airlai's Xanga

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Sun, 26 Dec 2004 09:13:06 GMT

Friday, I went to Peter's Christmas party/dinner in Dana Point; yesterday, I had Christmas dinner with my family at home. Next stop: Thailand.

Friday, December 24, 2004

Fri, 24 Dec 2004 08:45:56 GMT

Yesterday I returned from Las Vegas, where I enjoyed fine buffet dining at the Bellagio and completed some last-minute Christmas shopping at Fashion Show and other malls on Vegas Blvd. The Strip's coolest store by far is 55 Degrees at Mandalay Bay. This place combines a prodigious selection of fine international wines with some of the most impressive decor offered by any retail outlet. I picked up a red wine from Tuscany -- a 2000 Sangiovese varietal produced by a collaborative effort between Italian vintners Neil Empson and Franco Bernabei.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 04:48:19 GMT

I just returned from a Bay Area road trip with Rahul. Here are a few of the highlights:

Tuesday (Dec. 14) - Had dinner with extended family at a Chinese restaurant in Milpitas.
Wednesday - Went to Monterey Bay Aquarium, where we saw its most famous current inhabitant: a real live great white shark. Afterward, we had lunch at the Fish Hopper and drove the scenic 17-Mile Drive to Carmel. Back in South Bay, we had dinner at Amarin Thai on Castro St. with Ishaan and Alan.
Thursday - Had lunch at Vik's Chaat House and shopped on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. In Palo Alto, Rahul, Ishaan, and I had dinner at Mango Cafe and played a couple hours of night basketball.
Friday - Had lunch at Pho Hoa in Mountain View and checked out Stanford Shopping Center, where we had dinner at Max's. In the evening, we hung out with Justin, Walter, Ishaan, Peter, Crystal, Ursula, Andy, and Jason.
Saturday - Drove Mike to SFO and hung out in SF, where we checked out Ocean Aquarium, Nippon Goldfish Co., Yumma's on Irving, and Twin Peaks. In the evening, I attended Sha Sha and Mariel's housewarming party at their new condo in San Jose.
Sunday (Dec. 19) - Returned to L.A., stopping along the way for shopping in Gilroy. In the evening, I had my final TA meeting of the quarter; Dr. Goldstein, Dr. Kagawa-Singer, Kristin, Rotrease, and I celebrated with dinner at Thai House in Westwood.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 07:15:43 GMT

I just returned from Staples Center, where I watched the Clippers suffer a tough 89-87 loss to the Rap.. I mean Lakers.

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Sat, 11 Dec 2004 08:30:52 GMT

I just watched Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve back-to-back. I like the former much more than the latter. :|

Friday, December 10, 2004

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 21:22:48 GMT

I may have just established a personal record. I just wrote 40 pages (56 including appendices) in 44 hours.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Sun, 05 Dec 2004 01:47:28 GMT

The plan this weekend was to write application essays, study for finals, and prepare a couple major papers... so naturally, I spent five hours last night and four hours this afternoon reading The Da Vinci Code from cover to cover. The book is just as good as its considerable reputation indicates. Aside from being an exciting read, it offers a multitude of insights into religion, history, and art -- the end sum of which makes me really want to travel to Europe.

First, though, I have some work to catch up on...

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:24:01 GMT

I just watched House of Flying Daggers, a film that -- like Pearl Harbor -- gives up an opportunity to deal with issues of historical significance to instead take on a melodramatic love triangle. Daggers is a good movie, but Chinese cinema can -- and does -- do better.

Also, it seems like every single Chinese movie that's brought to America has Zhang Ziyi in it. Yes, she's a lovely woman and a good actress, but surely there must be other good Chinese actresses out there. :|

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 00:31:58 GMT

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

--Thomas Jefferson, June 4, 1798, in a letter to John Taylor after passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Sun, 14 Nov 2004 23:19:22 GMT

After a day that began at 5:40 AM EST, I'm back in LA. The DC trip was prodigious -- it was a great chance to meet new friends and catch up with old ones. Here are some of the week's highlights:

Sunday (Nov. 7) - Celebrated Richard's birthday with Kynna, Jabar, and Jacobi at Tony Cheng's in Chinatown.
Monday - UCLA held its reception for Public Health students and alumni at the Renaissance Hotel. Afterward, I hung out in Bethesda with Rotrease and Chuen-Yen.
Tuesday - Had brunch at La Tasca with Richard, lunch at Legal Sea Foods with Richard and Raphael, and dinner at Fasika's with Dinyar.
Wednesday - Richard liked his first Legal Sea Foods experience so much, he insisted we go again. He, Natasha, and I had lunch at Legal; afterward, Raphael and I attended the APHA conference's closing session (a disappointment, with Harvard prof Paul Epstein openly embarrassing APHA President-Elect Walter Tsou in front of the entire audience), and Jennifer and I had dinner at Mehak and watched The Incredibles.
Thursday - I started off Veterans' Day by visiting the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and World War II Memorial. At noon, I attended a nonprofit career fair hosted by idealist.org at George Washington University. Afterward, I took the train from DC's Union Station to Penn Station in Baltimore. I checked into a nice hotel on the Inner Harbor waterfront and met up with Julia for dinner at Thai Landing.
Friday - The all-day torrential rain did not deter me from having lunch at McCormick & Schmick's on the pier, visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and having dinner with Julia at Bahama Breeze at the Towson Towne Center.
Saturday (Nov. 13) - I hung out with Julia in the morning before taking the train from Baltimore back to DC. There, I met up with Sarita and one of her high school friends; we checked out the Freer Art Gallery, had dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle, and watched hypnotist Flip Orley at the DC Improv.