recently

Over the weekend, out on a whim, I decided to make my way to Eureka California. Of all the years I lived in California, I've never drove on the one beyond Golden Gate. Besides the fact that renting a Mini Cooper S is pricier than I have expected, the trip turned out to be one of my most favorite trips. Sally enjoyed the drive too, we both were awed by the stunning landscape, and seeing the Pacific ocean from the edge of a cliff was something new to both of us.

Another noteworthy item on the trip, was this huge whale scull next to a light house.

In my blog I rarely write about fashion accessories, in this case, it's something more than that. The messenger bag was about a 100 bucks, it was 2002 on a cold rainy day in New York when I had to buy it to store all my internship paperwork. I remember grinding my teeth about the purchase, back then a 100 bucks meant 3 weeks of my allowance. My dear friend Miki used her store manager power to get it down to 90, but still, it was a lot. I kept the bag for years, and it followed me to all the places, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Prague, Tibet... So as you can imagine, I'm having a "Toy Story" moment.

The journey slowly came to an end in Boston. After 6 years, The canvas became more and more threaded, and finally came apart. I really didn't want to give it up, as often the case it was the only witness to my discoveries on my journey, like a loyal friend, carrying my stuff as I wondered about in the world.

I'm sad to get rid of it, but had to. I kept all the pins I've collected over the years and hopefully they will go on a new canvas bag. This entry is dedicated to you, my favorite messenger bag.

A friend all of sudden decided to drop by SF this week. We've known each other for ages. Due to some circumstances I couldn't really mention her name, non the less, it was fun hanging out. This is taken atop my apartment building. I enjoyed your company friend :)

So on this business trip to Europe, a member of the production crew Ron had an dental emergency. As soon as the plane took off from LAX, his gum started to swell up, and midway above atlantic he was in so much pain that the flight attendant had to broadcast out "is there a doctor on the plane" message. Right after we landed, Carlos (our photographer) decided to take him on an emergency visit to the dentist.

Now we're talking about downtown Paris, one of the most expensive cities in the world. The French dentist treated him while realizing that he's a foreigner, and does not possess dental insurance in France, or EU for that matter. He gave Ron an emergency root canal, patched up, and told him its only temporary and he needs to get a crown later on, not because he wouldn't do it, its just due to our production schedule we can't be in Paris long enough to wait for the it being made.

In the end, the bill came out to be 50 Euros, that's it, 50 euros.

So to everyone that have stumbled to this entry of mine, my question to you is, if you don't have dental insurance in America, how much would you have to pay to get an root canal? More than 50 euros I'm sure.

While Ron's happy with his dental bill, all the Americans in our production team stood there, wide-eyed with our jaws dropped, surprised, and ashamed.

I want public option and I want it now!

After an entire month in heiatus, I finally squeezed out a little time to post an update. Yes folks, I've left Mullen Boston, and am now with Cutwater in the beautiful San Francisco. I was lucky enough to be put on a cool project for Persol, for those hipsters that knows the brand, expect some exciting stuff very soon, for those of you who don't, don't worry, you'll hear me babbling about it often.

The January trip was amazing, I got to work with one of my favorite photographers, Carlos Sarrao, and his amazing crew. Aside from eating non stop at various cool places to compensate for lack of sleep (sounds really bad I know), I also got to fly on the airplane I created ads for - the A380 airbus. It's a gorgeous airplane. Business class seat that goes all the way horizontal, restrooms that's twice the size as other planes', and LED cabin lights that dims and transitions to different colors.

Ok, enough babbling, here are some pictures, more will be posted soon.

yes, I'm still traveling, just check marked LA, be in Paris in 24hrs. updates will be random and spotty, check back soon.

1. Starting a new job only 5 days after my resignation.
2. Realization of being underdressed in Northern Cal.
3. Living in a hotel for almost an entire month.
4. Despite the fact I only have 5 pieces of furniture. For 3 days I did nothing but packing.
5. While disgusted at the result of my consuming behavior, I went off to container store and bought 3 big plastic bins.
6. Saying goodbye to wintery Boston was easier than I thought, sorry Boston.
7. Saying goodbye to friends is always hard.
8. Packed, Unpacked, only to Pack again after 12 hours.
9. Claimed 12,000 miles of air travel and still counting.
10. Exaughisted, but excited.

This past year has certainly been a humbling experience for me. Thinking back, I was really excited and confident that I would have 09 within my grasp. "2009 I'm ready" was my end-of-year statement in my blog entry.

I can't describe 2009 with any words that's better than "humbling". Like many others around me, for the first time in my life, I felt the impact of an economic downturn, though far less than some of my peers, it was enough for me to feel the pinch to say the least.

I also think I've advanced and learned a lot from some of the most respected people in my field this year. They all helped me one way or another to give me a whole new perspective on things, for that I'm very grateful.

Lastly, out of many frustrations, for one reason or another, I definitely think I was again, blessed by some superior power. Some very exciting things happened right before this year's end, it was a complete surprise, too sudden, but it was so exciting that I couldn't pass it up. For those of you that hasn't heard yet, I will reveal the news soon. Until then, Happy 2010! and once again... I am ready :)

I LOVE Panera bread. The restaurant bakes fresh bread and has always got really tasty sandwiches among other things. With good food, they also offer free WIFI, its my perfect hang out. One thing I was never fond of, was it's advertising. I always thought if this company is so careful with their food, they should also put a lot of love into their advertising.

One thing I detest about restaurant advertising is over the top food porn shots, you see one, you see them all. So at Mullen, we tried a completely new approach. Instead of showing how good the food is, we wanted to tell people what Panera is all about - It serves fantastic bread, it's cozy, and warm, and that's it.

I'm really proud of this ad not only because it's an restaurant ad without food porn, it is also my first legit USA today full page ad. Special shout out to my copywriter Kerry Shea for being part of this impossible mission with me.

Jenny is the youngest of 4 cousins that grew up with me. Her graduation is in a school called University of Valparaiso. This trip was one of those typical "don't judge a book by it's cover" strips. The midwest was just swept with a blizzard, Valparaiso was one of those places people don't really know, in a state that I have little interest in - Indiana.

Coming into O'hare, overlooking the massive flat midwest covered in snow was pretty magical, almost like a scene from Starwars.

Marianne is one of Jenny's buddies who was there when none of her relatives are around.

Sally

U-Valpo is actually a pretty charming campus, complete with a post modern Library and Chapel, complete with a bell tower.

In their graduation speech, and this is something I haven't yet heard from all the graduation speeches I've heard before, was that they stressed on the balance of religion and knowledge, faith and reason. I thought that was really interesting.

Meeting up with my "Thanksgiving Orphan" friends in NYC seemed to become my newest tradition. Thanks Mike for letting me stay and Dines taking me to this awesome texas bbq called Hill Country.

Also seeing the Standard finally completed was a cool thing, I know this sounds bad, but I have to say, architecturally, its very cool. "The high line" which was a park converted from an abandoned raised train track next to the hotel is a nice touch too.

I got this special aluminum coke bottle, previously only seen on design blogs. I put some typical things next to it for scale reference. The aluminum is thicker than the can, in fact, so thick you can't squeeze it to crush it. It's a very good looking bottle, kudos to Coke for finally spreading this around.

This is probably the most overlooked movie in the past year. I remember the trailer, boasting multi-continent shoots, some gun fight scenes, and the terrible dialogue that made me roll my eyes and chose not to watch the movie "You can't arrest me." - "Who said anything about arresting."

I over heard my co-worker chatting it up one day, and got curious, as I remembered that terrible trailer. After watching it, I thought this must be one of the most well art directed movie in recent days. The selection of cool buildings in this movie would make any architecture buffs cry. I also thought it's pretty brilliant of them to tie this "International style" embraced by the world with corporate evils, how it's faceless, efficient, and unassuming.

If you're an art director, this needs to be part of your collection. The plot was not bad, its just that last scene. The "can't arrest me / who said arresting" exchange is synonymous with "I'm too old for this shit". Someone seriously needs to build an "overused movie dialogue database" for screen writers.

30 miles west of boston there's a city called Stow, and in that town, there's a really cute farm called Honeypot farm. We went there for apple picking over the weekend. It is not my first picking activity, but it's definitely the most fruitful one ever.

I've always had a special feeling towards apple trees. My parents planted one in my grandfather's garden when they got married, and another when my mom was pregnant with me. Every year, for as long as I can remember, my family, along with my cousins' would collect a full bushel of apples from the two trees. The apples were not particularly attractive looking nor sweet, but I always enjoyed the freshness of them. To me, the trees also were the proof that my parents are extraordinary, since they possessed the power of making trees bare fruit.

As China's environment deteriorated in the 90s, so did the two trees and the rest of the plants in my grandfather's garden. What used to be a tiny oasis for us in the city during the 80s quickly became an empty, colorless yard. The trees from the Honeypot farm are far bigger and bore far more fruit than the apple trees in my memory. When I walked along them, smelling that apple wood flavored air, seeing the unpicked, ripened apples on the ground, my overloaded senses made me think of the days where my grandfather stood in his garden, smiling at his grandchildren, giggling around apple trees.

Polaroid of the week this week continues on our Fall theme. I just can't get over it. New England's fall is beautiful, besides the maple trees turning red, there are this type of birch trees turning bright golden yellow around my apartment and office.

Fall's upon Boston. Loved this random light that got into the camera.

I kicked my self for not making the foliage trip last fall, and this year I was determined to see it in its glory. Turns out, it was more stunning than what everyone has already told me. Glad I went. O, and I'm sorry Shoshanna, for not making it to the house warming party. :-/

Fall started across from my apartment today.

BAM!

I never cooked crabs my self in my life... until now. Sorry little fella...

Sally did most of the killing though, I mainly was responsible for eating. :-/

one Silver and one Bronze, not too shabby I guess. It was a fun night.