<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" href="/css/rss.css" ?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"
         xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
         xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss"><docs>This is a RSS file. Copy the URL into your aggregator of choice. If you don't know what this means and want to learn more, please see: <span>http://platial.typepad.com/news/2006/04/really_simple_t.html</span> for more info.</docs>
<channel rdf:about="http://www.platial.com">
<link>http://www.platial.com</link>
<title>
        <![CDATA[
        Places &amp; Faces On Platial.com
        ]]>
        </title>
<description>Places and faces I have met throughout the years. This is the place I chronicle all my memories of them all.</description>
<items>
<rdf:Seq>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206539"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206556"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206602"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206606"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206625"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206559"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206603"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206635"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/1641442"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206645"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/1641378"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/1641566"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/1641769"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206553"/>
<rdf:li resource="http://www.platial.com/post/2206660"/>
</rdf:Seq>
</items>
</channel>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206539">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206539</link>
<title>Quebec, Canada</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I went on a Canadia trip in Summer of 2007. The trip was on the verge of being horrible, what with tight schedules and long road trips. But Olde Town Quebec saved it for me. I spent three hours walking around. And was even able to speak to the locals in my broken French.<br/>Tags: vacation, Quebec, Canada<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206539">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>46.81275 -71.21935</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:43:36.624406+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206556">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206556</link>
<title>Bangkok</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        The city in which I was born. I lived there for 11 years before I migrated to the United States. Maybe this the reason why I love the big city. It was the only place I knew as a child. The traffic congestions are horribly, but the city has so many sections to them, that exploring the city alone would take you a week or so.<br/>Tags: city, Bangkok, capital, birth<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206556">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>13.729999 100.5</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:50:31.382125+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206602">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206602</link>
<title>Montreal</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I missed this city all together. I met a young lady who has now become my friend on the trip. Her mother, my mother, her, and I had Korean food together in Chinatown. Afterwards we decided to go for a walk around the city, trying to find the Notre Dame. But we only had twenty minutes, so we could really find it since it was several blocks down in Olde City. But it was a nice chance to get to know Emily, since we were talking the entire time.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206602">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>45.512363 -73.675627</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:56:49.595806+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206606">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206606</link>
<title>Niagara Falls City</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Canadian side of this city looks almost like a fun house. There were tons of stores that were decorated with large neon signs. There is even a ferris wheel in the center of town. It is really both amazing and crazy at the same time.<br/>Tags: ferris wheel, Canada, fun house, Niagara Falls City<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206606">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>43.099507 -79.00842</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 12:02:36.051072+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206625">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206625</link>
<title>Rosalind's Ethiopian Restaurant</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        This is probably the only Ethiopian restaurant I ever frequented. I have gone there for close to 10 years. I first decided to go in there because it was right around the corner from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It has probably the best Ethiopian dishes there. I haven't tried any other restuarants around there, and I don't think I ever will.<br/>Tags: restaurant, Ethiopian<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206625">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>34.057029 -118.364237</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 12:08:07.902979+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206559">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206559</link>
<title>Hong Kong</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I stopped by this port metropolis in 1997 after leaving Bangkok for the United States. My father and I stay for a night and two days. We took the boat ride in the harbor, which is now the new airport.

It was an interesting stay. Partly because it was six months away from the handover back to China. On the news there were debates and discussions about what things will be like after. On the streets, it seemed the Chinese were happy to be reunited with China, while the British population were a bit apprehensive.<br/>Tags: vacation, Hong Kong<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206559">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>22.2833 114.150001</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:52:53.399065+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206603">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206603</link>
<title>Toronto</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I thought of all the places I went in Canada, Toronto was the least interesting city. It was all high rises and office buildings. The architecture wasn't very inspiring. But I know a lot of young Canadians are moving there. Young professionals. And i did get the sense that it's a city where you go to conduct business.<br/>Tags: vacation, Canada, Toronto<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206603">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>43.723057 -79.392486</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:59:43.92252+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206635">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206635</link>
<title>urth cafe</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I was introduced to this place by my friend, the artist Paul Paiement. But we went to the Beverly Hills location. I took my friend Patricia and her boyfriend Matt to this one, and the experience was out of this world. First thing I noticed was how extremely beautiful all the women who frequent there were. Then when we sat down, we were surrounded by Hollywood types. One just came out of a meeting with a producer. Another was reading a script in the corner. Matt thought the experience was surreal. He felt he didn't quite belong.<br/>Tags: cafe, west hollywood<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206635">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>34.086944 -118.369671</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 12:11:16.468926+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/1641442">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/1641442</link>
<title>San Francisco Art Institute</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        How I got accepted into this school I will never know. My artwork were horrible, but I was good at art speak. The recruiter accepted me right on the spot, along with a scholarship. Not much to cover what was then still an astronomical sum, but it did help. Two years at this place was way too short. I couldn't figure out who I was going to be after I get out of the Institution. When Mark Van Proyen, the painter/critic teacher, told me the first painting I did the first semester I was there was the best painting he had seen around there in five years, I was quite dumbfounded. I couldn't replicate that same "success" in subsequent paintings. That's when I decided to quit that medium altogether. I started taking classes in media I was already interested in. Photography was something I was doing concurrently at the previous college, so I continued that. Just before I arrive at SFAI, I had become interested in the Fluxus and sound art, so I took a course in it. It was the best move of my time in school. I met the composer Charles Boone, and he taught me more about art since the 60's than anyone at that Institution. We still stay in contact, and I talk to him whenever I can. But it's usually Christmas and his birthday. Video was a natural extension. But interactive video was something I was dabbling in at the time. I began learning MAX/msp and Pure Data (when the open source project was still literally in its infancy). I haven't done much with electronics since then, but the two teachers there at the time, Elliot Anderson and Laetitia Sonami, was instrumental in getting me to have the hacking/DIY mindset that I have today. Many times I would stay late nights in the labs since they were open 24 hours a day. I would end up sleeping on the bench in the hallway of the film department. I even got to know the night shift guards real well. That's perhaps why they never bother me when I was sleeping on campus. But two years was too short as I said before. Not enough for me to know who I will be as an artist. And the mental illness that struck me merely two months after graduation halted any development in that regard.<br/>Tags: school<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/1641442">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>37.803511 -122.416801</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-06-03 12:10:06.748817+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206645">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206645</link>
<title>C1D Gallery</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I was recently in a group show at this gallery. The title of the show I still cannot remember in its entirety. It was something like Lightmares: the Excerpts from the Oneironaunt's Journal. How they came up with such a title is beyond my comprehension. But it was my first real show in a long time. So I was glad to have been in it. A lot of my crew came by to show the love. And that was really nice.<br/>Tags: group show, , art<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206645">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>33.766944 -118.188333</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 12:15:38.303734+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/1641378">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/1641378</link>
<title>Fort Mason Youth Hostel</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        When I moved up to San Francisco for art school, all I took with me was a small book bag full of clothes. Clothes that I rolled up to maximize the space inside that bag. I hooked up with a fellow SFAI-er through the recruiter. Her and I, along with another Swedish student, were supposed to room together. Once we were in SF, we stayed at this youth hostel for a good month. The girl decided she wanted to strike out on her own. The Swedish guy was back in Sweden and wouldn't be back until the first weeks before school started. 

This place was my home for a month. I still have a special place it my heart for it. For one, I have never done anything so spontaneous in my life before or since. And to not know where you will be once the school year starts was both unnerving and a bit exciting at the same time.

While there I met an art student from the Art Institute of Chicago. He had driven in his clunker car all the way West. We chatted and hung out. One night he decided he wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of taking his car, he wanted to walk. It was a good 5-10 miles walk through the Marina. When we got there, we were forbidden to go on the bridge. Apparently people come to the bridge at night to commit suicide, so they block it off to pedestrians in the night time. The walk back was atrocious. I was sleepy and tired. Another 5 miles back! We returned to Fort Mason past midnight. All I wanted to do was crash. And crash I did.

Soon after, Dad came up and found me a place downtown of Post and Taylor. Another place filled with memories.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/1641378">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>37.807088 -122.42854</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-06-03 11:52:52.212139+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/1641566">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/1641566</link>
<title>Worth Hotel</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        My home away from home. After a month at the Fort Mason Youth Hostel, I ended up here with the help of my dad. The owner was Thai, and most of the tenants were Thai students. The owner hooked me up with TJ, another art student who was going to school in SF. We became friends during our stay at this place. He later moved back to Thailand to pursue a career in animation. I met up with him one time in Thailand, but haven't heard a word from him since. The place was essentially a residential hotel. One room with a bath. I was in the inside rooms for awhile, but those rooms faces each other. There were barely air coming in through the windows. So later when a room opened up, I moved to a room that faces the outside. I almost died in that first room trying to do one of my electronics experiments. Lucky my the breaker shut the electricity off before and electrocution happened. I was all alone at this place, and no one would've known I was injured or dead until the maid come in to clean later in the week. I also had a major anxiety attack here. It was so bad, I went to sleep with a seizure. My dad flew up the next morning to take me home to see a psychiatrist. Then there was the night of the fire. It was around 2AM when the alarm went off. Smokes were everywhere. I had to get out. Apparently a tenant on the second floor fell asleep while smoking, and the cigarette when in between the mattress, causing the fire. Man, what a scare! The hotel wasn't the best place to be. It was small, but I liked the fact that I was living by myself and not with someone else. I had my privacy. Also, the rent was cheap comparing to what was being price during that time in SF--the Dot Com Boom. I had a pretty good deal. But since it was so close to the Tenderloin, it was also sketchy to be around that area. But it was a good, decent place. Something I needed at the time. <br/>Tags: home, residence<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/1641566">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>37.787814 -122.412493</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-06-03 12:23:41.227297+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/1641769">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/1641769</link>
<title>Street Fashions</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        The place is no longer there. Last I was in SF, it was some sort of a high-end luggage store. And the fusion Asian restaurant next door is gone, too. They used to brew their own beer, and like clockwork, the horrendous smell would come into the store at around 3PM. I worked here through out my time in SF. Close to two years. The owner was French  who looked like he came out of an 80's rock band. We saw him from time to time, and he never said a word when he arrives. Just disappears up the elevator to the fourth floor office that we weren't allowed to go up to. This was how I made my rent and food expenses. Paid just a bit over minimum wage plus commissions. We sell Levi's products mostly. And to the tourists that come into town. The Japanese always look for the expensive limited edition Levi's that we don't stock. I used to practice my one semester of French on the francophone's. They were surprised and appreciated it. The one manager I used to really like was in a band. I went to one of their gig, and still have their self-promo EP. I started out working 25 hours a week, but toward the end, I was often clocking in at close to 40 hours. That on top of going to school full time. But I had to do it, otherwise I would end up on the streets of SF. Toward the end, Levi's opened a huge flagship store a block down on Union Square. The sales were never the same. But the fun has to end sometimes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/1641769">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>37.78975 -122.40576</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-06-03 12:56:06.118993+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206553">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206553</link>
<title>Tokyo</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I went on this trip several years back. I think it's been close to 7 or 8 years. But I totally fell in love with the city. Having lived in San Francisco, I would love to live in the big city again if I can. Tokyo seems just like the perfect place. Only if the cost of living there wasn't so high.<br/>Tags: vacation, Tokyo<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206553">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>35.700001 139.766663</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 11:48:33.866224+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/2206660">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/2206660</link>
<title>Kanchanaburi</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        This is my mother's birthplace. It was where my maternal grandparents lived until their deaths in their late 90's. The area they lived in were all farm land. Quite rural. The village is tucked away in one of section of those lands. For the longest time there were any telephones coming in to the village. There was only one phone available at the Buddhist temple in the center of the village. The monks would announce on the loud speaker every time someone called for one of the residents in the village. They all had cell phones way even way before the local government put in a land line.

My mom youngest sister, my aunt, lives in a more developed area of Kanchanaburi. Another older sister raised her family in the center of town. It was here that my mom spent her adolescent years.<br/>Tags: childhood, Thailand, birth place, Kanchanaburi<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/2206660">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>14.02 99.529998</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:astroboy2520</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2007-10-28 12:20:14.746914+00:00</dc:date>
</item>
</rdf:RDF>