Matt Redman Concert (October 2015)

Day before leaving on a two week Asia trip, I went to a Matt Redman concert at Mariners Church along with several people from CCCSB. One of my carpool buddies attends Mariners and told me about the concert. I have never been to Mariners before and was surprised how large it was.


Almost 4000 people capacity

I only managed to record one video since my phone was acting up. It even crashed on this video and reset itself near the end of the song.


10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord) - Matt Redman

New Brown Eyed Girls Album

Yay! They're consistently one of my favorite K-pop girl groups (others currently are MAMAMOO and SPICA). There was some issues with their prior management company which seems to be behind them now. Hopefully they will continue to release new music.


신세계 (Brave New World) - Brown Eyed Girls

They were also recent guests (November 2015) on Weekly Idol. One of the funniest episodes ever.

42nd Los Angles Korean Festival (October 2015)

42 years and it's the first time I've heard of this event. The festival was held in early October at a small park in Koreatown over four days with food and performance. I was there Saturday night (October 3, 2015) to see Mamamoo perform.


I dragged my dad along since I just introduced him to Mamamoo a week before. We drove to Union Station and tool the Red Line to avoid traffic and parking issues.


It was super crowded when we arrived and there were huge lines for food stalls. We ended up going to the stage area and didn't get anything to eat until after the festival ended (at Sam Woo in Cerritos).


MCs Sam Hammington and some Korean-American lady. I've seen Sam on Korean variety shows.


Rapper Vasco


Pungdeng-e. Never heard of them before.


eSNa. Korean-American singer/songwriter that collaborated with Mamamoo on a few songs.


Mamamoo! Too bad Whee-in was still in her cast and could not dance.




음오아예 (Um Oh Ah Yeh) - MAMAMOO

Washington DC (July 2015)

Even though I've lived in the US for ~30 years, I haven't traveled that much within the country. Last July, I spent a week in DC with my sister's family. It's only the 2nd time I've been there. Due to work travel, my sister has lots of Alaska miles and Marriott points so airfare and hotel rooms were free.


Washington DC Chinatown. There were signs in Chinese on almost all businesses. This was a literal translation: corner bread coffee shop.


I guess there's no literal translation for Fudruckers so this says "World's Best Hamburger"


National Gallery


Spy Museum display (forgot was it was about). This was the only museum that we had to pay to get in. Some of the displays were cool but the space was small and everything was super crowded.


Enigma machine at the Spy Museum. I had just watched The Imitation Game so it was relevant.


Lincoln Memorial


MLK Memorial


Washington Monument


Small SpaceX display at the National Air & Space Museum. I'm surprised that there was anything at all.


View of Jefferson Memorial from the top of Washington Monument


Capitol Building (scaffolding for dome repair). We managed to get tickets for a tour of the building; no such luck for White House tour.

Shredder

Bought a cross-shredder April of last year from Amazon for $70. I tested it on ~700 wedding photos and it worked pretty well.


Thought this would make a nice desktop wallpaper but it's too busy


Filled up an entire Costco trash bag

Parking Structure

Due to poor planning, we've been out of parking spots for several years. Many of us had to park in an off-site structure two miles away, and take shuttle to/from work. This adds about 30 minutes to my commute each day. In 2015, we finally decided to build a seven-story parking structure across the street. It should be complete by the end of this month but probably still won't have enough parking spots for everyone.

A few photos from my cubicle. I wanted to take a photo each day but forgot most of the time so I don't have enough for a good time lapse video.


January 2015


March 2015


May 2015


September 2015

Ugly. The current plan is to cover the street facing side of the parking lot with a very large vinyl print, probably a picture of Mars of something. That will cost ~$2M.

Chinese Bus Tours

I've dropped off my parents on several Chinese Bus Tour trips in the past, but recently I've gone with them on a few as well. After the alpacas farm "tour", I don't think I'll go on any more bus tours.

Sedona, November 2013




Red Rock



Monterey + Napa Valley Wine Train, December 2014




Lonely Cypress


Wine Train. It was dark so we couldn't see anything out the windows while we ate dinner.

Santa Barbara, May 2015




Alpacas...


The Santa Barbara tour portion was basically a half-hour ride on the amphibian bus

2015

2015 was a tough year. There were some good times but I had foot issues for most of the year, including outpatient surgery, multiple trips to the ER & urgent care, outpatient surgery, weeks of hyperbaric treatment, and crutches. Hopefully 2016 is a better year.


After 3 nights in the hospital, I was about to rip out the IV line.

Also, my main blog reader complained about the lack of posts recently. It's been easier to update my Facebook page but I'll try to do a few catch-up posts.

Choice Music in Korean Galleria

Took forever to drive to Koreatown to pick up the Mamamoo CD I ordered but finally got it. Hopefully the info about the fan meeting this Sunday is correct and I'll be able to get the CD signed and get a picture with the group.

Koreatown was super crowded today and my Korean friend said it will probably be a lot worse tomorrow night for the concert. I think I will try and park at Union Station and take the Metro Red Purple Line to the festival (1/2 mile walk). My dad is thinking of coming so $6 for parking and $1.75 x2 (round trip) x2 = $13 which is not too bad to avoid traffic and parking.

LA Moo Party

Update: Ugh. All the CDs online are shipped from Korea. I did find one guy on ebay but takes a week to ship. I also found a few music stores in K-town and sent some emails. I guess I'll have to run down there in person tomorrow to see if I can find anything fit for an autograph session.

==========



Mamamoo is coming to LA to perform a free concert at LA Korean Festival on October 3rd. They're also holding a fan meeting the next day at Fonda Theater at 4pm. Since I'm usually free on weekends, I dropped $110 ($90 for ticket + $20 "convenience" fee) to see them live. Hopefully they will speak some English or have translators 'cuz my Korean skills are non-existent. I've been to a few Korean concerts but nothing like this. The event website said no photos, which is crazy for a fan meeting, and that they'll sign one item. I really don't have anything so I'm scrambling to see if I can get an album shipped by this Friday. :(

Favorite performance:

The Way to Sampo - Mamamoo (Immortal Song 2)

New Passport

Yay! I got my new passport in the mail yesterday. I think it took only 3 weeks for them (State Department?) to process and return to me. I still have to get my old passport back but they said it may come in a separate mailing. I opted for the larger 52 page passport since I had to add pages to my last one. It used to be free to add pages but now the government charges $82 to add 24 pages to your existing passport.

Will they add another 24 pages to my 52 page passport if I need it?

Asia Trip Planning

My sister and I talked about taking my nieces on a trip to Asia for awhile now. Well, we finally decided on dates and bought plane tickets for late October/early November so I guess we're really going. At first I looked at fully guided tours, especially in Japan, but they cost a lot of money. After researching sample itineraries, I've decided to try and plan our own trip.

The plan is to fly from LAX to Japan, stay a few days in Tokyo then Kyoto, and continue to Taipei. Since we have 5 people, which is an odd number for hotel rooms (and taxis), we ended up booking all lodging through Airbnb. In Tokyo, we're staying in an apartment near Inaricho station (near Ueno Park) for 5 nights. This is followed by 3 nights in Osaka near Namba station, and 5 nights in Taipei near the main train station. It was a lot of work to find places big enough within our budget, yet near train/subway stations so we can walk with luggage. In total, the 13 nights will cost us about $2400 with Airbnb booking fees and cleaning charges.

I've also been trying to arrange activities each day, along with all the required public transportation rides. Tokyo has to have the most confusing subway system, primarily because there are several companies, all with their own lines and stations. Just because you see a station next to where you want to go on Google Maps, it doesn't mean it will be cheap nor convenient to get there.


Tokyo Subway Map - Only contains lines/stations for 2 subway companies

I'm still deciding to go with a tour of Mt. Fuji or plan it myself. After that, I think I'm done with Japan itinerary, but still have to figure out what we want to do in Taipei.

New Favorite K-pop Girl Group

Um Oh Ah Yeh - MAMAMOO

Strange group name but lots of vocal talent. One thing I noticed was how effortless their performances are for a bunch in their early 20's. I guess when you're not worried about singing the right notes, you can focus on other parts of the live stage. In some of the other popular girl groups, half the members can't sing that well. They remind me of a younger Brown Eyed Girls.

Hope they come to KMF this year.

Ah Yeah - EXID

Ah Yeah - EXID

They will be here for KMF in a few weeks. I really wanted to see them live along with Apink but the Hollywood Bowl is not a great venue. The place will also be packed with thousands of screaming teens due to TVXQ and some other boy bands. My foot is still messed up so I didn't want to walk all the way in/out of the Bowl.

Hopefully they'll come again in the future.

"Freedom of Religion"

Shameful

Christian Science Monitor

In 'China's Jerusalem,' party members must now profess atheism

A Communist Party crackdown takes a new turn in a religious hotbed of faith on China's east coast. Prospective party members who worship need to officially 'rectify' their beliefs.

As with many things in China, laws don't mean shit. It's just used as political cover—for whichever faction of the CCP currently in power—to do whatever they want against their "enemies." Is it surprising that none of Xi Jinping's cronies are "corrupt"? They'd better start buying houses in Arcadia before his term in office is up.

The Global Times quoted a professor from a prominent party college in Beijing that gave an interpretation of the latest move:

"Party members are banned from joining religions. Believing in communism and atheism is a basic requirement to become a Party member." said Li Yunlong, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. Li said that Zhejiang authorities stressed this basic requirement due to local situation, adding he hopes this will set an example to other provinces. "This could be a part of efforts against the penetration of Western hostile forces," said Li.

Wait, Western hostile forces.... is he talking about Marx and Lenin?

New Church #1: EFCI 1.5G Ministry

1.5G stands for 1.5 generation. From their website, they are trying to reach those born overseas but grew up in the US bi-culturally. I guess it's something similar to NewSong's Third Culture ideology, trying to reach those stuck between two dominant cultures. Anyway, I showed up at 11:05am for their 11:10am service and the full-English ministry was still in the room so everything got delayed. The service feels like the English service at CCCSB without the Youth, and with some Chinese thrown in. In the end, it felt a bit gimmicky... about 90% of the service was in English but several worship songs were in Chinese, the worship leader had a pretty strong accent, and the speaker threw in a few Chinese sentences. I think the concept is fine, but since it's part of EFC Irvine, it's still a Chinese church, especially the Chinese lunch after service.

I don't think my Chinese is good enough to be even 1.5G. I had raised this issue while back at CCCSB. It's not about language but culture. The English Ministry never grew in the past 20 years because I don't think there is a goal, other than somewhere for the Youth to go before college. Is there truly a 1.5G culture? Maybe there is but in practice, it's hard to define and to balance the two different cultures. I'll go back a few more times and maybe visit a small group, but I'm thinking that I need to find a mostly Asian church not attached to a 1st generation Asian congregation.

New Church

After helping at my old church for the past 5 years, I think I've had enough. A lot of people have left and I only know a handful of people now. The church also lost all it's pastors (3 pastors + intern) this past year and it looks like nothing will change.

I'll probably go to NewSong IrvineSanta Ana for awhile until I find something else.

Diplomatic Immunity Seal of Transfer

Evidently I need one to claim $8.3M!

FBI Headquarters
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

This is to notify you that huge funds valued at 8.3million Dollars have been transferred into your account. This transfer was stopped today by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) because our verification showed that you do not possess the Diplomatic Immunity Seal of Transfer (DIST) to show that this fund is legit and rightly belongs to you.

Do reply to this e-mail so we can direct you accordingly where you will obtain this legal wiring document to fully authorize the crediting of your fund into your main account.

FBI Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Special Agent, Michael J. Heimbach
FBI's Washington Field Office

This Michael J. Heimback is a real FBI agent.

LA Metro Green Line

So after spending two weeks in Tunisia, I spent about 22 hours traveling home (4am Tunis time to 6pm Pacific time). The most frustrating part of the return trip was trying to get from LAX to work, where my carpool buddy would drive me home.

My flight was supposed to arrive at 4:30pm but we actually landed at and pulled up to the gate at 4:15pm. Bradley terminal was surprisingly empty but it was a very long walk from the gate to immigration. I have not traveled internationally for a few years so it was my first time in the renovated terminal. I walked up to an automated kiosk, answered a few questions, had my photo taken, and was given a receipt. I was also directed to a very short line and was out of the terminal in ~20 minutes!

Since I was early, I decided to save a few bucks and take the Green line from LAX to work. It's only a short bus ride (<3 miles) and two stops on the Green line. How bad can it be? Bad.


Metro Green Line

The Green line "G" shuttle bus is basically the unofficial LAX employee shuttle. It was the third bus that pulled up to the blue shuttle stop and it was about 80% full. I'd estimate about 2/3rd of the passengers were airport employees, from TSA to airline employees to baggage handlers. By the time we left the airport, the bus was completely full... standing room only. The bus drive chose to take Century Blvd to Aviation except there was some kind of road construction on Century (on a Friday afternoon?!) so the bus ride took ~40 minutes. When I rode the train last time (3 years ago?), it was only $1.50 and no one checked. Now they've implemented a card system where you have to scan in and out. The card costs $1 and the fare was $1.75 so the short trip cost me $2.75 total. Now I have another piece of plastic in my wallet.

I used to complain about LAX a lot, especially the international terminal since it was an embarrassment compared to airports at other major cities. I think they've fixed the terminal, but getting to/from LAX is still a major disaster. Since there no light rail option, there are a million shuttle buses for hotels, rental cars, parking lots, short and long-distance buses, airport shuttles, and lots of private cars, all circling the single road. In Hong Kong, I can get from the airport to Kowloon or Central in ~20 minutes. Try that at LAX during Friday rush hour.

Next time, I think I'll splurge and take a taxi or Uber.

Tunisia Trip Day 11

Travel day back to LAX via CDG/Paris. No Roman ruins but lots of airplane pics.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had to leave the hotel at 4:30am. Originally I was going to take a taxi but our driver said he would take me since the airport transfer was part of the tour package. When we arrived at the hotel last night, he then said a "friend" would pick me up. Are you sure? No problem! So at 4:30am, another driver shows up and asks me for the transfer form or something; he didn't speak English. I said I don't have anything, he hesitated, then took me to the airport anyway, with a busted seatbelt in the passenger seat. At the airport, he followed me around, trying to show me where to go. I was trying to explain that I've been to many airports and I'll be fine, but he waited until I got my boarding pass, then asked for money. Sigh. The smallest I had was 10 dinar so I gave him that. I paid for the ride beforehand, gave our regular driver a large tip, and I'm still being nickeled and dimed. It's like the scamming employees at the Bardo Museum.

Same thing for the Tunisian government. They just implemented an exit tax effective 10/1/2014 of 30 dinars. Welcome to Tunisia... now you need to pay for us to let you go home. I had to find a bank counter at the airport to buy the exit stamp to stick in my passport. I did this but when I went through security at the airport, the border guy was complaining about the stamp in French. I gave him a blank look so after a few moments, he looked at me like I was an idiot, then dismissed me. Huh? Later I find out that since I arrived on 9/30/2014, I didn't have to pay the exit tax. Whatever. Just let me go home.

Finally, since I'm complaining, Air France sucks. When I bought the tickets originally, I purchased premium economy seats thinking that I would be able to pre-select (aisle) seats, but that wasn't the case. After much complaining on Twitter, they were suddenly able to assign me a window seat from LAX-CDG, which I was then able to change online. Cool... not. Then Air France pilots go on strike for two weeks, fortunately ending the day before I was to leave. I was able to get to Paris but the flight arrived late so I had to run like crazy through CDG airport to make my connection though my luggage did not. At Tunis, my bag made it on a later flight but I had to go back to the airport to get it myself as they did not deliver. I wonder if they treat first class customers the same way. On the way back home, I tried for two days to check-in online but it would only process the TUN-CDG flight; the website said I was on standby for the CDG-LAX flight. WUWT?! I tried a direct Twitter message and a phone call to the AF US customer service number but both were unable (or unwilling) to do anything. At Tunis airport, the gate agent said that I had to check with a customer service agent in Paris for seats. When I arrived at CDG, the only seat available was a window seat. Arg, I paid AF $1700 four months before the trip! Frustrating. I'm never ever flying Air France again. I hope I can at least trade my miles from this trip for some useful stuff.

/rant


Carthage-Tunis Airport sunrise


CDG airport was pretty nice. There were a lot of shops and everything was clean though expensive. I bought a bottle of French wine at the duty free shop. They also had these "billboards" but with live plants.


Vietnamese Airlines Boeing 777-200ER. Never seen one at LAX.


British Aerospace 146 (Avro RJ85)


Air France Airbus A380-800. This is the same type of plane for my LAX-CDG trip. Very large plane.


Air France Boeing 777-300ER. This was my ride home. Unlike the A380, the interior was a bit worn. The in-flight entertainment system stopped working for me and my neighbor about an hour into the flight. Fortunately, there was an empty seat but it had a broken leg rest (thus unoccupied). I ended up sitting there for most of the 11.5 hour flight since I couldn't deal with my window seat. Also, the food seems to be worse than the A380 as well. More importantly, the premium economy seats were similar and both sucked.


Entry and exit stamps... and the 30 dinar exit tax stamp that I didn't have to buy

Back to sleep!

Tunisia Trip Day 10

Whew, last full day in Tunisia. I enjoyed the time off from work since there was no Internet most of the trip, but I'm ready to go home. Today was mainly spent at The National Bardo Museum and the many ancient Carthage ruin sites.

First stop was the Bardo. For some reason, our driver didn't know the operating hours so we got there at 8:45am but the museum didn't open until 9:30am so he had us wait. We tried to walk behind the museum to see the parliament building but a guy in an uniform and an assault rifle (pretty sure it was a Steyr AUG) stopped us and told us to go back. Nevermind.

The museum was modern and housed lots of excellent exhibits. However, one thing bothered me. Some exhibits were roped off that weren't really closed. I was approached by an employee who took me to see a few items behind ropes and told to take pictures quickly. I knew where this was going but went along anyway. After about 10 minutes of this, he asked for money. I was about to give him a few dinars but he asked for US currency. Thinking I had a few $1 bills, I pulled out my wallet and only had a $5 so I gave that to him. Another person in our group said the same guy was doing the same thing when he was here back in February.


Entrance to Bardo... not open yet


Tunisia has lots of beautiful doors


The Demna baptistery (Byzantine)


Room full of huge mosaics


Mosaic in the museum lobby


Parliament building behind museum

Next on the agenda was Carthage. Since ancient Carthage was so large, archaeological sites were spread across a wide area. We stopped at a few sites and the Carthage museum. We also stopped to visit the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial.


Another amphitheater. This was just next to the road and not very well maintained.


View from the Carthage Museum


Huge new mosque


Ruins of a 5th century church next to the mosque


American Cemetery and Memorial




The Antonine Baths near the coast




I had a pizza and two cans of cold soda for lunch... glorious. The pizza was okay.

The final stop of the day was Sidi Bou Said which is sometimes called the Santorini of Tunisia due to the white buildings and blue doors. We walked around the streets a bit, took lots of photos, then went back to the hotel for dinner, and said our goodbyes since I was leaving for the airport the next morning at 4:30am. I thought it was too early but our driver said it was good.


Door


Door + window


Another door


Cafe des Delices


Hotel Majestic. The only hotel we stayed at that had consistent AC and wifi.