Hong profile picture

Hong

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

Born in Korea, raised in America, speak Japanese, dance a Latin American dance. I'm a bit all over the place, but that's what makes me me.By day I work in the software industry as a product manager. By night I teach, social dance and perform salsa dance.

My Interests

salsa dancing, performing, teaching dance, travelling to remote places to salsa dance, karaoke, staying in touch with my Korean roots, exploring Japanese culture, speaking Korean and Japanese, reading non-fiction, thought provoking and often stressful movies, eating the food of the world, exploring wines (malbecs and gewurztraminers are my current passions), gadgets (www.engadget.com), my iPod, cycling, hiking, rock climbing, DJing, turntablism, hip hop music and culture, playing guitar, playing bass, playing drums, playing violin, playing viola, group singing, trivia, philosophy, discussing religion's sociopolitical and economic aspects, ok i'll stop now.

I'd like to meet:

People who like to eat.

Music:

salsa: spanish harlem orchestra, willie rosario, jimmy bosch, jimmy sabater, son boricua, mongo santamaria, cal tjader, eddie palmieri, willie colon, louie ramirez, tito puente, ray barretto, sonora poncena, el gran combo, frankie ruiz, oscar de leon, local bands azabache, mazacote and tito garcia. korean: boa, epik high ft clazziquai, roorah, solid, SG Wannabe, cool. japanese: boa, m-flo (pre-breakup), every little thing, dragon ash, zeebra, cibo matto, mr. children, southern all stars, tamaki kouji, fukuyama masaharu. new wave/80s alternative: the smiths, new order, joy division, depeche mode, the cure, erasure. funk and soul: maceo parker, the jbs, james brown, sly and the family stone, p-funk, parliament, funkadelic, isley brothers, kool and the gang, earth wind and fire, the commodores, rick james (esp. mary jane). acid jazz: jamiroquai, dig, greyboy all stars, brand new heavies, groove collective. jazz: miles davis, john coltrane, horace silver, herbie hancock (and the headhunters), clifford brown, max roach, stan getz. reggae/dancehall: chaka demus, bob marley, shaggy. mainstream hiphop/r&b: 2pac, snoop dogg, nate dogg, kurupt, ludikris, dr. dre, mary j. blige. underground hiphop: dilated peoples, jurassic 5, dj shadow, lyrics born, dj qbert. classical: mahler, stravinsky, schumann, grieg, brahms, tchaikovsky, faure, debussy, ravel.

Movies:

kung fu mahjong, nobody knows (dare mo siranai), crash, a day without a mexican, afterlife, everything about lily chouchou, shaolin soccer, taegukgi, house of flying daggers, crouching tiger hidden dragon, spellbound, super size me, robot stories, office space, star wars, empire strikes back, return of the jedi, cinema paradiso, red rock west, the last seduction, casablanca, fight club, envy, meet the parents, the godfather, apocalypse now, platoon, the vanishing, breaking the waves, the sea within, spiderman, kill bill v.2, my neighbor totoro (tonari no totoro), castle in the clouds (laputa), school of rock, talladega nights

Television:

The Simpsons, the Family Guy. Other than that I hate tv (other than TV theme songs of the 70s and 80s)

Books:

Le Petit Prince, Guns Germs and Steel, Blink, the Tipping Point, Freakanomics, a Guide to Style, the Brick Testament, Get Your War On I and II, Ender's Game, a Reasonable Faith, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Book of Three, the Philosopher's Stone, Memoirs of a Geisha, Fight Club, the Magic City

Heroes:

Ryu Yong Gi

My Blog

I *heart* matcha-licious.

(no it's not an internet dating site)I love Matcha-licious, one of Odwalla's super protein variants. Matcha (..) is traditionally the powdered green tea for Japanese tea ceremony but also the source o...
Posted by Hong on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:32:00 PST

Food!!

I'm going to Vancouver next week -- planning to eat some great Chinese and Japanese food...Opentable.com sent me an email reminding me of all the great restaurants that I've wanted to eat at:Boulevard...
Posted by Hong on Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:17:00 PST

Back to the beginning....

I am a beginner once more.I am taking Jose Francisco Barroso's Afro-Cuban class at ODC on Tuesday nights. This is a beginner class which on a good day has 3 beginners and about 20 advanced dancers. To...
Posted by Hong on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:31:00 PST

inspiration (confirmation/affirmation part 2)

Well, it's been quite a few weeks.After my dance confirmation/affirmation experience a few Mondays ago, I was able to spend almost a whole week dancing with Irene and Luz from Washington DC, both memb...
Posted by Hong on Sun, 02 Jul 2006 02:14:00 PST

Team lunch + dog poop = :(

I don't normally write about what I do for my day job, and I'm not about to start. Well, not really. Basically I am a QA engineer at an internet startup called Plaxo. I'm not going to write what about...
Posted by Hong on Wed, 21 Jun 2006 03:58:00 PST

confirmation/affirmation

Sometimes, in life, you wonder whether you've made the right choice.Tonight at Cocomo, I was about to leave after dancing a few with Masha, when I saw a couple dancing. At first I didn't notice much o...
Posted by Hong on Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:16:00 PST

Auditions for the Latin Symbolics and Symbolic Mambo

The Latin Symbolics Dance Company, under the direction of Ava Apple and Hong Kwon, is holding auditions on Sunday, July 9th.Who we areThe Latin Symbolics Dance Company, under the artistic direction of...
Posted by Hong on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:08:00 PST

LA Travelog - Day 4 and Wrapup

I'm back in SF and it's great to be home! A little on the chilly side, though. Here's a recap from where I left off:Sunday10:30 AM - crawl out of bed, a little exhausted. I decide to get a head start ...
Posted by Hong on Tue, 30 May 2006 01:07:00 PST

LA Travelog - Day 3

Day 3 - AM/PM Chicken Sandwich and Gatorade So, filling in the details on Friday night... Friday Night 11 PM - Eventually make it back to the Congress. Bad luck - the parking lot is completely...
Posted by Hong on Sun, 28 May 2006 04:54:00 PST

LA Travelog - Day 2

Day 2 - Sipping Incredible Hulks It's 9 PM and I'm sipping Incredible Hulks (Remy Martin Hpnotiq)... today's happenings. Friday 9 AM - Raquel sends a text msg "Breakfast down the street at Denny...
Posted by Hong on Sat, 27 May 2006 09:30:00 PST