First Snowboarding Weekend of 2006

So it's not a secret... I love snowboarding! From flying down the mountain to launching off jumps to hanging out with friends afterwards, I just can't seem to get enough it. This past weekend I went with some friends to Heavenly (my favorite resort along with Northstar) for the first time this season. The snow and weather were wonderful! I took a terrain park lesson the second day which totally helped to improve my jumping. The instructor gave me pointers on how to better take off and land. After some practice I was able to lose my fear and get much more air off the jump by maintaining a faster speed at takeoff.

Here are the basic steps for snowboarding off a jump:

1. While approaching the jump, don't make any speed adjustments within the last 15-20 feet. Make sure you're sliding straight-on towards the jump.
2. Bend your knees slightly and keep your eyes on the jump.
3. Line up one shoulder directly behind the other. Otherwise you could become off-balance after taking off.
4. When going off the lip of the jump there's no need to push off in order to get more air. The jumps are shaped to give you air by just going off them at a good speed.
5. After takeoff, pull the board up slightly towards your body. In order to practice this my instructor had me grab the board with my lead hand, which is called an indy grab in snowboarding & skateboarding terms.
6. While in the air, tilt your head down in the direction you're going to land. This will cause your body and board to rotate down to match the angle of backside of the jump.
7. Extend your legs right before landing.
8. When landing, bend your legs to absorb the shock.
9. A proper jump with enough speed will clear the table on the jump and land you on the backside of the jump. A good landing will be smooth and fun!

I can't wait to go back. I have another weekend trip planned in a couple of weeks with my good friends Adam & Laura and others.

Sushi & Clubbing

Last weekend I had a great time making sushi with Wei, Sarah, and Yiyu. We hunted for the ingredients at a local market in Japantown and then made a ton of it.. yummy! Afterwards we went to Ruby Skye to help celebrate my roomate's boyfriend's birthday. We all got in free to this nice club which usually has a high cover charge, and had a great time dancing and enjoying the DJs, live band, and other on-stage performers.

Happy Holidays 2005

This year I had a really mellow Christmas and New Year's, which was nice since I had quite an active 2005! I had a fun time in San Diego hanging out with my family and friends. The weather was beautiful and I spent a couple of days at the beach. Then I returned to San Francisco to party here New Year's Eve. I did some fun things earlier in December and I put up a few photos here of my activities during the month. I've decided to use JAlbum to create my online photo albums instead of continuing to write my own software. This album is a preview of what I plan to change everything over to. The photos in the album above show me:

1. At a Paddle Party put on by LovePlay SF
2. At a holiday party at Kat & Annie's place
   
3. Go-karting with co-workers at the LeMans Karting Center
4. Cooking a hot pot dinner with Wei at her fancy new apartment
5. Playing with my nephew Mikey in Irvine
6. At the NYE party for Urban Diversion, a social club that my roommate Kumi runs
7. At Ruby Skye with Wei after midnight on New Year's

Gift List

So I really like to get random, interesting gifts for my birthday, Christmas, etc. But some folks want to know what I actually want. So, by popular demand I've put up a gift list here. Some of the things only a sugar mama (currently accepting applications) could afford, but there are plenty of reasonable items as well.