering if people ever get dizzy trying to get up to their parking spaces...

After the tour, and for the remainder of my stay in Chicago, I would look a the different buildings and think to myself "Hmm...that does have interesting architecture..." Chicago does in fact have a lot of interesting architecture and history, and I would highly recommend looking up at all the different buildings the city has to display.

Chicago style pizza

2007-04-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

No trip to Chicago would be complete without having eaten Chicago style pizza. One of the most well known establishments is called Giordano's, and that's where I've always eaten my pizza in Chicago.
We got there around 1pm on Saturday, and the wait was 45 minutes. So Mikey put our names in, and we decided to order a medium spinach stuffed pizza. Let me just say, that a slice of Chicago style pizza is like eating 4 regular slices of pizza, but infinitely more satisfying. There is a lot of cheese, but it is not overwhelmingly heavy or greasy. There is a lot of fresh spinach, but not so much that it no longer resembles or tastes like a pizza. The sauce is perfect. The crust is crunchy and crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. And the whole combination is so good that the law of diminishing returns does not kick in til the slice is gone. Each bite is better than the last...until that is you decide to go for your second slice...because by then, you are full, but it is sooooooo good!

Chicago - 21/22 April 2007

2007-04-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to visit my good friend Mikey Schubmehl and Shelley Chen and her boyfriend Pablo in Chicago. It cost me $258 to fly halfway across the country...but it costs me $218 to fly to San Francisco, so I figure why not go to Chicago and visit some good friends! And while I'm there, let's go to the Cubs/Cardinals series at Wrigley!
So I decided to fly out on a red eye to Chicago on the night of the 20th, landed at around 4:45am Chicago time on the 21st, took a taxi to downtown Chicago to Mikey's condo, the doorman let me in, and I broke into his apartment and I proceeded to fall asleep on the air mattress that Mikey provided.
So the plan was to meet up with Shelley and Pablo, and then all of us would go to the Cubs game the following day.

Swimming in a dark lagoon

2007-04-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Amy B and I decided that we wanted to go to the other side of the island to the town of Farjardo. Let's just say that it was an adventure to find the hotel. It was pouring rain, and the streets are all potholed, and there are hardly any lights, and we have no idea where we are going. We had to be at the "meeting area" by 8:45 this night, and we finally found our hotel at 8:00. We checked in, and then rushed to the meeting place. Again, after some dark unmarked roads and several twists, turns, and uturns, and pointing in opposite directions, we found the departure area for the bioluminescent bay tours. We met the coordinator, Ceasar, and he told us that the tour would start at 9:30pm. Great.

Amy B and I were starving, so we decided to eat at the only local restaurant/cafe place in the area. We thought we would be able to avoid eating yet another Puerto Rican meal here, but alas, we were hungry and we had 20 minutes to eat something for a halfway decent dinner. So we ordered a dinner, ate as quickly as possible, then met with the coordinator again at 9:30.

Our whole group was about 40 people big. There were 2 people per kayak. We signed our lives away, then received a PFD. Then waited to climb into our kayak. Neither Amy nor I had kayaked before, but they seemed perfectly ok with that. Amy was in front, and I was in back and I was supposed to follow Amy's lead. It's amazing how difficult it is to follow the leader when no one knows what exactly we're supposed to be doing.

The guides eventually got everyone into a kayak, and we headed toward the bio bay. We went through a network on mangrove trees, and ran into several on the way upriver. We also managed to crash into several kayakers who were coming back from the bio bay. The others got fairly mad at us, but we had no idea what we were doing. And Amy was getting tired. But we eventually made to the end of the river, which led to a huge body of open water. We paddled to the group that was waiting for us in the middle of the bay, and noticed that while we paddled, the splashing water lit up. The plankton were lighting up!

We got to jump into the water, which was way warm, and swim with the plankton. It was amazing because it looked as though we were glowing underwater. I wish we could have taken pcitures, but it was impossible because of the low light and the fact that we were in water. But every time we kicked our feet or moved our arms, the surface of our skin would light up, and then slowly fade. But as long as we were moving the water, the plankton would put on their lightshow. It was amazing. And the warm water made it very easy to swim around and admire this natural phenamena.

After about 20 minutes, we beached ourselves back onto the kayaks, and started to paddle back. It was easier to paddle back since we were going with the current, and the plankton lit up the way for about 5 minutes before they disappeared. Amy and I were very happy to have been able to participate in this event, and we wish we could do it every night =)

Caves and Satellites

2007-04-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, 25 March 2007, my first full day in Puerto Rico, Amy and I went on a tour to the Camuy Caves and the Radio Telescope.

The visitors center had a tram that shuttled people to and from the caves with a guide. They had both spanish and english guides, and so we opted for the english guide. The tram took us down a steep hill, which we later found out was part of an ancient crater, and took us to the entrance to the Camuy Cave. What was interesting was that there was plenty of green vegetation surrounding the cave, but as soon as it got dark inside, it was only rock formations and water. Certain areas were lit up so that it would be possible for us to follow the path. The entrance of the cave system did not really foretell the expanse of the cave network. It seemed like just as we passed one rock formation, there was brand new section of the cave opened up for us. Bats also lived in this cave, and we were lucky enough to not get attacked by bats, but our noses were introduced to the smell of bat poop, and that was not pleasant at all. Not sure why you would want to live amid the smell of your own poop, but I suppose that's what bats like.

These are pictures of the caves...Amy and I didn't take any pictures because we figured that they wouldn't come out very well because of the low lighting. So we left it all up to the professionals =)

Entrance to the cave

Pathway network in the cave

The next part of our tour was go to the Arecibo radio telescope observatory. This radio telescope was featured in the movies Goldeneye and Contact. What was amazing was how big this thing was. Apparently it is as big as ten football fields and about 150ft. tall from the center to the top edge. They replace the thousands of panels once every 5 years, and it takes 1 year to go through all of them. Someone has to wear special shoes to walk around on the panels, and the laser guidance systems tell them how to align the panels. The person can't weigh more than 120lbs, or something like that. Anyway, the big antenna and dome thing rotates according to where they want to look in the atmosphere, and while we were there they were spinning that thing around for whatever reason. In any case, it was amazing to see how it was all being supported with wires attached to 3 towers. Crazy...again...Amy B and I were lame and we didn't take pictures. So here again I am relying on professional photos from the internet.

The central dome thing that rotates depending on what part of the sky they are capturing

The entire radio telescope...it's huge!

Why Puerto Rico?

2007-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

I went to Puerto Rico from Saturday, 24 March 2007 to Wednesday, 28 March 2007. I flew from Portland, OR to Chicago, to San Juan, and the same way back. Why did I decide to Puerto Rico? Because Amy was there.

Amy, aka Amy B, was my college roommate. She is currently working with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and is the Education Manager. She deals with ABET accredidation, department heads, and working on how to teach engineering to students. Every year, she has a workshop/conference for Mechanical Engineering department heads. This year, this conference was in Dorado, Puerto Rico. (I know...harsh...last year it was in Beijing, China...yeah, I was there for that one too).

Anyway, a while ago, Amy B asked me to be her guest, and after thinking about it for a little bit, I decided that Puerto Rico was better than sitting in Portland during a potentially rainy March. So I booked my tickets, and joined her in Puerto Rico. The rental car and hotel room in Dorado was paid for thanks to ASME, and so I basically just had to find a way to entertain myself while Amy B worked the conference. I didn't think that would be too difficult to do. =)

Note: I was featured in an online newsletter that the ASME sends to young mechanical engineers. I was featured because I am a mechanial engineer in an atypical engineering position with Nike. It was an ok article...but I have to confess that I am not an ASME member. But they never asked me if I was, so I figure that's ok.

Maybe I need to eat more apples...

2007-04-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away." I have had a few recent trips to the physical therapist. I scheduled the appointments because I have been in a lot of pain when I wake up in the mornings. At first I thought it was due to the new mattress that I bought. I thought it was fine for the 1st week that I had it, but week 2 was a different story. I would wake up at 3:30 in the morning in severe back pain. The pain would be from my mid back all the way to my obliques. It was uncomfortable, and a little worrisome.

The doctor took more xrays, and here's what he said. He said, "everything still looks structurally sound." That is great news!

He said it could be that during rehab, you tend to get worse before you get better. So maybe this is my "getting worse" part, and I'll soon be well on my way to recovery. This is good news.

On the other hand, if the pain continues for several more months, him and my surgeon, Dr. Yoo, think that maybe I might have to get my rods and screws taken out. HOLD ON....did you say "take them out?" wtf?!?!??!?!?!?!?! Aren't these things holding me in place? Didn't you just say that I was structurally sound? Wouldn't taking these things out make me structurally unsound????!?!?!?!?!? He did mention that this would be a very rare scenario, and it would likely not happen. Ok....

Note: My physical therapist's name is Dr. Nels Carlson. He has a twin brother Dr. Hans Carlson. Who also is a physical therapist with OHSU. Who also specializes in spinal recovery. Interesting...

Anyway, so that is what is going on with this back of mine. It feels absolutely fine after I have been up and about for about an hour, and it feels fine when I work out. So I just need to figure out how to sleep pain free, and that has been quite challenging so far. I will update the status of the back as I get more information. Until then, I need to eat more apples...

Visiting So Cal and the OC - Day 3

2007-03-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

Day 3 at the convention was more or less boring. I'd been there, done that, seen that, talked to him, talked to her, and gotten their free pens. It was time to get outta there!

I met Paul at his work and we went to South Coast Plaza and ate at Ruby's Diner for lunch. Another reason I don't really like LA is because it is so sprawled. South Coast plaza is on either side of a major 8 lane boulevard. It has a lot of stores and department stores, and stores for department stores. I am sure it is a fabulous place to get stuff, but I prefer shopping in downtown areas, not malls. Lunch with Paul was good, and that meant that I had seen 5 out of my 30 friends during this trip. Not too shabby I think.

Then it was on to John Wayne Aiport to SFO to PDX. While in SFO, I had coffee with my parents who were nice enough to meet me at the airport.

So that was my trip to So Cal. It would be the beginning of a hectic few months of traveling, but it's nice when Nike picks up the tab for this one =)

Visiting So Cal and the OC - Day 2

2007-03-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was in the OC for Valentine's day. I got a pink carnation from one of the vendors who was handing it out to all the ladies at the convention under 30. That is just awesome...

Roy picked me up from the convention and we went to my all time favorite: In-N-Out. I ordered my usual: cheeseburger, no onions, toasted, fries light. Again, good stuff. I believe I told Roy and Daniel several months ago that I would not mind eating at In-N-Out on Valentine's day, and sure enough, I did not. =)

Later, in the evening, I drove down to Annie and Sean's apartment. During this theoretically short trip, I discovered one of many reasons why I don't like LA. It is amazing how 8 lanes of freeway could be swallowed by cars during the daylight hours. It isn't just during commute hours. It's all day. I was on the 5 South, and it was bumper to bumper across all 8 lanes. I had forgotten how LA traffic is able to fill these multilane expressways to the brim. Yes, one of many reasons why I do not live in So Cal...

Annie and Sean and Misa and I went to sushi for dinner. Very yummy I must say. I think I got Chirashi, I don't remember actually. Then we went to the Golden Spoon for dessert. We then drove by their future home. Yes, on Wednesday night, 14 February 2007, they bought their first house together! And we drove by it and it was very cute, and it would be perfect for their first home and they could live there quite comfortably for a while. It was awesome =) Then we went back to Annie and Sean's apartment and sat and chatted about their upcoming wedding plans and life in general plans.

Day 2 down, 1 more to go.

Visiting So Cal and the OC - Day 1

2007-03-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

I was in Southern California from 12 February to 15 February 2007. I was there to attend the Medical Device and Manufacturing Trade Show at the Anaheim Convention Center. The show itself was interesting in that I was able to see a lot of medical device companies showing off their newest and greatest innovations of the year. There were also a lot of plastics manufacturers around, so I got to see some stuff that I got to see at NPE 2006 last year in Chicago.

My first night Southern California, I crashed at Annie and Sean's apartment. I arrived at 11:30pm on a Monday night...I am a horrible houseguest for coming in that late. But Annie woke up for me, and we chatted for a little while before we all realized that we had to go to sleep.

Tuesday night, Roy and Daniel took me out to some So Cal institutions that I really miss. Roy was kind enough to pick me up from my hotel which was right next to the convention center, and went to South Pas to pick up Daniel. We then drove to K-town, which is near downtown LA I believe. Roy took us to a Korean bbq place, but it wasn't like the meat + lettuce = yummy place. They had a dipping sauce with the meat instead, but nonetheless, it was all yummy!

Next we headed to Westwood, home of UCLA. Along the way we debated how a UCLA student would be instantaneously mugged if he or she showed up to USC with a UCLA sweatshirt; but if a USC student were to wear USC gear in Westwood, nothing would happen to him or her. Here, we went to a fro yo place called Pinkberry that is "in" in LA right now, and Diddy Riese. For $1.50, we had freshly baked cookies sandwiching a hunk of ice cream. One of a few things I actually miss about LA. And of course, there was a dude wearing a USC jacket, and nothing happened to him.

So 24 hours in LA, and I had Korean bbq, Diddy Rieses, and got to see 4 out of 30 friends. Not too shabby =)

Resuscitating my car

2006-12-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

While I was recovering from my back injury, I could not drive. Therefore, I got a lot of rides from numerous co-workers and friends (thank you to them), and my car was in the garage idle. My car, a 2002 white RSX named Gohan, was not driven for 5 weeks.

After I was given the ok from my doctor to drive, I decided it was time to revive my car. I got into it, and turned the key. It turned, and nothing happened. I tried again, slamming the clutch as hard as I could into the floor of the car. Nothing. So then I decided that the battery was dead. Apparently it is not a good thing to leave your car idle for 5 weeks. So I decided to call AAA. They said the jumper dude would be there in an hour.

I decided that it would be much easier for the AAA guy to jump my car if it were out of the garage. So I decided to push the car out of the garage just enough to at least get the hood of the car outside. With back brace and all, I put all my weight into the car, and it didn't budge. Hmm...it's not supposed to be like this. I got into the drivers seat, and with the strength of one leg, tried to ease the car out of the garage. Still nothing. Ok, fine. So I decided to get back to the front of the car and give it one more shot. I heaved again, and it moved, about 2 inches. Great. So I gave it one more heave. It moved again 2 inches. I tried getting into the drivers seat and pushing again with my foot. Nope, nothing. So I decided to give it one more heave. It moved!!!

Unfortunately, it moved very quickly. It rolled down the driveway. It was going to roll into the street!!!!!

But no...

My drivers side door got jammed into the space between the garage door and the garage wall. Phew...

I got around to the back side of my car and tried to push it forward back into the garage. With all my crippled strength, I pushed as hard as I could to try to roll the car back into the garage. Nothing. Crap...

So I sat there for the next 30 minutes waiting for the AAA to rescue me from the dead battery and the car wedged into the garage. The AAA guy came, and he pushed my car back into the garage (quite easily, in fact). My the paint on the side of my door was a little scratched, but otherwise, it looked ok for having been jammed between the garage door and the building. He kindly jump started my car, and told me that if I ran it for 20 minutes, it would be fine. So I decided to drive it to work, and thanked the AAA guy. I was back in my car! Woo hoo!!!

Or so I thought...

On my way to work I realized that there was a lot of road noise. I thought a window was open somewhere, but I soon discovered that the garage door had bent the corner of my drivers side door back enough so that it would create drag and let in a lot of road noise. Sigh...

So I took it to the body shop, and they told me that not only was door corner bent back, but the entire door was bent the other way. I couldn't tell the difference, so I told them to just fix the corner. That turned out to be about $50. I got a new battery installed for about $60. All in all, my back injury and my stupidity cost me $110. So the lesson learned is don't break your back, and don't try to push your car out of the garage with a broken back =)

Friendship: The greatest gift of all!

2006-12-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

During Thanksgiving weekend, 2006, 25 November 2006, I went out to lunch with my friends John, Alice, Steve, and Cecilia. I showed off my awesome back brace, and told them the story of my surgery and such. They then presented me with a present that 30 of my friends put together for me. It was a check from the Amy G fund.
http://www.johnchou.com/amyg/
I had no idea that this was going on behind my back (haha, pun!), but it was happening. It was all my friend's Conor's idea, and he and John were able to spread the word. And within a few weeks, my fund was huge! When I was presented the check, I was speechless. I actually thought that they were going to give me a palm, because the last time my friends got a gift for me, it was a palm, and since my palm had recently broke, I thought that it was a palm. But I was not exactly disappointed. I was blown away. First, I didn't realize that I even had 30 friends. =) Second, I couldn't imagine anyone putting together something like this, and doing something like this for me. I never ever expect anything in return for my friendship, and knowing that so many people cared about me was amazing. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I feel very loved, and very grateful. I am grateful everyday that I can walk and that I am recovering smoothly from my surgery. I feel grateful that I have so many people looking out for me. It's amazing!!
The money has helped me pay for my medical expenses, which were quite amazing. I am worth a lot right now according to the insurance company. =) It also went towards buying a smartphone, which is kind of like a Palm =) So yeah, it is amazing. I still can't thank my friends enough for their generosity.
So one of things that I decided to do was to visit each and every one of my friends, especially the 30 friends that contributed to the fund, as much as I can this year. The plan is to travel to as many destinations as possible, and to spend some quality time with all my friends. The plan is to write about each of those places, and the experience that I am able to have with my friends. So this blog will actually be updated more than once a year =).
Once again, to everyone who contributed to the Amy G fund, and to all my friends out there rooting for me, thanks so much for everything. I love you very much, and I will see you very very soon!
With Love,
Amy =)

Doctors orders as of 29 November 2006

2006-12-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

For the next 2 or 3 weeks, I will get to wean myself off the brace. I need to gradually gain strength back in my back. So when I'm indoors, I'll probably go without my backbrace. When I'm out and about, I'll probably put it on. As it gets stronger, I will be able to go for longer periods without it. Six weeks from now I will be re-evaluated, and hopefully I will get to start physical therapy then.

Until I get some strength and a little bit of mobility back in my back, I won't be able to do much physical therapy. I will still make a full recovery in 3 to 6 months. =) So in the next few weeks, I will be able to drive for
myself again, lift some things (not too heavy, only with thd start
walking without the brace.

**It's been 3 weeks, and it's good to get some mobility back. I can do most things now except the lifting of heavy objects. I can't run or snowboard or jog or throw overhead passes in basketball, but I can do most things. Next doctor's appointment is 10 January 2007. Hopefully everything will look good, and I can start physical therapy then. I'll also be starting some pilates in order to get some core strength so that I don't have to rely on my back so much.

Here are the xrays of my back:

This is the back side of me. Two rods on either side of the vertabrae with screws in it to keep it in place.

This is the side view of me. The bone that doesn't have any screws in it is the one I broke.

The trials and tribulations of having a back brace

2006-12-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

These are some of the things I've discovered in my experience of having a back brace:

1. I look like Robocop. Or someone with a bullet proof vest. I get looks like "why are you wearing a bullet proof vest?" "what bomb do you know about, that I don't..."
2. I sit with terrific posture. having a back brace that prevents you from slouching is probably the best thing that you could do for your posture. (Having titanium rods in the middle of back probably helps too)
3. It's a great way to discourage clothes shopping. Can't take it off, can't bend over. So can't try on shoes, shirts, or pants.
4. Metal detectors at the airport can't detect titanium rods embedded in me. At least not the ones in the domestic terminals. I have yet to go through an international terminal with it.
5. Sitting is difficult. It was hard to sit for any length of time with the back brace.
6. Bending at the knees is crucial. I think I did about a million squats while I was with the back brace. I think I still do, just because I'm so used to it.
7. The Beaverton Pharmacy is the coolest store ever. They have every medical supply that one could possibly need. From walkers to ankle braces, they have it. They even had my handy dandy sock putter onner. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I will show you sometime. =)
8. Sitting in a car is difficult, depending on the car. Trucks are ok. VW bugs are ok. Integras are ok. Mazda 6's are ok. Acura TL's are ok. Camry's are not. Elantra's are not. Civics are not. RSX's are ok, as long as you're in the drivers seat =).
9. Getting a taller desk was cool because then I could stand or sit while working at my computer. I am also taller than my coworkers at that point too =)
10. Basketball is doable, sometimes. Chest pass, Ok. Bouce pass, Ok. Overhead passes, not ok. I didn't know that utilized the back so much, but it does. Shooting is ok.
11. Your body is the only one you've got, so take care of it!!!
12. Putting on the back brace is difficult when you are laying down and someone has to do it for you. When you are sitting up, it is fine.
13. If you can't bend over for whatever reason, get a reachy grabby thing. They may look corny on the infomercials, but they really do work!
14. The doctor didn't give me a handicap sticker thing to use on the car because he said that walking would be the best way to recover. I understand he was looking out for my health, but sometimes, in the middle of xmas shopping, you wish you can just pull into the first open spot you see, and not have to pay the meter...
15. I am not sure if the weird looks I got from people were because I was wearing a back brace and carrying around a cane...or because I was just me. =)
16. The back brace is hot. For the first few nights, I slept with it on, only later discovering that I didn't have to sleep with it. But during those nights, I sweat up a storm. It was a good thing I got injured in the fall because if it had been in the summer, I would have had major rashes and been incredibly uncomfortable.
17. After having it on for 6 straight weeks, it didn't feel that constricting. It felt like a security blanket.

I am sure there are more trials and tribulations...but those are the ones that come to mind right now =)

Day 7 and counting...

2006-12-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

Warning: This is a very personal and quite disgusting post, so you can skip it if you don't want to or don't know me that well period. But...it is quite entertaining...

So possibly the most uncomfortable aspect about recovering from surgery, was the fact that I was constipated. By the time I had gotten home, I had not gone no. 2 in 4 days. I thought this was not good, and did my best to go. I sat on the toilet for several minutes, but everytime I engaged certain muscles, my back would hurt like no other. Great. Just great. I have a broken back AND I'm going to die from constipation or infection of the intestines or something.

So my mother bought prunes. And metamucil. And I took laxatives. Nothing worked. Day 7, still no sign of No. 2. So my mom went to Uwajimaya (local asian grocery store) and bought the Chinese diet tea that makes you go the restroom all the time. I drank one bag. Nothing. I drank another bag. Nothing. This was not good. This was definitely not normal. I didn't feel good. I felt like I could explode. Trips to the bathroom were disappointing and uncomfortable. I could have had backissues of SI and ESPN the magazine in there, and nothing would have happened. I thought..Shit!...not literally...but Shit!

Day 8...So Tuesday night I asked my roommate Kelsey to call her mother, who was a nurse health practitioner, asking her if there was any way I could release the bloated feeling that I was having. She gave us two recommendations: Ducolax, up the butt style, and Fleet, an enema. Mom went to Walgreens and returned with the two packages. The Fleet system looked complicated and very invasive. The Ducolax was slightly disturbing as well, but less invasive. My mom had the unfortunate duty of sticking the Ducolax in me. Great. I was supposed to keep it in as long as possible. At this point I was praying that it would work and that I wouldn't have to go to the Fleet system.

Within 30 minutes, I was on the toilet, relieving the pressure from my body. It was PURE BLISSS!!!!

From then on, I vowed never EVER EVER EVER to become constipated again. I haven't been since. I never will be. Take your metamucil folks! Eat your fiber! Go regularly folks! Your bowel is counting on you!!!!

I love my mom, dad, and sister!

2006-12-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

So I was at home for the next two weeks after the accident. I had been in the hospital for 3.5 days. The afternoon I arrived home, my mother and her friend Heakyu ran around town getting various items for me. My prescription pain medication, oxycotane, and prescription laxative (I hadn't gone since Monday). They went to walgreens to get me a cane, a toilet seat raiser, and a thing that could reach 3 feet so that I didn't have to bent down to get anything.

My sister, Marie, came up from Corvallis to see how I was doing. I am pretty sure I looked pathetic. I called my dad and told him that everything was ok, and that mom was helping me out. I tried to describe what had happened, and I wasn't sure what to tell him. I was supposed to get my dressing changed at some point. I had to take a sponge bath in bed. But I was not capable of doing all this. So my mother took care of me. She bathed me like a small child. She even got a waterless hair washing cap thing that was a showercap that had some chemicals in it that would wet my hair and clean it. (The things they have no days.) My mom took pictures of my scar without the dressing. My mom helped me use the toilet for the first few days. My mom got food for me. My mom cooked for me. My mom cleaned for me. My mom cleaned me.

I am incredibly thankful for my mother. She was there for me for two weeks doing whatever it is I needed to do. She drove me to work so that I could say hello to my coworkers and reassure them that I was ok. She did everything for me, and I am forever grateful for it. I love and appreciate my mother very much, and I am so lucky to have a mother like her.

Marie taught me which bone I actually broke, since I had no real concept of what broke. She told me it was the vertebrae under my last floating rib cage, and it made all the difference in the world. It was RAINBOOOOWWWWWWWSSSSSS! all over again =) I love my sister!

Dad was always calling to make sure I was ok. He made sure that my mom had a rental car for her every day throughout her stay. I love my dad!

Getting kicked out of the hospital

2006-12-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Thursday night I was informed that if in the morning, the doctors gave me the ok, I could go home Friday afternoon...2:00pm. Otherwise I would get charged another night, and the insurance would not cover it. Is this a hotel or something? Home? Already? Am I not cripple? I can't even go to the bathroom by myself...

So Thursday night was experimentation night. I used the bathroom by myself, but just barely. The first time I used the nurse call button but no one came. I thought I would have to stay there all night, but I rang the bell again, and someone came. I wonder if they would have noticed if I hadn't rung the bell again...

Friday, the doctor came, and told me that everything looked good. I had my back brace, and all I needed was for the physical therapists to come. The physical therapists came eventually..Around 10, and I would be discharged at 2pm. Great. So the first therapist came, and asked me to walk. So I took the bedside walker, and showed him how much I could walk. He said great, and promptly threw the walker aside and made me walk by myself. (At this point I was thinking...you want me to walk under my own power. haha!!!! funny...)
He decided that I was capable of walking, so he made me sit in the wheelchair, and carted me to the emergency stair case and dumped me at the foot of the staircase. He said, use the handrail and go up, and make sure to plant your whole foot on the stair. Fine. So I did that, and amazingly, there was no pain or anything. Cool... And coming down didn't seem to be a problem either. Awesome. I went back to the wheelchair, and I was carted back to my room.

That was my physical therapy session.

The occupational therapist was there asking me if I needed assistance doing anything. Embarrassingly, I admitted that I couldn't use the bathroom by myself, so she handed me some tongs. "This will help you reach..." Great. Thanks. She also suggested that I get a long shoe horn and such, and I thought, that's ok, I'll wear my flipflops. (Little did I remember that I lived in Portland, and the life of flip flops is short lived)

That was my occupational therapy session.

So that was it. Physical and occupational therapy was over. The nurse taking care of my section of the ward then gave me my prescriptions, and then asked me if I knew how to put on my brace. I said no. So she showed me, and told me that I should not be upright without it. Great.

She was about to walk away when I realized that I didn't really have any other instructions as to what I could or could not do. So I stopped her and asked if I could drive. Umm....probably not. Ok, I figured that much. Can I go to work. Um...no, probably not. Ok, yeah, duh... That was it. No explanation. I was supposed to meet my mom by the pick up area. Should I undress my gown? Oh, right. Yes, that would be great so that I don't have to expose my back side to the world. So my sweats went on, and I was on my way home. 2:00...on the dot.

Are you talking to me????

2006-12-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

The routine in the ICU for me was to flip me over every hour or so to change my dressings, and to prevent one side of my body from flattening out too much (at least that's what it felt like). I felt a little week, and I still couldn't lift anything from the neck down, so I was still eating while laying down. I had things on my calves that inflated and deflated so that it would pump blood to and from my legs. I had a catheter in me to get rid of bodily fluids. I only had one IV in me. I had my jeopardy style pain clicker. I wasn't on oxygen, so that was good. I was always hot, and I'm sure I smelled lovely at this point. I am sure I was not in the best condition to do anything. So it came as a surprise to me when the night nurse said, "Ok, Amy, let's go for a walk."
Whuh...me??? Now????
He let the guardrails down from the side of the bed, and called another nurse saying that I was going for a walk.
Whuh...now???...I have a blood bag...I have a pee bag...how is this supposed to work?...I have a broken back...uh...I'm on morphine...
Ok, Amy, let's go.
So they lifted me out of bed, and with a nurse standing on either side of me, one holding my pee bag and the other holding my blood bag, they supported me while I shuffled around the ICU. I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I felt very unstable, but it was kind of nice to be able to put some weight on my legs. It also felt nice knowing that I could walk, and that I wasn't paralized after all.
Walking...wow...what a conconcept.
After one lap around the ICU, I was spent. I was eased back into bed, and fell asleep for the rest of the night.
I was able to go for walks like this anytime I wanted to after this experience. So early Thursday mornings, and the rest of the day on Thursday, I walked around the ICU with assistance from the nurses. And then I found a walker. So started using a walker. I felt like an old lady, but it was nice to be able to get out of bed. YAYAY!!!

Visitors galore!

2006-12-23T22:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up Wednesday morning with a new nurse taking care of me. She told me I could eat. I realized that I hadn't eaten since Monday night. So I got to eat hospital style blueberry pancakes. I couldn't sit up from my bed, so I had to eat while lying down. Wasn't the best eating experience ever. It was a little hard to push everything into my mouth.

My back still hurt, and my eye was a little sore. I was wearing my glasses now, so I could watch TV, and actually see what was happening around me.

Elizabeth brought me my backpack from work, which had been in my car. My car was still at work. I think I had given the keys to Kristina, and she was able to get my laptop out of there. I don't remember the conversation very well. I think she said something about others coming to visit me.

Later, Eric, Joel, and Bob visited. My mom arrived in the afternoon. I tried to reassure her that everything would be fine. Kristina visited that night. I don't remember much about that either. Kelsey also visited at some point in the day. She just let herself in since she actually worked in the ICU. How convenient =).

Anna, Sheryll, and Jennifer visited on Thursday. Anna came with magazines and a crossword puzzle book. Sheryll and Jennifer came with games and a stuffed animal =) Peter also came later on Thursday with a book in hand.

Friday afternoon, prior to getting discharged, I had a visit from Fred, Eric, Elizabeth, and John. My mom's friend Heakyu also came to help out my mother. It was nice to have visitors. Always is =)

Waking up

2006-12-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

1, 2, and 3...

Ouch....I thought surgery was supposed to make this hurt less..
I felt a cold hard surface on my back. My back still hurts...they took the xrays..at least I think they did.

Ok, no more cold hard surface...but now my left eye hurts like no other!!!

Owwwwwwwww....my eye hurts...how can it hurt when I don't have my contacts in? Maybe if I cry it will get whatever's in there out of there.

How are you, hun? Why are you crying?

My eye hurts (whhaaaaaa)!

Ok hun, we'll get a doctor to look at you.

Ok (sniffle)

what seemed like 30 minutes later...

where is the doctor?!?!?! (WHHHAAAAA!!!)
He's coming dear.

what seemed like hours later, the doctor came, squirted some magic solution in my eye, and it was all better. Ahhh....that is sooo much better...Apparently I had a scratch on my cornea, and I would have to have the nurse put some ointment in my eye 3 times a day. Great. I have a broken back AND a bum eye...

I looked at the clock. It was 11pm. Wow, that was a long surgery. The guy was standing over me.
Amy, do you want to brush your teeth.
Yes, sure.
Ok, here's the special brush
Ok.
Amy, open your eyes...
Ok
I grabbed the brush
I jab my mouth, and then remember that I have to open my mouth. I poke something in and out of my mouth and aim for my teeth. I hand it back to the nurse.
Ok, Amy, now push this button and it will squirt water...
Ok
Amy, open your eyes...
Ok.
I grabbed the contraption, and I brush my teeth, foam and all, without spitting out or swallowing toothpaste. I thought it was awesome. And really weird.

My roommate. She's going to be worried. She works here.
Do you know where she works.
She works somewhere at OHSU. Her name is Kelsey. Can you look her up.
I can try.
I don't remember her email. Can you email her?
I can try.
Her name is Kelsey. Kelsey Oveson. O-V-E-S-O-N.
Ok, I will try.
Ok, she might be worried.
(I am pretty sure my nurse thought I was totally crazy)

It was time for me to get my dressing changed. Did you click your pain button Amy?
I felt my pain clicker with my right hand next to me on the bed. *CLICK*...yup, clicked. He heaved me over, and tah dah, all done. This would be what I would do for the next 24 hours on the hour. Oh joy...

Sooooooo many questions

2006-12-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

I am sure all the questions were asked in order to keep coherent and conscious. But really, I think it was excessive.

What is your name?
How do you spell that?
How old are you?
When is your birthday?
Where do you work?
Do you work at Nike? YES!!!!!
What is your insurance?
Should we call your parents?
What is your parents number?

On and on and on...

And then the next person would ask me the EXACT SAME QUESTIONS!!!! I just wanted to say, "look, ask the person who asked me the first time...I'm sure they could help you out as much as I could...I am in a lot of pain, and I don't really feel like being asked these annoying questions time and time again..." But I refrained from saying that, and I answered the questions one after another.

Going under

2006-12-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

16:00
24 October 2006

It's time to go into surgery!

I don't really remember much about this. Other than the anesthesiologist saying that she knew what she was doing, and that I would be totally asleep during teh whole process, and taht she was going to tape my eyes shut. Great. Last thing I remember was waiting for my OR (operating room) to open up. I remember the bright lights of the operating room, and that was about it.

Apparently I was on my stomach during the whole process. They fused the two vertebrae on top of the L1 (T11 and T12) to the two vertabrae on the bottom of L1 (L2 and L3). They fused it with two rods on either side of my spine, with screws going through my vertabrae. They are supposed to be made out of titanium. They are also supposed to be in me forever. The L1 is untouched.

The Diagnosis

2006-12-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

I was wheeled into the ER at OHSU. I believe I was lifted off of the stretcher, after they unstrapped me, and heaved onto the ER bed. What is your name...Amy Gishifu. How old are you...25. Where does it hurt...in my back and my hips. How did this happen...I fell while rock climbing. Are you in pain...yes! Let's get something for that...yes!
They decided to take xrays and a CT Scan. In order to do that, they had to take off my tshirt and my pants.
Sorry, Amy, we're going to have to cut your tshirt to get your robe on you.
(What tshirt am I wearing...2003 La Jolla Half Marathon...that's ok)...Ok, you can.
Sorry, Amy, you're sports bra too
(What sports bra...old cotton...not dri-fit...)...Ok, that's fine.
They got the hospital gown on me and heaved me once again onto a stretcher and took me to another room. I saw the ceiling of different hallways, and apparently arrived in the CT scanning room. The lady asked me to put down my legs because I wouldn't be able to fit through the tunnel. I painfully lowered my knees and lay my legs flat against the bed. It hurt a lot. The CT scan was much less claustrophobic than the MRI machine that I went into about 10 years ago when I had to get my knee scanned to see if there was any muscle damage. (Wow, that was 10 years ago?!? turned out it was only a sprained knee). Then it was off to the xrays. They heaved me over onto my side, and xrays were taken. I was taken back to the ER, and hoisted back onto the bed.
Kristina was there. I was still blind from not having my glasses with me.
Is there anyone you want to call?
My manager...503-532-4233.
What about your parents?
NO!!!! Don't call them!!!!
I talked to John, and I think he knew what happened because I think all he said was that I had to go all the way. I told him I didn't know how long it would be, but that I was ok.
The pain was still there. Kristina was at my bedside now. They asked if the painkillers were working, and I said not really. It still hurt. So then they decided to give me morphine...that totally worked. I didn't understand why they didn't give me that to begin with. =)

That's when I met Dr. Yoo. He is the spine specialist at OHSU. He proceeded to tell me about his credentials and what his background was. He told me in his doctorly voice: Hi Amy, I took a look at the images, and there's some good news and bad news. The good news is that nothing hit your spinal cord, and that is fully in tact. The bad news is that you have an L1 burst. (Holy shit!) You have a couple of options. You can let it heal on it's own, but there is a possibility that some of the vertebrae can hit the spinal cord. The other option is to have a surgery and get the fragments out and fuse the bones together. He proceeded to tell me the success rate he's had with this surgery, and I heard a lot of 99%'s and less than 1%'s, so I figured I was in good hands.
I will do the surgery. (Oh, my gosh...surgery...)
Ok, then the other thing is that we can go into your hip and scrape bone off from there, or we can use this protein in order to fuse everything together.
Give me the protein (I don't want another incision)
Ok, that's good. But the drawback to using the protein is that you can't get pregnant in the next 12 months.
Oh, don't worry about that! (haha...like THAT's going to happen in the near future....I wanted to burst out laughing if I wasn't in so much pain.)
Ok, well then, we'll try and get you scheduled for surgery.
Holy moly...surgery...

The nurse came up to me, and she said, you should really call your parents. If I were your mother, I would want to know that you're going through surgery.
Ok
I called my dad
Hi Dad.
Hi Amy. How are you? Are you sore?
(Sore? How did he know I was sore?)
Aren't you sore from running this weekend?
(Oh, yeah, I ran). No, I'm fine. But I fell. I fell while I was rock climbing, and now I need surgery.
Oh. Ok. Well, I won't call your mom because she's at work. I'll tell her when she gets off of work.
Ok, here's the number to the hospital.

And so I gave my dad the phone number to hospital. And then I was told that I would have to wait til Thursday for the surgery. Crap.
When was the last time you ate?
Err...Monday night at 7:30pm.
Oh, maybe you can go through surgery today.
By now they had hooked up a jeopardy style clicker thing to the IV thing so that I could inject myself with morphine anytime I needed it. I clicked it now. I was still in pain, and I didn't want to think about how long it would be before I would be out of pain.

I was then carted away to ICU (intensive care unit) 7A. (They were kind enough to take my glasses with me, which they labeled with my name, so when I wore them I looked like a complete idiot) They then told me the good news, that I would be able to get in surgery this afternoon! Yes!!!!!!!

Kristina was with me the whole time, and managed to ask the doctor if I could make a full recovery, and the answer was yes. So the good news was also the fact that I could go back to doing my thing soon enough. Nice!

At some point during this diagnosis, I was told to roll on my side, and the doctors started applying pressure down the length of my spine, starting at my neck. Does this hurt? no. How about this? nope. They went down my neck and my back, and around my mid back I howled in pain. Does this hurt? YEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!! They went down a little further, and the pain was there, but not as bad. They hit my tail bone, and it was slightly sore. And then, I don't think I imagined this, but I think someone poked me in the butt with a needle! Ouch! yes, that hurts!! Ok, well, at least you can feel that.
Great..I am laying on my side, my backside exposed to anyone in the ER, and I get poked in the butt with a needle. Great...

The ride over...

2006-12-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

I was on a stretcher. My back hurt. There was one paramedic riding with me. He asked me what my name was...Amy Gishifu...G..I ...S..H..I...F...U. How old was I...25. Where does it hurt...my back and my hips. What happened...I fell. Can you feel your legs...yes. Can you wiggle your toes...yes (they are cold by the way... because I don't have any shoes or socks on...) Good girl! Ok, we're going to get you some help soon.

Where are we going?
To the hospital.
Which one?
OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University)
Why not St. Vincents? (the one in Beaverton on th 26/217 interchange)
Because OHSU has a better trauma center, and we don't know how badly you are hurt.
(Trauma?!?!?) But there's going to be traffic!!!!!
It's ok, Amy, we're going to get there.
(but there's traffic....)

What are you doing?
We're going to stick an IV in you.
Why?
Because we dont' know how life threatening your injuries may be to you.
(Argh...why????!?!?!?!? My veins are so hard to get a hold of...he's never going to get it in me...we're in a moving vehicle...he's crazy)
Hmm....your veins don't seem to want to open up.
Yeah, I know (yes, they are evasive...especially in a moving vehicle....)
Hmm...that didn't work either...let's try the other arm. Sorry, Amy, you're going to be ok.
Ok (oh geez...he's never going to give up)
Excuse me for leaning over you...
(Yes, thank you for putting your body into mine when my back is hurting..)
Ok, it's in.
(Great, after poking my arms to death)...are we there yet?
We're almost there. Don't worry Amy.

I could hear the sirens of the ambulance. They aren't so loud from inside the ambulance. I feel myself going up a driveway. I guess we're there now.

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!! Really!!!

2006-12-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

It was Tuesday, 24 October 2006. I looked at the clock. 6:20. Crap! I was going to be late! Every tuesday for the past 4 months I had met my climbing partner, Crystal, climbing at the Nike rock gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 am. Why at 6:30am, you ask? Because we are nuts. But Crystal moved back to the Univ of Cincinatti to finish her studies, and I had recruited her friend Kristina to be my climbing partner at that hour in the mornings. Dammit! I'm late! No contacts today. No breakfast. No lunch making. Grab workout clothes for after work, grab work clothes (jeans and a tshirt), grab my climbing bag. Out the door! (Forget about the fact that 2 days ago I was up at this hour in the middle of Union square in San Francisco waiting to start my half marathon. Forget about the fact that my thighs were still slightly sore from having run 13.1 miles...)

I announce my arrival at my gym at 6:45. Juan, the rock gym supervisor was there, and Kristina was already there. I apologize for my lateness, and I start putting on my harness. Kristina climbs first. No problem. I was up next. I decide to start out this morning with the easy red route. Juan and I were talking about how I was 25, going on 26 in a month. As I climbed, we talked about how in May, this route had been hard, but now it was easy. Done. Ok, let me down!

I started coming down fairly fast in my opinion. I slowed a little, and then the holds whizzed past me, and just as I caught my breath to think "oh shit", WHAM!!!!! My feet touched the floor a little, my body followed, my glasses flew off, and everything hurt. I heard Juan and Kristina say "oh my gosh". And everything hurt. My back. My hips. It all hurt. There was a sharp pain in all of my back, and my hips were super sore. I thought to myself, oh shit..my back..I wonder if I can still move. I felt myself lift my legs, which felt like lead pipes. Then I heard a "DON"T MOVEEEEEEEE!!!!!" So I didn't. I lay on my side. Juan asked me if I was ok, and I said "it hurts". I couldn't see because my glasses were somewhere not near me.

I heard commotion, and I think it was a Nike security guard that arrived first. They asked everyone there what my name was. I moaned "Amy Gishifu". He asked me how old I was...25. He asked me where I was...At the Nike rock gym in the Lance Armstrong building on the nike campus. He asked me what hurt, and I said my back and my hips. He kept saying that someone would be there soon, and I just complained by saying "it hurt". I overheard Juan say "she fell from about 20 to 25 ft. up." I thought...holy shit...this is not good....

The parametics arrived next I think. Maybe 2 minutes had gone by. Some guys came in and asked me what my name was "Amy Gishifu". How old are you...25. What hurts...my back and my hip. They tried to move my legs....OOOOWWWWWWW!! Ok, maybe not. They told me they were going to put me on the hard plastic rack thing, and then transfer me to the stretcher. I said fine. They asked me if I could feel my legs, and I said yes. Juan took off my rock climbing shoes for me. They strapped the hard plastic stretcher on me, and my whole body hurt. My back especially. I refused to put my legs flat on the stretcher. I insisted on putting my feet on the stretcher so that my spine could rest on the surface of the stretcher. I told them I had a hard time breathing. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed by my rib cage. An oxygen mask went onto my face, I was lifted into the stretcher, onto the cobblestone round in the back of the Lance. It was cold. It was still dark. I couldn't see people's faces because I didn't have my glasses. I think I told them to bring my glasses with me in the ambulance. They kept reassuring me that everything was going to be ok. I think I just kept thinking ...ouwww.....it hurts.....

**What happened? I fell 25 ft. onto the slightly padded rock gym floor at the Lance's rock gym. How? I think my belayer, Kristina, tried to let me down, didn't realize how quickly the rope went through the gri gri, tried to correct for it, got rope burn, didn't let go of the break, and by the time she couuld do anything else, I was on the floor.

San Francisco Women's Half Marathon 2006

2006-12-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

So a few things have happened since hood to coast back in August 2006. I took a one month break from running, and then started to train for the Nike San Francisco Women's Marathon. My friends Shelley and Christina were running the half marathon with me. It was a good time, and we all survived, and we were all very glad that it was over.

But now I will go into more details about what happened two days after the half marathon in San Francisco. I know a lot of people have heard me tell this story a million times, but I figure this was a way to capture it electronically on some server somewhere.

Traveling by Foot

2006-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

I ran Hood to Coast again this weekend. Last year I ran it because when I was asked by my coworker Elizabeth to run it, I hadn't started working at Nike yet, and I thought it would be a good way to see Oregon and to get to know my coworkers. It was indeed a good chance to do both, but I didn't know that I'd be doing it while runninng on 45 minutes of sleep in the middle of the night and through the middle of nowhere.

So this year, I somehow decided to do it again, and signed up to be the 11th runner, driving along in van 2. My legs were 4.1, 4.1, and 7.4 miles long.

I started my day, Friday, 25 August 2006 at work. I did the usual work things, then met my team in the Mia Hamm parking lot next to our white rented Dodge Grand Caravan. We piled in our stuff, and got ready to drive out to Sandy, Oregon, where we would meet the first van of runners. Packing for this adventure consisted for me of: 1 pair of running shoes, 3 sets of running clothes, 2 PBJ sandwiches, fruit, 2 20oz bottles of diet coke, some vitamin water, water, peanut M&M's, and granola bars. That all got in the van, along everyone else's stuff, and we were off.

We pulled up into the Fred Meyer (local grocery store, also sponsor of the race) in Sandy, found a parking spot, and waited. Elizabeth was runner 7, then Mike, then Shelley, then Christina, then me, then Peter. We were waiting for Rochelle, the 6th runner in the first van to come along. I ate my usual lunch of a sandwich, fruit, and diet coke, as we waited. At around 12:45, Elizabeth started running, and we piled into the van to meet her at the next exchange.

My first run was at 5pm, in 85 degree heat, along a boring trail, and in no shade. I thought about going fast, but soon realized that I would probably die from melting in the hot sun. So I ran my leg in a reasonable 9:45 minute mile pace, and was grateful that our van had air conditioning. We ended out running undernath the Hawthorne bridge around 6:20pm on Friday. We said hello to Van 1 again, and then drove to Elizabeth's house in Beaverton.

It was nice to take a shower after the run, and to eat a hot meal of delicious tortallina soup. I sat around for about an hour, when we realized that it was 10pm and we had to ddrive out to St. Helens, which is about 1 hour away. The first van was already on their 5th runner. Great. So, we hurriedly packed our things into the white van, and drove out to St. Helens. We met the first van in the parking lot of the Columbia County fairgrounds, and Elizabeth was off and running again.

Between Mike, Shelley, Christina, and Peter, we ran trhough gravel roads, hills, trails, and two lane highways through the middle of western Oregon. Mike had to breathe the dust awakened by the vans that drove along him on the gravel road up a hill...ew..... By the time I ran it was 3am, and I ended up running with the nice headlamp and reflective vest. I passed a few runners, but wanted to be close to some just because I was afraid of being eaten my a mountain lion or being tackled by a snake rustling alongside the road. I would look up on occasion to a sky full of stars. It was really nice to just look up and see the stars at 4am without any man-made light, save my headlamp. We finally handed off to the 1st van at 5:30am, and then carefully drove the course to the next place where we would have to start running. We got there around 6:00, busted out blankets and sleep bags (I forgot to mention that among the things I had packed), and fell asleep.

2 hours later, we were awake, preparing to meet the next van. In this remote part of oregon, there was very little cell phone coverage, so there was no real way to communicate with them. We figured they would be rolling in about 10am. By now the exchange point was bustling with vans and we walked over to a house that had become a makeshift roadside cafe, serving up french toast and coffee, among other breakfast items. Our van was now a weird grayish, brownish color. It was completely coated with the gravel scum and road dust from 2 hours earlier. Gross... Eventually, we saw Rochelle come running her bright pink skirt with a sign saying "how many more miles til the beer?" Then Elizabeth was off and running. We said good bye to the first van, saying "see you at the coast."

I ran my 7.4 miles on the Lewis and Clark Trail, and then along side major powerlines on a gravel road. Once again, in the middle of the day underneath the blazing sun. I now have a bright red nose because the sunscreen managed to drip off there first. And I plodded along at a 10:15 mile pace, and thought it could be worse...but at least there was a cool ocean like breeze coming through...although from looking around, it didn't seem as though there could be an ocean 5 miles away.

But after my run, I discovered that there was, and we met up with the other van at the beach, and ran in as a team together. So basically, it took a team of 12 people 30 hours and 26 minutes (I know this since I was one of several time keepers) to travel 197 miles, from Mt. Hood to Seaside Oregon. To get from Seaside back home to Beaverton, it took us 1 hour and 15 minutes. Running is the most inefficient way to travel that distance in my opinion. So, I will say this now, but I don't think I will do this inefficient crazy travel adventure again....but then, one knows what will happen next year...

Hot and Sticky and Pictures

2006-07-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

The one drawback about being in Munich in the summer is that it is hot and sticky. There were many days where it was 30C, and 70% humidity. And unlike most of the US, there is not much air conditioning in Europe. In a way that is good because of environmental reasons, but it also makes for a very sweaty day. Our conference was at the Olympic hall, and unfortunately, there was very little air circulations. For us Americans who weren't used to non-AC buildings, it was extremely uncomfortable. While talking to someone, I could feel myself get hotter, and the sweat soaking through my clothes. After the first day of the conference, I decided to go casual and just wore tshirts instead of a nice shirt. I don't think I was made for warm weather, because I was uncomfortable, tired, sticky, stinky, and hot the entire time. Just sitting in the chairs listening to people present their research made me sweat. I don't think I was the only one who was hot during the conference, but maybe next time, we can hold the conference in the spring or fall =)

The venue for the sports engineering conference was the site of the 1972 summer Olympics. The presentations were held in the central hall...no ac, but interesting nonetheless
The main tourist attraction in central Munich is Marianplatz
A memorial to those athletes who died during the games in Munich
We ate dinner one night at a restaurant famous for their pork knuckle. German food is ok, but meat and potatoes get a little boring after a while.
This is the main trains station. It was tempting to just hop on a train to Paris or Berlin...but maybe next time =)
Elizabeth and I waiting to check in
Like the train station, the airport in Munich listed all the departure flights. It seemed like we could really go anywhere.
John, Peter, and Eric waiting to check in
Ahhhh...business class. You can recline these seats until you're laying down completely flat. It was kind of weird laying down sleeping next to someone on an airplane, so I just kept my seat in a recliner mode. No wonder I slept for more than half the flight both on the way there and coming back. =) So much legroom!

What I did in Munich

2006-07-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of things that me and my coworkers did while we were in Munich besides attending the sports engineering conference.

We took the subway a lot. I love public transportation in big cities. And for the most part, I feel a little bit safer using public transportation in Europe as opposed to America. The subways here are waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy underground, as the picture of the escalator shows.
We went to the famous Hofbrauhaus to watch the runner up match between Germany and Portgual. The Germans won, and were very happy about their World cup performance.
We went to the Deutches Museum, which documents every technology that humans have discovered, from paper to pharmaceuticals. Here, I am standing in front of an airplane engine on display.
We also did some work. Here, we are talking about work stuff during halftime at the Hofbrauhaus.

We went to the Augstiner Keller beer garden to watch the world cup finals match between France and Italy.
We also took a tour of the major highlights of Munich. There is a statue of the Greek god Nike in town. How appropriate =)
This is Marienplatz, the city center of Munich.

Our conference was located at Olympic Park, where the 1972 Summer Olympics were held. It was a beautiful place, although it didn't have any air conditioning =(

Bee
r is good here =)

ZOOM ZOOM

2006-07-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

While living in Germany a few years ago, I never got a chance to drive on the famed Autobahn. This time, I got my chance. My colleagues and I rented a BMW 3 series automatic diesel station wagon to go from Munich to a town just outside of Coburg, about 2.5 hours North of Munich. We were there to visit a vendor. There are speed limits on most of the autobahn. Usually the fastest marked speed limit is 120 km/hr. And people obey them all the time. However, when the sign says that the speed limit no longer applies, it means that you can go at any speed that you seem fit.

We drove the four lane A9. The far right lane was for the slow people. Slow is relative here. Slow was those going less than 140 km/hr (70 mph). The 2nd to the left lane was known as the "fast" lane. Fast here is going more than (200 km/hr). I drove back from the vendor to Munich. I think I averaged about 180 km/hr. Anytime you want to pass someone, you have to pass on the left. That is what the far left lane is reserved for. And you're not allowed to underpass, which is passing on the right. So I spent most of the time in the 2 left lanes. The surprising thing was that despite going "fast" there were still people flying past me. I knew I was going fast, but I think the locals like to drive faster.

I liked driving on the Autobahn. When I got home though, I realized that my little RSX speedometer "only" goes up to 220 km/hr. It made me realize that the only time I'd ever be able to drive that fast again would be on the autobahn. Sigh... =)

p.s. I drove an automatic in Germany, which is virtually unheard of. Where was this automatic when I had to drive from Herzo to Sheinfeld while I was working with adidas???? Oh well, that is a whole other story for another blog.
I also got to drive by Erlangen, my old town of residence. Didn't get to stop by my old apartment though. That's ok, I wouldn't have known how to get to it anyway from the freeway since I never drove =)

Back in Germany

2006-07-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

From 07 - 15 July 2006, I was in Munich, Germany, for a sports engineering conference with 5 of my fellow co-workers. It was a great chance for us to learn about the sports engineering research, and to know that we were doing the right things at work.

However, this blog is not about work. It's about Germany and the adventures that I had this time around. So here goes...

We flew out of Portland to Frankfurt in Business Class on Lufthansa. The seats were the best part of the entire flight. First of all there were only 2 seats where there would normally be 3 or 4 economy class seats. And they were totally adjustable. It was set up so it was possible to be lying completely flat. In a way, I felt as though I was in one of those adjustable beds that you see in hospitals and infomercials. It made sleeping in the airplane a lot easier. In fact, of the 10 or 11 hours we were in the sky, I believe I was asleep for about 7 of them. It also helped that I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before. I was actually able to sleep very soundly with the chair in the reclined positiion. I didn't feel like laying all the way down because it felt weird to be asleep on my side while someone was sitting right next to me.

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to fly business class on an international flight, do it. You'll spend the first 30 minutes playing with all the nifty features, and the rest of the flight wondering how you'll ever fly in a normal seat again =)

Toasted Almond Ice Cream

2006-07-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

I went home to San Francisco from 1-4 July 2006. It was nice to come home and see lots of family and friends. I ate a lot. Saturday I had brunch with Kaylin, lunch with Stacy, and dinner with Conor, John, and Alice. The following day, I was with my family, and Mom cooked a nice homemade dinner. Monday was brunch with Lisa, and dinner with Carman and Conor.

Carman and Conor and I went to Fentons in Piedmont, near Oakland. Fentons is a familiy owned ice creamery, and it is known for their homemade ice cream and their HUGE sundaes. Their sundaes are about $10, but it is well worth it. My favorite ice cream flavor of all time is toasted almond". I haven't been able to find a similar flavor anywhere outside of fentons. It isn't too nutty, so I don't have to crunch my way through my ice cream. I love that stuff =)

Fun in Chicago

2006-06-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

I was in Chicago from 18-23 June, 2006 for NPE, the largest exhibition of plastics related stuff. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Ave, and made our way each morning to McCormick place where the convention took up four halls. The convention showcased everything from the raw materials to heavy duty machineary that could make anything from garbage bags to injection molded ping pong paddles. It was quite amazing to see all these businesses and companies catering solely to the plastics community. It was also very eye opening for me to see the new technologies within the plastics industry.

But during my 6 day stay in Chicago, I got to do some pretty fun stuff. Mikey lives in Chicago now, so I got to see him. And Amy B was in Chicago for a conference Monday and Tuesday, so I got to see her as well. And I got to see Lili and her family while I was in town as well. It was a mini Mudder reunion.

What did I do during this trip to Chicago? Hmm....let me see.

- I got to see Indiana from Navy Pier

- I went to Millenium Park, a newer addition to the Grant Park area in downtown Chicago

Me at the Millenium Park Grand Theater and Big Reflecting Jelly Bean where you can see the Chicago skyline

- One of our vendors, Huntsman, gave us tickets to a box suite, so I took Lili to see Jim Thome hit a solo home run at Komisky Field where the Sox won 1-0 against the Cardinals. WHoo hoo!

- I got Frango chocolates from Marshall Field's

- I saw the NBA finals at ESPNZone.

- Mikey and I went to Bijou's Cafe for a late night dinner after the Sox game. He also showed me his sweet apartment and his future awesome condo

- Mikey, Amy, Lili, and I went to eat some yummy deep dish at Giordano's. Then headed up to the John Hancock Tower's Signature Room where we had some dessert and got a terrific view of Chicago. The best view was in the ladies' room =)

- Lili and I went to the Field Museum of Natural History, which had a King Tut exhibit but was sold out for the day, but we got to see some other very cool stuff.

Me in front of the Field Museum

Me in front of Sue, the Trex

- Then we went to the Art Institute where I got too see some of my favorite Impressionist painters and some other cool art that I can't really name, but thought it was cool.

Me in front of the Art Institute

- Lili and I also passed by the spot where we would watch the Fourth of July fireworks from near Buckingham fountain during the Taste of Chicago. I spent my 2000 and 2001 Fourth of July's there =)

Lili in front of Buckingham Fountain

And I did a lot of walking. Between the convention and site seeing Chicago, my feet were tired, and I was zonked at the end of the night. But Chicago was a lot of fun and I miss it already =)

"Pre Classic" rainy Oregon day

2006-06-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the "Pre Classic", one of the premiere professional track meets in the country. I had an extra ticket, so I invited Drew to watch the meet on the University of Oregon campus, about 6 blocks from his Dad's house. We were on our way out, and it looked as though it was going to rain. Luckily, there was an umbrella or two in the house, so we took those and walked over to the campus.

It was pouring the whole way. We eventually got to the will call booth, and I reached into my purse for my wallet. Unfortunately, it was not there....it was still at the house. Cursing at myself for being so silly, we turned around and walked back to the house. IT was raining even harder at this point. We went back to the house, found my wallet, and somehow still decided that it was worthwhile to go back to the meet. It was still raining.

By the time we got to the meet, about 30 minutes of it was over, and our feet were soaked. But we found our seats under the grandstand awning, and watched the rest of it out of the sun...that had decided to shine for the rest of the day. =)

A memorable, memorial day camping trip

2006-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

The plan: go camping at Crater Lake with Vipul and Marie over Memorial Day weekend.

In Reality: The entrance to Crater Lake was completely snowed in still, and the Rim drive was also snowed in. So we probably wouldn't even be able to see the lake even if we wanted to

The new plan: go camping along the coast, between Florence and Reedsport, about 1.5 hours directly west of Eugene.

The weather forecast: showers from Friday through Monday. Ok, not the best forecast for a camping trip, but we decided to go for it. The weather dudes in Oregon weren't very good anyway, so there would be equally likely to be sunny and 80 during the weekend.

The gear: This was going to be my first camping trip since 3rd grade, where I camped at Ft. Funston in San Francisco with the cloth tents and froze the entire night with my "sleep over" sleeping bag. I was more or less prepared this time. I bought my -20F rated sleeping bag from REI, a self inflating sleeping pad, and some wool socks. I had the waterproof jacket, hat, and hiking shoes. I also had a lot of food. Cookies, ingredients for smores, granola bars, etc. I felt much more prepared than in 3rd grade.

The Story:
I drove to Corvallis to pick up Marie. Then we drove to Vipul's place in Eugene, and packed up the car. We stopped at an Albertson's for firewood and matches, and then we were on our way west toward the coast.
About 45 minutes into it, whilie in the mountains between the valley and the coast, Vipul's fuel light comes on. "We'll be fine," says Vipul. Both Marie and I think, "We're gonna die." So about 5 minutes later, we are still in rolling hills, and the fuel light comes on again. Ok, perhaps we need gas. Just as we are thinking about how our friends could come out to meet us with some gas, there is a gas station. Whoo hoo!!! With a great sigh of relief, Vipul pulls in and gets $10 of gas (about 3 gallons worth), and we're good to go.

We arrive at the campsite (I forget the name of it, but it is off 101 and it's between Florence and Reedsport), and it has stopped raining. Phew. So we find our campsite, which is located under some trees, and manage to find a dry area to set up our tents.
Lesson 1: Tent Assembly
There were poles that brilliantly snapped together. There were loops for the poles to go through. There was a bit of difficulty figuring out how the poles overlapped over the tent. The ground was suprisingly hard to poke the stakes through, but we managed to do it. It was a little complicated, but in the end, it was standing, and actually very roomie on the inside. Marie and I could sleep next to each other with plenty of room.

For dinner this first night, we decided to go for civilization food. Mo's restaurant in Florence was best known for it's clam chowder, so we had to try it. Located right in a bay of sorts we had our clam chowder. It was really good. While we were eating there would be downpours that would last about 5 minutes. It didn't look too promising tonight. But we were glad to have set up camp prior to dinner. As we got out of the restuarant, the rain had stopped, and a rainbow was out. This looked promising...

Lesson 2: Campfire
The rain had let up, and we started our campfire. I contributed by figuring out how to light the special matchsticks that we bought. Marie took over from there and got the fire going. She was able to create a nice fire, and we started with the smores. Caramalized marshmallows, dark chocolate and graham crackers...mmm....yummm...!!!
We chatted, Vipul told bad jokes, and laughed the night away. It was great =)

The following morning we woke up to the sound of rain. It was icky out, but we decided to try for a morning hike. The 3 mile trail head started at the camp site, worked it's way to the dunes, and we could come back around. The idea was that the rain would let up by the time we would make it back.

Lesson 3: "waterproof fabrics" are not always waterproof
After hiking for about 1.5 hours, our predictions prooved incorrect. It started to rain harder, and the further we went, the harder it rained. Mosquitos were swarming as they had since yesterday, and at one point we just took shelter and watched the rain continue. We came out of the trail onto the beach, and tried to find the trail head to the other path. Exposed in the pouring rain on a beach was not the greatest idea that we had had all day, so we decided to turn around and just head back to camp. By now, the trail was covered with puddles, and our clothes were thoroughly soaked. And we were all soaked to the bone. So much for being waterproof. I think we needed to get "downpour-proof" gear.

It tooks us another 1.5 hours to get back to the campsite, and we were all hungry and wet. We carefully crawled into our tents, and ate some food. I yelled at Vipul "what are we doing?" I went out to look, and Vipul was stuffing his sleeping bag away. I guess we were going back to Eugene. So Marie and I started to put our stuff away as well. The tents took forever to fold up in the rain, and nothing seemed to go back into it sack nicely. Everything was drenched and smelled mildew-y.

Once the equipment was back in the car, Marie and I changed into some dry clothes, and then climbed into Vipuls car for our 1.5 hour drive home. We had been "roughing it" for 20 hours. It was my first camping trip in ages. It was good enough. =)

Back in Eugene, we all got nice hot showers and into dry sets of clothes. And yup, it was still raining outside.

Home sweet Home

2006-05-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I went home to San Francisco, CA, USA for Mother's Day. My mom was very happy that I came home. It was nice to be home. Although my San Francisco sense of direction was a little off, which was sad, I was able to get together with friends. I saw Stacy and her baby Michael while watching lots of j-league club basketball games. I saw Alexis, John Chou, and Alice, and we shopped at Niketown and had sushi at Kitaro.

On Mothers Day, I managed to get out of bed and go to church with Dad, where we started to set up for the Mother's Day brunch. I volunteered to cook the 10lbs of bacon. It was the first time that I had cooked the bacon for this occasion, and I was glad to wear not so nice clothes, an apron, and glasses. I must say that I don't think I'll be eating bacon anytime soon. Just thinking about the strips of fat and meat floating in it's own grease is very unappealing.

I got to spend time with the family, which is always good. I had fun, and I enjoyed being home. =)

Welcome to the land of fried chicken

2006-05-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

I was in Charlotte, NC, USA to attend a 3 day long plastics conference, where experts in different fields presented their papers. It ranged from material development to manufacturing methods. It was a good learning experience, and I think I know a little bit more about plastic than I did before coming to the conference.

Downtown Charlotte is cute. It is home to Wachovia Bank and Bank of America. It's downtown consists of these company's tall buildings and lots of places to eat either lunch or dinner. There is a little neighborhood called the Fouth Ward right outside of downtown where homes with older architectures are featured. My favorites were the brick townhomes and those houses with the large porches hugging the exterior of the older houses. It was cute.

There are a lot of fried chicken places in Charlotte (and I suppose NC in general). There is Church's, KFC, and the ever-fun-to-say Bojangles. We did not have the pleausure of eating at these establishments, since we were never really in the mood for fried chicken. We did eat our first dinner at the Cracker Barrel though.

The weather was overcast while we were there, so it wasn't like the previous two times I had visited the state when it was hot and humid and very uncomfortable.

So that was Charlotte.

Are we in Charlotte yet?

2006-05-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

This week I went to a conference about plastics. I listened to people talk about the latest and greatest in plastics. Before I talk about that though, let me tell you about getting to this plastics conference.

The goal was to get to Charlotte NC. My coworkers, Peter and Eric, and I were to leave Portland OR at 6:10am, have a 2 hour layover in Chicago, and arrive in Charlotte by 3:30pm. We arrived in Charlotte at 8:30pm. "What happened?" you ask? Well...

We got on the 6:10am flight ok. This involved us getting to the airport by 5:00, so I woke up at 4:00am PDT. We got to Chicago O'Hare, and the fancy tv screen said that our flight to Charlotte was canceled. Great. It was the only flight on the 8 screens announcing departure times that was canceled. So we went over to United customer service, and the nice lady there said to use the automated flight adjustment feature on their electronic kiosk. Peter and I were put on the 8:58pm (Chicago time) flight. Eric somehow got onto the 3:45pm flight. Fine.

Peter and I, after several phone calls to Nike Travel, and several visits to the *friendly* (sarcasm here...) customer service agents at United, were able to get on a 5:25pm US Airways flight to Charlotte.

I learned a few things about Chicago O'Hare during this trip:
Freshly baked Cinnabons are in Terminal 2
The airport is big
The airport is really big
Customer Service at United in this airport is not very friendly or accomodating
Don't have a layover in Chicago

450 km/hr

2006-04-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

450 km/hr. That's how fast the Shanghai Maglev took passengers from the middle of Shanghai to Pudong International Airport. It would normally take 60 minutes by car to get from the city to the airport. On the Maglev, it took 7 minutes. I took it to the airport, and it was definitely quick. It took about 3 minutes to reach top speed, and then traveled at 450 km/hr for about 30 seconds, and then started to slow down as we approached the airport.

I could see where a Maglev (magnetic levetation) train would come in handy. Say, from Seattle to Portland to San Francisco to LA to SD. I bet, if you timed it right, you could catch a game in Seattle and San Diego in one day, no problem. =)

Amy x 3

2006-04-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Amy G - tourist

Amy B - tour organizer. She got me on this trip. Without her, I don't know if I would have ever made it to China =)

Amy C - tour guide/tour mom. She basically got us from Beijing to Xian to Shanghai. She met us up with our local guides. She made sure our whole tour group got on the plane. She tried recovering my jacket from the hotel in Beijing. She did a lot of things for us, and the fact that she is an Amy makes her the coolest tour guide ever =)

More Shanghai pics

2006-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

The Shanghai skyline at night

Amy B at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Me, Amy B, and Lili at the Yu Yuan Garden
Me, Lili, and Amy B on the river cruise with the Shanghai skyline at night
Us having lunch...I am blocking Lili with my big head =(

"Death Cab" in Shanghai

2006-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

I would not want to drive in China. Cars cut across 4 lanes at a time, people make left turns from the right hand lane. The horn is the most used part of the vehicle. Pedestrians and bikes are merely temporary road blocks.

But I don't think I want to get into another taxi in Shanghai. I somehow ended up sitting shotgun for most of the taxi rides that we took there. And I got a great view of all the potential accidents. (Side note: Eddie says don't ride the dark red cabs...they rip you off cuz they don't have meters). Usually there were three lanes, but the taxis seemed to think that the space in between the cars in those three lanes were also lanes. So we squeezed by numerous cars like this. Although "squeezed" isn't quite the right word..."whizzed by" would be more appropriate. Without any hint of hitting the brakes, the taxis would pass vehicles in these make believe lanes, with inches to spare on either side of the car. Another taxi driver decided that he was facing the wrong direction, so he made a U turn from the right hand lane, cutting off traffic in the left hand lane. Another taxi driver decided that he wanted to get back to our hotel as fast as possible. So he speeded down the road, and almost hit another taxi driver who was standing outside his car AND almost hit the taxi coming from the left hand side trying to cut our taxi guy off. There was some honking, and he slowed down just enough where if I had my windows rolled down, I could have touched the taxi driver standing outside his car. There were rides where I thought we would definitely, without a doubt, hit a bike, motorcyclist, pedestrian, or concoming vehicle. The only reason we avoided the moving objects seemed to be because the taxi driver used his horn to warn them that he was going to hit them. There was also that driver that ran through a red light, as if it were completely normal...

Needless to say, I did not breathe while the taxi was in motion. I may have turned blue during the ride, but it was impossible to ignore the fact that at any moment, I could die. Amy B even admitted that Shanghai drivers were worse than NYC taxi drivers. So, I've decided that the next time I have to ride in a cab in Shanghai, I am putting on the seat belt, and sitting in the back seat.

Shopping - Shanghai style

2006-04-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

For our day by ourselves, we did the following:
Went to the French concession where they have a lot of foreign restaurants, and to Amy B's delight, a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Ate lunch at a hot pot restaurant (eddies recommendation), where we managed to order ourselves a pretty good meal, considering I couldn't really decipher the menu, and the only English speaking waitress had difficulty explaining some of the things on the menu. Oh, I also had to draw a shrimp in order to indicate that we wanted shrimp. Pictionary does come in handy!

Took a night time river cruise, which was beautiful!

Got a full body massage at the hotel!

In between all that, we shopped. Shopping in China is different for tourists. You barter. And you barter for the price you think it cost for them to make it...and that's probably still even a bit high. If you are shopping for knockoffs, you follow middlemen to the back streets of Nanjing Road where they sell knockoff hand bags and shoes in small apartments. We followed two people into the back of the alley places for Lili to successfully acquire two Coach purses for $15 each. And you just keep bartering. You stick to your price, and if they don't give it to you, you walk away. And then they chase you, and then you stick to your price, and then they say no, and then you walk away, etc. And this goes on until they finally give it to you for the price you state. you communicate via calculator. You say yes or no.

This got to be very tiring, and we were all glad to go into UniQlo (Asian version of the Gap), and get clothes that we liked without having to barter for it. After that, it was a little more shopping here and there, and then we were done. =)

The New York of China

2006-04-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

The first thing that you see in the Shanghai skyline is the Pearl Tower. We went up the tv tower our first morning in Shanghai, but the sky was overcast, and we weren't able to get a good view of the city. However, it was interesting to see all the construction that was happening from a bird's eye view. I could tell that there were many construction sites preparing to build more sky scrapers. I'm not sure if they were business or residential buildings, but there were about 4 visible plots in the vicinity of the Pearl Tower.

Next was the Yu Yuan Garden, which was surrounded by a huge tourist market. The garden itself was very beautiful. The flowers were real, the trees were real, and the architecture of the houses and walls was amazing. The main path through the garden snaked around into various corners, and each provided a great picture taking opportunity. It was amazing to think that all this nature was neighboring a loud and crowded tourist shopping area.

The Jade Buddha Temple was next on our hit list. We went through various portions of the temple, and got a chance to see monks doing their routine prayers. We later found out that this was an extremely rich temple, and that the monks here could probably afford a Mercedes a month if they were given the opportunity. Many people come to this temple because it is famous and because it has two of the largest Jade Buddhas in China. Later on we went to a Tea House and sampled some tea.

We all also signed up for the Shanghai Acrobatics Act for that night...yet another must do tourist thing in Shanghai. The acrobatics were amazing! They must have been up and coming gymnasts or has-been gymnasts because these people were buff and flexible! Their abs must have been made of steel, and I'm pretty sure that their muscles stretched to about 4 times that of a normal person. I was envious...I can barely bend down to touch my toes =(

Part of the Yu Yuan Garden
Monks coming out of a prayer session
Amy B and Lili sampling tea
Me with the Shanghai skyline
Me with another part of the Yu Yuan Garden
The Pearl Tower from street level
If only I were that strong and flexible...

"Ask Eddie"

2006-04-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

When we arrived in Shanghai, we were introduced to our local guide, Eddie. He started talking about the history of Shanghai, and then he asked "do you want to hear a song?" He broke into a pretty good rendition of "American Pie". He later told us he liked karaoke.

Amy B, LIli, and i were going to spend a day in Shanghai on our own, so we ended up asking Eddie a lot of questions. Where can we eat hotpot? How can we get to the shopping district? How do you write the name of our hotel? What time is the river cruise? Where do we have to go to reserve the river cruise? Where is the maglev station? How long does it take to get there? How long does it take to get to the airport? It was endless...

So, the motto of our stay in Shanghai became "Ask Eddie"

The world's largest jigsaw puzzle

2006-04-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

The following day, we drove out to the site of the Terra Cotta Soldiers mausoleum. I was totally impressed with this place. There are three main buildings, each covering three separate excavation sites. The first building is the largest, and held the bulk of the "army". Each statue is made with details down to the fingernails, and the facial expression on each of the soldiers is different. Each statue held some sort of weapon, and the hairstyles indicated the rank of that soldier. The warriors definitely looked ready for battle.

The amazing thing is that these statues weren't discovered in tact. They had been through flood, fire, tremblers, and other natural disasters. The tunnels that they were buried in were made of wood and would eventually collapse. The wooden pillars and roofs are now petrified, and the soldiers were all crushed underneath the weight of the earth. So archaeologists have to now go through and reassemble the warriors. About 7,000 in all. All in pieces. They apparently have software to help them match pieces, but it is a daunting task. That's why I think of this as the world's largest jigsaw puzzle.

The mausoleum also had displays of fully assembled soldiers as part of their exhibit. There were soldiers in chariots, and terra cotta horses (much to Lili's delight), and everything had been made to be exactly like a real life army. We were all impressed with the craftsmanship as well as the great lengths the emperor had gone through in order to protect his tomb.

Main building of the site. Seemingly endless row of soldiers

Me holding a replica of a soldier

Summer Palace

2006-04-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Lili and I went to the Summer Palace, and decided that it was our favorite touristy destination in Beijing. We managed to escape from the crowds, and climb up the hill that overlooking the lake as well as the outskirts of the city. We climbed rock formations around former buddhist temples, and went around the lake crossing several unique bridges. Willows gracefully swayed on either side of us as we walked around the park. Although it was a tourist spot, it was serene just walking along the path around the lake. Lili said that when she got married she'd want willows on either side of the main aisle. I'm sure that can be done...otherwise, she'll have to have her wedding in the Summer Palace in Beijing. =)

We followed this older lady all the way up the stairs to the top of the mountain. Chinese old ladies can really move...
Lili making her way across some boulders to a gazebo thing near the temples
One of many beautiful bridges embraced by willows along the lake
Standing amongst the rock formations near the temples
The hill that we climbed is in the background, and so is the lake!
The view of the lake from on top of the hill!

Seeing Xian

2006-04-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

We traveled from Beijing to China via Eastern China Airlines very early in the morning. Upon arriving in Xian, we realized that we had too much luggage. Even though there were only 15 of us on the tour, we were barely able to fit all our stuff in the Chinese version of a 15 passenger van. The van was leaning to it's side when we were going down the freeways.

To my delight, we had hot pot for lunch!

And then we went to the Bell Tower and then the Drum Tower. The Bell Tower rung at dawn, and the Drum Tower beat at dusk. We took pictures in front of these landmarks. We also discovered that the cherry blossoms lining the streets around the towers were fake. They were just cherry blossoms neatly tied to bare branches. It made me wonder if the tulips and greenery around Xian were fake or real...

We went to the Confucius temple where they kept the ancient stone tablets collected from around China that documented the teachings of Confucius. While we were there, we observed some workers making ink rubbings of the tablets. We then went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, took pictures and walked the gardens. We also visited the Xian city wall - a massive wall surrounding the center of the city. Cars go through it now (there are tunnel things), but it would have been tough for outsiders to break into the city with this thing.

After that we went to dinner, where we were entertained by Tang Dynasty performances. It was definitely a tourist thing. And it was the fastest 10 course dinner I had ever eaten. The waiters would come by and set down a dish. You would barely have time to admire the presentation before they came by with the next course. And then they would give you a look of annoyance if you had not finished the previous course. By the time the 3 different desserts came around, I was tired of eating, and completely full. I was also tired. And the performances were good. Although sometimes we couldn't tell if the singing and instrument playing was pre-recorded, or if they were actually singing. We were pretty sure the dancing was real...although I can't say whether it was authentic Tang Dynasty dancing.

Amy and I in front of the Bell Tower with the fake cherry blossom trees
Entrance to the stone table exhibit
Worker making a rubbing of a tablet
Standing on the Xian city wall
Performers during the Tang Dynasty dinner show
Amy, Lili and I at the Wild Goose Pagoda

DVD Shopping

2006-04-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, Kyle took us to a "really good" DVD store. This was not one of those "back of a restaurant illegal dvd selling" operations. This place had quality DVDs, in nicely made cases, and actually had a store front. It was oozing "legit, but only in China". Lili got a number of quality DVDs from this place. I was looking for Napoleon Dynamite, but came away with Wallace and Gromit.

However, there were a couple of problems this particular night:

No. 1 - Kyle couldn't exactly locate this place. He had been here once before when he was "kinda" buzzed, and so it took him a while to get oriented. He wasn't able to find it until after he made Lili and I walk through the shady bar area where foreigners and guys were drunk and trying to lure us into having drinks there. Someone even tried to steal Kyle's Gillette shaving cream from his coat pocket. However, Kyle did eventually find this DVD store, all the while avoiding the drug dealers the next block over. Whoo hoo!

No. 2 - We had about $30 between the three of us. This meant careful DVD-buying planning in order to have enough money for the cab right back to Kyle's. We were fortunate enough to realize this prior to our actual DVD purchasing. Had this not been the case, we would have had to ask the drug dealers next door for some cash...which probably would not have been a good thing.

All in all, Kyle (with the assistance of fellow Microsoft person Eden) made Beijing a fun and really eye opening experience =)

This is NOT a Smoothie!

2006-04-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dinner on Sunday night was with Kyle, Lili, Amy B, Stacy, and Jason. Stacy and Amy B knew each other from Spain, and Jason was Stacy's boyfriend. Kyle managed to get us two taxis that would drop us off at the Bellagios restaurant near the Workers Stadium in Beijing.

Bellagios was a Taiwanese restaurant. Kyle was mistaken about two things that night. He promised Amy B that they had western food on the menu...but unfortunately, there was none. So as the waitress hovered over us waiting for our order, and Kyle trying to communicate to her that we needed 5 minutes to make our decision, we ordered our taiwanese dinner. Some rice, chicken, beef, etc.

Kyle also convinced me to order the green tea smoothie. I thought "yum, smoothie". Kyle also ordered a peanut butter flavored smoothie. However, what came to the table was anything but a smoothie.
In the picture above, there is a green mound of something near my elbow. That would be my green tea "smoothie" - or what would normally be called a yummy green tea icy dessert with red beans. It was really good. It was definitely not a smoothie. The food was excellent. The slight brain freeze that I got from consuming my "smoothie" was also excellent. =)

After Kyle mislead us at dinner, we were afraid to follow him to a place that was highly recommended for a massage. However, we made the right decision to follow him. We ended up at Bodhi (www.bodhi.com.cn) - also known as bliss. For about $15, we got a "foot massage" that massaged every part of our bodies and muscles that we never knew existed. Chinese massages are excellent!I could have melted in the chair! It totally made up for Kyle's miscue on the western food and "smoothie" =).

One Giant Stairmaster

2006-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, Lili and I met Amy B in the lobby along with other ASME conference attendees, and piled into the bus to see the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. It was about a 1.5 hour drive out there since traffic was bad. The bus pulled up to the closest section of the wall from Beijing. From there, we embarked on our journey to the highest point we could see from the tour bus parking lot.

The Great Wall is amazing. Not only is it long, but it goes across the tallest peaks as it traverses across the country. Although it has been rebuilt numerous times since it was first commisioned, it is still an amazing feat. AmyB, Lili, and I started up the long flight of stairs up to the distant watch tower. The steps are not uniform, and some of them are very steep. The wall twists and turns, and there are few landings in between each building along the wall. It's just a straight up climb. I started sweating about 10 minutes into it. The only reprieve came when there was building, where we would occasionally stop and take pictures from. We weren't able to pass too many people on our climb up. There were some other tourists climbing with walking sticks, and I thought "wow, they are smart".

The three of us, after 1.5 hours, eventually made it to the top most watch tower. I was tired. My quads were burning and trembling beneath me, trying to hold me upright. The view from the wall was unfortunately hazy that day. We couldn't see much of anything. But at the top, I was just happy that I had made it up that far; never mind that the tour buses looked tiny from up above. I realized that the Chinese who built this wall had to be extremely fit in order to get everything up the mountain. And those who guarded the wall also had to have been very fit...or at least had really strong legs.

Once we caught our breath, we tackled the way down. Weaving among the sea of tourists attempting to climb the wall, my legs shook with each step I took. I thought that at any moment, I would tumble down the Great Wall. That would have been quite the story...but I managed to climb back down uneventfully. It only took us 30 minutes to get back down. We still had time before the bus would leave, but I don't think any of us wanted to attempt any part of the wall again.

The rest of the day, we were at the Ming Tombs. We went to one of the three open tombs, and walked the grounds, and went underneath into the tomb itself. It was hard to hear our tour guide since there were about 4 other flag bearing tour guides leading their tours into the tomb. I just kicked back and thought that this was a lot for people to have to go through in order to get buried during the Ming Dynasty. And to think that were 13 more that were like this tomb was slightly mind boggliing.

Welcome to China!

2006-04-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Beijing on 01 April 2006. Earlier in the week, Kyle informed Lili and I that he would pick us up from the airport. The first thing you see upon entering China is none other than Starbucks! It's like you never left the USA...

Kyle and his friend Eden took a very tired Lili and I to hot pot after checking into the Beijing Friendship Hotel. Hot pot has become my most favorite chinese meal. It's such a simple concept! I'm not sure why I didn't really try it earlier! Dinner was also very cheap. Four people's dinners and drinks came out to $4 per person! It was the beginning of some cheap good meals in Beijing =)

This was also the night that I discovered the ordering style in China. As soon as you are seated, a waitress hands you the menu, and hovers over you as you make your decision. Never mind that you have no idea what you want, or that you want more time to decide. They just hang out for as long as you need to make up your mind. It's a little weird at first, but I guess like anything, you get used to it.

My 2nd favorite city

2006-04-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

My heart will always be with San Francisco. However, Berlin is my favorite city in Europe that I've been to. I spent the weekend there in March 2004. I woke up at 4:30 am in order to get to the train station for the first ICE train to Berlin. I couldn't sleep. First I was nervous traveling over the weekend by myself. I'd made reservations at a hostel, but I was a little wary about sleeping in an unknown place with 6 other strangers in a room. I also wasn't sure if I could see everything all in one weekend. But I somehow managed sleeping a little in the hostel and didn't fear getting pickpocketed or mugged or whatever during my stay in Berlin.

The Reichstag is the most awesome thing. It is where the German parliament sits. People stand in a long line just to go to the top where there is an awesome dome. It's supposed to be a very energy efficient design, and the dome is part of that efficiency. I heard that in the summer you would have to wait several hours in the heat, but since it was March and not quite high tourist season, I waited for about 30 minutes in line while chatting with some other tourists.

The inside of the dome looks over the main Parliament assembly room. The whole thing is just awesome.

There is a little of everything in Berlin. It's like it took little highlights from every city in the world and crammed it into Berlin. There are very old buildings with scars from the war standing next to state of the art brand new buildings. Apparently, ever since the fall of the wall, this city has been changing rapidly. Potsdamplatz used to be ghetto, then popular, then ghetto, and now it's finally popular again. There aren't many signs that the wall even existed here. The checkpoint charlie museum is there to document the wall and those who managed to bypass it. However I tried looked for parts of the wall, and I couldn't. Maybe I wasn't looking at the right areas, but I couldn't find the wall.
Checkpoint Chairlie Museum next to Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie is now just a touristy thing. There are guards there, but I think they are just there to take pictures with tourists

There was some difference between the former west and east sides. I could tell that the east side buildings were a little more concrete and boring looking. The west side of town had residential areas with victorian style houses. And the streets were all tree lined on the west side, while the east side had hardly any folage. But there are definitely areas of the east side that are looking more modern. It would be interesting to go back in a couple of years to see how things have changed.

I ate at a bar called "Kaiser Soze", which was near the "Mudd Club". I wasn't sure what kind of club it was, but Kaiser Soze was a bar/cafe. I just thought it was awesome to be able to eat at a place called kaiser soze.

I knew I had seen most of the touristy stuff when I went to a place selling postcards and looked at a "hi from Berlin" postcard with all the major sites printed on it. I had gone to all of them. By then, I was tired, but very satisfied that I was able to get around to seeing everything that I needed to see.

The world clock that tells the time for anywhere in the world
Green means go! I love this little man. There aren't many Berlin street crossings with this little guy left. I think it was an East German thing, and I love it! The "stop man" is pictured below

The old church in Europaplatz. It is surrounded by nice modern buildings and it's near the western main train station.
I believe that's the goddess of victory, Nike on this tower in the middle of town. I climbed up to the top, and the view of the town was amazing!

More Vienna/Prague pics

2006-04-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Mom and I in front of the Haptbahnhof in Salzburg
Mom and I in the gardens of the Schloss in Vienna
In front of the St. Stephens cathedral in central Vienna
Auntie and Mom in front of the cathedral in the castle in Prague
img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1375/2743/320/736.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Powder Tower in Prague
Those are camels in the median of the main boulevard in Prague. I'm not sure what they were doing there. I think it was for some ad thing.
The main boulevard in Prague

The other castle, river, and town

2006-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Once Mom finally got better, we went to Prague via train from Vienna. Prague was definitely the most touristy place on our trip. The streets of Prague were full of twists and turns, and some were still cobblestoned. Maps didn't help, but we were able to find our way around somehow. The architecture was impressive. Prague was one of those cities that was never bombed during any wars, and so all the buildings are old and "as is". By this time on our trip, I was getting a little bit tired of the castle, river, town theme. We went to the Prague castle, down the main boulevards, and shopping. While we were there, it was Auntie's turn to have a physical ailment. She got a cyst thing in her eye, and had to go to the foreign first aid center. I didn't dish out the money to get absynthe. I did get a budweiser patch for my backpack. It was also very cold

Old Town Square

Auntie on the steps up to the Prague Castle

Mom and I on the Charles Bridge

The coolest stack of books on display at the Prague Main Library

Castle, River, Town

2006-04-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Auntie and I decided to make the trip to Budapest. We took the 2 hour train ride from Vienna to Budapest. When we first pulled into the main train station, I thought "Holy moly....where did I take us to.." It was ghetto. There was tagging everywhere, and the place looked like it had just recovered from a fire. I'm sure Auntie was thinking "We wanted to come here?"

Once we got ourselves out of the station and into the bustling streets of Budapest, it was much better. We went to the castle on the Buda side, which overlooked the river and Pest. It was a beautiful day, and the city looked awesome from the hill that the castle was sitting on. I tried some Hungarian chocolate, and it was the grossest chocolate I'd ever tasted. It made Hershey's taste really good. We also went to a local restaurant recommended by my travel book and had Hungarian goulash. It was good. Lots of paprika.

The Budapest subway system has three levels, the oldest one being closest to the street, and the newest one being much further underground. Auntie and I rode the first and last levels because that's where we needed to go. The oldest level is right underneath the road, maybe about 10 ft. It was cool and a bit odd to think that I only had to go down one set of stairs to get to the subway. And the car was cute! The deepest subway was waaaaaayyyyyyyy down there. And there was only one escalator that took you about 4 stories down. It was fast and steep, and I thought I was riding on a roller coaster. It was awesome!

The opera house in Budapest is must see. It is all gold on the inside, and even though it isn't that big, it is still very beautiful on the inside and outside. The tour guide said that the entire place was gold leafed with only 3 kg of gold. Some of it was under renovation, but much of it remained the same from when it was first built. Hungarian chocolate may not be good, but their coffee is awesome. It makes your hair stand on ends, and keeps you good and wired. It is a little bitter, but one tiny sugar cube, and you're good to go.

One of weirdest things I've ever seen was in St. Stephens Cathedral. The cathedral itself is very big and nice. Although it could have been a tourist attraction by itself, many people me here to see the actual hand of Saint Stephens. It is encased in a glass box behind the main altar. It is "wearing" a golden robe. It is kind of gross. It is gray, with yellowish/blackish fingernails. It is weird. It is gross. But if it was a saint's hand, I guess it's worth keeping.Auntie standing in front of St. Stephens

Only in Vienna

2006-04-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

We were able to do a lot in Vienna because we were there during the off season. For instance, we were able to see hear the Vienna Boys Choir perform during mass on a Sunday. They were in their little costumes, and sang various hymns. It was amazing to think that these kids sounded like a mature women's voice. It was actually kind of weird for me. And after the concert, they ran out to their parents and took pictures with the tourists. I'm sure the parents loved the attention that their kids got.
Outside the chapel where the Vienna Boys Choir performed

We also got to see the Spanish riding school's riding practice and performance. We saw the horses train, and I felt a little sorry for them. They had to prance around and do all these footwork things that were simply not natural for a horse. Imagine only being able to walk my raising your knees up to your chest, holding your chin high, and if you wanted to move sideways, you had to prance along sideways one foot over the other. It isn't comfortable. And it didn't look very comfortable for the horses. Seeing them go from their "performance stance" to their "normal stance" was a dramatic change. The horses went from looking regal and pompous looking to a tired race horse that just came in last place.

And when in Vienna, eat weinerschnitzel. We went to a famous weinerschinitzel restaurant upon the recommendation of the hotel clerk. The schnitzel was very thin and lightly fried, and it was HUGE! And it was sooo good! Best schnitzel I'd ever had! And it came with a yummy salad that we happily munched at. Schnitzel...it was HUGE!!!

In Vienna, I discovered that there are pickpockets everywhere. They are especially looking for Nalgene water bottles. While we were riding to the Haptsburg Schloss in the train, it was very crowded with tourists. I noticed that a guy was standing next to me with an extremely large but empty duffle bag. As I started to make my way for the exit, I noticed that my messenger bag was suddenly much lighter. I looked at the guy and said "give me back my water bottle". He smiled and kindly gave it back. So watch out for those Nalgene thieves on the trains in Vienna!
And when in Vienna, do not eat liver. Because that's what my mom ate, and she got sick =(. She was bed ridden in our hotel for 3 days. It sucked for her =( She didn't get to go to Budapest at all =(

The Von Trapps and Mozart

2006-04-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

In February, I took some time off of my internship at adidas, (I really think accruing at least 2 days off a month should become a standard in a month in American culture), and I traveled from Munich to Salzburg to Vienna to Budapest to Prague to Munich in a week with Mom and Auntie. Mom flew in from San Francisco, and Auntie flew in from Tokyo. We did all of our traveling via train, and did the touristy things

First off, Salzburg:

The home of the Sound of Music and Mozart. It is also where my cell phone got stolen/lost/misplaced. It is also where delicious desserts await. =) The Mozart home is a really good museum. We didn't want to spend the big bucks to go on a Sound of Music tour, but we did go to the garden where they filmed all the garden scenes from the movie (including the gazebo where she sings "sixteen going on seventeen".

Finding Dirk Nowitzki

2006-04-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

While in Germany, John Chou asked me if I could buy him a Dirk jersey from when he played for the Wurzburg team in Germany. I figured that the best place to find this jersey would be to actually go to the city, so off I went one weekend in January 2004. It was about a 2 hour train ride from Erlangen. I think it was NW of the town. The first thing that I saw when I pulled into the station was the gigantic ad for the new WalMart that had just opened there. Grrreeeaaatttt......sigh...

There were a few things in Wurzburg that I saw that was interesting. It was a town divided by a river with a pedestrian bridge, a castle on one side, and the town on the other. (This would be a recurring city lay out in Europe as I would see later on) This area of Germany was famous for it's wine. When I was there however, there were no grapes growing on the vines running up and down the hills. It was all brown and barren. But it was cool to see how they planted their vines running directly down the mountain.Bare vines running down the mountain side near the Wurzburg castle

I also went ot the "Residence". I'm not sure who's residence it was, but it was open to the public, and there was a great big traditional European garden. I sat on one of the benches and froze my fingers off while journaling. It was peaceful, and I enjoyed the fact that I was there in the winter when there weren't so many tourists around. However this was about the time where I was a little depressed at the fact that I was in Germany by myself making trips to various places on my own. I was getting homesick, but I managed to survive through March.Frozen fountain in the Residence

Now...that Dirk jersey....
I ended up going to 3 different stores that offered sports equipment and clothes. How I communicated to people that I wanted a basketball jersey is beyond me. I think most of them spoke perfect English. Anyway, each store I went to carried a lot of Dirk Mavs jerseys. I told them that I wanted the Wurzburg jersey, or at least the German national team Nowitzki jersey. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "But Dirk plays for Dallas...", "Yes, but do you have his National team jersey?" "No....", ok then..

So John Chou never got his Dirk jersey from me. But I got to see Wurzburg.

A few more Japan Pics

2006-04-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

When you eat a lot during new years, I suppose you have to shop for food. And everyone here is shopping for food too at "Ameyoko" in the Ueno district in Tokyo
Marie and I try to shape mochi balls. It is harder than it seems because the mochi is piping hot and sticky, so we have to not burn ourselves, not use too much flour, and shape it into a perfect white ball.
Tokyo tower in the background from the top floor of one of the newest buildings in Roppongi district
The streets are narrow. Above is a two lane street...for cars, not just pedestrians

Wasssssaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhbi

2006-04-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

While Marie and I were in Japan, Auntie and Obaachan took us to Matsumoto, about a 3 hour drive from Tokyo. Matsumoto is known for their scenary, their castle, and their wasabi. We were able to see how well the wasabi crops were taken care of. I guess the wasabi plant is one of the most painfully tedious plants to take care of. The water has to be super clean, and it can't be too cold or too hot or too sunny or too rainy. It is a pain in the butt. There are many wasabi fields in Matsumoto, and we went to one of the bigger ones. These farms were beautiful. The green of the wasabi against the snow covered white banks of the crystal clear river was beautiful!

We also visited Matsumoto castle, which is one of the mainly samurai-era warlord castles in japan. It was rebuilt in the 1800s, and we were allowed to climb inside. We had to take off our shoes and wear the house provided bunny-suit-style slippers. We made our way up and down the steep stairs of the castle, and saw the view from above. The grounds surrounding the castle was also very well maintained with a beautiful traditional japanese garden and lots of trees.

Population density

2006-04-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Japan is a small country. I think it is about the size of California. It has lots of mountains, and it is prone to earthquakes because it sits on the edge of the pacific rim. However, lots of people live in Japan. And a lot of them live in Tokyo. My mom's side of the family all live in Tokyo. When you're on a train in Japan during rush hour, you have to cram in. And there are station attendants whose job is to push as many people onto the train. You don't really hang on, since you are smushed against 10 other people. I can be fun the first time, but making it a daily activity in order to get to and from work doesn't seem fun at all.
The world's busiest Starbucks is located in front of Shibuya station in Tokyo. Above, is a picture of the main intersection with the Starbucks in the background when the light is green for traffic to go. Doesn't seem that bad. Sure, there are a lot of cars on the narrow roads, but it seems manageable

And then WHAM!!!! The Black Sea!
The intersection is suddenly filled with all of Tokyo trying to get from one side of the street to the other. And at the same time, that Starbucks in the background probably gets about 10 customers a minute. And they are very efficient at taking and making orders. There is always a server in line taking people's orders as they come in, kind of like at In n Out where there is someone taking orders from teh drive thru lane during rush hour...(mmm...In n Out...) I didn't know that there were that many people in Tokyo who could not live without coffee, but apparently there are.

New Years in Japan 2003/2004

2006-04-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to use my frequent flyer miles to go from Germany to Japan and spend new years in Tokyo with my family. I hadn't been to Japan during New Years, which is a big traditional and cultural holiday. Marie also flew over from San Francisco, and we were able to hang out with the family there.

Traditional "osechi ryoori"

One of the main traditions during new years is to stuff yourself silly with all kinds of good Japanese food. Needless to say, the two of us ate very well while we were there. It is tradition to pound and eat mochi. You start off with lots of steamed sweet mochi rice, and then take long wooden thick broomstick things, and knead it. Then you take a big wooden hammer and pound it. I don't know when you stop pounding, but I think you pound until you are hungry enough to want to eat the whole big mound of mochi. =) Once you're done pounding, you can shape them into smaller mochi balls and put them with different toppings like soybean powder or red bean soup. It's soooo good!

Marie and I each took a turn pounding mochi...it's really tiring

Instead of fireworks and street parties, you go to the temple on new years eve to pray for a good and healthy upcoming year. Me and thousands of other Japanese flocked to Kamakura, the main temple district near Tokyo. Auntie, Hiroshi, Marie, and I went to the temple, and waited to cliimb the steps along with many other peopleso that we could pray and ring in the new year. I think it was the best new years party. We got to ring a big bell, and we got to stay up til 4 in the morning along with all the other Tokyo-ites.

Neuschwanstein in the winter

2006-04-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

While visiting this castle south of Munich, I was waiting for the my tour group number to be called to be able to tour inside the castle and the grounds. I overheard a group of students, and realized that they were speaking American English. I went up to them, and introduced myself. I said that I was from San Francisco, CA. One of girls said that a girl in their group was from San Francisco, but that she was in the bathroom. However, she came back that instant, and I recognized her. You're "Mari's younger sister!", and she said "you're my sister's friend!" So as it turns out, I met Komaki Ueno in Neuschwanstein Germany. She was there for fun with her friends while studying abroad at the University of Siena. It was a random meeting, and it made me realize that it's a small world after all.

These are pics from Neuschwanstein in Dec 2003
View from Mary's bridge. It's postcard perfect!

If we go there, climb Mary's bridge, it's definitely worth the trip

my adidas coworkers

2006-04-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

These were the only pictures I could find of them. They definitely made life more fun and interesting in Germany

Angus and Dave (They were at Oktoberfest in Munich at the time)

Matt C (left) and Matt P (right) at the Christmas market in Nuremberg.

adidas

2006-04-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

Between October 2003 and March 2004, I worked for adidas in Herzogenaurach Germany. It is a very small town outside of Nuremberg in Bavaria. I lived by myself in a small suburb of Frauenaurach, the small suburb of the next small town of Erlangen. It was a studio apartment next to a bakery. Which was extremely dangerous. It was way too easy to just wake up and go down the block to grab some yummy pasteries for breakfast. My favorite was Mohnschnecken. It's a poppyseed danish, and it still is my all time favorite!

My apartment. This was when it was clean...it didn't always stay this clean.
The town that I lived in..yup...that's about it.

I was a mechanical engineering intern with the adidas Innovation Team in Herzo. I had a great time, and I really enjoyed my work. Living and working in Germany was a totally new and different experience for me. I got to see lots of the rest of Europe while I was there, and I was able to live the life of a German, who looked Asian, spoke American English, and didn't know any German. =)

Oh yeah, Anchorage 2003

2006-04-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

I decided to train for and run the Mayor's Midnight Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska with the Team in Training group in San Diego.

I was there from a Friday night to Sunday night. I suppose the cool thing was that the marathon was during the summer solstice. So it never really got dark in town. I got to see a lot of the beauty of Anchorage while running the marathon, although at the time, I don't think I was admiring the scenary. I think I was just wondering how much further I had to go before I'd pass out.

The town was small, but interesting. I did some gift shopping. I ate at the convention center. I ran. And I ran, and ran. And then I slept. Yup...that was my trip.

I suppose I need to eventually go back and go to Denali National Park and go whale watching. But for now, I can say that I've run a marathon in Anchorage.

Europe 2003 Pics - Been There, Done That

2006-04-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

"Fast food" in Amsterdam...forget what the place is called, and didn't try the food there...at least not from what I can remember...

In front of/on top of the Louvre Museum in Paris

At the site of the ancient Roman ruins

Group pic in front of Marienplatz

Venice at the end of the day

From our experience in Italy, if you get on the wrong train, no one else seems to know how to get back onto the right train. And so you end up standing in the middle of the train tracks, not sure when you might be killed by an oncoming train.

When in Rome....fill your water bottle at the public fountain

Chris and I with Florence in the background