GreensandBrowns

favorite beers

2012-01-19T21:50:00.001-08:00

C-Monster has turned me on to a new idea for the blog. Inspiration abounds everywhere; topics and questions found in email threads are no different. I figure I can use pieces of email responses to re-purpose in this medium or respond to interesting inquiries from time to time here. As my favorite brother-in-law likes to say, "Fabulous!"

This afternoon she reached out to me and asked the following question:

what are your top 5 fav beers of all time?

Everyone has their own unique experience with adult soda. Craft brews and home brewing have never been so popular while many just never grow to love it. In either case, I think people generally lie when they claim that they fell in love with beer from the beginning. As they say, it's an acquired passion. Unfortunately, I can't consume too much beer in one sitting anymore. I feel uncomfortably full and fret about the calories that pile up in my gut, knowing full well that my slowing metabolism won't be able to break down the sugars.

But it's part of a progression - I drank it because I had to, I pretended that I liked it, one day I loved it, I prided myself on drinking dark beers and claimed Guinness was my favorite, I crafted a couple of brews at a local shop, I considered myself an expert at some point (I never was). All of this happened in high school and college. I drank pricey local craft brews with my friends. We'd discuss what we were drinking, thinking that we knew something. "Well, this particular IPA has a floral finish...so we should probably drink 12 of those each as fast as we can". Looking back, I should have been getting loaded on 25 cent beers. We never drank as an end in itself, we were always drinking as a means.

And then I got just a bit older. I noticed that my poor diet and drinking habits were visibly settling on my stomach. I rarely drink dark beer anymore. Drinking even three beers usually causes sluggishness and fatigue throughout the next day. Throwing back a few suds at a ballgame isn't desirable either. I just sit in my plastic seat, bloated beyond belief.

But don't get me wrong. I still love beer. Once you do, you never stop. You can't stop. You just have to learn to negotiate with your body (and your wife), find moments when you can extend yourself just a little further to tap into those days when you could really drink.

Anyway, here they are (or here's what I can think of). Keep in mind these are not in any particular order and may actually change in a week or two. Note, no dark beers or india pale ales on this list

Kona Longboard Lager. I can't think of the taste at the moment so I can't describe in this post. However, I really like it and almost always choose it over other beers when jumbled in a cooler together. It's a shame I didn't visit the brewery when I was on the Big Island several years ago. This is a beer I've enjoyed more recently - last 4-5 years, and didn't really consider it in undergrad.

Sam Adams Boston Lager. Every time I drink Sam Adams, I am reminded of a remarkable rose-like essence that releases. I've read that Sam Adams has one of the higher caloric counts for a beer of its kind. But it's always remained as a favorite for me.

Sudwerk Hefeweizen. Coincidentally, I was trying to remember a specific taste that I couldn't quite put my finger on from my UC Davis days. It was a beer, absolutely, but I couldn't quite remember anything else about it. But now I recall, it was this hef (unfiltered wheat beer) and I distinctly remember a lovely malt quality to it. I fully associate its nuances with my freshman dorm experience. Sudwerk is also special to me because it's a Davis microbrew. All of that makes it one fine brew on my list, and I'm making it a point to get some where I can (not readily available outside of Davis area). Wait, I might be mistaking this taste experience with Widmer Hef. Shoot.

Koshihikari Echigo. This is a beautiful beer crafted with rice rather than barley. Think floral qualities, much more delicate than I described above about Sam Adams. It's more prevalent than ever at Japanese dining establishments but runs pretty pricey compared to the Asahis and Sapporos of the world. Do yourself a favor and buy it at your local Japanese market. It's terrific.

Budweiser Lager. It's the king, what more can you say? Actually, there's a whole lot you can say. Bud is very versatile. It's a perfect way to kick start a wild night, a great beer back, and a suitable way to wind down as a last call drink or sipper after you stumble home. But those days are over now. These days, I'll drink this on nights when I'd prefer not to drink. You're drinking but you're not. You know what I mean. Bud Light is pretty excellent for this as well. Budweiser - it's an antidote for all those who claim that San Francisco is littered with beer snobs while avoiding the hipster trendiness of PBR.

Thanks to C-Monster for the question, and thanks to everyone else for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

bruce wayne, not donald draper

2012-01-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Please enable audio from this YouTube link before you read any further. I promise it will enhance your reading experience.

We are full steam ahead in 2012 or end of the world, whatever you prefer to call it. It feels like the perfect time to reflect for a moment to frame the course of action for the year that lies ahead. One of my fondest memories of 2011 came during Emmelle and my honeymoon trip to France. During our second week, we spent five glorious days on the southern coast in Nice, tanning on rock beaches and swimming in the shallow depths of topaz blue Mediterranean waters. I've never been a strong swimmer so I gladly embraced the daily afternoon challenges afforded by the sea.

Each day I reminded Emmelle that I needed to go for a dip in the ocean, to improve body and mind through the sea's rhythmic waves. My devotion to the water was reminiscent of one of Mad Men's story lines in season 4 in which Don Draper takes up swimming to improve his health. "We are so alike!" I admitted to myself as I walked toward the ocean to splash a little water on my legs, widen my toes to let the cool water wash up towards my exposed feet. My aggressively parted hair flapped gently in the breeze. While I stretched out my arms and legs, I would have mental conversations with Draper about how to romance my wife and who I might verbally accost once I returned back to work. Don and me, we had fine times.

Before I knew it, I would be in the water, flailing my arms to achieve some measurable distance from the shore. Mere seconds into each swim, my arms and shoulders fatigued, my thighs would burn unmercifully. It was not pleasurable. But it is a gentleman's exercise, I reminded myself. If it's good enough for Draper, than it surely is suited for my body.

Maybe not.

The show went away for some time, rumors of conflict between the creator and the network. In fact, season 5 will not commence until late March. Late March?! I can read the tea leaves well enough; it was time to move on. I needed to identify a new (fictitious) mentor. It dawned on me fairly quickly who that needed to be - somebody I saw in my reflection everyday. To continue my betterment as dutiful husband, business wunderkind, general man about town, my 2012 mantra is

"Be more Bruce Wayne than Donald Draper"

Once you get passed the disbelief, I already know the question that is forming in your eyes - "aren't they actually very similar? Practically the same (bad ass (fake)) guy?" I wholly understand where you are coming from. Both gentlemen are insufferably handsome, charming without peer, yet haunted by burdens of a dark, secret past. They are both orphans. They are wealthy, surround themselves with beautiful women and masterfully oversee their expanding business empires. Most importantly, they are and do all of these things in finely tailored suits.

Hhmm, on the surface, they appear quite similar; why am I making such a distinction in 2012? What does it mean to be more Dark Knight than DonDon?

Find below a short, but vital, list of key differences between DonDon and Mr. Wayne, any singular point alone worthy of the new direction I have taken.

Bruce Wayne doesn't drink. Reader, you've only been mislead to believe that you've witnessed Mr. Wayne sip fine champagne or cocktails at one of his philanthropic fundraisers. He needs to stay sharp for the criminal-fighting demands of the night. While he is famous for holding a drink in his hand, he's adept at slipping away to discard its contents. While I'm not claiming a year off the sauce completely, I'm definitely giving my liver a break here and there.
Donald Draper is a chronic philanderer. While Don would have us feel pity on his ever-growing, internal conflict of right and wrong, it's tough to paint a rosy portrayal of his inability to keep his pants on (outside of the pool). He's selectively compassionate to his children and employees just enough for his fans to latch onto that thread of morality. However, his bottom half is bankrupt of honesty or loyalty. He is a monstrous sexual, sexy villain. Contrarily, Mr. Wayne has demonstrated incredible devotion to just a handful of women over the last 50 years or so. His loyalty bleeds so deep that he risks his life even for the likes of Katie Holmes and beardless Jake Gyllenhall. We can all learn something here.
Donald Draper is a creative. In 2011, I left a planning and consulting arm of my company because of a misguided shift by the leadership to approach our projects with a greater creative perspective. Rather than deliver strategic recommendations to clients rooted in data and analytics, the group began to make ill-advised suggestions based on feelings and (retarded) intuition. This sounds crazy, right? Well, actually, this is what DonDon does. If you have the gift to be convincing without any material proof, you're never going to stop. Creative work belongs to left-brained English lit majors who become comatose as soon as you mention any numbers. I'd rather find solutions (and bring notorious criminals to justice) by means of rigorous analysis.
Bruce Wayne is not beholden to offspring. It's pretty difficult to maintain a demanding professional/social calendar while tending to young children. DonDon is conflicted by it, yet his response is to ignore the issue altogether and resigned to remain a terrible father with a future filled with terrible adult children. Mr. Wayne will probably punish these kids one day as they peddle cheap narcotics on the street. I'd rather pursue the independence that Mr. Wayne exhibits - beholden to just one human being in his life, and that one human being refers to him as "Master" and cooks his meals and tidies his palace. I can go for that.
Bruce Wayne is a ninja. Self-explanatory.

So, there is your list. A compelling, incontestable documentation of why Donald Draper will cease to be my fashion/love/work guru and will fade into my subconscious while The Dark Knight uses his grappling gun and advanced weaponry latch onto the forefront of all my intuition and decision-making. It's a new year, and I'm aiming for some drastic improvements.

Happy new year!

To conclude, as I frequently like to write whenever I offer discourse on Batman, ninjas, or Batman and ninjas, yes, I am married, and yes, I am in my thirties.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

mendocino bed and breakfast

2012-01-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

It's been quite some time since my last long-winded blog post. Even if I tried, I couldn't produce anything at this moment. Just like anything else, you have to dust off the cob webs and slowly churn the gears back into solid working condition. Everything goes stale if unused. I need a recharge with my overly verbose writing style.

But until I'm refueled, I'll try my best to tell stories with photos. The ones below are from a recent two night trip that Emmelle and I took after our first Christmas holiday as a married couple. The retreat served as a relaxing getaway after days of familial get-togethers. Married couples can pontificate all they want to about the advantages and disadvantages of having family near or far, but it's really pointless. If distance prevails, you long for a grand family reunion to invoke holiday memories of years past. If your family lurks near, you want to slam the gas pedal in the opposite direction - maybe north to a Mendocino bed and breakfast.

There are some really nice wineries on the way to Mendocino. Our favorite was the Goldeneye vineyard where we sampled some tasty pinots and even a Duckhorn cab. It's renewed a desire to be passionate and knowledgeable about wine. I'm skeptical though, I'm not sure I'll ever feel strongly about grape juice. However, I'll just have to make a habit of buying expensive bottles to make sure.

Emmelle exploring the Mendocino coastline. We carved our names into the massive trunk of this tree and had a romantic picnic lunch (there is a chance that this last sentence is completely false).

While Mendocino county is vast, the actual city is incredibly small. Visits that far north usually include a further ten minute drive north along the coast to Fort Bragg, home of the famed Glass Beach. In the forties and fifties, locals used the beach as a dumping area. Years of ocean waves and salt have corroded some of the trash and have yielded a colorful array of glass pieces along the shore. I believe the beach used to be more abundant with colors, but visitors have ignored the county's mandate to leave the beautiful litter for others to enjoy. It's certainly worth seeing, yet it's hard to determine whether some pieces have been "naturally" birthed by Mother Nature or it's simply beer bottle shards of a rowdy high school party from the previous weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

hakushu 12 years

2012-01-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of weeks ago, my doctor requested that I reduce my alcohol consumption for a short period of time. His timing couldn't be worse as we headed full steam into the holiday imbibing season, but alas, I'm a dutiful and frightened patient. Now, I'm not exactly sure what he meant by 'reduce', but I've miraculously committed to sobriety since his scrooge-like mandate. And while I continue to abstain from my God-given right to drunkenness (for the time being), it would seem appropriate to commence the new year with a quick, mindless post about a new alcohol that I've discovered.

This is not a tasting note on the Hakushu 12 year that you see below. It remains unopened and sits regally on our bookshelf. It calls to me in the night like something that calls something in the dark. It's fairly new to the United States and I have yet to see it carried by large vendors. I'm intrigued by its green bottle and look forward to comparing it to the Yamazaki 12 years. I imagine it will be a bit lighter with less smoke. But I can only speculate. These are dark times friends.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

christmas card, 2011

2011-12-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

It's been a memorable year in the GreensandBrowns family. We trust it was the same for you. We here at GreensandBrowns are elated that ___________ happened for you this year. Who would have thought?! We're looking forward to more of __________ in 2012!!! Blast (yourself) off.

Christmas card 2009
Christmas card 2008

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

weekend weathermen

2011-12-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

I sometimes forget why I choose not to post too many photos of myself on this blog. And then I download photos from the trusted Nikon D60 like the one below onto my hard drive to remember exactly why. But what a delightful green backdrop. We should have been giving the weekend weather forecast.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

susan & yosup wedding reception presentation

2011-12-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Back in August, Mean Miss Colonel Mustard and her beau (we don't know his name yet) wed. Their wedding was filled with white flowers and what not.

But the three reception speeches presented by their three dear siblings were easily the most compelling and lasting moments of a truly special day. After laughter and tear-filled speeches (and song) from the Best Man and Maid of Honor, I took my (unwelcome) turn at the mic. It should be noted that Emmelle suggested that we cancel my presentation due to being behind schedule for nearly the entire day. But that was the fault of the priest and his terribly long ceremony. "Wouldn't it be better to trim the First Dance and cake cutting tradition?" I challenged.

And you know what? The Best Man (Togna) and I had so many gulps of blended whiskey before our speeches (to best prepare ourselves to slur our words and take forever on stage) that by the time the late night activities commenced, I was not in any mental state to remember a First Dance or cake cutting. Alas, all great things are overly planned, eagerly anticipated...and vanish.

The presentation below is slightly modified from the original, as I had to compensate for some PowerPoint animations that cannot be viewed on SlideShare.

Susan & Yosup wedding reception presentation

View more presentations from GreensandBrowns

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

more emmelle

2011-12-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

I've got so much to say and share, and no time (read: lazy) to do it. When in a crunch, I can't go wrong with a simple shot of the wife-ling, especially when the subject rests in front of a colorful backdrop.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

emmelle at de young museum

2011-11-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

Holy crap it's been a long time since my last update. Need to be better - enjoyed this shot from De Young Museum a couple of months ago. Marriage life has happened and continues...

Thanks for stopping by (even though there are never any updates).

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

WhiskyFest preview

2011-09-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

I will be attending the 5th annual WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 7, hosted this year at the San Francisco Marriott for a cool $139 (fee included).

It's highly recommended that guests spit out the delicious life-giving malt from their mouths after an adequate tasting has been achieved, similar to a wine tasting. I will do no such thing. So, I am dubious as to whether I will be in a physical state to take proper notes during the several seminars over the course of the three hour event (let alone remain awake), but my plan is to hit up these specific topics:

7:00 - 7:45 pm
Robin Coupar, Senior Brand Manager, The Glenrothes
Vintage Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Why Maturity matters, not age. Taste through different vintages of The Glenrothes to see first-hand, the influence of spirit and oak. *New Vintage Release*

7:45 - 8:30 pm
Neyah White, Brand Ambassador, Yamazaki Single Malts
Suntory Time: The Art of Japanese Whisky
Neyah White, West Coast Brand Ambassador for Suntory whisky will lead his tasting of a full flight of Yamazaki and Hibiki whiskies. Experience the smooth, complex and uniquely Japanese characteristics that have made Yamazaki 12, 18, and the exceptionally rare 25 year old, international award-winners. Neyah will also present Hibiki 12. First seen by Americans in the feature film "Lost In Translation", starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson, Hibiki 12 has just been introduced to the American market and is no longer "lost" to American whisky lovers. "Suntory Time" is not to be missed.....

8:30 - 9:15pm
Martin Daraz, Brand Ambassador, Highland Park
Last Call with Martin Daraz
End your Whisky Fest San Francisco on a high note; come and sample "the best spirit in the world" with Martin Daraz, native Scotsmand and Brand Ambassador for the Highland Park Distillery in the USA. We will be nosting and tasting five expressions from Highland Park 12 year old all the way up to Highland Park 30 year old.

Good times lie ahead. Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

slide show from our wedding reception

2011-08-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Music:
"Chances" by Five for Fighting
"Pictures of You" by The Cure
"The Rollercoaster Ride" by Belle and Sebastian
"What is Life" by George Harrison
"The Joker" by The Steve Miller Band

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

(not so) baby chloe and baby dylan

2011-08-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

A weekend trip to southern California afforded Emmelle, C-Monster and me to visit our favorite family in Thousand Oaks. I had my camera to snap a few pictures of the photogenic tots. It also reminded me that I've neglected my photo journal duties of our wedding. So let's get back into the swing of things with some adorable photos of the younglings.

Baby Chloe, (a.k.a. our co-flower girl) who is no longer a baby with her fourth birthday arriving in a matter of weeks. She owned (hogged) our wedding reception dance floor, much to the delight of pretty much everyone in attendance. She is a scene stealer, this one. Chloe's father has been relegated to Muppet Babies' nanny status.

Proudly showing off vastly improving motor skills and Auntie Emmelle's gift - Hello Kitty stickers.

And here is Baby Dylan, who from here on out will be referred to as Baby Godzilla, hell-bent on razing all of older sister's possessions and projects. But let's cut Baby Godzilla some slack. His mother's refusal to cut his hair leaves him partially blind. He has no idea where he's going.

And why is Baby Godzilla smiling below? Because [insert name here] got bludgeoned over the head with a [blunt or sharp object]. That is funny. This occurred after older sister demanded his removal from the Hello Kitty nail application appointment because "it's for girls. Dylan is a boy". This is not fully accurate. Dylan is half boy, half green lizard who terrorizes his older sister (and the Japanese). Moments later, he stole older sister's new nail polish, slammed it shut in his tiny foot-operated vehicle and sped away. He would return later to trample all over a puzzle older sister was working on. Roar!

He is inspiring.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

rooster cafe in irvine

2011-08-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Exclusive 12-course fine dining experience at the chef's table or a quick morning bite counter-side at a local diner? No one knows for sure. Great company though.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

i'm going to build a spaceship then

2011-08-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Nearly three months into our relationship, I regret not being able to capture and save the numerous conversations at the dinner table, in the car, tucked in bed for future viewing and sharing. Perhaps those conversations are best kept in private and floated into the ether.

Regardless, at least there's Gmail chat.

Whenever possible (and noteworthy), I'll try to post quips and anecdotes related to Emmelle and my most critical discussions. Such as the one below. "Critical".

Thanks for stopping by! Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

the yusan wedding

2011-08-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

Preview clip from videographer. Congratulations to the happy couple; it's always life affirming to see two people who clearly belong together, come together.

Susan and Yosup // SDE from N Compass Cinema on Vimeo.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

nearing the quarter mark

2011-07-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dear reader,

We hope you are well. It goes without saying that it certainly has been awhile. Blog postings have been sparse (read: almost non-existent) since Mr. GreensandBrowns and Emmelle tied the knot and returned from their sublime honeymoon. Our editorial team certainly expected to update these pages frequently with all sorts of quips and anecdotes about Year One of life as Mister and Misses. We’ve missed the mark, but there is still so much time! Plus,we offer an extremely vague excuse here.

Without going into any detail whatsoever, we can assure you that the two are currently engaged in all manners of mischievous scheming. Just the first phase of planning has consumed unthinkable hours and it’s about to become much more complex. Unfortunately, there are minimal photographs, videos, few content pieces of any kind for posterity to direct you to at this moment. But know this. They are plotting in the shadows. Inconspicuously mapping out their plan to establish their empire and pillage, plunder and conquer the world (or at least their own household). Just wait.

Until then, we are grateful for your patience.

Stay tuned for updates on Mr. GreensandBrowns latest adventures and musings. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Sincerely,

The GreensandBrowns team

wedding photos: pauly sprocket and the groomsmen five

2011-07-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

We recently received our edited wedding photos and are still in the process of viewing, sorting, commenting and generally enjoying the collection. Rather than to share them chronologically, I plan to devote a few GreensandBrowns entries of the key players over the next couple of months (At this current pace, my plan is to complete my thoughts on our eventful day within a year's time). Here's a look at the first batch of photos, focused around the groom and groomsmen.

The beginnings of a truly handsome day. Here's yours truly at the Cypress hotel, putting together the look that will be treasured by millions for years to come.

Our budget allowed us to fly out a wedding day ironing specialist (note: we didn't fly him out). Outside of the complaining, Eddie Money did a more than satisfactory job with the shirts, ties and pocket squares. Check out the beautiful time piece! You'd imagine his services would include boxer brief pressing as well to afford such a handsome piece of wrist candy. He doesn't though; we checked.

From left to right: Laser, Eddie Money, Togna and the groom. Yes, handsome gentlemen also put their pants on one leg at a time. It's unclear whether Togna is wearing pants by this point. Federal Investigation (bless his soul) was out running last minute errands. The bride's brother would arrive later in the afternoon.

A thoughtful gift from the groomsmen. A handsomely crafted cask strength Highland Park, bottled in 1986 and aged 22 years. Sweet and powerful smoke. This is where the bottle started on the wedding day after a few nips the night before and was a reliable companion to squelch nerves leading up to the ceremony.

Scratching off my second to last to-do item of the day in between drams of the Highland Park and a High West bourbon. The hand-written list included "go to the hotel gym", "buy soda" and "give rings to best man" all in my very handsome penmanship. The one remaining item? "Get married!"

Federal Investigation returns just in time to help Togna put his pants on. Is Togna more handsome with or without his pants on? The debate rages on...

Direction from Jason Wu, our photographer: "Can you guys try to be less handsome? My camera is overheating." (Spoiler alert: It didn't work):

With the brother-in-law, a contrast (and complement) of handsome head styles.

From left to right: Handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome. Also, Eddie Money practicing for post-reception activities.

Attempting to tone down the handsome level during the ceremony. It's obviously too difficult.

The best man lying at every opportunity throughout the best man's speech. Handsomely done.

Forgetting to be handsome. Shame.

Grabbing the attention of all the women with some handsome dance moves.

Federal Investigation is too handsome to be impressed with the size of anything (or anyone):

You can't be the six handsomest guys all day long and not expect that there wouldn't be some sort of night-end acknowledgment (caressing). Impossible; we are only (handsome) human. Eddie Money was finally able to find a suitable partner to apply his much practiced techniques.

I wake up the next morning and continue to keep it handsome. I have yet to take this expression off my face.

Thanks to Jason Wu for the amazing photos. While he certainly had some handsome subjects to work with, we love the way he brought it all to life! It'll be even more evident in future posts of the beautiful bride. Quick shout out for the Jason Wu blog as well.

And a great big thanks to the groomsmen. I am humbled and forever in gratitude for your humor, intellect, wit, generosity and friendship. Keep it handsome.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

france - time lapse

2011-06-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Crank this bad boy up to 1080p and enjoy. This concludes all thoughts and images from France (for tonight).

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (nice)

2011-06-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

In the blog world, I'm about a month behind as I am just now finally catching up on reviewing pictures taken during the second week of our honeymoon. No matter, I think I'll be playing a little catch up for months to come. I'm quite sure that I'll still be opining about our wedding day six months down the road.

So without wasting anymore time, here's a little from the beach side city of Nice, tucked away neatly along the western side of the French Riviera, just miles from the Italian border. We (famously) lost internet connectivity during this leg of the trip. Besides the pain brought upon my readership's inability to keep abreast of all our of our French escapades, this also prevented Emmelle and I from planning any activities. Thus, the beach town kept us hostage - swimming, shopping, and general frolicking...It's a charmed life (or it was).

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

the best man

2011-06-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

The best man's speech from the best man. I think that Togna, one of the groomsmen, put it best when he said that this was Laser's "shining moment...in his entire life".

Thank you Laser. While there were glaring half-truths and outright lies sprinkled throughout your speech, you get a pass on this one. We'll never forget it.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (6th full day)

2011-05-31T01:09:00.000-07:00

I'm cheating. It's actually the morning of day seven as I write this and Emmelle and I are safe and sound in the comforts of our rented one bedroom condo in Nice. I am sure I am the first American to ever say this: Nice is nice!

We hopped on a 7:45am train from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris and arrived here at just past 1:20pm yesterday. The ride down was fairly quick and in some instances, wonderfully idyllic. We passed through rural farmlands, wine vineyards and picturesque beach towns with apartment complexes (or rich people's homes?!) constructed on cliff sides right along the water. Just like you see in photos of towns near the Mediterranean say to yourself, "I want to go to there" (trademark Liz Lemon from 30 Rock).

We took very few pictures yesterday because we did so little, but promise to put together some choice cuts tonight. I promise! The sun was out and air warm yesterday, providing a perfect beach lounging day that we were unfortunately too tired to take advantage of. But, we did muster enough energy to relax by an outdoor bar on the sand (rocks) and grocery shop for our modern design home for the week.

It's the type of home that you see in Dwell magazine, white walls, high ceilings, rustic wood flooring, compact but full of character in its ability to creatively shove in as many home appliances as possible. The washer is in the kitchen (no dryer), the fridge is a pull-out cupboard, etc. I'm sure it's nothing innovative to what already exists in billions of large European cities, and maybe some NYC modern homes for that matter.

And thereafter, I took a nap around 5pm and slept until 4am this morning. These deleterious naps have been eye opening (pun intended) to say the least. I don't think I'm jet lagged anymore; I just think that given the option to choose leisurely traveler as a profession, I would surely spend a quarter of the daytime on a bed/couch/body lying apparatus completely unconscious.

Speaking of leisurely travel, I feel great to have reached a life stage in which (1) I've found the perfect travel (and life) partner to complement my quirky characteristics and "elementary" needs (Emmelle's description); (2) I've reached a point in my career that monetarily affords me easy travel abroad. These are great things. What's not so great is a nagging back pain that has substantially worsened during our time here. I am popping Advil multiple times a day just to keep up with Emmelle, and I know that a condition like this can only be alleviated temporarily, and most likely can never be permanently healed. This is life I suppose; as soon as we are of a sound mind and healthy, supportive environment, our physical abilities betray us. It's like an aging athlete, especially Magic Johnson.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (5th full day)

2011-05-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last full day in Paris (we'll be trekking to Nice tomorrow morning pretty much all day and head back up on Saturday in time for one last hotel check-in and dinner). Our last full day turned out to be a lazy Sunday, consisting of (finally) a later start to the day, lunch at Le Comtpoir du Relais and a disappointing visit to the Soucre Cour Basilica on Monmartre. Many of the shops were closed today (Sunday) and rather than try to sniff out some shopping opportunities, we felt it best to spend the evening in our panda cave and detox from the week's mighty consumption.

Thus, today, all I really am interested in sharing is our Le Comptoir lunch experience. To freshen your memory, I'm providing a link to the third part of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations 100th episode in Paris. The show features Le Comptoir starting at 0:53, a restaurant Bourdain calls "the hardest reservation in Paris" and a place that Eric Ripert refers to as "the perfect bistro". Of all the recommendations made during the episode, this was by far, the one place I had to dine at before the end of our trip. True to the show, dinner reservations, when the constantly changing prix fixe menu is available, are nearly impossible. The restaurant holds several reservations for guests of the adjacent hotel (owned by the chef) and non-hotel guests have been famously known to make reservations six months in advance. Let me add to the legend; I've heard it takes in upwards of 16 months to get a dinner reservation. My goodness!

Fortunately, there a la carte lunch menu doesn't require reservations, and we made it a point to arrive early to make sure we were a part of the first seating at noon. Success! After multiple views of the episode above and read-through of dozens of reviews, I found myself a bit giddy and nervous all at once. The French-only menu exacerbated my nervousness. I needed Emmelle and a carafe of Rose to calm me down and remind me that it's just food. It's just food. But man, the cuisine evokes long-lasting smiles, even the "lesser" lunch menu. The highlights:

1. Nicoise salad. We wanted to wait on nicoise salads until we arrived in Nice. But, we really needed something fresh and green; it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Notice the pickled garlic.

2. Deviled eggs. Bourdain's companion at the restaurant during the episode above mentions that he frequents Le Comptoir regularly during lunch service specifically for the oeuf mayonnaise. I'm sure the servers at the restaurant mentally roll their eyes any time American tourists order this dish now, but I couldn't pass it up. This dish is actually very stellar. It's really all about the homemade mayonnaise - rich but not heavy, tangy and bright, even some mustard quality to it. We've eaten nothing quite like it.

3. Lobster ravioli from today's specials. If you go back to the Le Comptoir bit in the No Reservations episode, you'll see Bourdain rave about a blood sausage ravioli dish that was part of his prix fixe dinner. The ravioli pasta we ate today is similar but with a lobster filling and wonderful lobster bisque foam. Not at all cheap, but probably my favorite dish of the day.

Not pictured: Toasted sandwich of smoked salmon and caviar with oozing white cheese, dessert that we regrettable did not order. Shame.

More to come from Nice.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (4th full day)

2011-05-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

We haven't rhythmically acclimated ourselves to the Parisian day as of yet, and I'm beginning to think we won't through the duration of our trip. Beside the jet lag, the amount of daylight France receives at this time of year has confused our unsuspecting bodies. Darkness doesn't descend until 10pm or so, and while we've enjoyed it immensely, we physically haven't been able to handle so much daytime. I'm curious to see if this light pattern changes even in the slightest when we trek five hours towards the equator to Nice.

0. We started our day at the Musee d'Orsay to immerse ourselves in the state's modern art collection. The collection is impressive. And not to be outdone, the actual building (a converted train station) is beautiful as well. You would think that the combination of the two would have made for some terrific photo opportunities. But no, nobody informed us that photos are not allowed to be taken inside the Museum. Where were you on that one, Rick Steves (I'm sure his book actually says something about this; who has time to read)?

I was highly disappointed throughout our visit, even while going through some memorable paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, et al. I've never really paid attention to Monet's work (which has always saddened him), but his paintings this time around really caught my attention. I am a fan. I would show you specifically which paintings struck me the deepest, but again, I took no pictures, and you can't find any images of the paintings online - after all, no pictures are allowed to be taken at the Musee d'Orsay. I would be shocked to find anything on the internets, as this would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules.

1. We waited until the fourth day to visit the Eiffel Tower. As suggested by many friends, we stocked our backpack with some goodies to picnic at the park across the Seine River from the tower. We enjoyed the scenic view with a couple of tasty cheeses, salami, smoked salmon, warm baguette and a not-so-great rose wine. It made me think why we don't picnic like this at home. It's so easily replicated and perhaps more enjoyable without sad-looking Senegalese vendors hocking their Eiffel Tower trinkets nearby. Besides the baguette, similar and comparable product can be easily procured at our local grocer. I love San Francisco, and really, I need to appreciate it a bit more.

2. After our picnic, we stormed the famed Champ de Elysees for one specific purpose: Laduree Macarons. After exhaustive research, Emmelle concluded that this would be the spot for us to experience a Parisian Macaron. While my macaron consumption has been limited only to Paulette's and Miette's in San Francisco, I didn't think the French-made confectionery would be so much better than its San Francisco counterpart. We quickly made our way through a box of 16 or 17 of the sweet sandwiches, and I've now concluded I need to conduct a side-by-side taste comparison to Paulette's.

Actually, I don't. Laduree is superior, and that is no knock on the delicious Paulette sandwich. Laduree excels in offering a multitude of textures and fillings. You can't really predict what a new piece will taste like based on the one you just finished off. I was particularly pleased the orange macaron which reminded me of an orange creme soda. The interplay between the chewy coated shell and the velvety filling are executed masterfully in each of their offerings.

3. For the fourth day in a row, we took a 3 - 4 hour nap. As a result, we barely made our 10:30pm dinner reservation at La Fontaine de Mars near the Eiffel Tower. The location of the restaurant was ideal as it afforded us an opportunity to check out the Eiffel Tower in the dark, it's iron-clad magnificence illuminated by seemingly a thousand lights. It's quite a different crowd at nighttime (at least on this night). Tourists were still definitely identifiable by their cameras, but the lawn area was overtaken for the most part by young Parisians drinking and passing the time, barely aware of the dominant edifice that stood right above them. While the city barricades the lawn (not sure if this is temporary) by way of some low-level fencing, the obstacle is easily overcome, and young people dominated the grounds until police officers arrived to ruin the night time frivolity. I can't tell if this is a recurring interaction between civilian and state, but it didn't seem like a foreign concept to anyone involved.

Oh by the way, I probably ate the best cooked fish dish of my life at the restaurant - a sea bass on the daily special menu (Emmelle's keen order). I keep watching TV shows describe the importance of a crispy fish skin, and we finally had it. I've thrown around a lot of hyperbole with the food we've had here thus far, but really, I mean it.

Last full day in Paris tomorrow before we train down to Nice early Monday morning. We'll have to make it a memorable one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (3rd full day)

2011-05-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Bonjour! Here's a quick synopsis of our third day in Paris, highlighted by our day trip to Versailles and the ridiculously gaudy Palace.

1. Today, Versailles is a suburb of Paris but it's mainly known for the Palace. It was roughly a 30 minute train ride from the RER train station near the Eiffel Tower. The walking tour consists of pretty much the entire grounds - the castle itself and an eight mile stretch of beauty for sure, but obscene decadence as well. So much of the history learned in Paris revolves around the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century, which eventually led to the complete dismantling of the French monarchy. One look through this place, and it's clear to see why poorer than poor peasants and working class would revolt against the nobility. Don't get me wrong; the Palace is mesmerizing - just take a look at the Hall of Mirrors below:

What was even more entertaining than the walking tour was watching Emmelle's reactions throughout. Her daydreaming eyes revealed all; she was imagining living on these grounds, holding court over her loyal subjects. My wife, she reads too many books. For some reason, if she were to indeed be a queen, I feel as though I would only be elevated to prince status. Hhmm.

2. Rick Steves, you are everywhere in this city, and I'm sure that's the case throughout all parts of Europe with American visitors. There's always a brief, awkward moment when Rick Steves disciples make eye contact with each other and try to slightly adjust the book into a more inconspicuous position. I believe this is a wasted opportunity to connect with like-minded travelers to knowledge share. C'mon Rick, you should write a chapter in an upcoming edition on how one should introduce and engage with others traveling the Rick Steves way.

Tangent: notice the beautiful French press on Emmelle's fingertips, a remaining vestige from our near-one week old wedding. Ah, those were the days.

3. Unfortunately, there are no memorable food experiences to discuss from our just completed third day. We did attempt to walk into a small, highly regarded mom and pop bistro near the Louvre but were denied as the chef told us they were full for the night. Whatever that means. Racists.

But this would be the perfect time to share our dear affection for the ubiquitous jambon buerre sandwich. It's a very common Parisian snack consisting of thinly sliced ham (nothing special) and butter in a thin baguette. You can really go crazy by adding cheese, maybe even lettuce and tomatoes if you like to live on the wilder side. Again, it is another simple food that is perfectly delicious. And it can be so easily replicated elsewhere; I am dumbfounded why more US lunch spots don't serve this. Oh yeah, we have Subway. Yum.

We've dabbled in a couple of variations, but my preference is for the classic version with a few slices of cheese.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (2nd full day)

2011-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Second day completed in this beautiful city, and I've got a few pictures to share before I close my eyes for the night. We've already gotten into a comfortable routine of waking very early in the morning to visit sites, coming back to our hotel room for three to four hour naps and heading back out for dinner around nine. It feels very European, and I can't help but question the work ethic of this country (Europe in general sans Germany). We might try to break our established routine tomorrow by heading outside of the city, but no complaints - this schedule has been very accommodating to us thus far...

1. I don't really have anything to say about this pic. I just liked the seat colors (coated in French patriotism) of this particular Metro station. Paris' public transportation system is efficient like every other international city that I've been in, and begs questions, as always, about San Francisco's embarrassing MUNI system.

2. The day's tourist activities were concentrated around Notre Dame Cathedral and Sainte Chapelle. Emmelle tells me that Notre Dame is the largest Catholic church in the world. It is indeed very majestic when you walk into the church, but I can't help but wonder, how much would we (the world) care if Victor Hugo hadn't written Hunchback? The views of the city from the tower are terrific.

As for Sainte Chapelle - wow. Pretty stunning.

3. I recently wrote on the blog that whenever we dine at a high end French or Japanese restaurant, I feel as though I may possibly be encountering my "best meal ever". It's always in play with these two specific cuisines, and I think it makes sense because they share common characteristics unlike any other type of cuisine - precision, delicacy, balance, the utmost care in quality. These similar qualities may have provoked my subconscious to specifically search for a Parisian dining experience that would merge Japanese/French flavor profiles with French/Japanese techniques into one cohesive epicurean adventure. I think we succeeded with Concert de Cuisine (I would hyperlink to the website if only I could actually find it).

I've listed our tasting menu below (5 courses), so let me just say that the foie gras is one of the best dishes I've ever had in my life. The mastermind behind this restaurant decided that foie gras would pair nicely with unagi. I'm not sure I'll ever get to try something like this again, but...wow. It was unbelievable, and even now, reminiscing on our culinary adventure from just hours ago, I am a bit overwhelmed (and emotional). I read online that the uni at times is layered into the foie gras. I hyperventilate just thinking about that.

Additional highlights included a breaded and fried veal dish (Emmelle pointed out possible play on a katsu dish) in a rich miso and cheese sauce, a firm white cheese served during the cheese course that distinctly featured a fermented miso flavor (or perhaps the courses prior drew out those particular flavor components in the cheese?), the cod in yuzu dish during the fish course, both of our desserts. Simply exceptional and a definite recommendation for anyone that asks me where to go in Paris.

I came to France with the expectation that we wouldn't necessarily be trying anything new; French techniques and flavors have inspired pretty much every fine dining experience in the States. Thus, I thought we would really be experiencing a perfect execution of those familiar flavors and dishes. But Concert de Cuisine was a departure into something new and exciting - and I'm really looking forward to the harmonious convergence of French and Japanese fare in San Francisco at some point soon.

Here's all of the things we had (I'm just copying them verbatim from the menu):

Entree (first course)
* Steak de thon mi-cuit au wasabi, salade croquante shisho
* Terrine de foie gras et anguille teriyaki aux epices sansho

Poisson (Fish course)
* Encornet grille teppan-yaki aux legumes saisons
* Cabillaud grille et crevette au yuzu pimente, asperge blanche

Viande (Meat course)
* Entrecote grillee, choux verts, asperge, oignons rouges confits
* Gratine de carre de veau au miso de kyoto (saikyo-miso)

Fromage (Cheese course)

Dessert (um, dessert)
* Fraises en gelee de umeshu, glace miel lavande
* Paris-Kyoto (pate a choux, glace sesame noire, kinako)

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

honeymoon in france (1st full day)

2011-05-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

We're finally in France! It's the second night of our honeymoon and completion of our first full day that was mainly spent at the Louvre, mixed in with a visit to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and some decent eats to keep us going. While a daily summary of the day's events is ambitious to say the least, I'll try to post up to a handful of choice cuts from the day's take.

Doesn't that sound splendid?!

1. View from Arc de Triomphe which happens to be walking distance from our hotel:

2. Breakfast. I've noticed thus far that simple is more. If tasked to make two eggs and cheese look as appetizing (and delicious) as this, I couldn't come close:

3. The Louvre. We went in the morning at open, and came back again in the dark to bask in the lights (will post more from the Louvre at a later time; don't want to miss out on an opportunity to share epic male nudity). There is much too see, but too many visitors to keep your sanity and maintain full appreciation.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

wedding ceremony programs

2011-05-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

There's some content on the inside as well.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

reception menu

2011-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

We're in the home stretch. Years from now, in a completely unrelated argument, Emmelle will remind me about how I spent the week prior to our wedding week in New York, physically displaced from our last minute preparatory needs. Even now, I regret not being available for this critical stretch.

There are still a few items that need tidying up, but we fortunately completed one key task yesterday - our reception drink and food menus. I actually created these in PowerPoint, and Emmelle purchased a special card stock (approved after testing paper softness by rubbing on our chests and cheeks) for home printing. It makes me wonder if we could have gone this route for our invitations and saved a little coin. But at this late stage in the game, those completed details aren't an issue; I just might make the suggestion for future husband-wives to be.

Anyway, our menu consists of Asian-inspired dishes to complement the Japanese Tea Garden where the reception will take place. The small bites served during the cocktail hour are consistent with the yellow peoples' theme as well (But our theme is purple, so it's actually quite confusing). Many of the dishes have been replaced since our tasting from several months ago, so I'm a little curious how everything will turn out. I've personally never had a memorable dining experience at a wedding so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the food is forgettable - in the best way possible.

I'm still keen on the idea of serving kimchee and sriracha sauce in some way. Emmelle is vehemently opposed to this idea. I speculate that it has nothing to do with tackiness, but mostly because these essential food items are red and not in line with our purple (and yellow) color scheme. I'll have to put in a special request for radicchio kimchee; the cock sauce can't be salvaged in this situation.

I'll leave this post with some menu ideas that the bride vetoed on the draft table. I thought it would be great if we could elevate the Asian cuisine theme by giving each dish a suitable Asian-inspired name. The names in parentheses, as you can see, did not make it to print:

pork & chive dumplings (dragon droppings preserved in small intestine casing)
shaking beef (panda loin, cubed)
vietnamese style garlic prawns (tiger cub penis)
thai eggplant (jellied thai elephant bone marrow)
asparagus (green-dyed crane legs)

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

ardbeg 10 years

2011-04-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Islay (pronounced "I-luh") is a Scottish island made popular by some of the more famous single malt distilleries in the world - Lagavulin, Laphroig, Ardbeg and Bowmore. All of these whiskys share a common thread - the presence of a wonderful peat in each and every one of their whisky expressions. Peat is formed from decay of vegetation (and perhaps murdered humans) and forms regularly in wetland bogs, marshes, swamp forests and the like. Coincidentally, those locations are also perfect places to hide murdered humans.

Why is it important in whisky production? Well, peat is often used as a source of heat and fuel and distilleries burn it to dry the malted barley. The Islay distilleries in particular use quite a bit more than the average single malt maker and basically hit you over the head with the wonderful peatiness of their drams.

It's not a taste that's enjoyed by all and certainly not by a novice whisky drinker. It can generally be described as smokey, salty and briny. I definitely enjoy it.

A couple of months ago, the Mustard Clan gave me a bottle of Ardbeg 10 years. My Ear, Nose, Throat picks up a subtle sweetness, a meaty BBQ smoke, in addition to what I can only describe as a spearmint finish before that hearty campfire smoke lingers on your throat and tongue for a long time. The smoke is very impressive, if you return to your empty glass the next day, the smoke is still very prominent. Actually, that's what I hear happens because I'm not one to leave dirty dishes in the sink, that's not me. It's just not. So I've only heard that. What I have experienced firsthand is the smallest of pours filling up a room with a wonderful peat aroma.

The one element of this whisky that perplexes me is the spearmint finish. I've read some other resources that describe it as more of a citrus (lemon) note - it's an interesting contrast to the brine, and I'm looking forward to tasting some of the other Ardbeg expressions.

Thanks to the Mustards, and thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

changes

2011-04-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Changes. Not so much about the big sweeping changes that are taking place, but little details during the wedding ceremony and reception are on my mind today. It's like a move re-shoot - when you are able to see disparate pieces come together for the whole, sometimes they complement each other perfectly, sometimes not so much. I'm sure this will be a key component of the remaining pieces of our planning over the next, ahem, 29 days.

My thought du jour has been all about the wedding recessional song, the rousing number that will take our wedding party back down the aisle with Emmelle and me following closely behind as husband and wife. Our music team, especially Wonq, has quietly suffered through my wild aspirations of closing with a Beatles medley.

I don't think it's going to work.

So my new thought that we will attempt to bring to fruition:

Can this work?!?!?!

While we are here, I should mention the following as well:

Bridal party entrance: I Want You Back
Bride and groom entrance: Dope Nose

(I haven't been able to get Emmelle to approve a more suitable Groom's March as of yet).

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

negative one month wedding anniversary

2011-04-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

It’s April 20, 2011.

According to my math, Emmelle and I are 31 days removed from our blessed union (I actually just counted off the days in my Outlook calendar). We've fallen into a predictable ritual over the last week – come home from work, cook and eat, execute on some wedding logistics, sleep – which will remain our routine for the next month.

I feel calm and steady, probably because I’m having a difficult time grasping that this significant event will finally come to fruition shortly. I also feel a sense of relief; I can’t help but feel that we are in a state of limbo, removed slightly from reality until we return from our honeymoon. Some examples: all of the exorbitant spending, the gifts being shipped to my office on a daily basis. There will definitely be some sort of consumer withdrawal when this is all over. As much as I look forward to the wedding ceremony and reception, I’m looking forward to building a home, saving, focusing on my career, diverting my consumer spending habits to critical items such as cuff links and time pieces (ahem, that’s plural).

And Emmelle? She is nothing short of amazing. Emmelle is dug in deep into her fox hole and completing all necessary tasks with proficiency and efficiency, really in a way that only she can. I have read and heard from multiple sources the meltdowns that some prospective brides experience leading up to the big day. Not this girl. She’s a machine and potentially going through a trial run for a career change to event planning/wedding coordination. Her even-keel nature has shone brightly through during this entire process.

What else? Hhhmmm. My hair is probably longer than it’s ever been in my adult life…Emmelle has received a series of facials recently…I’m still a shirt and tie short of a wedding day ensemble…I’m also a whole suit away from a wardrobe change…we’ve gone on some neighborhood jogs for minutes at a time (I don’t see a difference in my body, however)…

…

There’s 31 days left and there will surely be plenty of documentation on that day. But I’d like to remember the next 30 days as well, all of the details that we need to complete, any disagreements, any overwhelming emotions that linger, let’s use this as a keepsake just like all of the photographs and wedding day material.

More (frequent) updates to come in the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

love letter

2011-03-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

I remember a summer's day
I remember walking up to you
I remember my face turned red
And I remember staring at my feet
I remember before we met
I remember sitting next to you
And I remember pretending I wasn't looking

So we'll try and try
Even if it lasts an hour
With all our might
We'll try and make it ours
Cause we're on our way
We're on our way to fall in love

I remember conversations that only you will understand. The ones we've shared quietly drifting off to sleep, the ones that we laughed at together when the light turns green.

I remember decisions that we made. The ones that mean something. The ones that will impact tomorrow and the day after. Cabrillo. Lima. Madeleine cookies...

I remember watching the sun dry up the March rain and being happy. I remember my body splayed across my large bed and being happy that it's only for a moment.

I remember feeling that it's almost time and being happy.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

botegga in yountville

2011-03-09T20:20:00.001-08:00

Ash Wednesday. No meat. I've been successful thus far. What better way to cure that insatiable carnivorous craving than to write about it?

A couple of weekends ago, Emmelle planned a wonderful Sunday afternoon for us highlighted by a splendid Thai massage and an afternoon meal at Michael Chiarello's Bottega restaurant in Napa Valley. We've been waiting to eat here for a long time, even having had to cancel a reservation a year earlier. Who wouldn't want to eat here? We have a finalist from Top Chef Masters' inaugural season in our own backyard!

I actually remember watching Chiarello on PBS a few years before food became a staple of television entertainment and always thought that he made great, exquisite food (I could also sense that he's probably a bit of a prick). Even now, I'll always stop and watch until at least the end of a segment if his Food TV show happens to be on air; everything he makes appears stunning, and he executes complex techniques so effortlessly. Even now, I feel like I can prepare a great rack of lamb and serve it to a group of ten on my backyard deck. I've never tried and I don't have a backyard, but Chiarello tells me I can. Not even Rachel Ray's thirty minute calorie bombs instill that sort of confidence in me.

I digress.

Our experience was enjoyable. It was a busy Sunday afternoon, and weekend wine aficionados packed the large dining area. Hands down the best thing we ate was the sumptuous Green Eggs and Ham (below), which coincidentally, appeared on Food TV's Best Thing I Ever Ate program.

In general, I try to limit our epicurean excursions of Italian places to uniquely exceptional establishments. I can't stand slurping down a pricey plate of pasta when I know that I can execute it better in my own kitchen with my dull knives and substandard skills. However, when we do dine at finer Italian (or Italian-inspired) restaurants, I absolutely love the notion that the pasta dish is a build up to the main course. An appetizer. It's my type of cuisine.

Somebody get me a pasta maker. And a flight to Rome.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

mobile uploads

2011-03-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you can take pictures on your mobile phone and either upload/email them to your computer or directly share it through a social media platform? Of course you didn't; that's why I'm around to teach you these things. What a great time to be alive, right now, in 2011, where we can for the very first time, start to pilot this fascinating technology.

I accompanied my parents on Saturday morning to meet an acquaintance from Korea at the Union Square Hilton Hotel. I'd never been there before but knew that it's frequented largely by international travelers. While seated in a quiet section of the lobby, I noticed a large congregation of Korean Air stewardesses form a huddle around their pilot to my left. There were probably about 15 young ladies reviewing itineraries and giggling at the captain's lame jokes (I actually didn't hear a word he said).

Cars were cleared by the city on Emmelle's street on Sunday due to a Honda commercial. We got a sneak peak at the 2012 Civic; I can't wait to see if we can recognize her neighborhood when the spots (I'm assuming they are for local dealerships) air.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

may 21, 2011 - someone else's perspective

2011-03-05T23:25:00.000-08:00

Emmelle and I just booked our honeymoon travel to Paris, France. However, I stumbled upon this CNN video which suggests that Paris won't be around after our wedding date - neither will planes, the sky or anything. That's tough; I've always considered the honeymoon to be a just reward for all of the planning and preparation that has consumed this past year.

It would be extremely helpful to know when exactly the rapture will arrive on May 21. I'm really hoping that we'll be able to squeeze in the father-son dance that I've been rehearsing. This also severely jeopardizes the planned talent show portion of the reception.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

stronachie 12 years

2011-03-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I trekked out in the pouring rain to my local BevMo store for a new bottle of whisky. After staring at the same set of bottles in the store for twenty minutes or so, I left with the Stronachie 12 years (pronounced "Stronachie 12 years").

I am actually familliar with this bottle; I purchased one for Emmelle's uncle just a couple of months ago after a whisky merchant recommended it as a good combination of sweet and smoke. I remember liking it when I sat down with Emmelle's family to drink it; or at least I remember liking it because I made a point to. Remember, whiskies are for strong and virile men!

While still a novice in the single malt game, I definitely know that I prefer a peatier, saltier dram. Thus, I was disappointed with the sweeter properties of the Stronachie and seemingly similar characteristics to the first two single malts I had purchased (Highland Park 12 years and Yamazaki 12 years). That's not to say that this single malt is bad, I think it's just what I'm not looking for at this point. And I can confidently say that I enjoy the first two more.

And for whatever reason, I've had an incredibly difficult time identifying what I'm tasting with this single malt. What I can detect: some cinnamon/nutmeg nodes, a distinct oak flavor, malt and a smoke that coats your mouth with every nip. (I read in a tasting note online the presence of raisins, which I certainly agree with. I wish I could have identified that on my own. I stink at this.)

Ultimately, this is a decent scotch for me, but I don't think I'll be purchasing it again anytime soon. I'll try to keep this around for guests. Come over and drink it.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page

wedding rings

2011-03-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

Wedding rings are in...but cannot be worn. Or can they?

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

chipotle buy one get one free

2011-03-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, a co-worker informed me that Chipotle was offering a buy-one-get-one-free promotion through an integrated campaign on its Facebook Page and offline partnership with a new television series. As a digital marketer, perhaps I should weigh in on the effectiveness and innovation of an online-offline campaign such as this one. But I'd rather not, because you know, I don't like to talk about work unless it's absolutely necessary.

What I do want to talk about (and remember) though is the fact that I immediately printed out the coupon, left work early, considered multiple restaurant locations and routes home and redeemed the exciting coupon for a chicken and steak burrito with all of the tex-mex-cali fixins'. A proper and cost-effective Monday feast with Emmelle. I voraciously scarfed down 1.5 burritos to avoid turning to a soggy, refrigerated burrito days later.

What a great meal for our wedding planning penny pinching needs. What a terrible meal for our wedding planning dieting needs.

Years from now, when my life is considerably different from where and what it is now, I'd like to think that I will have the same zeal for coupons...and food...especially when they go together.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

la folie in san francisco (russian hill) & a quick note on Check! Please Bay Area

2011-02-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's been quite some time since I last wrote about a Bay Area gastronomic adventure. And Emmelle has certainly expressed her dismay at our recent epicurean futility. Well, I can certainly take a hint when I'm bludgeoned over the head with it, which led to a reservation at the highly regarded La Folie on Polk Street. We actually made the reservation after watching a re-run of Check, Please! Bay Area.

Quick side note, how awesome is Check, Please!? It rivals Top Chef as my favorite television food show. Like Yelp, you have to take individual reviews with a grain of salt - the shows producers do a great job of finding some serious weirdos to journey around the Bay Area's food scene. They can't be trusted. But it's fairly easy to get a sense of each place, and whether or not it's worthy of a visit. The most interesting part of the half hour show occurs when one of the guests complains about a dining experience (chosen by another guest), completely offending the other. Great TV when you put together real folks who don't understand how to conduct themselves on television (I guess that's the point of reality TV).

As for La Folie, it was an extremely pleasurable dining experience. Let's go backwards because it's easier to remember it that way, a few select highlights:

Emmelle's bread pudding dessert was accompanied by a Maker's Mark ice cream (I think we have an ice cream maker on our wedding gift registry. I'll just be feeding a bottle of Maker's Mark into the machine the first time we make any kind of vanilla ice cream).
Our main courses, duck and rack of lamb (exquisite), were topped with tongue pieces of each animal. I've never had duck tongue or lamb tongue, and both were pretty good. I'm too tired to try to explain it.
Butter poached lobster on squash ravioli; lobster and mushroom risotto - wow.
I had a foie gras dish that included (among other things), quince chutney, a peanut butter "graham cracker" (didn't really know what it was) and some brioche bread. You're basically compiling a PB&J sandwich with foie gras. Decadent. This appetizer pretty much knocked me out.
Two amuse bouche (bouches?). Quantity isn't the most important aspect of a meal of this nature but the exquisite taste of each was not wasted on us.

I'm of the opinion that anytime you are dropping serious coin on a French or Japanese meal, you are sitting down to potentially a "best meal of all time" situation. La Folie was definitely one of the better meals I've had. The best? That's too hard to say because I just ate what could only be described as an inspiring bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Here's the Check, Please! Bay Area La Folie episode from Season 2, Episode 21. I have no pictures to share because I accidentally left the DSLR in the car before passing the car off to the valet service.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

yamazaki 12 years

2011-02-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

About a week after I purchased Highland Park 12 years, I returned to the wine merchant near my office intent on bringing home a second bottle of scotch. I made it my objective to procure a smokier, peatier scotch as a worthy counterpart to Highland Park's honeyed qualities. Well, I guess I failed in some sense because The Yamazaki 12 year (not a scotch, not peaty) rests comfortably next to the HP12 (not Harry Potter) on top of my fridge at the moment. I knew nothing of this whisky before purchase other than Emmelle's proclamation that one of her co-workers had said it was a good one. Sold!

I did just a bit of research after my purchase - first single malt whisky distillery of its kind outside of Scotland, started sometime in the early 1920s. While only a Scottish borne whisky can truly be a scotch, the distillation process is very similar. A good whisky is a good whisky is a good whisky, and I definitely enjoy this one. It smells of toffee, and that initial experience on the nose remains when you touch it on your lips and tongue. One might mistake the Yamazaki for a bottle of maple syrup; it smells and tastes like it too. It's pretty pleasing and finishes with a relaxing smoke in your throat.

However, because of my relatively poor ability to identify flavors on their own, I relied on a direct comparison with the HP12. I would say that the Highland Park 12 year is a bit more viscous and definitely more complex. The Yamazaki 12 year, while good, was more of a one note experience for me. Ultimately, it may be slightly too sweet for my preference, but great to nip on after a meal.

If I were to rate it on a scale of 0 - 1 with 0 being undrinkable and 1 being drinkable, I would rate the Yamazaki 12 year with a resounding 1!

Togna came over to enjoy the tasting with me, and he made the connection between the parent distillery (Suntory) and the indie film favorite Lost in Translation (below). We also concluded that nothing is a collection until you have at least five of whatever it is you are trying to collecting. I love collecting thoughts about collecting things.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

phillips head screw cufflinks

2011-02-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

I recently stumbled upon an interesting ecommerce site, Uncommongoods, which offers a variety of knick knacks, accessories and home decor items. Among some of the cooler pieces, I've found myself completely enamored with the phillips head screw cufflinks.

The $85 price tag on this set is pretty steep (for now), but from a purely aesthetic point of view, these would make a nice addition to any man's cufflink collection (I'm always drawn to shiny objects, aren't you?).

The weekend is here, meaning that outdoor activities should combat my ridiculous urge to purchase these cufflinks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

engagement photo session with jason wu

2011-02-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've made it a point not to use GreensandBrowns as a medium to share a bunch of photos, but just this once (at least until my wedding day, I have kids or a bunch of other events I'm not considering), I'm breaking that rule now.

Last week, we met our wedding photographer for our engagement photo session. His website can be found here. The session is really meant to accomplish two things. First, of course, we (Emmelle) needed some engagement photos to do some stuff with them. Secondly, and just as important, our photographer used this valuable time to acclimate us to his shooting and directorial style and get us comfortable with the camera. It goes without saying that I'm a natural in front of any type of lense; Emmelle had a little difficulty expressing affectionate with an onlooker, but did a great job as the day went on. She'll be ready on her special day.

If you're interested, a few more photos can be seen on my Flickr page. There you can see my sweet Batman cufflinks and pair of Tom kicks that I wore for this day. You know, because you care about these things. Big thanks to our photographer for a great day. He really did help us become more comfortable and the complementary nude session that followed went smoothly (Emmelle wasn't available for that one). We're really glad he's shooting our wedding.

Thanks for stopping by!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

save the dates

2011-02-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am supposed to be doing a better job of chronicling the engagement process. Here's the save the date video that we created that we sent out in early January (If embed isn't in HD, you need to clickthrough to vimeo.com):

While we're here, we might as well take a look at Colonel and General Mustard's electronic save the date as well. Please note, just because you can see this now, doesn't mean you are invited. In fact, if this is the first place you are seeing it, you are not invited. That sounds harsh.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

highland park 12 years

2011-02-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

Emmelle recently asked me to blog about a variety of items that I'm interested in, so she can quickly navigate the latest posts to inform future gift-giving needs. She is a smart cookie, that one. I contend, however, that I already do that. If you scroll through the contents of these pages, I think it's fairly easy to identify what holds my interest. Moreover, it's easy to determine some of the cyclical phases I go through with my interests (obsessions).

The latest: single malt whiskies. I'm specifically avoiding the term "scotch" as my studies are showing that single malt varietals distilled outside of Scotland can please the palate much like their kilt-adorned brothers.

Now, I've always enjoyed whiskies on a night out. They've been a good ally on those nights when my stomach is too full for beer, and I can't make a decision on a cocktail. I'd most frequently sipped on a Jameson neat (not a single malt) in the past and have received a couple bottles of single malt scotch as gifts. I once attended a Johnny Walker tasting and finally had the opportunity to taste the ubiquitous Blue Label (I remember it tasting like vanilla). I drank (The) Macallan because my cousin told me to. Then I drank Oban because my cousin told me to. I accepted splashes of water in my dram as several enthusiasts told me that it would open up the flavors. I firmly believed that older aged whiskies are always smoother and taste better than younger ones. That's more or less my experience with whiskies; I'm fairly certain I had never purchased a bottle of single malt for myself until very recently. I've enjoyed them without knowing what I'm really tasting but television and print ads have beaten me over the head that as a man, I should know how to properly enjoy a finely crafted whisky.

Enough!

Let's hit the reset button.

A couple of weeks ago, after a particularly inspiring night out sipping single malt scotch at an upscale downtown hotel bar, I purchased my first bottle of single malt scoth - Highland Park 12 Year (less than $40). Leading up to this purchase, I had read that this was a great introduction into single malt, a nice blend of sweet and smoke for an underdeveloped whisky palate. One particular blogger that I stumbled upon feels that it's the best 12 year single malt in the world. That's a lot of hyperbole, but hey, I'm pretty impressionable, especially with all of the truths that I read about on the internets.

Highland Park 12 Year is certainly delicious. I was delighted by a wonderfully malty, butterscotch-esque scent on the nose. That sweetness remains on the tongue and finishes with just a little bit of smoke. Nice. There is a certain, unexplainable depth/complexity to this drink that I've noticed only when comparing to another label (details coming soon!) that I recently bought.

Anyway, in the coming years, I'll continue my education of all things single malt and share my tasting notes here. I'm curious to see how my palate develops and whether or not I'm able to improve in my articulation of tasting experiences.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

2010 - looking back and looking forward

2011-02-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I always feel a little devious when I wrote during work hours; but I can't help myself today as my inability to pen a PowerPoint deck has made it possible for a little catch up on GreensandBrowns. I meant to take a proper look back on the year that just passed, but the last six weeks have vanished like sand sliding between your fingers. That's what's happened to my memories from this past year as well; all that's left is a small pile of sand in my palm. It's time to cover it up, protect it from the elements, just some of the things I can recall at this moment, off the top of my head:

New title: Senior Analyst to Manager
I moved from a frat house in the Sunset to a (one bedroom-sized) studio in the Richmond
I engaged myself with Emmelle
Colonel Mustard and General Mustard engaged each other
C-Monster completed her first year of undergrad
Emmelle and I visited the motherland (Korea)
I traveled to western Europe for the first time (Germany and UK)

Wow, that seems like a decent list. There is always more change in life than I think.

And now, one month into the new year, there are already new and pending changes that are sure to have a significant impact both personally and professionally. The obvious one is our wedding in May. New traditions, new habits, new sleeping pattern, new home, new everything. I am excited for it.

The other, which I only learned of this week, is a dear friend's departure from my company. Throughout my career, I have been both blessed and adept at identifying and aligning myself with strong mentors. At the end of the day, they are role models, and the best education for me has always been to try to emulate the work that they produce, mimic the way they interact with others and navigate difficult waters. It happens through osmosis, direct feedback and my own personal desire to be better. He's definitely helped me to become better. I will miss him.

Lastly, perhaps a poetic convergence emerges between these two changes. Without knowing exactly who, I assume there's at least one young person out there who recognizes elements of my life and/or behavior as a directional model. Maybe it's the lovely bride-to-be that I've chosen, or perhaps the smart career choices that I've made, or (most likely) my sophisticated fashion sense. Am I right? Could I be wrong?!

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

2011-02-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what my favorite commercial used to be, but I know what it is now. Apparently, this fantastic VW commercial will be airing during this year's Super Bowl.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

remembering london

2011-01-17T10:18:00.001-08:00

Much has gotten in the way of a proper blog post. And I'm a little saddened to say that I didn't even offer up a holiday card in 2010. Tsk, tsk. We are keeping busy, and GreensandBrowns was unfortunately de-prioritized and neglected.

It looks like we last left off with a lovely photo of Abbey Road. There's not too much to say about my trip at this point. I flew to Heathrow Airport on a Tuesday night and arrived Wednesday afternoon. I spent a couple of nights in Brighton before having the weekend to myself in London. I rode all over the city, taking pictures and making mental notes of the sights and sounds I'd like to experience with Emmelle together when she has a proper opportunity to visit the UK. It was a hellish, tiresome Saturday - but I captured some decent photos.

I should say however, that I was not successful in meeting Harry Potter during this business trip - which was more or less my main objective.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

rock and roll pilgrimage

2010-12-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

I was in the UK last week and had the opportunity to spend a Saturday in London. Abbey Road Studios was, of course, my first stop. Checking this off my bucket list. More to come from London...

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

dinobots for my hands

2010-12-07T15:00:00.001-08:00

Don't have very much time to expound on this, but I've never made it through a holiday season since I began using the internets without poking around eBay for these guys:

It's time to stop searching and actually do some receiving/buying/stealing. Coincidentally, my very first blog post had a Transformers reference. I am, if nothing else, a consistent bloke. Why are they categorized in apparel? Because I'm going to wear these guys on my hands.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

camper industrial boots for my barking dogs

2010-12-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: There are times when Blogger doesn't do what I want it to do. For instance, this ridiculously large and ugly font. Shame on you Blogspot, please find this post and rectify it.

After a day of rest (decreed by the good Lord), I'm back to continue our countdown to a shiny and material Christmas.

What else could perfectly complement my business trip to the UK this week than to pamper my feet with a pair of British-made boots?

I'm generally not a fan of shoe laces, so the Camper Industrial ankle boots just barely make the grade. But I'm a fan of the urban nature of this pair; they offer a grittiness not found in some of Camper's more whimsical lines.

I hope I don't run into a Camper store in London.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

burberry check skinny tie(s) for my neck

2010-12-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

More gift ideas.

Burberry ties are nothing new. I actually pilfered one on eBay for a cool $35 a couple of years ago (yes, it's a genuine make). But I only recently discovered that Burberry offers a chic line of skinny ties. It's a desirable marriage of their traditional branding and contemporary styling. Who knows when skinny ties will go by the wayside again - it's taken decades to make its triumphant return, but these ties in particular may be able to stand the test of time and endure the wrong side of the cycle when we devolve back to its thick, clumsy and evil twin brother.

For the wintry months, I prefer these bolder, darker colors. And then for the warmer seasons, great to follow up with some of the lighter pastels, including the ubiquitous tartan pattern (but keep it thin). And when I say "prefer" I really mean "plan to buy".

There are some nay-sayers out there who might tell you that a $150 tie is a ridiculous amount to pay for an accessory with no functionality. I have no rebuttal; they are right. But if wearing a Burberry skinny tie is wrong, I just never want to be right.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

victorinox montreal wallet (swiss army) for my bottom

2010-12-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas gift idea #3. Now, I want to make one thing clear while I spend the better part of this month sharing cool guy accessories. I'm going to own all of these specific items at some point, so don't actually go buy it for somebody who is not a principle contributor of this blog. That's just bad form and entirely unoriginal.

These ideas are meant to be purely inspirational.

Anyway, during my recent visit to Munich Germany, I had a layover in Zurich, Switzerland and couldn't get over how cool the Swiss logo/emblem/insignia is. Even their passports are awesome. So I instantly became an ardent fan of Victorinox (Swiss Army), not to be confused with Wenger, and I'd like to get my hands on just about everything that carries its beautiful emblem.

Thus, I was excited to find that they have an ultra-slim wallet in their Altius 2.0 Collection - the Montreal. The price is very reasonable, and I love how minimalistic it is.

There are only two types of guys in the world - hoarders who collect all kinds of business cards and receipts into their ever-growing wallets and minimalists who aim to have a wallet as thin as possible. There was even a Seinfeld episode that covered this dichotomy. I'm part of the latter fraternity, and one of my life's passions is to continue to reduce my wallet size - until it's invisible and we can all just scan our thumbs for identification and purchasing needs.

But my thumb doesn't have a Swiss logo on it. Shame.

I hear that the Montreal makes for an excellent birthday gift (especially when one's birthday is relatively soon after the Christmas holidays and it doesn't make sense to buy consecutive gifts that empty the checking account).

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

oakley kitchen sink backpack

2010-12-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

My season's greetings to you continues. Now I'm wondering if I can get through 24 ridiculously frivolous gift ideas right up until our Lord's birth. Should be fun.

Being the (ahem, international) road warrior that I am, I've been really enamored with Oakley's Kitchen Sink backpack since I saw it in an in-flight Delta magazine a few months ago.

While the bag offers a ton of components, I don't think most of us need anything so complex. Its utility is lost in its own usefulness. That doesn't make any sense, and I just confused myself. But that's what makes this bag so fresh; backpacks aren't supposed to be confusing - until NOW.

I mean, look at this thing. It looks more like a weapon than anything else. The bag also appears heavier than anything you might actually store inside of it.

How can you want anything else after digesting these notable features:

The KITCHEN SINKBACKPACK offers every conceivable innovation, from a mobile phone pocket to a padded sleeve that holds a laptop up to 17". The top storage compartment is compression molded to protect eyewear — or use it for a media player and take advantage of the headphone port. Cable zipper pulls let you add a lock to secure the main compartment. The mid-body access flap includes an inner organizer, and a compartment at the bottom has drainage ports for wet or soiled items. You also get plenty of pockets, attachment points and tie downs.

It's a pretty steep price tag for a backpack, but there are some online retailers that offer it for much less than Oakley.

Thanks for stopping by. Why am I so ridiculous?

One random thought du jour: All of these image URLs that I'm posting on my blog, these items or websites will one day be discontinued, and all I'll have to look at are some ugly boxes with a red 'X'. I should think about downloading all of these for posterity.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

timepieces for my wrist

2010-12-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's already December. You know what that means, right? Its time to start daydreaming about all of those toys that you've accumulated on your wish list over the course of the calendar year. Am I right? (I'm certainly not wrong)...

Recently, I've grown more infatuated with watches. I stand corrected - I've developed a deeper appreciation for timepieces.

This isn't necessarily a new development - Emmelle has been observant enough over the course of our relationship to recognize my affinity for these useful accessories and has graciously gifted me with a beautiful battery-operated, large-faced Ted Baker watch and a digital Adidas watch (so I could time runners) in the past.

I had gone relatively quiet on the watch front until a recent window shopping venture led us to a luxury watch store. I marveled at the beautifully crafted pieces on display but balked at the alarming prices - all of these particular pieces ranged from $1,500 - $15,000 (and I'm sure there were more expensive watches that I missed or simply ignored because my subconscious rejected them). Before we left, one of the sales associates noticed that I was staring at the IWC display. Before I had a chance to kindly decline, she rested a $15K piece on my left wrist. In that instant, I straightened my posture and stood taller, I felt my face grow more handsome than it normally is (crazy right?!), I just simply felt better as a person. The IWC time piece, from their Portugese collection, appeared right at home on my wrist. I felt sad for her as she was placed back into the display case. I'll save you!

Why watches? Well, for one thing, they are a tantalizing feast to the eyes, so pleasing to look at. I also appreciate the precision and fastidious care that goes into constructing each intricate piece. You may not know this, but Swiss-made watches and Emmelle are comparable in their accuracy and precision. Wearing a fine watch is akin to wearing Emmelle on my wrist.

Since that fateful meeting with the IWC piece, I've spent several hours combing various Swiss makers' websites in search of an attractive and affordable timepiece with automatic movement. I also tried on a great looking Mont Blanc chronograph, but again, priced too high for a relatively new time piece aficionado such as myself. Unfortunately, one can only stare at ridiculously high price tags for so long before growing numb to four and five digit price points.

In a more recent trip to the mall, I had to convince myself not to pick up a $400+ watch to "tide me over" while continuing the search with Emmelle for a nicer piece that's suited for this soon-to-be-married man about town. This after I had just had a conversation with Super Dano about not being able to ever justify a watch purchase greater than $500. Silly, naive me.

Oh, one more excellent bit of related news. Coincidentally, Emmelle and I have been recently discussing the possibility of augmenting our honeymoon in France with a short stay in Switzerland. I hope she likes watch museums. She's the best.

Ties and watches. My two (material) loves, along with a bunch of other stuff. I'm just a simple boy who covets fine craftsmanship waiting for those finely crafted items to be given to me. Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 9 of 9)

2010-11-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

I'm never doing this again.

Day 9; the end.

I'm sitting on the plane. I'm tired.

My uncle's two kids keep me up until 5am on the previous night. I vaguely remember what we discussed, but I do recall making a conscious decision to stay awake for as long as I could. Who knows when I will see them again? Both of them share their respective love interests at school. Cute but I am having a hard time keeping up. I try to be the cool older cousin but alcohol and the heat are too much. I shut my eyes for seemingly ten minutes and my aunt is waking me up to eat breakfast. I feel the sort of tiredness in which you can feel a heavy pressure against your ears and heads, as if there is a massive weight being pressed against you. But I'm thinking more about saying goodbye and departing back to California later in the day. I wish Emmelle was here. I wish I had a camera to relay pictures of my one night in Daejeon for my parents and grandmother.

I'm tired and readjust myself awkwardly in my seat and doze off. I wake in time for our first meal. I'm frustrated. The in-flight movie selection is identical to our departing flight. There is nothing to watch to pass the time. But drowsiness envelops me once more. Before I relinquish myself to sleep, still frames of the past week-and-a-half appear before me. I mentally sift through them like the folder contents of a touchscreen device.

JJa JJang myun delivery. It is in Korea what apple pie is in America. It's kitschy, but we were looking forward to the delivery experience the entire time and saved it for our last meal. The delivery man comes to the front door on his tiny motor bike (more like a large scooter than anything else) and carries his magical metal delivery case to the front gate. He slides open the side of the case and a billow of steam emerges and quickly vanishes, unveiling the delicious contents inside. We devour our meals although we aren't hungry. Emmelle's nephew it seems has grown fond of us. He cancels an item off of his list to hang out this one last time with us. Its these small moments that I'm always afraid of losing. Its our last moment in Seoul.

I only awake for a few minutes at a time. I'm able to sleep through a bulk of the flight. But in between, I continue to think about my conversation with my uncle earlier in the morning. I'm melancholy - not so much gloomy or depressed, but more pensive and introspective.

After breakfast, my uncle drives me to the train station which will get me back to Seoul. It's about a 20 - 25 minute ride, and we fill that time easily with anecdotal conversation. Once we arrive at the station, my uncle leaves the car and tells me that he'd like to spend a few minutes with me before I have to depart.

We sit in the parking lot, and he lights a cigarette. I notice a sign near us that explains how to properly dispose one's cigarette butts. I'm not sure exactly why, but I immediately think about how long it took my dad to understand sign like this in the US. I ask my uncle why he didn't come to the US like the rest of his siblings. He tells me that he worked in Saudi Arabia when he was younger, prior to marriage, and didn't want the hardships of immigrant life based on what he had already experienced.

I explain that I feel that life would have been much easier for my parents had they never left. My uncle tells me that my dad is - what I would translate as - unique. He is a unique individual that couldn't be beholden to a white collar or corporate job. He needed a change. I wonder in my head if this is my uncle trying to sugar coat the situation for me or if this is his younger brother persona that is once again, revealing itself. But I quickly understand that he's not trying to protect me from anything. He says that he honestly doesn't know if it was a good or bad decision that my parents emigrated. There isn't an answer. And he implores me not to think about it; it's a moot point.

However, I can't shake the thought, because it's precisely him, my uncle, that triggers the thought more than anything or anyone else. In him, I see a version of my dad that I rarely see - youthful. Physically, they are very similar in appearance. Very similar. Yet, his eyes aren't tired; his shoulders aren't burdened. He is not an immigrant; I am convinced this is the major distinguishing force. Physically, he is my dad without having to perpetually sling this albatross across his back.

We say our goodbyes. I beg him for the last time to come out to our wedding in May. I can't wait to see him again. I need to see him with my dad, for them to interact as brothers. For my dad to regain that piece of his being that makes him so proud and so alive. It's the best possible ending to this trip.

I'm swollen. I awake one final time before our descent. My feet and ankles are solid stiff and bulbous. Emmelle doesn't seem concerned but I'm having a mini panic attack. I'm pretty certain that blood vessels in my legs will pop and my feet will explode. This feeling keeps me captive until we land.

We're back.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 8 of 9)

2010-11-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

I'm at the finish line. I don't have many words left in me...

Day 8; whoops, I screwed up.

I'm pretty sure Emmelle and I went to check out some of the famous palaces during Day 7, specifically Gyeongbokgung Palace. I could talk about some of its history, but that would be boring. All I know is that the Japanese destroyed it multiple times; you'd think my smart people would have erected something more secure after the first invasion, but hey, who am I to judge? It's quite beautiful.

So what exactly did we do during the eighth day of our trip?

I'm not exactly sure. I recall walking around many neighborhoods in the oppressive heat and having my one male-PMS meltdown during our vacation. Everyone is preemptively sanctioned one per trip, aren't they? Sorry, Emmelle. I also distinctly recall battling my camera time and time again. Things picked up later in the afternoon when we ate jja jjang myun (black bean paste noodles - sounds delicious in English, I know) for the first time during our stay and met up with Emmelle's aunt to pick up our hanboks.

Afterwards, for the first time during our vacation, Emmelle and I parted ways. For Emmelle, she was going to have another feast with her family. I took the subway to Seoul Station where I met my cousin to take an express train to Daejeon to visit my dad's lone sibling in the country.

I had a memorable time with my dad's side of the family, even having the opportunity to eat hongeo (fermented skate fish). Skip to 3:10 of this Andrew Zimmern Bizzare Foods clip to see what I'm talking about. Its served with a variety of accoutrements to mask the pungent ammonia-like taste and smell of the fish. When in rome...I had a couple of pieces without anything else, and while it's not the most pleasant thing to eat, it is edible and entirely unique. I'm glad I got to try it. I'm not glad that I was burping ammonia on the return flight to California the next day.

But my dad's uncle, the third son in the family and closest in age to my dad. I've heard many tales of how he would always follow my dad around. He still speaks very fondly of him and asks about him in a deferential way. He also resembles my dad physically. My favorite uncle. Cute kids now both in college, home for summer vacation. Clean, peaceful home in a safe community. It's a small glimpse into what life may have been like had my parents not made the decision to emigrate to the United States. All these thoughts are a bit disparate and disjointed, but I can't piece it together cohesively in a satisfactory way. At the end of the day, I'm grateful that I was able to spend some time with my family and awfully embarrassed I intended not to see them due to the brevity of the trip.

Shame on me.

....

I knew there would be some errors in my recollection; I shouldn't have waited so long to conclude my thoughts on this experience. Ask this pretty lady what else I messed up.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 7 of 9)

2010-11-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

It's the last third of these posts. Home stretch. And here...we...go...

Day 7; my mom's side

Emmelle and I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around various districts of Seoul. This was really our chance to buy gifts more than anything else. While our bodies had adjusted to the time zone, we still were not fully comfortable with the oppressive heat and humidity. As I understand it, we had really lucked out with the overcast skies during our entire trip. The 90 degree+ weather and 500% humidity was actually a true gift. I had given up trying to stay dry a couple of days ago , but the real concern now was the chaffing between my inner thighs. Now, I'm not quite the young buck I once was, and over the years, my body has collected pockets of fat here and there. My sticky thighs were rubbing against each other with every painful stride that I took; the heaviest lotion applications only did so much. Travel tip #1 in the future: stick to boxer briefs.

Additionally, we were meeting my mom's side of the family for dinner. I was nervous. I was just grouchy in general.

My mom's side. My mom is the only member of her family, which includes five siblings, who left Korea. The distance between us engendered a perception in my head that they were my mom's family, and not my own. Prior to this trip, I hadn't seen any of her siblings or my cousins in over twenty years. I distinctly remember one instance while we were staying with my dad's side of the family, and refused to visit my mom's side. Embarrassing and hurtful.

I was very concerned with what we would talk about but recognized that my visit wasn't about me. I was representing my mom and her life by proxy and also introducing them to Emmelle. At least there would be some canned topics to discuss. And looking back now, I realize in that moment, I had completely ignored the unique bond that exists with family, regardless of how little you know each other. Or it could be the case that I really don't have experience with it as an adult. They are my family. To state it more accurately, they are still my mom's family, but it holds the exact connotation it did when I was a child. There is an innate desire as I grow older to be able to touch and feel my parents' lives - present, and particularly past. Whomever my mom loves, I love them.

My aunt met us at a nearby bus station, and we walked to my uncle's work/house. She is as I remembered, just a little wider in her face and waist. She is reminiscent of my mom, but harder eyes and calloused expression. She is tough, a bull. She pointed occasionally to various streets and buildings, remarking about what we used to do here and there, where my mom used to play. I had no idea my mom's side of the family has lived in the same neighborhood for 50 some years (at least). On top of that, I had no idea, my parents first lived here when they got married. And I was born here.

My uncle owns an auto body shop called Oasis, that he runs with his family. His wife does a lot of the administrative and book keeping work (I think), and his two kids, son and daughter, pretty much run the place. The older son is the same age as me, and I wish we had more time to talk, to hang out. My aunt's poor scheduling didn't allow for them to come to dinner with us. But we picked up a couple of street snacks (soon-dae, dduk booki) and had drinks in their home after work hours. While we exchanged stories, I was conscious of how much I was smiling. Not because I was trying to, but because it was so easy and natural. I don't think that there are that many moments in life when all that you want to do is smile, in a genuine way. There's always something to say, something to do. But not in this moment. I just had to smile.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 6 of 9)

2010-11-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

Day 6; Humbled by Messi

Day 6 can really be summed up by two events - getting measured and choosing colors and garments for our wedding hamboks and the game 2 clash with Argentina with good pal SMP. In between, we shared meals with family members, and my Nikon D60 decided to shut down for the night.

I've been fiddling with Picasa's collage feature (I hadn't noticed it until a few days ago), and it's really making these pictorial summaries much easier to share. Terrific. The shots below are from a famous garment district in Seoul. Emmelle's aunt already had a relationship with this particular clothier, and the mom-and-pop shop did a pretty solid job in helping us select our colors. I had a good time there, and it really made me want to spend another couple of hours with some of the suit tailors in the building as well. Oh well, no time to direct them to help craft a fine womanly cut for me. These luscious silk fabrics would have to suffice:

After the hambok adventure, we had lunch with another one of Emmelle's aunts, a welcoming combination of kal gook soo (a flour-based noodle and starchy broth dish) and tasty bo ssam (steamed pork and some other fixings). For dinner, one of my younger cousins who I hadn't seen in nearly a decade, met us for ddak kalbi (chicken ribs) near her university.

On to game two.

We walked through busy city hall where billions of Koreans were gathering for the critical match. After the convincing win against Greece, the Korean media had been running report after report of how the national squad could pull off the stunning upset against one of the top teams in the tournament (and best player Messi). And everyone bought into it. The country was delusional. I, on the other hand, was incredibly upset with the fact that we couldn't take any pictures of the World Cup frenzy. Of all that we did and experienced, for me, it's the coolest part of our trip. To be there during the World Cup. I can only imagine what it was like in 2002 when Korea co-hosted. Five months later, I still regret my camera's betrayal.

Emmelle and I watched the first half on the streets (2-1 Argentina advantage) and caught the rest of the match at a restaurant/bar in SMP's office building. Argentina tacked on a couple of more goals. At the final whistle, I watched a man in the bar slouch over on his seat, completely crestfallen. That's how I felt. No pictures of this cool night. After some catch-up conversation with SMP, we went back upstairs and were astonished that the streets were nearly completely empty. Wow. Imagine if we were here for a win.

We'll save that one for four years from now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

my friend sriracha

2010-11-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel most of the time when I'm eating a meal:

I just can't get enough of that cock sauce. Neither can you. Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

nikon d60 is back

2010-11-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

My brain is filling up with a lot of different entry ideas, content that I'd like to make sure I record for future reading. And I've got a trusty tool back to help tell those stories.

I am excited to announce that my coveted Nikon D60 is back in my life...just a cool $160 out of my pocket to replace broken/missing part(s). Why the vagueness of the issue? Because I have no idea what happened myself. I UPS'ed the damn thing to Nikon and they reached out with a price quote via email. No explanation. But I'm happy to have it again and start snapping away.

And now, I'll be storing my new photos on a new work laptop - the Dell Latitude E6410. Why do I mention this? I'm simply curious as to the technologies that we'll be using in years to come. Will we laugh at the prehistoric gadgets that I'm referring to in this post? Will all of our digital consumption and usage evolve into virtual sphere?

Some fine questions to ponder on what is turning into a sunny, idyllic November afternoon in San Francisco.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 5 of 9)

2010-11-07T01:56:00.000-07:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

It's 2am on Saturday (Sunday). I can't sleep. I'm feeling a little punchy.

Day 5; Back to Seoul

The image on the right, beautiful isn't it? It's at the eastern tip of Jeju Island and is called "seongsan ilchulbong".

I was delighted to learn that our tour bus would take us to this special destination. I anticipated seeing a beautiful green mound of land mass unlike anything we've witnessed previously. We heard that the true gem of this place is to be here to catch the morning sunrise. Our schedule didn't accommodate, and I had no avoiding a dawn wake up. We arrived around 10am, and even at that early hour, the island air was thick and humid. This made the 20 minute required climb up to the top a bit undesirable, especially for the teenagers in our group wearing jeans that day (they were absolutely miserable when we all returned and met at the base of the peak).

The climb was not arduous but sweat-inducing and uncomfortable. The narrow walkway was crowded with tourists moving up and down the path. I felt a little anxious as the morning fog had settled in around us and created fairly minimal visibility.

And worse, my Nikon D60 started flipping out. That's entirely inaccurate; it wasn't doing anything. Nothing happened when I flipped the "ON" switch. Issue with altitude? Humidity? Too much volcanic radiation? My panic subsided in moments when the gadget would actually come to life. "Just a temporary issue," I assured myself. It would all be worth it however. Emmelle and I were about to behold something truly majestic.

This is what we saw:

Hhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Looks like I could have taken this anywhere. I was really tempted to put some thought bubbles or cover my handsome face with an angry emoticon on this photo because really, I wasn't feeling like Seongsan Ilchulbong deserved a smile from yours truly.

To top it off, we learned that the famed haenyo were swimming very close to our bus. What's the fun in travel if there aren't any slight setbacks and missed opportunities? I'm being a little too critical of the island; I've been scouring through some blogs and various pictures on Google. It really does look like some of the locations are charming and tropical. I blame our tour bus. Or tour buses in general. Wait, but I blame the island for my camera. My broken camera, we must go back to the island to make it right! (That's a little topical humor - I am watching Lost Season 6).

The Jeju-doh detour of our Korea sprint finally came to a close. Now, it was back to Seoul to stay with Emmelle's aunt and uncle. I'd met them once before when they visited California last year, and I can't say enough about how hospitable they were during the nights that we stayed with them. Wonderful people. I'm excited to see them again in May for our wedding.

Emmelle's cousin picked us up from a bus station near their home, and we drove immediately to dinner. What a feast! I can easily say that I ate the best duck and pig's feet (or is it pigs' feet? Is your order of porcine hooves sourced from the same pig? Doubtful...) I've ever had, and this meal really set off a handful of days of massive carb and sodium intake. This is why we went in the first place.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 4 of 9)

2010-11-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

The Korean march continues, but I'm not exactly sure why. I am stubborn and am impressing myself (as usual). Here are a few disparate thoughts and images from the fourth day.

During this day, we learn what makes this island so strikingly beautiful and at the same time, what's undesirable about it. The island's caretakers it seems have had a very difficult time trying to establish its purpose and direction. Just as you see something stunning in its natural beauty, you'll see an ill-advised man-made structure in the corner of your eye (or possibly right next to it). For every breathtaking destination our tour guide introduced us to, there was another place where we were encouraged to buy horse bone pills, man-made ginseng, etc. That's why it is no Hawaii. Jeju is certainly beautiful but it's difficult to be enveloped in it.

Day 4; More from Jeju Island

Lava rock. That's basically how I would sum up our fourth day in Korea (and second day in Jeju-doh). Our tour bus zipped us back and forth across the island all day to see the various forms and manifestations of hardened lava rock that sprang to life this popular Korean destination hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The natives learned to use if for sustenance - housing, tools, art, you name it, it's pervasive and a distinct symbol of this place. What I didn't realize was that the island is the birthplace of those whimsical volcanic rock statues that all Koreans are familiar with (harubang). You find them everywhere, and they appear randomly in all Jeju shops - I'm proud to say we didn't find any in our luggage when we came home.

The highlight of our entire three days on the island was our venture out to observe the beautiful land forms that exist on the island's shores, centuries of the Jeju wind and sea harmoniously eroding away at the rock to mold a magnificent canvas. I did my best Ansel Adams impersonation (below).

Lastly, leading up to our trip, I grew more and more excited by the possibility of encountering the famed haenyo, literally translating to women of the sea, and purchasing their fresh catch of the day. We never got to see these fascinating matriarchs in action but did come across a group of older women selling a variety of fresh product on the shore replete with condiments and soju. I quickly gathered that these weren't the famous women of lore, but wily capitalists taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists. After all, they were selling steamed octopus - where could they possibly be doing this?

It didn't matter, we scarfed down some luscious seafood - a combination of octopus, sea squirt and sea cucumber (this trip really did help me understand some of the inspiration behind my parents' own restaurant).

Mission accomplished. A half more day of enduring this psychitzophrenic land and we would be back in Seoul. End day 4.

Sweet. Flickr now offers larger embedding sizes. I don't have to go with the rinky-dink 500px images anymore for the blog. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

cufflinks of the awesome variety

2010-11-03T23:10:00.001-07:00

About a week ago, I wrote a quick note about my reluctance to grow older. Reluctance isn't the right word; I'm a staunch believer that we, I should say I, won't become an adult until I am responsible for a child. If and only then will I be forced to think about something other than whether Star Wars VII, VIII and IX will be realized on the big screen.

Nevertheless, it's not like I can sit at home in my pajamas and eat massive quantities of cereal all day, right? I've got bills to pay and Batman shirts to buy. And to continue to pursue a leisurely lifestyle, I continue to see an evolution in my professional life - increased responsibilities, more oversight of projects and resources, greater accountability, even undesirable changes in my work attire. It's completely antithetical to how I like to be in my personal sedentary life.

But I can protest playfully. Check out my latest obsession; bad ass cufflinks:

Batman bat signal cufflinks (purchased)

Ninja cufflinks (waiting for somebody to read this before Christmas)

Thanks for stopping by. I promise to right something more substantial shortly. Oh, please let me know if you see some great cufflinks out there on the internets.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

the yusan or susup wedding

2010-11-01T16:29:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why I haven't done this before, but I will try to going forward. I'm talking about live Tweeting people! This past Saturday, the parentals got together for the Colonel Mustard and General Mustard wedding.

Anyway, I've decided to use the following hash tag for anything related to their wedding planning. Can't wait for actual tweeting at their wedding! Good repository for their children.

#yusanwedding

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

growing older

2010-10-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning on MUNI, a doting mother sat next to me with her beautiful one-year old son sitting on her lap and securely harnessed to her shoulders and waste. He was quite vocal with his baby talk and attracted the admiration of everyone around them. I listened to her proudly share his little quirks with some of the MUNI patrons and found myself distorting my face to incite giggling each time he looked in my direction. At that moment, this thought occurred to me, [Spoiler Alert!] “How could Anakin Skywalker kill so many younglings? I just can't imagine taking a lightsaber to a child's head. Terrible, terrible.”

I am almost thirty; I am getting married in less than eight months. This is the type of thing I think about on a daily basis.

In meetings, when I am in deep thought, I wonder if my Batman t-shirt is washed for weekend wear. This morning, after a client call concluded early, I decided to spend my time researching ninja schools on Google (It looks like there are few realistic school options for me at this stage of my life).

Growing older is important.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

engaged encounter retreat

2010-10-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

I thought I would write more frequently about our escapades as an engaged couple. I don’t think I’ve penned anything about the experience outside of the actual engagement proposal. It behooves me to be a bit more introspective on what’s going on. I’ll try to write more reflections in the remaining months, and I'm sure I'll be thankful for it in years to come.

This past weekend, Emmelle and I attended our mandatory Engaged Encounter retreat, hosted by the San Jose diocese (we preferred the San Francisco diocese but the cost was prohibitive). Thus, we begrudgingly trekked all the way to the Presentation Center in Los Gatos off of Highway 17. Upon arrival, I realized I had been to the retreat center previously as a sunday school teacher.

Honestly, I didn’t look forward to spending an entire weekend with strangers. I had just suffered through a weekend in a Munich hotel and wasn't looking forward to spending another weekend away from my cozy apartment. Nevertheless, I welcomed the opportunity to check another item off of our never-ending to-do list and at best, glean insights into the theology behind the Catholic sacrament of holy matrimony. I'll refrain from discussing the actual format and content of the retreat; I believe that should be experienced first-hand and not influenced by my sometimes romantic, other times cynical perspective. However, allow me to share some of the moments/personalities from the retreat that I'd like to keep in the memory bank:

Engaged Encounter graduates. We had two couples lead our retreat. Now, I like to identify people by random nicknames as evident on this blog. The following are actual names of three out of our four retreat masters: Buzz, Chip and Weedgee (pronounced like "Ouija board"). Chip and Weedgee are both retired and grandparents. They are in the twilight of their relationship but made it a point to openly discuss their sexual prowess and potency. Buzz and his wife Anita love bikes and country music (and possibly guns). They played two country love songs during the retreat to put the retreatants in the proper introspective mood. In both instances, they stared into one another's eye sockets and softly sang the lyrics to each other. Most of the girls leaned over to put their head on their partners' shoulders during these musical interludes. I thought that they would dim the lights and request that we make out with each other (they didn't). At no point did Emmelle ask me to dance. Regrets.

High school reunion. When we first arrived, I checked out Emmelle's room on the second floor. While walking down the steps, I see a very familiar face. To my astonishment, it's one of Colonel Mustard's close friends from high school. I am shocked, almost speechless. He is calm and appears to have expected our first encounter in over a decade to be at a Catholic engagement retreat. To top it off, Emmelle knows his dad. She also knows his fiancé's boss. Small world.

Don't forget the Giants. At the beginning of the retreat, we (the men) all took an immediate liking to Buzz because he acknowledged the importance of keeping tabs on the Giants-Phillies Game 6 NLCS contest. We all followed on our phones quietly Saturday night. And then Chip turned on his (transistor?) radio to catch the last out. Giants in the World Series! Now, you'd imagine Chip to be unconscionably old with his erectile dysfunction pills and radio. But it just so turns out he spent the better half of the weekend on his iPad (and there were no mentions of any ED pills. I just made that up).

True love. Possibly the best part of the retreat (in my opinion) occurred on the first night during our introductions. As a get-to-know-you, Chip told us to share our engagement and wedding dates and what attracted us to our respective partners. Nearly every couple understood this to mean that they could talk about whatever they wanted. One particular couple – male, a bit overweight, kind smile and eyes, rough facial hair, Giants cap; female, thin, more physically attractive than her fiancé – my first reaction was actually, “Wow. How did they get together?” But then everything made sense. He concludes their introduction by saying (almost verbatim): “I’m a Giants fan; she likes the Angels. I like the Sharks; she’s a Ducks fan.” For a moment, his face is terribly pained. But he quickly shifts his eyes lovingly and innocently toward his fiancé and adds “But none of that matters.” And a proud grin consumes his face; he is wholly proud of his prose, so touched by his own words, overwhelmed by the thought of being able to care for someone at a level once considered impossible. His girl blushes, she understands that their love overcomes even the gravest of obstacles. Everyone claps, I want to laugh out loud. I think that sequence alone convinced me to write a post mortem on our Engaged Encounter experience .

What else? Well, we have two notebooks full of personal thoughts. I'm sure we'll review its contents prior to the wedding. And then we'll store it in a safe place. We'll read it again in five years...ten years...twenty years...

By the numbers:

1: Number of couples who met through online dating service
0: Number of couples who admitted to meeting through Facebook
3: Number of civilly married couples
3: Number of couples with children, or are expecting
38: Combined age of the youngest couple (20 and 18)
38: Combined age of the couple who's relationship is most likely to end in divorce

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 3 of 9)

2010-10-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

I'm in a blogging frenzy, and my resolve to complete my day by day retrospective has never been stronger! Here is a rundown of our third day in Korea. Interestingly, this was the only day of our vacation that I documented during our actual travel.

Day 3; Jeju Island

After another restless night of sleep, Emmelle and I pack our suitcases and say goodbye to our comfortable accommodations at the Lotte Hotel. We take a cab to the Gimpo Airport (I never tired of saying this out loud) for our short one hour flight to Jeju Island (Jeju-doh). We go through what would have to be the easiest and friendliest security gate that I’ve passed through post-9/11. The security agents are like hostesses at a restaurant or party. I can't decide if I prefer such accommodating hospitality before boarding a plane or the constant feeling of imminent danger that American security gates provide.

We purchased our flight through a Korean American travel agency who eventually offered us a cheap two night/three day package to Jeju Island. We took it, assuming that this would most likely be the one time in our lives we would visit the famed island. Leading up to this trip, I heard many comparisons to Hawaii. Jeju is much larger geographically than Oahu (I just looked it up to confirm, about 100 square miles larger), and at no point during our trip did we get the sense we were cavorting on a tropical island. The overcast skies that would linger for the duration of our trip were partially culpable. There are more reasons, however. More on this in subsequent chapters (don’t worry, we’re just getting started).

Just as our itinerary instructed, we approach a man waiting patiently at the arrival gate holding up a sign that reads “Joyful Holiday”. He tells us that the bus is on its way and to relax and await further instructions. We notice that he does not wait for anyone else from our flight and proceeds to make a variety of phone calls. It’s evident that no one in our vicinity is a part of the tour bus. We wonder out loud if we’ve been duped into some sort of human trafficking scam. It’s the type of ribbing that two people engage in to calm their own nerves.

The bus finally arrives. Thank goodness. It’s already full of travelers who had arrived earlier in the day. We discover that they’ve already taken a trip to a nearby beach and more “friends” on later flights would be joining us the next day. We are a collection of Koreans living in the US. Middle aged moms and their high school children account for a bulk of the patrons. We befriend a couple, including one girl who just graduated from my high school and would be attending Emmelle's alma mater (Berkeley) in the fall. Small world.

We eat lunch at a forgettable restaurant. Not bad, but not memorable. After lunch, we are taken to an arboretum; Koreans love walking through flora. There’s nothing else to say about this. Afterward, our bus tour makes an hour-plus long stop at a local Chinese circus. We opt not to pay the additional fee to see the show. There's nothing more to say about this neither. We sit patiently in the lobby area waiting for the show to end. I keep thinking about this group of Chinese immigrants who made their way all the way to this tiny island to eek out a living selling their mediocre product to unknowing tourists. Life perplexes me.

The day is slowly fading away. Behind with the overcast horizon, I can make out the sun cascading to the earth. The heat and repetitive motion of the bus induces sleep. I look out our window and observe a group of kids running soccer drills on a high school pitch. Those kids must be day dreaming of playing in the World Cup one day, I think to myself. At that moment, I have the same epiphany I do every time I venture away from home to a foreign land: God’s world is massive and no matter what, we will miss so much of it. Why? It’s a legitimate question without a satisfactory answer. There is so much beauty, intrigue and mystery in this world. Why must we be limited in experiencing it all, running our hands through every grain of desert sand, gasping for breath through the most intimidating mountain ranges, gliding gently from one topaz blue sea to the next? Life perplexes me.

The day mercifully draws to a close and our guide escorts us to the five star Lotte hotel in Jeju. We play hooky and skip out on the group dinner. Instead, we choose a Korean style sashimi restaurant closest to the nearest pier. I wanted to have at least one of these experiences just to get a small understanding of the inspiration behind my parents’ own restaurant here in the U.S.

We (at least I) am pretty blown away. We order the plentiful catch du jour which unbeknowest to us, comes with a variety of shellfish side dishes. The food never stops appearing at our table. We eat and eat. Towards the end of our meal, we listen to a shouting match between the owner and our waitress. They don’t seem too concerned that we are within earshot of their verbal altercation. We finally decide it’s time to leave, regardless of how awkward the situation might become. When we pay, we ask for a cab back to the hotel. The owner demands that one of her staff drive us home. This is bizarre but we oblige. I wonder to myself if we’ve been duped into some sort of human trafficking scam.

We've already come full circle in Jeju-doh. And we still have another full day ahead of us.

I'm 33% done! Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

three nights in munich

2010-10-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

Emmelle and I have been talking quite a bit recently about honeymooning in France next May. We've fantasized about splitting a 10 day trip between Paris and the south of the country, bouncing from one idyllic French location to the next. Amazingly, that excursion was supposed to be the first visit to Europe for either of us. No longer.

This past Monday (exactly one week ago), I received word from my German counterparts at work that it would be ideal for me to spend Friday in the Munich office to have a face-to-face meeting for an upcoming project. There were too many moving parts to cover on multiple hour-long phone calls, and it was decided that an in-person meeting would be the most efficient way to tackle the project's unanswered questions and unresolved processes. So that's how my Monday morning began; a scramble to find a plane ticket, hotel room and reorganization of my week to condense it into three days.

The only way to travel to Munich to be on time for an early Friday morning meeting is to fly out of SFO on Wednesday evening. I flew 11.5 hours to Zurich, Switzerland and another hour to Munich in Bavaria (a region in the southern most part of Germany). Along the way, the world skipped nine hours ahead, and the island displaced me across time and space from the comforts of familiar San Francisco to a Munich hotel room on Thursday evening (sorry too many Lost DVDs recently).

Friday - spend the day at work and realize that another trip may be necessary fairly soon, sparkling water in glass bottles is the only drinking water option, everyone wants to make me an espresso, we eat lunch at a traditional German restaurant that has been in the same location for 500 years, we walk around the downtown area - it is really a beautiful and charming city, we have beers at the end of the day at a nearby bar, one of my German counterparts recently came to this bar three weeks in a row "Prost!", the same dude comes out with me to multiple drinking spots during the night, we eat at the original Hofbrauhaus, I flee my co-workers in a cab.

Saturday - drunkenness and jetlag, I oversleep and miss a promised breakfast with a co-worker, he takes me sightseeing anyway throughout the downtown area, I go back to my hotel room and sleep throughout the day, I am not craving any German food and find some takeout Japanese that I pathetically take back to my hotel room, I elect not to sleep and watch an online stream of the Giants-Phillies game for the epic Lincecum-Halladay match up, I think about how I am holed away in my hotel room as Europe stares invitingly back at me through my window, I don't budge and pack.

Sunday - I'm back in Zurich waiting to fly back to SF. I want to come back to Switzerland; I am drawn to it but am not entirely sure why. At this point, splitting time between France and Switzerland for our honeymoon sounds like a great idea. Emmelle picks me up from the airport, it's time to sleep, and then go back to work...

I'm happy for the experience; I don't think I'll ever complain about having to make last minute international travel arrangements when it's all expensed to someone else's bank account. And Munich is a breathtaking international city with friendly faces and an enriching history. It was a great appetizer for our grand sojourn next summer.

But it never ceases to amaze me how frivolous corporate spending can be. I was in flight for roughly 27 hours to be in the office for eight. I spent another seven or eight hours just hanging out in airports. Just the cost of resource hours alone is quite significant, not to mention all of the last minute travel costs.

Additionally, I found it extremely difficult to coax my inquisitive and curious tourist sensibilities to come out and play during this business trip. Even with a full Saturday to explore on my own, I couldn't rally myself to do a little online research and explore a bit further than where my legs could comfortably and conveniently take me. With all of the interesting faces and architecture that I encountered, I didn't take one inspired photo or make one personal, meaningful observation. Maybe it was the booze, the hurried nature of my trip, the jetlag or the simple fact that Emmelle wasn't there.

I'm pretty sure it was actually everything, including the fact that I'll probably be going back fairly soon. It felt like a safety net; I wasn't worried about missing out because I can try it again next time (and do it better). It's a dangerous way to travel probably - you never know when a visit will be your last. And just writing that almost makes me feel like I've jinxed myself.

No, that can't be. As one great Austrian once said, "I'll be back."

Danke schoen.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

congratulations junior summit

2010-10-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Editor's note: Here is an excerpt from something I had started to write back in late May. I never got around to finishing it, so it remained in draft mode. You can see that I was completely wrong about how the NBA free agency period unfolded. But keep reading; this isn't about sports:

"The 2009-2010 NBA Finals are upon us. With the exception of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the rest of the league and its players are focused on all of the transactions that will take place over the off-season. Much has been written about the much bally-hooed free agent class of 2010 - which includes the likes of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh...the list goes on.

In the past several days, there have been a flurry of reports that the most desirable free agents will get together to discuss their future plans. Is it collusion? Hardly, it would be nearly impossible to have two superstars play on the same team; fundamental salary cap restrictions to name just one reason. However, it makes absolute sense that peers (friends) would speak to each other to understand how each will be leveraging his unique talents to eek out the best contract he can possibly attain. Opt-out clause? No trade clause? Isn't it best to talk to your peers about these things?

A similar meeting is happening on a much grander scale as I write this. At this very moment - Monday, May 31, 7pm - Emmelle, Colonel Mustard and Whistle Blower are at dinner together. It should be noted that this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment, "I just watched an episode of Sex in the City and I need some time with the girls" reaction. This "dinner" was planned well in advance. Premeditated. Conversation topics well-planned out.

What could be the reason for such a meeting you ask?"

That's the end of my writing for that day. Just as I was about to roll up my sleeves and articulate my hypothesis, I received a call from Federal Investigation for a dinner of our own. Apparently, he did not get the memo that this was a perfect opportunity to turn on ESPN, take off his pants and eat cold leftovers (not in that particular order). But I can't really poke fun. Being in a committed relationship changes you in all ways - including the ability to hang out by yourself. Like anything else, it becomes difficult when you're out of practice.

If I were to have continued my important writing on that day, I would have written extensively about the Junior Summit's agenda - a laundry list of pre-wedding planning aimed to bounce ideas off each other, and possibly more importantly, eliminate scheduling conflicts and ensure that nobody would be "copying" one's wedding colors and theme. Pretty smart. I applaud their ingenuity and optimism. After all, 67% of the Junior Summit was not engaged at the time.

That was then; this is now. Congratulations Junior Summit; the foundation of your plan has been masterfully laid. Here's to the next year of saving, researching, planning, wishing, praying, dreaming, crying, buying, renting...

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea time lapse

2010-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Does everyone know that Google's Picasa program now offers a time lapse production feature? It's super easy and makes it accessible to the average (untalented) photog. After spending hours and hours and hours with Lightroom and QuickTime Player Pro, I think the immediate gratification from Picasa is the way to go.

I'm going to keep complaining about this but for some reason, my Nikon D60 started to become finicky during the middle the trip and ceased to turn on altogether by the end of it. There are many moments that we missed that I would love to have documented. Oh well.

Am I still planning to write about everyday of our trip to Korea? I don't know...

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

empire state of mind

2010-10-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Apologies for such a trite title, but really, I haven't been able to shake off some of the good vibes of the Big Apple in two recent trips for work. And I've noticed that my intent to write about every day of a trip to Korea 4 months ago is preventing me from writing at all. Or it might be the fact that my Nikon D60 died during that trip, and I have taken no quality images since (This also means that my life has come to a complete halt. After all, if you can't look at pictures and video, it's like it never happened right?)

Thus, I must turn to my mediocre HTC Hero to keep the memory bank open.

It seems that the older I get, each visit to NYC leaves me more and more blown away. It is truly an experience unlike any other big city in the United States. And perhaps most importantly, these business trips have afforded me some fair flexibility in my dining choices. A recent list of epicurean conquests.

Anyway, here are some lame, low-res shots of Momofuku Noodle Bar.

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.

south korea (part 2 of 9)

2010-08-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

South Korea 2010: A day by day retrospective

Wow, it's been a month since my last post. I really don't remember anything from our June trip anymore. Let me try to piece together some thoughts and half-truths based on some of the photos I captured during the second day.

Day 2; Park Ji-Sung: Will you marry me?

In your face, Greece! (That will make sense in a couple of minutes)

Jet lag rules the day. She completely consumes me from head to toe and dances all over my face throughout a restless night of sleep. I acquiesce and stumble out of bed. It's 4AM; sunlight has yet to make its way onto the streets below. I can't tell if it's really jet lag that's keeping me up or the excitement of having just started our trip. It really doesn't matter; I'm happy to be awake. At the same time, I'm acutely aware that I won't be able to make it through the long day ahead - my head feels heavy, my finger tips are numb, it almost feels like I can hear my own blinking.

Emmelle eventually awakes and we get an early start to the day. We are excited for different reasons. For Emmelle, it's her friend's wedding ceremony and reception that will take up the bulk of our day. As for me, there are more critical matters that require my attention, Korea's first World Cup 2010 FInals match against Greece will take place later that night. I perfect my tie around my neck and trust that my unreasonably handsome appearance will bring good fortune to the "Taeguk Warriors" (this name needs to change; why can't it be something like the "Soju-guzzling Tigers" or "Emotionally-stunted Tigers". Something with tigers; let's think about this).

We depart on a rain-soaked morning to a Catholic chapel on the other side of the mighty Han River. The captivating photos below perfectly illustrate the subway ride to and from the wedding ceremony.

I call this one "Crappy photo flipped to black and white to seem artistic". I think this grainy composition really captures the urban grittiness of Seoul's clean, organized and advanced subway system. Beautiful.

Here is a fun game (below) that's sweeping the Korean nation - "Where's Emmelle?" See if you can win!

After a rousing match of "Where's Emmelle?", we find ourselves at the chapel. Emmelle is reunited with friends and acquaintances. I don't know anyone at the wedding but I just assume I'll run into somebody because it's a Korean Catholic mass. I don't.

Before the "real" reception that is to be held at the lavish Hyatt hotel (back on the other side of the river), the bride and groom host a lunch reception at the chapel hall for all of the mass attendees. We are startled to see older men wiping their mouths with napkins and leaving the hall just as we are about to walk in. Had they been eating while the actually wedding ceremony took place in the next building over? Well, yes. There's no other explanation (unless they just weren't invited to begin with). Either way, it's high comedy.

The day moves at a quicker pace just as I am really starting to slow down. Jet lag. A steady dose of heavy food, alcohol and sleep deprivation throughout the day exacerbates it. Even the incredibly beautiful view from the banquet room at the Hyatt can't keep my body from running past "E" on the gas gauge. I stay alert enough to snap some photos of Berkeley grads mixing it up at the reception...like REALLY mixing it up - talk of engagements, weddings, honeymoons - it was well-conceived by the bride and groom not to have any children there, listening to that vulgar language.

Either way, huge payoff below. This one was caught while I distinctly heard one of Emmelle's friends ask, "Is your boyfriend really as fantastic as he sounds (and looks)?" I forget how she spoke in parentheses, but again, I was jet lagged. One can't be held to thorough details in such a physical and mental state.

We actually miss the first goal that Korea scores, but who cares. Anytime you can settle into a World Cup match and find that your team is up, you'll take it. And before my body completely shuts down, I see the captain, Park Ji-Sung, slip one by the helpless Grecian goaltender. 2 - 0 Korea wins. The captain scores. Emmelle's friend is married. The country is officially in a frenzy. In your face, Greece!

Return to the GreensandBrowns home page.