photos of the places I go to where I happen to have my camera on hand...
Thursday
Pre-Christmas at Bon Bon (December, 2006)
What better way to celebrate a can of soup won from a Yankee swap at a pre-Christmas dinner than open bar at Bon Bon? Good music and free-flow of bliss highlighted this mid-December celebration of the coming holiday. When it's cold, it can still be so hot!
A wonderful weekend away from Shanghai. Beaches (ick) and ocean (gross) and seafood (ok) were supposed to be enjoyments, but simply taking some time off to relax and to enjoy the company turned out to be the true Xiamen experience
Alex was back in town and I had been MIA for all of two weekends, so I heeded the call of the wild and made my way out to Guandii. There was, after all, much to celebrate in life. Check out more pictures from that night here at Flickr.
We took pictures with a panda. That should be enough to get across the sheer awesomeness of our May Holiday trip. This one will not soon be forgotten. Chongqing -> Chengdu -> Shenzhen -> Hong Kong
Pearl was leaving for 2 months. Theresa from work visited. It was a Saturday. For all these reasons, we went to our new Saturday hang-out at Fabrique, then got obliterated on our way to Guandii. And Cash Box was open too, of all things. A blast from the past...if the past is considered end of '05.
Took a few days to visit friends up in Beijing (and to avoid spending Chinese New Year alone in Shanghai). Steve was nice enough to provide accomodations, and we had a great time singing and eating and going to the Temple fair...and eating some more. Beijing rules.
Holiday Back in the States (December, 2005; January, 2006)
Back home in States for Christmas and New Year's. Good to be home with family and friends, and it just goes to show you that you can never really leave everything behind.
Kira was gracious enough to throw a great big Christmas party at Shikumen Bistro at Xintiandi. After an exhausting week, month, and year, it was great to actually witness some genuine holiday cheer with great friends. Tina being back in town was like the Christmas star at the top of the tree.
Lots of guests in town for Thanksgiving, so we gave a big fat middle finger to bird flu and indulged in duck and turkey. My third Thanksgiving away from the US was made warmer by the abundance of great food, great friends, and many a drink.
Though not on a boat this time around, there is nothing like sitting on a bus for three hours to pick at crabs with very little meat and drinking with your buddies on a Sunday afternoon. Can't wait for Crab Day 2006
A snapshot of a few days of Halloween celebration in Shanghai, with surprisingly very little dress-up. I guess walking into VIP in that Mario costume really traumatized me
All you can eat Arabian food at Zahara, and then a killer time at (where else) Guandii. Hope Nicole and her posse all had a great time. We know we sure did.
The second leg of our Oct Holiday trip took us to Qingdao, pretty coastal town famed for producing Tsingtao beer and good seafood. Day 2 was spent in Laoshan, outside of Qingdao. Pretty views, European-style streets, and our quest for Tsingtao made up our memorable journey.
Oct Holiday spent visiting Grace, enjoying contemporary art, and drinking and eating as usual. Good to see all of our northern friends again, and to make some new ones. Three days at Hou Hai, Da Shan Zi (underground art district), and various eating and watering holes.
"Chace, I didn't know you had it in you," remarked Crystal, though deep inside we all knew he did. Pics from a wonderful surprise birthday party for Lucy in late September in a private room at Mesa. Tears, wine, great food and great conversation, all thanks to Chace and his credit card. Happy Birthday, Lucy, pandas have great memories for happy days like these.
Standard party weekend in Shanghai, starting off with a night at the new Babyface, followed by a few marathon Cash Box sessions. Good healthy fun for all.
Most of these pictures are from my daytrip to Leshan (乐山) to visit the Big Buddha (大佛) during my biz trip to Chengdu. Went with three other Intel coworkers who were also down for visiting the Big Guy. Perfect weather, perfect views, really big feet.
Anabela was the belle of the ball on her birthday. She graciously hosted us at Shikumen Bistro at Xintiandi, then we headed over to JZ for some jazz and cocktails and conversation. Epilogue at sketchy Julu Lu not posted here.
A trip out to Lijiang in Yunnan Province, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in all of China. Indeed it was, despite the non-stop rain, and had some quality family time to go along with it.
On the final night of the festivities, we forgot it was Monday and had a celebration with all of our friends from the former La Disco bar (aka, Eric's favorite bar). Not your typical Monday, but as you can see a great night to end my mid-twenties.
And on Sunday, he rested. My closest co-workers from Intel came over to my house for some nice food, conversation, and overall mirth. A welcome break from the high-volume of the previous two days.
Birthday Celebration - Friday and Saturday (July, 2005)
My 27th birthday celebration was kicked off on Friday. Pegasus first and then onto Guandi. Many people got blitzed, but none more so than yours truly. Saturday night was decidedly more low-key at DKD, but nevertheless still enjoyable. An ode to binge drinking.
Took a weekend off to head up to Beijing and visit old and new friends. Wilkie was in town, and Dave had just moved up. Didn't see much of the sun, but definitely had plenty of fun.
Spent the afternoon with friends at Anabela's BBQ and a serious Cranium showdown, followed by a night at Cash Box singing with Peter and friends. (I just realized that I labeled all the pics in here as a Saturday in June, but it really happened in July...too lazy to fix. I hope you can forgive me!)
Only time back in SF since I left for China. So good to see old friends again; lots of love at sushi and at an Element party later that night. San Francisco is still the best city in the world