Via the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) website:

“Spring 2012 will be a special season as it marks the centennial anniversary of Japan’s Gift of Trees to the U.S. To celebrate this anniversary, we’re giving you and a guest the chance to explore Japan inside and out. Read through all 6 itineraries, pick your favorite, and enter for your chance to win your dream vacation!”

Catherine showed me around her old stomping grounds in London last week.  We walked around, ate surprisingly good food (despite the British stereotype), and hit the requisite tourist sites – Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill, etc.  I also had the chance to meet up with Venu, and old friend from my Swedish class at Harvard, and Steph and Olie, a couple of British friends I met in Japan.

Eat! Above: Ploughman’s Lunch at The Spaniard’s Inn, Hampstead

Below: Fish & Chips.  Ok, these are from Giraffe, a chain in Heathrow before my flight back, but it was actually pretty good I had to get my mushy peas fix before leaving the UK

Drink! Below: Summer in England = Pimm’s, of course! @ the Scarsdale Tavern, Kensington

Above: Some photos from the Elephant Parade 2010

Elephant Parade is a conservation campaign that shines a multi-coloured spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. Brought to you by www.elephantfamily.org, the event sees over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants located over central London this summer.

Stay: Travelodge Marylebone – inexpensive and centrally located

Panda Eyes at the Design Museum London

More London photos and video on Flickr.

I went on an impromptu trip out to Montauk, Long Island last weekend with Catherine.  Photo essay and travel tips below.

STAY at The Panoramic View – simple luxury, right on the beach

EAT fish and chips at Gurney’s Inn, right next door to The Panoramic View

DRINK at Nick’s, a beach bar right in town with live music

WATCH the sunset at the Montauket

EAT lobsters at Duryea’s.  Rustic and delicious.  My lobster was pregnant! Yum.

ADOPT a sock monkey and shop for other kitsch Americana at a shop on the main street in town (don’t remember the name)

More photos on Flickr.

I got back late Friday night from a 5 day holiday on Saba in the Dutch Caribbean with my ITP pals Elizabeth and Catherine.  Saba is a tiny, tranquil island with no beach, but excellent diving and hiking.  We stayed at El Momo Cottages and I took a PADI Scuba Diver certification course at Sea Saba.  We came back tanned (a little sunburned actually) and relaxed and ready to take on the last 6 weeks of thesis before graduation (cue freak out now).  Photo essay and travel details below.

Saba Quick Guide

Stay: El Momo Cottages
Just the right kind of rustic (pictured above and below). Proprietors Andries and Marieke are gracious hosts. It’s a bit of a schlep up the hill and stairs, but the view is worth it. The homemade breakfast is a great way to start your day, while the homemade flavored rums make an excellent nightcap.

Eat: Brigadoon
The best restaurant on the island. Owner Tricia is a lively hostess, while her husband holds down the kitchen. Stick with the fresh seafood dishes and definitely try the luxurious seafood chowder.

Dive: Sea Saba
Professional and friendly staff. Scott was a knowledgeable dive instructor who explained things very clearly and helped reassure us total beginners.

Snack: Saba Snack
Tiny snack bar on the main street in Windwardside. Soursop smoothie and a coconut cookie (pictured below) make the perfect mid-afternoon post-dive snack.

Above: St. Maarten through a 70′s-tinted prop plane window. Below: Winair prop plane.

Above: View into the cockpit.  Below: Local wildlife.

Above: Mango tree.

Above: A final taste of the islands: smoked herring-stuffed plantain washed down with piña colada at the St. Maarten airport while waiting for our flight home.

Additional photography courtesy of Catherine White.

This is what we had:

Yam Samun Phrai ($9.00)

Special Northern Thai herbal salad with ginger, carrot, parsnip, betel leaf, basil, lime leaf, sawtooth, fried shallots, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, dry shrimp, ground pork and Thai chilies in a coconut milk dressing.

I’ve never had anything like this before, but it kind of reminded me of a Japanese kinpira on acid. A definite party going on in my mouth. A taste revelation.

Coconut Rice ($2.50)
Definitely necessary to counteract the atomic Thai chilies masquerading as scallions in the salad

Sii Khrong Muu Yaang ($11 – not pictured)

Carlton Farms baby back ribs marinated in whisky, soy, honey, ginger and Thai spices. slow grilled over charcoal and served with 2 spicy dipping sauces.

I’m not usually a ribs person, but these were very well executed. They kind of reminded me of jerky or Cantonese char siu, in a good way.

Khao Soi Kai ($11.50)

Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with our secret curry paste recipe, natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins.

My favorite Thai noodle soup! It’s not on many Thai restaurant menus in the US, but it should be. Pok Pok’s khao soi is rustic, with big chunks of chicken on the bone, falling apart tender, and a perfectly balanced coconut broth. I wish there were a little bit more broth though, ’cause I downed every drop.

Sankhaya Fak Thong ($6.50)

Steamed Kabocha pumpkin, filled with coconut-palm sugar custard scented with pandanus leaf.

The kind of expected this to be warm, or at least room temperature, but it came cold. Still really good though. I think maybe just a dash of salt would have offset some of the sweetness and made the flavor of the kabocha really pop, but that would be gilding the lily. BTW, the desert portion was more than enough for 2 people to share.

Pok Pok
3226 se division, pdx : 503 232 1387

I checked out Kogi, the much-hyped Los Angeles Korean BBQ Taco truck when I was in town visiting the family last week.  We followed them on Twitter and drove out to Encino to wait in line for the Korean/Mexican fusion food cart.  They have multiple trucks that park at different locations in LA on different days.  All I have to say about the experience is “Yes!”

Yes, the place has a lot of hype, but the food was great.

Yes, it’s fusion, but it’s fusion that just works.

Yes, the lines are long, so get there early.

Yes, the truck was late, stuck in traffic on the 405, but this is LA…

Yes, it’s cheap. Two bucks for a taco and five for a quesadilla.

I tried the tofu and spicy pork tacos and the kimchi quesadilla.  The tofu was flavorful with Korean marinade and seared to make it taste “meaty” rather than gelatinous.  Worth trying even if you are a total carnivore.  The spicy pork was great too: spicy, sweet, meaty, and fatty.  I have to admit this one was an easy sell for me.  When I go to Korean BBQ, I prefer the pork belly to the usual beef dishes like kalbi and bulkogi.  The quesadilla was amazing too.  The umami that comes out of the ménage à trois of kimchi, sesame, and melted cheese is divine.

Kogi Official Website
Kogi on Twitter
Kogi on Yelp

Ubiqui.tv is a prototype online video travel guide for the Boxee platform.  Ubiqui.tv was created by Joel Leimer, Oskar Von Hauske, Timothy Haynes, and myself as our group project for the ITP class Designing The Future of Television with Richard Ting.

The Canadian Council of the Blind has published a fundraising cookbook, Kitchens of the World, which features 200+ recipes and photographs from around the world.  A couple of my photos (including the one above) appear in the Haiti and Domincan Republic chapters.  The book is available online as a paid e-book download or in printed hardcover form.  Proceeds from the book go towards supporting programs for the blind and disabled.

Fill out the simple form on the NASA website and your name will be included with others on a microchip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in 2011.   You’ll get a cool online certificate of participation like the one I have above.  It’s FREE But do it fast, since the NASA site says it’s “your last chance.”

Creative Commons interns do the Google.

The architectural story says “suburban high-tech campus.”

The architectural story, continued.

The mythic and cryptic Google whiteboard

Lunch@Google: Sushi, curry & Chinese food in one cafeteria = my kind of celebrating diversity

Honest Tea imparts ancient wisdom of the Orient.

Google’s dirty laundry.

Above: Exit my house on a hill, immediately turn right and see the San Francisco skyline.

After waking up, watching a couple Top Chef re-runs and having an amazing tofu breakfast burrito at Hazel’s Kitchen,  I went on a self-guided walking tour of San Francisco.  As you can see from the photos in the post, I brought my camera along too.  I noticed the amazing light today and found myself drawn to exploring alleyways and textures.

Above: One of my collection of San Francisco alleyway photos.
Below: Texture

More photos on Flickr.

I walked all the way from my place in Potrero Hill to Downtown, and bought myself a monthly unlimited Muni card and a map, because although I like walking, I’m sure I will have days where I need to get places faster and farther than I can walk.

I ended up near City Hall and found out that the Asian Art Museum, had free admission today, so I spend most of the day there.  Then I took the Muni to Mission District and walked around there for a bit.  I ended up having dinner at a mediocre Vietnamese place that was so unremarkable that I no longer remember the name.  I had some fried spring rolls on rice vermicelli, but the spring rolls were too big and greasy, not light and crisp.  Also had one of my favorite beverages, fresh young coconut juice (in the shell), but they didn’t cut open the top of the coconut, they only punched a hole in it, so I couldn’t eat the coconut meat inside.  Oh well, it was cheap and I was starving by then, so I ate most of it anyway.

Back home blogging and putting some final mixing touches on the HEPNOVA album.

A quick SuperShuttle ride to the Potrero Hill neighborhood, where I am renting a room for the summer. Still in the process of unpacking and settling in.  Had dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Live Sushi at the bottom of the hill (less than 5 minute walk).  The food at the sushi place was average, but it’s close to where I’m staying so I’ll probably be back.  Then I got some provisions at Whole Foods, which is right across the street from Live Sushi.

The uphill walk home from sushi/Whole Foods was a bit tough on my veal-like legs that have attrified in the last couple weeks lounging around the house and the pool in Arizona, but no doubt by the end of the summer I will have calves of steel.

Internship at Creative Commons starts on Monday.

In other news, Nicholas and I wrapped up the latest HEPNOVA album yesterday. A few more finishing tweaks and we will officially release it. In the meantime, you can check out the “soft-launch” mixdowns on ReverbNation.

I’m headed westward today.  First stop: Cake City for 10 days to work on some HEPNOVA tunes, and maybe get in some sessions with Jon David Rodis as well.  Then on to San Francisco to start my internship at Creative Commons.  Back in NYC in late August.

Catherine and I were in DC last week to attend the Free Press Summit on Changing Media. Check out our photos on Flickr.

A carreta (traditional Costa Rican oxcart)

Flor de Vida restaurant in Monteverde served up the best casado I had in Costa Rica.  A casado is a typical Costa Rican meal consisting of rice, black beans, a choice of protein, and other accoutrements like fried plantains and salad.  In this case, the protein was tender chicken breast stewed in a garlicky tomato sauce.

Gratuitous photo of me relaxing in the sun in Monteverde

Video of me and Kris on a Sky Trek zip line.

More Costa Rica pics on Flickr.

I got back earlier this evening from my weekend trip in Boston.  I got to show my ITP classmates Elizabeth, Catherine, and Meredith my old haunts.  We took the Bolt Bus there and back.  They supposedly have WiFi access on the bus (helpful), but the WiFi didn’t work on any of our computers on the trip back (not helpful).  Also not so helpful was the lack of tray tables in the bus.  How is one supposed to eat on the bus?  Or use one’s laptop?  Literally on one’s lap I guess.

Our Boston adventure didn’t start out very auspiciously.  First of all, it was FREEZING cold.  Not surprising for Boston in November, but certainly colder than normal even.  Also, when we tried to get into a taxi at South Station, the car broke down and we had to take another cab.

Finally we got to the hotel and settled in.  We went to Legal Seafoods for dinner on Friday night.  I know, it’s sort of a cheesy chain, but I have to admit that their seafood is top notch.  Then we headed into Harvard Square for a drink at the Casablanca, one of my old hangouts.  When we tried to take the T back to Boston, there was smoke in the T station, so we had a cab.  Does Massachussetts hate us or what?

On Saturday, we walked around the Harvard-Yale game tailgate, and managed to get yelled out by a traffic cop for no reason – we were trying to cross the street when there was no car, but I guess we had to wait for his signal.  Whatever.  Power trip I guess.

We walked back to Harvard Square and into John Harvard’s for a drink and some food.  The waitress wouldn’t accept Catherine’s UK drivers license as valid ID, so she refused to serve her beer.  WTF!  We got up and left.  No love from Mass.  The dead end sign above expresses what I think about the whole situation.

We ended up walking up Mass Ave to warm up with some food and beer at Cambridge Common, another of my old college hangouts, and a rare place near Harvard that has nice waitstaff.  Great selection of 30 beers on tap.  We shared a basket of their famous sweet potato fries and I had a cup of roasted parsnip soup.  New Englanders may not be the most outwardly charming of people, but I concede that they sure know their root vegetables!

More caloric intake happened at Burdick Chocolate, where we had some of their AMAZING hot chocolate – probably my favorite in the whole world.  Marie Belle’s hot chocolate in NYC comes close in the taste category, but in richness, Burdick wins without contest.  Then back to the hotel for some tv watching.  It was way too cold to do any more siteseeing.  We ended up having dinner in the pub-restaurant across the street from our hotel, the Holiday Inn, which was surprisingly nice, with easy access to the Red Line of the T and right next to a Whole Foods.  I don’t remember the name of the pub, but I had a very memorable cup of clam chowder (on par with Legal Seafood’s famous chowder) and a mediocre crab cake sandwich which came with sweet potato fries (my second helping of the day).

I didn’t take many pictures, but you can check them out anyway on Flickr.

Michelle and I headed out to hitherto terra incognita Flushing, Queens today in search of some authentic Taiwanese and Chinese food.  Armed with a printout of a New York Times what-to-eat-map, we walked over from the last stop on the 7 train to the Flushing Mall.

Above: Michelle and Mouse.

When we walked into the Flushing Mall, it looked strangely deserted (and a little run down), but we followed our noses and finally found out that all the action was in the food court.

Above: We shared some Taiwanese favorites: oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) and steamed rice cake in a bowl with pork, mushrooms and shrimp (碗粿).  I had to go off the veggie wagon when dealing with the food from the homeland!

Below: A bowl of handmade beef noodle soup (手拉牛肉麵).  The noodles were thick and chewy and the beef extremely tender.  The broth was a little different from the typical Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup broth, which tends to be darker because it contains soy sauce and sometimes tomatoes.  This broth was light-gray and fragrant.  It reminded me of Vietnamese pho soup.

We also shared a scallion pancake (蔥油餅) and a cup of soy milk (not pictured).  The scallion pancake was amazingly crisp and light, but the soy milk had a strange off taste that happens when one burns the soybean pulp while making the soy milk.

I couldn’t help snapping this photo of the “Bland Houses” sign.  Funny, creepy, and definitely spot on.  Despite the savory food, Flushing was indeed very bland architecturally.

Catherine, Elizabeth (pictured above) and I went on a day trip to Southampton today for some [cold] sea breezes and country charms.  I great chance to get out of the city, despite the 2+ hour train ride each way.  The hearty brunch and bottle of wine definitely helped too.

More of my artsy-fartsy photos of fall foliage, the beach, and small town Americana on Flickr.

Eggplant and cherry tomato salad with walnuts and marjoram

We shared this salad as our starter.  A perfect opening to our summer luncheon.  All the produce was perfectly fresh worked together in harmony.  The eggplant was melt-in-your mouth tender, with its spongelike texture soaking up the olive oil in the vinaigrette.

Side order of anchovies

I LOVE oily fish.  We ordered these to munch on and to go with our bread and butter while we waited for our main courses.  Unlike your everyday canned anchovies, these babies were meaty and fresh-tasting, not just oily and salty.

Our server, Andrew informed us that there was a delay with our main courses (below) due to unspecified “fish issues,” so we just leisurely noshed on anchovies and bread and sipped our cava (nothing quite like bubbly in the afternoon, or any other time for that matter).

California white sea bass with green beans, saffron, tomato and aïoli

I guess in unpretentious California, “haricots verts” are just plain green beans.  But I’m glad they said “aïoli” and not “garlic mayonaise,” which I guess is literally what it is, but just doesn’t sound as tasty.  The aïoli was fantastic, I wish I could have a vat of that stuff to schmear on bread or to dunk french fries (“pommes frites” if you want to continue in the Francophone theme) in.  I would probaby would have licked the creamy, garlicky aïoli off the plate if I had not been in a restaurant.  Seriously, that good.

Wood oven-roasted squid and pimientos with rosemary and garlic

Our other main dish was also in the South of France meets California theme.  The little roasted pimientos were adorable and the squid perfectly tender.  At this point I was in heaven.  You really can’t go wrong with the holy trinity of fresh seafood, garlic and wine.  I’m drooling just thinking about this meal as I blog about it.

Andrew offered to give us a free dessert, so we went ahead and ordered two:

Plum tart with cardamom ice cream

Bittersweet chocolate pavé with hazelnut cream

The chocolate pavé is like a flour-less brownie, but much better than a brownie.  Chocolatey goodness.  The plum tart was amazing too.  Some of the best buttery tart crust I have ever tasted.

And just when you thought the food-porn another surprise freebie:

Mulberries and Pluot

The fruit was at the peak of freshness.  It was my first time trying mulberries and a pluot.  The mulberries reminded me of blackberries.  The plot is a hybrid of 3/4 plum and 1/4 apricot.  A perfect finish to a sublime meal.

End of summer update: I got back this morning from a week-long holiday in Northern California. Tons of pictures on Flickr. I will blog more about it later.

Above: The famous Fisherman’s Wharf of San Francisco. Below: LS plays with eels at the Monterey Aquarium.

Sophia & Perilla

I hung out with Sophia today. We had dinner in the West Village at a place called Perilla, which is Top Chef Harold Dieterle’s restaurant. The ambience was casual and cosy, typical West Village. Our waiter was attentive and the menu looked good. I was a big fan of Harold’s when I watched Top Chef, so I had high hopes. But unfortunately, things got weird, but not in a good way. We were presented with exactly one slice of bread each. Mmm, gee thanks. Nobody asked if we wanted more. We shared an heirloom tomato salad and seared sea scallops for the appetizer course. The tomato salad was good, but a bit pedestrian. The pine nuts and the feta cheese in the salad overpowered the subtly of the tomatoes. The scallops themselves were executed to textbook perfection, but like the tomato salad, had some balance issues: their were bacon or pancetta bits that were a little overwhelming, and not advertised on the menu.

Entrees. This is where it gets bad. We had the Romesco Oil Poached Chatham Cod with black olive gnocchi, oyster mushrooms & summer zucchini sauce and the Grilled Pork T-Bone with lavender, lychee-black chick pea salad & green mustard sauce. Off the bat, the cod dish was way too salty, and had a weird “squeaky texture.” The “romesco” was a red sauce smeared on the cod with chunks of nuts in it, a departure from the smooth Catalan classic. I found the nuts too aggressive in texture compared to the tender cod. Much better after I scraped off most of the sauce. The summer zucchini sauce was more of a color element than a flavor contrast, so I can’t say it was all the memorable. The black olive gnocchi was too similar to the oyster mushrooms in color, but were surprising in taste and texture when I bit into them. The color and texture reminded me of Taiwanese pig’s blood black pudding, and not in a good way.

The pork t-bone was a big, thick peace of meat, but not at all juicy or particularly flavorful. It was covered by a giant mound of salad that obscured the meat on the plate, not all too flattering a presentation. I couldn’t really taste the lavender, and the lychees were just kind of random surprises that lacked a real context.

Dessert was redeeming. Sophia ordered the Vanilla Scented Doughnuts with peach compote filling & sour cream curd. Fried dough. Peaches. Cream. Yum. ‘Nuff said. I had the local blackberries Linzer Torte, which was very well executed as well. It did a nice job of clearing my palate of all excess salt from the entrees.

Sorry Perilla, I really wanted to like it. I really tried, but I left disappointed. Luckily, we were able to amuse ourselves with some great people watching, as we observed two very awkward dates at adjacent tables unfold before our eyes. Made up for the lackluster food. We noticed that the awkward date people were drinking a lot more than we were. Maybe they were on to something.

Interactive Telecommunications @ NYU Tisch

Orientation starts tomorrow morning for the masters program in Interactive Telecommunications that I am doing at NYU. Updates forthcoming.

Below: Lee-Sean and the giant sunflowers of Sonoma.

I got back last night from a 2 week vacation in Taiwan. The trip back to the homeland featured stays in Taipei, the bustling metropolitan capital of Taiwan, and Taichung, the 3rd largest city and my mom’s hometown. We also made a jaunt up to the mountains for a few days to escape the subtropical heat of the cities.

I fell off the vegetarian wagon in a bad way on the trip and overate in general. Taiwanese hospitality is the downfall of my waistline. But why, oh why are the Shanghai soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung so good? And why must they contain pork? I did try some vegan ‘tuna’ sashimi at a seafood buffet in Taichung, but it was slimy and rather nasty.

I hope that being back to my daily routine in NYC will put me back on track. Stopped by the new Tribeca Whole Foods on my way home for some soy milk, organic bananas and açaí for smoothie making. How BoBo of me.

Photos from the Taiwan trip on Flickr.