The Black Pearl

I heard a hot tip that they were filming some of the third Pirates of the Carribean in Redondo Beach. Rumor had it that the Black Pearl was there. So I went to go check it out. The rumors were true...

Gaze upon its pearly blackness! (I wish the sails were out.)



It was also a good chance to test my camera's ability to take night shots. Here it is at the original lighting.



Behold!



BEHOLD!!!



Yeah, I know that last one isn't that great, but I wanted to see how bright I could get it. The first pic is probably the best for keeping the mystery alive except for that big open door on the side. The brighter pics show more detail but then it definitely looks like a prop. I'll stick by my original claim that the best part about the movie making process is watching them.

Update on the Apartment Hunting

Ok, this is long overdue because we found one like a day or two after the last post. It's definitely one of the better ones we saw. We get our two parking spaces and alot more space than I ever expected. J loves it and that's all that matters to me. You're probably wondering if it's luxurious and my answer to that is of course it is!

Other Stuff

We went to like our 6th wedding for 2006 to see my friends from Lighthouse, Stevanus and Shinyi, tie the knot. We have 3 more weddings to go to (that I know of for sure) before J and I tie the knot. I think we're the final cap-off for 2006. Since we got engaged, we know 4 couples that got engaged after us and will be married before us. I think the 8 month engagement was a pretty good pace for us. The planning hasn't been that stressful at all (not counting the first couple weeks).

Anyways, back to the wedding...here are some pics we took while at the reception in downtown L.A.

This pic is me and my buddy, Brian. There are two things you may find unusual about this picture: 1) I am the short one in this picture and 2) the other guy is Asian. For those of you reading who don't know how tall I am and may need a frame of reference, I am 6'2" (but the shoes I wore that day make me 6'3"). Brian is 6'11". Now I know how all those people in college felt who told me their neck gets sore when they talk to me for too long. Brian is easily the only guy I look up to at Lighthouse, haha. Thanks for indulging me for this picture, Brian.




















We saw this walking around the block near the reception. It just begged for a photo op. Chinatownland??? It's a good thing that sign was protected by a fence. Otherwise, someone could steal such a valuable piece of Chinatown tourism.















This was after we came back from the gas station for a quick snack in their convenience store. The cashier called out my tie and gave me props. That was a surreal moment. I don't think I ever got a compliment from a gas station attendant especially on how I was dressed. I said thanks, but I really must give all the credit to J, my fashion consultant. Pretty much every time I look good is due to J and every time I look bad is cuz of me. ;p Well, except for that one time J gave me that haircut, haha. Sorry J.



Of course I'd still let her try again.

Apartment Hunting

So once again I'm looking for an apartment or I should really say, my fiancee and I are looking for an apartment for when we are married. Due to the fact that our jobs reside on opposite ends of this massive city, we're forced to look somewhere in between, which is about the Culver City/Palms area. I've noticed a few things after our tiring search through this area this weekend.

1. The term "luxurious" is very broad. What defines luxury anyway?
a. You could park your car on the street OR you can have a luxurious parking spot (sometimes with a gate!)
b. You could have a building surrounded by concrete OR you can have a luxurious dead tree in your front yard!
c. You could have an apartment with dirty carpet OR you can have a luxurious one with steam cleaned (yet still looks dirty) carpet.

2. There must be a law in Palms that says you must have a fat man with no shirt hosing off his sidewalk on every block.

One of these "gentleman" had a conversation with us:
Shirtless Guy: Hey, you looking for an apartment?
Me: Yes.
SG: For like a million dollars, right?
Me: Yeah, something like that.
SG: Welcome to California! (laughs all sinister)
Me: Thanks.

Haha, so weird.

3. There are pretty much 3 categories for apartments in Palms: Crappy, not as crappy as the crappy, and ridiculously expensive. All 3 categories use the word "luxurious".

4. I wonder which word the truly luxurious apartments use? I think if I owned one I'd use the word "radical".

5. The inventor of the carport is probably a jillionaire.

For the most part, the people we encountered were friendly. This one lady saw that we wanted to get into a building to look at a place but we couldn't get in. This lady saw that we were trying to get in and told us the code and let us in and showed us around. Turned out she wasn't the manager, but she just lived there and wanted a good neighbor, haha. The manager still hasn't called us back.

At this other place, there was an open house to see the apartment. When we got there at the appointed time, there were about 5 other people waiting to look at the place. I was thinking "great, competition". Then the owner shows up and it's this little Chinese man. He takes one look at J and says "Are you Chinese?"
J: Yes.
Owner guy: Where are you from?
J: Well, I'm from here, my parents are from China?
Owner guy: What part?
J: Canton
Owner guy: Ah, I'm from Taiwan.

I thought we were a shoe-in for that place since no one else there was Chinese, but J was skeptical because he was from Taiwan, haha. But then when he found out we were both professionals, he ignored everyone else in the room, haha. It fell through though cuz we needed two parking spaces. He only had one available, but he was willing to let me park on the grass, haha! I declined. I guess he hasn't had many professionals for tenants.

Well, after a long weekend of searching, we have high hopes for an apartment we haven't even seen. Sure we could afford a much better area and a much nicer apartment, but we're trying to save for a home of our own. How much longer can I put up with this real estate joke called California? This is truly the area of my life where God is testing me. Pray for us.