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Daily—Day1—Hot Italian, Ikea, WD My Passport

[aside]8:36AM[/aside] I hope this marks the first of many daily posts to come. Things have gotten pretty busy on my end lately. At one point, I’ve had more than 8 projects on my plate simultaneously. I love my work and I like the way I

My Designer Wall—$15 Project

Went to my first design conference, HOW, a couple months ago. Not only had I talked to a series of vendors, I’ve also collected quite a few things along the way—from wallets, erasers, to phone cases and stickers. But of all things, my favorite souvenir

Japan Trip—The Best of Japan

Delighted to have spent the last 7 days in Japan with my fam. We’ve shopped, devoured, ridden trains, slept in traditional hostels, dipped in hot springs, and hiked (lots of it). It’s definitely one of the best experiences of my life. And as much as

Japan Trip—Day 7

Day 7, 48 hours left before we wrap up the Japan trip. We’ve had our shares of the view of Japan, and we’ve been spending 15 hours day out there just to grasp it all. Yet, there are still plenty to see, so we kicked

Japan Trip—Day 6

Day 6 of 8. Our first full day in Kyoto. This means no more time wasted on city to city commute, and all time dedicated to getting used to the lifestyle of a Kyoto tourist. Unlike Tokyo, the subway system isn’t as wide reached or

Japan Trip—Day 5

Breakfast. It finally became what should be the biggest meal of the day: We stayed here for one night and the hotel came with dinner and breakfast. Frankly, having so many assortments of dishes and knowing little about their culinary culture, we guessed when and how

Japan Trip—Day 4

Pardon the delay, we’ve migrated to Kyoto the past couple of days and we’re in the process of adjusting to the new pace and environment. Kyoto’s drastically different from the city scape of Tokyo, but I’ll get more into that in the next couple of

Japan Trip—Day 3

Skipped breakfast and slept in (spent too much time blogging last night). There’s a long day ahead of us—For day 3, we decided to visit some of the most iconic landmarks of Tokyo, Japan. Our hotel located in the heart of Shinjuku, right by the

Japan Trip—Day 2

Day number two. We’ve begun to stay out later, sleep fewer hours, and have less time in the morning to prep (or write blogs) as we’re cramping more events into our schedules. So, I afraid I may not have time to update these trip recaps

Japan Trip—Day 1

Mom’s been wanting to visit Japan for awhile, and so we made it happen. (Thanks to Bae and Margaret’s financial and intellectual support.)  Here’s day 1 of the 10 trip to Japan. The crew consisted of:  Day 0—The departure. We took the Asiana Airline (yes,

How to Cut a Bottle

It started with the following:Look how beautiful the results are. The process seem fairly easy. Wow, what a wonderful afternoon project. SIKE!! I wouldn’t be so optimistic. It took me more than a dozen tries before I get something just semi close to what appears

A Trip to Waterworld

Daniel is Michelle’s younger brother, and he just moved to the States to complete his high school career. Summer heat scorching and vacation ending (for Daniel), so we decided to take a trip up to Concord for his last break before school starts. (Plus, Costco

Starbucks’ DIY Cup

Michelle and I have lots of contrary interests. No, wait, we have lots of similar interests—stay home, watch movies, eat junk food, and be fat. And of the many interests that we share, one of which that we’re most proud of is this—an interest in

Glimpses Into My Notebook (Book #3)

8/9/2013 marked the end of my 4th 3rd notebook (made a false announcement online, sorry). Thought this came by sooner than I expected, but after taking a look back at my last notebook glimpses post, which happened almost 2 years ago, I realize that time

HOW Design Live Conference—The Exhibition Hall

HOW Design Live is a web & design based conference that’s currently taking place (June 22nd-26th) in San Francisco. Although, I’m big on design and have been revolving my career around it, I’m quite disconnected with the field in terms of professional gatherings and events

Daft Punk—The Hanger Project

A fairly quick and inexpensive project. It started with these two hangers: Never have I paid any attention to hangers. But last weekend, as I was walking the dogs in the backyard, I stumbled across these hangers that were accidentally left on the floor from hang drying (yes,

Paperman Inspired Munny Project

Couple years ago, a friend handed me a blank Munny, a DIY figurine from Kidrobot, and asked me to do whatever I’d like to it. With little time and idea, I’ve been guiltily putting this project on hold… (Better late than never, right, Johnson?) It

Happy Mother’s Day

This is my mom. This is my mom’s mom and my mom’s sister. She’s also a mom. They are my sisters. They’re both moms. I don’t know how it’s like to be a mom, but just seeing how much my mom had to endure to

Back home—Taiwan

I’ve spent almost just as much time in the States as I have in Taiwan over my lifetime. I’ve earned my education, met some of my best friends, and even started my career in the States, but Taiwan is still where I call home. (It’s

Margaret + Lu’s Wedding Celebration

Last Sunday’s a big day for the Qi and Chou family. Especially for me, really. Not only did I gain a new brother, I had the honor of documenting the wedding. Being my first wedding shoot, I had to put all my theoretical knowledge to

The Not-So-Classic Switcheroo

Switcheroo is a personal project by Hana Pesut. I stumbled across it a few days a ago and was fascinated by idea and how men and women are willing to pull down their face for a picture like these.Michelle and I decided to give it

Tying the Knot—Margaret and Lu

This past Wednesday, not only did I have the honor of witnessing the registration process (which doesn’t sound as glamorous as it appears), I was also given the opportunity to document the event. This process is fairly simple compare to the flamboyant wedding ceremonies what

CES 2013—Day2 of 2

The last release of the 49ers inspired items have kept me busy. Here I’ve finally found the time to finish up part 2 of 2 of the CES trip. This time I went to LVCC to check out all the big players. However, although they

CES 2013—Day1 of 2

Ah, the actual show. This is part 1 of 2 of this ENORMOUS trade show, where they had exhibits in Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and the Venetian ballrooms. All the big players were at LVCC, leaving some of the most innovative startups in Venetian.

CES 2013—Arrival

I was there 2 years ago and had a blast. Although, Cody and I were bombarded with tablets and 3D monitors, we still had our fair share of innovative exposure on various media. Tech advancement accelerates like no other, so to keep up (for no

Happy Holidays—a photoshoot

Merry Christmas, fellow zeebs! Doggies are cute, but they’re even cuter with an outfit. I’ve had encounters with many dogs in the past, yet none as close or as intimate with these two—Shining and Mini. So, for the holiday season, I grabbed a few outfits

Weekend at Lake Tahoe

Took a short trip this past weekend to Tahoe—a much needed vacation. It’s been quite some time since I last skied or have quality family time. Plus, Michelle’s never seen snowfall (though, she’s seen snow), I was especially excited when I heard about the major

FAME 2012—Event Recap

F.A.M.E. stands for Fashion, Art, Music, and Exhibition. It’s a bi-annual event typically hosted in San Jose that gathers some of the best locally grown street wear brands and artists alike for a night of loud music, glamorous fashion show, and mad shopping spree. I’ve

Surviving Tough Mudder Diablo Grande 2012

“Probably the toughest event on the planet.” It’s a 10-12 miles obstacle course with 23-25 challenges along the way dedicated to tear the participants apart. Lured by the tagline, I invited 11 of my closest comrades to partake this hell of an event for self-recognition and

The SFMoMA

An unexpected trip to MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art.) A friend once told me the difference between art and design, where design focuses on problem solving (solution) and art revolves around expressing ideas (abstraction.) For most of the stuff I do, there’s always a reason for

Running the SF Half Marathon

Running a marathon has never been a goal of mine (too far fetched.) I must’ve been thinking with me knee when I signed up for Tough Mudder, a 12 miles obstacle course designed by British special force (badass,) that’s happening in Sept. In the downtime, Michelle

Vending at Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco

Two years ago in December, I had my first Renegade experience. It was my first encounter with the event of its kind – an enormous gathering of hand-made, crafty artists showcasing their phenomenal and creative products. The very event not only inspired me to create

Unique SF is a must go

..if you’re into free things, DIY crafts, and putting a face to a name you see on etsy.I’ve heard of Renegade, Bazaar Bizarre, Maker Faire, but this was my first encounter with Unique SF.Word on the street is that due to the high popularity of

Free $2 bills (stickers)

The same title attracted me, too. To your dismay, I’m not giving out these stickers, Casey Neistat (nice-tat) is. He’s a film maker (vlogs with characters and distinctive organic style), traveler, New Yorker, and DIYer whose got a show on HBO(Neistat brothers) with his brother. And this is

The Napa Trip – Peju, Artesa, Domaine Carneros

If you’re here to seek reviews of the wineries, you’re at the wrong place.I’ve tried a handful of wines in my lifetime, some extraordinarily expensive and others cheaper than common soft drinks, but most of the time I couldn’t tell the difference. I do, however,