SDCC: Wed through Sat

The highly anticipated San Diego comic con kept me busy for the past few days. Having been there before, I was quite prepared for the massive amounts of visitors, celebrities and long lines. Wednesday preview night was very successful. Considering there were no panels, I was able to secure all the items I wanted to purchase.

Thursday was a mix of panels and exploring the exhibition hall. I attended the 20th Century Fox panel, which began with the reimagining of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Guests included Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. They showed some footage, but I wasn't really excited for this movie to come out. The second movie discussed was Max Payne. Mark Walberg and Mila Kunis entertained the audience of 6500 people. Mark was very funny and an energetic speaker, which made the panel very enjoyable. Although the panel was scheduled to end at this point, a special guest speaker was announced: Hugh Jackman! He just got off the plane and was here to promote Wolverine, which he pumped up the crowd for and presented a special trailer. What an exciting movie! It even showed Gambit and Deadpool. This has potential to be, as Hugh put it, badass! Later in the evening I attended Dexter. The cast was there and the questions presented by the audience were very intelligent. I never seen the show, but it looks very good.

Friday I was able to meet two of my favorite artists: James Jean and Gary Baseman. Both went better than I can have imagined. James had a print for sale that was of one of my favorite images from the Prada line. This was my most favorite item I got this entire weekend. Gary was very friendly and took the time for each of his fans. He even doodled in my book. It was an absolute honor to meet both artists.

Saturday was a major panel day for me. The line up was Heroes (entire cast), Dean Koontz, Dollhouse (Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett) and Battlestar Galactica (much of the cast). We were fortunate enough to watch the entire premiere of Season 3 of Heroes: Villains. It was incredible!!! This is what makes SDCC so wonderful. The Dollhouse panel was extremely entertaining. It was both funny and informative. And of course this is possibly the last time we will see the actors and creators of BSG together in public. They spoke about the last season, but mostly they spoke of memorable moments. It was very bittersweet and it was obvious they were all deeply good friends. The emotions were high and at the end, they received a standing ovation and even a chant of "So say we all!"

There is still one day left, but it will be dedicated to the exhibition hall and saying goodbye. I wish this convention would never end. I grabbed quite a few items including three autographs from my favorite artists, Ugly Dolls and a yellow Domokun.

Day 24: SDCC preparation

The past few days has been family time and relaxing. Tomorrow is the big day to San Diego, where I will reside for the next 5 days. San Diego Comic Con will consume my life and time for these days, so it will be unlikely I will be able to find time to post updates of the events there. I will post things when I have time though.

Day 21: Cars, Huntington Beach and The Dark Knight

Saturday. This means Cars and Coffee again! I felt that last weeks turnout was a little better. But there were still a large amount of beautiful cars. I think going to these shows can make one spoiled. I posted some pictures of cars that made the turnout.


After the show, Mavis and I went to Huntington Beach aka Surf City. I can feel the surf culture the second we got close to the beach. They love it here. It was nice to see so many people outdoors enjoying the company of others. At Venice and Santa Monica, there were few surfers, maybe 10-15. Here at Huntington, there were at least 100. Not to mention, the US Open of surfing was going on as well. We saw some professional surfers, although I'm unfamiliar with their names, we could definitely tell they were darn good! The weather was overcast, but very pleasant.

Lunch was delicious spicy miso ramen from Santouka in the Mitsuwa Marketplace. The marketplace gave me an idea of what to expect from Japan. Great food and fun merchandise.

We quickly left for the Edwards Ontario IMAX theater for an afternoon showing of The Dark Knight. An hour and a half early and the line was already long. It was worth the wait. The movie was spectacular. It was everything I hoped it would be. The IMAX experience was quite unique. Many of the city shots and several action sequences were filmed in IMAX format, which meant it was hi-res and filled the whole screen. Amazing experience.

Day 17: Galleries, Tesla, Rodeo Drive

My goal today was to visit several art galleries unique to LA. The ones I made it to are Thinkspace, Carmichael Gallery, Copra Nason, Project: Gallery and BLK/MKRT. All were open except Thinkspace and Copra Nason. The exhibits were welcoming and fresh and I was introduced to some new artists. For those of you who watch TV or like tattoos, LA Ink was located right next to Carmichael Gallery. I had no idea!


The following image is of the gallery BLK/MRKT. I believe this 'person' sitting on the rooftop was the result of Mark Jenkins. Look him up, he does some great stuff =D


I found myself near Beverly Hills, which made me recall that the artist James Jean recently collaborated with Prada. The Prada on Rodeo Drive was suppose to be designed according to his images.


I'm not quite sure how to describe Rodeo Drive other than ridiculous. Being on Sunset Blvd earlier and seeing the environment shift to Beverly Hills is astounding. Every shop at Rodeo Dr had 'secret service' type people at the entrances to 'greet' you. Not a single store wasn't designer and a simple credit card wallet at Prada was well over a hundred bucks. The famous designer Bijan had his yellow Rolls Royce parked out front of his store. This area is fun to visit, but I can't see myself ever living here or in this lifestyle.

My next stop was Tesla Motors, the makers of the Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster is a $100,000 electric motor sports car. It has zero emissions, full carbon fiber body and runs off of rechargeable laptop batteries (a lot of them). The car has 248 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm. 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. Other interesting facts: the battery weighs 900 lbs, it can travel 230 miles on one charge, is a one speed, has a 13k redline and the torque is present throughout the rev range (so the car pulls like a bat out of hell at all times).


I had a really good experience at the dealer. The company isn't trying to make money, but rather stimulate a movement to show the world that electric cars have a place in the future of automobiles. It might not be cheap or practical, but the technology is there to make an electric car faster than a Ferrari. I had the privilege of visiting the only dealer in the world (currently) and they even let me sit in one. I spent a good 30 minutes chatting and drooling over the car. These guys are great. Best car dealer experience I've ever had.

Day 14: Cars, Coffee and LA

The first weekend in LA was action packed, starting by waking up at 6 am in order to make the Cars and Coffee weekly show in Irvine. Cars and Coffee is a car show where car fanatics bring their cars to show others between 7-9am every Saturday. The catch is this: exotic and classic cars only. They are mostly personally owned (some dealers bring some) and many have been customized. I parked in the spectator parking lot along with a Dodge Viper and Ferrari F430. What did I see in the car show? There are about 400 cars, here are just a few: Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini Murcielago, Ford GT and others that cost more than your house.



The show was very relaxed, just a bunch of people looking at cars, taking pictures and chatting. Most of cars, despite being Porsche and Ferrari's, had expensive modifications done. The pictures shown were a small portion of what was there. I'd love to post pictures or answer questions concerning what I saw.

The second portion of the day took my cousin, Mavis, and I to downtown LA. Our goal was to hit up several specialty stores. We managed to find everything just fine. We were able to visit KidRobot, Giant Robot, Beverly Hills H&M and several stores along the way.


Perhaps the strangest and now funniest part of the day was when we ate crepes at a small Japanese store. The store front was plastered with signs saying strange things, such as don't come in unless you know exactly what you want. It followed up by calling us kids or idiots if we didn't. It was ambiguous whether his signs were meant to be funny or if he was serious, but it made me wonder how he got business. We were confronted with more signs as we stepped into the store, which was the size of a closet because a counter blocked off the rest of the place. We saw a person, but only his hand and torso, cuz his face and everything else was blocked off by signs. When Mavis handed him money, he instructed her to put the money on the counter (as one of the signs instructed) as opposed to his hand. When I payed, he gave me 75 cents back, in the form of lots of dimes, nickels and pennies. The good news is the crepes were good.

Since we were downtown, we decided to visit UCLA as a part of my campus visits. UCLA surprised me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the campus was very beautiful. The buildings were mostly red bricks and the grass was actually green. Like most schools, the campus was large. It wasn't too difficult to navigate and it felt separate from the hectic LA culture surrounding it.


The final leg of the day led us to Mulholland Drive. Famous for its twist and turns and beautiful overlooks along the way. The drive was fun and we were able to see downtown and even Universal Studios. LA doesn't have a very appealing skyline, but the look is still very unique.


The evening ended with some good food and frozen yogurt. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. On a side note, I saw Hellboy II yesterday and it was great. Funny, visually stunning and the action was superb. Go see it!

Day 12: Beaches

Today was my beach day. On the way to the beaches, I decided to have lunch at a fast food joint. But not just any fast food joint. The oldest, operating McDonald's in the world is located in Downey, CA, just west of Chino Hills. The food tastes like all other McDonald's, but the building is classic, complete with the old Speedee mascot.


Further west of Downey is the coast. I decided to spend my time at Venice Beach, an eccentric and large beach full of vendors and street entertainment. People were surfing, helicopters flew by every 10 minutes and lifeguards did their jobs. This is probably one of the most active beaches around. It's also famous for its outdoor gym, right on the beach. Go Muscle Beach!




Just a few miles north of Venice Beach is Santa Monica. The beach here is much more relaxing, although still busy. This beach makes me want to bring a bicycle wherever I go. The pier is constantly full of visitors. There is a roller coaster and ferris wheel. This beach is also great for outdoor exercise.

Day 11: Frank and Son

Frank and Son is a local warehouse filled with tons of booths that sell collectibles. If you like pins, trading cards, figures, Japanese merchandise, games or anything out of the ordinary, someone here sells it. I didn't see much I wanted to buy, but window shopping here is fun in itself. On my way out, I picked up a few collectible trading vinyls. I have a soft spot for this kind of stuff.

The joys of staying here in Chino Hills is being able to spend time with family. The daily food picture of the day is some home cooking, the classic beef noodle soup.

I would also recommend seeing Wanted. It's a fun movie full of violence and ridiculous action.

Day 10: New toy

Today was spent resting and spending time with family. The area feels like home since I come here so often. I hardly need a nav system here. I noticed there were some new places. There is now a 99 Ranch Market nearby and a new outdoor shopping center. They even had Momotree, which is similar to KidRobot.

The latest food craze is yogurt and there is a PinkBerry in the new shopping center. Also today, I drove around and happened to pick up a new toy. I've been wanting to get this for a while and it seemed like a good idea. At least we can have some fun at in LA.


So all you people out there who have one, send me a friend invite. Lets dominate the gaming world. My name is Pdl2thmdl (l as in a lowercase 'L'). Don't worry, I won't stay indoors everyday here. There is much to see!

Day 6-9: Relaxing and on to LA

Happy 4th of July! The past few days have been low key and relaxing. Most of the time was spent eating and playing board games with friends. I had the opportunity to see the fireworks celebration in downtown San Jose.


The following are some pictures of places I went to eat. I had a very wide variety of foods during my stay in SJ. The first image was from a schezuan style lunch. The second was spicy miso ramen. The final image is from Yogurtland, which is pretty popular now a days.



We revisited Stanford, went to Los Gatos and some small local areas. The picture below was taken at Stanford of my host, Aric (sitting) and friend, Paul (chiseled statue).

I'm currently residing in LA now and will remain here for a few weeks. The weather is much hotter here and the sights are further to reach, but I'll update as often as I can!

Day 5: Mystery, Monterey and Carmel

There was a lot of driving involved today, but it was worth it. I wanted to hit three major areas: Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. I started off at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot, which is supposedly known for mysterious phenomenon. However, it basically consisted of a lot of tricks involving slopes and distances. This, in a way, took away from the mystery. Whether or not there really was something unnatural, I'm not quite convinced. It was a fun experience though, I would recommend going with a bunch of friends.

I didn't have much time to see Santa Cruz, so I missed the beaches and boardwalk. Instead, I went straight to Monterey Bay. The city was small but packed with stores and beautiful sights. It also contained an amazing aquarium.


The aquarium had a very beautiful jellyfish exhibit. It was amazing seeing these creatures up close. If there is anything that reminds me of aliens, it would be what lives deep in the ocean. I also saw the tuna that is used for sashimi and they are huge! Sea creatures are incredible.


Many have been concerned about the fires on HWY 1 and several areas are closed. I decided to visit Carmel now since I won't be able to travel along the entire length of HWY 1 between SJ and LA. Carmel is a very small town and has a fantastic view. I walked the entire length of the beach. The sand was incredibly fine and the weather was warm. It was a perfect day...

Day 4: Google and Stanford

I had the privilege of being a visitor of the Google headquarters in Silicone Valley. My host, Aric, had a friend who works there. I was utterly astounded. Google is quite possibly the greatest place to work...ever. There are 18 cafeterias, all with very good food. And the food is free. And you can eat as much as you want. Whenever you want. It's that amazing. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. I was there at 12 pm and there were people working out at the campus gym (for free), eating (for free) or playing volleyball or pool (for free). Need a drink? Just pick one out from anywhere.


In other words, Google tailors to their employees. They give you everything you need to help make you productive, which includes feeding you healthy food and allowing you to rest and take breaks at your discretion. Of course in return, they trust you to perform at your best. The employees all looked very young, mostly in their 20s or 30s. Imagine the freedom of a college campus, except you get paid well, get free meals everyday and free gym and activities memberships. Also, the sales department has beautiful women who dress well. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Thanks Garrett for hosting the tour!

Nearby Google was the great Stanford University. I spent a great amount of time exploring the campus. It had many small fountains, large open Quads and a beautiful chapel. The campus was stunning. I really enjoyed the look of the buildings.

During the evening I went to a place called SkyHigh with some friends, which basically consists of a bunch of trampolines. We can jump, do tricks or play dodgeball. I don't think I worked so hard in my entire life. Being exhausted led us to a delicious Korean restaurant. Tomorrow is another day. Until then.

Day 3: SF and Berkeley

Today was my first big day out to San Francisco. I started off at the southern part to hit up a burger place called Joe's Cable Car Restaurant. I saw it on TV and they recommended it. They grind their meat every day and make fresh burgers. It was very very good, although super expensive. It was $15 for a 6 oz patty, the most I paid for a burger.


The interior of the place was awesome and had a great atmosphere. I drove deeper into SF and parked near the Westfield mall. First of all, SF downtown is amazing! It reminded me of a mini-Manhattan. Lots of people, lots of cars and very busy. The shopping is expensive and extravagant. I spent a good 45 min buying stuff from H&M (finally!). The Westfield mall was spectacular. It was 7 or 8 stories tall and had the best mall cafeteria I've ever seen. They even have bars that serve alcohol there. Very fancy. The image below is of Union Square, which was in the area.


The Macy's on that block was 2 or 3 buildings. A separate building was dedicated for Men's stuff. Finally we get some respect! I'm starting to like SF more and more. As a quick side trip, I went to Japantown, which is a small section in downtown. I didn't spend much time here, but every store is Japanese, including anime and food. I visited a unique antiques store which was filled with expensive Japanese tea pots, furniture and other items.


The last portion of the night took place in Berkeley to visit UC Berkeley. What an amazing campus they have. It feels very different compared to UW. The buildings are large and resembled modernized roman architecture. It felt like a city in a sense that their was a lot of space between buildings. Very comfortable and beautiful. I didn't see it all, but I must say our fountain is way cooler than theirs =P

I went down the block to eat the famous Zachery's Chicago Style Pizza. It was extremely busy but I landed a spot at the 'bar'. From there I could see the massive amount of people (very tiny restaurant) preparing deep dish pizzas. While waiting for the pizza to cook (about 30 min), I met a nice gentlemen sitting next to me and we shared several stories with one another. Very fun experience indeed. By the way, I spent just under $50 for lunch and dinner combined for just myself! Gotta spoil myself every once and a while...