the journey inward...

The day I ALMOST died.

2008-10-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not being overdramatic. I had a near death experience today. Lets cut to the story...

Almost everyday, I walk to the Mountain View CalTrain station, and today was no exception. I took my usual route, through streets I know like the back of my hand. I came to the intersection of Shoreline and Wright. Not a particularly busy intersection but there is a good amount of traffic that passes by. After I push the "walk" button, I wait for my turn to traverse the street. The gentleman in front of me jays across the street and I'm thinking how dangerous he was being on a rainy day like today, a car may not be able to stop in time to avoid him.

The cross traffic light turns red and I'm prompted to "walk". Like a zombie I just instinctively walk across the street. I mean, it was 8 o'clock, I was still waking up :P. I make it half way across the intersection when I hear some screeching coming from my right. I look over and a car is speeding down the street in my direction. I immediately froze and took a quick step back. The car grazes me and keeps speeding down the street. My immediate reaction was anger. How can someone be so careless to speed through a red light, thank goodness there was no cross traffic, he and the other car would've been in BIG trouble. Then it hit me... I could've just died. If I was walking just a tad bit faster, I would've been a goner. At the speed he was going (40-50mph) there wouldn't have been a chance for me to avoid him and I would've been his hood ornament for sure. I began to shake as I continued to walk toward me destination. At that moment I was absolutely thankful that I had been spared and it definitely shook my world.

Every day, every breath, every moment we have is a gift and in a snap it can be taken away. Me being here at this exact moment and time isn't a mistake. I need to make these moments count. Needless to say, I'm eternally grateful for being alive. I'll be looking 1,000 times both ways now while I'm crossing the street.

FoodFindr: Ready for consumption.

2008-09-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Sooo... as some of you may know... I've been working on an iPhone app. Well.. its time... I'm ready to release it to 100 users Ad-hoc style.

The app is called FoodFindr. Check it out here

If you're interested, follow the directions at the bottom of the page and hopefully you'll get to try the app out! :)

What is Considered "Rich"?

2008-08-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around one of my favorite sites... yelp.com and came across this topic in their talk section:
How much money do you really need to be "rich"?

It made me think of a video I saw earlier in the week:

In the US, we take our blessings for granted. We forget that most of us are automatically "rich" compared to the majority of the world, just by living in this country. In a society where we strive to be "rich", we get lost in the hustle and bustle. Lost in the fight to come out on top. To have more, or at least more than your neighbor does.

So, what is considered "rich"? Is it a certain amount of money? Is it driving the shiniest new car? Is it a house up on the hill? Is it having clean drinking water? Is it the fact that you're alive?

Something to reflect on when you're feelin' poor.

More So Cal Adventures

2008-08-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Family Hangout:

Audrey & Benson:

Crustless Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

2008-08-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

A gallery of eggy, cheesy goodness.

Jon Foreman show in SF

2008-08-13T11:11:00.001-07:00

Pics from last night's show at Cafe du Nord:

Amazing show. Probably the best version of "Dare you to Move" I've ever heard. I can't believe Jon played for an hour and a half straight! The guy is crazzzzzzy.

Only Hope from last night's show... check out the percussions... siiiickkkkkk

So Cal Adventures...

2008-08-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Pics from this weekend so far...

Asa and Cristina's Wedding in SD:

Long Beach with Randy and Irene:

Hangin' with Claire:

Coffee Ice Cream!

2008-08-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

For as long as I know, coffee ice cream has been my absolute favorite ice cream flavor. So I had to try to make some :)

Let me be honest with you. This is one of the best coffee ice creams I've ever had. I used:
1 cup half/half
2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons coffee beans
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of coffee grounds.

Here is the gallery of the yummy culinary goodness: danvin.smugmug.com

Ensenada Mexico

2008-06-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

I spent a week down in Ensenada Mexico on a Missions Trip with CENT/YWAM. It was an experience that will live on with me for a long while. I will never look at Mexico or the Mexican people the same way ever again. So much heart, so much hope, so much faith.

Pics from the trip are posted on: danvin.smugmug.com

There are a BUTTLOAD of pictures... enjoy...

YELP! Woah...

2008-06-17T17:31:00.001-07:00

My friend Esther went to La Note in Berkeley today...

While she waiting for her food she noticed a plaque from Yelp.com on their wall:

ISN'T that crazy!?!?
No one from Yelp.com ever contacted me, I had no idea at all my review was going to be on a plaque!

Now I REALLY have to go back to La Note to get a picture next to my own review.

Kicking it.

2008-06-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

I don't watch many movies, but this is one I'd actually want to see...

Kicking It

Plantain Omelets

2008-05-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the Plantain Omelet I had at Cafe Habana while I was in New York, I decided to see if I can make the delicious dish myself.

Ingredients (serves 1):
- 1 Ripe plantain
- 1/4 Vadalia sweet onion
- 3 Eggs

Turned out really well! The flavor combinations play together really well and the crunchy texture of the onion gives a contrast to the starchy texture of the plantain.

Definitely will be making this dish again. Next thing I wanna try to make... Cafe Habana Mexican Corn on the Cob.

East Coast Adventures: Day 7 & 8

2008-05-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Photos from the end of the trip are posted: here

Alas, all good things must come to an end. I had to run some errands before I could really start the day yesterday. I went to pick up some coffee/tea to take home. I stopped by a hand-made biscotti place, Bis.Co.Latte Hand Made Biscotti (yelp review: here).

Yummy biscotti, but my attempt at starting to drink coffee failed miserably. I absolutely did not feel good. Probably because I only a puny biscotti with the coffee.
My head was pounding and I felt really dizzy, but I trudged on. To the Metropolitan Museum of Art we went.
I started feeling so bad that I had to take a nap at the cafeteria to help me feel better. I also got some food in my stomach.

This was a pricey Rigatoni but man, it was exactly what I needed.

The Met is huge. Not The Louve huge but there are a lot of art work/historical pieces in this place. I wish I had more time and energy but after about 2 hour your brain just gets tired absorbing all this material.

Then we got some rush tix for Laurence Fishborne's one man show, Thurgood. We rushed down Broadway (not something I recommend during rush hour) to meet up with my friend Shawn for dinner. He took us to a really interesting restaurant called Kati Roll Company (yelp review: here).

Its like an Indian burrito. Nothing like Indian food wrapped up and ready to go. However, as you can tell from the pic, this is one greasy roll.

Shawn took us up to the top of one of the sky scrapers and got an amazing view of mid town Manhattan.

As for our show... Thurgood was a good change from all the musicals I've been watching. A one man show following the life of Justice Thurgood Marshall, had a ton of history that held the audience captive. Amazing to watch one man run the whole show for an hour and a half. Absolutely not a flashy show but one that stimulates your brain and exercises your American History.

I hate packing... it stinks even more when you know you have to wake up in 3 hours to begin your travels. I woke up at 4am this morning to be able to walk down to Penn Station to catch the train to Long Island. I get to the airport 3 hours ahead of my departure. So, what do I do? SLEEP! Mmmmm... I loved every second of it. I got on my flight and my journey home began. First stop, Chicago. I don't remember much of the flight as I slept most of the way. Onward, to Las Vegas. Again, I don't remember much of the flight but what was interesting was that during both of these flights, they passed out nabisco snacks! Not only that, you can take as much as you want. I wasn't sure if it was just a long flight thing, but we didn't have that on the short west coast flights. I haven't been to Vegas in over 12 years. And haven't been since I turned 21. So, I really wanted to try the slots in the airport.

I found my slot of choice and sat down. These slot machines are so flashy. All the lights that really don't mean anything but make the machines sparkle. I set a limit. Not spending more than $5. I put in my $5 bill. Pushed the buttons... the machine spins, lost. Spin again, lost. Spin again, win... woohoo.. $1. Spin again.... 7... 7... 7... I had no idea what was happening but the bell kept ringing and my total winnings rose quickly. Before you know it I was at $65! Woah... I won a big jackpot! CRAZY! Should I stop? I mean, maybe I can win again... ok... new limit $50... My money dwindled down toward $50... ding ding ding... there it goes again! This time though, I win up to $75. OK.... I need to stop when it hits $60. I win a little here and there and I went down to $60. I cash out and get a look at my winnings. Wow... $60 from putting in $5... pretty good eh?

I got back to San Jose around 5pm and I must admit, its pretty nice to come back to normalcy. Well, the end has come on this trip... but I've already started thinking about the next. I will be going to Mexico on a missions trip in a month, so I have that to look forward to. Back I go, back to the daily grind. Till next time...

East Coast Adventures: Day 6

2008-05-26T22:53:00.000-07:00

Photos from today's adventures can be found: here

Day 6 already?!?! man.... time flies.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Lets start right off... breakfast a little hard to find since most places were closed due to the holiday. I did find one. And boy, what a find. I went to Sullivan St. Bakery (yelp review: here), which later I found out, has "the best bread in town".

I began with the Chocolate Torte... I was amazed. The crust was crispy and the inside... mmmm... soft and gooey. Reminded me of a really dang good brownie. I kept glancing at their other offerings and my eye was drawn to... the Potato Pizza. Woah, I thought to myself, I've got to try this...

And I did. And it was marvelous! Like scalloped potatoes on top of the best bread in the city. Rosemary was sprinkled on top to really gave this slice a real topper.

Off to Brooklyn we went. We crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the other side of the East River. The bridge is truly a thing of beauty. So simple yet structurally a thing to admire. The bridge was definitely built to be walked on. The wooden planks lead you right underneath the massive stones supporting the bridge up. You get to see the precise wires run up and down these stones to provide geometric wonders for your eyes.
Over the bridge you're dumped into DUMBO. No. Not the elephant, the district underneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge. I stopped by a cute little cafe called DUMBO General Store (yelp review: here). It looked nice, but the ice tea was mediocre at best. We stopped and rested in Brooklyn Bridge part and took in the beautiful view of the island of Manhattan. We had such a beautiful day today and we were enjoying every minute of it.
We walked along the water into Brooklyn Heights. I've decided that if I could live in any part of NYC it would definitely be Brooklyn Heights. Much less busy than anywhere in Manhattan, family friendly, yet close enough to the excitement of Manhattan via subway.

After exploring a bit more of Brooklyn, Randy and I headed for the northern most tip of Central Park. He had never been so I wanted him to get a glimpse of how vast and confusing the park can be. Yeah... we got lost in Central Park and that pretty much showed Randy how confusing it can be. A friend of ours had just moved to NY to attend Columbia University and we walked over to her place to meet up for dinner. She took us to Hummus Place (yelp review here)... the place changed my life...

I've never considered hummus as a meal before. But man, it works really well. There were a variety of hummus to choose from and we ordered three different ones from the menu. The one that stood out the most was the Shakshuka - Mediterranean tomato and vegetable and 2 eggs over easy with Halumi Cheese, that combo of stewed tomatos and cheese.. yum!
We rounded dinner off with a stop over at the Moishe's Kosher Bakery (yelp review: here).

I got a bag of Hamentaschen - glorified jelly cookie.

Off we went to Blue Note jazz club. Supposedly this is one of the most popular and expensive clubs in town. Grrr... both are true. There were a TON of people there and man a $10 cover/set and $5 purchase minimum/person? The $5 was taken care of real fast as nothing on the drink menu was less than $8. I had a Swiss Coffee and that on its own was $10. Geeze. Must admit though the talent that come through that club is legendary. We saw Juan-Carlos Formell and he was amazing. There was a jazz violinist that blew my mind. I haven't heard jazz violin played sooo well.

The show ended around 9:30p and the night was young! So we started wandering around NYC, toward the general vicinity of my friend's apt. on the upper west side. Surprises along the way... Korea town, the Empire State building and a lady singing mariachi using her whistle piano toy on the subway.

My last full day in NYC tomorrow... things to look forward to...
- The Met museum of art.
- Another broadway show.... either Chicago or Passing Strange...

Sadness.. last day...

East Coast Adventures: Day 5

2008-05-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

Photos from today's adventures are posted: here

Sorry for the lack of pictures today... Randy and I went show hopping! Ya know... people movie hop or bar hop but in New York we took the opportunity to hop from one broadway show to another. I know... we're big dorks but hey, we had fun doing it!

I really wanted to see RENT before it closed out in NY, but there was no way I was gonna pay full price for a ticket. So, we headed to the theater to put our names in a lottery for 34 front row tickets for $20 each. I won one of these lotteries before when I saw Wicked in Chicago and I was REALLY hoping for a similar result. The theater staff began to draw names from a bucket... several names were read and we were dwindling to the last few seats. The staff picks up a card... is silent... oh gosh... that might be my name... there is always a strange pause before someone tries to pronounce my name... D..ddd... dan... van.... ra..ungg... I stopped him. One to relieve him from his misery and two, I was excited I got the tix!! $20 for FRONT ROW seats.... wow...

We had two hours before the show started, so we headed over to East Village for some grub..
I wanted some ramen from Go! but they weren't open. We settled for pizza at Ray's (yelp review: here)

Isn't that interesting? Chicken and broccoli pizza! It was aight...

Afterward we stopped by a cafe called Abraco (yelp review: here)...

I picked up a cured olive cookie. Thats right, olive! In a cookie! A lil' weird at first but definitely an interesting taste. In a good way.

Back to the theater we went. Sufficiently fed. We handed our tickets over to the usher and he congratulates us for being a lotto winner and escorted us to our seats. We... went... up... to ... the ... front... holy moly... I have never seen so much of the expression on an actors face before. And what a cast this was too! They were absolutely amazing. Blows the touring cast I saw OUT OF THE WATER. I teared up twice :) It was that good. My favorite though, has to be the guy who played Roger. MmmMMmm that boy has got an awesome voice.

We left the theater at 4:30p... the lotto for In the Heights is in 30 mins... should we do it... AH sure why not!? Walked 5 blocks down to 46th street to put our name in another lotto. This time the tix were $25 for again, front row seats. Nervously we watched as more and more people place their names into the bucket. The moment came. Names were being drawn one by one... RANDY WOO... yessssss! We got it! How amazing is that!?! Two front row seats in two sold out show for an amazing price! wow...
Before the show we stopped for a quick light dinner at Amish Market (yelp review: here)

The interesting bit was the apricot with mascarpone cheese. Eh... it was aight... the apricots weren't that sweet.

Now, I've heard a little bit about this show, but mostly for its choreography. But when that first beat hit and the cast stepped on stage, the energy didn't let up till the last note. Seriously... this is probably one of my favorite musicals. First, the music... oh my... it is GOOD. A mix of latin flavor with a bit of a hip hop beat. Its so good, I pre-ordered my soundtrack. The dancing was amazing. Modern hip hop moves are mixed with sensual salsa sway to give this show a very energetic beat. Lastly, the story is intriguing, although a tiny little bit light, but I can look past that :) This musical is up for 13 Tony awards, including best new musical, and I can see why. If you are ever in NY, go see this show!

Randy and I were pumped up after the show and not ready to call it quits yet. We wandered around town a little more, stopping by Radio City Music Hall and another quick stroll over to Rockefeller center. I remember it looking a lot bigger in pictures and on TV though...

After such an exciting day, it was time for a midnight snack. On the way home we stopped by Garden City Deli (yelp review: here)

Mmmm... falafel. I must admit I didn't expect much from this place but came out pleasantly surprised.

So many ideas for tomorrow, being a holiday I'm not sure what will actually happen. We'll find out... One this is for sure though, I'm going to see a latin jazz show at Blue Note tomorrow night!

East Coast Adventures: Day 4

2008-05-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Photos from today's adventures are available: here

What a day... Randy got in last night so I gave him a crash course on what I've learned about NYC so far. We did A LOT today... we started of with a subway ride to China Town for some good ol' Asian style breakfast at Dumpling House (yelp review here)...

Would you believe it if I told you I got everything you see in the pic for $3.50? Well, you better believe it! It was delicious and absolutely affordable. My arteries shudder every time I see the picture of that greasy, oily goodness.

Then off we went down to the TKTs office in south port where we heard the lines were shorter for the discount broadway tickets. After about 40 mins of waiting in line we grabbed two tickets for Avenue Q. More about that show later...

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Wall St. next. Walking over, the neighborhood felt absolutely different than anything near the apt. I'm staying at in Hell's Kitchen. Streets are clean, buildings reach to the skies and Tiffany & Co. is housed here. We knew we were in the financial district. Wall St. is HEAVILY guarded. Makes sense considering Wall St. is the heartbeat of America whether you like it or not.

We continued walking down the street to Trinity Church. It older gothic style building definitely stands out amongst the fancy shmancy sky scrapers surrounding it. Inside, it is a haven from daily life. Hard to imagine this place is down the street from Wall St. Totally different atmosphere. Surrounding the church was a cemetery with tombstone from the early 1700s, some even from the late 1600s. Old stuff.

Walking around the block you come to the site of the former World Trade Center. The area, now widely known as Ground Zero, is very solemn and reflective. There isn't much, if any remnants of the original building or the physical damage left behind from 9/11. Still, there is an air of disbelief as you look at the massive amount of earth that has been cleared away in the area that the buildings used to stand. There really isn't much there, but a really great place to reflect upon events that lead up to where the world is today.

South of Ground Zero is Battery Park. It sits right along the Hudson River looking toward the Statue of Liberty. Everyone (and their dogs) were out at the park today. It was simply gorgeous, or as us Californians would say, a normal day :)
I couldn't justify waiting in a humongous line and paying a ridiculous amount of money for a ferry over to the Statue of Liberty just to stare at it from close proximity. So I stared at it from far away.

After all that, my stomach was asking for food. One place many people have been raving about to me has been Cafe Habana (yelp review here). And come to find out, it is worth all the rave. The restaurant is situated near SoHo and Little Italy, just down the street from NYU. Everything about that area reminds me of SF. All the hipster 20 somethings walking around with their tight jeans and clever T-Shirts. Now for the Cuban food pics...

Everything was absolutely amazing. Especially the roasted corn on the cob. This is going to be a dish I need to replicate. The combination of corn, chili powder, cheese and lime just creates a fiesta in your mouth. And the plantain omelette... what a combination of flavors... man. it was great! Oh, surprise of the day... we were walking to Little Italy and there was a carnival! And next thing you know we're in the middle of a parade. If you thought that was random... on the subway ride home, two guys in cowboy hats jump in our car and next thing you know... they're playing mariachi music in our car. I was surprised at first but after a while I couldn't stop smiling - just thinking of how random this was. I guess anything can happen when you're in NYC.

I could've gone back to California a happy man after that. But this is really just the beginning... the other exciting I had been looking forward to in NY was broadway...

Saw Avenue Q for the first time tonight. It was hilarious. Just imagine an adult version of Sesame Street. At first I found the puppets, actually the actors behind the puppets, a bit annoying but quickly adapted. The musical is definitely light and fluffy, telling it to you in face value, not watering down any racist jokes or adult humor. I liked it. A good laugh, but not sure if I'd see it again.

I was starving after the show. Randy and I walked up and down 9th Ave. from 42nd to 47th looking for a place to eat. Not that we couldn't find anything, but there was soooo much to choose from. OH, moment of the night... we were looking at this Brazilian restaurant and we hear this beautiful female voice sing "At Last". We glanced over... umm... it wasn't a lady singing it... it was a guy... yeah.... at first we were definitely shocked. I mean, even if it was a girl, it was an AWESOME singing voice. But now that we knew it was a guy... it was something else.... wow... I've seen/heard a lot of things in my life. But I've NEVER seen/heard anything like this.
Anyway... we chose an Indonesian restaurant called Bali Nusa Indah (yelp review here)

I had the Veggie pre-fixe menu and Randy had the Meat pre-fixe menu. It was good. Not great. A little bland compared to other Indo food I've had. The desert was good though! I think it was called a banana island? Fried banana with vanilla ice cream.

Boy... what a day... I just realized I'm half way through my trip :( sadness... I've done so much, but this city still has a ton of things to offer. What to look forward to the next couple of days...
Tomorrow: Broadway - RENT, more Central Park, Brooklyn?
Monday: The Met? Jazz at Blue Note.
Tuesday: Some other museum? Broadway - In the Heights.

And ofcourse a ton more foods to try and taking photos for you guys to enjoy.

East Coast Adventures: Day 3

2008-05-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Photos from today's adventures are up: here

New York City... center of the universe... and home to a bajillion people who all walk on the street at the same time. Other than that, its great! I slept sooo incredibly well last night given the fact I was in a strange place and traffic noise didn't let up all night. Crazy...

Woke up and was determined to get a NY breakfast, whatever that means. Headed down 9th to see what I could find. I stopped by a coffee shop called the Empire Coffee & Tea Co. (yelp review here) for a drink. I was greeted with Beatles music and rows and rows of coffee beans lined up against the wall. Needless to say, it smelled magnificent in there. I grabbed my Chai and headed down the street to find something solid to eat. A friend of mine had mentioned Amy's Bread (yelp review: here) to me and it just happened to be down the street. This is a baker's dream come true... Piles of fresh baked goods coming in from the kitchen in the back. All you had to do was point to what you wanted but see, thats the problem... there were a TON of things I wanted to get. From apple scones to tomato focaccia, they had it all. I settled for a sticky bun...

There you are... chai on the left, sticky bun on the right. That bun was OUT OF THIS WORLD. The crust peeled like a warm croissant and the middle was warm and soft like a baguette. Simply amazing... I hear their "Monkey Cake" - banana bread with walnuts and a cream cheese frosting - is really good too, I'll have to go back and try some.

Alright, had my NY breakfast. I'm ready to conquer this city! To start off... Time Square... Talk about a lot of people... this was tourist capitol USA. I know, I was adding to the numbers too, but geeze it was packed. The lights are pretty. I'll have to go check them out at night for the full effect. Cool. Conquered time square... now... Central Park.
Took 6th Av. all the way down to Central Park and made a quick stop at the Apple Store on 5th Av. This is a thing of beauty. Full glass enclosure and its cubed, I mean, you can't beat a clear cubed structure :)

Made a quick stop for lunch at Viand Coffee Shop (yelp review: here)

This place was TINY. Maybe... tables for 15 people? Thats it. Mr. Boss man was a little pushy so instead of getting my meal togo I sat down to appease him. Had the Western Omelet. The highlight was actually the potatoes and not the omelet itself. It was bland but it was kinda cool that they served the omelet a little undercooked so it was still a little runny.

I quickly downed that "omelet" and headed to chill in Central Park. Boy, was I lucky. There was a jazz quartet playing in the park around some benches. Nothing like letting your stomach do its digesting thing while some free jazz is buzzing through the air. Marvelous.
It was time to head back to home base to plan my afternoon excursion... Harlem.

I took the A train down to Harlem, since it is the quickest way there. (If you understand the song reference, 10 million points for you) Harlem is pretty awesome. I love the feel of the neighborhood. Absolutely tight knit with beautiful Queen Anne style town homes lined up and down the street. It amazing to be walking down the same streets where decades ago the Harlem renaissance was a buzzin. Now, a tour of Harlem wouldn't be complete without some soul food to top it off. I found a place called Amy Ruth's (yelp review: here)...

Mmmm... I ordered the "Al Sharpton" 1/4 Chicken and waffles. It was so good, it deserves two pictures :)
Just look at that fatty, gooey goodness... yum!

Welp, I'm back at the apt. waiting for Randy to show up. I really want to try to go to Time Square tonight and take some shots. If successful, this blog will be appropriately updated :)

UPDATE: Randy made it! Hopped over to time square. Its amazing to see how many are STILL out at night.

Randy hadn't eaten yet so we stopped by one of the local 24 hr. joints in the neighborhood. Papaya Dog! Strange name, cheap food (yelp review: here)

A spicy sausage with everything on it... except mayo :/

East Coast: Day 2

2008-05-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

Photos from today are available: here

I tried to wake up early today, I really did - just didn't happen.
When I eventually woke up around 8, had my Cliff bar and I was out the door.

Took the Metro down to the Capitol area and headed into my representative's office for my Capitol Building tour. Since no one else showed up for the tour, I got a one-on-one personal tour of the Capitol by a staff member. The Capitol building is impressive. Absolutely beautiful interiors with intricate decorations that would rival any Cathedral or Church in Europe. Everything about the Capitol has been kept as close to the original as possible. So, you'd have to duck going through short staircases and deal with your balance as most of the steps have worked a dent into them from years of wear. The best part was probably watching a live session of the House of Representatives. There is something about grown men and women formally and properly arguing with each other that is so intriguing.

After my tour was complete, I walked out onto the Mall and see it stretch alllll the way down to the Lincoln memorial. Pretty amazing.

For lunch I had Indian food. No... probably not what you're thinking... I had American Indian food. :)

I had the banana leaf short ribs with guajilo peppers and huitlacoche (what those are, I have no idea) with a side of rice and "wild" greens; to drink I had a glass of Prickly pear and cactus juice. Wow. It was interesting, in a good way. :) The meat pretty much melted off the short ribs to reveal a striking, yet not overwhelming or bold taste. The prickly pear and cactus juice was vibrant in color but was not too sweet and proved to be a really refreshing pick me up.

Check out my (elite) yelp review: Mitsitam Cafe

After refueling, I continued down the Mall for a quick stop by the Air & Space museum. I wish I had more time to check out all the other really cool other museums but unfortunately I had to hurry to catch some more monuments.

The Washington monument is tall, by no means a record breaker in that area but its structure really stands out against the rest of the Mall. The white sandstone is absolutely beautiful when hit with sunlight or spotlights at night.

The World War II Memorial is a newer addition to the Mall but doesn't fail to impress.

My most familiar memory of the Lincoln Memorial is from "Forrest Gump". That one scene where "Jennayy" runs across the reflection pond to meet Forrest on stage. Yeah... the Lincoln is just like that, plus more! The statue of Lincoln is quite impressive, gives me the same feeling of vastness and awestruck wonder that Michaelangelo's David gave me. Its just so unrealistically BIG. The words of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation are engraved on the sides of the monument, surrounding you with his legacy.

The Vietnam War memorial is truly emotional. Walking down into the ground, you get a glimpse of all the flowers, letters and flags others have left behind underneath the names of friends, spouses and family members. Reaching out my hand to feel the name on the dark granite made my heart sank. Its these names and others that have given up their lives that I can stand here and enjoy the great freedom and liberty that I have. Sorry for sounding like a total American citizen but with this place (along with the rest of DC) gives you a glimpse at how insane the founding fathers were to consider a government such as ours and the immense amount of sacrifice that goes into defending those ideals.

Okay, I'm done sounding like an American History teacher...

I wish I had more time in DC because there is so much more I want to see and experience beyond the 24 hours I did spend in the city.

I'm currently on the 7pm Acela train from DC to NYC, riding FIRST CLASS baby! woohoo! I'm livin' it up while I can :)
I'm digging the amenities that come with first class like a first class lounge before you board (with free snacks and wifi), pre boarding privileges, unlimited drink on-board and complimentary dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I had...

Braised chicken thighs in a white wine and green grape sauce, served with yellow rice and wilted spinach with a glass of Mirassu Chardonnay topped off with a Ghiradelli chocolate.

Well... I should be arriving in Penn station NY in about an hour. Hopefully, I'll have internet tonight to get this and the pics from today up.

EDIT: I've arrived safely in NY... I got out of Penn station and everyone and their mother is walking around the streets... what the... I guess they really mean it when they say New York is the city that never sleeps...

East Coast, here I am...

2008-05-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

Pics from today's adventures are up at: danvin.smugmug.com

And.. I'm off!

Today started early as I headed to SFO to catch my 7am flight to DC via Chicago. Pretty much slept all the way to Chicago. Thank goodness I have one of those donut pillow thingys for my neck, it came in super handy.

First food joint experienced on this trip, Potbelly Sandwich Works in Chicago.

I got the Turkey Breast sandwich, extra spicy :)

Check out my yelp review... here

Scarfed down my sandwich and jumped right back on the plane headed for DC.

My second meal... :)

I headed out of the terminal in DC and bam... I got a face full of rain. Not just rain, but it was one of those where the wind was blowing the rain it so hard it came in sideways. Yeah... wasn't prepared for that. Got on my bus and headed in for the city.

Man, I thought Cali traffic was bad... DC traffic is just equally bad, if not worst. We were stopped for a while.

Transfered from the bus to the Metro headed for the heart of the city. When I got out of the subway, I noticed... man, this city is clean... Walked a couple of block down to the hostel I was staying in and checked in. I wasted no time. I put my stuff down in my dorm room and ran back down to join a group of people going on a walking tour of Georgetown.

Georgetown is the quintessential yuppy town of America. Absolutely beautiful with antique colonial style homes lined up and down the street. The area is surrounded by the likes of Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic and the United Colors of Benetton. Made a quick trip through Georgetown University. Again, gorgeous architecture. The last stop of the night was a the "Exorcist" stairs - where they filmed the last bit of the movie where someone gets pushed down the stairs.

Dinner was had at the "Third Edition":

I had the Portabella Mushroom and Peppers sandwich.. it was eh...

Check out my yelp review... here

Spring

2008-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... spring... flowers are blooming, birds are singing - time for new beginnings.

Jon Foreman has been releasing EPs to correlate with each of the seasons. Tuesday, Spring was released or as the rappers say "dropped". On the EP I've probably found my favorite song of the moment: "Your Love is Strong". Here are the lyrics as written by Jon himself...

And ofcourse a video of him performing the song:

Like Jon says, these lyrics are timeless and strike a really powerful chord.

Boba + free show.

2008-03-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in Fantasia Tea in Cupertino right now drinking my hot milk tea with taro balls and I'm getting a free show. In front of me there is a guy who is apparently trying to learn French.

He has his computer turned backwards with French words streaming across the screen. His headphones are in his ear and you hear him singing French words that appear on the screen. Not only that, but I guess there is a violin solo or something during the middle of the song because he begins to play air violin. He has this song on repeat, so I see him repeat these words and movements over and over again. What gets me is that this is in the middle of a Boba joint filled with people who don't seem to care. It doesn't even phase them, as if this is something normal.

Man, I love people...

Everything

2008-03-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I was sent over a link to a skit called "Everything". Its loosely based off of the old YWAM "redeemer" skit with Lifehouse's "Everything" as the soundtrack. When I finished watching it, I couldn't help but being completely touched by it. I knew at that point CENT had to do this skit. So... I taught it to my students and here is our first performance of it at our Homestead High School outreach.

Cooking adventures

2008-03-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight I took a step into the culinary world.
I made Chicken Breast stuffed with a sun-dried tomato, artichokes and fontina cheese.

Actually, since the grocery store mislabeled the cheese, its actually stuffed with Gruyère cheese.

How did it turn out?
The aroma of cooking this dish actually made it really good. The house was filled with smells of sun dried tomato and artichokes... mmm..
Taste? Alright, I think I need to stuff more stuffing into the chicken. Definitely need a little rice pillaf or something on the side to complement.

If you want to make this dish, check out the recipe here: Chicken Breasts stuffed with sun dried tomato, artichokes and fontina cheese

bon appetit!

An Evening with Jon Foreman

2008-02-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

Jon Foreman played a surprise acoustic show last night in the city... BOY was I excited!!

Jon browsing through the list of songs we reqested.

Jon and I.

Keith the cellist.

Southbound Train:

Learning How to Die:

I found out about the show less than 24 hours before it actually happened. What a great surprise to have in your email inbox! I also had Jon sign my guitar strap. He drew an awesome self interpretation of the switchfoot falling star logo.

Also, I really want to live in the city...

I'm in a musical :)

2008-02-19T09:53:00.001-08:00

As some of you guys may know... I'm in my church's easter musical. Its been awesome to get myself reacquainted with theater again.

I'd love to see you guys out there! If you can make it, the performances are:
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2:00 & 6:00 PM
SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2:30 PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2:00 & 6:00 PM

Tickets are FREE but will have to be reserved before hand. So... if you are interested let me know what performance you want to attend and let me know how I can get the tickets to you.
For more info check out our church's website.

How I spent my Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T11:47:00.001-08:00

SF Pillow Fight 2008: Wow, I've never eaten so many feathers in my life. Check out the pics I took here: http://danvin.smugmug.com/

What an exhausting day...

"I belong to a church that throws parties for prostitutes"

2008-02-11T11:51:00.001-08:00

Found this pastor's blog post... a great picture of being Christ-like.

Tony Campolo is a well-known American pastor known for his liberal political and social attitudes. He has been a major proponent for progressive thought and reform in the evangelical community. This is an interesting story about his trip to Hawaii, which shows how Christians have somewhat lost their focus.

Read his post: http://tucksdenbighblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/parties-and-prostitutes.html

Is America ready for a minority president?

2008-02-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

The 2008 election is definitely in full swing and its gearing up to be pretty exciting.
No matter who you voted/will vote for, one thing is for sure, there will be a minority candidate on the ballot come November. Whether its Hillary or Obama, America has the option of elevating one of these minorities up to the most powerful seat in the country. The question is... is the United State ready for a minority president?

That is a question I pose to you. Ofcourse, we know the coast states have no problem with minorities in power, but think broadly through the vast expanse that makes up this country. If we are indeed ready for a minority president, thats great! But if we aren't, are we just bound for another Republican president?

Okay, sorry, no more questions... think, ponder and respond.

We live in a sick world...

2008-02-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

From the Daily Mail...

Al Qaeda use two Down's syndrome women to blow up 73 people in Baghdad markets

Al Qaeda fanatics plumbed sickening new depths yesterday when they turned two women with Down's syndrome into human bombs to kill 70 people in Baghdad.
The unwitting pawns were apparently fooled into wearing explosive vests which were then detonated remotely by mobile phones as the women mingled with crowds.

The two blasts caused carnage at two busy markets in the Iraqi capital's deadliest atrocity since last spring.

The taste of snow is bittersweet.

2008-01-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

What a weekend...

I group of us celebrated my roommate Brian's birthday with a trip to a cabin up in North Tahoe. The cabin was AWESOME. Felt super comfy and had a BONUS sauna. Nothing like hitting the sauna right after a long day on the slopes.

We got up on Saturday afternoon and did a little night snowboarding/skiing at Boreal. It was icy for the most part but a good deal for $25. Around 8p we headed over to our weekend cabin and ate up some really tasty tacos... yummmmmmmm... Seriously, there is nothing like a hearty Mexican meal after boarding.

Sunday, we hit up Northstar. I think Northstar is becoming my favorite resort. The place is huge and there is so much variety on the mountain that there is no way you should get bored there. A group of us mainly stayed on the backside and tore up the black diamonds there. As a recommendation, the best snow is on the backside. My favorite run is called Challenger, sooo fun... Its got a lot of variety in terrain that it keeps you on your toes. Another nice run is Iron Horse, definitely give that one a try too. It started to snow around lunch time and gave us about an inch of fine coverage as it continued to come down during the afternoon. We milked out the day until all the lifts closed and headed to our cabin.
Our dinner... was... THE BOMB! Tri tip with twiced baked potatoes and broccoli. So lucky to have great cooks on this trip.

After dinner was where the weekend turned a little bitter.

A few people from the group had to head down that night to make it to work on Monday. I got a call around 11:45p from one of my friends on the trip, her car had spun out and hit the wall of ice on the side of the highway. Everyone was fine but her car's radiator was leaking and not suitable for driving down the mountain. Everything changed at that point. Her car had to be left in Tahoe for the repair shop to fix all the gear had to be taken out of her car and people had to relocate to other cars for the ride down. It all worked out in the end but its just terrible how things had to end up that way. Thank God no one was hurt and that the damage to my friend's car was only cosmetic.

Gets me to think... how something so beautiful and fun like snow can at the same time be dangerous. How we have to respect God's power and his creation.

By Monday, the snow had really started to pick up... here's what it looked like...

Despite all the bad happenings, I love snow. If you want to talk about white, there is nothing I can think of that is whiter than snow. When you think about the song... wash me white as snow... Snow, when there is no blemish is the "cleanest" thing I can ever imagine. So pure, so soft, so beautiful.

Speaking of snow... check out Jon Foreman's newest EP: Winter
There are some very beautiful tracks...

Macworld 2008

2008-01-16T19:25:00.001-08:00

I had the chance to take my dad to Macworld today...

I don't remember seeing this many people last year.

Some highlights:

MacBook Air, the STAR of the show. And yes... it is pretty darn thin.

I got some Google socks! Now Google keep my feet warm too, what doesn't that company do?

The oddest gadget ever, the iLids. My dad as a model...

I can't believe this many people congregate together because of one company. For myself though, I can't wait to get my hands on Time Capsule... wireless backup... how awesome is that?

Its been a while..

2007-12-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

I go through these phases where I'll blog for a week straight and go MIA for months.

Lately I've...

- Helped with CENT on their Christmas in the Park performance. - sooo good, very proud of them.

- Watched "I am Legend" - freaked me out.
- Got a new manager who's only 2 years older than me.
- Got my first snowboard run in this season. - Northstar for $35!! PLUS 4 feet of powder, thank the LORD.
- Rode a 10 hour train ride from San Jose to LA - loooonnggg ride but worth it for the magnificent sunset over the cliffs on the pacific.
- Enjoyed a quaint Christmas with my family in LA - gotta love the four of us.

I have friends driving down from NorCal tomorrow. We're going to Disneyland on Sunday! Plus, I'm speaking at a youth rally on Sat. crazzzzyyy...

Amazing night.

2007-12-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

Pics from the Birthday Concert are up! Switchfoot + Relient K + Ruth

China in Africa: Friend or Foe?

2007-11-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

A very interesting read from the BBC:

In almost every corner of Africa there is something that interests China.

The continent is rich in natural resources that promise to keep China's booming, fuel-hungry economy on the road.

There is copper to mine in Zambia, iron ore to extract in Gabon and oil to refine in Angola.

In other countries less blessed by natural resources, Chinese companies have spied trading and investment opportunities.

Read on: China in Africa

Back to School

2007-11-21T18:29:00.001-08:00

I got a chance to go to school with my sister today. :)
She goes to Azusa Pacific University, a small private Christian school in So Cal. I went to her 8:20am Bio lecture... I was quickly reminded: 1) How much I hated Bio and 2) How much I hated 8am classes. Thanks to APU WiFi and my iPhone, I was able to stay awake.
After class, we went to chapel. It was awesome! I think kids at APU are so lucky to be able to come together multiple times a week and fellowship/worship together - even if its required.
We then took a quick tour around the campus. It wasn't quick because we were hurried, but rather, it just wasn't that big. It was definitely a different feel from what I was used to at UCSD. I asked the students there how big their classes were and they said their largest class was a freshman seminar for all freshman, so that was 300 students. For me, every single class had atleast 200+ students. The lecture I went to that morning had less kids than the discussion sessions I was used to in school.
My sister is lucky :)

It was so awesome to see her really come into her own and for me to be a witness to that.

A trip down memory lane...

2007-11-08T22:33:00.000-08:00

A video I made to promote small groups at UCSD IV... I think this was my senior year...

Happy birthday iPod!

2007-11-02T15:49:00.001-07:00

Happy 6th birthday!

Sent from my iPhone

Keeping the faith

2007-10-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

An interesting read from the BBC:

Keeping the faith

The US may be one of the most religious countries in the West but is it undergoing a period of doubt.

Nike women's marathon!

2007-10-21T08:26:00.001-07:00

In San Francisco to cheer my friends in! This is the starting line at
7 am this morning.

Sent from my iPhone

Ethiopian adventure

2007-10-18T21:40:00.001-07:00

Enjoying a sit down dinner with buddies! :)

Sent from my iPhone

The Lustig Wedding.

2007-10-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

To wrap up my impromptu vacation, I went down to San Diego to attend a friend's wedding.
Check out the photo album here: The Lustig Wedding

There is nothing like going to a wedding where you know both the bride and the groom really well, along with all the wedding guests. You have to understand that my friend Christine is an event coordinator and we all expected to be wowed by the wedding. She definitely did not let us down. The wedding was amazing!!
Everything took place on Coronado Island off the bay of San Diego with an amazing view of the city. The ceremony had the San Diego bay and skyline as the backdrop, with sail boats floating by occasionally. But to top it off, the reception took place outside as well right as the sun was setting over San Diego. The buildings were glowing orange and the sky had a kaleidoscope of blues/pinks/oranges. Wow. Words are definitely not enough, check out the photo album above.

The rest of the night was a big cerebration/reunion with some of my really good friends from school. Nothing like dancing and goofing around with people you love :)

We were joking as the night ended.. "see you at the next wedding"! Its absolutely true, looks like its going to be a cycle of a couple of weddings per year and I look forward to them.

Congrats to Ryan and Christine! May your relationship be blessed and be a blessing upon others!

Midwest Trip: The End.

2007-10-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well... My midwest trip has come to an end... but! my so cal trip is just beginning!

I arrived back in LA yesterday afternoon and trained back to my house in Monrovia. Its good to see my family again. Last time I saw them we had JUST gotten back from Thailand and I had to immediately leave for San Jose. It was really neat to see and talk to my not so lil' sister who's been going to college for a couple of weeks now. So proud of her!

After some good family time my friend James and I drove down to SD this morning. I'm staying at my old condo aka the hotel alan sun. We just got back from an Oktoberfest thing in La Mesa. Man, its weird to be back in SD again. I kind of remember things here... but eh... not really. It just doesn't feel like home here anymore... probably because it isn't.

Tomorrow is Ryan/Christine's wedding. Should be fun! Especially knowing that Christine probably did most of the planning and its taking place on Coronado Island... NICE.

Midwest Trip: Day 6

2007-10-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Photos from Day 6

Time to wrap up my adventures in Chicago. Today began with a visit to the John Hancock center. We went to the observation tower on the 94th floor. Wow, the view is breathtaking (check out the gallery above). Looking north you can see along the Lake Michigan shoreline and southward you can see the Chicago skyline from up top. What was also really cool was the elevator ride up and down the building, it took only 40 secs to get from the lobby to the 94th floor. It was crazy to imagine how fast we must been going to get up there that fast.

For lunch, I went to Giordano's. Honestly, its the best deep dish I've ever had. Lets just say they were not conservative with the cheese at all. Although, it took 40 mins. to cook the pizza it was worth every second! Man... it was soooo good.

I tried to walk of a bit of that pizza with a stroll up and down Navy Pier. It was an interesting mash up of the Santa Cruz boardwalk and Pier 39. If anything, it had an awesome view of the Chicago skyline.

Headed back to the hostel after Navy Pier and rested a bit before heading out to the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum is free on Thursday nights from 5-8p, so that was a grrreat deal. They had the most extensive collection of Monets I've ever seen in any museum. My favorite exhibit though was the miniature rooms. The exhibit portrayed different interior design styles from various parts of the world in time period order. These miniature rooms were all no bigger than a shoe box! The details in these rooms were right down to the pattern on the carpet. Crazzzzy...

Walking down Michigan Ave. after the museum made me really want to take some night shots. So I went back and grabbed the camera for some of the shots you see in the gallery above.

I wasn't going to leave Chicago without getting some hardy Chicago Blues. I headed down to "Buddy Guy's Legends". The owner was the Blues legend, Buddy Guy. With a $10 cover charge, I got a really good show. The BEST part though was when out of NO WHERE, Buddy Guy gets on stage and starts playing with the band. Man, that guy can still ROCK! If I'm not mistaking, I think Eric Clapton was also standing behind us at the bar. I was having such a grrrreat time :) Oh yeah, and not to mention, the food was awesome! I had the grilled chicken sandwich drenched, literally drenched, with tobasco. Droooool.

What a way to finish off my last night in Chicago :)

Midwest Trip: Day 5

2007-10-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

Second day in Chicago...

Photos from the Second Day

Man, I am lovin' this city.

Today, walked over to the Mag. Mile to grab some breakfast. After a quick bite to eat, I ran my butt down to the Chicago Architecture Foundation for a walking tour of the city's historic sky scrapers. There was soo much informaiton being passed around during that tour, I couldn't retain it all. If you guys take a look at the day's pictures, you can check out some of the awesome buildings that we saw. Not only did we study the outside of a building, but the tour guide also took us inside of some of them to see how each of the buildings had their own personality.

Afterwards, I continued my fine Chicago dining experience with a Chicago hot dog. I got a "red hot", Chicago style, from Gold Coast Dogs. Delicious and affordable :). Before heading off, I stopped by the "Wicked" ticket office to drop off my raffle ticket for that night's performance. If my name is chosen I would be able to purchase seats from the first two rows for $25. More on this later...

It was off to Wrigleyville, to see one of baseball's most hallowed places, Wrigley Field. It was a thing of wonder. Here nestled in quaint suburban neighborhoods was a baseball field from the 1910s. Now with the Cubs in the playoffs, everyone had Cubs fever.

I wandered around a bit more before I started heading south towards Lincoln Park. Along the way, I stopped by the one and only threadless.com retail store. For those who know what this is may understand what a big deal it is.
Walking around the neighborhoods north of Lincoln Park, I absolutely fell in love with the quaintness of it all. It felt so cozy and warm.

I didn't realize Lincoln Park was so far away, but I eventually made it. Checked out the zoo... its hard to be impressed after living in SD for 5 years and visiting the zoo many times, but I guess Lincoln Park zoo is good especially for the price of FREE. Walked through Lincoln Park and into Old Town. It was nice, reminded me of an older downtown Saratoga. I stopped for a quick snack and had to get going so I can be present for the "Wicked" raffle drawing. I had everything planned out, I'd take the Brown line into downtown so I can make it just in time for the drawing at 5:30p. I get to the subway station... it was dark, there were wooden boards everywhere... closed....
What the... crap...
Okay, I thought quickly. Afterall, I only had 30 mins left to get into the loop. So, I start walking... into some shady neighborhoods... no stations... crap...
I had a decision to make. There were two possible stations, either one about 6 blocks away. I chose one and went with it. Thank God, I made eventually made it to the theater, but my back was soaked from sweat walking as fast as I could to that station.

The drawing happens... they had 20 tickets availalble and there were about 30 people there...
18 tickets are given away... this is my last chance... "Is Danavin Ruuanngggaa...", "Yes! I'm here!" I won! I sat in the second row for $25! It was amazing!

For the show... I thought... it was good... but not great. I wouldn't rank it in my top 3 list. The show and music itself was great but the story lacks something. It felt like the writer had to cram everything in so it would fit into a 3 hour show. I liked it though, but I think I'll have to see it again because I feel like I missed a lot of stuff.

So far, so good! Chicago has been a blast!

Midwest Trip: Day 4

2007-10-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO!
Pics from day 4

I arrived here via car from Wisconsin earrrrly in the morning. I was dropped off at O'Hare and rode the "L" into town. Man, its an overwhelming feeling when you exit the subway station and are surrounded by massively tall buildings where people are rushing to and fro. I was in Chicago...

My gracious friend Bruce let me stay with him at the Hyatt for a night while he attends a conference in town. I got a quick crash course on downtown Chicago as I lugged my backpack and duffle bag through the city looking for the hotel. After I arrived, I took a quick shower and was off to explore the city. The hotel was directly next to the Chicago river and very to the Magnificient Mile. First went to check out the Michigan Ave. bridge and a quick stroll on Michigan Ave. It was creeping up towards lunch time so I figured I'd have my first Chicago meal. Time for some Chicago deep dish pizza. I strolled across North River to a restaurant recommended to me called Lou Malnati's. Maybe it was just me... but it was just alright. I've actually had better Chicago style deep dish in California. Oh well...

I took another "L" train through the Loop, to really get a feel for the city. It was interesting and somewhat stalkerish to be able to look into office and apartment windows from the trains.
Next up, Millennium Park. Beautiful new park with very intriguing art. Yup, saw the giant bean, but I was really impressed by the performing arts auditorium - it was very reminiscent of Disney's Music Hall in LA.

I started to walk south, knowing that Grant Park and eventually, the Museum Campus was ahead of me. Saw Buckingham Fountain (of Married with Children fame) along the way, the fountain really is huge. I made it to the Musem Campus where I went to the Field Museum of Natural History - for free! Saw Sue, the most complete T-Rex fossil and a bunch of other things. I was so tired by this point because I was up since the crack of dawn, I started falling asleep in some of the video exhibits at the Field. For those who know about my European backpacking trip, this is nothing new.
I walked right back up Michigan Ave. after the Field Museum and stopped by a nice lil cafe in Millennium Park. Took a lil' rest and headed back to the hotel room.

My buddy Bruce was awesome and got me into the coorporate party his company was throwing that night. It was great! Yummy food, BMX/Skateboard riders, Richard Cheese performed, Arcade/Video games, Segway rides and more! What a way to end my first day in Chicago!

Good morning Chicago

2007-10-04T05:58:00.001-07:00

The view outside my hostel window. Chicago is grrrreat so far. I'll
update when I have legit Internet access.
Sent from my iPhone

Midwest Trip: Day 3

2007-10-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Links to the photos: Midwest Trip: Day 3

Its wedding day! Spent the day hanging out with the groomsmen. Man, even though I wasn't in the wedding party, they made me feel really comfy.
The wedding was FAST! 30 mins - wham/bam done!

The reception was held at "Mr. Miyagi's" - yes, like from Karate Kid. They do special surf n' turf type o stuff and it was decently good. It was interesting because 50% of the guests that were there are from Apple. Mostly Wisconsin retail plus the three of us from Apple Corporate. We had to leave though before the dance party really got started since we have a lengthy drive into Chicago tomorrow morning.

Scott and Jess, I only wish you the best! Congratulations!

Chicago... here I come...

Midwest Trip: Day 2

2007-09-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Pics are up of day two of my Midwest adventure: Midwest Trip: Day 2

It was one of those nights where you just fall asleep and the next thing you know its 11am. Man, sleep is sooo good.

Scott/Jess took me to Culver's, which I've been told is Wisconsin's version of In-n-Out. I had my first taste of Fried Cheese Curds. They're pretty good! They taste like fried mozzerella sticks. And, I have to admit, the beef did taste pretty fresh.

Scott let me borrow his car (1992 Ford Expedition - aka "the beast") to drive into Milwaukee. I had an awesome time walking around the city down toward the lake front. It was beautiful, people were flying kites and sail boats very passing by the shore. On the way, I stopped by the Milwaukee Art Museum to check out its sailboat like architecture - beautiful. On the way back a bunch of people were gathering downtown to demonstrate against the Burmese govt. and rally for international attention. Then I took a walk down the River Walk by the Milwaukee river and grabbed some tea to finish off my downtown tour.

Tonight, I joined Scott/Jess for their wedding rehearsal dinner at a Hibachi place here in suburban Milwaukee. Ofcourse, for desert we picked up some frozen custard from Oscar's. We're now back at home and just enjoying some Wii and the thunderstorm that is passing through the country. It was awesome, I haven't heard that kind of thunder since Thailand.

The wedding is tomorrow but I hope I can pick up some Milwaukee brautwurst before I have to leave for Chicago.

Midwest Trip: Day 1

2007-09-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Pics are up from day one of my adventures: Midwest Trip: Day 1

I (barely) caught the 6:35am flight to Chicago after pulling an all nighter. 4 hours of sleep later, I was in Chicago.

I was on the same flight as my co-worker, Carol and we waited for our other co-worker Ted to join us in Chicago. After he arrived on his delayed flight, we picked up our rental car and made our way to Milwaukee. We were trying to catch a Brewers game that was moved to 3pm from 7pm. Given the fact that Ted didn't land in Chicago till 2:30p, we didn't think we'd catch most of the game.
Wouldn't you know, not only did we catch the game, but we came just in time for the 9th inning rally and saw the Brewers beat the Padres in come back fashion. Catching all the action from the exclusive seats in the .300 club. (pics in the album)

Afterwards Scott/Jess (who's wedding I'm attending on Monday) took us too watch Comedy Sportz. It was super fun! I need to check out the one in San Jose and plan an outting there w/ my friends.

We then went to Polaris, which was a rotating restaurant on top of the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency. It was beautiful and the deserts was out of this world. (pics in the album)

I then had my first taste of Frozen Custard. Its more like super creamy ice cream than anything. Went to a place called Kopps where it is apparently a local favorite. (pics in the album)

I'm staying at Scott's/Jess' place in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and came back to do something that I suppose is very Midwest-ish. We burned things in their backyard. I guess its their way of getting rid of yard waste and getting some entertainment at the same time. (pics in the album)

Man, this is just day 1? Can't wait for day 2!

Chicaaaaago

2007-09-29T11:16:00.001-07:00

3 hours of sleep later here I am in Chicago. Heading out to Milwaukee
soon to catch a Brewers game.

Its a great feeling to be traveling with no particular plans what so
ever. I guess its the adventurous in me. :)
Sent from my iPhone

Eh... what the hey...

2007-09-29T02:20:00.001-07:00

Its 2:24am. My flight to Chicago leaves in about 4.5 hours. Why the heck should I sleep?

This is going to be a crazy, spontaneous trip: San Jose -> Chicago -> Milwaukee ->Chicago -> LA -> San Diego.

Stay tuned for updates/pics!

This is our world...

2007-09-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, 50, was shot dead on Thursday as he filmed demonstrations in the main city, Rangoon. Photo: Reuters

Check out first hand accounts from those living inside Burma. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm

Sunday morning news

2007-09-23T09:18:00.001-07:00

Good morning everyone.
I had a really good time this weekend at Destination:Campus - a conference for the youth and youth workers. There is so much heart and encouragement to be found amongst the teenagers of this and other countries around the world.

I was doing my daily morning scan through BBC news and there are lot of interesting news stories today. Here are a couple that caught my attention...

Burma march 'largest in 20 years' - Burma's largest anti-government protest in nearly two decades has taken place in the former capital Rangoon, led by Buddhist monks and nuns.
Up to 20,000 people took to the streets on the seventh day of protests calling for an end to the "evil dictatorship".

Unlike a day earlier, police barred a group of monks from entering the road that leads to the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The rallies began last month when the government doubled fuel prices.

BBC South Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says every day the protests are growing in size - the campaign the monks began just six days ago is now openly challenging the military, urging all citizens to join in.

China Catholics throng to church - Beijing's Southern Cathedral has the kind of congregation many Catholic churches in Europe can only dream of attracting.

At Sunday morning Mass, the church is overflowing with worshippers. Those that cannot squeeze in sit on benches outside.

Here is a cool quote from that story:

I know there are problems between underground and official churches but, as far as I'm concerned, I just believe in God
Zhao Xudong
Graphic designer

Video update: 9/16/07

2007-09-16T17:31:00.001-07:00

I'm going on an adventure!

"I am both Muslim and Christian"

2007-09-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

I heard this story on NPR this morning. Needless to say, I was quickly captivated by the situation Rev. Ann Holmes is in.

Quoted from The Seattle Times:

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.

She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she's ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she's also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved.

Her announcement has provoked surprise and bewilderment in many, raising an obvious question: How can someone be both a Christian and a Muslim?

Continue reading...

What do you think? Can she be both a Christian and a Muslim?

My mom would love this place

2007-09-13T08:23:00.001-07:00

Seen in the sunset district of San Francisco.

On another note, I've added a widget to my site on the right that shows the latest and greatest photo taken by my iPhone from my daily adventures.
Sent from my iPhone

Photos from Thailand!

2007-09-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yup. They're up!

gallery.mac.com/danvin

There's something like 300+ photos... Enjoy!

Summer 2007 Softball Champs!

2007-08-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

We went into the playoffs as the #3 seed and came away with the championship! To get there we beat the #6, #2 and #1 seeds. In fact, the #1 seed came in undefeated and we had been shut out by them earlier in the season. It was a crazy ending with us closing out a 11 to 12 game with a bang bang double play. GO GRX SOFTBALL!

Our next season starts on Sept. 17th, so if you get a chance, come on out and cheer us on to another championship!

What I've learned...

2007-08-19T02:09:00.001-07:00

What I've learned about Thailand so far...
1. Showers are useless since you start sweating right when you come out anyway.
2. Thai people love the king and queen, if you don't, what's wrong with you?
3. You have to have a yellow shirt showing support for the king or else you look like a tourist (notice I put on the yellow shirt right away in the picture)
4. Thai people wake up at 4am and go to bed at 2am.
5. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.
6. Lane markers are just suggestions.
7. Motorcycles/Mopeds are the preferred mode of transportation here, especially in the country side.
8. Thai people eat a lot, but don't get fat... yessssss
9. Mosquitos suck (literally and figuratively)
10. I am the palest/tallest thai person in Thailand.

I'm here!!

2007-08-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it... I'm here. This is so surreal.

- danvin
Sent from my iPhone

Here we go...

2007-08-15T20:42:00.001-07:00

On my way to Thailand... T minus 17 hours to go...

- danvin
Sent from my iPhone

I moved!

2007-08-12T18:01:00.001-07:00

911 challenge!!

2007-07-20T20:49:00.001-07:00

Somewhere underneath all that sauce are chicken wings. The 911

challenge is eating 12 of these wings in 10 minutes. No napkins, no

liquids, down to the bone.

I got through 3 wings before I had to give up. The sauce tasted sooo

gross. What was I thinking?

- danvin

Sent from my iPhone

Let's go Dodgers!!

2007-07-15T13:10:00.001-07:00

Pray that I make it out of here alive.

- danvin

Sent from my iPhone

iPod bowling challenge!

2007-07-10T22:28:00.001-07:00

Its time for the annual iPod iq bowling challenge. Check out that

"form". :)

- danvin

Sent from my iPhone

THANKS GUYS!

2007-07-06T20:41:00.001-07:00

A couple of my CENT kids came to visit me for lunch today. They brought me balloons to congratulate me on the iPhone release. :)
aren't they the sweetest? Thanks Brian and Jina!
- danvin

Sent from my iPhone

A special treat!

2007-07-05T21:15:00.001-07:00

A random video I found. This video was made while I was studying abroad in England.

An apricot feast!

2007-07-04T18:16:00.001-07:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

Everything you see on the table was made with apricots in it! Well, except the watermelons...

Sent from my iPhone

iPhone party wrap-up

2007-07-02T08:47:00.001-07:00

iPhone partaaayyyyy

2007-07-01T07:54:00.001-07:00

Party like its 1984!!

the "Danvin Diet"

2007-06-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

¡WWDC!

2007-06-14T23:29:00.001-07:00

Update after attending WWDC this week.

My new nerdy hobby :)

2007-06-10T19:37:00.001-07:00

Video update!

2007-06-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

Long time no update...

enjoy!

Cavities!? NOOO!!?!

2007-04-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Up to this week, I haven't been to the dentist in over 2 years. I guess I should've seen this coming...

4!!! FOUR CAVITIES!!! crap. i haven't had a cavity since I was in Jr. High!
How could this have happen!?! How can my precious teeth be exposed to this kind of atrocity??
Advice for those visiting the dentist... bring your iPod. Instead of drilling i heard... Weezer, Switchfoot, Gorillaz, Elvis and Bebo Norman. Definitely helps the procedure.
... Back to work i goo... numb and frustrated.

iPod saves Soldier's life

2007-04-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

Saw this story this morning and emailed it out to my co-workers...

From Flickr:

Photos sent to me by my friend Danny with this caption:

My wife’s uncle works in a military hospital and told me about this. Its pretty amazing. Kevin Garrad (3rd Infantry Division) was on a street patrol in Iraq (Tikrit I believe) and as he rounded the corner of a building an armed (AK-47) insurgent came from the other side.

The two of them were within just a few feet of each other when they opened fire. The insurgent was killed and Kevin was hit in the left chest where his IPod was in his jacket pocket. It slowed the bullet down enough that it did not completely penetrate his body armor. Fortunately, Kevin suffered no wound.

I thought it was a great story so I posted them here.

Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiki/445621299/in/pool-appleusers/

My first double diamond experience

2007-03-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I took a day trip to Kirkwood and it was great... big open spaces, lots of trials for me to get lost on.
I went on my first double black diamond: The Wall...

The view from the top of the wall.

What was I thinking??? Well, I guess there's only one way down...

My friend Karena stuck on the side/slope of the mountain. Gives you an idea of how steep this thing was.

Crazzyyyy.. good times though. I'm gonna get one more snowboarding trip in next week before spring settles in.

1 year anniversary

2007-03-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of my first day at Apple iPod Engineering. Indeed, its been a crazy year starting over again and getting used to my new environment.
Praise God, its been such an interesting year where there were tons of changes, yet through it all, He's been totally faithful.
Its hard to imagine time passing by so fast, but I look forward to whatever God has in store for me :)

Tahoe w/ ALCF and being stuck for 14 hours

2007-03-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Given the fact that I've never seen falling snow before last year, I think I've caught up from the years I've been missing out this past weekend.
Here's what I woke up to...

We rented out 5 cabins in Tahoe and had a good time just hanging out with some of the most fun people around. The ride there was fine, typical 4 hour drive from the South Bay to Tahoe. We even drove through this cute lil' town call Sunol, I'll definitely have to revisit someday. Saturday a bunch of us went skiing and snowboarding at Alpine Meadows. I don't know if I like the resort very much. I went on the blue trails but they were definitely borderline black diamonds. The thing that was soo annoying was that every hill had moguls! Sucked for my knees. There was TONS of powder though. The week leading up to this weekend had snow dumps of around 4 ft. Even on the groomed slopes there was a ton of fresh powder. However, by the afternoon it had started snowing again and visibility was down to about 5ft. at the summit. It was horrible, you couldn't tell whether you about to go down a trail or a cliff death drop.

Horrible visibility at the top of the summit. Yeah, that lil' orange sign is a cliff warning.

By Sunday morning it had snowed another foot and it looked like traveling home was gonna be a long trek. We started off from the cabin at 10 am. It was 13 miles to the 80 Freeway from Tahoe City, that leg took us 6 hours to get through. SIX HOURS! We got onto the 80 Freeway around 4 pm and we didn't get towards the bottom of the mountain for food until 8:45pm. After that we didn't get home until 1am. All totaled, it took us 14 hours to get home on a trip that typically takes 4 hours. I learned many valuable skills that day, putting on and taking off chains, finding a bathroom in a campground, scraping ice off of windshield wipers, and how fast it takes for icicles to travel down a windshield.

The completely stopped traffic on the 80 Freeway.

snow day

2007-02-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

We got a foot last night, and getting a lot more. Won't be home for a while. :-(

we've been on the road for 2 hours and have only traveled 8 miles.

UPDATE: I'm home. 14 hours later... what a lonnnggggggggggggggggg day.

Switchfoot and Copeland at Slim's San Francisco

2007-02-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

The best way to spend Valentine's day... with hundreds of sweaty Switchfoot and Copeland fans.

The concert was awesome! One of the best switchfoot shows I've ever seen. Jon said it himself, the band was having so much fun last night. And it showed, he was going crazy stealing cymbols from Chad and banging them like no other. During Meant to Live, he made his way through the crowd to the bar on the side and stood on top of the bar to sing the last chorus of the song! Crazzzzyyyy. As for Copeland, they played a pretty good show too. Seemed like most of the people were there to see Switchfoot, some were being really rude and talking and making really odd comments during Copeland's set. I wanted to say something to the rude people behind me but since I was gonna be standing next to them for the next 2 hours... I didn't want to make an awkward moment. The venue was nice and small, which made the setting really close and intimate. We were about 4-5 rows away from the stage and I couldn't believe how close the band felt to us. Switchfoot is implementing an awesome idea where they record the first 6-7 songs and selling them on CDs at the end of the night as an "official bootleg". Its a great way to take a lil' bit of the concert home with you. :) We were singing along to the songs from the night all over again on the car ride home.

Pics:

One odd thing... before the show and in between sets, they were playing Howard the Duck on a big projector screen... odd film choice.

woohoo

2007-02-14T19:41:00.001-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

Switchfoot here we come!

Switchfoot - Crazy In Love [Beyonce cover]

2007-02-09T18:27:00.001-08:00

Wow... This is hilarious.
"Its powerpacked with energy and.. bling"

Akiane Kramarik - Spiritual Young Artist

2007-02-03T11:43:00.001-08:00

I was so moved after I watched this. It is flat out amazing!

California Lovin'

2007-01-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

Where else in this country can you go from:

Watching a radiant sunset and balancing on a rock (ala Karate Kid) at a beautiful beach to...

Snowboarding in fluffy powder a week later.

I have been really missing snowboarding, so yesterday I went on my own to Snowboard at Sierra at Tahoe. I took the Bay Area Ski Bus straight up to Tahoe. The problem was the bus left Sunnyvale at 4:15am, meaning I had to get up at 2:45am to get ready and make sure I didn't miss the bus. The 4.5 hour trip on the bus was a bit cramped but we got to watch Taladega Nights and The Weather Man, so that made the time pass really quickly.
I didn't expect the conditions to be as good as they were. But I guess its been so cold that the snow has stayed pretty fluffy. I was really gung-ho yesterday and snowboarded for 6 hours straight from 9am-3pm with only a fifteen minute break for a Cliff Bar boost. Going in the Singles line made things soo nice, I just kept going on the lift with barely any wait. I also semi-accidentally caught air while snowboarding too. I didn't think I was going fast enough, but I did manage to grab 5-6 inches of air and land it too.. woooohooo...
More snowboarding pleeeeeaaassseeeee....!!!

First run

2007-01-28T09:25:00.001-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

After getting up at 2.45 am here i am.

Wedding photos

2007-01-22T21:06:00.001-08:00

Definitely NOT Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

I had the privilege of being the 'candid' photographer at my friends Stacie and Artie's wedding.
Honestly, it was the best wedding I've ever been part of. Everything went smoothly, ceremony was nice and short, the DJ kept the party moving all night.
Here are some pics from the wedding (some meaning 172 out of 905)... I really liked the way they're turning out.

Artie + Stacie Album

CONGRATS ARTIE AND STACIE!!!

Father/son

2007-01-13T08:57:00.001-08:00

My dad came up this week to attend Macworld. It was alot of fun to show him and the world the iPhone, my current project. It sounds like everyone else is liking it too. :)
Dad and I got to spend lots of good quality time together in the valley and also in SF. Above is a shot of us in front of the Apple campus. And in grand SF fashion, our street car got evacuated because there was a war protest on Market St.
Welp, back to work on the iPhone so that you guys have something to buy in June :)

Photos of my GTI

2007-01-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

I realized I didn't have any full body photos of my car. SO, I took some time off work today... yes.. work on a sunday.. boooo... to take some pics of my GTI.
enjoy...

Switchfoot on Letterman

2007-01-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from Switchfoot's performance of Oh! Gravity on Letterman last night.
They look like they're having a lot of fun with this song. Check out Chad going crazy on the drums.

Parents defend decision to keep girl a child.. (What the heck...)

2007-01-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

Seattle parents instructed doctors to remove their daughters uterus, appendix and still-forming breasts. This will stunt her growth making it easier to take care of her in the future. read more | digg story

Is it just me, or is there something really wrong here...
This sounds like some weird Frankensteinien experiment on this girl. :/

TAHOE/SNOWBOARD

2006-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

Pics from this past weekend!!!! ENJOY!

Two life goals completed: Snowboard on real snow & See falling snow. SCORE!!!

Merry christmas

2006-12-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

Happy christmas from squaw valley usa.

real snow!

2006-12-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

REAL SNOW SUCKAS!

JC Superstar

2006-12-20T21:41:00.000-08:00

Randy and I went to see the Ted Neely's farewell tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. Here's a review...

First of all, a little bit about Ted Neely. He is the original Jesus from the film of this musical. That was 30 years ago... he is... get this.. 63 years old.... 63! And this guy can still bust those rock star notes.
The show was definitely toned down compared to prior productions I've seen. I don't know if that's to reflect Ted's age, but he definitely showed signs of slowing down. Judas was to be played by Corey Glover but last night we had an understudy. Usually I'm very weary about understudies but as the show went on this guy totally won me over. When I think of Judas, I think of Carl Anderson's portrayal in the movie, which was intense and really emotional. This guy didn't really have that, but man he could sing.
The first act was a bit iffy and flew by quick but the second act came along and things got really intense.
The venue was awesome. The Orpheum has beautiful spanish style interiors and old historic charm. We were four rows away from the stage so our views were amazing. I can't believe I was THAT close to Ted Neely.
Some interesting things the producers of the show put in. During the prelude, two actors come out and draw an ichtus (symbol used to identify Christians) on the ground to identify each other. Also, after the crucifixion Jesus literally rises to heaven. After he is done ascending, a huge picture of the shroud of Turin appears then drops to reveal Jesus alive and well... interesting...

Even though it had a slow start, Ted Neely pushes the show through the second act and beyond. He can definitely still rock.

christmas in the city.

2006-12-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

A little bit of east coast flava on the west coast.

sabotage!

2006-12-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Apple's power went out around 6 tonight. Here's why. I blame the zune people.

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

Here's a video, soundtrack is complementary :) ...

50 works of art you should see before you die...

2006-12-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Guardian has posted a list of 50 works of art you should see before you die: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2006/12/the_50_artworks_you_rate_highe.html

The Angel of the North, UK

Here's the list, I checked the ones I've seen...
√ Piero della Francesca The Baptism of Christ (1450s), National Gallery, London
√ Antony Gormley The Angel of the North (1998), Gateshead
Masjid-i Shah (now Masjid-i Imam) Mosque (largely 1612-1630) Isfahan, Iran
√ JMW Turner Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway (exhibited 1844), National Gallery, London
Claude Monet Nymphéas (1914-1926), Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
Robert Smithson Spiral Jetty (1970), Great Salt Lake, Utah
Tikal (AD300-AD869), Late Classic Maya site, Guatemala
Jackson Pollock One: Number 31, 1950, Museum of Modern Art, New York
√ John Constable The Hay Wain (1821), National Gallery, London
The Alhambra (mostly 14th century), Granada
Mark Rothko The Rothko Chapel (paintings 1965-66; chapel opened 1971), Houston, Texas
Matthias Grünewald The Isenheim Altarpiece (1509-1515), Musée Unterlinden, Colmar
Masaccio The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (c. 1427), Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
Edvard Munch The Scream (1893), National Gallery, Oslo
Giotto Fresco cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel (1305-1306), Padua
Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night (1889), Museum of Modern Art, New York
Terracotta Army of the First Qin Emperor (c. 210BC), Shaanxi province, China
√ Sandro Botticelli Primavera (1481-1482), Uffizi Gallery, Florence
√ Stonehenge (2950BC-1600BC), Salisbury Plain, UK
Limbourg brothers Les Très Riches Heurs du Duc de Berry (1413-1416), Musée Condé, Chantilly
√ The Book of Kells (c. AD800), Trinity College Library, Dublin
Ishtar Gate (c. 575BC), Pergamon Museum, Berlin
Pieter Pauwel Rubens Descent from the Cross (1611-1614), Antwerp Cathedral
Hieronymous Bosch The Garden of Earthly Delights (1505-1510), Prado, Madrid
√ Jan van Eyck The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (c. 1435), Musée du Louvre, Paris
Jan Vermeer View of Delft (c. 1660-1661), Mauritshuis, the Hague
Caravaggio The Burial of St Lucy (1608), Museo di Palazzo Bellomo, Syracuse, Sicily
Rembrandt Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1654), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Francisco Goya The Third of May 1808 (1814), Prado, Madrid
Edouard Manet The Dead Torero (1864), National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Paul Cézanne Mont Sainte-Victoire from Les Lauves (1904-1906), Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
√ Michelangelo Sistine Chapel ceiling and altar wall frescoes (1508-1541), Rome
√ Leonardo da Vinci The Adoration of the Magi (c. 1481), Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Pablo Picasso, Guernica (1937), Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid
Titian Danaë (1544-1546), Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
√ Raphael The School of Athens (1510-1511), Stanza della Signatura, Vatican Palace, Rome
√ Parthenon Sculptures (Elgin Marbles) (c. 444BC), British Museum, London
Henri Matisse The Dance (1910), Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
√ Théodore Géricault The Raft of the Medusa (1819), Louvre, Paris
Katsushika Hokusai Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1829-1833), series of woodblock prints, copies in major museums worldwide
Pieter Bruegel the Elder Hunters in the Snow (1565), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Ice Age paintings (about 30,000 years old) in the Chauvet Cave, Ardèche
Richard Serra Torqued Ellipses (1996), includes works on permanent view at the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Jasper Johns Flag (1954-1955), Museum of Modern Art, New York
√ Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi The Annunciation (1335), Uffizi Gallery, Florence
√ Jean-Antoine Watteau Gilles (1718-1719), Louvre, Paris
Hans Holbein, The Dead Christ (1521-1522), Kunstmuseum, Basel
Diego Velázquez Las Meninas (1656), Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun (1333BC-1323BC), Egyptian Museum, Cairo
San Rock Art, South African National Museum, Cape Town, and at open air sites.

15 out of 50... phew.. only 35 more to go! travelling adventure anyone?

Disneyland!!

2006-11-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

Uploaded from Danvin's mobile.

Please enjoy this and my other photos from the Ruangchan Disneyland adventure: here

Mah lil' black baby

2006-11-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome the newest member of the Ruangchan's automotive family...

An unexpected surprised: 2007 VW 4-door GTI w/ DSG.
I've posted up a few photos here