San Francisco Trip 2013

     The first trip of the year is an important one. It is like a precursor of how you compare to all the other trips that follow in the year. With that being said, San Francisco did not disappoint. When does it ever? 

     I got to travel with my good buddies - David, Johnny and Quang. None of them have been to SF before and it excited me that I had the chance to show them around and show them everything I love about this city. We stayed at The Westin in Union Square right off Powell. This is an amazing hotel to stay at just because it is right smack dab in the middle of everything. We were a couple blocks away from the BART station and then a 5-10 minute taxi cab ride everywhere else. 

     We arrived in the early afternoon and were all starving. We dropped off all our luggage at the hotel and headed straight for Ramen Underground. It was a 0.5 mile walk which was relatively quick. Anything under a mile is definitely doable especially in such a great town with so many things to see. We passed by a  ton of shops and restaurants we added to our list to try the next couple days. After walking around for an extra 20 minutes from being lost, we finally called Ramen Underground and asked for directions. We had passed by it twice already! It was a tiny hole in the wall place and I knew we were in for a treat.

     

David in awe.

Their wall menu

Paper menu

Cramped in one table

Hello Quang

Specials of the day

Gyoza

Pork Donburi 

Onigiri

Tonkatsu Ramen - Added chashu, pork belly, gyoza and corn

     After a great meal, we had planned to meet my cousin and his coworkers to play basketball near their company office. Needless to say, it was very cold but we had fun playing in another city. I snapped a couple pictures just so I could remember it.

     We ended the night eating at Zero Zero, where I didn't take pictures because it was too dark. They had great Italian food and was super packed! I will say that their pizza and dessert was on point! They had a vanilla/chocolate soft serve with olive oil, sea salt and ricotta donuts that you could die for.

     The next day we started our journey in Japan Town. We got to walk with no one around and enjoy everything.

This idiot thinks he can fly.

     We then headed back near Ramen Underground to grab some Onigiri next door at Onigilly. They only open from 11AM-3PM so we had to rush!

     Then we headed to meet up David's friend at Senor Sisig for some filipino food truck action.

Johnny's photobomb action

AWOL.

Nachos

Fries with fried egg

Burrito

All the foods

Staring into the distance

Chilling

Posing

Our lunch view

     Our next spot was the palace of fine arts which was near the Exploratorium. As we pulled up in the taxi, it was indescribable how beautiful it was out.

Unfortunately they were closed.

     The Exploratorium was closed so we ventured out to the Golden Gate Bridge to see it from a distance.

Golden Gate Bridge

     Then we planned on going to Fisherman's Wharf but it was a 3 mile walk! There were no taxis out in this area because most people get dropped off and the cabs will leave. We treked about a mile before we finally spotted one. The taxi driver was very friendly and asked if we wanted to check out Lombard before going down to the wharf. We couldn't say no. He drove us down the street and dropped us off at the bottom so we could walk back up.

Lombard Street

View from the top of the crooked street

View from the top of the crooked street

     After checking out the famous crooked Lombard street, we headed towards the bay and ended up in Fisherman's Wharf.

Clam chowder bread bowl @ Boudin

David's turtle bread bowl

Elmo spotted

Random clean miata

     We ended the night playing Pub Golf with my cousins and coworkers. If anyone is familiar with the game, it is no joke. We didn't even make it past the 4th hole. I didn't win but I did beat my travel mates and cousin. And that was really my goal. The rest of the night was a blur of local pizza being thrown at my head, punches to my face from David and some great Korean food at Playground in Japan Town.


     Our next day was going to be consisted of going around mission area. By this day, I was already tired of lugging around my huge camera and took photos mainly with my S3.

Crab Benedict @ Mission Bowling Club 

Sticky Bun

Lemon Huckleberry, Vanilla Bean, Bacon Maple Apple

     Our adventures led us towards dessert hunting. We were en route to Chantal Guillon for macarons when we ran across The Melt Bus. We got the special of the day which was a mushroom melt and added BACON and tomato for FREE!

     Chantal Gullion didn't allow any pictures of how their shop was set up due to copy right purposes but it was a nicely set up place. I have to say they are probably my favorite macaron place to date. 

     Our last meal was at Suzu in Japan Town. This was one of the better ramen places in SF. I think the best I've had was Ramen Dojo in San Mateo but we couldn't make the trip out there. 

     

Gyoza

Amazing Chicken Karage

Even better Takoyaki

Chicken Curry

Chashu ramen with tempura shrimp

     And here are just some night shots I took with David's point and shoot camera. The tripod I borrowed from Danh was broken so it couldn't support my D700. I worked with what I had and was pretty happy with the shots I got. Next time I'll be more prepared.

     Overall, it was an unforgettable trip with some incredible friends and family. Like people say, it's not about where you go, but who you go with.

New Year Brings New Things

     So realistically, a new year doesn't really mean much. It is just a means of keeping track of the days. Why does a new year have to signify a person's start or end of something? Starting good habits and killing bad ones. Setting new goals and forgetting old ones. It is never too early or late to start on improving yourself. With that said, I'm going to do the typical new years post - although it's a little late.

     2012 brought a lot of good and bad. I made new friends and lost connection with old friends. I loved, I lost and I forgot. Most importantly, it was another year that helped me grow and mature. I feel - as human beings - we can never fully cap out at a maturity level. There's always new things that you can understand better, comprehend differently or just plain learn. Life isn't about finding the end but ending happy with your findings (My attempt at something inspirational). I've experienced many things through out this year. I've had my heart broken. I've discovered a new love for EDM music. I graduated college. I started my career. I traveled around the US. To simply put it, I lived life. A friend of mine once asked my roommate what he was doing for the night. How did he answer? With a simple: "living life." And that he was right. I've learned that making excuses does not help anything progress. I've learned that being honest with yourself will always be the best approach. I've learned no matter how alone I feel, I'll always have someone to help me pull myself up. 

     Now this year will be about reaching new goals. It will be about finding myself. It will be about working harder than before. It will be about bettering myself and being happier with where I am. I am currently content. I am happy with where I am at but do not want to fall into another lull. I want to be ready for anything that comes at me in the future. My friend once told me - "It is never too late to do something. One day you're going to be 40. Now, the choice is yours whether you want to be 40 years old with a law degree or 40 years old without anything to show." A dollar in your pocket today is a dollar you didn't have yesterday. This mentality is what should make the world go round. I need to have these daily and constant reminders for myself so I can work hard to create results.

     Now I was stuck in this rut at the end of the year. It seemed like I was stuck here forever. I felt like life just kept me in the dark and there was no way out. I finally understood the feeling of "comfortable." All your life you are told to do well in school, focus on your studies, graduate, find a job, and make money. Everything following those tasks are related to a significant other/future family. And that is uncontrollable. I'm sure you could argue that you can go out and meet people but you cannot force a relationship. Unfortunately, you cannot force love. You have to wait patiently and hope it finds you. I knew all of this but couldn't bring myself to be patient. This is why I was stuck in a rut. I have always been working towards a goal my entire life.I had my job, my money, my entire life except for love. I didn't know what else I was supposed to do. 

     Love was what I was missing. The biggest thing I could not control. I'm at a point in my life where I have everything I could possibly need. Only thing missing was love. So I just sat and waited. Now that's not going to change, but in the mean time, I can better myself to be the best possible candidate to fall in love with, instead of moping around all day. I used to believe in fate. I used to believe in destiny. I used to believe in true love. I don't know if I believe in any of that anymore. But I believe that I will find someone to make me happy and appreciate me for who I am. 

     So here is to the new year. 2013. I'm not going to say I hope it is good. There will be ups and there will be downs. All I can hope is that I'll be fortunate enough to experience it all with friends, family, and my possible future wife to be.

New Years Resolutions:

240 pounds / 12% body fat

AWOL improvements

Hellaflush writing every month

Light painting / night photography

Write my book

Keep up with my personal blog

Travel  -NY, Seattle, Canada, LV, LA, SF

Get to know a stranger

Patch up old friendships

Spend more time with family

Save money

Clean/sort all my things

Get my car to show standard

Learn guitar

Practice piano

Learn how to long board / skate board / snow board / surf

Expectations

Originally this post was going to be about how I shouldn't have had high expectations for you.

And then I realized, you know what, I've grown as a person.

It isn't that I shouldn't have high expectations. Because it is true, high expectations can definitely lead to disappointment. It is high risk and high reward. That's how it will be in these situations that you're always wondering how the outcome will show.

It is about learning from these situations and hoping for the best. The outcome can always outweigh the means. Sometimes you just have to believe.

As much as I want to say I would've expected it, I was really hoping I wouldn't. Expectations lead to disappointment. But without expectations, you'll never get the chance to experience the opposite of something so great it'll make every failed attempt worth more.

I shouldn't be disappointed that things never change. I mean how can they when you don't want to grow up yourself? Accept the fact that disappointment is a part of your life that makes you stronger. That is what I have to do.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?

Long time

How long has it been since I posted a personal blog post? I could probably find out by looking but I'm just going to say it's been a while.


So I know that no one really reads about all my rambles and thoughts. My concerns. My problems. My life.


That's what it really is though. It is MY life. What does it all come down to? I live out what I want to live and do what I want to do.


What is it really all meant to be for? What am I really searching for? Is there really anything that all of us can hold on to and keep forever?


There's always all these never ending questions. Never ending answers. Just never ending searching. I want to be able to do so much. But at the end of it all, how much will I have actually done?


I want to be able to sit at a park and actually enjoy my time. Not worry about how hot it is. Not worry about if I'm being watched by some demon from another dimension. Not worry about if I have anything to do later that day. Not worry about looking behind my back to see if I'm going to get robbed.


It's weird how you worry about the stupidest things and yet it all seems so important at the same time.


I thought life was supposed to be simple? That stupid quote from Fast and Furious 3 was supposed to explain it all! "Life's simple. You make choices and you don't look back."


Right? RIGHT?!


Fuck.


It just seems like it isn't that simple. Who was I kidding when I wanted to base my entire life off a stupid line from a stupid movie (okay not really a stupid movie).


I miss a lot of simple things in life. And it sucks that it is so hard to recreate. You can't just ask for it to happen because then you look like an idiot.


I get joy in tweeting with someone back and forth on twitter. Waiting for someone to answer is so exciting.


I get joy from sitting in an empty parking lot blasting music and just chilling for hours.


I get joy from spending time with just people that make me happy.


I don't think I get to do that enough. I spend time with people that I think make me happy but in reality they really don't.


But the question is... who really makes me happy?


Ugh done with this rant.


Ending this post with some Drake.


"But jealousy is just love and hate at the same time."

Lynda And Jon's Thanksgiving

A big thank you to Jon and Lynda for inviting us over to their place for Thanksgiving! It was a great success and had a lot of great food. Food, Friends, Family, and Sunday Night Football. What more can you ask for? Here comes the pictures.

Mhm... Bacon.

Part of our feast!

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh Christmas Tree...

Team Gay-ward

Mean Mugging.

Work that.

That's Icing Right?

Angry Bird is Angry.

Nomnation

Sup Brah.

ARGGG.

...

Nom nom nom

Sup QT

Oh yeah.