San Fran Castro Street On Halloween

So today I went to the famous Castro Street Halloween Party in San Fran. Supposedly, they block off this section of the street and then people just walk around and party... costumes were not as nice as Sat nite's outing, but still pretty nice...

All in all, it was ok... the atmosphere was great... but alot of people and alot of shoving and pushing around to get around... and the fact that you can't legally walk around w/ a 16 ozer killed whatever mood that could have been created...

Events to highlight:
- catfight between 5 girls vs. 1 girl... didn't see too well w/o my glasses... but I felt sorry for that one girl

- gunshots were heard, followed by hundreds of ppl (imagine a herd of those animals that killed simba's father in lion king) walking or running all in one direction away from the sound... (fences were knocked over as well)... ambulance and police cars followed shortly

- some very interesting costumes... when I get the pics from the other cameras I will update this blog entry or provide link to the pics

In other news... because of this outing, my leather shoes have taken another hit... aiii..... I haven't even wore it for more than 15 times, and the leather is already all scratched up in the front. For those who don't know, it's a very nice pair of soft leather shoes... guess I am not yet cut out to where such nice shoes yet.

Goal in the near future: Be able to wear nice things and not ruin it!

Lobster in San Jose - Part III: Sleep-a-thon

So today really has nothing to do w/ Lobster... since I didn't even see her.

Today was about me, and my bed!

Sequence of Events:
1) Got home at around 3am-ish... slept.. woke up at 12:45pm (by alarm clock time)
2) Cooked, ate lunch, did dishes, then sat in front of computer... looked at a few things, saw it was only 1:30pm... then thought to myself... wtf... I swear it takes me more than an hour to do all those things...
3) Light bulb goes off in my head... its daylight savings time today! Upon realizing it, set my alarm clock to the right time (from 2:30 to 1:30)
4) Second decision of the day: decided that waking up at 11:45pm (by daylight savings time) was too early... so went back to bed... time: 1:31pm
5) 5:30pm. That's the time I saw when I next opened my eyes :D...

Total sleep time: 9 + 4 = 13 hours!

6) Ate dinner w/ little andrew and BJ, went to tea shop... came home.. slept by 12:30am....

So ends the day... I loooove daylight savings time!

Lobster in San Jose - Part II: Halloween Bash

So after McDs... we went costume shopping then went to San Fran...

At San Fran, we walked around for 30 minutes to find food... and encountered numerous drunk ppl... summary:
- one guy shatttered a bottle of liquor near me after chasing his own bag
- one guy gave us a balloon sword
- one guy walked around asking for change saying he's honest for asking $ for booze
- one guy standing in middle of street pointing at the traffic light
- numerous paper bags holding liquids...
... and this was before 9pm!

After eating at a place similar to Mel's diner, we went and got ready to club... lineup was super long... but the costumes there were AWESOME! No pics were taken by me. So readers will need to either wait for me to see them, or hunt around and find the city boy's for them... I took a pic with a guy dressed as Optimus Prime... his costume was awesome (he won $100 for it)...

Back to the scene... at first, the bar was very hard to get a drink from as there was a HUGE lineup... but on subsequent visits, the line was alot shorter; but still had a slight wait. Sometime during the night though, I officially became a 'VIP' of one of the bartenders... haha.. meaning I basically walk up to him, and get served right away!... I guess that's when you know you've gone to the bar too many times! :)

But this clubbing experience is starting to look too similar to those of my early university days... so with that, I think I will abstain from this kind of life for awhile... or should I?

Lobster in San Jose - Part 1.5: The Twillight

As I mentioned, since it was late (early) in the morning, was velly velly quiet getting into aunt's house... so no one except me and city boy (CB) knew I was there that nite...

Here's what happened at twillight...
City Boy's Uncle (U) opens door to a room usually open and empty... unexpectedly finds a guy sleeping on the bed!

M: Hello!
U: (stares and walks out)...
[mumble downstairs in unknown language --> Mson's interpretation:
U: you know a stranger is sleeping in our house
Aunt (A): huh... [blah blah blah]
[Silence for a bit, then Aunt comes up and peeps in]
M: Hello. I am Vince's friend. (in cantonese)
A: ok ok... [then closes door]
[Mson's interpretation: Mson spoke too fast in cantonese + his half asleep mode = unintelligible babble to even the most experienced chinese person]

Once morning (11am) came around, we were ready to head off to rendezvous w/ lobster and co. So me and Vince explained why I was there that nite... A and U are very nice ppl... and it made it easier since I was able to communicate w/ them.

Then before we headed off, I learned about the history of Vince's ferrari (the mysterious mark on the hood) from A and U before riding in it to pick up the rest of the City Boy's for some good ol' fashioned monopoly McDs.

To be continued...

Lobster in San Jose - Part I: The Friday

So this wkend is lobster and co.'s travels to San Fran.

The start of this wkend was not good for us (palo alto/san jose ppl) at all.

Fri nite:
We went for driving range...only to find they didn't rent clubs
We went to DnB... only to have jacka55 security dude refuse us entry just cuz we are canadians...
We went for McDs...only to find it closed
So we settled for some chinese food, only to find the chicken, duck, BBQ pork were all slightly cold... ...

Only good thing of the night must be lobster's arrival at 2:30am in the morning!

Having seen the lobster, ended the nite at City Boy's aunt's house since the next morning, me and BJ were getting costumes b4 heading to San Fran for some halloween bash!

Another Safeway Raid...

So today I went to my favorite store... (no... not the LCBO), and stocked up on some good wholesome meat and STRAWBERRIES... buy 1 get 1 free... what a lovely store Safeway is!

I also bought some candies in anticipation for the children that may come by on Halloween! :).. And to add that extra little touch, I even bought a bucket to put the candy in! I bought two types of candies... snickers and skittles (ie. nuts and no nuts...) just in case the kid has allergies they won't go home w/ inedible candy... hope it works out to their favor...

I also almost bought the single malt that was on sale today... it was only $33.00 + tax AND it came in a nice box. Was very very tempted to get it. If I was at the store for 10 more minutes, I probably would have picked it up... maybe next time.. maybe next time.

Today I started to realize I've been idling way too much; as a result of this, I have now created a schedule for myself that I will try to keep for the remainder of the term... hopefully doing so will get all the work I am suppose to do done... this plan begins next week...

Blogger Mson out.

Funny Work Day at PARC

So today, I finally got the Ms. Vickies' Jalapeano chips I so wanted for the last month. For those who don't know, the week before I asked the lunch lady why they had almost every single flavour of Ms. Vickies but not the green one, and lunch lady told me she would get it for me. And today, she DID!!! (this was the same lady who was present on the day I achieved goal #1: buying chips w/ all my US coins...she was actually the cashier who took those coins)

Then before I left work, me and 'young grasshopper' got our hands on some bubble wrap, and pure immature kid style, we started popping them (for the record, I was still writing some code when 'young grasshopper' began popping the bubbles with his hands, then I fell into peer pressure and joined him)...

Now in this process, I have come across my first patent :)

**Patent 001: Quick method for optimal bubble wrap popping
Procedure:
1) Place the bubble wrap under a chair with wheels
2) Sit on the chair, and then try to move around as you would normally do

Result:
Enjoy the popping sounds of bubbles popping at an alarming rate... effortlessly!!!

**Note: Patent pending...

After this ground breaking patent pending invention, I left for soccer :). The last game of the season (since it gets dark early starting now...), pretty good turnout! Playing soccer in the dark is an interesting experience... but too dangerous for my blood!

Oh.. I also made slight progress at work today!.. goooodo stuff! And yes, starting tomolo, I will REALLY start to do the things I am suppose to do... I really will... Just a tiny bit behind these days... but still good.. still good...

Triple Header Wkend - Part III: San Jose

So to end the triple header wkend, we decided to lay back and chill out at one of the member of the 'city boy's' pool. This for some reason reminded me of back in the HK days when I played outdoors in the pool near the apartment where I lived; and also reminded me slightly of carriage hills... haha.. to think, here I am working Mon to Fri, and the weekends just seem like I was at a resort... I wonder if this is life I should expect if I can get myself down here in the US...

Getting a house here may be a tad difficult, but once I get one here, I wonder...

To finish the day off, we went to Olive Garden and this time, the food was alot better and the service was ALOT better... very nice place!

So ends the triple header wkend!

Triple Header Wkend - Part II: Santa Cruz II

So for the 2nd part of the triple header, we went to Santa Cruz to surf again!!!

I have to say that surfing is one of the best activity ever! The waves were very good this time and we were able to go for 3+ hours in the water. The water, contrary to what I expected, wasn't cold at all (of course this is with the wet suit on).

The rush you get from catching a wave is unbelievable. You feel like you are going sooo fast! I was able to semi get-up a few times and that feeling was great. I wish that I will get another chance to try surfing once more and get up fully and enjoy it even more!

Of course I wiped out numerous times. Lesson learned: when you see 'white water' rushing towards you and you haven't caught the wave yet, DON'T try to ride it... or risk wiping out and doing somersaults in the water... a few of them!... Timing seems to be very important in surfing, if you are too early, you miss the wave.. if you are too late, you get engulfed in it... you have to be juuuust right!

What I thought makes surfing great is that you can rest on the board when you are tired. Now for those who swim, imagine just floating in the middle of a pool (conscious - of course), and feeling your body just buoy up and down with the currents... very relaxing feeling right? Now imagine you are floating, but you are gazing into an infinite blue sky, hearing the soothing sound of the waves, and you are gently rocked by the waves while you sit on your board to take in the sight, with a very faint breeze blowing at you so that you are not terribly hot, but not cold either... that's the feeling of surfing when you are resting! And when you are moving and do catch the wave, well, I already talked about that...

Then at night, went to San Fran and went to see the night life again. The street we went to was an interesting street with LOTS of cops!.. haha... But it was ok. By the end of the night, you see drunk people stumbling around and talking about random things, very nice atmosphere! haha... ended the night with a nice midnight snack before heading back to Palo Alto area...

From the long dip in the ocean, and the lots of swimming required, sea salted Mson fell asleep on the ride back from San Fran to home.... and with that, Part II of triple header is completed.

Triple Header Wkend - Part I: Karoake Night at Fremont

So tonight we decided to go to karoake here in California! Before that, went to this place called "Denny's"... first time going there ever and I have to say, it will be my last. Reason: when you see raw chicken on someone's plate at a restaurant, thats enough to make me never go there again...

Anyway, so the first place we went to for karoake... the place apparently didn't serve alcohol. So yes, once we found out, we got our a55es out of there right away and went to another one. A karoake place that didn't serve alcohol... that's something the non fobby me would never understand...

So then we drove half an hour to this other place... (guess there's not much karoake joints around)... so at first, this place seemed good. I mean, when you get 12 beers, you get 6 beers free (before 12:30am)! And it was only $2.50 for a beer. But little did I know that they have this thing called a 'room fee'. Guess that's how they make money here at these places... since booze is so cheap, guess they gotta make a profit somehow... and make a profit they did!!!

The other interesting thing is that they had no 'ice cups'... see below picture on what they gave us when I asked for it...



styrofoam cups with ice around it??? haha.. only in America... or maybe this is another proof that I am not fobby at all! Guess I haven't been to these places enough, haven't seen it all yet!... :)

oh ya, we also got told that fitting 4 people in the back of a car was a bad thing... or at least we think we did... with Odogg yelling random stuff as the 'nice people' were telling us, we can only take BJ's word for it...

So ends the first part of this triple header weekend.

Reflection 1/1: Red Wine & Steak Nite

So tonite I cooked myself the first filling meal.

Menu:
3 sumptous strips of beef (they were like 2 inches thick.. mmmm...)
1 healthy serving of macaroni and mushroom soup with toasted bread on the side
2 glasses of the $4 merlot red wine

It was deellllicious!! First filling meal I cooked myself since I got here in Palo Alto. Now my muscles feels recovered from the work out I did last nite where I wasn't able to even do a push-up at the end of the day.

Now onto the Reflection 1/1....
So for the past few days (actually week), I've been madly blitzing through and absorbing the self-dev web site I have been reading. This has now grown out of the procrastination pasttime phase and into a full-fledged read-a-thon. Perhaps its just my way of connecting to things in an abstract way, but the thoughts this guy used to have seem very very much like the thoughts I have now. Maybe his solutions are not optimal; but hey, at least its better than the solution I currently have or am trying out. After reading so many pages (I estimate I read an equivalent of about 125+ 8.5 by 11 single sided pages), I actually feel more motivated and refreshed than before...

So perhaps as a result of reading up on this self-dev stuff, I remembered one of my thoughts I had 4 years ago...

"I will keep my doors open, and in doing so, AND if I do not falter, I will be at relatively the same spot 4 years from now, and be able to make a choice then. If I do falter, then that means I really didn't want it enough." -- This was the bet I made to myself. A silly bet on a fool's own life...

So during this time, I was suppose to be looking into this, but sadly, being uninspired and unmotivated, all I did were the bare essentials and clung to this thought mindlessly. Now add to the fact that I was the underdog at where I was, I kept my uninspired self occupied every week with other activities to feel more sane.

Two years ago, realizing and accepting that my focus was waning, I realized that: "in order for me to keep this thought alive, I cannot dangle this carrot in front of me anymore." So I decided to try to embrace what I am doing, and go from there. Try to meet people around me that seemed to enjoy what they are doing, and learn from them and see their world.

While some people thought I had given up on my original thought, little did they know I was consciously blocking out all thoughts related to it. In going the other way I became more focused, and actually started moving back towards the original thought (ie. preventing myself from faltering)... In order to achieve this, I must not think it, look into it, or do anything about it; even though I have to admit, when I caught wind of it, I do pause momentarily. But I carried out this plan (for better or for wrose) and it seemed to work. As a matter of fact, there are even very small aspects of what I am doing now that interests me slightly.

Back to the present day, I have reached the point I once imagined 4 years ago. My original thought seemed to have survived, but because of my lack of searching, I have made almost no headway. I am in the same position as I was 4 years ago, only difference is I have opened more 'doors' for myself... but to open these 'doors', I am not sure if what I had given up was worth the price to obtain the keys to these doors that I will never walk through.

But perhaps my fundamental problem is that my virtual world composed of 'doors'. Perhaps instead of thinking of doors, I should think of my virtual world as such:

The path to success is like that of the switchbacks going up yosemite, and what used to be 'doors' are really forks along the path. In which case, if I come to a fork, can't I just walk between the two paths and continue along? Sure there are dense trees and vegetation there, but if my resolve doesn't wane, I can carve a path through this forest at the same speed... perhaps even get onto the path to success sooner. Or if I finally figure out which fork I want to take, then I can start walking towards it, and not have to back track... this sure beats the 'doors' concept where once I walk in, I have to backtrack to try another door...

and an even better idea, while I am walking through the forest, if I know where the direction to top is (the concept of 'true north' is what I am thinking about), then perhaps I can get to success even quicker by creating this path... Sure I might have to work harder, and get bruised along the way, but no pain, no gain right?

Perhaps that was my problem 2 years ago; instead of blocking it out, I should have took on the challenge of pursuing both congruently. As I am blogging now, I am reminded of my day's event: 1.5 hours for an online survey, 1.5 hour for eating and dishes, 1 hour for TV related things, 0.5 hour for shower, 1.5 hour for blogging = about 6 hours... imagine if I used half of this time for something more productive AND enjoyable at the same time... what would that amount to in a year? How much productive work will I have done then?

Everyone has 24 hours... but just like the brain, most people use so little of it effectively... including me. Perhaps its time I start to use my time more wisely and grow up...

San Fran Part II - Paying to go to a Jail

Our plan today:
1) Wake up early and bus to SF.
2) eat dim sum in Chinatown
3) go to Alcatraz
4) bus back to Palo Alto
5) night plans: club in SF?

1) Wake up early and bus to SF.
So today was my first experience on the local bus system -- the Caltrain and SF muni (electric buses). Very good system and pretty on time. The first bus we took in San Fran, you would not believe I was in the USA if I hadn't told you. See for yourself!


2) Chinatown dim sum
First time going to chinatown... how do we when we are there? Answer: Just follow the waves of asians leaving the bus! So 10 minutes later, we saw the wave of asians flood out of the bus, and knew we had hit chinatown (also, when 'young grasshopper' can no longer read the titles of the stores, that's a good indication we had found it.

We walked around quickly and found a place to eat dim sum. Not that great a dim sum place I have to say; was pretty expensive as well. We taught 'young grasshopper' the ways of the chopsticks, as well as introduced him to 'phoenix claws'. Brave grasshopper did very well at his first outing. Very good, young grasshopper! Very good!

3) Go to Alcatraz
The tour to Alcatraz was very nice. I have to say that is was the best $20 I spent thus far in the USA. The audio tour was terrific. The background sounds they put in really painted a vivid image of the jail cells there. There was also a tour guide afterwards talking about the story of the Birdman of Alcatraz; which was told in a very nice manner as well.


The only bad thing was that there were ALOT of flies on the ferry. Still not sure why they are there, but didn't really make the experience any worse since getting to see the SF skyline was well worth the flies sharing our ferry ride.

After Alcatraz, we went to Lombardo St - the famous switchback roads built in the old days to allow horses to go up the steep ascent. Walking from fisherman's wharf to there was a loooong walk; and consisted of very very steep hills. Then after having made it up there, we walked back down!...

4) Bus back to Palo Alto
So logically, this was suppose to be the most uneventful part of the trip... but always looking out for a challenge, we decided to spice up this little adventure.

Event 1: Bus Chasing
So we see the bus, maybe 200m away, and its the bus that would take us back to the train station. So rushing and running, we started going after it! 2 confused taxi drivers, and 2 streets J-walked later, we reach our destination. Bus #30: Stockton!...

Note that this bus comes every 5 minutes! Bus driver must think we are idiots! Running to catch a packed bus that comes every 5 minutes. Duma55 Canadians! heh heh.

Event 2: Permaturely Getting Off
So following the same strategy as when we searched for chinatown, we got off the bus when a wave of people got off the bus. Only this time, this plan completely failed! After walking for a few blocks, we looked at our map to realize we were 7 blocks away from the train station! So gracefully we walked ahead to the next bus stop, and waited for the bus that comes every 5 minutes. 2 minutes later we got on and 5 minutes later, we have gotten to the train station.

Lesson of the day: Transfers are the best thing to have on a public transit. Keep it close to you and never let it go!

Event 3: Safeway (my favorite!)
Now an exciting adventure is never complete without a visit to Safeway. Having 0.5 hr to kiil before the train departs, we went to the local Safeway and thought about buying some groceries.

Result:
I walk out w/ 750mL of Merlot for $4.00.
Young grasshopper walks out w/ 6 cans of Heini.

Great groceries we picked up eh?

5) SF clubbing?

So having gotten back home after the 5 minute bike ride after leaving the train station. I checked my battery-less phone and realized that clubbing is a go. So got showered and changed and was picked up to go clubbing... back in San Fran!

At the club, same old same old... yadiyadiya... did try this drink called the AMF. Very nice drink, strong but very good tasting; this might become my favorite drink from now on!

The day began very sunny and nice, but like all trips to San Fran, it seems like I brought back the clouds with me. Guess that's the price I pay when I venture out of Palo Alto to San Fran.

To come: Part III of San Fran: Japanese Tea Garden and MoMA

Sandwich of the Gods

So today I made my usual sandwich in preparation for tomorrow's lunch. I opened up the first bag of deli meat I bought from yesterday... and went... wtf?! Where's the rest of the it???

Having got a couple (4) lbs of deli meat last time, I thought to myself that I will go back to the usual and get 1 to 2 lbs of deli meat (which should last me a week or two I hope). So trying out the different kinds of meat... this time it was turkey roast. Now I didn't really pay attention when the lady put the meat in the bag; but summary:

Turkey Roast 0.52 lbs at $7.99/lb = 4 pieces ... (will last me two days). All I have to say is...that turkey better be dammmm good

So tomorrow, my MBB special (Meat Bread Butter) sandwich will cost a whooping $2.00+. For that price I could buy some fries AND chips at the PARC cafe!

Lesson of the day: Stick w/ ham, they are salty, tasteless, but they are light and cheap!

Palo Alto Goal Number 1 Completed: Spending was never so much fun

Today I achieved one of my goals of being down here in the US. Having brought my lifelong collection of US coins ($0.56 USD) from good ol' Canada, today, combined with my stash of coins collected in the first month and a half, I finally had enough coins to buy something with it...

So armed with $0.31 in pennies + $0.20 in dimes + $0.25 in quarters, I set out early today for lunch to the cafe and got myself a bag of chips (Ms Vickies -- imported from Canada!). Bye bye US coins collected for the past 10+ years! I swear, the cashier lady who took the coins was about to burst out laughing; guess she had to be professional and hold her laughter till later.

In other news, Europa is looking very good. 6 weeks of vacation, unlimited speed limit on the road (in Germany), good tasting beer (everywhere), culture (everywhere), slightly advanced tech (compared w/ Canada), 'futball' (UEFA), and not to mention the british accents (UK)!... I think I will start looking into the possiblity of going to Europe to work! It might actually be feasible, since I am british I think afterall... wuhahahahaha

Hillsdale Mall

So once again, today was a Sunday... and a planned surfing outing became a mall shopping experience... aiii.... seems like me and the active life here doesn't match.

So anyway, every work term, I've managed to work out and burn off the layers of fat accumulated during my hibernation in waterloo. It's worked out pretty well over the years... but this term... one and a half months in, 8 months of school later, I am still sitting on my a55 in front of a computer.

But this *might* change very soon. Today I was told that I dress and look like a FOB. Reason: I look very skinny. WTF?!?!?! Nothing against fobs and all, but since when did I EVER look like a fob? Anyway, guess this is a wake-up call for me to get off my a55 and head to the gym. I will see how far I get with this.

Personally, I've always believed that to 'work out', you should be using it to help you be better at another sport/activity. I always felt that purely working out just for 'looks' doesn't get me very far; I would never have that drive to push myself hard. However, if I have a reason to work out, then I usually am able to push myself wayyy harder and the results will follow.

Oh, on another note, so I mentioned I played those midway games at 6 Flags... I did the 'guess my age' game and the guy guessed I was 25 years old +/- 2!! I was sooo happy to lose that $5 :) . Afterwards, he said he actually thought I was 30! Dam, either school has done its magic making me into a zombie or he just made my day!

This didn't stop them from carding me for signing my own mastercard though... this is the first time that has ever happened in my life! I've been carded for alot of things, but for my own credit cards?... only in America... only in America!

6 Flags Wkend.. at Valleyjo

Saturday me and the 'city boys' went to 6 flags Marine World (aka an amusement park). The suprising thing was that the lineups to the rides were very very short. Longest wait of the day was 30 minutes MAX. Not much different than the one's at Wonderland I find. The most SCARY ride is the Boomerang...

The 'boomerang' was really just the Wonderland equivalent of 'The Bat'. At first, this ride was closed when we got to it. Then 20 minutes later it opened; so naturally, me and Odogg went on it. Now as we were waiting, I noticed it was strange how the cart is pulled up at varying speeds (ie. the motor doesn't seem to be putting out constant torque)... but at that time, didn't find anything unusual about that - since the kart is pulled up, then released, yadiyadiya. So the ride seemed to work fine while the line progressed.

So finally it was time we went on, and the motor pulled higher and higher and higher... then at the top, expecting that drop to start off the ride, we heard a 'clunk' and instead of plunging, we were suspended in midair!...

So we were suspended in midair for a good 5 minutes, and being in the 2nd row, we saw first the operator calling some dude, then a mechanic popped out of nowhere... then ANOTHER mechanic popped out of nowhere... all the while we were suspended in the air. Not a word of news from those at the bottom - though I did see people leave the line, deciding this ride was too scary for them. .... The view was nice though, sort of reminded me of being at Yosemite! Then a few minutes later, clank, and off we went! (phewf). I think that after we safely landed, they closed the ride. Guess we didn't have to pay that $10 extra for the haunted house attractions to be scared at 6 flags!

Scary ride aside, as always, had to try out the funnel cakes here. Conclusion: mmmm.... so good; it was Halloween themed I believe, so they shaped it like a brain...

Also played ALOT of those midway games. Though not really successful, did get myself a hat out of it ...



Also saw animals... penguins, elephants, tiger, shouka (killer whale), sea lions... I thought they were all pretty neat! Almost made me wanna visit a real zoo, until I remembered why I try to stay away from zoos in the past. (hint: it has something to do with the smell.)

Shocks at Palo Alto

Shock #1 (bad shock):
30 days since I've been here, and the unexpected happened... it rained in Palo Alto today! For some reason, I didn't expect it to ever rain here. Everyday the sky is blue, who would have thought... who would have thought...

Shock #2 (good shock):
House cleaning: It's official. There is a mystery person who comes in once every 2 weeks to clean up the place. I think the person even mopped the floor today! Talk about good service. This place is pretty decent! The person even did my dishes... too bad they were clean though, but still, the mystery person stuck it in the dishwasher, came out even more sparkling clean!

Shock #3 (good shock):
Magic Braun shaver... So today I was shaving, and having not shaved for awhile, the hair was growing long. Now in the past, as those who read this know, I would resort to a complex series of scissors + shaver combo to get rid of it. But without a pair of scissor and thinking of calling upon the trusty titanium knife to help me vanquish this evil, a hidden blade appeared in the magic braun shaver... AND it was electric. It was one of those razor blades that barbers use to cut your sideburns... so easily I was able to shave those long hair off. Of course, I now have slightly shorter sideburns since I got too excited and shaved a tad of them by mistake!

Reflection 1/4: Soccer avec PARC a lundi

So today I played soccer for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. Once again, it was pretty fun.

Now a couple things happened today...

Event 1: Almost losing it in a friendly game!...
So here I was, playing the usual mode for me at these pickup games; and then this guy, in full gear (shin pads, cleats, etc.) decides to detch me. This is fine of course, since it is a soccer game... The outcome was that he was unsuccessful in this attempt, as I saw right through the crossover BS he was attempting, but then as he lost the ball, he decided to imprint the memory of this encounter by placing his 4 cleats on my left ankle! Now without shin pads, it f*cking stung! In my rage (which rarely happens if you know me playing soccer), I just shot the ball, clearing the fence of the field when we were playing 'below the knee' as goal. VERY VERY unsportsmen-like... lucky it was just a friendly, otherwise I would be yellow carded for sure! I did go climb the fence and get the ball back though...

Now I am actually feeling pretty shameful about this. I mean, getting 4 cleats on my ankle, this stuff happens in soccer. Sure its been eons since I've gotten cleats to my leg anywhere, but this was no way to play in a friendly. What made it worse now that I think about it was that I was considering decking him on the next play (legally of course - with the zi-wun-tad special [a character from a comic book]) -- now for those who don't know me and my bible for soccer that I devoutly studied in french class back in gr. 8 :), you would have no clue what I am talking about!

As for credentials, I've pulled this move off enough times in matches, and the playing style that this guy had would have sent him doing somersaults if I pulled it on him. But since it is a friendly afterall, I decided to calm down for the next 5 min so that I would get this vicious intent out of my system. I mean, the guy probably didn't do it on purpose (he did stop playing after he landed his cleats on my ankle), AND I do like having more people playing soccer during this time. But vent today on the blog I must!

But the more important question was why I felt this urge to kick that ball. It's not something I would do usually. I only have two answers to this for now:
1) Maybe it's a sign that at the end of the day, I am a competitive person and don't like to be taken out of a game... seems pretty far-fetched but at the time, this was what I sort of thought. Hard to explain how the idea of 'competitiveness' comes out out this event, so I won't bother explaining. But if this is the case, then it is a good sign because I've been looking for that competitive spark in things that I do for awhile now; I haven't really cared to compete ever since I got into good ol' Waterloo. Personally, I believe having some sort of 'drive' is important in this world.. but that's just my opinion. Please comment if you beg to differ.
2) Maybe I was more mad at myself for not protecting my busted left ankle better. An 'athlete' worst ail are injuries. And having been through one before, I have no intention of heading back into a surgery room to fix any part of my body. So maybe that thought unconsciously triggered my more rash self, causing me clear the ball over the fence.
Which do you think it is? I for one, really don't know...

Event 2: technical flamboyance
Pulled a semi-'kolidak' (aka rainbow) on an unsuspecting opponent successfully today! Didn't get a goal out of it, cuz the pass to my teammate didn't connect perfectly, but it was a clean semi-'kolidak', followed by a decent pass. This was the highlight for me today!... haha.. No where near the comfort level I had with a soccer ball back in the day, but I am proud of this semi-kolidak; since it was pulled off SOOOO cleanly... Wished I had taken a video of it so I could youtube it to the world!

(on a side note: I did miss half a dozen simple cross over back heels today... but then I got a goal using my back heel.. kekeke)

Anyway, done my rant for the night.

Mson out

Blog Facelift

So instead of studying, spent an hour or so reading the html template code and playing around with it; then decided to centralize all bloggable things that I have. Changes below:

1) Expanded the text portion (to reduce scrolling required)

2) Still looking at quick and painless way for uploading pictures and have people be able to download them by the bulk. Any suggestions are welcome!

3) Added another section to this blog. This blog now links to another blog page that has more 'non-journally' stuff of mine. Link can be found on the right sidebar (Mson's collection). It has what my msn space used to have... and more. This page will be updated less frequently than this main page.
Enjoy!

Post Bday

So today, I woke up at a nice regular time (1pm). Then ate my lunch.

I told myself that today I was suppose to start working hard! But instead, I tried out the PS2 lying in the common room... and loaded in Dynasty Warriors 4. And it worked! Then I sat down and lost track of time...

... So I sat in front of the TV, played Dynasty for 5 hours (I didn't think I would play for that long), and am now officially dumber from mindlessly tapping that x and square button to kill fellow asians.. haha. But my character is now suped up! :) I think 3 more levels and I clear the game!

Now I am slightly groggy from this exercise (last time I did this was Dynasty Warriors back a couple of years ago...)...

Now its 9:30... almost another day. Starting next week though, will start working... I really will!

Bday 23 Completed

So after an uneventful morning, the night was slightly better.

The highlight of the night had to be the place we went to for dinner... called Todai. This was a buffet restaurant that served chinese and japanese food. And get this, it served octopus sushis. ... (of course I chowed down on that). There were crepes, sashimi of 5 differnt kinds, eel sushi, dragon roll, and even cooked stuff like king crab and clams. It was $25.95 per person (yes, a tad expensive...).. but get his, since we went on my actual bday.. it was FREE for me!!! We even got a crayfish (small lobster as I would like to call it) at the beginning for free.... only thing I missed was the bday song that some other table got. I guess being old and the store closing in 15 minutes made the waiters lazy.



Then we went to a loft party... DAM!.. That place was nice. They had a fire going up in the top floor, and the view was nice. First time I've seen San Fran not rainy!

As I am typing this, it is 3:45 am in the morning, so forgive my spelling mistakes...Pictures to come soon; once I get it off the camera.

On another note, just talked w/ the lobster.. seems like she survived as well... goooodo stuff.. 2 years in a row we survived.. let's keep this tradition alive!!!

tipsy Mson out.