Tokyo 1-Ginza, New Year's Eve at Zojoji Temple

My red eye flight arrived at Narita Airport slightly ahead of schedule. From the airport, I took the hotel limo to Shiba Park Hotel.


After checking in, I took a quick nap, then it was off to my first tourists destination: Ginza. Ginza is the high end shopping district of Tokyo and while I am not a shopper, I wanted to experience the glamorous Japan for myself.

My first stop was Matsuya. According to my guide book, besides the usual fashion products, this department store also had art galleries on it top floor.

I quickly browsed through the men's fashion here, but quickly found prices to be outside my budget. Making my way to the top, my attention was immediately drawn to a calligraphy exhibition. Guessing from the name, a few calligraphy schools were showing its students' art work.

I was amazed by the works. Near the entrance were seal script and standard script pieces. The words were written well, with lots of balance and proper spacing. I was impressed! There were also several pieces with more modern format, where seal scripts words were artfully clustered to form a graphic. My favorite piece was a standard script piece called "虎啸风起 龙腾云起". I inquired about the price and found it to be 10 times more than what I was willing to pay for...

There were also really creative housewares, beautiful watercolors and ceramics on display. There was an exhibit for chopsticks and bowls, which were very refined, but to this untrained eyes, not very exciting.

After browsing through the art exhibits, I was feeling a little hungry. I went to the basement food court for a quick bite. However, I quickly realized the basement was for selling food products for home consumption rather than a place to eat. There were no chairs or places to sit down.

Being a foodie, I enjoyed browsing through the different miso and pickled vegetables. There was a high end butchery place with beautiful cured meats and a cheese stall which I went back repeatedly for free samples. Finally, my hunger got the better of me and I bought several items from the bakery. The bakery had taken food presentation to a very high level! The bread were beautifully glazed and looked really appetizing. Unfortunately, the taste was somewhat of a let down. It wasn't bad, but not as tasty as it looked.

My next stop was Ito-Ya, a 100 year old stationery store. The store occupied 9 levels, selling everything from different types of paper, pens, pencils, note books, calendar and greeting cards. Some products were common, but there were also really unique items like beautiful artisan wrapping papers and designer Frank Lloyld Wright pens which I had never seen before. Given it was New Year's Eve, I bought several New Year Day card, for use during the next Chinese New Year.

The Japanese used to follow the Lunar calendar and celebrate their New Year the same time as the Chinese. Following the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese celebrate New Year on January 1st. I knew of this, but forgot about it when booking air tickets for this trip. The implication for the trip was, while the bigger stores like Matsuya were opened, many of the smaller stores were closed. Luckily, I am not into shopping:)

After the break, I walked to Mitsukoshi. Again, another department store. Slightly larger in terms of foot print to Matsuya, but with very similar merchandise and prices. I was, however, intrigued by the Shinto shrine located on the top floor.

As I went to the top floor, I noticed there were no signage pointing to the shrine. I was able to find a flight of stairs leading to the roof, but when I walked up those stairs, I saw the roof being used as a storage area with a security guard standing outside the door.

Confused, I went down to the top floor and ask one of the cute sales lady where the shrine was. With a lot of pointing to my guide book, she finally understood where I was tring to go. She took me up the same stairs, said a few word in Japanese to the security and led me to a corner on the roof. There was a stone statue, a small store and a hand wash area... everything a proper shrine needed were there!

My guide book suggested visiting several art galleries and the Nissan show room, but unfortunately these locations were closed for New Year's Eve. I also realized finding a location using its address was crazy difficult in Tokyo! An address would read 6-10-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku. The first number referred to the chrome or side street, the second number referred to the block, which may not be in continuous order and the third number referred to the actual number on the block. Even Japanese had difficulty finding their way around, and I saw them crowding, along with me, at the police post asking for directions.

As I was just walking along, I saw an Abercrombie & Fitch store. Given this was a familiar brand, I had no intention of shopping there at all. But my interest was piqued by the bouncers outside the store, waving people along and the long line of people waiting to enter the store. What made this A&F so special?

The wait to enter the store was about 10mins. Upon entering, I understood why entering the store was like going to a club. The store was dark, with loud music playing in the background. On the ground floor, a hunky, half naked male model with low riding, brief showing jeans was posting for photos with eager female shoppers! As I went up the stairs, I noticed the attendants were dressed in casual Abercrombie & Fitch clothing, instead of the more formal uniforms favored by Japanese department stores. These attendants were very young. Most of them were very cute and some were dancing to the music while working! The whole place felt like a club more than a retail store and it showed.

After walking up and down all 12 floors of A&F, I went along the back street to Sony Building. This building housed a Sony show room, where one could try the latest and greatest Sony products.

One product heavily promoted was 3D television. I was led into a room and handed a pair of 3D glasses. The TV was showing a documentary on polar bears. The clarity and experience was amazing. When an under water camera shot of the polar bear plunging into the water was shown, I swear one could reach out and touch each bubble floating to the water's surface. The glasses made the pictures look darker, which was the only drawback.

I also saw various music player, basically Sony's answer to iPod, noise cancelling head phones, computers with touch screen functionality and various types of cell phones. Since I don't usually paid much attention to electronics, I was unsure what was new and innovative.

My final stop at Ginza was Kabukiza Theater. I had hoped to catch a few acts of a show, but the theater was closed for New Year's Eve. There was some preparation of a float for New Year and TV crews were there, setting up for the evening's broadcast. With more and more shops closing around me, I decided it was a good time to go back to my hotel.


About.com recommended visiting Zojoji Temple's New Year's Eve count down party. Since the temple was a stone's throw from my hotel, I had planned to check it out.

I reached the temple at about 7:30pm. Hungry after much walking, I immediately started checking out the food stalls. The takoyaki looked especially appetizing. Here batter was poured in a semi spherical mold. When slightly cooked, boiled octopus, pickled ginger and green onions were added to the center of the batter. Then the batter was turned using 2 long needles and more batter were added to form a ball shape dough. The takoyaki was served in a small box, topped with dried bonito flakes and drizzled with Japanese mayo. Delicious!

After dinner, I walked around the temple ground a little. I visited the main chamber, took pictures of the temple with Tokyo tower in the background and looked at the various charms on sale. I was basically killing time, waiting for 8:30pm.

Before the trip, YC found out from his friend the evening's events. The temple staff start handing out wishing cards at 8:30pm. People would write their New Year wishes on the card. With this wishing card, I could get a balloon at 10:30pm. The wishing cards were to be attached to the balloons, which would be released at midnight.

After collecting my wishing card, I decided there was still a lot of time to wait. I was feeling cold and sleepy, so I went back to the hotel for a quick snooze.

I woke up at 10pm. As I was putting on my glasses, I accidentally broke the frame! Looking at the damage, I decided there was no way for me to fix it, and I did not bring my back up glasses with me. I had worn glasses since I was 10 and have never gone extended period of time without any vision correction, so the next few days would be interesting...to say the least. I had complained 2009 was a bad year, and indeed I had a terrible farewell gift:(

I took a quick shower, added an additional layer before heading back to Zojoji temple. There was a long line to collect balloons, but people were moving orderly and quickly.

Everyone then gathered in the yard, waiting for midnight. Apparently, this tradition is quite famous and many people come to the temple just to partake in this event. I could hear several different languages been spoken amongst the crowd.

As 2009 draws to a close, the crowd got more antsy. An electronic billboard started ticking when there was less than 60 seconds left in 2009. Everyone stood up, and I noticed lights on Tokyo Tower were turned off. As the seconds started ticking off, there was an excitement in the air.

Then the countdown: 10, 9, 8,... I didn't understand a word of Japanese, but it did not matter...3, 2, 1, Happy New Year! Everyone let go of their balloons and what a sight! The sky was suddenly covered with balloons and in less than a minute, it was clear again!

I found this video clip on Youtube of this event.


Lights on Tokyo Tower were turned on once more, with the letters 2010 showing. As I stood in the crowd, wondering what to do next, I felt a surge of people pushing me from behind. Of course! New Year prayers in the main chamber!

I was pushed up the stairs into the main chamber. The police's crowd control was amazing. A taped was used to stop people from advancing when the people in front of us were not cleared. Despite the anxiety to reach the main chamber, people were moving in an orderly fashion.

I got into the main chamber, saw people throwing money into a alter in front of the Buddha statue and decided to do the same. Then it's out of the side chamber door and into the temple ground once more.

I read it was good luck eating soba in the New Year and given I was slightly hungry, decided to participate in that tradition:) Then I went to take pictures of the bell ring ceremony. I did not realize this earlier, but ordinary people were joined by the priests in ringing the bell. The bell was to be rung 108 times. I timed the period between each ringing (yes, I am an Engineer). The bells were ring about 5mins apart. So, there was no way I could stay for the entire 108 ringings and still get some sleep.

It was about 1am when I got back to the hotel. I had missed the hotel's New Year reception, so this would be an alcohol-free New Year celebration for me.

Trip to Singapore 7-CK

CK is one of my closest childhood friend. We met each other in Primary school and were in the same class for 6 years. As luck would have it, we were again in the same class through 4 years of Secondary school. We went to the same junior college, and despite being in different group, continue to hang out together.

I always considered CK the smartest person I know. Right out of college, he found his own company, which was bought out by a listed company. He is now back in his own company, working on new project.

We lost touch in the past few years and I am happy to find out he is now married and has a beautiful daughter.
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This Singapore trip had been very interesting. I met with many of my friends, most of which were about my age. I had a sense we are all near the mid-life crisis age now. Most of my friends are quite successful in career and family, but now are looking into doing something more in this life. I guess in some way, I had similar feelings too.

Trip to Singapore 6-EY

EY is a friend I know from college. He was in school on a military scholarship, so even though he is only a year older than me, he had been in college for a few years when I started. Given this head start, we did not get very close in school, but he was always a good advisor to us newbies.

A few years ago, EY came back to the US for more schooling. Since his school was located near the Bay area, so got to do more things together and got to know him better.

We had a good chat about relationships, career and financial planning. EY had managerial responsibilities in the military and gave me a lot of good insights.

Trip to Singapore 5-Via Ferrata, Stella

A few months ago, I read on ZaoBao.com about Orchard Central latest attraction: The world's tallest indoor via ferrata.

I had done some indoor rock climbing in the past and rather enjoyed the experience. Via ferrata is not rock climbing, but is similar in the sense one has to climb up a wall:) I figured I would enjoy it too.

Also, according to my online research, via ferrata is fairly popular in Europe. I personally didn't think it would be popular in California. Californians would frown upon allowing anyone to drill permanent metal rungs into rocks for any reason. Doing it to promote touring would be unimaginable.

I reached Orchard Central at about 3pm. Took me a while to find BorderX, the company running the Via Ferrata. It was located on the 4th floor. We were to climb up to the 8th floor.

I was given a climbing harness and helmet to wear. Instead of being belayed by someone on the ground, there was a Y shaped rope attached to the harness. At the end of each rope was a carabiner. This is to be hooked on a metal cable running near the metal rungs. The cable were held to the wall via anchors drilled into the wall. If a person fall during climbing, the carabiner would be caught by the anchors. The Y shaped rope ensured at least one carabiner would always be clipped in, especially when moving carabiner from one stretch of the cable to a higher section.

A second protection was a long rope tying me and my guide together. The lead climber would secure the rope in pig tail shaped anchor drilled into the wall and I was to release them when I climbed to the appropriate height.

Finally, a quick draw with carabiner at the end was connect to the harness. This is for resting. I could connect a carabiner directly on the metal rungs, leaned back and rest while climbing.

Since this was my first trip, the guide, Zaki, was the lead climber and I followed. I had expected the climb to be a walk in the park, but it was actually quite tiring. While the hand hold and foot hold were really good compare to rock climbing, there was still some exertion. Also, the metal rungs were not always in a straight line. Sometimes, it bended according to the wall and part of the metal rungs had to be climbed with out leg hold. On the lower section of the wall, leg holds were mounted to the wall, but on high section of the wall, I had to press off directly on the wall. There were also overhang structure to make the route more interesting.

Zaki was very patient and encouraging as I started climbing. There was a lot more for the climber to do compare to rock climbing. Clipping carabiners to the next section of the protection cable, releasing rope from the pig tail pin. Sometimes I would forget and found myself tied down:(

During the climb, I learned that Zaki is actually a competition rock climber. This is his full time job, leading climbs at BorderX. Due to work, he had not have time to train, but going up the Via Ferrata was a piece of cake for him. He usually take 4-10 people as a group up on each climb. But, during the holiday season, things were slower and I was the only client.

We stopped on a ledge to catch our breath, then pushed on. At the top of the climb was a small room to rest before climbing down a straight ladder into the shopping mall.

My first climb took about 20mins. According to Zaki, he had clients taken anywhere from 10mins to 1hr 20mins on this climb. I asked if anyone had fell from the Via Ferrata and he told me it had happened. It was usually a rather traumatic experience. Compared to rock climbing with belay, a fall on via ferrata would not be caught until the anchor point. The distance between the anchor point was usually half a person's height, but at certain places was up to a person height. No wonder Zaki was advising me to clipped on the the next higher anchor point as soon as possible.

I half joking told Zaki I did not get my money's worth on one 20min climb. He told me I paid for an hour and could go again! This time, he put me on the right hand route, which was a more straight route but had more difficult overhang structure. There was also no resting ledge in the middle of the route.

I asked to be the lead climber and Zaki oblidged. The initial part of the climb was fairly easy and I got up quickly. At the overhang structure, I cheated and used the quick draw to rest between each rung. I did not check the time, but felt I made good time.

After my second climb, I was drenched. Zaki told me the air conditioning did not have good flow near the wall, but I suspected my physical conditioning was not quite up to par too. I decided to call it a day.

Overall, via ferrata was quite fun. It was a pity the BorderX facility had limited number of route. While easier than rock climbing, via ferrata was still quite physically demanding. I liked the fact I could loop my elbow over the metal rungs to "lock" myself to the metal rungs while climbing. This provided much stronger hand hold using a stronger muscle compare to hand hold in rock climbing.

More pics from my Via Ferrata climb here.
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That night, I met for dinner with Stella at Newton Circle Food Center for fried Hokkien noodles. Most Singaporean/Malaysian restaurant in the Bay area are operated by Malaysian, which prepare a different style of Hokkien noodle. This is one dish I craved for the most when I return to Singapore.

I got to know Stella while she was working in the Bay area. She had left San Francisco for Melbourne, Australia in 2007, but for family reasons, moved back to Singapore in 2008.

We talked about how life style was different in Singapore compared to San Francisco and even Melbourne. There were a lot more things to do and places to visit. Comparatively, activities in Singapore were more limited. Part of her wanted to move to a more "westernize" society, but part of her was glad she was home with families.

We chatted about her recent travels to African Safari, and her travel plans for the new year. It was a good time.

Trip to Singapore 4-T

This morning, I met T for breakfast. T is another friend I knew from Army. I had wanted to arrange meeting with him and Yong together, knowing the two of them do not get together unless I am around, but T had prior arrangement.

We had breakfast at Marine Parade hawker center. T is a sales manager in a telecommunication company. His company recently brought in a new CEO from CISCO and along with that a whole bunch of new VP from CISCO. Along with that, the company recently acquired another company, but in the Asia office, it was the acquired company's GM who is now running the show. T is frustrated with the culture change and is looking into starting a second career, possibily something internet related.

Trip to Singapore 3-Driving range with YC and Family dinner

This morning, YC took me and Yee-Chye to Marina Bay Golf Course driving range for a little workout.

Both YC and Yee-Chye are friends of my brother, from high school and Army respectively. YC is like a family friend and visits often, while I had not met Yee-Chye for about 10 years.

En route, I found out we would be going to the driving range instead of the course. Apparently, in order to play on the course, one had to pass an exam. Both Yee-Chye and myself had never played golf, so that's not going to happen:)

Yee-Chye and myself are southpaw, while YC is not. We were using YC's clubs, so we had to adapt and swing right handed. YC handed me a 7 iron, go through the basic swing mechanics and off we go!

I had trouble with locking my back on my swing and had lots of trouble just hitting the ball straight on. When I finally locked my back and got contact with the ball, I was hitting it too low. The ball did not travel far. The furthest I could manage was hit the ball about 50m.

After we had hit 20-30 balls, YC took out his driver and asked if we wanted to give it a shot. With the bigger sweet spot, the driver was easier to hit with. I was able to hit the ball about 100m, but had a nasty slice and the ball did not travel straight.

I had always thought golf was a fairly relaxed game. But after hitting almost 50 balls, combined with the hot and humid weather of Singapore, I was completely drenched.

YC took me and my parents to lunch at Tunk Lok Classic. We had a cold spinach appetizer. This dish was very similar to a Korean spinach salad which I often prepared, but used sesame paste to further heighten the flavor. We also ordered a Chinese BBQ pork with Chinese hot mustard as appetizer.

This was followed by scallop and abalone in soy sauce. Here, I tasted a nuttyness to the sauce, and suspect it was thicken with butter. There was a steamed bamboo clamp dish, and we finished with steamed fish with wood ear mushroom. The seafood were all very fresh, and there was very creative use of sauce.

For dinner, it was a family affair at my sister's house. My cousins, who are both working in China, happened to be vacationing in Singapore and joined us. My sister planned the menu and prepared bruschetta to start, "Westernized" salt-water duck and baked salmon with dill mustard sauce for the main course. She also made a orange chiffon cake with lemon curd and mixed berries for dessert. There was also a cheese platter and Australian/New Zeland wine for the after dinner conversations.

After dinner, I went with my cousin and his girl friend to Zouk. It was fairly dead. I guess by Boxing day, most people had enough of Christmas parties and had wanted to take a break.

Trip to Singapore 2-Yong and Danny

Today I met with Yong for lunch at Din Tai Fung (Junction 8) for fried rice, chicken soup and, of course, xiao long bao. Yong was my Army buddy. The last time we met, he was starting his own business. He is now a successful system integrator, running a company of 2, working mostly with Sun systems. While he also worked with Window machines, the decrease popularity in Sun hardware was having a big impact on his business. Yong is married but have no kids. He told me he was tired of his work and wanted to work on something else in a few years.

Dinner was with my primary school friend Danny. We literally know each other for most of our life. In fact, Danny had sort of become a family friend. He would visit my parents from time to time, even when I am not around.

Danny took me to Chin Lee restaurant for Teochew food. We had coffee pork ribs, chicken pan cake with plum sauce, fried prawn roll, stir fried Chinese broccoli with mushroom, tofu with minced meat sauce and, the all popular Teochew dessert, orh nee (yam pudding). I am actually part Teochew. While I ate Teochew food infrequently growing up, some of the ingredients, like plum sauce, was often used in our daily meals. I had not found many Teochew restaurants in the Bay area and enjoyed the meal very much!

Danny is a support specialist at SIM University. He is married and has a really cute daughter.

Trip to Singapore 1- X'mas Eve Dinner

On most trips to Singapore, I usually par take in local cuisine. After all, that's the type of food I missed the most.

On this trip, being Christmas and all, I decided to do some fine dining (Singaporean tends to not celebrate Christmas as a family holiday). My dear sister did some research and sent me menu to White Rabbit, Prive, Il Lido and Flutes. From the menu, Prive's Christmas eve menu was most interesting and that's where we went...Joining me for dinner were my parents, my sister and niece.

Amuse Bouche

Prive offered a 7 course dinner menu. The dinner started with an amuse bouche: a cherry tomato stuffed with cream cheese, sprinkled with chopped pistachios, over a pesto base and some cracked red pepper. I guessed this was the chef's play on caprese salad. Given it was not summer, the tomato did not have the bright flavor to carry the dish. Still, it was a good concept and well executed dish.


Citrus-cured Tasmanian Ocean Trout, served chilled with Soy Dressing, Marinated Cucumver and Ikura


Compressed Watermelon Salad with Cherry Vine Tomatoes, Strawberries and Sangria Granite

For the second course, we had a choice of trout with soy or watermelon salad sangria granite. I opted for the trout. The menu describe the trout to be citrus cured, but I was unable to detect citrus flavor. The trout was served sashimi style, cubed and uncooked, with soy dressing. I liked sashimi and really enjoyed the texture and the sweetness of the fish. I had a little taste of the watermelon salad. The greens were tossed with kaffir lime leaves based oil, giving the greens a lot citrus feel without the acid.


Pan Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Ikura, Custard, Asparagus Ribbon and Beurre Blanc

The third course was scallop, pan seared and served topped with salmon roe. The kitchen showed its execution with a delicious beurre blanc sauce. The scallop was well cooked, with a hint of crust outside and tender inside. It was accompanied by a tempura tofu, wrapped with asparagus ribbon, showing a hint of Japanese influence in the chef's preparation.


Pan Seared Foie Gras with Caramelized Figs, Puff Pastry and Baby Spinach

The fourth course was pan seared foie gras. For health reasons, I seldom ordered foie gras, let alone pan seared foie gras. This dish was also well executed. The foie gras had great texture, with a touch of crispiness on the surface and a soft, melt in your mouth center. The foie gras was lightly salted and not greasy. It was served atop a puff pastery and fig jam. The puff pastery provided a good base to set off the flavor of the foie gras. I only wished the fig jam was a little more sweet to help cut through the fattiness of the foie gras.

The fifth course was the main course. We were given a choice of bracuida(fish), turkey or pigeon. I opted for the fish, while others chose the turkey and the pigeon.


Crispy Skin Barramundi with Caramelized Eschalot, Shimeji Mushroom, Broccolini and Sauce Bordelaise

The barramundi was a firm white fish. The skin side was seared until really crispy. It was served over a small soy sauce, broccolini and shimeji mushroom. The dish had an Asian flair to it. The flavor was well balance. It was a good but not great dish.


Slow-cooked Turkey Breast with Brown Butter, Pickled Vegetables and Glazed Cranberries

I also tried a little turkey. Here turkey breast was brined and probably roasted, then sliced into triangle. The turkey was not dry and had pretty good flavor. I did not try the accompanied vegetables.


French Young Pigeon: Roasted Breast and Leg of Pigeon with Sauteed Baby Carrots, Pocini Mushrooms and Taylor's Port Sauce

I had a tasted of the pigeon too. The meat was quite gamey, but very soft. The skin side was crispy and made for an interesting texture contrast.


Calvados Gelee with Granny Smith Foam

After the main course, we were served a gelee. It was an apple puree piped over pear gelatin. The dish was not too sweet and worked well as a palate cleanser.


White Chocolate Log with Griottine Cherries with White Chocolate Mousse and Cranberry Compote

The final course was dessert. The dessert was a log cake with graham cracker base and white chocolate mousse molded to looked like a traditional log cake. The log cake was garnished with a clear sugar disc, sprinkled with chocolate. The log cake was accompanied with cherry, tart cranberries and garnished with a chocolate straw. It was a good mix of sweet and sour on the plate.

After dessert, we were served tea and coffee with petit four. It was a sweet end to dinner.

The food was of high quality, but I though service level was poor, especially when the restaurant was promoted as a fine dining destination.

The servers were not knowledgeable about the dishes being served. When we were served the gelee, we asked what was in the dish. The wait staff was only able to repeat the name of the dish on the menu.

While we brought our own wine, my sister studied the wine menu just to see what they carried. The server show a hint of impatient while waiting on us.

Finally, and more seriously, I found a hair in my gelee and alerted the server. The dish was not replace, nor were any apology given.


Bridge

The restaurant is located in the marina in Keppel Bay. While the dinning room itself was curtained off, we took a stroll outside the dining room after dinner. The restaurant was located on a small island and we had to drive on a small bridge to get to the restaurant. The marina was being used as a dock and there were many boats in the harbor, which added to the atmosphere.

The food itself was very good. The chef show much creativity in the menu planning. There was good use of Chinese/Asian technique/ingredients to highlight seafood dishes. Overall there was interesting play of texture and good balance of flavor in the dishes.

The menu for the night can be found here. Given my preference for local food while in Singapore, I will probably not come again, but thought the food was prepare well enough, I am willing to give this place a chance to improve their service.

Trip to Singapore 0- 5 movies en route!

Somehow, I ended up not watching many movies. On this trans-pacific flight to Tokyo, I ended up catching up on several movies I had wanted to watch in 2009, instead of catching up on sleep:(

The movies were: Funny People, Up, Julie and Julia, Public Enemy and Hancock.

I saw the trailer for Funny People and had wanted to like the movie. But, at the end of the movie, I had mixed feelings. Putting a human face on a celebrity and showing how lonely he felt is not a new concept. But the Adam Sandler character was self-centered and not likable. There was no one I could root for in the movie.

I had seen many positive review for Up and I loved the movie. The story was well told, with plot twist and turns to keep things interesting. Some exaggeration and plots were unreal, but acceptable for an animation movie. Another Pixar classic!

As a foodie, the story of Julie and Julia appeals to me. I thought Meryl Streep's Julia was full of energy, but not to the point of being annoying as Julia Child sometimes was on TV. Amy Adam's Julie was insecure and vulnerable. While I like Julia more, Julie felt more real. The story itself was interestingly told.

After 3 movies, Public enemy felt like a blur. It used documentary style filming, which always made me a little confused. I thought the acting was great, but the story itself and the narrative was a little weak.

The last movie was Hancock. The concept of profiling a fallen hero was much discussed in the critic's review and I looked forward to see how it was being handled. But I was a little disappointed in the ending. Introducing a second super hero was an interesting plot twist, but, IMHO, spoiled the movie. The ending was predictable and not convincing.

I think I am all movied out for a while...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas music in the air,
Crazy mall traffic everywhere!
Yes my friends,
2009 is coming to an end!

New experiences in the year pasting:
Silicon debug and Lee Vining Canyon ice climbing;
Old activities that were fun rediscovering:
Swimming and white water rafting.

Dreams were brought to fruition:
Hiking Half Dome and Europe vacation;
Unfortunately there were also life's frustration:
Unachieved goals and failed relation.

2009 will end with a bang!
With a trip to Singapore and Japan.
Here's looking forward to the New Year,
Engaging in new endeavors with no fear!

Calligraphy class get together

As some of you know, I started practicing Chinese calligraphy at Tzu Chi foundation's Northern California chapter in late 2001. I had been attending classes regularly until early 2008. Over the years, many students had come and gone, but a few fellow students and our teacher became very close friends.

In March 2009, we had a gathering at K and DM's house. It was a really good time. Our group of friends had stopped attending class regularly and it had been more than a year since we last met each other.

We shared stories of LS mountain biking accident in Ireland, M's job in Southern California and her return to the Bay Area, K's co-worker's story, Phil's travel and poem and teacher R's part time gig as TV talk show host.

After 9 months, we had another gathering, again at K and DM's house. Phil came with his wife and M brought her daughter along. Since it was a work night, we could not stay as long, but enjoyed a scrumptious French dinner prepared by K and DM and lots of conversation.

K and DM would be moving to Southern California in May next year. LS just came back from a trip to Peru and wanted to go study Spanish in Guatemala. Phil's mom pass away a few months ago and he had been travelling between US and Taiwan taking care of business. Teacher R is now a full time TV host. M is preparing to launch her own skin care product.

In this holiday season, it was really nice catching up with old friends. I had a good time and wished for more similar gathering.

Broomball

I was having dinner with A, D and S at Sakoon when I checked the time. It was 9:20pm. I asked, "Guys, can we leave now? I have a broomball game at 10."

"What the hell is broomball?", A asked. He is from India and went to school in Arizona State. There was no chance he had heard of this game.

"It is basically ice hockey without skates." I replied. "I have never played it myself, so I don't know too much about it either."

When I was going to school in Michigan and Wisconsin, I had heard my friends talked about playing broomball. My understanding was broomball was ice hockey without equipment. The game was usually played on a slick, frozen backyard, with players wearing tennis shoes, running around hitting a tennis ball with a broom.

The Michigan Alumni Association of Silicon Valley organized a broomball game for 10pm on Saturday night at the Cupertino Ice Center. I signed up, figuring I need to play broomball at least once, so my winter experience would be complete :)

I arrived at 10pm, wearing a fleece jacket, jeans and sneaker, not knowing what to expect. The public skating session was getting over and we had the entire ring to ourselves. We were supposed to be given formal instructions, but the only orientation we got was a short plead by Matt, the association's president, telling us to keep the sticks low.

The ice center provided the broomball equipment. The "broom" used was not a real broom. Instead, a small triangle rubber attachment was inserted to one end of a broom stick. We were also given helmets, but most of the helmets were broken, and many did not have any foam protection. After running around in one of the broken helmet, I decided not to wear one, since the helmet was getting in the way.

Finally, instead of a tennis ball, we were using a rubber ball, about 5 inches in diameter. We were not given the option to rent broomball shoes.

We had 25 people who joined the event. Since we had the ice to ourselves, we were split into 2 teams. The criteria was those wearing college colors("College")and those not("not"). Since I was not wearing my Michigan attire, I was assigned to the "not".

Since there were couple of broomball "virgin" among the crowd (hmmm...I guess I was not the only one working too hard in school and did not have any broomball fun!), all of us took the ring and the same time and started a game.

I quickly found running on the ice to be rather tiring! Since we took the ice after a public skating session, the ice wasn't extremely slippery. We could run on ice. Stopping was more suspect though. I found myself running deliberately. I just didn't want to fall! The ice ring was also deceivingly big. At the start of the game, I ran from offense to defense, chasing after the ball. I was quickly winded and had to pick and choose my involvement.

With about 12 people on each side, and most of us novice. We really did not have any strategy. The ring was crowded with people, so neither side really had a chance to score. I also found I need to work on my hand-eye coordination! There was lots of "air" swipe with the broom, when I tried to swing hard at the ball, only to catch it at an angle and had the ball rolled in directions I had not intended. I was reduced to poking at the ball and sometimes kicking at it. I also found on defense, it was better to extend the reach of my broom stick by falling on my knees. It could be a really rough game, but since this was a alumni/co-ed event, everyone was careful not to hurt each other, and helped each other up if they fell. There was no body checking:)

After about 20mins of play, Matt called timeout. We were to start a real game. 6 per side, including goalie, for 5 mins. Then the players rotate. This was to be repeated until end of the session.

I took ice with the first team and was assigned to play mainly on defense. Since this was the first real game, both sides were tentative and focused more on defense. While there was some scoring chances, neither side really threaten.

After 5mins, all 6 players rotate out. As I was wiping sweat off my face, our team, "not" scored! It happened fairly quickly and I did not really saw how the scoring occurred.

"College" started playing more aggressively to score, but our defense held for the rest of the 5min session.

I got rotated back into the game and was helping out on offense when "College" had a break away. I was late getting back on defense and the player on "College" had a one on one with the goalie. He scored :(

For the rest of the session, neither team really had good scoring chances. After another 5mins, I rotated off the ice. The "not" team got a few good chances in front of our opponent's net. We were able to score again, near the end of that 5min session.

For the last 5min session, it was "all in"! Everyone on both team took the ice at once. "College" team, being down 2-1, pulled their goalie. I was playing a middle fielder type position where I was mainly playing defense, but was forward enough where I could get involve on offense.

About 3mins into play, our team had a few shot at goal, but "College" played great defense and stopped all the shots. As the ball was rolling back to center ice, I moved forward and hit what I thought was a fairly slow shot. But since "College" players were starting to move on offense and there was no goalie, I scored!

With that score, the game ended. We returned the equipment and chatted a little. Matt said if there is enough interest, he would organize a game every month, but probably at a Foster City ice ring, where they have real helmets.

We had about an hour of ice time and the game was totally fun. I will joined the game again, but next time, I would wear gloves, bring my own helmet and wear knee pads. My knees were pretty bruised from all the falling on the ice.

House warming and Wedding

I got an email on Thursday from V. It was an invitation to his wedding on Friday evening at Mantra in Palo Alto. I had already made plans for the evening, but told V I would stop by after my dinner to congratulate him and his wife.

A few weeks ago, I was at G's house warming party. I knew G and V from my first job. At that time, I had been with the company for almost 6 years, while G and V were NCG (new college grads), just left from grad school, starting their first job. I had worked with both of them to help learn about the work environment and the company's design methodology.

I had left my previous for 3 years now, but it was exciting seeing the coming of age of the then new engineers.