A pick me up

As I was coming home from a late night out in the city, I noticed the gentleman sitting across from me on the metro. He was well dressed and his facial expressions made it seem as if he had gone through a rough day. At some point, he unzipped his bag and pulled out a piece of paper. I could see through it and noticed a colorful drawing that was most likely done from a child. His sleepy eyes opened up and a big hearty smile emerged from him. That smile lasted the remainder of my time on the train. It made me smile just witnessing that. Thanks to whoever made that drawing for him. Not only did it bring a smile to his face and uplift his spirit, it did the same to me. #itsthelittlethingsthatcount

Back to DC via NYC

Impromptu Ninja

Colton & Adrienne from Thomas Nguyen on Vimeo.

An impromptu dinner led to an impromptu mission to film a proposal for a new friend.

It was a Friday night, and I really had no plans before my trip to Vegas on Sunday.  My coworker, Jonathan, invited me to eat with him and his friends, whom I've met only one of them once before.  His name is Colton, and he is a pretty funny guy.  It turned out, the plans for that night was to eat dinner and to help Colton scope out a place to propose to his girlfriend, Adrienne.  Adrienne, lives in California and was flying into town the next day.

As we were talking about potential locations, somehow the conversation led to the talks of somehow being able to secretly record the whole thing.  DING!  That's when a light bulb magically turned on.  I had access to the gear to make it all happen! DSLR's, different lenses, a wireless mic, Glidetrack!  I knew right there that we definitely had to make it happen.  I teamed up with one of the other fellow bro's, David Beh and we planned it all out.  

All of the us guys went around DC to help Colton scope out a place that would be special for him.  We went to the National Tree, the ice rink at the Sculpture Garden, and eventually we decided that the FDR Memorial was the spot.  The waterfalls were a great setting (but also posed some annoying traits as you will read later)

We headed back to my office and got a wireless mic that we usually use for interviews.  I gave Colton the transmitter, and I kept the the receiver of course. He was to hide the mic on him somewhere, and when they got close, turn it on and it was go time! I was siked to be apart of this mission.

Operation Circus Tent

The next day, David and Colton started texting each other in code.  Operation Circus Tent as they called it, and we even had code names.  I think my name was Tango November or something like that haha.  It was quite funny reading the texts.  The goal was to head down there and capture the proposal right around the sunset. Dave was a little late to pick me up, but we made it right in time.

David's role was to get the wide angle shots, and I was suppose to get the zoomed in footage.  I hooked up Dave with a Canon 5D Mark II, and a 24-70mm 2.8 lens.  I took down a tripod with a glidetrack and had a Canon 5D Mark II with a 70-200mm 2.8 IS USM II lens.  I set it up and had the camera pointing at the right spot, had the wireless mic receiver plugged in with an earpiece ready to go once I heard something.

So you might be wondering.... how was she not going to notice us recording?  Well, it was simple, we used our fake touristy powers.  I'm asian, so it was easy enough for me to pretend that I'm just a tourist haha.  So, I dubbed myself a Ninja for the day haha.  Dave, who Adrienne has met once before, put on his big jacket and snow hat and just pretended to be taking some shots of the waterfall.  Everything was in place!

Go Time

Soon after we were setup, all of a sudden... *crackle... crackle... sssss*.  I heard the static in my earpiece and knew it was game time!  I signaled David and we started to record.  Colton and Adrienne walked by and right to the designated spot.  We started our filming and it was great!  EXCEPT... for one thing.

The sound!  Colton clipped the wireless mic onto his shirt and tried to hide it at the same time.  I could hear how the mic would rub up against his jacket.  The other thing was that because they were standing right next to the waterfall, I totally could hear it as well.  Their voices were a little muffled due to everything.  As he proposed.. I couldn't completely hear everything.. and when he got down on one knee.. I was afraid!  I didn't know if she accepted or not!  However, the next thing I knew, she was hugging him and kissing him.  Operation Circus Tent was a success.  As they walked away, I pretended to be on my cell phone to continue my cover and Dave yelled a great line to them to continue his cover... "HEY! YOU'RE IN MY SHOT!"

I had a nice little laugh.  Afterwards, we filmed some B-Roll footage for the video.  It was then.. a done deal. My day of being a impromptu Ninja turned out very well.  That night, before I left to Vegas, I made a quick draft of the video.  I hope you guys enjoy!  (BTW, the cat is out of the bag.  Colton did eventually tell Adrienne about the filming.)

The music is by Clara C - Offbeat.  I didn't have enough time to give her credit in the first draft.  I'll definitely do it in the final draft!  Check her out at http://www.youtube.com/claracmusic

Privet! Round 2

I got a new candy from Stas. Quite good!  Don't remember who Stas is?  Check these two previous posts.  1. 2.

Thanks for helping me fall in love with the game. RIP Mike

This is an old post that I just wanted to have records of.

Me & Mike - The Human Wall - 2006.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Last night, I was back in PA just for an evening. I got a chance to visit the first table tennis club I ever started at. The club that started it all. Berks Table Tennis Club. It was the friendliest club I ever played at. They not only taught me to have fun with the game, but to genuinely show kindness and interest in every person that walked into that door. That is something I try to continue with every new person I meet still. It was great to be back and reconnect with everyone there.

Unfortunately, I found out that one of my favorite members passed away, Mike. Thanks for hitting with me when I could hardly even keep the ball on the table. Thanks for all the fun jokes you had. Thanks for your kindness. Thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement. I'll never forget ya. May you rest in peace.

Here is an excerpt from an old post I found on my Xanga. 

Saturday, 30 December 2006
Working in Table Tennis.. and other random stuff

Me & Old Mike

I've never felt so good about working in Table Tennis until I went back home for Xmas. During one of my days off, I went to visit the old club I attended back home, the Berks Table Tennis Club. It's where I first really learned to love and appreciate the game. The majority of the club members are elders, but I really enjoy that. I love learning their history and all their stories. What amazed me was their eagerness to teach me the wonderful game to a complete newbie like me. I just remember them always having to pick up the balls i would mishit, and never complaining. They worked with me until I got better, with no regrets of their back pain haha. 

Anyways, the picture above is Mike & I. Mike is the oldest member at the club. He's 80 years old and is only running on one lung (The other collapsed when he was young, due to tuberculosis). I always refer to him as the Human Wall. I remember when I first started out, I had no clue how he could block and return every ball. Even with his age and physical limitations, he is an amazing player. When I went back to the club during Xmas Break, I was catching up with him. I told him how I was working for North American Table Tennis. After I told him, I've never seen such a proud and amazed face at the same time. He kept repeating.. "You work for.. NORTH AMERICAN TABLE TENNIS??........ I've been in this game for so long, and it's shame that this beautiful game isn't more popular. I'm so glad you are working for table tennis. We need someone like you!" I told him about all the projects we are working on, and more about the company. He just kept on smiling. Before he left that night, he kept on going to the other members... "Did you know Tom works for North American Table Tennis?" That is definitely a memory I won't forget.

Meet Stan.

Stan is one of the Russian table tennis players  at Club JOOLA.  And even though he is Russian, I swear he eats even more Vietnamese food then I do.  I always see him at Pho Hoa Binh and have even joined him (as you can see in the photo)

Stan is a very personable guy and always fun to talk to.  He's local Jazz musician and plays the saxophone.  He use to play with the Naval Academy, but now has his own group, The DC Jazz Connect.  Currently he plays on Thursday nights at the Paper Moon in Georgetown.  However starting next year, he'll also be playing at some hotels as well.  I'll keep you posted.  But in the meantime, check him out when you get the chance!

Meet Stas. Sylvie's Bday!

 

So here's a little update!  So the Russian gentleman I was talking about before, his name is Stas.  Here is what I found out today through our hand signal conversation haha. He is 70 years old.  He started playing since he was a young child, and played competitively for over 20 years! I just wanted to let you guys know that most likely, you would get your butt kicked by him.  Don't let the age fool you, the man has skills!  He also taught me how to say thank you today.  This has been quite the fun adventure!

Sylvie emotional about her awesome kitchen gear!

The cous and I

Tonight was my cousin Sylvie's Bday.  If you don't know Sylvie, she's also known as ThriftyDCCook!  She's always blogging about amazing food, deals, and recipes that she has tried.  Pretty much I get hungry whenever I see her blog.  I would totally recommend visiting her blog sometime. I don't get to see her as often, but it was great seeing her tonight!  Her Bday was celebrated at Masa 14 by 14th & U St.  The place looks great and the food was quite delish!  One of the chef's is from ZenGo in Chinatown.  I had the Barbeque Salmon with spinach and bacon (Of course I had to have bacon) and it was quite delish.  I definitely recommend it.