Halloween

To me, Halloween seems a bit cruel this year. Looking around and seeing decorations of tombstones, skeletons, and coffins...it really hits a nerve.

Shannon Brown....again

And its only just the preseason!!!



Anybody else thinks he should try out for the dunk contest?

Temples of Angkor - Part 1: Angkor Wat

It is reported that there are over one thousand temples scattered throughout the Angkor region! Needless to say, in three days (and 36-ish temples) I was only able to scratch the surface. Regardless, I had a blast just exploring the entire region and visiting as many temples as I could. I'm a huge fan of Buddhist and Hindu architecture and iconography, and so Angkor was heaven on earth for me. In these three days, I was out from sunrise to sunset and felt like Indiana Jones, just running around exploring as many temples as I could...making sure to check every corner and passageway to see everything. In the next few posts, I'll highlight my three favorite temples: Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm.

Angkor Wat

Spectacular! It was so beautiful that I had to visit this twice.

The temple of Angkor Wat just by itself would be enough reason for anybody to visit Cambodia. In terms of size and grandeur, it is without a doubt the mother-of-all-temples. No other temple in the world comes close! What really surprised me, however, was the incredible condition that all of the bas-reliefs and sculptures were in. There are walls upon walls of sculptures that remain completely intact and are absolutely gorgeous to view. And being a nut about Hindu art, I literally spent a total of 7 hours (in 2 trips) just walking around the temple and admiring all of the intricate details and stories. And I totally would have stayed longer had I not been pressed for time.

Random fact about Angkor Wat that I loved: So in college, I wrote a paper about the symbolism of Hindu temples as "cosmic temples", representing the home of gods (i.e. Mt. Kailasa as Shiva's abode). So it was pretty awesome when I learned that Angkor Wat and its 5 towers was built to represent the sacred Mt. Meru and its 5 peaks. I know...a total nerd moment that I embraced.

And while in Cambodia, I was very very happy to find an old friend....

Ladies and Gentlemen, My Cousin Jennifer

disclaimer: the following is in no means representative of the rest of the (normal) family.

just kidding, love you cuz!

..but seriously




Jennifer: sorry belay that, dan and i are arguing about balrogs
Jennifer: make that 20 minutes starting from now
Jason: what about balrogs?
Jennifer: he was asking me what it was
Jennifer: he thought it was morgoth
Jennifer: i told him it was a balrog and he said he heard gandalf say morgoth
Jennifer: and then he thought it might have been gothmog
Jennifer: but gothmog lived in the first age
Jennifer: and the war of the ring took place in the third age
Jason: wow.
Jennifer: but then he realized that gandalf said that it was a balrog of morgoth
Jason: ah
Jennifer: which makes sense because the balrog were created by morgoth
Jason: oh totally!
Jennifer: shut up
Jennifer: whatever, lol

Carmelo Anthony!

Sooo... the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers have an exhibition game here in Beijing this Sunday, and one of my friends, Sean, knew of someone who could get us into the club (Block 8) that Carmelo Anthony and half of the Nuggets were going to be at....

It was ridiculous!!


Melo with J.R. Smith who even in person really annoyed the heck out of me. Anyone remember him in the Lakers-Denver series this year when he was talking so much trash to Kobe? To which Kobe responded: "Better learn not to talk to me. You shake the tree, a leopard's going to fall out" and also sunk a ridiculous clutch 3 over his annoying little face. Yeah, JR Smith is a loser, haha.


Cici and Natalie (visiting from NYC!) were able to sweet-talk their way into taking a picture with Melo!! Pretty lucky, I might add, because they were the ONLY people who were able to take pictures with Melo. I tried right after, and the guard just looked at me and laughed. If only I were a girl...
AND its such a shame too, these girls didn't even really know who Melo was. Ugh. What a waste.


So I guess Melo was alright. The highlight of the night, though, definitely went to the world's biggest Mojito:

First Laker Preseason Game!

It was awesome to see my boys out on the court again.

Unfortunately was only able to catch like 5 minutes of the game due to my spotty internet. But was lucky enough to catch Shannon Brown's RIDICULOUS dunk live!



And I know its just the preseason and waaay too early to make any calls, but initial thoughts:

-Its going to be interesting seeing what happens out of the backcourt with Farmar and Brown, who are both competing for Old Fish's playing time. Both had really decent games, though I think Farmar is a more stable PG in the backcourt (and distributes the ball better---6 assists today)

-Bynum totally came out with a message today, leading the team with 24 points. The kid said in the offseason that his goal was to make the all-star team this year. With an effort every game like today's, he could definitely do that.

-Ron Ron's debut! Not too shabby, I like his 9 rebounds and 7 assists, which is exactly what we need. But will he be happy with that role?

Today's game got me really excited. Why? I think that this particular squad has the potential to be one of the best teams in Laker history. Yes, you heard me. With a backcourt of Bynum and Gasol and a frontcourt of Kobe and Artest AND a sixth man in Odom...this is definitely a stacked team on paper. There's a reason why 61% of the NBA's General Managers picked the Purple and Gold to repeat this year. But for that to happen, I think that these two things need to happen:

1) Ron Artest is the big wildcard. If he fits in with the team, we're golden and I'll see you all at the parade next year
2) Bynum needs to stay healthy (no more freak accidents, y'hear?)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Got invited by Xujia to join her and her mom for some awesome home-made 饺子 (dumplings) for the mid-autumn festival!


And of course, mooncake!


Then afterwards, the three of us walked around Houhai and enjoyed the new moon (as well as the hordes upon hordes of other people who also thought this would be a good idea). Nonetheless, it was pretty awesome.

Xujia's mom was pretty awesome, and a really sweet lady. Not going to lie, kinda wish she lived in Beijing so she could teach me how to make some great homemade dumplings. I guess this gives me an excuse to hop over to Qingdao? I mean not that seeing the Tsingtao brewery wasn't enough of a reason to begin with...

All in all, a really cool and traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, and I'm glad I got to celebrate it in a very Chinese way (oh and in China too, haha). Seeing the festivities for this holiday makes me really excited about Chinese New Years next fall, its going to be ridiculous!

Later that night, I get this email from my aunt, and apparently this was what I missed out on back home:

Good stuff! Chinese holidays rock.

Vietnam Part 3 - Da Lat , Hanoi, Halong Bay

(apologies for the recent ugliness of the blog and the fact that the slideshows are cutting across the entire screen, but I figure bigger pictures are better than aesthetics, right?)

Day 3 - Da Lat
-After Nha Trang, we headed up to visit some of Sam's relatives in Da Lat. The bus ride from Nha Trang to Da Lat was intense...it was bumpy and rough, and on top of that, it was raining like no other. That we made it there in one piece is still a mystery to me.
-Da Lat totally reminds me of my Mom's hometown: Maymyo, its a small little town nestled up in the mountains. The weather is substantially colder, and there's also remnants of colonialism everywhere.
-Had a huge lunch with Sam's relatives, ate a lot of great homecooked food! And had a bit of guava wine, good stuff
-At night, rode bikes around the lake

Day 4 - Da Lat and Hanoi
-Woke up mad early to fill in all of our Da Lat sites before we headed out to Hanoi
-Saw the old King's summer palace and this valley with lots of gardens and a huge lake
-Then went to this ridiculous place called "The Valley of Love" which was literally a disgusting valley filled with heart-shaped flowers, heart-shaped photo op places, and a lake to paddle boat in. Totally egregious and cheesy in every sense. Only in Vietnam, I guess.
-Got into Hanoi in the evening, and went all out with food! Ate 4 (yes, 4) dinners that night!



Day 5-6 - Halong Bay
Words are of no more use here. Just look at the pictures:





In all honesty though, although Halong Bay is without a doubt one of the most gorgeous/awe-inspiring places I've ever been to, the atmosphere is ruined by the fact that there are way too many tour groups. It is incredibly difficult to arrange your own Halong Bay journey (because boats are hard to come by), and so 99% of all travelers have to go through a tour...which really ruins the whole mood. I hate tour groups and I would much have rather had the opportunity to just sail around the entire bay and explore it by myself. So while I loved Halong Bay and found it incredibly beautiful, I think I still find places like Yangshuo to be much more enjoyable. Nonetheless, it still is a total must-see for anyone!

Day 7 - Hanoi
-Sam continued on the trip to Cat Ba Island, while I headed back to Hanoi to chill and catch my flight out to Cambodia
-Had the chance to explore Hanoi a bit more, and it was really fun getting from place to place. Literally at every street corner there were people with motorbikes just waiting for customers. Alls you gotta do is hop on the back of one and pay them, and they'll take you anywhere. It was a pretty cool experience!

Coming up next: Cambodia and the Temples of Angkor!!

The PRC's 60th Anniversary

More Vietnam/Cambodia pics to come, I promise. But today was just too important of a day to not write about.

Crazy day of celebrations in Beijing! It was pretty awesome to actually experience this event in China. While Shane, Han Feng, and I were only able to watch the event in our apartment, we were still able to hear the sound of cannon-fire and roaring jets from our window. Very cool.

First off, please check out my thoughts regarding this anniversary on Wokai's blog.

Now for some more informal ramblings.

The parade itself was really ridiculous! Leave it to China to wow us yet again with an impressive display of scale that was also ridiculously precise--no detail was spared.

Funny though how it first started off with a HUGE and awe-inspiring (if not scary) display of military might (not to mention the nukes that were shamelessly paraded down. now that was pretty scary):

Which quickly turned into a friendly "let's just dance and sing and celebrate" parade with warm and fuzzy flowers, floats, and dancers:


President Hu Jintao is pretty baller. I mean, seriously, who didn't want to be him as he rode down the route proclaiming: "同志们辛苦了!" ("Laborous comrades!") and hearing the defeaning response of thousands of military men and women say: "为人们服务!!" ("We serve the people!"). That was just insane.


But seriously, that Mao-esque suit he was wearing is amazing. I need to get me one of those:

Paulina also suggests that I must grow out my hair like that as well. Will keep that in mind.

Thanks to Shane's girlfriend, Han Feng, who, like all Chinese, had taken a few military classes in school, I know now how to do the military goose-walk! It has now become my favorite mode of transportation. Pedestrians beware.

Little did I know, but this was also China's opportunity to showcase its most eligible bachelorettes! A platoon of women in military uniforms, all in impeccable unison, and carrying rifles? Seriously, what more can a man ask for?