Danny ChaiI had a really really good trip to L.A. this weekend. Partly because I spent the entire time with Jieun.
Henry, after he got engaged put up an entry about how he knew Lorraine was the one. I’ll probably do something like that sometime, but it won’t be as eloquent or as comprehensive as Henry’s. I don’t know, part of it is my struggle with language. Just, so much of it is encapsulated in feelings and thoughts which are perfectly clear, sensical and compelling to me, but something I can’t accurately translate into words.
But to explain a part of it, no matter how much time I spend with Jieun, it’s not enough. I don’t get bored or tired of being with her, and I always want to be with her more. There are very few people about whom I can say that. In fact, exactly one.
Anyway, it wasn’t a particularly thought provoking trip or anything like that, but it was a lot of fun and some random things caught my interest. So, this entry will be pretty boring, just random things about the weekend.
First of all, I visited an arcade while I was there that had Drummania. I don’t know, Dave, me and Jieun really liked it. It was pretty fun – I’d play it a lot if it was up here. Anyway, this is also the first time I saw the linked music games – they had Drummania and Guitar Freaks linked so the drummer and the two guitarists could play to the same song. I don’t particularly like Guitar Freaks but this feature is pretty cool and made everything seem more fun.
On Saturday, I went to a Dodgers game with Jieun and her dad to watch Chan Ho Park pitch.
SN. I still hate L.A. If only for superficial reasons. Like the smog. It is way too smoggy there. It’s pretty smoggy in the Bay Area also, but it doesn’t compare to L.A. There was a monster.com blimp over Dodger Stadium and the smog made it look fuzzy. It’s terrible.
Also the traffic. I’m sorry, but it’s absurd. I ran into some traffic on Sunday night. That’s ridiculous. But anyway.
The Dodgers game was absolutely fascinating. First of all, all the Koreans in the area came out in droves. It was amazing. I had never seen so many Koreans at a baseball game before Another interesting thing was, they played Korean music there. I have no idea who it was or what song, but it had the line, “One for the money, two for the show.”
Another interesting thing: 1230 AM in L.A. broadcasts Dodgers games in Korean. I couldn’t understand a lot of it but I did notice that they reverse the counts in Korean. So a full count is 2-3. And instead of saying “one and oh” for a 1-0 count, they’ll say “one nothing”. Random.
I once went to a baseball game in Korea and it was a great experience. Totally different from the U.S. First of all, the parks were small (to my eyes) and there were no power hitters at all. Also the fields were not in good condition. And they had cheerleaders. I liked that, actually. Anyway, if I recall correctly I watched the LG Lions play the OB Bears. And ate squid.
Another interesting thing was, the ballpark announcer was pretty good about saying the player’s names correctly. So he didn’t say Chan Ho like Jackie Chan, but more accurately, and he was pretty good with the Hispanic players’ names also, rolling the rs and everything.
The organist was pretty good also, playing songs like “On My Own” and the theme song to Greatest American Hero, ballpark-style. I appreciated it.
Oh yeah. They have Gordon Biersch garlic fries at Dodger stadium also. But there wasn’t a big line for them as there tends to be up here. I think it’s because they’re not as good. In my opinion, the garlic fries at the Colisseum are far and away the best. Just, there they put way more garlic, big chunks throughout. The ones at Pac Bell Park are next best, but a distant second to Oakland. The ones at Dodger Stadium were terrible. In case anyone cares.
And in case anyone cares, I’d rate the ballparks I’ve been to, from best to worst: Pac Bell Park, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium, Network Associates Colisseum, Candlestick Park, and the Astrodome. I hated the Astrodome. It’s indoor; doesn’t feel like a ballpark at all.
Anyway, near K-Town I saw the name of a shop that I found ridiculous: Boba Loca. I guess it reflects the area, but I thought it was absurd.
Saturday night we watched Planet of the Apes. It was bizarre though. We watched at this theater, dunno what it’s called but it’s near the intersection of La Palma and Imperial Highway. The thing is, it was opening weekend but the theater was empty. It was huge, seating hundreds of people, but there were about 20 in the theater. I don’t know how it makes money. But the picture and sound were fine. I’d go there regularly if I lived down South. No crowds – good deal.
Anyway, I liked PotA. Reviews have been mixed. And I’ve read the tepid reviews. And I agree with what they say. And I still liked it. I dunno, it was entertaining, and not completely superficial. But yeah, I’m glad I saw it. Much better than Pearl Harbor, that’s for sure.
Sunday we ate at Corner Place in Cerritos. Of course, we got the dongchimi noodles. Uh, dunno if that’s how you pronounce it since I’m a honky. Anyway, everyone, their mom and their emu raves about these noodles. I don’t understand the hype. It’s good. But I like my mom’s naeng myun better. But whatever.
In the afternoon we went to Downtown Disney. Which was OK, nothing special. Although I thought ESPNZone was pretty cool. What I liked is that they have TV’s in the bathroom stalls. Even above the urinals, small black and white monitors.
I don’t know if I ever talked about how I feel about Disneyland. When I was a kid, I loved Disneyland, and it was magical to me. Just, there was this special feeling associated with Disneyland.
When I got older, though, it lost the magic. In junior high I went on a trip there with friends and I didn’t like it. It just wasn’t magic anymore. Same thing happened spring break frosh year. It was still a good time. But just that – a good time, not a special time, and it became just an amusement park, not “Disneyland”, if that makes any sense.
I don’t like that. I like the magic. So since that last time I promised to myself I’m not going to Disneyland again until I have kids. Because with them, it will be magical again, if that makes any sense. I dunno why that special feeling is so important to me, but it is.