The old man turned fifty on the 18th of April, but he still gets carded for alcohol. I pray everyday that I have some of those good genes in me. Happy birthday Babu!

Every once in awhile you get a picture that just makes all your insides feel good.

the first thing i did in shanghai was update my blog about hong kong. little did i know the second after i updated my blog it became blocked from my network (and probably china’s). i’m a little disappointed and frustrated that my scarce relatives in china won’t be able to catch up with me now, but i’ll get china back sooner or later *shakes fists*

besides that shanghai was a blast. my dad’s older brother uncle tim let us stay at his penthouse which had a sweeping view of the city. he took my dad and i to eat local foods, visit the SWFC, and more.

elevator to the top of the SWFC

inside

higher…

top floor

old school shanghai compared to the new school (first picture in this post)

uncle tim with the umbrella and my dad

new heights bar that overlooked the bund (yes, her eyes are open)

never, ever, leave your camera at home whether it’s raining, a tornado, or some other catastrophic occurrence. when you don’t have your camera that can only mean one thing: you can’t take a picture. it has been raining heavily for the past few days in hong kong so my spoiled sun dried california self was too afraid to take my camera out. these pictures were taken during the first and only dry day here. i am now in shanghai and will be continuing my adventures for the next couple days before returning.

China was an unforgettable experience both for my camera (Despite being dropped literally the second I walked out of Beijing airport) and me. In terms of photography I was extremely limited throughout the entire trip including Hong Kong but especially in China. I had only brought one body (Canon 5D) and one lens (Canon 35mm 1.4) and after the drop could only use apertures from 2.8 and smaller. Circumstances like these for a photographer who loves to shoot 1.4 and is restricted to only one focal length (albeit my favorite) kind of just sort of a little bit sucks. But the good news is that my camera still worked and the pictures still came out great. Not everyday does one get to experience two of the Great Wonders of the World in one trip. This was a ten day hands on history lesson about my people and let me say it was completely mind blowing. Technology, hard work, and culture from thousands of years ago still astonish people to this date and the legacy still lives on… proven by the architecture and brilliance of the 2008 Olympics. Although it is sad to say that Beijing was the most polluted and coldest places in all of China that we visited. The air quality rivaled California during that of the fires and every body of water visible was frozen solid. This is what caused the smog in nearly all of the outdoor pictures. Nevertheless the experience was invaluable and I would not mind visiting Xi’an and Shanghai again. Definitely would recommend you guys to visit.

I found a couple more reasons this time around to appreciate this beautiful city where both my parents were born and raised. First of all Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, so you can imagine there is non-stop action throughout the entire 24-hour life span of a day. This makes photography fun. Second, for the historic value. I recently read up more throughly on the history of Hong Kong and wanted to go deeper into it’s roots during this trip. I learned about the notorious Kowloon Walled City and the Dai Pai Dongs which are basically makeshift restaurants assembled in alleyways at night. Unfortunately Hong Kong doesn’t stay old fast. It is a faced paced city and something you see today might not even be there in the next three years. They don’t even make stinky tofu on the streets anymore like they used to, or at least not that much. Dai Pai Dongs disappeared due to the SARS crisis and the Kowloon Walled City was destroyed to make way for the airport. In between family gatherings spread out between a mere five days was all I had this time around to document the city. I am always looking forward to visiting this city and the importance it means to me. I can only hope much of it still remains the same so I can continue learning about its history.

Keiko (Gandalf)

Two of the most notorious dogs in Montclair. Both guilty of pouncing up on me, licking my face, and being super cute the second I step foot into Katrina’s house.

Keeper

Best damn sandwich

This is Burton’s massive flagship store on Melrose consisting skating goods, surfboards, and of course: snowboarding gear. Needless to say, the store is sick. I couldn’t take pictures inside, but let’s just say the entire store is “skateable.” The reason why I went here (besides just checking it out) is because Friday at midnight I will be leaving on an airplane to Beijing. After hearing so much about its frigid weather, I decided to get a jacket to prevent me from all sorts of bad news. I decided to go with this, part of the Shaun White collection. It’ll go nicely with my 08′ Forum Grudge board.

Oh yeah, and at night Katrina and I went over to Hollywood and Vine to catch this sorta famous show. We arrived there at 7:50pm and the show started promptly at 8:00pm. Valet parking was the only option.