David Choi: Forever and Ever Tour feat. Jesse Thomas

Location: Lestats Cafe

SimplyTwo & Kreptonic Present: A Wedding Blur

Wedding Blur: capturing the ephemeral beauty and preciousness of a single wedding day and recreating the intensity of a few unforgettable moments.

I think we’ve done it.

Tim & Chris: Wedding Reception Video & toast

Tim & Chris,

Back when I was a freshman in college, for some reason, I thought college was something like prison. So I started recruiting some guys to roll with. Now every gang needs a braniac and a big, brawny, oaf to supply the muscles…and well, that’s how Tim & I…you know, started our friendship.

I’ve known Tim for a few years now, and we were sort of like partners in crime. For some reason trouble would find us where ever we went. Don’t know why.

One of the things that I’ve come to notice about Tim is his ability to convince people to do what he wanted.

He once convinced 15 guys to walk blind folded down a crooked hill without any visual aids. While they were stumbling and face planting, tripping over bushes and branches, Tim stood to the side with his camera and was laughing his head off.

He once convinced those same 15 guys to break into his own church. If any of you at CEC wonder why we have such a strict key holder’s policy and lock up procedure…yeah. he’s the reason.

He was so persuasive that he was able to convince a guy that standing in the middle of campus, half naked, on a cross, in the middle of winter was a good idea. He called it a “passion play”. all the while he’s in a sweater and i think a beanie.

When the guy who played Christ asked if he could wear shorts underneath the tunic, Tim responded “mmm nah…we’re going for realism”

To which I responded, “dude when a chinese guy is playing a middle eastern Jesus, I don’t think realism is what we’re going for.”

Oh man and you know what, somehow…somehow, he convinced his now wife to have their honeymoon in Florida at Disneyworld. Now you might be thinking “well yah, girls love Disney”.

One time during winter break in college, this was before Chris now…i was chatting with Tim and was saying something like “man, i can’t wait for the NBA double header tomorrow it’s going to be so awesome blah blah blah” and Tim goes…i kid you not “dude yah. oh man, hold that thought. I gotta go. Mulan 2’s coming on.” and then he hung up. So I’m willing to bet anything Disneyworld was not Chris’ idea.

But joking aside Tim has had a profound impact on many guys here and I think if you look around you’d find all the guys in LIFE are nodding their heads in agreement. He had an ability to connect and speak into people’s lives and genuinely care.

In the last few years it seems like trouble’s found Tim less and less. It is a bit strange that it coincides with us hanging out less. In that time he found Chris and he seems to have gone on the straight and narrow.

Thinking back, I noticed that whenever Tim and I went off to pull a prank or go on one of our troublesome adventures, Tim would be incredibly jittery. He’d always have hesitation heading into it. But about marriage…as Tim stands on the precipice before plunging into this adventure with you (Chris), he’s strangely calm and collected and it’s because he’s found a partner for life. One that he can fully trust and rely on.

There’ll be times when things get rough and I just want to remind you guys that the main thing is the to keep the main thing the main thing.

There’ll be times when struggles seem so high you can’t get over it, so wide you can’t get around it, so deep you can’t get under it. But know that besides you is a bride strong enough to carry you on her back and a heavenly Father who will never forsake you.

God bless.

To Tim & Chris. We wish you the best.

One Ring to bring them all

7/5/2007

Dai Pai Dong in Tsim Sha Tsui

Address: Tsim Sha Tsui across Langham Hotel (I honestly don’t know the address, follow the map)

Specialty: Beef balls

Cost: ~$20 HKD a bowl

Hong Kong people are massive germaphobes and understandably, their horrendous experience with SARS really has them overly cautious about hygiene and cleanliness. Unfortunately one of the casualties of extremely clean environments is the shutting down of dai pai dongs in HK. Once commonplace, these stalls are harder to find and much more regulated.

Again like the noodle store in Mongkok in a previous post this place comes with a caveat. If you can brave the frenetic pace and seemingly chaotic nature of these stalls, this place is a gold mine for food. The beef meat balls here are the best. You can order them with noodles or without noodles.

Now the thing is. In this particular dai pai dong area there are many stores and I have no idea if they’re interconnected or direct competitors. So when you go, look for the sign in the very first picture above and only sit near there. Or you’ll be pulled in by another store offering the same thing but just slightly different. The last picture in this post gives you a sense of how difficult that may be.

**closed on sundays!**

Happy Lunar New Year!

 
not taken with the fish eye, but there’s my cousin, his wife, and my xmas gift! Jason is a photographer down under and he got a few new lenses so I took the opportunity to try them out. All the while Manda kept going “Lawrence…buyyyyy ittttt”. Those two are made for one another!

Samyang/Rokinon 8mm f/3.5

Mongkok Noodle Stand: Fish Balls, Meatballs, Wontons & Noodles

Address: 15 Nelson Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Specialty: Fish balls, meat balls & wontons

Cost: $22 HKD a bowl (~$3 USD)

This store has a little bit of history and it’s tucked just besides the notoriously packed streets of Sai Yeung Choi Street and the Ladies Market. I must have passed by this place so many times and never noticed it until my mom brought us here. You can order quite a lot of things here but the fish balls really stood out. They were light, almost airy, and full of taste. I didn’t realize how good they were until we had some store bought ones the next day and the difference was incredibly noticeable.

I think I ended up coming here to eat 3 separate times over the span of a few days. It was glorious on each occasion.

HUGE CAVEAT: don’t eat here if cleanliness and a relaxed atmosphere is what you’re looking for. You won’t find it. There are only a few tables and nearly everyone shares. There’s little to no customer service but if you sit down and are vocal with your order, you’ll get exactly what you want. If you do have the heart and the stomach to try it out, don’t look down. just…trust me.

As I said at the top, this store has a little bit of history relating to my family. My mom said this store’s been open since she was here in HK. Right across the store is a used book store and right underneath the large yellow sign was where my dad used to sell used books 40+ years ago! He’d buy used text books from students, carry them from their homes to their store front and resell them when the next quarter came around. My dad was quite the book worm so it was a great job while he was a kid. I have no idea if this is the same store he once worked for or if there was even a store back then, but it’s a trip to see that connection.

Macau Restaurant: Portuguese Egg Custards

Address: 25 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Specialty: Portuguese Egg Custards

Cost: ~8 HKD (~$1USD)

Macau is known for it’s Portuguese cuisine and though we had just gone to Macau and sampled its food a few days earlier, there just can’t be enough of a good thing.

Now we had just finished a ginormous, banquet-worthy dinner in the area (pictures coming soon) and wanted to walk off the meal by taking a stroll. My sister was complaining how full she was but I always save a little space just in case something undeniable presents itself. This was one of those times and this is one of those places. My sister proceeded to say, “how can you still eat?! Just get 2 for yourself and Jess, I just want to sample a bite out of yours”.

So we order 2 and she takes one bite of mine, then goes, “okay 哥哥 (thats me), take a bite and I’ll finish it”.

Yah. It’s that good…and yah, my sister’s a fatty.

Stop by the front and they got a guy selling these all day. It’s a pretty popular place so you don’t have to worry about the freshness. The food inside isn’t that memorable (I had it at another location years ago) but these custards are a must stop if you’re in the area. Get a batch just as it’s coming out and enjoy!

Diane & Robert

Ceremony: Britt Scrips Inn

Reception: Maritime Museum, San Diego

Photographer: Jason Lee

It’s pretty darn exciting to shoot a wedding! Diane took a risk by giving me a chance to capture their wedding day and I hope it has paid off! I got spoiled in my first time shooting cause Robert & Diane were so encouraging throughout the day.  A wedding photographer herself (dianehuphotography), everything was set up for us to succeed. The venues, the pieces, the schedule…everything was incredibly beautiful and flowed so easily, making capturing the day’s events significantly easier.

Big thanks to Jason Lee who was the photographer and let me pretty much shadow him all day when I had no idea how to frame a shot. Thanks to Jessalyn for being an awesome assistant and C.Changchien for lending me his equipment.

HK Trends: Hit or Miss…they may be coming

Asian trends tend to take a while to make their way over to the States so here’s a heads up on  some unmistakable trends spotted over in Hong Kong these days.

#1. Frames without lenses

We’ve seen them before but maybe the return of larger frames make them more pronounced then ever before. Girls are wearing them, guys are wearing them. No lenses…just frames. Nerd fashion is still on the up swing.

#2. Angry Birds

They’re everywhere. No longer is this obsession confined to smart phone apps, these little birds sell like hotcakes…and in the photo above they’re literally cakes. They’re on clothes, they’re in commercials, there are angry bird mini sling shot toys on the streets. Fortunately, I think this trend won’t be rising in America any time soon. (Okay, perhaps I underestimated its global appeal as indicated in the comments)

#3. Double Decker Chucks

Chucks + an extra inch. These deceptive clones of the classic Converses look like a regular pair from afar. You almost don’t notice the bottom rung until you get pretty close. No wonder they sell well.