Put the Lime in the Coconut.

Since I was able to make it to main campus to visit the weekly Mountain View Public Library Bookmobile, I decided to swing by Charlie's to grab a burrito for dinner later on tonight. Then, proceeded stop by Pacific Café, our Asian-themed cafeteria. I was surprised to find out that they were serving kimchi, japchae, and kabli. Yes, Korean ribs, or as I like to call it, meaty awesomeness. And on my way out, I grabbed a coconut for some fresh coconut juice.

Yum.

[btw, the title and theme of the picture comes from this song. drew, I know you get it!]

Meet Petey.

Petey is a yellow Labrador whose owner works on my floor. He's the friendliest dog I've met so far while working at Google.

At our old building, Petey's owner would let him off the leash and wander around the office, which he absolutely loved. There would be times when I'd be at my desk, focused on my work when I feel a nudge and notice him trying to get my attention. In fact, one time, he dropped a tennis ball in front of me and the backpedaled, while waiting excitedly for me to do something with it. Apprehensively, I rolled the ball in his direction, at which he ran full force to attack the ball, then he proceeded to drop the ball at my feet again and backpedaled, awaiting my response. This went on about ten more times and then finally, when I knew I had to get back to work, I lured him back to his owner with the same tennis ball.

It's dogs like him that make me really appreciate the dog policy that we have. And I'm definitely glad we don't have cats here.

Another First Day.

Today was our first day in our new building. Over the weekend, my entire department moved to a new building about a mile south of the main Googleplex campus. And in typical Google randomness fashion, the Stanford marching band (yes, the same ones that got run over by the Cal Bears) surprised us by playing their fight song in front of our building. They were all dressed up in very random costumes, and none of us really knew what was going on. I go there late and took a couple of pictures of their post-performance flight.

I found out later that they actually snuck inside and took a whole lot of our food as well. I dunno if this is true or not, but I think it is. Man, hearing that news had memories of my college days come flooding back. I still remember as a freshman, the advice I got from upperclassmen that I should take advantage of any opportunities on campus that offer free food.

Man, it's only been eight months, but college seems like so long ago...

The Perfect Storm.

The gang checked out of our cabin at 11am this morning, thinking that we'd have enough time to make it back to the city in time for church. Unfortunately, we made the crucial mistake of not checking the weather and sticking to our own schedule. For some reason, missed the memo that about a foot and a half of snow had fallen overnight. If we had paid attention to what was going on around us, we would have definitely left earlier. Instead, our ignorance to the forces of nature surrounding us made for a very interesting ride back.

Some of the images I saw on the road were absolutely astonishing. When exiting off the highway to get to the nearest gas station, we noticed that the cars were moving at such a slow pace that even one of them had a snowman placed on top of its roof! Yeah, in my 22 years on this earth, including my experiences growing up in Russia, this was one of my most intense snowstorms to date.

It normally takes some four odd hours to drive up to Lake Tahoe from San Francisco, However, on our return trip, a massive snowstorm hit, causing the roads to become treacherous and backed up as far as the eye could see. It took our car a total of four hours to simply travel three miles to get on to thehighway leading out of Tahoe! Yet even with a total travel time of about nine and a half hours, our car was the fastest one in our fleet of three vehicles that made it back to the city. From what I've gathered, Jeff's car engine actually gave out, stranding him, Jason, Lisa, and Toadie (C.Park) up on the side of the road. After talking to them, I found out that they'll have to spend the night up there and find a different way back into the city tomorrow.

I hope they're alright.

Ecstatic.

I couldn't control my excitement of being able to snowboard on fresh powder. Miss Lisa shared the same excitement with me as we shared a tide up on the ski lift. With 18 inches of fresh snow this morning, the conditions were absolutely amazing. Today definitely made up for the lack of any trace of winter experienced two weeks prior at Snow Globe.

Meet Jane & Chung.

These cats represent two-fifths of Team Awesome, our car that headed out to Lake Tahoe. Jane is one of my homies out here in SF. She's a straight down-to-earth NorCal gangsta, no-nonsense hood chick with a fobby twist. And Chung? As a diplomat's kid, which means he's more superinternational than me. Although he's Korean, he grew up mainly in South America, which reminds me of someone else I know back in NC (*ahem ahem* dirrrty susy!! *ahem*). Oh, and he's a compulsive liar. haha.

No, seriously, don't believe a word he says.

.: Anticipation :.

I'm in the process of packing up my gear for the weekend. I'm waking up early tomorrow to get to work real early. The reason? 24/7 has planned a Tahoe trip this weekend and I want to beat traffic if possible. It's supposed to be the best snow all season, so I'm really excited about going up.

I can't wait.

Mr. Potato Head.

Everyone gets a Mr. Potato Head at work, for reasons that none of us really know. These fellas have been perched on a ledge for quite some time now and I was going to save this shot for a rainy day when I couldn't find any inspiration to shoot anything. However, since we're moving soon, I decided to seize the opportunity to take the shot before it was too late.

And so I give you the Mr. Potato Head Quartet. Yes, indeed it is random.

Trampoline + Dodgeball = Genius!

Today, my department went on an offsite to Sky High Sports in Santa Clara, where we played trampoline dodgeball. I'm still perplexed that not one's come up with this concept until recently, because it's an amazingly random and beautiful marriage of two wonderfully silly old school activities. This is one of those random things that I'd probably never end up doing on my own, but I'm glad I got to check it out.

Sadly, I just know that I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. Oh well, yet another normal day at work.

The Palace.

I worked from home today and got some time to explore a part of the city with Gina and Jane. We went to the Palace of Fine Arts, which was a photo extravaganza for me. Although I liked how many of the shots turned out, I conservatively chose to post only one to save the others for later (in case I'm at my wit's end looking for a new shot).

Peace.

I was looking for a shot at church today, and I noticed this verse over one of the stairways leading to our sanctuary. With many of the things that have been going on with my friends recently, this is a real encouragement. So amidst the mountaintop experiences and the valleys, we need to be reminded of this truth.

Jason's 30th Birthday.

Tonight, we celebrated our fearless ding-dong leader's birthday by surprising him with an over-the-hill retirement birthday party. Props to all those for their great job in organizing and setting up the party while keeping it all a secret. It was priceless to see his reaction as he opened Dave's door to find 30+ people dressed as geriatric retirees.

At the end of the party, Jason got his face smashed in traditional 24/7 tradition. Instead of waiting to get caught off guard, he was gracious enough to take it like the old man that he is!

Afterwards, we went to karaoke, which is always a blast. But I think this time around alot of us were tired. Either way, it was a great night.

Tinymobile.

This "car" has been chillin in front of our building for the past few days. Question: because it has only three wheels, what is the name of this? It's not a tricycle because it's motorized. Trimobile? No...I'm gonna stick with tinymobile.

Hotel Carlton.

This picture was taken in front of the gate to my apartment. I don't know anything about this hotel, but I like how the size of the sign in relation to the building. At least it gives me a landmark for people to look for when they're trying to find my place.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Several guys and gals from 24/7 decided to meet up for dinner tonight. Jason and Christina hosted the event at Christina and Erika's apartment. Erika and I arrived late because of a detour at Target. We arrived at the apartment with dinner in full swing,and the apartment decked out in cheesy Valentine's Day decorations. After dinner, Chung serenaded us with some original tunes and then we wound up jamming to some worship songs.

Tonight reminded me about the beauty of fellowship and friendship. And not just because it was Valentine's Day.

Meet Will.I.Am.

Will.I.Am, the brainchild of the Black Eyed Peas, visited us at work today. Unlike John Legend, who actually held a concert for us, Will.I.Am sat down and had an interview session with our host, and then proceeded to show us the processes he takes to produce a beat. He brought in recordings he made from the previous night of him on the drum, keyboad, bass, and mic (he had a 4 minute freestyle recording about Google) and edited, spliced, and mixed them to create a hot ringtone.

It's always a trip for me to meet such talented individuals. Society glamorizes their celebrity to make us think that they're completely different from us, but this interview session revealed to us that he is a very down to earth guy. In fact, he's quite dorky, which made the entire event quite entertaining. For example, he'd explain to us that he needed to enhance the bass using a plug-in on ProTools to "bootify" it. Without it, the bass apparently had no booty. Hehe.

During the meet and greet, my camera decided to die on me. So props to Pam Shore for coming through and taking this pic of the day for me.

Cold Heat.

Due to a miscommunication between my landlord, me, and the power company, we haven't had heat in our apartment for over a week now. It wouldn't be so bad, except we have hardwood floors. I've resorted to showering at work, which I've grown accustomed to now, but I'd love to be able to enjoy hot water in my own house. Today is supposed to be the last day of no heat, as the PG&E guy's supposed to come tomorrow and turn on the gas again. I can't wait to get feeling in my toes again.

Meet Faith

This weekend, more than other weekends, was way too short. And no matter how much time I do take to take off to spend with her, it's always too short. I find myself at the airport getting ready to leave even though it feels like I just got there.

While some people may think I was crazy to fly back for two days, I don't regret one bit of it. I got to spend time with her. I got to step inside the Dean Dome once again with her. I got to see my church family. So even though I did only spend about 50 hours in Chapel Hill, it was well worth it in my book.

It's the smallest and simplest things during reunions that I enjoy the most. Watching movies together. Talking about nothing. Being goofy. And it's those things that I miss while I'm out here.

Until next time...

The Champs are Here!

My return to North Carolina this time around was sweetened by watching a UNC-Wake Forest game with Faith in the Dean Dome. The game was a blowout, as we steamrolled WFU 104-67. But the highlight of the game came at halftime. when we honored the 1957 and 1982 NCAA Championship teams by celebrating their 50th and 25th anniversaries. The members of both squads were greeted with a roaring standing ovation, and rightfully so.

If you look at the right of this picture, the last four people you see are Sam Perkins. "Big Game" James Worthy, Michael Jordan, and the legendary Dean Smith. Yes, you heard me correctly, the champs were back in the building.

Grounded.

My excitement in seeing my girlfriend this weekend was dampened pretty badly with my flight being cancelled as I was driving to the airport. I was informed by way of a voicemail recording about the cancellation and how they decided to rebook me on a route that would begin five hours later and get me into RDU at around 2:30AM, After frantically calling the 800 Delta number and a 40 minute hold, I discovered that I was rebooked to an American Airlines route that would go by way of Dallas-Fort Worth and get me into RDU by 12:50am-- two hours past my original arrival. I also discovered that there was an already-delayed flight that was departing for DFW promptly and if we arrived early or the flight out of DFW was delayed, I still had a chance to board an earlier flight that would get me in at 10PM. Although I was very disappointed about the intial cancellation, I knew that I had no other choice, so I decided to take my chances, knowing that it was a long shot to begin with.However, it was never meant to be. The earlier DFW-bound flight actually left later than projected, getting us in about half an hour after the first RDU flight departed.

So I was expecting to get to RDU at 12:50AM. But then, I was screwed over once again.

The captain of our RDU flight emerged from the jetway to inform us that there was a maintenance light that turned on, forcing me into another delay. After all was said and done, I wound up getting into RDU at 2AM, a good three hours past my original arrival time.

This is why I hate flying domestic. Regardless of the airline, the domestic fleet is always outdated, old, and one flight away from breaking down. There are ridiculous airport taxes that get attached to my ticket, which pay the TSA to "randomly" search me every time I fly anywhere. The crapshoot that they call a flight itinerary, which always seems to change. Need I go on?

Raindrops.

I looked out my window today to notice that it was raining outside. I liked how the raindrops were streaking across the window. I was pleasantly surprised that my new point and shoot was able to capture the shot with the depth I wanted. While I did admire the rain in a photographic standpoint, I didn't necessarily like it altogether. Rain only meant that I'd have to walk from the shuttle stop in the urban wetness later that evening.

It could've been worse though.

Just as it should be.

After work, I went to Ray & Joyce's place to watch the UNC-Dook game at Cameron. Being the first of two rivalry games we play this season, we had high hopes of beating them on their home court for a second season in a row. Joyce (Faith's older sister and UNC alum) and I were anxious to see a blowout, since our team had improved considerable in this new season. However, the game turned out to be a lot closer than expected, with Dook surprisingly leadin until five minutes left in the game.

Needless to say, we came back and beat 'em on their floor again. I love this. It was a great night.

Mo Money, Mo Problems.

To my excitement, we returned to the city at around 2pm. This had been the earliest I've ever been at home on a weekday since I started work and I was both excited to enjoy the day in the city and exhausted from the trip. However, once I got home, I wound up recuping and napping. When I woke up, I was disappointed to find out that it was close to dusk. And while I wanted to simply enjoy the rest of the evening indoors, my lack of walking the typical daily 2+ miles to and from my shuttle stop left me feeling uneasy, so I decided to go for a walk.

Since it was still nice, I decided to walk to Chinatown, since I haven't really walked through that neighborhood at night. While m original intent was to look for a shot that would embody the nightlife of that area, I stumbled across this phrase tagged on the side of a Bank of America building, The juxtoposition of the statement and the institution was no doubt deliberate, yet I still found myself drawn to it boldly tagged message. I think it has somethig to do with the fact that although I've only experienced four months at my first real job out of college, I somewhat feel the tension between the desire for money and the desire for something more. Sure, money can get me nice things and get the bills paid, but deep down inside, I know that it's not what wholly satisfies me. While the temptation is still there to get more to get comfortable, I have come to the conclusion that I'd rather be satisfied with knowing how to wisely use what I've been provided with than always hunger for more. I guess it has to do with my upbringing- looking back, I realize that we were by no means well off (but at the same time not poor either), yet my parents made a conscious effort to not let money, or lack thereof, become a factor. Unconventional as it may be, it has shaped my value system to what it is today. So although I didn't find the shot that I intended to take that nght, I left Chinatown satisfied.

In the words of the late great Biggie Smalls, "Mo money, mo problems." Or rather, in this context, "Money makes us tired." But that's merely looking at it in the standpoint of the pursuit of money. What I'm trying to say is while earning money is hard work and often tiring, no matter how much of it you have, if used for the right purposes, it's all worth it in the end.

Snowglobe 2007: Just Another Day at Work.

My company has an annual ski trip up to Lake Tahoe, which I was looking forward to since I started work. Although I heard people raving about past trips, I had absolutely no idea what to expect and was anxious to experience this event firsthand. I wound up signing up on a day when most of my small group friends/co-workers were going, which made the trip that much more memorable.

I spent most of the day snowboarding with Caroline, Jesse, and Abe, and in the evening, we met up with the rest of the gang. While the schedule of events stated that there was a after-ski party later that evening, I wasn't expecting it to be a big deal. However, in hindsight, I can honestly say that it was far better than the holiday party (which also blew my mind). I spent most of the night with the crowd I went boarding with, along with Christina, Gina, and Jeff, although we would also do our own thing and mingle with other friends. All in all, I like work days like these! Needless to say, this was an amazing day, and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Erin and Caroline: co-workers, yet Dookies.

[props to Jesse for the first picture]

Cheap Good Food.

PPQ Chicken Noodle House is one of the few restaurants we frequent after church on Sunday nights. This is mainly because there are only a handful of restaurants that can seat large groups without making reservations in advance. All in all, the restaurant, although being limited in serving only chicken dishes, is pretty good. But then again, I don't really go for the food anyway.

Interior Design.

Jason and I met up and went to Christina and Erika's apartment before heading out to celebrate Hannah's birthday. While the girls were eating a quick dinner, I noticed the postcards that were hanging on their kitchen wall. Project 365 has trained me to pay more attention to things that I normally overlook. Along with the postcards, I realized that their apartment decorated with various colorful photos and images- all things that distinguish it as being feminine.

These collection of photos intrigued me the most. And my observations in their apartment made me realize that I'd like to improve the aesthetic value of my apartment as well. But whether or not I actually will, I dunno. We shall see...

Meet Erika.

Erika is a trip. As a member of our small group and a fellow Googler, we often share rides on Fridays to attend 24/7 in the city. On this particular evening, we decided to take the shuttle to Monster Park and carpool with Jeff to small group. As Christina and Jeff were busily chatting away in front of me, I was enjoying watching a movie on my laptop when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Erika whipped out her ginormous headphones that she brought from work. Although I tried to ignore the site of my petite friend in her massive headphones, I noticed a few minutes later that she had even more humorous mannerisms.

I looked up from my screen to see her head bobbing up and down, not to a steady beat, which indicated that she was in that nodding off stage. And while her head was bouncing to the rhythm of the shuttle's engine, I noticed that her fingers were still typing at lightning speed. And then the following thought came to mind:

"I've heard of sleep-walking. But is she sleep....typing?"

I proceeded to laugh and document this event. So yes, among other reasons, Erika, and her alter ego Audrey, is a trip. I guess I'll have to explain Audrey in a later entry as well...

An Evening with Shane & Shane.

You may have noticed that this has been the third concert I've attended in the past four days. Crazy, I know. The Shane & Shane concert was brought to my attention last week, and without prior knowledge of John Legend's visit, I decided to join the group that were going to this concert. I even left work early to meet up with Lisa and Daniel and we headed off to Berkeley to meet up with the rest of the gang. While the night was pretty long, as I got home at around 11:45PM, I really enjoyed this evening.


This has been the third time I've seen Shane & Shane live, and each time is extremely special. To have a pair of my favorite contemporary Christian artists lead a congregation into worship is something absolutely incredible. Although much of their set was the same as the concert I went to in September in Cary, NC, I enjoyed it immensely.

This last picture was taken as they sang "Embracing Accusation," a song that Shane Everett wrote about how the devil often twists the Word to try to bring us down. It isn't on any of their albums yet, and having heard the testimony to the song and the actual song live twice now, it's an incredibly moving piece. The context of this song is taken out of Galatians 3:10-14, where we are often misled into forgetting the last two verses, but instead focus on the curse of our sin. But, as they sing, the devil sings over us the first two verses, and forgets the refrain...Jesus saves.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham
might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,
so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
-Galatians 3:13-14