Welcome to another flighty edition of Nguyen Update! I'm your host, Brian Nguyen here with the latest headlines:

Filoli Gardens provides get-away for the restless and geriatric

Eager to explore some new enclave of Silicon Valley, I woke up early Saturday morning and set out Bay-Area-Backroads-style to Filoli Gardens ( http://www.filoli.org/ ), a posh and picturesque estate out in the middle of nowhere (Woodside, CA) that was once owned by a wealthy family in the late 1800's, but now open to the public. The refined 19th century mansion pleaseantly reminded me of the boardgame Clue with its old leather-bound books, world maps and antique chandeliers. The gardens outside the mansion were breathtaking in a very classical sense - acres and acres of rose bushes, lily-pads, mazes, fountains, green houses and occasionally the obligatory statue of some Roman diety. In my opinion, the garden rivalled many I'd seen in Europe.

On our way back to the parking lot, I glanced at my watch.

Me: "It's 12:20. I wonder what people our age are doing."

Jared: "Probably waking up..."

Frazzled runner finishes Santa Cruz Half Marathon

   Crossing the finish line at 1 hr 52 mins, I had a decent run at the Santa Cruz Half Marathon despite having overslept and making it to starting line just minutes before the race! I remember darting out of bed, throwing on my dry-fit clothes and chugging a huge glass of ovaltine (big mistake). So much for carbo-loading. I was so scatter-brained that upon reaching the starting line, I realized I forgot my ear-phones in the car, and thus ran with ipod hanging uselessly from my arm. I finished the race with 2 throbbing blisters (don't know how I made it through those last 2 miles) and  the taste of thick, syrupy saliva in my mouth due to dehydration. mmmmm!

Stick It movie inspires ninja to bolster workout regimen
 
  It may not be Tae Kwon Do, nor is it violent by any means, but landing square on your crotch during a balance beam routine sounds worse than getting side-kicked in the gut. Gymnasitics is "like totally" hardcore, as demonstrated time and again in the movie "Stick It," a fun movie in the spirit of "Bring it On" that's not only fun and moralistic, but also inspirational! If these girls can train 6 hours a day and mix cardio and strength training *gasp* then I can definitely use longer workouts. And so far I have! 1.5 hours instead of my normal 45 min. Thanks, "Stick It" - couldn't a' done it without ya!

I ended up loving Hong Kong so much more than I had expected. Lights, food, shopping, this is THE metropolis of metropolises! Luxury high end shopping malls are a dime a dozen, not to mention breath-taking architecture. I'm now in Tokyo where we are stayhing at a quaint little japanese inn where we sleep on floor mats and drink lotsa green tea.

I missed out on 2 major holidays this yr, spending Xmas waiting for our delayed connection flight in an airport and New Year's eve sick in my room! =(

Wine Country

I learned 3 things about myself last weekend during very first wine tasting experience in Napa Valley:

1) Wine aficionados roll their eyes when u hold ur wine glass with pinky finger extended.
2) I must not be equipped with enough taste buds to savor wine the way other people do.
3) Pastries are the DEVIL! Especially when you and a friend buy 10 on a whim for "sampling" purposes
and end up gorging like pigs.

Napa was both fun and enjoyable - great food and nice scenery. Apparently, grape vines turn color during fall, and so we drove past arcres of red and gold vineyard. We stayed at a spa-hotel in nearby Calistoga, attended a cooking demonstration at CIA (culinary Institute) and perused some mouth-watering gourmet food shops!

Pre-Thanksgiving Feasts -

As if there wasn't enough of an opportunity to stuff my stomache on Thanksgiving, the pre-Thanksgiving BBQs, potlucks and dinners came out in full force this weekend. While the food and friends were great, I can't help but question: Why do so many social gatherings have to be about food? Can't we just get together and go hiking? Maybe a game of table tennis or an afternoon of craft-making? LOL - I think I've spent too much time waiting in line with soccor moms at Michaels.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -

The best HP movie yet! But unfortunately the story was too much for just 2.5 hours, even after much condensing. Many story details were left out and certain characters' roles were siginificantly downplayed in the interests of saving time. For instance, Draco Malfoy, Cho Chang and and Fleur Delacour had about 5 lines each the entire movie. Fleur was this coy, boy-teasing coquette in the book, but was portrayed as just another good student on the big screen. I would have gladly payed to see this HP movie if it had been split into 2 parts, as originally planned.

Currently Listening Late Registration By Kanye West see related

Struttin' down the catwalk

I had my first real fashion show experience when I volunteered to be a runway model for my friend (Goldie Chan website) at a small independent designer show in SF last weekend. It was interesting to see what happens in preparation for a fashion show -  lotsa fashion photographers, local press, makeup artists, etc.

The most traumatic part of the night was getting makeup. HOW DO YOU GIRLS (and some of you guys) DO IT?!?!? I flinched like a nervous rabbit each time the brush came near my eyes. It was like sitting in front of that air-puff machine at the optometrist's. I was so jittery that the makeup artist joked "You're definitely gonna gimme somethin' to talk about back at the salon on monday." I finally emerged from the ordeal looking like Boy George with the excessive eyeshadow, blotched eyeliner and blaring bronzer.

My strut was fairly good during the practice runs, but when it came time for the real thing, I tensed up a little in front of all the cameras and hot lights. It wasn't a disaster or anything, but let's just I coulda done better... sigh. Overall, it the fashion show was fun, and I have some new friends to show for it!

Advent Children

Final Fantasy Advent Children was visually MIND-BLOWING but sorta lukewarm in terms of storyline. I guess it's Square-Enix's excuse to show off its amazing animation capabilities. Awesome fight scenes, and definitely the best CG animation I've seen to date. Go watch it for the eye candy!

Wallace and Grommit Rule!

Wallace and Grommit - Clever, hilarious and action-packed, this has got to be my personal sleeper hit of the year! It could relate will to the movie becuz, like all the characters, I'm a total VEGGIE FREAK! My favorite was Lady Tottingham, a noble and proper tree-hugger who wears vegetable-inspired evening gowns and heads the annual Giant Vegetable competition. The secret garden scene was a gem.

Gwen and BEP

I went to see Gwen Stefani and Black Eyed Peas in concert on Tuesday. It was my first
concert with big name performers (sorry, Nobuo Oematsu, but you don't count). I had a great time, and especially liked how some BEP songs sound with guitars and other rock-music sounds. It was also teeny-bopper romper room, with a little dance area called Club Harajuku" near the arena entrance.

Oh - how I miss the freewheeling days of summer. Work is getting BUSY BUSY BUSY!

I just had to share this article - Vietnam nabbed 4 gold medals in the international Tae Kwon Do tournament! I'm not a TKD expert by any means, but maybe there's something about the sport in my blood - LOL .  

http://english.people.com.cn/200510/08/eng20051008_213185.html

What else is new? Finished a few small art projects, but have several more to go. My youngest brother is now in college so now I'm using as a drawing/ painting workspace what used to be his poker table .

And I'm going to HK and Tokyo this Xmas!