exhausted

i’m sitting in Denver Airport killing time waiting for my flight home. i decided to park myself at the gate for NYC in some kind of wishful hope that they’ll take me there instead.

the past week has been exhausting. thin air combined with constant alcohol and snowboarding takes its toll on you. i can’t wait to get home. i don’t think i got a decent night’s sleep the whole trip. oeuf.

so what happened while i was away?

started off at the hotel bar in Denver. it was good to see all the peeps again as well as meet some of the new crew. but the chaos started right away. we were originally going to be doing SG meetings in Denver for the day but it had just snowed in Vail so the meeting was postponed and we had to get up at 6AM to transfer to Vail for a ride day. i don’t envy Jody (our event planner).

so early morning out to Vail and the hotels weren’t ready so everybody had to drop off their luggage and get changed in the big ballroom of the hotel. that was funny. imagine 100ish snowboard reps with all their luggage and gear getting ready to go riding in a hotel ballrom. haha.

jumped on the gondola and off we went to ride. tried out a bunch of the 08 shit and there’s some dope ass gear for next year. some crazy new tech that i’ve already appropriated for this season.

after riding, they through the big opening tech launch party which was crazy. they had this concept car we worked on with Volvo there. Liam designed the interior and it was pretty cool. holders for you ipod and blackberry. heated boot storage cabinets in the trunk. dope.

the next morning was our official ride day so we broke up into groups to try out new tech with the product managers. i got to ride with most of the girls team (Kelly, Hannah, Elena, Amanda, Spencer) which was super fun. Got in a hot lap with Jake too. That only took five years to get in a run with Jake.

that night, marketing got up and did their thing. Volvo did a little presentation for us and then we got to see all the new footage from this past summer.

the next day was so tiring. late night at the hotel bar, followed by 14! hours of meetings. i don’t know how much i actually remember. but the last meeting of the day was super fun. it was the coalition introduction and the uninc team was there to introduce their gear in fine, funny, drunken style. that was the tipping point for absolute chaos at the hotel bar afterwards with much destruction and disapproving glares from the hotel staff.

on wednesday, we powered through some more meetings and then met our dealers as they arrived. big dinner and presentations and open house for them. blotto and curtes had setup a big photo wall and that was super fun. by the time i called it quites, mason had puked outside in the hallway, the mannequins were all in sex positions and finger food had managed to find its way onto the ceiling. not an easy task given the 20+foot high ceilings in the ballroom.

the next day saw a first tracks breakfast at the top of vail with some of the tastiest sausage i’ve had in a while followed by speed runs on fresh corduroy in a monster posse. it was a little crazy. imagine 30 or so decent riders at top speed on groomers all weaving in and out, popping off every little roller and hip and i’m surprised there wasn’t a collision.

that evening we had a big dinner at a local brewpub and it was super fun until this lame ass rock band came on. you know the typical resort ski bum band with 50 year old rockers who’ve never left the resort and think they’re the shit because they play in a band. try untucking your shirt next time buddy.

somehow we managed to get the hotel bar shut down within 20 minutes of arriving thanks to our canadian sales manager who i’ve now nicknamed “stampy”

friday saw us motivated to ride but lacking the coordination and energy to actually stay upright on our boards. we gave up after about 2 hours. we had to go to denver anyways where i caught my first and probably last NBA game. we did get some pretty dope seats though. 18 rows behind the net.

now i’m on my way home on a bit of a milkrun. bah!

Published on December 9, 2006 11:04 am.
Filed under: snow, travel

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walking

walking to work has its benefits; like being able to let your mind wander rather than expending energy thinking about traffic. speaking of energy, somehow i got on the random topic of energy usage while walking. so here’s my random scientific question of the day.

to maintain a set walking speed of say 3km/h:
does the momentum generated by swinging your arms while you walk reduce the energy expenditure of the legs enough such that your total energy expended is less than if your hands were in your pockets and your legs had to make up for the lack of forward momentum generated by swinging arms.

something to ponder. if you actually know the answer please hit me up on twitter and tell me.

Published on April 28, 2010 1:32 pm.
Filed under: babble

travel bug

i’ve been feeling the need to get out of here again. despite having just returned from abroad three months ago. vancouver just always feels like a backwater hovel to me these days. been repeatedly hammering various airfare deal sites/forums and getting obsessed with CPMs, fare classes, etc, etc. two destinations repeatedly make their way into my searches: NRT, CDG but can’t decide which one to go back to. its a touch choice. gyoza vs croissants, viridi-anne vs margiela, hare vs kooples, takashimaya vs printemps, tokyu hands vs e.dehellerin, suica vs… the french need more mascots.

Published on April 14, 2010 10:41 pm.
Filed under: travel

paris

third time’s a charm? its been almost two and a half months since we got back from paris and we’re already starting to look at heading back again. kinda just waiting for some airline seat sales.

this time around we timed it in order to be in town for the start of ’soldes’. great sales but not as successful for me as i hoped. still backing the japanese brands and fit. mildly impressed with Kooples though. kind of a stylier version of club monaco. lots of locations around paris. l’eclairieur has some great retail spaces, their new store in the Marais is pretty amazing with a gajillion (yes that’s a real number) of embedded video screen everywhere in the store. the new Uniqlo near Printemps is pretty big. way better than their la defense location. bummed that i missed the launch of the J+ spring collection by a few days. but for some odd reason, one of my favourite stores which i luckily remembered on the last day was e.dehellerin, a 100+ year old cookware store where the local chefs shop. its a goldmine and got some mauviel saucepans for dirt cheap. of course the gorillas known as baggage handlers at KLM managed to dent one of them inside my luggage.

expanded our culinary adventures this time around. the highlights being lunch at Nomiya, the temporary restaurant on the roof of palais de tokyo and dinner at la regalade in the 14th. deliciousness in every way where i became addicted to rillette du porc, which i have since learned how to make.

managed to get last minute tickets to see werther at opera garnier. pretty cool experience. finally got around to going inside the pompidou centre and ended up going back to versailles since steph hadn’t been there before.

i’m sure there’s more but i can’t remember anymore.

Published on March 27, 2010 5:30 pm.
Filed under: travel

camera gear is evil

seriously. it is. nothing’s ever good enough and there’s always something bigger, better, faster to fuel your gadget lust. as you may have read earlier, i picked up a Sigma 18-55mm f2.8 lens, which came highly recommended by the salesperson.

it was the same all around focal length that i wanted but with a super fast aperture. sounds good on paper and the price couldn’t be beat. well after two weeks with it i’ve exchanged it. my biggest gripe? it continually hunted for focus 1/3 of the time and spent another 1/3 of the time focusing just plain wrong. not exactly what i was hoping for that price. of course, the only other option with a similar spec was the canon 17-55mm f2.8 but at more than double the price. that’s what credit cards are for right?

well so far i like it. the AF motor is super fast and super quiet and seems to achieve focus much more easily than the Sigma. haven’t really had a chance to do much shooting with it yet but hopefully it works out. i already have an eye on what my next lens will be. except this time i think i’ll rent first. maybe a 400mm f2.8 to bring to the montreal grand prix?

Published on March 15, 2010 10:37 pm.
Filed under: gadgets, shopping

dorked out

yes i really did build a custom wordpress install for my pupster. http://santoslhalper.com

i’m chalking it up to self-learning, after all i did learn how to use jquery and hack together a second Loop in wordpress. still some things i want to do though. version 2.0 coming shortly.

Published on March 8, 2010 11:02 pm.
Filed under: geek

lighter wallet

gadget lust got the better of me again. i am now much lighter in the wallet thanks to a Canon T2i with a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens. still getting the hang of it and can’t figure out if the crappy focus is user error or faulty lens. probably user error but i better figure it out before the exchange period is up…

Published on March 5, 2010 9:57 pm.
Filed under: gadgets, shopping

Brussels & Antwerp

I had such high hopes for Belgium. I guess I still did mostly enjoy myself but my girlfriend got pickpocketed in Brussels within 3 hours of arriving so that tends to make a bad first impression. The hotel sucked too which didn’t help. Oh and its the only city i’ve ever experienced a sheisty taxi driver. Most expensive mediocre breakfast I’ve ever had. And world’s most useless metro ticket machines. The main old square in Brussels is super rad, love the architecture but I don’t have much else positive to say about Brussels. Well OK two things. The store Stijl is amazing and we had breakfast in a little ma & pa deli/cafe with a friendly dog who liked to beg for table scraps from the customers.

Antwerp was funner. More to see/do. Our hotel was f’n amazing. If you get a chance go to m0851 guesthouse. delicious waffles from random street vendors. I didn’t get a chance to sample too many belgian brews but Stella’s here in Vancouver’s got me covered on that front. belgian fries aren’t as good as I remember. i guess i’m used to the thinner double fried stuff we get here now. and i love their sparkling water. can’t remember the brand but its soo fizzy pellegrino is flat by comparison. mmm… bubbles…

Published on February 24, 2010 3:48 pm.
Filed under: travel

berlin

well so much for german efficiency. the curse of our time spent in berlin was the breakdown of the u-bahn and s-bahn. not a day went by without us getting screwed on the rail system due to some sort of construction or other problem.

most likely it was the arctic weather, but berlin did not make a good impression. if it wasn’t for our friends showing us around i probably would have left after a day. however, with the local knowledge i did have a good time.

on the culinary front i had some great schnitzel from markthalle, discovered the highly addictive soda named bluna, developed a taste for kasespatzel and i’m still upset that i wasn’t allowed to try the half-meter bratwurst.

damn knut was sleeping when we went to the zoo but we got to see giraffes. i love giraffes. campbell, owner of darklands, and his lovely girlfriend estefania led an expedition to one of their haunts, the wonderfully enigmatic clarchens ballhaus for a chamber music recital. i also experienced THE nuttiest new year’s eve ever. let’s just leave it at russian dance party and enough fireworks to simulate the invasion of baghdad.

Published on February 23, 2010 9:40 pm.
Filed under: travel

dona cata

heard rumblings about this mexican restaurant over the past year and had the opportunity to try it out the other day.

simple room on victoria st in the killarney area. relatively authentic mexican, no los margaritas abominations here.

tacos are $2 (.50 more for cheese). 2 small tortillas, meat, onions and cilantro. nice and simple. a variety of fillings are available:
* AL PASTOR: marinated pork loin, slow-roasted with spices, chiles and pineapple
* BISTECK: Chopped Steak
* LONGANIZA: cured pork ground sausage with chili and spices
* CARNE ENCHILADA: shredded pork loin bathed in a chile sauce
* CARNITAS: succulent pieces of slow roasted pulled pork and herbs
* POLLO: chicken poached with Mexican herbs & shredded
* BARBACOA DE BORREGO: slow-braised lamb loin in a secret house blend of chiles and spices

i was excited to try the lamb, not a standard filling but it was a bit of a letdown. a little tougher than i expected and not as seasoned as i would’ve liked. in general the meats were a lot less marinated/seasoned than i like. i’ll have to go with don guacamole for the win here.

i do like their salsa bar though. 10 different homemade varieties organized from mild to hot. all very tasty.

dona cata, 5076 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC

Published on February 19, 2010 11:33 pm.
Filed under: food

out of touch

poor Kazu, such great style on snow, however its his off snow style that’s got him in trouble with his native japan. i don’t get it though. haven’t any of these people criticizing him at home walked through shinjuku station or harajuku even? sheesh.
cnn article

Published on February 18, 2010 9:08 pm.
Filed under: fashion, snow