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Pictures I'm tagged in
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Pictures I'm tagged inWednesday, Nov 4, 2009 10:07PM / 600 pictures
My pictures
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Launch Week: Alivenotdead.com hits Beijing
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 12:34AM / Standard Album
19 pictures / 187 views / 10 commentsHere are my photos for our launch party for alive.tom.com in Beijing. Thanks to everyone who came up and supported!
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Journey to Penang, Malaysia (Part 3): Monkeys Eatin' Chinese Food (photos)
Saturday, Jun 20, 2009 5:51PM / Standard Album / travel
15 pictures / 150 views / 4 commentsThis is my final part of my three part series on my weekend vacation trip to Penang, Malaysia (Part 1, Part 2). My final day in Penang was spent exploring the backwoods and roads of Penang. First, I wanted to find some monkeys so my friend took us to Penang's Youth Garden and Botanical Gardens where the moneky's are brave enough to run up to visitors. Unlike Hong Kong or Xiamen Island, it seems like there's still a very large portion of Penang Island that remains undeveloped so there's definitely more outdoor activities and wildlife.Baby and mom monkeys
My favorite photo: Have you ever seen a monkey eating Pork Buns?
After visiting the monkeys, I accompanied my friend's nieces and nephews to the Penang Butterfly Garden which brings you up close to thousands of butterflies.Butterfly farm
Unfortunately, despite being a tropical island, Penang doesn't really offer much in terms of beaches. I'm kind of surprised because the water is still sparkling blue and the environment pristine compared to China and Hong Kong -- one of the important reasons I wanted to travel out of China for my vacation. Nonetheless, we were able to find a narrow strip of beach for me to jump into the warm water for half an hour and get some sand between my toes.Seaside view of Penang
Finally, at the end of my trip, I was able to meet up with local alivenotdead artist, BadBoyBen and Arianne from KL. Super special thanks to BadBoyBen for hooking me up with an awesome discounted executive suite at Penang's G Hotel. I heard awesome praise about it from Phat and my local friend and, true to form, the hotel offered a room bigger than my apartment in Hong Kong and conveniently located next to a great hawker's nighttime market for food. It also offered an awesome ocean view and a beautiful roof-top swimming pool where I relaxed and took ten laps. In any case, I closed out my vacation hanging out with Ben and Arianne at the G Spot, the hotel's bar. Thanks again, Ben!More baby monkeys!
Check out the photo album below for more photos. -
Journey to Penang, Malaysia (Part 2): Sweatin' to the oldies (photos)
Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 10:28PM / Standard Album / travel
17 pictures / 98 views / 4 commentsThis is part two of my three part series on my trip to Penang, Malaysia (part 1). As I mentioned in my previous blog, Penang is a small island off of Malaysia that, like Singapore, Xiamen, and Hong Kong, was formerly colonised by the British. You might know that I previously lived in Xiamen (another island city off of China) and there's definitely alot of similiarities between Xiamen and Penang. Most distinctively, a majority of the Chinese in Penang trace their roots back to Minnan, the area in Southern Fujian that includes Xiamen and, consequently, most of the Chinese in Penang is spoken in the Hokkien dialect (which is nearly similar to Minnanyu, the local Chinese dialect in Minnan and Taiyu, the local dialect in Taiwan). The majority of the Chinese came over a hundred or more years ago during the great Chinese diaspora of the late 1800's so, like Taiwan, Penang has developed a regional Chinese subculture that is distinctly different from it's Minnan roots.Did you know that the Khoo clanhouse is the historical center of Penang? Boon has an ancestral home...
The thing I find most fascinating about Penang is that the Chinese, Indian, local Malay cultures (each in a about equal proportions) live side-by-side in relative harmony for such a long time and the consequence is a really rich culture. In addition, for better or worse, Penang remains a relatively economically undeveloped island compared to it's Chinese, Hong Kong, or Singaporean cousins. Rather than rushing to tear down markers of centuries-old culture and replace them with fancy new condo high-rises, they've worked hard to preserve a good portion of their historical heritage including the old colonial-era buildings. The UNESCO-heritage preserved portion of the city doesn't just encompass a couple of city blocks, but rather preserves a large portion of the city (Georgetown) including the local Chinese "kongsis" (the family "protection" estates), mosques, and Hindu temples. The old Georgetown section is a lively patchwork of Indian, Malay, and Chinese businesses, restaurants and street vendors continuing a century old heritage of merchants.Armenians apparently have their own street, too. Thereis a mosque and Sun Yat-Sen's planning base for the Revolution on the street.
I think I prefer the cleanliness and order of Xiamen (strictly planned and executed over the past twenty years like the rest of China), but there's still something to be said fo late night food stalls and street hawkers. While Hong Kong and Xiamen are busy closing down their night markets, Penang seems to fiercely celebrate the food stall and hawker culture in Georgetown.Thanks to BadBoyBen and Arianne for playing host in Penang.
Check out the photo album below for more photos. -
Journey to Penang, Malaysia (Part 1) ... or how to gain five lbs. in 48 hours
Monday, Jun 15, 2009 8:45PM / Standard Album / travel
28 pictures / 255 views / 9 commentsI just got back from a much-needed weekend trip away from Hong Kong to the nearby island city of Penang, Malaysia. It's been over eight months since I last left China/HK/Macau to go anywhere, and it's been especially a long time since I've been able to take time off to just enjoy, relax, and , most importantly, EXPLORE what Asia has to offer for three days.
As a consequence, I took my one of my former co-worker's invitation to visit her family home in Penang. It's been four years since she last extended the invitation to visit her multi-cultural city, and due to extenuating circumstances, it was until now that I was finally able to follow-through on her invitation. The invite was enticing: Penang is probably the one of the most culturally diverse cities in Asia with nearly equal populations of Chinese (split into Hokkien and Cantonese populations), local Malay, and Indian (both Hindi and Punjab/Muslim varieties) living in relative harmony in a former British colony. The result of the century-and-a-half of intertwined history is a fascinating cultural stew -- each population still retains their distinctness so instead of a boring cultural homogeniety it's more like a diversity of food, language, and traditions. Nonetheless, the local population freely borrows and shares in the best that each of the other cultures have to offer. I found it really fascinating that you could walk down a single neighborhood and find thriving mosques, churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples side-by-side for decades.
Similarly, I mainly came by Penang to take up my friend's offer to check out what many people consider to be the richest and most diverse cuisine available in Asia. When people talk about "Malaysian" cuisine, they're really indicating the mix of traditional Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Indian food. Oh, and throw in some Taiwanese desserts and some English cuisine as a throwback to colonisation and you can basically sample about six or seven different types of food in one sitting.
Another distinctive thing about Penang cuisine: The street food. Like Taipei, Penang's street vendors are integral part of the Penang eating experience. In fact, during my three days and *ahem* 37 dishes of food, I never once stepped into an indoor-restaurant. Every place that we ate was a streetside vendor or an outdoor dapaidong. Despite it being extradinarily warm, the combination of the sea breeze and great variety of fresh fruit juices (coconut, starfruit, rambutan, long'an, durian etc... the variety is endless) made it livable and I'm absolutely sold on strictly eating street cuisine instead of eating inside of an air-conditioned restaurant.
In any case, thanks to my friend, I think I got a really good sampling of the best street food that Penang has to offer. For those of you who like eating and don't fear crowded street markets or tropical temperatures, I highly recommend that you try to make an excursion.
Check out the photo album below for more photos.
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Behind the Scenes of Hardpack's Greatest Hits CD Launch Party
Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008 5:55PM / Standard Album
24 pictures / 1678 views / 7 commentsYes, I'm late in posting photos from the event... but it was one of the most memorable concert nites in a while...
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A birthday in Zhuhai with my Hong Kong friends
Monday, Nov 24, 2008 3:28PM / Standard Album
52 pictures / 1951 views / 25 commentsCelebration for my birthday including:
- Birthday cake at the office with special guests dropping in and saying 'hi!'
- A daytrip to Zhuhai with friends to go go-karting, foot massage, and a fresh seafood dinner...
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Doraemon attacks Halloween!
( 繁 )Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 1:23PM / Standard Album
33 pictures / 1904 views / 14 comments -
24 Herbs in Bangkok (Asian Hiphop Festival)
( 繁 )Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008 11:01PM / Standard Album
26 pictures / 1393 views / 3 comments -
January 2008 Photos
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 2:53AM / Standard Album
19 pictures / 1590 viewsJanuary 2008 starts off with even more fun events
- HK Live 2nd Anniversary at Fringe Club with DP, Hardpack and a special appearance by Soler
- Jan from So What?'s birthday party
- Michael Wong Big Band show TVB Live taping along with Audiotraffic
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2007 Holiday Photos
Thursday, Jan 3, 2008 1:48AM / Standard Album
46 pictures / 1923 views / 13 commentsI can't believe how fun and tiring this holiday season was this year. Our house played host to one Xmas Eve potluck, three guy friends on the sleeping couch, five female friends sleeping on the couch, Wii night, etc... Basically, my house became a hostel for lots of my friends during the holiday season visiting Hong Kong for fun.
I had a great time showing around my friends from outside of Hong Kong around town -- it's only been one year since I moved here and it feels like it's come full circle with me playing tourguide to all of my friends now.
Here is some of the craziness from this photo album:
- [alive not dead]'s First DJ Showcase at the new club Cliq. Big shoutout to the awesome DJs: DJ TKO, DJ Beware, and Kid Fresh. Also a HUGE shoutout to Alaric for helping us book the club on a busy Friday night. The BEST DJ night I've ever been to, hands-down.
- CityU Bands at HITEC Park featuring Hardpack, Ryan Hui, Shepherds the Weak, King Lychee, and Soler. The sound and lighting sucked ass, but the bands kept up a good mood had a goo time.
- Going with the cast/crew of "Fog" (directed by Kit Hui, starring Terence and Eugenia) on their last day of shooting. We crossed the border into Shenzhen to visit the Aquatic Park there.
- New Year's Eve dinner at Zuma where Janelle invited all of her friends for a MOST AWESOME dinner -- one of the best meals I've ever had. THANKS JANELLE and THANKS DAN!!!
- After Zuma, we all headed over to Cliq again to see DJ Beware and Kid Fresh do ANOTHER set. Everyone from the previous Zuma dinner showed up so we had about 30-40 friends all celebrating together. GREAT
I love holidays spent with friends. Let's do it again!
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