Another Day Another Year

Yesterday was my birthday and I first of all want to thank K-ram for his uplifting b-day voicemail by saying 27 isn't very eventful and it's one more year closer to death. THANK YOU K-Ram. haha It was a really nice birthday weekend though.

On Friday, I went white water rafting as part of orientation for the 1st year MBAs. Did this last year on my 26th bday and this time it was just as spectacular. It was an absolutely picturesque day out on the McKenzie River (imagine an Ansel Adams photo in color) as we flowed along so peacefully and undisturbed while feeling one with nature. Fortunately for me, I sat in the front of my boat which meant I was in position to get drenched first and foremost during the rapids. Let's just say the 46 degree water left my fingers numb and the rest of my body freezing for almost the whole day (can we say "shrinkage?"). It was a great day though especially after spending the summer in smoggy and environmentally unappealing Beijing. It was just really nice seeing a clear and free flowing river. I guess you'd have to visit Beijing to truly appreciate the contrast.

Saturday meant Warsaw Center Reunion, Oregon/U$C Football, and lots of voicemails officially wishing me a happy bday. It was nice to see alot of friendly faces at the Warsaw Reunion and it's always great to see Jim Warsaw and what a pillar of strength and inspiration he represents as he continues to battle Parkinson's. Tailgating was fun, as always, and you could just feel the energy around Autzen as the Ducks were about to battle the best team in the country. The atmosphere was truly electric and the Ducks played great for the first half but then $C turned it on the in the second half. As much as I've hated $C all my life, I must admit that they're fun to watch and in a league of their own (except when they play Cal on Nov. 12).

Just chilled on Sunday and ran a few more errands. Did go to Original Pancake House for the first time and I'll be sure to go back again to try the Dutch Baby or Apple Pancake.

Bring on School!!!! I'm ready (sort of)

Final Fortnight of Freedom

It's been just about 2 weeks since I returned to the west coast since the NYFC trip and that means school officially starts here at Oregon tomorrow. Luckily I only have golf class on Monday's so I have one more day of freedom, though I need to be on campus for work.

I drove back to the Eug one week ago but had a great final week in socal and nocal. In LA, I hung with friends on last time for now and hit up some of my favorite eating spots one last time, including Langer's for pastrami & cole slaw on rye, Casa Vega's crab & shrimp enchilada, Gelson's Wolfgang Puck chicken pesto sandwich, Porto's for Cuban sandwiches, and charbroiled pork and imperial rolls at a Viet restaurant near my house. YUM!

After a few days back home, it was up to SF and Berkeley for a couple of days before making the dreaded drive up to Oregon (it's just really long). On Friday, I took Mae to the Dodgers/Giants game at SBC Park. Unfortunately the Dodgers lost yet again although they won the two other times I saw them play in SF. Thanks again to my old boss Val for yet again hooking up a great pair of 5th row seats by the Giants bullpen. I did get a healthy earful of "Dodgers Suck!" (especially from this cute little girl who sat behind me with her dad) in my ear all night but luckily the overstuffed seal didn't stuff a plate of whipped cream in my face this time. haha

On Saturday, I spent the day watching Cal pummel Illinois in Berkeley while also soaking up the greatness of campus and all the wonderful memories of undergrad that come to mind everytime I return to campus. Then for dinner, I met up with newlyweds Sean & Siri for dinner at San Tung, my favorite noodle & dumpling house in the inner sunset and then had dessert at Park Chow (ginger spice cake with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream = awesome!).

Sunday meant a quick stop at Arizmendi Bakery for a corn cherry scone and a quick meeting with my friend Becky before officially heading out of california on the drive to Eugene. Most of this past week in Eugene has been full of errands, apartment & furniture hunting, helping with MBA orientation, and readying the tutoring center for the upcoming year.

the Rest of the NYC

I'm back in the Eug now but I figured I'd finish writing about New York.

Saturday:
Woke up around 11 am and headed for a picnic in Central Park with most of the group that went to Lotus the night before. We entered Central Park at about 72nd street on the west side of the park. It was such a perfect day to relax and enjoy all the the Park has to offer. There really is nothing like it. Upon entering, we walked by Strawberry Fields, where the John Lennon memorial is located. I had seen it before but this time it was decorated with flowers that formed a peace sign. (just a reminder that photos can be seen on my photos.yahoo.com/andrewminliu). We settled on a nice little lawn that wasn't too crowded. Randy planned the whole thing and Joanne complemented the lunch by bringing some specialties from Zabar's. After lunch we headed towards the boathouse so we could take a nice voyage out on the lakes. We ended up taking 4 boats amongst the 12 of us and it was so much fun. Here we were, 4 crazy, water splashing boats out on the lake immersed amongst other boats with people who were looking for a romantic and peaceful experience out on the lake. Instead they got 4 boats that were constantly racing and crashing into other boats. It was hilarious. After boating, a few of us went to a sports bar to watch Cal trample Washington.

At night, I went to dinner at 2nd Ave. Deli with my friend Grace and her friend Lana while the rest of the group ate at Veritas. I went to 2nd Ave specifically for their legendary pastrami. (I'd been to Katz's before so I had to try 2nd Ave). The pastrami was tasty but I think I still prefer Langer's in LA, near MacArthur Park. After dinner we went to Veniero's, which is this amazing Italian bakery/dessert shop. I had some awesome spumoni and chocolate marble cheese cake. It was awesome. Grace and Lana went home so I rejoined the group and we went karaoke-ing at Village Ma and I must admit that "The King Lives" in Kevin Sabet. Conor and Peter also stole the spotlight with "With or Without You" and "I believe I can fly."

Sunday:
I had brunch at Veselka (Ukranian restaurant/comfort food) with my family friend Dr. Evelyn, who is in her first year of residency at Mt. Sinai. It's really weird knowing that my family friend, who I've known my whole life, is now a Dr. Dont know if I'll ever get used to it. Although we were both stuffed from our meals, I had to take Evelyn to Ess-a-Bagel which has the absolute best bagels I've ever eaten. They're huge and soft and tender in the middle with a perfectly crisp crust. Sooo Gooood! In NY, I honestly think I gained back much of the weight I lost in China. After bidding farewell for now to Evelyn, we met back up with Divy, Constant, Peter, Conor, Claire, Cynthia, and Rishi to say our goodbyes for now as we all started to head back home. It was such a great time hanging out with all of them.

I then headed to Mulberry Street in what's left of Little Italy (that hasn't been swallowed by Chinatown) to get a couple of things from this one Italian deli that I always go to. Mulberry St. was decorated in preparation for the upcoming San Genarro Festival and all the restaurants were full of customers sitting on the patio and enjoying the summertime atmosphere of Little Italy. After checking this out, I went searching for another Cuban sandwich place called Cibao and ended up buying a pollo and cubano for $3.50 each. (Who says NY is too expensive?) These sandwiches were awesome too. Finally for dinner, I met up with my god-sister Karin for dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant in the East Village. It was great seeing Karin again though she scared me a bit by telling me it takes 1 day for every hour of time difference in order to overcome jetlag. I guess I still have a ways to go. After dinner, I went back to Randy's to take a nap, pack up my things for my 3:30 am supershuttle pickup and wait for a phone call from Mary who was flying back to NY from LA, where she was all weekend to visit home and attend a wedding.

Monday:
Mary ended up calling at 1 am and we just decided we were too tired to meet up. So I made it to JFK at abou 4 am on Monday and had about 2 and a half hours to kill before my flight. I tried sleeping but it was tough so I just ended up buying a donut and Dunkaccino at Dunkin Donuts. There's alot of Dunkin Donuts hype on the east coast so I just had to check it out. 6:55 am finally arrived and I was on my home to LA on JetBlue. Another great trip to NY. Except for the cold weather, I can't wait til January when I go back for the Warsaw trip.

By the Way, here's a list of the people in attendance, nicknames, and where we came from:
Me aka The Rock from LA via China
Conor aka The Boss (also a Dr (JD)) from LA
Peter aka Petros from Taiwan
Randy aka The Dr (J.D.) from NY via Palo Alto
Divy aka The Dr (M.D.) from Ann Arbor
Constant aka Randy's brother from the OC
Kevin aka Drugz from Oxford via Philadelphia
Joanne aka Jo/JOC from NY via LA
Rishi aka Rishi from Harvard Business School via Mt. Everest
Claire and Cynthia aka Peter's NY friends from NY
Misasha aka Misasha (also a Dr (JD)) from LA via Columbia Law
Bilk aka Bilk from NY via Oxford

the NYC

I'm back in LA now and ready to head to SF and then the Eug starting tomorrow.

This past weekend, I went to New York with a bunch of friends and it was an amazing weekend. Had such a great time hanging out with them as well as visiting friends who live out there. I also ate really well since food in NY is awesome with just about all sorts of ethnic foods imaginable.

Check out the photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/andrewminliu/my_photos

Thursday Night/Friday:
Took the red eye from burbank to JFK on Jet Blue. It was a full flight but I was comfortable with my u-shaped travel pillow, direcTV, and terra blue potato chips and cookies. I was still jet-lagged from china but i did my best to get some sleep anyways. Landed at about 4:45 am and that really sucked cuz it was so early but it was a nice ride into Manhattan on super shuttle and ended up at randy's place in herald square by 6 am and then took a much needed nap.

Friday daytime:
Woke up at around 11 am from my nap and started my search for a cuban restaurant called Milanese in Chelsea since i read about their amazing chicken sandwich in the NY Times a long time ago. Let me tell you, the sandwich was amazing! juicy tender chicken on a grilled baguette. it melted in my mouth. from there, i headed to the southern part of manhattan to battery park to check out the statue of liberty, wall street, and ground zero. ground zero is still very eerie to visit esp, since 9/11 was just a couple of days away. from there, i headed towards 5th ave near central park, where all the expensive shops are. got off the subway at bloomingdales and everytime i go in, i get lost and can never seem to find the exit. it gets kind of funny after awhile. from there, walked down 5th ave and went to niketown, the nba store, rockefeller center, nbc studios and eventually ended up at times square. there's really nothing in the world like times square. such a great place to see so many people. conor invited me out to happy hour but i went back to randy's and passed out for 2 hours to try to rest up for the nighttime activities.

Friday Nighttime:
Pris Fixe dinner at Lotus, which is some trendy restaurant/club in the meat packing district. Dinner was surprisingly good and the portions were very generous. had crab cake croquettes, pad thai, bbq-thai chicken with sticky coconut rice and bok choy, and choc. volcano cake for dessert. i must say it was very good and the service was excellent. after that, it was all about the clubbing. it's a nice club with three different levels of activity. upstairs is reserved for house music and downstairs is hip-hop. we mostly stayed downstairs and stayed til we were exhausted and on the verge of collapse. as things shut down, we stopped off at papaya dog (a wannabe papaya king/gray's papaya). the hot dogs are the same and we wolfed down a couple before bedtime. i guess you almost have to when in NY.

Finally Home!

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged but I went through some issues with my housing situation in my final week in Beijing and just didn't have very much Internet access.

In short, I bounced around apartments until my parents came out to Beijing. I took my parents around Beijing to show them some of the shopping and sights that they missed out on last time they were there a few months ago. Here are some of the highlights of my final days in Beijing:
- Biked around Beijing University and the Zonguancun area of the Haidian District which is also the Silicon Valley of China.
- Finally ate Peking Roast Duck at Quanjude in the Qianmen are of Beijing! YUM
- Walked through Liulichan, the arts & culture street in Beijing
- Ate dinner with Lei at a great Sichuan restaurant, known for its special spicy fish dish
- Explored the city with Nicole, who is studying abroad in Beijing this fall

After a few days, my parents headed to Shanghai to meet up with my aunt, who lives there. Nicole also joined us in Shanghai and we basically checked out as many shopping and city sights as possible while eating some awesome food in between expeditions. All in all, I had a great time!

I just got back home this afternoon after my 11 hour flight from Shanghai. I didn't sleep much on the flight so I just watched DVDs on my laptop the whole time. Except for some turbulence it was a very comfortable flight. Coming into LAX, blue sky never looked so good. I'm glad to be home and can't wait til I get to New York this weekend.


By the way, I'll also be posting to xanga from now on so friends in China will be able to see my blog.

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=aliu24