Richard's Reveries and Rantings

Welcome Emilia (Emi) Kyuri Sim

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:37:19 GMT

Emilia (Emi) Kyuri Sim arrived on Thursday April, 17 at 3:53PM at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 18 ¾ inches. The delivery was fairly smooth, with active labor lasting for about 4 hours. Emi seemed eager to join her new family; it took only 10 minutes of pushing before she dove headfirst into the light. :-)

Mom and Dad are doing well and big sister Keira is fascinated by her new baby sister (and the peace offering gifts that Emi "gave" her).

Like Keira, we wanted to pick a name that would work in both English and Japanese. The characters for Emi in Japanese translate to "wisdom" and "beauty."

Check out additional pics here. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bz2r1bb.6tu8f4t7&x=0&y=kvphsq&localeid=en_US

The Sim's prepare to be a family of 4

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:27:18 GMT

Preparations have begun for the unnamed sequel to to the smash hit, Keira. E's mom has arrived from Asia to provide much needed relief. Thank God grandma will be staying with us for a few months to help out any way she can. E has officially started her maternity leave and has been thoroughly enjoying her time with K. And just yesterday, I fished out all of our old baby gear from the attic and piled them up in our garage to be sanitized and washed. I was amazed at how much stuff we have for a tiny 6-7 pound baby: car seat and 2 pods, bassinet, bouncy chair, jumperoo, electric swing, baby bjorn, stroller #1, our nused double stroller, our nused crib (thanks lisa!), high chair, etc. I'm sure I'm missing several other items that are sitting in that pile but you get the point.

Keira is also preparing for her new role as big sister. We got her a new toy a few weeks ago and she looks like a natural. She's good but still needs some practice. Check out how she manhandles "Baby" in the second video.

Fourth Annual Guy’s Ski Trip

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:53:34 GMT

Here are a few pics from the fourth annual Vividence Boy’s Ski Trip a few weeks ago. It was another incredible getaway filled with lots of great skiing, bar hopping, hot tubbing, red bulls, and of course, male bonding. Not as dramatic as our second annual two years ago at Jackson Hole (e.g. no one got pulled over by the cops, no fist fight in the SUV, no Famous Cowboy Bar ho down, and no snowmobile injuries) but a blast non-the-less.

Here are some of my favorite memories:
1. Fitting six guys in a 4 man hot tub… and explaining to everyone where the mysterious foam actually comes from.
2. Finishing off 8 frozen pizzas in 2 nights
3. Subsidizing a good chunk of my trip via late night Texas Hold’em
4. $1 PBRs at the bar, all day and night
5. Our exchange of grilled meats with our neighbors, in which we obviously got the better end of the deal (1 petite filet in exchange for a rack of ribs, sausages, and pulled pork)
6. Sean’s secret crush on the ex football player from South Carolina
7. Drinking Redbulls with sidecars
8. Blaine playing tour guide all week, along with his repetitive commentary about how shocked he was by the amount of development in Park City since he left 10 years ago… and his stories about certain “special landmarks.”
9. Jupiter bowl… all day baby!
10. Fake credit card roulette

I can’t wait till Whistler next year!

Another Kid, Already?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:48:14 GMT

That’s the usual response I get from friends when I tell them E and I are expecting another bundle of joy, in fact another daughter, at the Sim family. Surprisingly pregnancy the second time around flew by and before we knew it, we were about 1 month away from the due date. (My apologies for the folks who may be finding out the news via blog instead of a more personal form of communication). We’re bracing ourselves for the craziness and hectic nature of life with, not just one, but two kids under the age of two.

K has no idea what’s coming. And to be honest, there is a tinge of guilt I feel that her days as the first and only child are limited. She is already possessive over her dad; in fact, I often find her wedging herself between me and any other baby in whom I show interest. The same applies to dogs. But I know that once she gets over the initial adjustment period, she will make a great big sister. And it really warms my heart to know that the two of them will likely grow up to be great friends.

Here are some reason photos of Keira. She's 18 months now and continues to amaze us.

On a funny note, the following video is a warning to my friends out there who are not yet ready for life as a parent.

Keira never ceases to amaze us!

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:03:31 GMT

Keira is about 17 months old now. E and I have noticed over the past few months that she has developed a very strong sense of independence and a will of her own, as opposed to being the little baby who just did what we told her to do. These days, her big thing is spoon feeding herself, athough only about 10% of her attempts result in food actually entering her mouth.

Just a few days ago, Keira surprised both of us when she started reaching for the chopsticks that E was using to mix up some noodles. To our amazement, she was a natural within just a few minutes.

Christmas in Cancun

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:52:04 GMT

This holiday season, our family decided to mix things up at bit and spent Christmas in warmer climates. Rather than making the cross country trek to Washington D.C., E, K, and I decided to meet the fam down south in Cancun. We spend 6 nights at the Riu Palace Las Americas after being upgraded from the Riu Caribe… Thank GOD! The Palace was impeccably clean, new, and the clientele was civilized. The Caribe was filthy, dilapidated, and the clientele was pretty awful in terms of manners, dress, and general behavior (image lots of drunk kids and obnoxious tourists with armpit stains on their shirts).

Note: do not give too much credit to Trip Advisor for its reviews; they have been very hit or miss. I’ve stayed at a few places that reflected the positive reviews they received, but the Riu Caribe reviews were waaaaaaay off mark.

The vacation was a blast! Crystal clear water, awesome weather, great food (although all the restaurants started tasting the same after a few days), and potentially the best part of it all, having my sister Judy and mother around to help take care of K. The weeklong vacation was a bit hard on the little one; she was over-stimulated the whole time so she slept and ate very little. But overall, the trip provided the long overdue rest and relaxation the family needed.

Here are a few pics from the week.

Funny Bill Gates Keynote at CES:

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:25:38 GMT

People love to bash Bill G, but there's no denying the positive impact that this individual has had on the world, both through his work at Microsoft as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its will be a momentous day when he gives up his full time gig at Microsoft. Imagine what it would feel like to leave the company that you've built from scratch and led for over 30 years.

Here is a really funny parody of himself that he introduced at the 2008 CES Keynote today.

What happened to Adam Carolloa in the Bay Area?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:51:39 GMT

Wow, it’s difficult being a fan of the Adam Carolla show. I’ve been listening to the show religiously every morning on the drive into work for the past couple of years. The problem is, the show keeps getting dropped from the San Francisco Bay Area radio waves! I used to listen to Adam Carolla on 106.9 FreeFM until the station did a complete turnaround and changed their format from talk radio to classic rock. That bummed me out until I was able to find the show on the AM dial on 1550 KYOU radio.

Then on January 2nd of this year, I was dismayed when I turned to 1550AM only to hear someone giving retirement investing advice. Are you kidding me? And to top it off, I found out that the Carolla show finally canned Danny Bonaduce, who annoyed me since the day he joined the show. Just when the show got better, I have no way of listening!

Well I’ve searched the web and the radio dial and it seems that the Carolla show is unavailable on Bay Area airwaves. It’s unfortunate because Adam’s sense of humor is intelligent and thoughtful… a good break from the obnoxiousness of the morning airwaves.

If you know of any Bay Area station that broadcasts his show, please leave me a comment. I know there is an option to listen to podcasts on the 971freefm.com website but that doesn’t make my morning commute any more bearable.

Marie Digby.. worth a listen

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:28:49 GMT

My buddy emailed me a link to this clip of Marie Digby who apparantly posted some videos of herself singing acoustic covers on YouTube about six months ago. Since then, her cover of Umbrella has been played on a bunch of radio stations and she was recently featured on Last Call Carson Daly. She has an amazing voice and its pretty cool to see talent discovered this way via the web. Check out the video that got her discovered. My personal favorite is her cover of a song by James Morrison called You Give Me Something. Check out the original also... I never heard this song before hearing Marie's cover but it rocks!

My how fast time flies

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 04:14:36 GMT

Last week, Keira turned 1 year old. I can't believe how fast this past year flew by. It feels like just 6 months ago, we brought her home from the hospital, with absolutely no clue about how we were going to survive the next month, let alone a full year. But somehow, we figured it out, and this amazing little girl has proven to be quite resilient.

We followed the Korean tradition and threw a big 1 year birthday party (dol) for our little one. My mother came out from the east coast for the festivities, and E organized quite an event. As part of the tradition, we laid out several items in front of Keira such as a pencil, a book, money, a bowl of rice, and a spool of thread to see which she would choose; her selection is supposed to indicate her fortune. I must admit, I kept trying to steer her to the hundred dollar bill (with thoughts of early retirement for me!), but she ended up choosing the bowl of rice (which I think indicates good health).

Here is a slide show I put together to recap the past year with Keira, as well as a few pics of her in her hanbok. Enjoy.

Makes me laugh every time

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:52:40 GMT

Wow... its been a while since I've updated my blog. Been pretty busy with work and going to lots of weddings these days.

In any case, here is one of my favorite videos of Keira... its about a month old but it makes me laugh every time I see it. Regardless of how rough my day has been, it only takes a giggle out of Keira to wash away any stress I have.

New Beginnings at Fraudwall Technologies

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:07:43 GMT

Last month, I decided to leave behind a great job as a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail group for a very small, stealthy start-up called Fraudwall Technologies. Working at Hotmail was an incredible experience. I got to work with some truly intelligent and passionate folks, launch a product that impacted more people than the population of the US, dogfood some of the coolest technologies before they ever hit the market, chat with Bill Gates at a BBQ in his backyard, and watch as an insider some of the most exciting launches in Microsoft's history (Halo 2, Xbox360, Zune, Vista, Office2007, and of course Windows Live Hotmail). So why leave this all behind?

I've always had an interest in being an entrepreneur. And while Microsoft offered some "entrepreneurial like" opportunities, nothing beats the real thing. When I was presented with the chance to join Fraudwall as the Director of Product Management and Marketing, I seized it with both hands. Fraudwall has a rockstar team, and is working on an incredibly audacious business plan to become the source of truth for online click fraud.

So what is click fraud? In simple terms, click fraud is when a person, organization, or machine clicks on "pay per click" ads with no interest in the product or service being advertised. Instead, they do so for personal monetary gain or to cause monetary loss.

Examples are as follows.

Imagine that I make money by placing advertisements on my blog (for example, the ads to the left of this blog post). Whenever a user clicks on one of those ads, I make a few cents. Every once in a while, I may click on some ads on my site and generate a couple of bucks per month. Now assume that I hire a bunch of low cost labor in Russia to spend a few hours every day clicking on the ads on my page... now I'm making hundreds of bucks. Finally, imagine that I hook up with a bot master who creates a virus that installs click bots onto innocent computers which click on thousands of my advertisements per month. Now my hundreds of bucks turn into thousands!
Or imagine a smaller scale example. Company A sells mortgages in San Francisco. Company B does a search for "mortgages in San Francisco" and realizes that Company A is spending lots of money to beat Company B in the sponsored search results. So Company B clicks on a bunch of Company A's ads, which in turn eat through Company B's marketing budget.

So how big of a problem is click fraud? No one really knows but its covered in the news more and more over the past year. Estimates range from as low as 0.02% (as reported by Google) to as high as 34% (as reported by the China IntelliConsulting Corp on China's largest search provider: Baidu). But everyone agrees that online advertising will continue its explosive growth rate (estimates show online ad spend in the US will reach $37B by 2011). And as that pie grows, so will click fraud's piece of that pie.

I'm confident that Fraudwall will truly be a game changer in online advertising. We have a brilliant team working on the problem, an investor and advisor board comprised of the movers and shakers in silicon valley, and some early traction with key beta partners. I'm psyched for what lies ahead!

Keira is learning how to talk... well kinda

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:00:41 GMT

Just a few weeks ago, Keira learned how to "army crawl." That's the stage just before crawling in which she uses primarily her elbows and feet to get around. Now she's scrambling all over the house, opening up cabinets, bumping her head into glass doors, and playing mop on our kitchen floor.

She's also recently started becoming more vocal (as seen below). Her vocabulary is limited to sounds made up of no more than 2 letters (e.g. "ne," "ba," "la," "eh," and "ma.") Anyone have a clue what she's saying?

Register as a Bone Marrow Donor... its simple

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:35:38 GMT

Elyse is the daughter of a friend of a friend. She is the oldest of triplets born just about 4 months ago and has been diagnosed with a very rare blood disorder (1 out of a million) which is life threatening. Please watch the following video and read about Elyse and her family's wish to find a donor.

If you are moved as E and I were, please register as a potential marrow donor here. You'll find instructions on how to register by email to receive a kit which allows you to submit a simple cheek swab to see if you are a match. Alternatively, you can donate to Elyse's fund here.

Segway-ing around Angel Island

Tue, 22 May 2007 06:01:47 GMT

This past weekend, E and I left K at home with grandma and headed out for a day of adventure without the little one. We took a fairy to Angel Island with a group of other Wharton alumni, and took a tour of the island in a very "Bay Area" way: we got to explore the island on segways!

Neither of us had ever been on segways before, but it was quite simple for both of us to get the hang of it. The first 30 seconds you hop on, it feels like you're on the verge of falling over. But that's the beauty of segways... they're literally impossible to tip over. So once you get over the initial fear, you feel like the segway is a natural extension of your body. You lean forward, you go forward. You lean back, you go back. You lean back harder, it accelerates faster.

We started off at 4mph, then increased to 8, then to 12! The segway has an interesting way of limiting your speed. You can lean as far into the segway as possible and it will begin to lean you back as you approach the limit, regardless of how hard you try (a very strange sensation).

If you're in the Bay Area, or just visiting, I highly recommend taking the tour. You can get info and reservations at http://segwayangelisland.com/. They run two tours a day, and you can get a two hour tour for $65 per person (which is totally worth the price). And Tuesdays are "two for tuesdays!" The guides are very laid back, knowledgeable about the island, and aren't paranoid or restrictive about how to ride. They basically let you ride at your leisure, as long as you're not being dangerous to yourself or anyone else.

Given them a buzz to book a tour as the popularity will only grow over time. Tell them I sent you! :-)

What happened to 106.9 Free FM (San Francisco) and Adam Carolla?

Sat, 19 May 2007 22:31:44 GMT

For those of you who know me well, you may also know that I am a HUGE fan of the Adam Carolla Show. Although I originally hated the addition of Danny Bonaduce to the show, I've grown to accept the fact that he's not going anywhere; and the show continues to make me laugh. However, on Friday, I tuned into 106.9 Free FM to listen to the show and was SHOCKED to hear oldies... one after the other. In fact, I couldn't tell if it was an extended joke on the show b/c the the theme was "Oldies that start with the letter, L." Could this be real or was Adam trying a new bit?

I kept listening all the way to work and figured maybe there was some radio transmission screw up for the day. I checked the 109.9 Free FM website and was dismayed to see that the radio station has been pulled from the FM airwaves, to be relocated to 1550AM. What the hell? The only info I could find about this sudden, unexpected change was on the blog of one of the other personalities on the station, Emily from Sex with Emily. It sounds like this change was as much as a shock to her as it was to the rest of the world:

Remember that scene in Howard Stern's movie Private Parts when he shows up for work to find his station has suddenly switched formats to country music? Well, that's exactly what happened yesterday except I didn't hear Dwight Yoakam but an oldie (but goodie) Donna Summer's hit.

That sucks. Here is a post on Yahoo Answers which may also explain what happened:

Well, this old radio station, KFRC, used to be at 99.7 FM, which now airs a dance format. KFRC was a classic hits station at 99.7 FM for many years until October 2006, when they flipped to dance music. So, many listeners complained to CBS Radio San Francisco, and they gave in and decided to flip the format on Free FM because they were in last place in ratings (literally), and 106.9 had an 80,000 watt signal, so CBS found it appropriate to put classic hits on 106.9 FM.

Well, at least Adam is still on the air in San Francisco on 1550AM, although I'll have to listen to Ozwaldo's movie reviews in mono now. :-( Also, everyone can continue to stream the show on www.971freefm.com.

Windows Live Hotmail Launches Worldwide

Sat, 12 May 2007 15:08:12 GMT

Wow, what a week. We finally launched the new version of Hotmail on Monday! Whooohoo!!! Check out my video debut on Channel 10.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of coverage we've gotten. Here is a quick rundown of some good stuff (thanks to our PR agency WaggEd).

We had a signature story with Ina Fried in CNET and another great one in eWeek.
Associated Press picked us up and wrote a story which was picked up in 67 separate news outlets including the NYT, WSJ, USA Today, SF Chronicle, etc.
34 total TV stations ran stories about the Windows Live Hotmail launch. Here's one from Action News on WTAE Pittsburgh.

And a few favorite quotes:

“Hotmail, perhaps the first major success of Web 1.0, has evolved.” – Duncan Riley, TechCrunch
“In the end, when it comes to communicating with the people I care most about, I'm currently split between Microsoft and Google, but in my particular case, it's pretty clear that Microsoft ultimately wins out… And Windows Live Hotmail looks like it's ready for the next decade. Highly recommended.” – Paul Thurrott, Windows IT Pro
“Compared to the old Hotmail, the new version is a million times better--its storage quota is far higher, at 2 gigabytes; it's much easier to view and file messages; and your account no longer gets deactivated if you forget to check it for two months. Windows users will also soon be able to try out free software to synchronize their Hotmail accounts to their PCs for offline use...” – Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post

In addition to the great coverage, we've also released some hilarious promotional videos. You can find them at http://newlivehotmail.com/.

Here is my favorite... notice the "supsicious male" warning:

Email: Buying a House in the Bay Area Sucks

Fri, 11 May 2007 01:59:11 GMT

I received this email a few weeks ago from my buddy. Given my previous post, I thought I'd share some more light on what the Bay Area housing market is like. I think E and I lucked out... BIG TIME.

So, I've read all these reports on how the housing market is in decline and how it's becoming more and more of a "buyer's market" as supply outstrips demand. I'm not going to argue whether it's a good time to buy or not -- I just don't know. And frankly, I just don't care anymore after getting a few more lines in my forehead from worrying about it. But I just need to vent about the freak'n Bay Area and all the money that gets thrown around in this earthquake-foresaken hood. Yes, I am bitter. Too many rich bastards live here.

I just put in my first offer on a house. I felt like it was a pretty strong offer:

- $135K OVER asking price (for a fixer that needs a new roof, new floor, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new windows, rodent and wasp removal, and MUCH more).

- NO contingencies whatsoever. Yes...no inspection, no appraisal, no nothing.

- A 14-day close. That's f&*king crazy good.

- 20% down. From a seller's perspective, lower chance of a hickup in the loan process.

- An earnest deposit check of over $25K.

I came in 3rd place out of 18 offers. Unfortunately, getting the bronze medal in this competition is worth jack s%$t. Oh, but I did get the joy of spending a couple hours reading over a hundred pages of disclosures and signing a bunch of documents that sounded like, "if you sign this, you are an idiot".

And so I ask, once again.....

WHY DON'T WE ALL MOVE TO VEGAS??????

We can buy a 5 bedroom house - each - and take turns throwing bachelor parties for the remaining single dudes.

New Home Sweet Home

Thu, 03 May 2007 16:51:40 GMT

Its been about a month since we moved into our new home and we absolutely love it. We originally planned to move about a year ago but once we discovered how little space we could afford in the Bay Area, we nixed that idea pretty quickly. In fact, there was a time when we were seriously considering buying a place in East Palo Alto, but luckily friends like Tom convinced me otherwise by doctoring my photos of the place with potential scary situations like the one below. Thank God we didn't move there. It would have been a great "investment" but not very livable for another 5 years.

Then in late February, we decided to get back into the real estate rat race for a home of our own. By this time, we figured the market in the Bay Area had settled enough; and we even heard rumors that it was a "buyer's market." We found a place that we fell in love with and decided to go after it, only after about 2.5 weeks of looking. To our dismay, we heard it was a competitive bidding situation so we put together a very compelling offer: placed a bid a few percentage points ABOVE the asking price, had no contingencies, a 14 day close, and a personal letter to the owners!

I remember the night that we submitted our bid, I couldn't sleep at night. I had frightening visions of washing dishes on the side to make some extra cash, and feared my first mortgage payments. The next day we got a call from our agent and found out we actually got the house! I have to admit, I had a bigger "Oh S*&T!!!" moment when I heard this news, than when I found out E and I were pregnant." Needless to say, we'll be living conservatively for the next few years but we're both aboslutely thrilled with the place.

Its a humble 3 bedroom townhouse and its a stone's throw to the water. My favorite parts of the house are:

1. my very own garage with a work table and vice... I keep looking for random things to lock down in the vice and saw apart.

2. the hottub and deck in the back yard.

3. the fact that we don't have to worry about our neighbors on adjoining walls

We're still settling in but hopefully we'll be able to begin entertaining soon. Shoot me an email and I'll send our new contact details to you. If you're an MSN/Windows Live user, you can subscribe to my contact updates by clicking on my Profile.

K on her new jumperoo

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:42:14 GMT

A few weeks ago, we visited our friends' place for brunch and found that K abosolutely loved their jumperoo. E and I typically refrain from going overboard with toys for K, since we don't want to get lazy and rely on them to keep her occupied. However, we watched her jump for about 15 minutes straight, squeeling the whole time, so we decided to get her one of her own.

Here she is in her first week with the jumperoo at age 7.5 months. Actually, I think E and I might be doing more of the squeeling in this video.

Photo Album: Friends and Family

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:07:46 GMT

Friends and Family

R&E at CYH Wedding

Erika and Quini

Rich and Sean with Drunk Clowns

Mama Sim and Rich in Alaska

My sis Katie and her fam

My nephew Christian

Me and E Money

Vegas baby vegas

Just and me with headgear @ seafair

Asian Alliance @ Leavenworth

More Photos...

Photo Album: Cool sunsets

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:37:15 GMT

Cool sunsets

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Phenom Penh, Cambodia

Inside Passage, Alaska

Distant Storm, Hanoi, Vietnam

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Angor Wat, Siem Reap Cambodia

Blog list: Friend's Blog Roll Call

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:59:20 GMT

Friend's Blog Roll Call

Inside Tom's Head
Its very scary in there.
Jennipah on Tour
Jenn has more energy than the energizer bunny on speed.
Mommy Mayhem
Cindy's hilarious journal about the adventures of raising her adorable daughter. A MUST READ for potential parents.
Tour du Monde
Justin and Sandrine's journal of their incredible world tour.
Ben
Ben's got some hilarious stuff in here.
RICHARD'S 'IMPERSONAL' BLOG
Here you will find my thoughts on technology, my job, and other "impersonal" topics
Omar's Blog
Omar knows everything about anything
Scobleizer
A human face to Microsoft
Aileen's Web Diary
Aileen likes pink... and has interesting thoughts on the Bay Area, GOOG, and technology.

Custom List: I Love These Seattle Joints

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:14:23 GMT

I Love These Seattle Joints

Casuelita's Cafe
Awesome Caribbean food; great fish dishes, stiff drinks and a very cool vibe in Belltown.
Canlis
Very romantic, classic restaurant overlooking Lake Union; whereE and I tied the knot.
Frontier Room
The best comfort food you can find in Seattle. Awesome ribs andmac & cheese.
Flying Fish
Really good seafood in the heart of Belltown.
Ray's Boathouse
Great for drinks and food on a summer afternoon on the deck.
Wibbleys
Best burgers, fries, and milkshakes in the East Side.
Ho Soon Yi
23830 Hwy 99, #114 Edmonds, WA 98026 By far the best Korean foodin the Seattle area. Make sure you get the seafood pancake, "haemul pajun"
Chez Shea/ Chez Lounge
Very romantic ambiance, wonderful staff, Hokkaido scallops weredelicious, sunchoke (artichoke) bisque is a must have.

Custom List: Highly Recommended

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:09:36 GMT

Highly Recommended

Netflix
Tried it free for 1 month and now I'm hooked.
Blink, by Malcom Gladwell
More interesting than his message are the experiments and evidence he cites to support his message.
Ho Soon Yi Restaurant
23830 Hwy 99, #114 Edmonds, WA 98026 By far the best Korean food in the Seattle area. Make sure you get the seafood pancake, "haemul pajun"
The Fairmont Hotel (San Jose)
I've finally reached President's Club status and was pleasantlysurprised by a complementary upgrade to a pool-side room, a box of chocolates, and a plate of strawberries dipped in chocolate with a personalized letter thanking me for my business.
Chickenfried Steak in RedwestA Cafeteria
Just the way grandma used to make. Not the healthiest but definitely the tastiest.
Picasa
Very cool photo editing tool that enables some really cool editing such as building photo collages (see friends and family photo album). However, the time sequence photo viewer looks suspiciously similar to the Longhorn Demo that I saw 2 years ago. Hmmmm.
Kitchen Table Wisdom
Every once in a while, I read one of E's books from her Social Work studies. Remen's story-telling and insights on spirituality and healing are quite inspiring.

Custom List: Highly Recommended (Bay Area)

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:41:03 GMT

Highly Recommended (Bay Area)

PPQ
Same owners of Crustacean but dishes are much more affordable.Garlic butter crab and garlic noodles are unbelievable.
San Tung
My fav Chinese joint in the city. Try the GamPoongGi-(dry)

Custom List: I Want to Try These Seattle Spots

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 04:06:33 GMT

I Want to Try These Seattle Spots

Mandalay bay café
Freemont
Geneva
Belltown: romantic joint
El Gaucho
Apparently the best steak in Seatown.

Custom List: Great Fliks I've Watched Recently

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 08:55:55 GMT

Great Fliks I've Watched Recently

Control Room
An incredibly eye-opening documentary about the Al Jezeera network and its reporting during the War in Iraq, juxtaposed with the US reporting.
Napoleon Dynamite
Some of the humor is way too familiar.
The Station Agent
A hilarious independent film about a dwarf named Fin who escapesto a small town in New Jersey and reluctantly befriends a few locals. The subtle humor is very well executed.
The Notebook
I'm really not a fan of romantic films but this one has its highlights. One of the most beautiful scenes shows the couple in a rowboat, gliding through a wooded lake filled with white ducks.
Cinema Paradiso
I finally watched this film and loved it!
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
About the appeals process for 1 of 3 teenagers convicted of thebrutal murder of three 8 year olds in Arkansas. The film sheds light on new incriminating evidence that points to one of the victims' father as the murderer.

Custom List: Avoid like the plague

Thu, 19 May 2005 17:22:09 GMT

Avoid like the plague

Ohana Restaraunt in Belltown
Music was good. Food was average. Service was HORRIBLE!
Independence Air
They moved my flight up by 1.5 hours and simply sent 1 email toinform me. Manager at SeaTac said "Its not our fault if the email gets junked."