Chris Lau | A Cool Dude | Orlando, FL

Ramblings for June:

Orlando Magic - what a ride they had to the finals this month!  It’s unfortunate they lost but man it created a stir in Orlando.  I’ve never seen this city go crazy over a sporting event.  The one game they did win, people were yelling and screaming all over the streets into the late hours including myself.  I’ve never seen Downtown Orlando like that before.  It felt like Mardi Gras.  Regardless of what people may say, this is the best thing that could have happened to the city, to the team, and to the fans.  It gave a reason for people to cheer again in Central Florida.

Weather - what the hell is up with the weather in Florida lately?  I know that summer is here but DAMN it’s been extremely hot lately.  95 or higher daily and we’re not even in the mid-summer months yet.  The only positive to come out of this is more time to go to the beach or pool.

Fourth of July is around the corner and there are some stuff lined up for me in July.  Stay tuned!

Day 4

This day was the longest day of driving that we have so far on the road trip.  The drive was from St. Louis to Denver.  It was suppose to take us about 12 hours but we got to Denver in a little over 10 hours.  We cut through the rest of Missouri, went through Kansas, and parts of Colorado.  All I have to say is that Kansas has to be by far the most boring state I have ever been to or seen.  All those stories you hear about how there’s nothing in Kansas.  Well, I can tell you first hand - there is NOTHING in Kansas.  Pretty much all flat land and ONE (I repeat, ONE) radio station in certain parts of Kansas.  It seemed like it took forever to drive through Kansas however we finally made it through to Denver.  Got in around 8pm mountain time and went to a bar to catch the Nuggets vs. Lakers game.  It was a great environment since Denver was playing.

Day 5

After an exhausting day of driving the day before, I woke up fairly early and felt quite refreshed.  For breakfast, my friend and I decided to check out a very popular breakfast joint in Denver called Jack-N-Grill.  This place is so popular that it has been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show and Man vs. Food.  Their staple is the 7-pound breakfast burrito challenge.  Although my friend and I did not do the challenge, the food was quite plentiful and delicious.  After breakfast, we decided to tour the city.  I must say, Denver is quite nice.  The air is clean and very quite for a bigger city.  After hitting up the city, we decided to hit the road again and move onto Salt Lake City.  The drive was much better today considering it was only about 6.5 hours.  We cut through the northern parts of Colorado and most the southern parts of Wyoming.  I will have to say, the scenery through these two states are UNREAL!  I have never seen such awesome views in my life before.  Although most of the drive was boring, but these views can not be captured else where.  We finally arrive in SLC and we hit up a popular brew bar/restaurant called Squatters.  Apparently, they are all about the environment and they brew their own beers which includes organic beer.  I tried an organic beer for the first time ever and all I have to say is AMAZING!  So crisp and rich in flavor.   SLC is a nice place to visit.  It’s VERY clean and just very environmentally conscious.

Day 6

Got up early in SLC and drove through the rest of Utah on our way to San Francisco.  Man, the scenery cutting through Utah was pretty cool as well.  And nothern California was quite interesting as well.  We drove through Tahoe and the mountains and finally arrive into the city of San Francisco.  First impression - wow quite a city.  We got in late afternoon so didn’t really do too much as I had to help my friend unpack and get settled in to his new place.

Day 7

We decided to hit up some touristy stuff today.  Got up and headed over to Fisherman’s Dwarf, a popular pier area located on the SF bay.  Nothing spectular as it was mostly filled with boats and appears like a giant marina.  We then decided to head over and do the Alcatraz tour.  We bought our tickets and headed over to the island.  It was quite surreal on the boat ride over as you can get an awesome view of SF from the boat.  My first thought of the island was that it was pretty cool.  Then, they gave us an audio to accompany the walking around the island.  This was VERY cool.  Got to see most of the island and listen to the history of Alcatraz.  This tour took up most of our day.  On the way back to the house, we decided to stop by Lombard St.  For those that don’t know, these is the crookiest street in the world and damn they are right.  So steep and the turns were crazy.

Day 8

I have some family in SF and decided to meet up with some of them for lunch and dinner.  For lunch, we went to have some Dim Sum (chinese version of brunch) and got to catch up with some people I haven’t seen for years.  After lunch, we decided to take a bike tour towards the Golden Gate Bridge.  We basically rode down the SF Marina Bay and headed onwards towards the bridge.  The closer we got to the bridge, the harder the bike ride became.  It was cold and the road was getting harder and harder to ride up.  So, we decided we were winded to attempt to cross the street.  We decided to ride back to the house.

Day 9

Today was a more relaxing tour and got to see the non-city side of San Francisco.  With no major plans for the day, my friend’s roommate asked if we wanted to go to Sonoma County and check out the wineries up there.  So on our way up north.  It was about 45 mins away from the city.  Once we got there, it was quite eye-opening.  There were so many wineries and the culture there is so laid-back.  We toured about 4 wineries and had samples in almost every one of them.  We headed back to the city and headed over to AT&T Ballpark where the SF Giants play.  We got cheap tickets and decided to give the stadium a look since I’ve heard that this is one of the nicest ballparks in the MLB.  It was definitely a nice ballpark.

To sum everything up, this was the best vacation I have ever taken so far.  To see so much, to enjoy the U.S. for what it is, to meet new people, and to experience things where most people won’t get to in their lifetime is just an amazing feeling.  It is hard to describe a lot of the things that I witness and did but I am glad I did this trip.  One word can sum it all up - AMAZING!

Day 1

So arrived at my buddy’s place late at night because my flight from Orlando was delayed due to insane amount of rain we’ve been getting.  My friend’s place is located in VA just outside of Washington DC.  Didn’t really do much that night since I got in late and we had to hit the road fairly early the next day.

Day 2

Got up around 7am and hit the road by 9am.  Drove through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  Arrived in Cincinnati late afternoon.  Took about 8 hours.  Met up with a co-worker.  We decide to go to Downtown Cincy and went to a Cincinnati Reds game.  The Great American Ballpark is  really nice stadium.  A good view of the field from just about every section of the stadium.   Got a chance to check out Downtown Cincy.  First impression - a little run down but I’m sure every downtown in a big city is like that.  Overall, I had a really good time there.

Day 3

Got up around 8am and hit the road by 9am again.  Drove through Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.  We arrived in St. Louis, MO around 2pm.  First thing we hit up was the Anheuser Busch Brewery plant.  One word - AWESOME.  We did the complimentary tour which was free and at the end of the tour, we got 2 FREE beers.  The plant and machines were quite impressive.   The tour took about 1 hour or so.  After the tour, we headed over to the Gateway Arches.  That was very impressive as well.  The price of admission is $10 and that’s for the tour to go to the top.  The view from the top was AMAZING!  Got to see the whole city and just see this awesome structure.  Overall, St. Louis a very nice city.  The people here definitely love their baseball team, as everywhere we went, people were all decked out in Cardinals gear.  People here are also very friendly.

So I recently just got back from my trip to New York City.  I normally go once or twice a year to visit my family and most of all, just enjoy the city life.  The best part of going to NY is the food.  The food up there is just fantastic.

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I got a chance to visit the new Yankee stadium for the first time since it opened.  To be quite honest, I was not that impressed.  The Yankees spent nearly $1.6 billion dollars on a brand new stadium and the only MAJOR differences that I saw was the insane number of LCD TVs and the excessive number of premium seats.  There are certain seats in the stadium where you can’t even see the whole field!  What the hell is the purpose?!  What smart architect designed that portion?  I understand the reasoning behind trying to get the old stadium feel but seriously to spend that kind of money was a bit ridiculous.  Here are a few pics for you to judge:

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In a few weeks, I will be embarking on a cross country trip from Washington DC to San Francisco.  Quite stoked about it.  Will post more details the closer I get to the date.

So this past weekend, I finally was able to go this popular burger joint called Five Guys Burgers.  I’ve heard good things about this place from multiple friends and I’m always down for a good burger.   I went to the Five Guys in Baldwin Park.  At first glance, there’s not much to the restaurant.  It basically feels like any fast food restaurant (Burger King, McD’s) .  The menu is rather small however it was the toppings that caught my eye.  While the burger itself was more than $5 (and this is not including fries or a drink), the toppings that you can add at least makes me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.

And the moment of truth - the burger was quite delicious.  I would say that it was GOOD but not GREAT.  I’ve had better but for a quick burger at a decent price, this was pretty good.  The toppings definitely added to the flavor of the burger.

Overall, I would recommend it to my friends and I would go back.

Five Guys Menu

So I love this time of the year… The weather is great and perfect for spring training baseball.  Last week, I got a chance to go to the Wide World of Disney Sports Complex to witness two spring training games.  The facility is really top-notch.   There’s also really no bad seats in the stadium as you are really close to the field anywhere you sit.

So, my friends and I were sitting in the Lawn section and a fly ball hits right in my direction.  With my glove ready to catch the ball, I hear my friends yell “You got this! You got this!”   The ball was hit directly in my direction into my glove when at the last second, a guy in front of me stands up and catches the ball with his BARE hands.  The baseball was traveling REALLY fast.  So the guy ended up with the foul ball but the ball made a HUGE imprint on his hand.   It would have been my first foul ball EVER but I got to give it to the guy for catching it with his bare hands.  Anyone that can do that deserves the ball.

Overall, spring training baseball was fun this year!  Great weather, good friends, and good teams.  For those that have never been to one, I highly recommend it!

For those that haven’t watched this yet, this is a must-see episode of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Stewart is perhaps one of the smartest TV broadcaster out there today.  Although his show is usually filled with comedy, Stewart is smart, quick-witted, and really knows his stuff.

Recently, Stewart called out the entire CNBC network in relations to all the bad advice that the network has given to it’s viewers in recent months.  In particular, Stewart calls out Jim Cramer of Mad Money on CNBC.   Line after line, Stewart attacks Cramer for all the lies and bad advice that Cramer has given to the American public in regards to stocks and funds.  As funny and serious as the interview was, I will say this - it took A LOT of balls for Cramer to appear on the show to defend himself.  Not only did he handle it with class (Stewart was quite brutal at times),  he was also very apologetic which to some degree is a hard thing for a TV personality to do.

Click Here to Watch The Full Episode!

So lately I’ve been watching the new drama on TNT called Trust Me.  If you haven’t seen this show, it’s about these two guys, Mason and Connor, who are best friends that work in an advertising agency in Chicago.  One is a Copywriter and the other is a Creative Director.  It follows their lives and others as well that work in the agency.  It shows the audience what it is like to work in a big time advertising agency.

Being that I work in advertising, I found this show very interesting and I hold it close to me as most of the things they do or talk about on the show, I can relate to.  It gives the outside world a very interesting perspective on what really goes on inside an ad agency.  Coming from experience, I would say 90% of what goes on in that show is quite true.  The operations, the quirky and weird people, the clients, etc.  People always ask me what it’s like to work in advertising.  Well, most of the time, it’s hard to explain it because you have to work in it to understand.  This show demonstrates that.

If you have yet to watch the show, I highly recommend that you do.  It’s quite interesting and funny.  It’s one of the better new shows on TV now.  Hell, if you don’t have time, you can watch it online at TNT.TV.  It will definitely open your eyes to the world of advertising.

So last weekend, my cousin was in town and we decided to go to Bento Cafe located in Downtown Orlando.  It’s a fusion asian/japanese restauarant.  I’ve probably been there about 3 or 4 times and each time, I’ve tried something different.   This time, I decided to go strictly for the sushi since I’ve been craving for almost a week.

So for my meal, I ordered two rolls - the Spider Roll (which has soft shell crab, cream cheese) and the Dragon Roll (which is a California Roll but topped with Eel).  When I ordered it, I wasn’t sure how big the rolls were but once it arrived, I was rather surprised at the portion.  The Spider was a bit pricier at $9.95 but there was quite a bit of food there.  The steal was the Dragon Roll.   For 8 pieces, it only costs $6.95.

The food itself was decent however I’ve had better sushi but in Orlando, this place was very good for what it was.   The decor of the place is what sets itself apart from all the other restaurants.  It’s very trendy and new-age looking.

Overall, the food was good, the price was good, and the atmosphere was good.  Would I go back?  I would say Yes but I would like to explore other japanese restaurants in Orlando.

So over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading a lot of insipirational books.  It got me thinking, “what am I doing with my life that makes it great?”  Usually, there’s a purpose for why I do the things I do but recently, I have no purpose behind anything that I do.  It made me start questioning my career and personal goals.  I took a step back and re-evaluated my life and decided that there doesn’t always have to be a purpose behind everything that I do.  I should be thankful for what I have accomplished so far and be appreciative.  Well that’s what I’m doing.  I’m thankful for all the friends, family, and co-workers that surrounds me.  I truly believe this is what makes my life so great.