Day 91 of 365: Old man

Today my parents came home. Early arrival, but they came out at about 10am. Decided to grab some brunch, so we went to Stack's. Can't say how happy Amos was to go there. It has been a while, but it could be a reward for the past semester that went by. Of course, when you go to Stack's, you're filled past lunch.

Amos wanted to visit Pat's grave today, so my parents didn't mind to see him. We went to Target's garden center to get flowers, but from the looks of it, they were out for some reason. Headed to Home Depot instead. It wasn't until we got to the surrounding area of the cemetery that we realized there was a flower shop selling bouquets of all kinds. Felt dumb for a bit. Anyway, they cleared out the flowers that Annie and I got for him, so the grave looks cleaner. Still miss that guy... Life just doesn't feel the same...

We didn't do much when we got home except for a second boxing day. Tons of gifts that my parents brought back and it's not just from them, but others too. Got a really nice jacket! From Armani, I think. Pretty cool stuff! And Dad got it at a dirt cheap price! Thank God for His grace!

After sitting around for a while, cleaning paintball markers and doing laundry, we headed out for dinner at that Chinese restaurant on Gellert near Serramonte. Surprisingly good Chinese! Maybe I was hungry, but it was still good Chinese! Had oysters, dow mew, crab, beef and quail. All good stuff. Best of all, the family is back together again.

Now, my parents are in bed sleeping the jet lag away...Well, Mom is stuck on this game she got for her iPod, so she'll be in bed later. Amos and Kristy are at Matt's countdown party. And me? Well, I'm being an ordinary old man doing old man stuff...

Day 90 of 365: August Rush

I forgot my lunch today...so I drove home during my lunch break and had my Annie's special curry chicken! Seriously, it's one of the best home-made curry I ever had! Honey, you just found the key to my stomach! Keep it coming!

After work was over, I got home to find Amos back from his ski trip. Vincent, Mike and Mei were there too. Staying for dinner, but they did the cooking. I decided to finish the pho off, not that I don't want to eat what they made, but I don't want to waste what was already left over. See, I learn not to waste food!

I went over to the Taraval property to do a showing for Annie. Felt like I haven't done this in a while, but it turned out fine. Then again, i wouldn't know much about this business, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn.

Worship practice for the Mandarin came up next. I got to church early to print the songs out for myself and set my bass up. It took a while for everything to be at the right setting. About an hour was spent trying to balance all the vocals and instruments and about two hours were spent on the songs. Actually, the first hour was spent balancing while playing the first song as a test, so we were able to cover everything. Thank God for His grace, the whole team sounded really good! Especially the last song because it felt like something out of 'August Rush'. I'm not stressed out about the music! Yay!

Day 89 of 365: Mexican dinner

Skip the talk about work... There's nothing fun that came out of it... I can't be doing this forever, but sadly, I haven't been doing for very long. Either way, I want to do more than just answer phones and be the middle man between patients and doctors. What does God have in stored for me. I know He'll provide, but I know I want to be able to make enough to support my own family, my parents and Annie's parents. I want to be sure that we'll always have a roof over our heads and food to eat. I pray that God help me discern what path I need to take.

Change of topic! Kristy made dinner as promised and she pulled it off quite well. She made enchiladas with the leftovers that we had on Monday and it came out good. I had two portions and it was one good Mexican dinner! Better than the tacos from the night before, but I'm because the tacos weren't seasoned. We had Vincent, Mike and Annie join us for the evening and we watched '28 Weeks Later' while eating. Quite a relaxing evening!

Day 88 of 365: Disney movie

For some reason today, I was thinking about kids. No, not thinking that creepy, but the day I have my own kids that I can call my son or daughter. Pictures of how my dad raised me and my siblings made a sort of flashback and reflection of how I would lead my own family soon. I think this thought was triggered by the Disney movie I saw this evening, "The Princess and the Frog". What happens if my kids want to watch a cartoon, even though I know that I don't. Of course, for my kids, I will take them to a movie. Share my joy of going to the movies with them, teaching them to enjoy it with silence and not bother anyone else. I figure there's a lot I would teach to them. Some lesson would probably be harsh, but it's out of love. They probably won't understand at that moment, but I need to teach them love: to love and be loved. Wow...growing up is the hardest part.

Well, that was one of the highlights. I did make an attempt of pho. Not how I thought it would come out to be, but close enough. Couldn't find beef broth for the longest time. I had to drop by Safeway for that. Thank God there was a 3 for $2 deal, so I walked out of Safeway spending under $6 (including an onion I forgot to get). Overall, not bad. I'm counting on Kristy to cook something up tomorrow night. Deal is a deal, I took her to watch that Disney movie...which was actually pretty good.

Day 87 of 365: Recharging times

Today was Pastor Kingston's last Sunday as the English Pastor. This is an almost all too familar feeling... Having a pastor move on and going out to look for another. 'Sigh'... Another search for another shepard...

The rest of the day was pretty chilled. I started to clean and fix my paintball markers, up until Kristy asked me if I could drive her to Target. This was at around 3pm and we made our way to Serramonte. Picked up everything that Kristy needed there, but she wanted to get a proper beanie for the snowboarding trip that she might go. Well, nothing at Target, so we were to Big 5 right by the McDonald's. I found a lot of interesting items there that I know I like, but can't and don't want to have. Ran into one of the BSF leaders there.

We went to the West Lake Home Depot to get teflon tape. Yeah, more teflon tape, but for gas pipes. That's where I took Kristy to the Froyo place around the corner. Sat for a while before we thought about dinner plans. We made some calls and planned to cook dinner. We walked over to the Safeway in the same area and got stuff for tacos. After making our purchase, we headed over to Annie's place to pick up corn and crab soup that she made. So good! Haha! Getting a little ahead of myself! Anyway, Kristy and I systematically stopped at the Lakeshore Lucky's to check out the Red Box there. She wanted to rent the Hangover...couldn't find it there, but we did run into Jeff Hau! He was going to rent Star Trek for Sarah to watch, which I later found out that she cried in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Hehehe...

When we got home, it was cooking time. I let Kristy do most of the cooking, so she could get some experience in making something simple. I was missing something for the grounded beef and it was taco seasoning... Oh well, next time. Dinner overall was good, but we bought plenty for the next coming days.

It was a really chilled day. Something I need... Thank you, lo pau, for being so patient with my recharging times...

Day 86 of 365: Swing dancing

I woke up at 8am to pee, then went back to sleep only to wake up at 11am. What a sleep...I sure hope that'll help recharge myself.

Started the day with Annie and her dad as we journeyed to the REI right by the freeway. I thought it would be a big store, but it didn't look like much in the inside. Did find what Annie's dad was looking for, so we ventured out to the gift center. Then found out that most store there are closed and we needed passes to go in or something...

Well, it's okay, because we intend to walk around downtown for a while. Annie's dad dropped us off right by Moscone center and we walked to Westfield mall, where I had a fish and chips lunch. Expensive meal, but the portions were good. I had my fill at least, but the fish was so greasy, I think I'll be done with fish and chips for a while.

We walked around the mall for a while and went to Border's to check out travel guides for Sydney. Almost bought one guide book only to decide that this could be done at a later time. Stayed for a while checking out magazines and books before walking over to Macy's. Started to rain on our way there, so we dropped in Urban Outfitters as a pit stop before hitting Macy's. Pretty cool stuff at UO, but nothing I would get.

On to Macy's! I've reminded myself that I shop like a guy and found out that online shopping is the thing for me. Although some forms of shopping is best in person like purchasing new clothes or buying the first home. Sadly to say, my endurance for shopping in person is wearing out. Get me a drink of coffee and maybe I'll last the day. Reminds me of the days in Singapore when I shopped with Mom and Auntie Helen... Oh the long hours at the purse department...

We decided to head back home after checking out Jessica McClintock(?) where it was still sprinking. Getting the bus wasn't a problem. We caught the 38L and managed our way to 33rd Avenue where the rain started to fall again. So we took refuge at this coffee shop called the Art Bistro. Nice little coffee shop with good coffee and hot choclate. Very homely feel too, but they were playing some New Age stuff, which was weird to me.

We had dinner at Annie's where her dad cooked up a storm. Definitely fed well before the coming event, which was Swing dancing at the Verdi club! I have to say, I was nervous because dancing wasn't really my thing. Put me in a go-kart or behind the trigger of a paintball gun, but dancing is very much a foreign thing to my body. For some reason, I can't coordinate what I want to do and what my body should be doing. Regardless, the night went well and I managed to get it back for the moment. Dexter taught Annie and I once before a parent's appreciation dinner, but that was years back. Still glad that I went. At least I tried something that didn't feel right and tackle it. Try is the keyword and I want to conquer! Good day...tis a good day...

Day 85 of 365: Sherlock Holmes

Slept in this morning, which was refreshing. Thought I was going to watch Sherlock Holmes in the morning, but went to breakfast with Annie at the New Taraval cafe instead. It was only after breakfast that we went to watch the movie.

Being opening day, it was filling up fast. The next two showings were already sold out and we had to settle for a showing that's 2 hours away from our arrival to the theaters. I thought the wait would be difficult, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Playing with the touch definitely helps with killing time. Soon after, we were getting ready to go in.

The movie was pretty good! Definitely like Robert Downey Jr's performance. I like to say that he is one versatile actor. Looking at performances like Tropic Thunder and Iron Man, in addition to Sherlock Holmes, he could easily take on any character.

When the movie was over, it was late afternoon and almost time for dinner. Annie and I thought about doing Laksa for dinner, so we dropped by Sunset Super and got some groceries. The noodles that we normally use was sold out, so we substitute it for pho noodles. A little iffy on the usage of a noodle that is unfamiliar to me, but turns out that it was perfect, according to my taste buds. Thank God we made just the right amount! Oh, and the Haus called in to tell us that they "forgot" to pick up sushi from this Japanese restaurant on Irving. Told us to go over to pick it up for ourselves. Love that family...

After a long dinner, we hung around and played Mario on the Wii. The guys played and finally beat the game.

Day 84 of 365: Christmas eve

Oh, the wait! I remember the anticipation of Christmas day! Of course, in those days, it was present opening time and the night before was a night of impatience. Going to be only means that I'll speed time up and wake up to presents! Oh, the days of young hearts...

Several things happened today. Got a haircut, Annie got off work really early, dinner with the Kuo's and their relatives, and dessert with Jeremy Wong, Matt and Amos. Tis a good day, though the dinner was a tad awkward especially when I don't know anyone, but people know me because of Dad... Well, 20 minutes left of Christmas eve and I want to wait with anticipation to open my gift! But then, I am already joyful for the gift that has been given that is not wrapped! That could mean a lot of things...

Day 83 of 365: Cool beans!

I have to say...I'm taking a long time to recharge myself. Either that or I really am drained from all those years in ministry. Even so, that makes me rather weak compared with ministry veterans out there with amazing stamina. Whatever the case is, I need to get back on the saddle.

It sucks today that lunch was so good, yet it came with a bitter end when the roof of my mouth was severely scratched. It hurts eating and I can feel the soreness of my mouth. To add on to that, I have another sore on one side of my mouth. I guess this came from drinking less water than I should after coffee. It's not like I've been drinking more coffee though...

What brighten up the day was to see Annie. We exchanged gifts and went out for a late dinner for me. Went to Burger King at Westlake, which I thought was the worst Burger King experience I had so far. Doesn't really matter at the end...Food is food. Then we went to the Hau's to drop off a gift. I honestly feel like I forgotten the joy of giving...but that's provided I know what to get. This year, I had to bring the budget down. Still, this Christmas will be the last Christmas of my singlehood and the first as engaged to Annie! Cool beans!

Day 82 of 365: Christmas shopping

I did some more Christmas shopping after work today. Wanted to do a quick grab-and-go. Don't like to deal with crowds, waiting in lines and fighting with myself of what to buy. It's the masculine side of me attempting to be effective with my shopping. After snatching everything I wanted to get for my friends, I went home and made dinner. Dumplings again! Well, it's food. Can't believe I'm actually running out of dumplings, but I think Kristy ate some.

Watched some movies and wrapped the gifts all through the night, but the main thing was trying to unlock stuff on the Xbox. Seriously, the video gaming industry has found the MOST effective way to keep gamers engaged, or frustrated, by giving a set of achievements to acquire. I bet every OCD gamer out there made it a career to get every achievement. Matter of fact, I'm doing that myself, but one achievement at a time, then leave the rest for later. The most frustrating part is where it's near impossible to get some achievements...

I'm going to need to find a place of isolation...a sanctuary for myself. A recent email that Dexter sent out about how Jesus retreated away from crowds to be isolated and recharge Himself. Ought to follow His example, but is there more meaning behind this, I wonder?

Day 81 of 365: Dream cars

What a Monday! Went by fast, relatively quiet and with lunch provided! It did rain on and off. Still, it was pretty relaxing despite having a lot of patients calling in to change their appointment times.

I came back home and plan on relaxing by myself, watching TV, playing Mario, which didn't last long, and do some lazing around. I find it comforting to be alone sometimes. Especially when I don't have to worry about entertaining anyone. Probably just need to take care of myself before I take care of others. I did want to clean my paintball markers... Break something apart and put it together again. I feel like that's what I'll be doing in the future when I need some time alone. Go to the garage and work on a project car. Paintball markers for now since it's cheaper and small to store. Well, now it depends on what God has in stored for me, if one of my dream cars is necessary for me.

Well, another day comes...

Day 80 of 365: Too old

How do you know if you're too old and ready to settle down? When the company of many reduces to the companionship of one. When you had all the energy of the world, during those days of hanging out with friends and laugh all night, only now you feel drain and want peace and quiet. When you were friendly and homely until you became a bitter old man. Honestly, I am not like I was before, staying up till 4am with buddies over beer, enjoying a large crowd of familiar faces....Oh, the worst is when it affects your ministry... I am definitely not the same person 7 years ago when I was goofy and playful. Now it's like being the "dad" of the group...and it's draining... It's not like I don't take joy with my friends, but I just don't have the energy for it. I have other things to handle and consider. Finances for starters. Working to have enough in my pocket to survive the next day, especially when my job now isn't making the amount needed for essential things. There is definitely sacrifices that I need to make. Tricky part is where to make the cut.

Tonight was dinner with the Tangs. Cool to hang out with friends from Singapore. Had dinner at Outback near Serramonte. Food was...err...okay. My steak was juicy, but there was a lot of fat and silver skin that made it difficult to eat. Everything else was good. Struggled to take the check, which some times I wish there wasn't a tradition for bill fighting. I know it's a kind gesture, but that's taking the honor of me paying for someone's meal away, especially when I haven't done it myself.

Okay, I'm really tired now and I still have to shower. I'll...talk about tomorrow when tomorrow is over.

Day 79 of 365: Dumb drunk

What a depressing day... I woke up for paintball and I got three malfunctioning guns that took me 2 hours to fix only one. I thought I got at least two done, but one of them decided to go back to broken status. Got my money back from the admission fee since none of us played a game. Crazy... Need to get the guns back in working order this week.

So we drove back to the city, which was tiresome for some reason. Met up with Amos and Vincent for lunch and played MW2 to make up for paintball. I say it was a relatively short day because shortly after playing MW2, it was time to go to the Christmas program. It went well, but it was difficult to hear and concentrate on the program when you're seat with all the children...

Went to D&A cafe after for supper, but I was in high alert because of all the bars that were around the area. Lots of yelling and screaming when I parked. Found out that it was just a bunch of dumb drunk folk betting on who could run up the street the fastest. Really dumb because if one of them kept going, he'll probably get run over by a car.

In the cafe, I was still in high alert. Bunch of guys eating near our table were yelling profanities at each other, as though one offended another. It didn't last long, but can you blame me from preparing myself for the worst? I mean, what if one of those guys got so mad and decides to act on his anger? What if he has a gun? All these and more ran through my head. Although I know that God is on my side, I still see my responsibility to protect my family and friends.

'Sigh'...

Day 78 of 365: Chaperon services

Aaaahhh! I'll skip the work details because it's unless mentioning anything! Except when my manager introduced me to these new job openings. Some are alright, some are down right cool! Need to look at the list myself and apply to some. Pray for that...

TNT Christmas party... More like chaperon services...plus cooking and cleaning. I know it's the wrong mindset, but it's hard to teach values especially when they don't follow by example, which I tried for the past year. I don't know now... I just need a break.

Anyway, I'm keeping this short... I'm tired, need a shower and paintballing the next day. Oh, and I'm thirsty.... Next update coming tomorrow.

Day 77 of 365: Xbox Live

Today felt slow. Slow and quiet... Pretty much a "whatever" day. Of course, not at the patients or work, but whatever people throw at me. Nothing about work really stood out, so that means I was able to chat with Annie with little interruption. Oh wait, there is one weird thing that happened today. My coworkers were commenting on my hair... About the softness of it despite looking sharp and stiff. Honestly, it's a little creepy when people talk like that. Especially patients... Argh...

I left work thinking I'll drive to Burger King to get a burger, but I went home instead and made dumplings. Cool part was when I wanted to play a couple rounds of MW2 and I happen to be on when Jeremy Wong is. Linked up with him with my headset and chat over Xbox Live. Play some rounds with him too. Pretty cool. Feels like you're next to him, but not really. I like it. He said he'll bring his 360 back to SF and we could link systems and play a fair local game without screen watching. That'll be really cool!

I played for an hour before I started cooking my dumplings. Had to finish as soon as I can because in the next hour, I have a TNT meeting, which went well. Then I came home, talk to Annie, which wasn't much because we were both distracted. Now, I'm done with a ton of ministry mail and I'm ready for the next day. I'm going to try to sleep early...

Day 76 of 365: Mediocre dinner

The rain was beating down hard this morning. I like it, especially when I'm still in bed. Unfortunately, I had to go to work. Surprisingly, I managed to get to work 10 minutes before my actual start time and that's including getting coffee and finding parking. Work in general was quiet...relatively quiet. Got a tad busy at one point, but didn't last long. I did have lunch with my boss and the janitor. It was the janitor's birthday and my boss wanted to take him out for good Mexican. Fun to hang out with him, talking about Call of Duty or any random stuff.

After work was where I got busy trying to finish things that should have been done a while back and getting things ready for this week. I dropped the lesson book at Annie's place, then went home to pick up one of my paintball air tanks that needs a check up. The testing place was at Pacifica. A little far, but at least I can drop by Target on the way back. Got to Target and picked up some White Elephant gifts for TNT and some small miscellaneous things. Headed to Home Depot after that to look for teflon tape that I needed to repair an air leak on my Tippmann.

Amos called me in the middle of my Target shopping to ask what plans I have for the evening. I had nothing, so I met up with him and Vincent at the Lakeshore King of Thai. This thai chain is not as good as it was before... Anyway...after a mediocre dinner, we went home and played Mario for a while before I took my 98 Custom apart for cleaning and greasing. I love to take things apart and see how it works! So cool! Now it's time to put it back together again!

Day 75 of 365: Emails

I think I wrote the most amount of emails in one day in my whole life so far. Family emails, church emails, friend emails.

Anyway, work was quiet. Really quiet. Did a lot of catch up work on my reports towards the end of the day, but it was quite a relaxing day. Had a fat lunch of various stuff. Naming them would be tiring, so I'll just say this: Green curry! It was one of the best I ever had! Some say it was too spicy, but I don't think it's spicy enough! Either way, it was good! It was home made too! Good stuff. Pretty much filled me all the way to dinner. I'm hungry now, but I don't want to eat this late. I'll just drink something.

Came back home to do some more emailing and chilled for a while. I was about to head out to drop a book off for Annie, but Amos offered to do it. Last I heard, it wasn't done yet? And it's late? I'll do it myself after work tomorrow... Sorry, Lo pau...

BSF had a twist today. The children supervisor was taking a trip to Hawaii, which puts me next in command of the night. On the way to the church, I got a call from one of the Children Leaders saying that he can't make it because of a family emergency. In my mind I thought about what to do in this situation and I know I need to find someone to fill that spot. The program was already running on a skeleton crew and I found the solution, from my Teaching Leader, in pulling one of the Children Leaders in training back from the Adult class. That covers it for the time being. Other minor issues came up, but it was fine for the evening. Last class for the year anyway...

Man, I can't wait to go paintballing...

Day 74 of 365: Apologetics

I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating. It was my supervisor. She forgot that I switched my day off from Wednesday to Monday. Everything worked out fine and she gave me a heads up on what to expect this week. I laid in bed for a while longer before jumping out of bed for breakfast. Went to New Taraval again with my BSF homework and started to read and eat.

I offered to pick up Phoebe Tang from the airport today and I met up with her family at about 11:30am to take them to their hotel. It's refreshing to meet up with church family from another country, especially when they're from your hometown. Figure there'll be lots to catch up on and when the rest of the clan comes, I know there's going to be a lot of fun.

Something interesting though during that portion of my day. I didn't have my GPS with me and I know the hotel is in downtown SF, which is one area I'm not familiar with. I couldn't find the GPS, so on my way to the airport, I pray and ask God for guidance. Praise God for He is always good! I made it to the hotel safely! Honestly, it felt like I knew the town when I don't and it really is the Holy Spirit guiding me to the right place. This might sound stupid, but I had a GPS in me! God-Praising Spirit!! HAHA!!

I dropped them off and headed out to do my other errands. One of which is to pick up a paintball gun that was offered a lot less than what it's worth. The meeting place was on Van Ness and I didn't know exactly where this guy's apartment is, since I had no GPS. So I got on Van Ness and drove till I see the cross street, 'Green'. Apparently, I headed in the direction of South Van Ness and I should be going the other way. One quick swing around the block and I was heading down Van Ness once again. I found the building and managed to park nearby. Went to the building, but couldn't find this guy's name on the directory. Now at this point, I was a little nervous and didn't know what to expect. The custodian of the building let me in and I made a couple calls to make sure I was at the right building. He told me that he lives on the 4th floor and I went there. Found the unit and knock, waiting for a dude to open up. Awkward silence for about 5 minutes, before the guy called me to check up on me. Get this...he called to asked if I was in the right building. I told him the address of the building and he laughed on the phone and made a correction. I was in the wrong building, but one block away from the right one. Made my way over and met up with him. We greet and he apologized for the mix up. Anyway, I checked out the marker, which looks very clean. Doesn't look like he goes often enough, but I accepted the marker and made my payment. Good stuff for less than it ought to be.

I made my way home from this point on. Parked the van outside for the time being because Amos had his car on the driveway. Chilled in the living room for a while before I started to clean the marker on the outside. Pretty happy with it.

At this point, Amos was up from his nap and we caught 'Mighty Ducks' on cable. Watched it until the end and Amos had to head out for a while, so I went to my room to do some Internet surfing. Watched the new 'Terminator' movie while I was reading stuff. Had dinner when Amos came home, but just took a piece of fried chicken and made a bowl of ramen. That didn't satisfy, but it filled me up. Annie called after that and we chat for a while, catching up on the day.

There was something on my mind that had me thinking about apologetics. There was an email from Crosswalk, a Christian website that I subscribe to and they sent an email about how some scientists and atheists see religion as a neurological disorder. Here's some that was on the email and I quote:

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully"

Richard Dawkins

"It is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of our religious traditions"

Sam Harris

Definitely caught my attention and had stirred up thought in my mind. Thoughts of anger and sadness that such offensive ideas are directed at God. Honestly, the way I see it, they only understand what they want to understand. What they want to see and avoid the things that they don't want, or don't like, to see, which is mostly the sin that exist in the nature of their hearts. The desire of worldly gain in reputation or knowledge. Even more, the nature to rebel against God. If they think that religion is a neurological disorder, they made a claim against themselves too if they don't look pass the stress they probably have in their jobs, family or personal life. The fact that they make a big deal about anything is a feeling of distastefulness. Okay, I would be in the same boat as them making a big deal about their claims, but I acknowledge and recognize the sin in me and the need to have Jesus in my life. No Jesus, no life.

And addressing the first quote, surely he hasn't read the bible enough to know that God's compassionate, loving nature occurs more than His just and righteous attributes. Again, the rebellous nature refuse to believe that God is good. Well, get to know who He is. HE IS GOD! THE CREATOR, THE BEGINNING, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, POWERFUL AND MIGHTY, HOLY, JUST, RIGHTEOUS! If you think He is a bad character, errr...Hello!...He is God? If He were to listen to you all the time, He wouldn't be God. He'll be a politician, being ever so careful with his actions and trying to take you on his side. God doesn't need your opinion, or your ideas. He only wants you to obey! Never will a pot go against the potter. What purpose does it serve if the pot questions and challenges the potter in every decision made and how the pottery shop ought to be run? Remember who God is. Remember who you are in light of God. I am nothing, but out of miry clay, I was made into something through the saving grace of my compassionate, gracious and loving God!

Day 73 of 365: Naps

Such a relaxing Sunday... I slept a little more than my usual Sunday and woke up with enough time to pick Annie up and make it for worship. Today's sermon was by Rev. Paul Wang who covered Isaiah 9. The message topic was about the names of Jesus in this passage and I thought it was a good reminder of who Jesus means to us.

Annie and I went for lunch after that. Had Korean at My Tofu House. Good stuff, but in my mind, something didn't feel like what it was before. Like the soup was missing something important. Well, either way, it was refreshingly hot for such a cold Sunday.

I dropped Annie at home so she could do some errands while I covered a list of my own. Returned 'Up' to Red Box, baked some cookies, cleaned up my paintball gear for this Saturday and help Jer Wong reassembled his marker back to what it was originally set as. Annie came over shortly after and we just sat down and watch TV. We also played some Mario before Amos came to take the Wii to Matt's. We watched more TV after that and at one point, I took a nap while Annie watched "Confessions of a Shopacholic". Sounded like a funny movie, but I just dozed off.

I woke up after the movie was over and we had to decide on dinner. It was about 7pm and we didn't want to spend money at a restaurant, so we headed over to Safeway on Taraval and got some stuff for dinner. Fried chicken, broccoli, and some sour cream for baked potatoes. It was good for the moment, but I think I'm done with fried chicken for now... After dinner, Annie headed home and I just sat around and chilled. Lazy, yet relaxing...

Day 72 of 365: Christmas tree

I overslept and missed my BSF meeting this morning... It was the last one for the year until it starts again in January... Really sucks that I couldn't make it. I realized this morning that I didn't set my alarm clock, so I just slept on. After realizing that I couldn't make it, I just stayed in bed. Got out a couple of times to blow my nose, but stayed out when it got bad. Played a couple of rounds of MW2 while I was up.

After Annie was done with what she needed to do, we headed out to Stonestown to return some stuff. Ran into Christal and caught up on the spot. Then I received a call from Amos reminding me of a Search Committee interview later today, which I thought was next week. So Annie and I went to Americana for a quick lunch. Tried the Tomato Crab noodles for the first time. Pretty good.

Interview went well and after that, I hitched a ride with Amos and had him drop me off at Annie's where I helped set up her Christmas tree. Haven't done that since...my teens? In Petaluma? Stayed there for a while before heading out for an early dinner...because I was hungry! We narrowed our choice down to Sushi boat and Isobune was the closest we could think of.

Dinner was good. I think the prices went up, but for sushi boat, or rather, good Japanese sushi, I didn't mind at all. With stomachs satisfied, we drop by Pier 1 to shop for some ornaments. Found a couple of cool mugs that I had to buy! I love cups and mugs for some reason! One of those closet fascinations. Annie felt like crepe after Pier 1, which was interesting since she usually wouldn't eat this much, unless it's that time of the month... Anyway! We got crepes and headed down to Lucky's on Lakeshore to pick up a movie for the night. Rent 'Up'. Love that movie. Love Dug the most!

Mid way through, Amos came home with Victor, Vincent and Jenny and they played Mario Brother's for a while before I started to hear Rabids. When Annie and I were done with 'Up', everyone was pretty much done for the night and headed out. However, Amos, Annie and I stayed to play a couple of rounds of Mario, which we manage to clear the first world! It was quite a night...

Day 71 of 365: White elephant

It rained! I love the rain! Best enjoyed indoors, dry and warm... Too bad I had to work... At least work wasn't that bad. Just a couple of nasty patients, but I haven't had those in a while.

Today's highlight was my clinic's Christmas dinner. I invited Annie as my guest and I was more than happy that she came. Would've been a tad awkward since we were seated at a table with all the doctors including the boss of the whole clinic. The food was...bleh, honestly...and yelp gave it 4 stars overall? Maybe it's just this menu, but it wasn't that great. I chose the gumbo and the best part about that is the fresh crab. Other than that, it didn't came out as I expected.

There are a white elephant portion of the dinner, which was fun! Lots and lots of stealing, which makes the church's white elephant really look like a game for saints since no one from church would steal, or rather rarely steals. But the stealing is part of the fun of this! It was really funny when everyone wanted certain things and other got crappy stuff. Annie originally got this dancing Santa...thing...that looks like something from the 90's. Looks really tacky... Annie played it out well, but I know that she didn't want it. Even I didn't want it... Thank God, someone stole it! At the end, Annie got a travel shoe shining kit.

When it came to my turn, I picked up a cactus. Didn't quite look like the other ones out there. This one looks more like a flower. Couple turns later, someone decided to steal mine... I went up to pick another and I got a silver dish that says "Bless this home" or something like that. It's cool, I guess, but not something that I would get. Either way, I like the fact that it says "Bless this home"! I'll say 'Amen' to that!

After the evening was over, I drove some of my coworkers back to the clinic to pick up their car and I drove Annie to pick her's up. Pretty fun evening! Thank God for letting Annie come! Wouldn't have gone through it any other way!

Day 70 of 365: God's timing

Today was a good day. Got a lot of things done outside of work, but the best part has yet to come.

I hung out with Eric for dinner, which was good since the last time I did this was...oh, a couple months back? That's unacceptable! Went over to check out his 2005 Ford Mustang GT. Beautiful car! And I'm not one for American. Actually, it's Japanese first, American second and whatever after that. But this Mustang, boy, was it fast! 300 horsepower pulled in a big V8 motor! Now that's half the engine of my Camry, both in horsepower and cylinders. Well, Camry has 158hp, but it's about half. Almost scary to have that much power! Either way, it was a beautiful car! Big and muscular!

We had dinner at Kukje market, at that Korean restaurant. We caught up with our latest news of what happened in the last couple of months and had good hot tofu soup at the same time. Very soothing to have hot soup in cold weather.

After dinner, we just headed back to his house where I checked out the car in more detail. Talked a lot about the car and various others. One thing I do miss is putting parts into cars. The Mustang is one easy car to upgrade just by knowing and looking at it. Envious? Maybe... The thought about the MR-S came, that's for sure... Then the fog lights... Oh gosh.. All in God's timing.

Day 69 of 365:City Toyota

I love my days off...so relaxing... Especially when I get to stay up late and sleep in... Actually, the staying up late is getting shorter. I was able to stay awake for a long time, but if I'm not active, I will doze off. Anyway, I woke up with enough sleep, but with an irritated nose. Finally decided to just jump out at around 9:30. Had quite a day ahead of me.

Well, I started the day with a little bit of Modern Warfare. Now, now, let me finish... I played just one game when I know it in my heart that it's not the right way to start the day. So I got my BSF homework, went to New Taraval and had BSF over some light breakfast. I like New Taraval because it's cheap and it's a mom-and-pop shop. I strongly support independent businesses!

I went back home and went through some stuff for the Camry. Walked over to the car just to confirm a problem with a part from the fog lights. Lo and behold, that part wasn't the right shape. eBay goods... That's when I decided to drive over to City Toyota to do some maintenance on the Camry. I know I planned to do the oil change myself, but I check for the tools I needed, particularly a car jack and jack stands, but there were none. I don't know if my neighbor has any of those tools, but I wouldn't use it unless I have their permission... So off to City Toyota!!

Got there and registered for the maintenance. Went to the waiting room and found a 2001 Toyota MR-S at the show floor. In my mind, I know I want to sit in it because it was one of those cars on my "want" list. What makes this car so unique and desired? It's a small car that is a convertible. It's lightweight makes it good on gas and fun to toss around. Downside: two seats only. I still love it. Would I give up my dreams of the Supra for this...probably yes. Oooh, the temptation and frustration of lustful desires of automotive sorts... Why am I so into cars and yet unable to enjoy it? 'Sigh'... Actually, I know the reasons, but it doesn't stop me from dreaming... At least God opened the door for the Camry. I like the car. And it's white!

After all the car drooling at City Toyota, I went to Target to get the Christmas gift for this Friday's dinner party. Thank God for a $5 and $10 item shelves! Definitely made shopping easy! And shopping at Target was fast this time. Didn't get anything else superficial. Just what I need.

Went home to find Vincent and Amos playing Modern Warfare 2. Decided to finish the rest of the Japanese curry and made enough for lunch tomorrow. Good stuff. Soon after that, it's worship practice time for the Mandarin. Got there early to help set up and practice a little on my own. When everyone got there, I found out that there was no drummer to play for that Sunday. Bummer... I decided to step down for this Sunday since it'll be awkward without the drummer to compliment the bass. Oh well...

Went over to Annie's for a while after that and came home to do some laundry. I love laundry...really? Not really...

Day 68 of 365: Any curry

As it turned out, my Camry's windshield was frozen over with a layer of ice! Sure brings back memories of my time at snow country when one snowboarding trip was in the middle of a snow storm and my Odyssey was completely frozen on the outside! Pretty cool, though if it were warming, I might enjoy it better. Sure wouldn't mind trying skiing again.

Today, I was better prepared for the cold! However, I felt like the cold got colder, so all my layering almost became wasted effort... The curry was a good touch though! I love curry! Any curry!

Came home and eat some before heading out to BSF. Nothing great happened except for one disciplinary issue. And the thing is that BSF is very particular about how certain things are handled, so caution was taken.

Anyway, I plan to do a lot tomorrow. Some banking, possible oil change for the Camry, fog light installation, cleaning up and such...oh, shopping for the clinic dinner this Friday. I hope I could get all these done by 7:30pm. That's when worship practice for the Mandarin starts. Oh, happy day...

Day 67 of 365: Tahoe cold

Man, it's cold! Seriously, I was struggling to stay warm by means of hot coffee, leg shaking and the occasionally run up the stairs. What made it worse was the fact that it was a little less busy than I wanted it to be. Not enough activity to keep the mind active and the body warm... As a result, I was typing a lot slower because of my cold fingers... The good part was lunch time. I heated up the food longer to make it extra hot! On top of that, I was given some Thai curry, which helped turn up the heat with its spicyness! Today's lunch was the best thus far! Simple, but very much satisfying!

I went shopping for groceries and it was freezing! It felt like I was in the mountains! Like Tahoe cold! Anyway, I thought about making Japanese curry for dinner. Made it with pork, carrots, potatoes, onions and celery. Making it was easy and fun! It was pretty spicy, but it could do well being a little bit more spicier. After it was done, Amos and I watched the new Terminator movie. Good stuff there! And good thing I made some extra for lunch tomorrow! Enough for the both of us!

Some of the Tang clan is coming over to San Francisco and I'm excited to play host to them! It'll be cool to have church family from Singapore and I'm planning to take them some where for a good, ol' fashion American pig out. I wonder when Armadillo Willies' all-you-can-eat ribs start....

Day 66 of 365: Dad's sermons

Today felt like a Monday...at least, in the morning it did. Didn't want to wake up, worrying about what the day will bring...stuff like that. I think I was nervous about playing for the Mandarin service since I didn't feel like I'm good enough to play with confidence. Either way, I woke up and got to church. Ran through the songs especially the technical details of it. Quite challenging compared with how it was done with Uncle Tad, but that's because Uncle Tad is much more routined and predictable. This morning's set was different in many ways, which I like. My voice was a little messed up for some reason. Can't hit certain notes... Need more practice.

The Mandarin portion went as clockwork as it could. Given I'm a bassist, most people probably couldn't hear my mistakes. Well, the majority of the congregation are the elderly, so they very well can't pick up such a low tone. I stayed for the whole service. Tried to practice listening to Mandarin. Sitting through it did make me miss Dad's sermons...

Went home after to shower and make lunch. Yes, I didn't shower the night before because I was too tired to shower... Anyway, dumplings was for lunch and Annie came over after her meeting, just when the dumplings were done. She started to help me clean up a little, but I jumped straight into cleaning myself after the dumplings went down my mouth. I'm not comfortable when people are doing something that I should be doing too.... Gasp! Annie will know that weakness!

After cleaning, I went over to Annie's for dinner and it was good as usual. Almost had some durian for dessert, but Annie didn't appreciate me getting stinky durian breath, so I had some when I got home.

Simple day, but it felt short...too short....

[Make-up] Day 65 of 365: Good fellowship

Wow! It's 300 days left before the big day! Nice! Hahaha!

I woke up for BSF as usual, but the only thing different was when I got to the church for the meeting. Several leaders were standing outside of the building that we meet, but none seem to bothered by the fact that it was cold and warmth was just a key turn away. Well, apparently someone forgot that we had meetings Saturday mornings, so they locked the dead bolt. No one has the keys to the dead bolt, which led to the waiting outside the building. Eventually, we found out that a door leading to the main church building wasn't locked by dead bolt, so we got somewhere to meet, just different place. All in all, we managed to see God provide the answer to our ridiculously funny situation.

Saturday school assembly after the meeting and I have to say that it went well! Praise God for opening the students up! They used to be really quiet, which some still are, but each of them are warming up to us!

Worship practice after that, but that's not until I made a short trip back home to change and use the bathroom. Went back looking for parking and thank God for His provisions! Even though the spot was further than I like, I thank God for the good walk over to Joe's Ice Cream where He provided an egg salad sandwich and later a cup of turkey jook from Auntie Esther! Now that's abundance!

I met up with Annie about mid-afternoon. She got a couple of sweaters for me and we went home to try them out, only to find that they were a tad small. And both sweaters were larges! So we went to Macy's and exchanged them for the appropriate size. Went to the Korean supermarket after to get groceries for hot pot at her best friend's place. Good time of fellowship and some Mario brothers on the Wii! I have to say, it did bring memories back, especially the part where I suck at this game, but I know that I could play it well... It's all about the timing!

Good food, good fellowship! Just what I need... Now, I need sleep and grace for Sunday...

Day 64 of 365: Slightly dizzy

I felt slightly dizzy this morning and during the later part of the day. I don't know what it was, but I'm just going to try to get some rest. All I can say about this day is that God is good and fellowship today was refreshing. I took the lead in small groups today to cover Jesus as the 'Bread of life' and how we are to partake in Him through the bible. I hope this cleared up some questions, but I sure need to continue to be in fellowship with Christ. Can't lead if I'm drained and hungry myself. Still like a break before getting some ideas in...

Anyway, simple day...now some rest.

Day 63 of 365: Contentment

Today felt like a drag... The only thing different is a 2 hours long break, thanks to some Christmas dinner shopping for work. After that, it just feels...tiresome. I really don't mind the work at all, but perhaps I'm just out of shape... I have been doing some push-ups at least. 20 last night, 30 tonight.

I know I shouldn't complain, but that's just the nature of the human instant gratification condition... I want so much, but give so little. If there's another lesson to learn in life, it is the price for getting what you want. It'll drain your life out. The crazier thing is that you'll never be satisfied after getting it. Oh, the countless toy boxes of cars, action figures and planes that I got, but neglected after a while when something new pops out of the horizon. Same with real cars and games and clothes and shoes...you know what I mean. Contentment...

Well, I went to a BSF seminar on "Sharing the Gospel". Never thought it'll reveal so much of what's lacking in this topic. First of, I suck as an improvisational actor, playing an unbeliever. Good thing, maybe. I see it can be a negative side because I'm unfamiliar with what unbelievers see in Christians. Second, I'm all over the place when sharing the Gospel. I don't know if it's a lack of public speech experience, confidence issues or the lack of conviction in the Gospel. I hope it's not the latter, but I confess it could be the combination of each. There was a good point about the Gospel, it is not based on emotions and it's not meant to make me happy. It is meant to tell me that everything I do is wrong and my path for earthly pleasure is futile. What feels good, or seems good, is futile. Without Jesus, it's nothing. It is not based on emotions... Quite a powerful point... Time to ponder...

Day 62 of 365: Spiritual food

What a day off! I managed to get some things done while still have my time to play! At one point of the morning, I did feel...weird. Like the brink of sickness, but not... Never felt like this before, so I better watch myself.

Did some cleaning at the Duncan property, picked up mail, worship practice...Oh, worship practice for the Mandarin service! I can say that they are surprisingly good especially when they managed to hit the high notes. The first song took me by surprise in a weird sense because the music itself was arranged in a style I am completely unfamiliar. It sounded like something Russian... So different to the point where my comfortable bass riffs count for nothing... The practice took a long time overall. Thanks to the technician working on the projector, we started late. At the end, my back hurts and my head was spinning... Either way, it was a good practice. I was able to read some of the Chinese on the music, so that's pretty cool.

Made baked potatoes for dinner. Figured that half a sack of taters shouldn't go to waste. Got some bacon going and pop them in with American cheese on top to melt into the cracks. Not bad, but it could sure use some sour cream and green onions. I love potatoes...

There was something from BSF that caught my attention and it wasn't something new. Essentially, our devotions and prayers are, in a sense, spiritual food for our revived spirit. What we feed from the junk food of the world, such as media influences, bodily appearance and expensive hobbies, are nothing more than the potato chips, high fructose corn syrup and trans fats. Taste good, but not necessary beneficial. Paul writes to the Corinthian church in the book of 1 Corinthians about the same thing. In 1 Corinthians 10:23, Paul agrees with the church that everything and anything is open for us to enjoy, but it is not always good for us. Same for junk food and salads. One is good, but not very nutrious while the other, taste pending on the style of cooking, may taste off-worldly to our sinful desires is good in all aspects.

I hope that this is something that will give good insight of what our spiritual self have to partake as our physical self does with our daily meals. One thing that BSF pointed out was that we can fast physically, but we cannot afford to fast spiritually.

Day 61 of 365: My foolishness

Pat's birthday is tomorrow and I have to confess that it did bring a tear to my eye, even now as I write this. So many memories and yet it was my foolishness that I didn't treasure him more. I should have took that trip to Sac and stayed over. Perhaps I could have saved his life... I miss him a lot and it frustrates me that I miss him most now instead of before. I never knew anyone this close that I have lost and in my comfortable life, I deny the fact that he is gone. I now wait that inconvenient phone call from him, which will never come again. That random phone call that comes in the middle of class or at work, because I know that it is his brotherly love that calls me.

Every bowl of ramen reminds me of him. Every black '95 Civic reminds me of him, even hopes it would be him. I know that these are all memories and they are worth remembering. For that is how we know the feeling of how the disciples felt when Jesus died. What joy it was for them to see the teacher they saw dead raised from the cold, damped grave. If Pat did that now, I yell 'zombie' though... Only Jesus would do such a thing. Well, unless God allows for someone to be raised from the dead, but it would need a godly purpose.

I know it's only the eve of Pat's birthday, but I like to get a head start. Happy birthday, big brother. I miss you much, but I really look forward to seeing you in the midst of great worship! Oh, you would have loved Modern Warfare 2!

Day 60 of 365: Singaporean taste

There was almost no motivation to go to work today... In a way, it's, most likely, because of the long weekend. Got too comfortable... Well, it also didn't take long to get back into the working mode. Good thing it wasn't too busy though that day will come soon, like next week.

I made an attempt to make Char Tow Kway tonight, but failed miserably. That's, of course, according to my Singaporean taste buds. I know what's missing, but I just don't know where to get it. Plus I used Lo Bat Go instead, which is softer than the Tow Kway. Another recipe to experiment.

I went with Annie to send her mom off to China. Reminded me of how I send my parents off when I was younger, but as I mentioned to Annie, i got so used to it, it's almost numb. I guess that's what happens when you see family fly frequently.

Now that brings me to an interesting thought about working at the airport... I did check the job listings, but nothing stood out. I would like to work with the security part of it. Seems fun! Either way, this would take some prayer and faith like every other job and career path that I consider.

Day 59 of 365: Pat's Departure

Today's worship set was fun! Especially the last song when we pulled the blues/rock style on 'Precious Cornerstone'. And I think I'm getting use to singing and playing bass too! That's a good thing to hear. Oh, interesting thing that happened. I was asked to play bass for the Mandarin team. Not too thrill since I heard stories of how inflexible the music is. Trouble is, I don't know how the music goes for any of the songs I was given. It's going to be hard for me to play...

Had lunch with Annie's best friend and her husband. Haven't seen them in a while, so it's refreshing to have a couple at about the same age as us to talk to.

Went to visit Pat after lunch. Can I say it is still hard for me to know that he's really gone? I don't know what to think when I saw his name on the headstone... But in a sense, Pat's departure is a good example of how we see Jesus and His death. More on a parallel to the communion. A lot of the things that reminds me of Pat, like Zelda, Naruto and Ramen, is not much different from our communion. Just as eating ramen reminds me of Pat, eating the bread and drinking the wine, or grape juice, holds the same weight in comparison. It's almost God teaching us what it means to remember Jesus and His death. It's comforting to know, but I still miss him.

I dropped Annie off at Stonetown and went home, only to head out again to drop Kristy off at the airport. After which I went to Matt's for a little Modern Warfare 2 and dinner at BJ's. 30 minute wait time, so we went to Barnes and Noble's where I found a cool book on 'Wicked' and its sequel! I always wanted to read it, so I got it. Could have bought several others, but I like 'Wicked'.

After a...boring dinner of fake deep dish pizza, except when Aaron and I got pint cups for buying gift cards to pay for the meal, we head back to Matt's for more man time. I felt sorry for Joan and Mei...next time, it's...'everyone' time!

Day 58 of 365: Anger management

What a day... I dreamed about my phone alarm as a noise detector and every time it goes off, I keep thinking about who was making noise. That caused me to shut my alarm off and totally forget that I needed to wake up for BSF. I managed to wake up in time to get ready and head out the door, but it was a little rushed. At the meeting, I felt physically horrible because my sinus was clogged up and my nose was runny. Nothing serious here, but a case of anger management against my sinful and frail body... I get really annoyed when that happens especially when tissue is not present.

I got home and chill for a while. Tried to do some things on my to-do list, but couldn't because of a lack of resources. So I played Modern Warfare 2's story and it was intense! It was like watching a movie, but you're part of the action! So many plot twists and crazy good action! I really love games with intense stories! Really grabs you into the game and breaks your heart when favorite characters die... Well, in the first Modern Warfare, it was almost the same, but this time, it really hits hard.

Annie came back with Sarah and Kristy and I went with Annie to get a bite to eat. Went to the corner Mexican place for fish tacos. Came back home, realized Sarah was feeling adventurous, and she wanted to watch a horror flick such as Saw IV. It was...questionable. Needless to say, there was parental consent and the movie didn't last long before we made the switch to "Say yes to the dress" and "America's next top model". At this point, I was starting to get tired of the shows and appreciate the fact that Annie and I went out to go shopping. Good thing too!

Manage to get what I needed. Xbox 360 headset, pack of blank CD-Rs, and a pair of Asics running shoes. Met up with Annie's parent for a while and had Mickey D's. Pretty much covers dinner.

Annie dropped me off for worship practice, which was fun because we pulled of a blues/rock song. Took a while to get it down, but it was a fun practice. After that, Amos, Vincent and I went to King of Thai for dinner. The Big Mac was enough, but I could eat a little more.

We were planning on hanging out with Jeremy Wong before he heads back, but it took too long, so we called it a night and here I am now! Today was quite a day...

Day 57 of 365: Post-Thanksgiving

Today was the day I slept in till 10:30am! Felt good for that moment until I realized the time that was wasted. Well, it's was a good time for rest. It's not like I was planning to shop early in the morning for Black Friday deals. I did, however, get the new Mario brothers game for the Wii. Looks fun already, but I'll try it tomorrow.

The main event of the day was post-Thanksgiving dinner at Matt's home, or clubhouse. Hot pot was on the list and there was a huge company of friends! Pretty awesome to see some friends that I haven't seen in a while. The food was good, but felt like it was a tad chaotic managing all the food. It was good that we had enough for all.

Today was truly a day of rest for me...That said, I'll keep this entry short and say this: Evangelism is good, but when do we know if what we are doing is in God's timing? Better yet, don't expect yourself to bring someone to Christ, but rather be a stepping stone and do what Jesus would have done and fellowship with that person genuinely!

[Make-up] Day 56 of 365: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving service today was good, but I felt a little sluggish in the morning despite getting a good night's rest. I don't think a couple hours more of sleep would be the answer, or coffee for that matter, which I drink only when needed at work.

Had lunch with a bunch of friends at Little Henry's and had veal for the first time in my life. Not bad for meat previously classified as mysterious.

Went home and chilled for a while, but seconds later, Annie and I were out the door in search of newspaper ads for Black Friday. Came home looking through all the ads, which reminded me of my younger years where I, myself, look forward to the ads in the newspaper to look for crazy cool deals that I had to persuade my parents to buy for me. It was fun doing this again, except my toys now are more expensive and usually not on Black Friday deals.

Had hot pot for dinner at Annie's. Always have good stuff there! Expected crab, but saw other tasty selections like salmon, roe-filled fishballs and lamb! Among my long list of favorites!

[Make-up]Day 55 of 365: Cooking mama

Wow...I just played Modern Warfare 2 with my brother for a long time! Long enough to miss an entry...Well, better late than never!

I tried to sleep-in today, but woke up at 8. Stayed in bed until 9, which isn't too bad. Now I had everything all planned out for the day, but apparently, it didn't work out. I stayed home for breakfast, played some games, and Kristy missed her flight. So that means the plans to have lunch with Kristy at Stack's didn't work out. So instead, Amos and I met up with Ricky and Vincent and we went to Slider's at Westlake for burgers.

After that, Amos and I head down to Tanforan where we waited for Kristy. Actually went to Best Buy to check out the deals there, but I guess it doesn't happen until Friday.

So we picked Kristy up and we went to Tanforan to get food for her because she missed lunch too. Went there, got some essentials and after that, went to get groceries for dinner. Decided on Cream of Mushroom and Steak. Missing the salad, but we made it work out with what we had at home. Pretty good to have Kristy back. The silence of the home is broken.

Oh, after getting groceries, we went to Gamestop to look for something cheap. I was aiming for one game for Annie: Cooking Mama World (or something like that). Found it at a comfortable price! Happy with that purchase! Can't wait to try it...I mean, can't wait to try it with Annie...

After dinner, we just chilled around until Sarah came over and did the customary female greeting. Soon after, I called Annie and chat for a while. Lots of stuff that needs to be done.

Day 54 of 365: Expensive hobbies

Today felt like a blur...like it went by, but ever so slowly. At least until now.

The sister is flying back tomorrow, so that'll be exciting! It'll be good to hear some harassing of the brother for a change. Gives character to the silence... But before picking Kristy up, I'll probably head over to New Taraval Cafe for a light breakfast and do some BSF while I'm at it. Sleep-in for as long as I can if I don't wake up at 8:30 again.

Lately, I've been supplying energy to my thoughts about my expensive hobbies, primarily paintball and cars. The more I think about it, the more it feels silly and superficial... For both cases, it's the urge to tear things apart and put them back together again. Or, do some custom work. But I hold back because I can never decide on which to really invest time in. On one hand, good paintball fields are hard to come by in the Bay Area. On the other hand, I don't have a beat-up car to work with and the Camry is too new to mess around too much. These are things that fade away, but it's among the things I like to have fun with. I guess for now, I'll make do with what I have...

Day 53 of 365: Super Mario

I got to stay at my desk for the majority of the day, so no annoying patients to deal with...Ok, that's a bad attitude. Ought to see it as an opportunity to work on patience and the practice of holding my tongue before speaking my mind. Even so, it was refreshing to be by myself at work. The silence is inviting. The work, however, is less fun than what it was before. If not, more frustrating to deal with Excel... Lots of changes to an already complicated spreadsheet... I made additional changes on top of what was discussed. Even though it is more to deal with, it's easier on the formulas and the end results are accurate at least. As long as I have the numbers right at the end, I can't argue with the format. Ugly, but functional.

I had dinner with my coworkers that I work close with at Pacific Catch on 9th and Irving. Second time that I've been here. Good food, lots of fish... I particularly enjoy the sweet potato fries. Very tasty! The conversations were pretty random, but mostly about other restaurants and cultural traditions with food in them. I'm glad to be in the company of food enthusiast...

Came home and found my Xbox missing... I didn't trip over it, but know only one person that could walk out of the house with it: Amos... So for the most part of the evening, I went along without my Xbox. Good? I say yes. It's an opportunity to do my BSF homework and spend some time with God. As of now, I have gone without playing my Xbox for...almost 24 hours. That's not a record, but I do feel the withdrawal effects... I am still glad that it was taken away...

When Amos came home, Vincent was with him and apparently, per Kristy's request, they were planning to play the Super Mario theme and record it for a project that Kristy is working on. Very amusing to see Vincent play and mess up a couple of times. Oh, and the music made me want to play Mario...

Day 52 of 365: Psalm 46

What a great worship service! Well, for the sermon at least. It was Pastor Steve Korch, coming back for the second time to minister! I have to say, I enjoy the flow and dynamics of teachers like Pastor Korch! Stories, energy and passion! Not monotoned and scripted...which I could be myself... What inspiration for me to learn to speak dynamically!

Anyway, the message was based on Psalm 46. The funny thing was that this passage was not the original passage that Pastor Korch selected and changed it. Sort of a shocker for Uncle Tad since the songs he selected wasn't intended for the changed passage. Fortunate for us, God uses everything in His favor and the mismatched songs worked out anyway!

Back to the sermon, and I'll just mention just the first portion: verse 1 of Psalm 46! And I paraphrase, "The Lord is my strength and my refuge, my ever-present help in times of need". Very simple, but also very powerful because of three keywords: strength, refuge and help! The intention of the message was to encourage those who are in very stressed and hard times and Pastor Korch aimed for us to not see the problems before us, but rather know who our God IS and what He will do for us! I love how in verse 2, there is a part of that verse that says, "We will not fear", and how we could stand strong in knowing that God will be there for us and that we will not fear in these times of trouble!

The pastor continues to guides the congregation to focus in on 3 principles that I find encouraging as well!

1) In the midst of hardships, it is not what you see in front of you, but what you know about God (verse 1-3)

2) In the midst of hardships, what matters most is not the absence of problems, but the presence of God (verse 4-7)

3) In the midst of hardships, what matters most is letting go of your demands and taking hold of God (verse 8-11)

It is so true for these 3 points and for us Christians, we tend to lose sight of these principles really easier. Meditate on the first point and work your way down! Today was a refreshing day! Good spiritual eating (sunday service), encouraging growth (Johnathan), tasty froyo (Nubi with Annie) and honest chatting and planning for the wedding!

Today is the Lord's and it is good!

Day 51 of 365: Iron Chef

I had a good night sleep, despite only getting about 5 hours of it. Woke up at about 4:30am, but went back to sleep for a while longer. At least until 5:30am, where my alarm goes off. Didn't take me long to get out of bed and get ready for BSF.

Worship practice was straight after. There was a evangelistic meeting at church and they were using the sanctuary, so we had to move the practice over to the chapel, which was used by TNT for assembly! Busy day for the church! So we set up anyway because the assembly time was just about over. Practice didn't take too long. In fact, it was the fastest so far, clocking in at 40 minutes. I don't know why it was so fast, but at least the songs were familiar.

When to lunch with Amos and Vincent after that at Bashful Bull on Noriega. Good food, good fellowship!

Came home after that to clean up the house for the evening's event: Iron Chef! Didn't take long to pack everything away since there was more people there to help. Annie came over after her meeting with the florist to help out too. After that, Annie and I went out for a while and returned with a movie ('Year One') and some food. 'Year One' was...stupid...

As time progressed, more and more people came over to get ready for Iron Chef. Around 3:30pm, we started, formed teams and gave the secret ingredient: Green beans! Two teams went out to get their menus going while the judges, Annie, Victor and I, chilled. Victor was back at his home overseeing the team working there and Annie and I were at my home. We played the Wii and Castle Crashers to kill time, which made the cooking team feel envious. Aaron came over at the last hour and I played Modern Warfare 2 with him for a while.

The food were all creativity and definitely tasty. I didn't know that each team could pull off food at this caliber! It was good food all around and some good times together! Judging was fun and I kept thinking like I was actually one of the judges in the show! Pretty cool! I feel honored to be selected as a judge!

Cleaned up and played games after, which was fun and here I am now!

Day 50 of 365: Constant connection

This is a strange day. Weather forecast expected heavy rains, but I didn't think that it's heavy rains for 15 minutes. After the rain came, it pretty much was clear skies and sunshine. Praise God for that then since I had to park my car elsewhere. This was one of those days where it feels like everyone decided not to go to work and the streets are full of cars except for the street that is due for cleaning. Weird...

Fellowship was different tonight because we had the Youth Director/Pastor candidate speak. The TNT kids were a tad confused at the change of pace, but that's what you get when you don't check your weekly updates. Too pampered almost... Some of them were asking if we were staying for the whole time. Most of them probably wasn't listening to the candidate...

So we were given time for ourselves and we went down to do the customary introductions and announcements. We didn't plan a message since it was already taken care of, so we played a decent game of Mafia. Probably the best game of Mafia so far because the kids were actually playing it the right way. Except for one of them...he got confused in the first round, but picked it up right away.

Earlier in the evening, and possibly in the afternoon, I failed to do one thing that seems to be plaguing me in the past month or two. That is, of course, communication. This is one of the many issues that are commonly found in guys and we tend to say less than women, but ultimately tend to process only what's in front of us. I was selfish with my thoughts and I failed to communicate important information. In a way, this is a reflection of how some of us, if not all of us, are with our communication, or prayer, with God. We tend to dwell in our own thoughts and dwindle within our comfort zone. A lot of times, that kind of behavior leads to a lack of communication with God. In this case, how many times do we earnestly pray and direct our thoughts and concerns to God? Do we simply dwell in our sinful desires instead of maintaining a constant connection with God? I have mentioned one key aspect of a relationship that is essentially healthy for the couple and that is communication. I know I forgotten that... Now the question is, how convicted am I with my lack of prayer?

Day 49 of 365: Childish accomplishments

Had a meeting with the Medical Director of my clinic regarding a pilot program for the doctors. There were issues that needed attention from the report that I was in charge of updating periodically. The meeting was just a follow-up on how it's working so far and what needs improvement and refinement. This lasted for an hour and a half... Dreadfully confusing to play with Excel formulas, but quite challenging at the same time.

Had an early dinner before heading out for the TNT meeting. I made an attempt to finish Modern Warfare, a game that I was about to lose my hair from. The challenge that the developers set for gamers is almost as though they don't want you to finish the game. Frustrating to the point where I gave up a couple of times and watched TV, but something strange pushed me to try again. I went at it again and made it pass the point that I was stuck at. What relief, but that doesn't mean I can relax. I know it isn't long before the game is complete, so I push further until I got it! Great ending to a long story and there goes those words and names that crawl up the screen, also known as credits! I was even more relieved to know that I finally finished a game! A childish accomplishment, if you like to call it.

The meeting was productive, but awkward without Annie there. I don't know why, but there just isn't a lot to talk about... Oh, Ben asked me about organizing a paintball outing for his office, but realized that the Burlingame field closed down... I'm really disappointed because I actually plan on going maybe twice a month during the weekdays.

Came home after that and chilled for a while...pondered during that time too, but I can't seem to get my thoughts together...next time maybe...

Day 48 of 365: Lord's prayer

Work, work...

Had a good chat with Annie about random stuff. Played a baby name game where we pull a name out and one of us have to get a similar name of the opposite intended gender. It's interesting after a while when I notice that certain sounds from names have a masculine or feminine touch. It's as though the sounds itself is gender specific. We went on to other things like wedding cake options to watching Tae Yang's wedding dress video. I still don't see what the big deal is. Annie called this guy an Usher-wannabe. I don't follow Usher too...

After all the talking, we spent some time in prayer. I think that's one aspect of my walk that needs some jump-starting. After thinking it through, it is a must for me to study what prayer is. The best place to learn about is by the example Jesus gave. And I'm not talking about the Lord's Prayer. I see that now as an outline. What I want to go through is the prayer that Jesus said in John 17. BSF will get to this part some time next year, but I hope to get it started earlier.

Oh, Annie's dad gave me a pair of leather boots. Again, the Chinese in me feels bad...

Day 47 of 365: Happy birthday!

First off, this is the day...OF ANNIE'S BIRTHDAY!!! Happy birthday, lo paw! Or, soon-to-be lo paw! I pray that God will grant you another year of wisdom, grace and love for many more years to come!

Second, I woke up late this morning...Aiya...It's okay though, I managed to get to work on time. When I got there, my coworker told me that the intranet network was out. That means I can't make, check or cancel appointments! Too bad for the patients... The worst part is that I can't chat on Google with Annie to wish her 'Happy Birthday'. so I text messaged her instead. It also means I have no access to the daily news. That means I was bored for most of the morning. It wasn't until the hour before hour that I was able to come in contact with tech support to do some troubleshooting. At the end, I was able to fix the problem, which turned out to be a faulty back-up power supply. All I had to do was reroute the power directly to the outlet and that was it. After that, it was back to business.

During the boredom though, I decided to buy a small breakfast for everyone. I went around to ask what people wanted from the local Chinese bakery and went out to get myself coffee and their snacks. Glad I was able to get something for them since most of them always treat everyone to the occassional milk tea or frozen yogurt.

Came back home and ate an early dinner before BSF. Had to scramble at one point to get things ready for the night. Overall though, the night went well. Smooth for the most part. One thing I didn't expect was the slight rain. Worried me for a while, but after that, I just let go and let God handle it. Didn't drizzle one bit after that.

Came home a little earlier than usual, so I showered and called Annie to wish her happy birthday again! I love my fiancee mucho grande! Why? Because she's perfect in every way!

Day 46 of 365: Clean-up

I had another hard morning waking up. It was cold and I was nice and toasty under my sheets. Either way, I have to wake up for work. No point calling in sick since I'm not sick and I don't plan on lying just to stay warm in bed. That's reserved for my 5 day weekend next week. HA!

I drove to work and managed to get there a little earlier to get some coffee for the morning. Made and ate a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, so the coffee made it easy to wash down the sticky peanut butter.

Relatively easy day...Nothing much to say about that.

After work, I went over to Annie's to pick up a pot of soup that her mom made for me. Ended up with a feast to bring home for dinner and lunch tomorrow. I always feel bad that they give so much and I always want to give back more. Annie's mom asked me about Thanksgiving week's schedule for the Public Health Centers and wondered if she should pick up her medications next Friday, but I told her that the clinics will be closed. She decided to do the pick on Wednesday.

Went home and found Amos watching 'Superhero Movie'. It's a parody flick on superhero movies (Duh!) and I caught the last moments of it. It's a dumb movie... Anyway, he headed out to Vincent's for hot pot, but I stayed at home. I planned to do some cleaning up after dinner, which was good by the way.

My primary focus for the clean-up was the bathroom because I couldn't take it anymore. Practically disinfected the whole bathroom and cleaned what I could. What's left to detail is the bathtub. It really needs a good scrub. 'Sigh'...Cleaning can be fun, but it's nasty...

Day 45 of 365: Car died

Good stuff today! Sunday worship was good with Uncle David speaking on Ephesians 1:15-23. I messed up a couple of times on stage with the bass. Hit the 'G' string by accident during the prayer before the first song and I hit the head of the guitar against the wall, which made all the strings vibrate and gave out a loud and deep sound. After the first set, I sat down and sneezed weird. I was quiet with my head looking down with embarrassment... Caused too much noise and attention for myself...

When the service was over, I executed my plan to surprise Annie when the TNT Sunday School class was done. Ben and I went out in search for the cake and we had an hour to do so. Came back with plenty of time left to chill for a while and hung out with Calvin. When the time came, it went according to God's plan and what I thought of doing didn't come through as smooth as I had thought it hoped for. Either way, it was a good surprise! Sad to say, two thirds of the class left after we sang Happy Birthday to Annie. Or was it half? The remainder had cake, but it was a good fellowship time with them as well.

Congregational meeting...good thing it ended on time. I thought this meeting was encouraging too because of the testimonies of what God is doing for the construction of the Gospel center. I'm really excited for the new sanctuary in the building, but I hope it's not because of Uncle Tad hyping it up. Lots of new stuff going into the building!

Went home after for a while until Annie arrives. When she did, it was shopping time! For groceries and clothes! We went to Lucky's first to return G.I. Joe and got some stuff for dinner at Matt's. I thought about making Cream of Mushroom again and I got some onions, chicken broth and half-and-half. Then it's off to Stonetown for a quick purchase. Annie had a coupon for Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy, so we went to two of the three. Got new pants for church and BSF meetings. Finally! Says Annie... But seriously, it is about time that I got something else to wear instead of the Docker's. I love the Docker's, but I can't wear that all the time. Oh, got some Starbuck's before that to get caffinated! Needed that bad.

We went to Sunset Super on Vicente to get my mushrooms and I found chicken broth that was way way WAY cheaper than what was at Lucky's. Got everything I needed, but it was unfortunate that Portebella mushrooms were completely out.

Went back home and did some prepping from chopping to sautee. Tossed everything into a pot and went straight to Matt's to finish it off. I have to say that I'm starting to enjoying cooking! It's cool to know how to make something that you remember as a child and be able to replicate the flavor! I totally enjoyed the cooking process and the tasting! The dinner overall was good and satisfying! Meatloaf, spicy sweet potatoes, candied yams and the soup! Good stuff!

After dinner, the group played a game of Mafia and Pictionary. I was the mafia with Joan and we did okay. I honestly can't lie very well, so tricking the group was difficult for the most part. Got voted out, but Joan held together well for another round or two. Pictionary was way fun, but this is something you ought to experience for yourself.

Something interesting happened on the way back home from Matt's. The Accord's engine died not half a mile from where we left from. It was scary for the moment because the brakes and steering were stiff and had a lot of resistance to it. I literrally rolled the car to the side and set to Park before starting the car again. Not long after, I found out why the car died. The steering column was low enough for my legs to pull the keys to an off position on the engine. I'm pretty sure it was like so because I pulled to the side, started the engine and tried to replicate what potentially happened the first time. Everything on the Accord should be okay now that I set the column higher. Pray that it's not a computer issue...

Day 44 of 365: Secular dating

Saturdays are always interesting for me.

Lets start with this:

Worship practice was pretty technical today as it was last week. Only thing was that it was a morning practice, which I didn't mind and it just me time to spend with Annie in the evenings. I honestly feel that singing 'Amazing Love' can feel very country. Maybe it's the way that I sing it since I pull off a Southern accent when I sing certain words.

After practice, I went with Annie help her with some side jobs. Quickest one done so far. I do appreciate people who come on time. Or better yet, those who come early! Not because it frees up some more time for me later, but it's a good principle to have in general.

Went to get pizza from Taraval Pizza. Late lunch if anything. Good pizza. Comparable with Seniore's. Thinner dough with a crunch on the outside and softness on the insides. I do prefer crispy pepperoni.

Annie had to go out to a friend's home for some girl bonding time while I did some guy bonding time with Amos. We played Modern Warfare 2 and completely lots of missions together. I love moments like these where you could play something together with family. Friends...doesn't always feel the same. Family has a different feel all together. Fun stuff!

Dinner time: I took Annie out to what she craved the most at the moment: Shabu Shabu. She didn't want to go to Mountain View for a specific one that looked go. Too far in a way. So we went to the one on Geary. Not bad at all! I would think that Shabu Shabu could be done at home, but this wasn't too bad. If you don't want to stuff your face silly with food, like I would during hot pot dinners, then this was perfect. Even now, I don't feel like munching on anything. Good dinner. We watched some ice skating racing while eating. It's intriguing how lots of competitors from China take the first place position. Go Chinese people!

Oh, one thing to add prior to the dinner. I ran into my ex-car, the 1997 Classic Green Toyota Camry LE! Same plate numbers, which I will not post, same everything else! Exactly the way Ben left it when he gave the car back to Uncle Tad. Only difference is the T-shirt seat covers! Why am I psyched up about this? Because I absolutely love that car! Lots of memories with that car and if I could get one like that again, I'll probably would. Then again, I'll probably try to own each Camry model if I could starting from the first generation! Another reason why I'm crazy about this: How many times in your life would you run into the car that you previously own? From the number of cars that I've own so far, not many. Good chance that the Supra is junked (sadden...) and the Corolla is almost to the junked state. The feeling with this car is like how you would meet an old friend from High School and you want to get reacquanted with that person. I feel the exact same thing, except the car doesn't respond to me anymore. Another owner, another car on the road, which brings me to my philosophy in dating.

One of the church members once told me that if a guy sticks with a certain car for a long time, that means that he is a very committed person in a relationship. Or, to me, that means that the guy is too broke to afford some other car, better of course. I respectfully disagree for my case, but in the case of the typical, non-Christian view, it is true in a sense.

See, this is what the world sees dating: you like it, try it; you don't, trade it. Dating has become a material possession. For one person to have a committed relationship has been twisted to a miserable thing for one to say to have. If one guy wants to have a girlfriend because he simply wants one, or feels, emotionally, strong about this particular girl, than he is seeking something material. It's like treating a computer, a car, a pair of Diesel jeans, or anything you find in your room as obsolete and outdated. "Hey, if the girlfriend is asking for something expensive, hence high maintainence(?), than give it up and get something else. Secular dating, found in the eyes of the media, can be traded in for another that offers, however temporary, the pleasures of life that one seeks to long for.

I like a lot of things that I have. Thankful in fact. Thankful for a car, for a computer, my hobbies and just about everything else. I know that if my computer dies, I would buy a new one. If my car is totaled in an accident, knock on wood, I could get another one. However, I WILL not treat Annie in such a matter. In fact, every guy in the world, especially Christians, should understand that a woman is not an object. They are people and not like my Camry that says nothing to me, or remembers me. And for Christian guys out there, this is how you ought to treat your sisters-in-Christ: just as Jesus treated the church. In a godly relationship, Jesus is the man of the relationship and we, as the church, are the woman of the relationship. Guys, look at your sisters, girlfriends, fiancee, or wife like Jesus would see the church! Gals, it's essential for you to find someone that seeks Christ first before seeking you! A God-fearing man would please God in all he does before they chase after you! So don't just give your hear to just any guy! Give it to a MAN that understands his position as a spiritual leader of the relationship! Without that, you're nothing more than a material. Oh, this applies the same vice versa.

After all that is said and done...Annie and I rented G.I Joe from Red Box. Good movie, but I'm not feeling too strongly about it.

Day 43 of 365: Paintball philosophy

Ah...the joy of driving. I broke my walking record and drove today. Too cold to walk and I didn't wake up in time to get ready to leave at a certain time that will have me arrive on time to work. So I drove. I love driving, even in short distances.

Quiet day with shot periods of busyness. Good thing for now, but most people will start to call next week. What joy that'll be. During the moments of quietness, I would do what I'll usually do: chat with Annie on Google, window shop online or read news articles. I'm more productive upstairs at my desk where I work on reports, but at the front...there's nothing much but phone calls.

I made a couple of peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, but it didn't satisfy me. So I went out to get a Vietnamese sandwich and came back to do BSF homework. This week is not as challenging as the last, but I think it speaks well of some decisions I'm about to make like Sunday school teaching. Obedience...often hard to achieve, but what I've learned from the BSF homework is that obedience will lead to something big. What that is, I don't know, but I know that when it comes, it'll be good.

I came home and heated up the corn chowder for dinner. A little early, but it's okay. Oh, the new parts for my marker came too. The downsizing of my marker is going along quite well. Except for one part that I ordered earlier, but the next replacement would solve that problem and it'll be time for a trial run at the Burlingame field. Can't wait for that. New set-up, new paintball philosophy! Light and fast!

Amos, Vincent and Lisa were at my home to go through tonight's lesson...I think. Not too sure, but it seems like it. They left soon after I heated up the chowder. I left a while later.

Got to the Richmond and started to do the ritual car parking dance. Circled block after block and I didn't find anything until I passed Peet's and there it was! Parking! And how convenient! I'm a block away from Domino's and Walgreen's! Oh, I bought dinner for the TNTers because it was the parents meeting and we thought about serving dinner and working on the bulletin board. Dinner went well and we had enough for everyone despite the fact that I thought it wasn't enough. Well, another thing learned from BSF (feeding of the 5,000). Just give thanks and God will take care of the rest.

So after dinner, we played Extreme Mafia for a bit. Crazy night...that's all I'll say for now. And on top of that, the bulletin board didn't get much attention. Poor timing with the Cantonese fellowship? Inadequate structure of what to do? i don't know. We ended up watching 'Finding Nemo'.

Day 42 of 365: Corn chowder

I made Corn Chowder for dinner tonight. Plus Meatball Marinara Sandwich. Good stuff, but not how I would like it. Annie came over for dinner, but that's not until much later at night because of something that she needed to do.

Walked all day trying to get ingredients for dinner. Went from work to the Sunset Super on Irving and all the way to the Safeway on Taraval. It's tougher because of the extra weight from Irving to Taraval, but it was fun regardless. Feels like a hiking trip.

Work was alright. Didn't get a chance to eat my breakfast since there was a yoga class and it was in my way to the kitchen fridge. Doesn't matter...I had it for dessert after lunch with the janitor.

This post came on a little late and it's now pass midnight. Why? All because I was playing Modern Warfare 2 with my brother. The Special Ops mode is quite addictive. Good change from the zombie fare from World at War...

Day 41 of 365: Pearl Harbor

Sleeping-in is not the same anymore... If I sleep more than I do on workdays, I'll get a headache or something... So this morning, I just lay in bed after waking up at 8:30. Planned on having breakfast with Amos, so we were out and ready by 9:15. The only thing was that both of us thought about going to Stack's and we both know that you go into Stack's, you'll walk out full until dinner time. Not what we had in mind because we plan on having lunch. So I suggested New Taraval Cafe where the breakfast is cheap and good. And it was a satisfying breakfast even though it was much smaller in portions. Can't argue with the price though. Breakfast Special at $3.50 that includes 2 eggs, 2 pieces of ham, bacon or sausage, 2 slices of bread or hotcakes. Good deal especially with the hotcakes. Now some might not like the taste, but I'm all for small businesses.

I had lunch with Annie at Japan Town, which is always good because I rarely see her for lunch. I cherish every moment during lunch hour because of how short an hour can be. We had lunch at Sapporo Ramen; an old spot that Amos and I used to go to for ramen. She got Miso ramen, but I went for yakisoba. Good lunch, but a tad more pricier than breakfast. It's okay though. Food plus Annie is always worth while!

I went to Target after lunch to pick up a frame for the diploma. After that, it's a trip to Gamestop to pick up my copy of Modern Warfare 2. The first was great, but I never knew how greatly they improved everything in this one! I didn't play it until much later in the evening.

When I got home, I sat and chilled. Watched...what did I watch? I know I was jumping from one movie to another..OH! Pearl Harbor. And this was with me working on my paintball marker, which was disappointing because a small part that I ordered didn't fit right... Now I need to figure out what to do to the marker before I start my paintball weeknights...

Made dumplings for dinner and I have to say, I'm starting to get bored with dumplings...I think it began with me cooking stuff from scratch. Why? Beacause my taste buds cried out mushroom soup... Either way, food is food. I ate and watch this silly movie called 'Leviathan', which felt like a low grade version of 'Aliens' underwater. Really dumb, but whatever...I was amused by it.

Annie called soon after to have me tune to the Travel Channel. They were covering extreme restaurant and One stood out: Ninja New York. Guess where it is and what the theme is! Haha!

Day 40 of 365: Physical therapist

I was a little laggy this morning, but managed to wake up early enough to prepare everything that I did yesterday morning and still have five minutes to spare. I guess that means I was up five minutes earlier than before. That's good news.

I saw a package addressed to me with the words 'DO NOT FOLD' on the bottom left corner. First thing in my mind: DIPLOMA!! Finally it's here! Now I have to get a frame for it!

Had lunch with the janitor and the supervisor today. It was more like catch up because the janitor took a week off and traveled to Washington D.C. and Boston. He said there are lots to do there, but I heard a lot about museums. I'm not much of a museum guy, but it's not like I won't go at all! It just depends on what's on the exhibit. The Smithsonian Museum probably interested me more. Anyway, it was a good lunch.

Skipping to after work since there was nothing interesting that happened...nothing big at least. I got home and found Amos knocked out. Wanted to wake him up just to make sure he's okay, but from the looks of it, it's just catch-up sleep. Got some yogurt and granola going just to help hold the hunger down before BSF. Watched 15 minutes of Dante's Peak while I munch on my snack and then, it's showtime. Got dressed appropriately and headed out to Mission Dolores church.

The evening went well. Paul, one of the Children Leaders, handed me a magazine for Physical Therapists. I read the whole thing in under an hour, but there wasn't a whole lot of articles to begin with. A couple articles caught my eye and one of them talked about running and the damage it does to certain people. There are two specific groups listed in this article and they are women recovering from giving birth and school children in Junior High and High School. For the women, the reason behind it is that during their 9 month pregnancy, their movements are restricted and their core and hips are somewhat limited in what they could do. After giving birth, the article said that most women start to run and it's without enough stretching and time for muscle to re orientate themselves to their former active state. The most extensive damage to the woman's body is the hips. Why? Because the hips play an important role in pregnancy and if through natural birth...well, you know where I'm going...

For the children, their hips are the main issue and it's due to an awkward period where the hips are still developing. I don't fully understand this one, but I'll think more about it later...

Gosh...that felt like I was writing an essay! Then again, so is every other blog prior to this...

The children program got tons of food from the discussion group that had fellowship time. Water, 7-Up, Ruffles and Subway sandwiches! Good stuff! Thank God for the provisions!