A rapid photo montage of our trip to Espana.

(Photo taken by John Cho)
Leaving on the price tag is all the rage

(Photo taken by Kyung Lee)
Debbie next to a wall of trinkets

(Photo taken by John Cho)
Eric and I with a group of rowdy yet welcoming teens in Mcdonalds

(Photo taken by John Cho)
Eric’s expression, I totally ambushed him, PWNED

(Photo taken by John Cho)
Richie looks like he’s with the natives, Eric and I on the other hand look very, very foreign

(Photo taken by Eric Kwon)
Ah yes, nights in Seville…

Red Bull could not have picked a better title, “The Evolution”. The last Rampage event was 3 years ago, with plenty of time for the sport of freeriding to progress, it has, ridiculously. 20+ feet drops are now considered normal, not only do you have to hit them, most of these guys are tricking off them easily, theres also the 60+ foot canyon gap midway through the run, followed by more madness. Videos and photos here.

This entry is long overdue. Roughly a month ago, I took a little journey with a couple of good friends over to Europe to visit the sights and sounds of Spain and Portugal. From Los Angeles, we took a 5 hour flight over to Chicago, then from Chicago an 8 hour flight to Madrid. As excited as I was for this trip, I don’t think I could have prepared myself enough for the layover, this was my first, not only does it make the flight feel twice as long, theres also the added stress of re-checking in and going through security once more, all while crossing your fingers hoping that you’ll make the transition over successfully. Annoying for one person, indeed, we had six! Oh yeah we almost missed our layover from Chicago to Madrid, that wouldn’t have been good. Our trip was almost two weeks long, we arrived in Madrid and from there went on to visit the following places, respectively: Avila, Salamanca, Ciudad Rodrigo, Sierra da Estrela, Coimbra, Fatima, Obidos, Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra, Alentejo, Andalusia, Sierra de Aracena, and Seville. Of all the beautiful cities and spots visited, I would have to say that Lisbon was by far my favorite place of this trip. The city that is Lisbon is what I like to call ghetto beautiful, its not a rich city relative to all of Portugal and Spain, but from my limited stay, I would say it had more character and youthful energy than the rest. Also from a tourists perspective it had the added bonus of friendlier people who spoke a tad bit more english. Some of the coolest highlights from the trip; castles, largest cathedrals in the world, owners not having to leash their dogs, mopeds everywhere, rental bicycles, a LIVE flamenco performance, real sangria, tasting an ice cold native cerveza called Mau, real churros, and accidentally running across a ’special’ beach. And some of the worst things from the trip; FOOD (McDonalds saved us), eating cured meat almost every meal, strength of the Euro compared to the dollar, gypsies preying over us (sadly, our friend got his backpack stolen on our last leg of the trip), rude natives in Spain, super small elevators in every hotel, drinkable water that only comes in a bottle, and FLAT coke, europeans don’t like their sodas carbonated. All in all, loved the experience I gained through this trip, my first to Europe and definitely not my last…I’d love to visit again, sometime in the near future…maybe I’ll plan my next trip around the Tour. Hope this entry wasn’t too short. Anyways, posted a couple of photos I took from the trip above, you can see the rest here or if you want the full screen experience, click here.

(Photo courtesy of Kiyoung Kim)

Couple weeks ago, the gang and I decided to check out the annual Lobsterfest held in Long Beach near the ports. The scenario was perfect; the ladies were out shopping, weather was spectacular, and all the guys had worked up a considerable appetite for what was hyped to be some of the best lobster around town, I mean, lobsters next to the ocean, fantastic right? So we get to the parking lot of the festival which is off location, we’re then shuttled off for what seems to be an eternity (10 -15 mins), we finally arrive and get to our eating. Instead of joining in on the dinner planned, I opted out to eat some generic panda express. The second the aroma of the buttered garlic and fresh lobster hit me, I’m always reminded of the times I had to help my dad crack open the crab and lobster back in middle school, I absolutely hated it, it was a chore. But most of all, I never understood the amount of work someone would have to put into those little suckers just to be rewarded with little scraps of string meat. I figure that I expense enough energy during my bike rides, I shouldn’t have to expense anymore just so I’ll be hungry an hour later. After the less than stellar meal, we wandered over to the free concert where we caught a full show of the cover song band, Danger Kitty. I don’t think anyone in the entire crowd expected a show that these guys put on, they sang all the great hits from the 70s to the 80s: Def Leopard, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Twisted Sisters, and Bon Jovi. I’ve only been to one concert in my life, a Coldplay concert, and even though these cover songs were before my time, the way these guys performed and moved the crowd, it almost felt as if I had traveled back in time and was at the real thing. The crowd was definitely feeling it, the band’s last song was extended for another two, ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE! You gotta appease the demand of the people I guess, afterall, a good artist always leaves you coming back for more. When I got home, I was so pumped from the show that I downloaded ‘Livin on a Prayer’ by Bon Jovi, no offense to BJ but I think the DK’s actually pulled it off better. Danger Kitty, you guys rule! It’s amazing how much talent the lord has bestowed upon this planet. Oh yea, the photo above, see that hair, that clothes, its all just for show, its not real…how cool is that, these cats are pure entertainment.

(Photo courtesy of Velonews)

Ain’t it a beaut?

(Photo courtesy of Velonews)

Okay gotta apologize in advance for this huge gapping update from Stage 11 to the 21st and last stage of the TDF. Truth be told, I’m quite embarrassed, you see, as an avid cyclist, I feel its my duty to report to the good people on the largest cycling event on the planet, most importantly to finish what I started. Unfortunately, cycling’s ugly past reared its head once more in the form of dopers and cheats, I ABSOLUTELY despise these so called ‘professionals’ who irresponsibly continue to bite the hand that feeds them, not only are they hurting themselves physically but endangering his peer’s careers. I-R-R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-L-E. Anyways, between stage 11 and 21 there were a string of dopers that were caught and quite frankly, I was sick of it and completely lost my appetite on reporting to you good folkds. Like I said, I’m here to finish what I started, I’m here to put the last nail in the coffin…and the winner is…NOT Cadel Evans (2nd), *sigh, theres always next year bud, with a stronger team and better luck, you’ll get it. I’m distraught though, Carlos Sastre does NOT look right in the maillot juane.