kahunaville.net

Flashback back to March: It was another crazy weekend to mark year 26 of my life. It started out with 2 dinners on Friday night (Japanese and then In-n-out), separated by bowling at Strike in Cupertino with Hubert and Yi-fang. That was followed by a 5-hour night of sleep in order to wake up at 6am and then drive out to Monterey for the Big Sur Mud Run with Annie and Tanya. It was a chilly Saturday morning but the run, obstacles and uber-dirtiness was totally worth it. =) Brunch at First Awakenings made for the perfect Saturday morning. Yum. Good choice Alex and thanks for taking the photos.

On a normal weekend, running a morning 10k and brunch would have been more than enough to make for a great day. Haha. But these have been anything but normal weekends.

And the flashbacks continue. So how does one celebrate their birthday? Obviously, there’s no secret formula but let me describe how the big 2-6 unraveled. It started with a teaser, 2 months in advance and with a How I Met Your Mother reminiscent countdown to March 22nd. And on the day of, it began as a 3 mile jog on a warm spring day at Crissy Field. That was followed by a haircut and brunch in the Haight. After that, a short nap and it was time for dinner at Osha’s and a night that certainly lived up to the hype at none other than our classic hangout – Dragonbar.  It was very strange and very odd to see so many familiar faces under one roof.  It was… well Legendary.

The Birthday Party

So what happens after a night of shenanigans? Well… seeing as it was Easter Sunday in San Francisco, there was only one thing left to do: Bring Your Own Big Wheel 2008. I first heard about this ridiculous event last year and took my camera with me to document the madness. I promised myself that I would do it the next year and so Alex and I got on our trusty plastic Dora the Explorer tricycles and hit Vermont Street like there was no tomorrow. =) And in our Halloween costumes of course. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever done in San Francisco and one of the most fun. I love this place. Thanks for the photos Girish.

Bring Your Own Big Wheel 2008, originally uploaded by patangay.

Yeah it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything here so I’ve got a bunch of catching up to do. I’ve been asked by more than a few times the past month about what it feels like to be 26. To be honest, I was slightly afraid of sliding down the other side of the quarter-life hump but so far, this grand year has been nothing short of epic (all-rise baby!). Haha.

The beginning of this adventure started on the set of one of the greatest shows of all time…. How I Met Your Mother. My awesome sister and boyfriend had planned a 30th birthday party for her at Big Bear so I flew down to help ring in my sister’s thrd decade. But before heading up to the mountains, Bobby and I got a tour of the set at Fox Studios where we checked out MacLaren’s Irish Pub and Ted and Marshall’s apartment. To top off the ice cream sunday of awesomeness, my sister baked me a cake for my birthday.  Haha.

Bobby and I at Ted and Marshall’s apartment

Julia and I at Snow Summit

No comments

Ahh.. It has been awhile since I wrote anything.  But since this is the first post of the new year, I feel like I should recap.  2007 was a great year:  skiing in whistler, listening to awesome bands at coachella, eating my way through japan, scuba diving in maui, running the sf half marathon, climbing in yosemite and thoroughly enjoying life in san francisco.  But there were also rough moments: a relationship ending and Bridget passing away.  But at least there are no regrets, just great memories.  I will classify 2007 as a transitional year for me: a year that was just plain fun.  I feel that this year, on the other hand, will be more transformational – perhaps a career change, grad school or fulfilling some lifelong dreams.  I can’t see what lies ahead but am excited to find out.

First half 2008 Goals:  travel (a lot), climb Mt. Shasta (ski descent?), sail more, ski a ton, learn to lead climb, read one book a month and enjoy my last year in San Francisco (for now).  =)

it was finally a relaxing weekend of fooding, going out and photographing.  i love playing with lights.
29092
29116
29080

It was a rather beautiful day in the city this past Saturday. A light breeze, a clear blue cloudless sky and cool temperatures made for a perfect xmas tree shopping day. But unlike any of the other trips I’ve been on, we decided to take this one by foot instead. About six blocks away in Hayes Valley and tucked away off off Octavia was the Delancey Street Foundation’s tree farm.   So after a quick lunch of gyros, we headed out to find our very own tree.

It took a little while to find our tree and I was a little shocked to see how much more expensive these things have become over the years. For a decent looking tree about 6′ tall cost a good $40-$50. Yikes! In the end, we picked out one of the $20 orphans that looked surprisingly nice. And with a pot of water, I’m sure she’ll be as happy as can be. Although I suppose if she hadn’t been chopped down, it would’ve worked out better but that argument is for another day. Seeing as we had walked down to the tree farm, we had to walk back but this time, with tree in hand. =)

The white apartment building behind us looks exactly like what I would expect to find in socal for some reason – Beverly Hills-ish.  But we were taking a break in Jefferson Park, just down the street from our apartment.

I’ve never had a Xmas tree in any of my apartments and am definitely glad we picked one up this year. The smell right of pine is delicious. Mmmm…

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to share something that I am thankful for this fall season … and that would be Monday nights. I am nowhere near a TV-junkie but I do love my TivoHD and enjoy some downtime on the couch every week – particularly on Mondays. Let me explain…

1. Chuck (NBC)
This 1 hour comedic-spy-drama satisfies the uber-nerd in me like nothing else. Case and point: the main character Chuck spoke in Klingon with his college friend/nemesis in last night’s episode to defuse an intense hostage situation. No, I do not speak Klingon and I find that fact rather comforting. =) But back to the point – I love this show! Haha =). On top of the uber-nerdiness, there is the sometimes very painful unrequited love, Jayne from Firefly (who is still trigger happy), gadgets, the super awesome theme song that’s taken from Cake’s “short skirt, long jacket” and of course, saving the day.

2. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
I think you know a show is great when you start referencing specific scenes in everyday life. Take the Vicky-Mendoza diagonal for example. Barney explains that for a girl to be date-able, she needs to be above the Vicky-Mendoza diagonal when placed on a Hot-Crazy scale. Cross the diagonal into the more crazy than hot arena and well, maybe you should rethink your commitment to that one. I have to be fair though and say that the Hot-Crazy scale is an equal-opportunity coordinate system and applies to both genders no matter the creed, sexual orientation or political affiliation.

3. Heroes (NBC)
The comic book themes are heavy in this show, the visuals exciting and the characters deep. There’s the battle against good and evil, the debate about what is moral, the protection of one’s family, the battle with your own demons, the struggle for one’s identity, etc.. What I like about the most is that there are no teams. You get a feeling for who is good and who is evil but there is plenty of treachery and the constant struggle for each individual to do what they believe is right makes for a very interesting show. Plus it’s cool to see Peter kick some serious ass.

Now if only the Writers Guild and the studios would kiss, make-up and compromise so the shows could go on…

October was roller coaster ride of really high highs and really low lows. But let’s focus on what was freakin’ awesome about the past couple weeks and leave the sobering stories for another time. Halloween certainly lived up to the hype this year with Alex and I suiting up for 3 nights in the city and handing out mounds of dum dums =). I would compare the festivities to how Barney describes his “Get Psyched Mix” as “all rise baby.” It all culminated to a middle of the week MV reunion in the Marina that we all had to pay for on Thursday morning. Haha… worth it.

But like all good things, the Halloween festivities are over. Although after all that, I had the next weekend to look forward to: Yosemite. I think that was my 6th time to Yosemite overall but my first for many other things. My first time rock climbing in Yosemite, my first time lead climbing, my first time taking a lead fall and my first time checking out the Ahwahnee Hotel. Yeah that place is crazy but I know one thing for sure and it’s that they really know how big fireplaces should be – 15 feet across. =) We climbed all day Saturday at Swan’s Slab from practically sun up till sun down – sometimes in the way of the film crew shooting for the travel channel. Seriously… who climbs in Seven jeans? But my favorite moment of all was on Sunday at the top of Nob Hill. 2 short crack climbs to the top (or a scramble around the side) and a sunset view of the Merced winding out of the park that can’t be described. Think… Anton Ego eating his first bite of Remy’s ratatouille… absolutely delicious.

Self portrait on the first morning in the Valley
28692
Jeremy gearing up
28716
Joel, defeated
28783
Couple enjoying the sunset
28780