Qualcomm Uplinq: June 1st, 2011

TAIKOPROJECT and a few friends took a quick trip down to the sunny San Diego Manchester Grant Hyatt Hotel to perform at the 2011 Uplinq Conference hosted by Qualcomm. According to the website, "Uplinq is the only wireless ecosystem conference that brings together developers and publishers, device makes, OS and technology providers, and network operators to build business around high-quality, compelling mobile apps and data services". Here's a cool picture that Andrew took of the incredible projection screen setup!

Bryan, Maz, David, TP friends Jason and Kelvin, and I all drove down early on May 31st to load in and attend the first rehearsal. Once we arrived, we met with our presenter, Anthony, who walked us through our assignments. Anthony is so great. He's very hospitable and welcoming, so it was a pleasure working with him! After the rehearsal, we walked to a nearby outdoor mall for lunch. Seaport Village is home to various eateries that serve Mexican, Greek, and traditional "American" cuisine. I ordered the rolled chicken tacos, smothered in guacamole and cheese. Yum!

We walked back to the hotel and checked into our own comfy rooms, where we rested until later that evening . Soon after, Andrew, Yuri, Doug, and TP friend Joe arrived and joined us for the second rehearsal. Following the rehearsal, we sat down for a wonderful dinner at the hotel. It was at this dinner that we discovered David's fascinating eating habits! Poor David suffered through many of Bryan's attempts at sabotaging his perfectly separated portions. :( Fortunately, the rest of us aren't too concerned about our food touching, so Bryan didn't bother us. This was our dinner: jicama mango salad, tortilla soup, baked mac and cheese, and beef ribs!

After dinner, several of us decided to take a stroll through the famous Gaslamp Quarter. Jason really wanted to go dancing, but sadly he was the only one. The majority of us were already exhausted from the long day of loading in and rehearsals.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to perform at the opening of the conference. Instead of wearing our signature TP outfits, we wore casual black button-down tops and slacks. We were positioned at several locations throughout the audience, designated by colorful spotlights that illuminated us as we played. Our assignment was to play along to a track that accompanied an inspirational spoken word video. The video was only about 90 seconds long, so the performance was over before we knew it! We returned at the end of the opening to do a short rendition of "Here We Go Now!".

To celebrate, the whole San Diego cast went to Andrew's parents' restaurant, Choice of Mandarin. We stuffed ourselves with spicy tofu, fried rice, sauteed beef, and Maz's favorite, honey walnut shrimp!

Here's Maz in front of the restaurant!

The meal was extremely satisfying, and it was so nice to finally meet Andrew's parents. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Chen! We hope to see you both again soon!