Saturday, December 30, 2006

Your results:
You are Iron Man
























Iron Man
85%
Hulk
75%
Green Lantern
75%
The Flash
75%
Wonder Woman
60%
Catwoman
55%
Robin
52%
Supergirl
50%
Spider-Man
50%
Superman
45%
Batman
35%
Inventor. Businessman. Genius.


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz



iron man? cool...

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

i've been watching a lot of the ninja for a while...being from the same trade for hire, i for one am not against meaningless advertisement...

Saturday, December 23, 2006


2006 bicycle messenger through san francisco...notice the bay bridge shot and a previous entry on this blog with a similar view ;-)

Tuesday, December 19, 2006


2006 tour de france final lap
just trying some new things on the blog...

Monday, December 04, 2006



2december2006 Burlingame Lodge No. 400 Public Installation of Officers

Monday, November 27, 2006


Dancing Bull zinfandel 2004 california...uncorked the bottle tonight with the idea that this zinfandel would prove a little more intricate than the Barefoot zinfandel that i've been accustomed to drinking at my house...the color is as i expected from a zin, light (for a red) compared to cabs or merlots that i've been drinking...the nose is spicy with the usual fruitty smells that i have associated with zin..my weekend cold is gone so i'm trying to be more expletive with any smells/flavors that i may encounter with my bottles...after swirling the Bull around the glass a bit, i could have sworn that i smelled a hint of sardines in the nose...another swirl around the glass confirmed it!...reminded me of the texture of sardine skin when it is in the mouth, not harsh scales mind you, but melting fish skin around the palate...this is definitely a more sour zin than the barefoot...very light on the tongue and easy on the throat...after moving it around in my mouth, stronger woodsy/leathery flavors (along with strong peppery spices) are present for a few moments until the tannins from the skin of the grape are revealed leaving a flavor of bitter/sour grape that has not ripened...i seem to like this zin more than the Barefoot even if the price is a little more for this zinfandel...my conclusions were correct about this zin: more complicated but still a bargain...

Saturday, November 25, 2006


tonight i have a bottle of 2005 Smoking Loon cabernet sauvignon...had some sushi an hour before tasting this wine and i have a slight cold so my perceptions toward this wine might be off---okay, way off....but the fact that it still had a good nose on it might say something about this vintage...i have read a few things about this wine in other websites and was aching to try this "Loon" out for myself...i first bought a few bottles of this vintage for our lodge meetings and was actually anxious to try it, but didn't get to as most of the Loon was accounted for by the rest of the brethren...strong dashes of fruit are met with the first taste of this cab with a suprisingly light finish (for a cab, also because of my cold)...am currently having some roasted duck with my Loon, the skin still is very rich and this cab is a good meld with the flavor of the duck...chewing on the duck meat while taking in a good swallow of Smoking Loon is pleasant and makes me think of why the picture on the bottle shows a swimming duck smoking a cigar---hmmm...great combo with this rich dish...anyway, happy thanksgiving to all!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

....Burlingame Lodge no. 400 F&AM....thanks to Gale Dreisbach for coaching me in the long form proficiencies....left to right: Brothers Vince Chan, Gale Dresibach, and Kit Santana...


Sunday, November 05, 2006

i've been on a whim lately, wanting to ride after work and essentially riding at night. at first we velcro'd my old mountainbike commuting light to my helmet while matt stuck a pen flashlight inside the vents of his helmet. we have pictures to prove this night cycling outing as evidenced by our picutres below. we had so much fun that the next day we bought some proper helmet lights and have been riding at night since. it's just as well seeing as daylight savings has brought darkness upon California as early as 5:30p.m.---not cool for riding, but good if you've got lights :-) anyway, here are our shots of cycling at night with our improper helmet lights...



Thursday, October 05, 2006

today i witnessed something that i had not, to the best of my memory, seen since i was in kindergarten---someone misspelling their own name...it cracked me up so much that i had to write about it in my blog...it may not humor you too much but seeing as the individual that did it was a newly graduated mechanical engineer was even more humorous to me....anyway, i'll take more pictures to post because it seems almost dry without a picture to post...

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Oakland fanatic in San Francisco...Red's Java house by the waterfront on Embarcadero...

Saturday, September 09, 2006

these are the daytime pictures of the trail for Crystal Springs. i should correct myself for calling it "Crystal Springs trail" in the last post. according to these pictures the southern portion of the bike path is called Sawyer Camp Trail, though the bodies of water i mentioned in the previous posts are correct :-)
from my photos, not much justice is done to the tops of the hills where the fog is trying to push over them. i tried to take shots of my bike with the body of water i was riding next to. instead, what i recommend is to come down to sunny California and try this trail out for yourself, you won't be disappointed---and afterward, i've got some recommendations for some great Asian restaurants down the hill from the trail...


Tuesday, August 29, 2006

extreme road cycling has taken on a new meaning for me and a cohort. these pictures are to illustrate how dark the bike path had become after 7:30 p.m. the picture with the streetlight (one of the three that were on the 12-mile roundtrip path) is the marker for the start of our journey through the middle section of Sawyer Camp Trail, operated by the San Francisco Water Department & State Fish and Game Reserve. the trail skirts the San Andreas Lake and the Crystal Springs Reservoir. both bodies of water are a ten minute drive south of San Francisco but still on the peninsula, so are relatively close to the major population. the trail is the starting point to a vast array of back roads frequented by roadies that take to the peninsula. i don't recommend riding this trail, even though it is paved, at night without a light. we survived but took roughly 59 minutes to do the relatively flat loop. our only indication that we were still on the trail were the outline of the asphalt in the moonlight as well as the lane dividers painted white. not much to say about pedestrians during the night, as most have chosen the warmth of their homes to the chill of the trail. various wildlife were meandering about the trail like deer, racoons, & squirrels (luckily no mountain lions). though the trail provided dangers because of the low-light condition, the bodies of water were still a sight to see in the moonlight, giving a different glimpse of how this habitat "comes to life" without all the human traffic. i have done this trail before in the day but have a new perspective of how the smells, sights, & sounds come alive in the night. next time, i will bring a helmet light though...

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

my weekend braids. while playing poker, one of the cousins braided my hair. i lost 17 dollars but got some pretty slick braids. what do you think?

Monday, August 21, 2006

gettin ready for the ride in Reno, Nevada. here's matt with his specialized allez comp with speedplay zero pedals. thanks to the guys at REI and the Reno Bicycle Police that gave us directions to the sweet bike route from Kietzke, through downtown, ending at Mayberry. rock on roadies!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

always good to be with old friends: Derick, Jamela, & Vince hanging out after Jamela's hula show in Marin. great show, full of emotion and history.

Friday, August 18, 2006


Shebest is the Best in 17th Vineman Triathlon

the man that got me back into cycling: thanks Bob

Tuesday, August 15, 2006




tres amigos galavanting around San Francisco...

Nicky, Aaron, & Vincenzo painting the Bay Area red...

chillin at Tribu: lilVince, Raffi, Steffi, & Siri.




pictures from Helms PG&E Powerhouse @ Shaver Lake, CA

learning about infrared is fun. (left to right) Armando, Curt, Angel, & Vince. Academy of Infrared Training, Portland, Oregon. Not in picture: Paula Bowie (Instructor).

Sunday, August 13, 2006

taking the summer off
ok, ok...so things have not been updated recently and more especially---no pictures of what has been going on in and around the house of water....this will eventually come to an end with my recent developed hate for statistics class....anyway, hope to see all of you soon, online...

Thursday, May 11, 2006


wednesday night Japanese sushi dinner selection in Portland, Oregon....California roll, soft shell crab roll (spider roll), edamame (boiled soybeans), and tako/ebi salad (octopus and shrimp)....

tuesday night Thai dinner choice in Portland, Oregon...chicken satay, mango curry with white chicken meat, Thai iced tea, and white rice....

i forgot to post this after the girls left for their vacation... here it is, a silly picture of silly girls on vacation....silly girls: JV, Alex, and Steffi....

Monday, May 08, 2006


these are some of the peeps working hard at the new restaurant. Raffi, Steffi, and Siri worked their butts off last night with the Sunday crowd in full force at the restaurant. they even served a table for 15! fortunately, i work in the kitchen so i don't have to deal with the customers :-)


pictures from helms pg&e for 2006. we were working mostly on the breakers and didn't have a lot of time to go out and walk around as much. the snow was still on the ground beside the road going to HQ. waterfalls were also forming all over the place over rocks on the side of the road. it was nice to stop and watch the water flow over these rocks every once in a while on the trip up to HQ. the girls are still serving the great food in the dining facility there. Pam, Mary, and Julie are still as delightful as ever.


check out these pictures from the seats we had during the angels series. i brought my nephew with me and he got a foam cowboy hat. of course, the A's won the game against the halos so the hat is now dubbed "the lucky cowboy hat". the seats were great, right behind vip with a great view of the pitches because they are right behind the catcher. Rich Harden did not disappoint.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006




good to be back inside the Coliseum for the 2006 baseball season. the A's were looking a little off on opening night but made it up to the yankees in the next two home games. the third deck of the Coliseum will be missed but the crowd seems a bit more packed because of the absence of the third deck. the east bay couldn't be nicer if not for the Coliseum. Let's Go Oakland!!!!!

jengga...one of the most fun and cut-throat of all games ;-)

Monday, March 27, 2006




the first signs of spring and i'm off on the road to the Golden Gate Bridge. only a few miles from the BART station in downtown San Francisco, i had to stroll through busy fisherman's warf (a.k.a. pier 39) and Crissy field. got to the bridge and i just had to take a picture of Georgiana with the bridge as the backdrop. oh, and the new shoes worked well too...

greek salad for lunch last friday. it's lent and i'm trying ok?

burger and onion rings ...good thing i ride a bicycle...