June 7, 2011

Included are pictures I took from my trip up to The Peak and places in and around Hong Kong.


A view of Kowloon Station and ICC from my brother's condo.


Jean in deep thought.


The Bank of China Tower and Cheung Kong Center.


Hong Kong harbor from The Peak.


Hong Kong harbor and Kowloon.

June 2, 2011

As promised, my Seoul pictures!!


My first Korean BBQ in Korea! This particular place only served pork and all of the servers we spoke with were Chinese. Somewhat ironic, I know, but it didn't change my opinion of the food. :)


Jean giving me the stink eye.


The Joint Security Area within the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.


We went to Noryangjin Fish Market which was the highlight of our eating escapade! We managed to order fresh octopus, king crab and abalone and have it freshly prepared for us at a restaurant on-site. Very cool!


These were some large octopi they had at the fish market. It was too large for us to eat, but if I were to live in Seoul, I would definitely get a fish tank and throw one of these guys into it. Octopi are really cool animals and after playing with a few of them, including the one we eventually ate, I would definitely like to have one as a pet. :)


Our pregnant king crab.


Our king crab after we were done with it.


Some random sign by our hostel in Hongdae District.


A crane we found at Cheonggyecheon, one of the artificial creek that crosses downtown Seoul.

May 31, 2011

I just got back from my trip to Seoul and Taipei today! Both places were really cool, although I still liked Taipei a bit more. I think part of the reason is that it was easier to get around Taipei since Jean could speak Mandarin. Furthermore, Taiwanese people tend to know more English than people in Seoul. Still, I had a good time in Seoul and got my fill of Korean BBQ. :) Also, I had every intention of updating my site while I was away. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my laptop charger and didn't have any battery left to update when I finally had pictures worth posting. That said, I'll probably be posting pictures of Seoul/Taipei in chunks (from the most recent pictures in Taipei today to my Seoul pictures later in the week). Until next time, enjoy!


This was taken at Shida Night Market, which was near our hostel. This place was full of restaurants where we had a chance to try a ton of different desserts. Although I tried to experiment with a lot of different foods, I found I ultimately still like mango shaved ice the best!


A chef preparing knife-cut noodles at Shida Night Market.


Taiwanese people have a crazy stylistic way of grooming their dogs. I was immediately drawn to this little Corgi because he reminded me of my dog, Avery. More importantly though, I was drawn to his insane trim patterns! Look at his butt shave, it looked kind of like an incomplete Mohawk! If I didn't know any better, I would have just thought this particular owner was looking to experiment. But no, I saw at least 3 Labradors with Poodle cuts and another Corgi that was shaved like this one, without the booty Mohawk.


Jean and I discovered that there was a Doraemon promotion being held at 7-11. If you spend NT 66, you would get 1 Doreamon stamp (to put on this card) and after 10 stamps, you could get a small Doreamon shaped fan for NT 66. I'm not so crazy for Doraemon, but my brother likes it and after countless times at 7-11, we eventually "won" the prize!


Jean enjoying a three scoop ice cream!


This was taken at Ximending, a commercial center in Taipei, and this picture was taken at one of the many food stalls found here.


We happened upon these girls at Ximending. They were trying to raise "donations" for their school by selling pens. Their claim seemed dubious to me, but my friend, Jeff, decided to support their cause.


At the Shilin Night Market, they also had carnival games where you could shoot BB guns and arrows. This is definitely not something they would allow in the US, but it was fun! Jeff and I ended up winning one boxy elephant each before we gave our stuffed animals away to two kids (at our last 7-11 where we finally exchanged our stickers for the fan!).


I found this Frenchie at one of the stalls. He was a really cute dude, but a huge pervert. He kept trying to hump my arm and threw a move down on Jean. How charming!


Lastly, this is a picture of Taipei 101, what was once the world's tallest building. I was hoping to get more shots of both the Taipei and Seoul cityscapes from a distance, but it was hard to get to higher ground and I eventually had to "settle" for a shot like this. I still like this picture, but it would have been nice to see it among the rest of the skyline.

May 23, 2011

I just wanted to quickly post some recent pictures of Hong Kong before I leave for Seoul today!


This is a picture of my brother, my brother's friend, Tony, Jean and me at La Creperie de Hong Kong in Central. This place was apparently opened by several Frenchmen and started in Shanghai. They had some really great sweet crepes, but I'm not so sure I'm sold on the savory crepes. I always associate crepes with desserts, but apparently you can have them as a meal...


My brother trying to illustrate with hand motions the type of pictures I should be taking. I think he could brush up on his technique here.


It's not quite monsoon season yet, but it has been terribly rainy these last few days. I'm hoping things clear up before I get back to Hong Kong on the 31st.


I am posting this because I recently saw a video about this technology company, IDEO, that was hired to develop a new shopping cart. This isn't exactly the same shopping cart they developed, but it uses many of the same concepts. For instance, IDEO created a cart that was made up of shopping baskets. This made the carts much cheaper to manufacture and without baskets, far fewer people would steal these carts.


Finally, I saw these two guys taking a walk near my brother's place. The guy to the left apparently didn't like to go home, so whenever the master walked in the direction of home, he would sit down and refuse to walk. Kind of reminded me of golden retriever, Bobby. These big dogs really just have a mind of their own!

May 14, 2011

I'm slowly wrapping up my first year here and am excited for summer to arrive! I originally had a few things I wanted to get done this year, like the Level 3 CFA exam, but after some consideration, I decided it was best that I spend the next few weeks resting before I start my summer internship. I'll be interning for a small financial advisory firm here in New York, but before I start, I plan to spend a few weeks in Asia. Unlike last year when I spent most of my time in China and Southeast Asia, this year I'll mainly be based out of Hong Kong (since my brother is there) and will also be making my way to Taipei and Seoul. Jean will be joining me for my whole trip and my classmate, Jeff, will be joining us in Taipei. Like last year, I'll probably be posting regularly -- so check in often! In the meantime, I wanted to clear the (few) pictures I had on my camera from this past semester...


This is a public art project currently on display at Madison Square Park. The piece is called Echo and was created by Spanish sculptor, Jaume Plensa. The face is modeled after a 9-year old girl in Plensa's neighborhood in Barcelona. It's attracted a lot of attention over the past few weeks and each time I pass it on my way to the gym, there are always crowds taking pictures of it. In order to "fit it", I felt I should do the same. :)


This is a picture of my friend Felicia, a classmate from undergrad, and Miriam. Recently Felicia had her birthday dinner at Sik Gaek, a Korean seafood restaurant. This place is interesting because they serve live octopus and live lobster. We ordered an octopus hot pot that included two octopi and a fresh lobster. We asked to have one octopus served sashimi style. The sashimi octopus had a really interesting texture and kept moving in my mouth. I don't know how I felt about it at first, but I got used to it and now I really like it! In fact, I'm excited to try it again when I get to Seoul. =O


Meet Hank, an 8-month old English Bulldog. I met him today while I was hanging out with Juan at dog run at Madison Square. If I had a bullie, I'd want one with a black eye like Hank!


Wow, this was a disappointment. I was craving a Haagen Daz Five Carmel ice cream today and hiked my way to Trader Joe's to get a tub. Unfortunately, they ran out so I foolishly bought this sorbet instead. I think what caught my eye was that it claimed to be "San Francisco's Official Ice Cream." Although I had never heard of Double Rainbow, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it (and support a local San Francisco shop!). Boy, was that a mistake. I'm a firm believer of "waste not, want not," but after a few scoops of this gross sorbet, I couldn't help but throw it away. I learned a while ago that it's just not worth ingesting high caloric, bad tasting food. Being high caloric and gross just shouldn't go together. Now only if I could find Five Carmel...


It was a pleasant surprise to find this little Vietnamese restaurant across the street from Jean's place in Oakland. I've had my fair share of pho, but this dish was unbelievably delicious! As you can see, Jean was so excited she even decided to hold up her mug of tea for a celebratory toast as if it were a more festive beverage. Well, cheers to you anyway, Jean!


I was in the Bay Area for spring break and decided to visit Berkeley's campus with Jean. It was a beautiful spring day and it felt great just strolling around campus. We even visited all of our favorite local establishments like Lotus House and Quickly and passed by Jean's old Granada apartment. Before I left for home, I took this picture of Memorial Field, Doe Library and the Campanile.