My grandfather had a mild heart attack.  I felt this deserved it's own post.   Please put him in your prayers.

Friday

Esther and I met up with Jen and Wayne at TE for another night of spades.  Charles showed up later on and joined in.   This is becoming our thing to do on Friday.   I certainly enjoy myself. 

Saturday

Esther and I met up with everyone at D & B's.   After a bit, we all went to get food at different places.  Esther and I went to this grilled sandwich place (the name escapes me at the moment) and just sat where everyone else was eating.   Shane showed up later on.   Once we ate, it was back to D & B's for some games.  Jen challenged me to this basketball game (i lost).   The rim looked like it was a bit over 10 feet. 

Around midnight, we all left and went to this pho place in Westminister.  This was my first time eating pho and I must say it's not bad.    The hostess there was rude as heck though.   When we all first sat down, she dropped six placemats in front of me and said "help me".  She then walked away and proceeded to talk to some person.  Eh, whatever.   Anyways, that pretty much covers Saturday.

Sunday

Esther and I met up with everyone (minus Shane) at Hurry Curry.    For some reason, I was barely able to finish it all.  I normally pound it down like a true champ but this day was different.    Afterward, we walked off some of the food and then went to this boba place to play spades.    Around 7, we all headed back to Torrance.   Esther had a headache so I let her take a nap on my bed.   Once Esther rested, we met up again with everyone at this Korean tofu place.   It was my first time there.   The tables have this button that signals the waiter/waitress.   When pushed, a buzzer goes off and the number of your table pops on this screen.   

Friday:

Well, I was going to write a review about the Linkin Park/POD/ Hoobastank/Story of the Year concert.  However, it turns out that Chester is quite ill.   It looks like the concert won't happen until March 15 (a Monday).   That's just great. We have until February 16th to get a full refund.

Since we  planned to attend the concert, we really didn't have any contingent ideas.   Mike came along with me to pick up Esther since traffic was horrendous at the time.   Once we picked her up, we met up with Charles at this coffee place.   We chilled there for a bit and decided to eat at Hodori.  Man oh man, what's up with that parking lot?   Can you say PACKED?    The food was pretty good though.

After dinner, we headed over to Charles' apartment so he could pick up his laundry.   His closet is pretty cool.  It's a walk in closet and has a door that leads to the front room.  How dope is that?  Once he gathered his clothes, Esther and I split off to meet up with Jen and Wayne at TE.    We played Spades for a few hours and went home.  I ran into an old friend from EFC.   He seems to be doing pretty well for himself.  It was good seeing him.  I thought I saw him last week too but I didn't say anything.  I'm the kind of person where if I'm not 100% sure I recognize someone, I won't go up to them.   It's not a good thing but I've had many bad experiences.

Saturday

Mike and I met up at Grant park for some hoops.  Chris and Charles came by later on.   We ran 2 on 2 for a bit and then Jack showed up.   These guys challenged us to a 5 on 5.   We ended up losing but we should've won.  Oh wells.  Jen, Wayne, Aaron, Eric and Jesse showed up later and we ran 5 with them.  Losing track of time, I jammed over to pick up Esther.  I'm sorry .

We came back to my place so I could shower and we headed over to meet up with everyone at Soup Plantation.   That the first time I ever ate there, and it's something I can live without.  It's not bad but not that great either.  Let it suffice to say it was an experience.

After dinner, Jen had to take Jesse home so Esther and I went with Dave and Charles over to his pad.  We hung out for a bit and then headed over to 501 for some karaoke.   Good times.

Sunday

Church was great.   After missing two weeks straight, it felt refreshing to go back and listen to an awesome sermon.  During the closing part of service, pastor showed the trailer to The Passion of the Christ.   This will be a a film detailing the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.   It's release date is February 25th.  I tell you, just watching the trailer got me all emotional.   As we read the bible, we can only imagine what Jesus endured but this movie will surely provide a vivid visual as to what happened.   The church has purchased a good amount of tickets for the AMC in Century City (I think it's Century City) for not only members to go but also non-members.

Getting back to my day, I met up with Jack, Mike and Hilo at Grant park for another day of balling.  Mike told me what happened last night at Spundae.  Sorry to hear what happened.

Jimmy showed up later on.  We picked up on one more player so we could run three on three.   Maybe it was just me.  Maybe I pissed someone off.  Maybe I was playing too aggressive.  In any case, I'm extremely sore now.  This is quite peculiar for me because I'm never sore after basketball.  Also, I noticed my shooting percentage is getting lower and lower.  I think I want to focus on becoming a better passer and distributer.   If I get good enough at it, maybe I can compensate for my horrible shooting.

Valentine's day is  Saturday.   HELP ME WITH IDEAS!!!!

Here's another weekend wrap up.

Friday

Esther and I met up with Jen, Wayne, and Eric at TE for a night of spades.   Although this is just "a game", you really get into it.   It evokes apprehension, stress, frustration and relief all in one round.    This is quite a game huh?  Anyways, Shane came by later and we had our first ever six-person game.   PG-13 and Dennis rolled by later but they left early.

Saturday

Esther and I were supposed to meet up with everyone at the Third St. promenade around 7:30.  We showed up a bit late but still got there before everyone else.   I called Jen around 8 and we all met up to eat at Hooters.   This was my first time there and it was an experience.  I don't think the wait was worth it though.  The food isn't all that great and the resturant is really small.   Then again, I don't think guys really go there for the food.   I tell you, it's pretty uncomfortable to eat there with your girlfriend and have these females dressed in minimal clothes serve you.   Eyes wander I tell you.  Good thing they have televisions there to help divert your attention.   I don't know about everyone else but I personally thought our waitress was pretty.  Before you all go "oooo, I'm telling Esther", I already did.

After dinner, we relocated to Denny's for dessert and Spades.   Then we went our seperate ways.

Sunday

Esther and I went to Guillianos (sp?) and ate torpedos.  I was supposed to hang out with Eric but he had to some things.  It was cool and gave me a chance to hit the weights.  I haven't worked out this hard in a while.  It felt pretty good.   After that, I spent the rest of the night cleaning my room and watching the Superbowl.

Friday/Saturday 

Both days were spent playing spades.   It's an interesting game and you definitely get into it.    Spades itself isn't too complex to explain.  The difficulty occurs when you have to explain all the scoring methods involved in the game.   I'll just let you all check out this link. 

Sunday 

I met up with Jen, Wayne, Eric and Aaron at Hurry Curry.  I caught them right when they were finishing so I didn't eat.  We then went over to Juu Juu for some cheap karaoke (3 dollars a hour!).  

I left early and drove around L.A looking for the place where I'll be having a job interview.    After a while, I found it but dang, there's no freeways around.  A lot of it will be sidestreets, which I hate with a PASSION.    This sounds like a good opportunity with potential for a lot of learning. 

Around 4, I met up with the guys for our weekly dose of intense excercise.  Once again, I didn't start hitting my shots until late but I think my shooting percentage was still pretty low.   I applied a new defensive approach and I think I'll use it more often.   Another area I need to work on is rebounding.

The job interview was a joke.   Basically, the job was filed through a temp agency and I learned that two potential candidates were already in heavy consideration.  ARGH!  Time wasted.  

Anyway, on a much happier note, today will mark the ninth month Esther and I have been together.   How great is that?  Well, it's certainly great for me.    ^_^

Time for a quick review of my weekend.  I know I normally xanga on Monday but I think it's worth typing out an entry.

Friday

I originally planned to stay home but I ended up going out to hang out with some friends.   Let's see, who was there?  Anne, Dee, Arturo?, Mike, Dave, Peter, Viv, and Ton-E.  Am I missing anyone?  Anyways, we went to a few bars in Hermosa.   Honestly, these bars reminded me of mini clubs.  There was music and dancing.  I had fun hanging out with everyone.  I haven't seen Anne, Dee, Peter or Viv in the longest.   Good times.

Saturday

I came home from work and was suprised to find out we have a puppy now.   My brother named it Coda (taken from "Brother Bear").    I'll go into more detail in a few minutes.    After playing with Coda, I picked up Esther and we ate dinner.   We met up with Mike, Dave, Wayne, Jen and Shane at TE.   Charles came by later on.    TE closed at midnight, and we just talked outside for a bit before going our seperate ways. 

Meet Koda

Ahhhhhhhhh, it's awesome to have a dog again.  Koda is only eight weeks old right now.    He's a keeshound for those who are wondering what breed he is.    Here's a few pictures of him. 

It's time for another weekend review:

Friday

Esther and I met up with Dave, Mike, Jen and Wayne at Olive Garden.  I ordered some lasagna.  It wasn't bad at all.  After dinner, we went to Sports Chalet because they were supposed to go snowboarding the next day (which didn't go through).  Charles showed up later on and we all chatted before going our seperate ways.

Saturday

I went on a mild spending spree and bought two boxes of Topps Basketball cards.  I landed the two players I wanted to get: Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.    I'm happy.   Anyway, like I said earlier, everyone ended up not going snowboarding so Esther, Wayne, Jen, Dave and I ended up going to the PV mall for ice skating.  I suck.   I think I was too much of a chicken to fall on my  (_|_) so I clung to the wall.  The first time around, I just used upper body strength (what little I have of it) to manuever my way around.  The next couple times were a bit better but I still ended up using the wall as training wheels. 

Afterward, we met up at TE for some UNO action. Heidi showed up but left after a short while because she was tired.  We relocated to Norm's for some grub and had a short discussion on different ideas we got from watching MTV's Cribs.   Riveting I tell you.  Err, guess you had to be there.

Sunday

I went to visit my grandpa in the hospital.   I'm not sure what the problem is but I do know he has pain in leg.   Please include him in your prayers.   The guys and I played some ball.  We were supposed to play at Municipal gym but they had a game going.   Grant Park ended up being the venue.   We played 3 five on five games.  Playing in the cold just isn't fun anymore.  I kept coughing. 

Here are my New Years resolutions

1. Spend more time with God. I feel like I never give Him enough of my time. 
2.  Ask God for a kinder heart.   I feel that I get angry at such trivial things.   Little things anger me and my mind fills with um...let's just say not good thoughts.   I'm not sure if this is more of a prayer than a resolution though. Hmm....in any case, it's definitely something I need to fix
3. Find a new job.  I'm grateful for being able to work but I hope to find something that will allow me to move out this year.  
4.  Lose some of this fat.  I really doubt this will happen but it's something to shoot for. hahaha

Happy New Years everyone.  So how was everyone's NYE?

I had dinner with my mom, dad, Derek, Richard and Esther at Kincaids.  It was delicious.   Afterward, Esther and I chilled at my house for a bit and took off to Shane's to celebrate the countdown.    Esther went home around 12:45 and I headed over to TAO.   It was $45 to get in but at least I didn't pay for parking.  I ran into a few people there but overall, I just wasn't feeling it.  For the most part, my party days are over but there will always be an exception to that rule.   I just don't see anything happening right now to change that.    I went back to Shane's to chill with everyone.  It was much more fun than being at TAO actually.

Friday: 

Esther and I went to Wayne's for a kickback but it was more like people getting drunk.    Esther and I didn't drink though.  It was quite an interesting night but I don't think I'll go into what happened in the first couple hours.  Okay, I'll share one moment.  There was this guy who just threw up because he drank too much.  He was laying there and the puke just came pouring out.   Here's the funny part.  Wayne's dog came by, and started licking it up.  COMEDY!   When Wayne was cleaning it up, he sniffed the puke, and said "this smells like ass!"  HAHAHAHHAAHHAAH 

Saturday: 

Esther and I had our eight month.  .  We went to Wayne's and met up with some people.  We all headed over to Olive Garden for dinner but it was packed so we relocated to Woodfired pizza.  It was pretty good.  Afterwards, we went back to Wayne's to watch Bad Boys II but Esther and I left a bit early.

Sunday: 

Worked and then balled with the homies.  Big ups to Mike for supplying me with some spam musubi. 

Merry Christmas everyone. (notice the festive colors?)

Just thought I'd edit this really quick:  Christmas was awesome once again.  I woke up at 7:30 to go to breakfast with the familia.    For those who don't know, it's pretty much a tradition for my family and my grandparents to go to IHOP and eat.  Afterwards, we opened presents and I knocked out for a few hours.    We went to my aunt's at 5 pm for her annual Christmas party.   Once dinner was over, it was time for my aunt's famous gift exchange.  For those who have no idea what that is, basically everyone brings a gift and puts it in the middle of the room.  Everyone draws  a number and  then the game begins.  It starts with 1, followed by 2 and so forth.   The person can either take a present from the pile or take one from a person that has already gone.  However, an item can only be taken a total of three times before it's considered dead (and whoever has the item has full possession of it).

I'm back my friends.  Well, I've been back since 9 pm but that's beside the point.    Before I write my Vegas roundup, here's how my weekend went.

Friday

Mike and I ate at Gardena Bowl and then we visited Charles at his work for a bit.  Afterward, Mike and I went our seperate ways. 

Saturday

Today was the secret santa party at Heidi's.  Esther and I got there at about 7:30.   Dave, Jen, Wayne and Heidi were already there.   Right when we got there, they ordered Papa John's pizza.  SCORE!  Shane came by a bit later, followed by Charles and then Mike.   Mimi and her friends also came by.  It was really good seeing her.  I haven't seen her in...damn...I don't even know.   A few of us headed over to Tito's tacos . I didn't eat but just went along.   We also had our gift exchange.  I bought Wayne a gift card to Best Buy.  Jen got me a six pack of coke, box of cheese-its,  3 Nestle cookies and cream candy bars, and the Mr. Bean boxed set.  SCORE!  Mr. Bean owns!    Mike received poker chips which were immediately put into use for a mini-texas holdem tourney.  I used Wayne's video camera to tape the action and added my very own commentary.  Heidi and Dave played some speed which turned out to be very entertaining.  Despite being really tired, I had a great time. 

Vegas baby Vegas

Sunday

Esther and I reached Vegas around 7, thanks in part to the heavy traffic.  When we arrived to Harrah's, we were shocked to find out we were upgraded to a suite.  It was noice.  It had two bedrooms.   One room had two beds and a bathroom.  The master bedroom had a king size bed, and a jacuzzi tub.  NOICE!   That in itself was quite an experience.  Nothing says relaxation like taking a bath in a jacuzzi while watching some random crap on tv.  Anyways, we went to eat at the Mirage.  There was some remodeling being done to the main resturant and so it was moved temporarily to this banquet hall.  Only took about 50 MINUTES!   All good though because the food was great.  Afterwards, we gambled a bit at Harrahs. 

Monday

We walked to Caesars Palace to eat and then gambled.   After that, we headed back to Harrah's and chilled in the room. Around 4, we drove to the Las Vegas Hilton to experience that Star Trek attraction they have.  It wasn't worth the price of admission but it was interesting.   Esther gambled a bit afterward and we went back to Harrah's for dinner.  The buffet there isn't bad.  I definitely give it a big two thumbs up.   Once we finished dinner, we gambled a little and called it a night.

Tuesday 

We checked out and then ate some breakfast.  Naturally we stopped at the outlets on the way home because Nike Town is there.   We also stopped at state line with intentions on just getting a mocha frap from Starbucks but ended up staying a while.  After that, it was time to go home.  Once we hit Barstow, we stopped to rest a bit and took a nap for about 30 minutes.  From there, we drove back and stopped once more in San Gabriel for some good ol' J.R's Cafe food.  We made it back to Torrance around 9. 

My vacation is over but it was great.  I actually came up this time (only about 40 bucks but it's better than being 40 down).  Harrahs' treated me well on my first visit.   The only thing that sucked was while I was in Vegas, I sort of forgot it was Christmas time.   It's all coming back now though.

Another weekend came, and another weekend left.

Friday

Not much to say here at all since I just stayed home.  Esther stayed home because we wouldn't have been able to spend much time together.  Instead, I just stayed home and played WWE Smackdown.  I think that was it.

Saturday 

I picked up Esther and we ordered pizza from  Papa Johns. Yum!  While we ate, we watched KROQ's Almost Accoustic Christmas via the internet. Viva la cable!  It was a clean stream with no interuptions at all.  We were able to see AFI, P.O.D, Offspring and parts of Linkin Park.  Around 10:20, we went to meet up at Yu Yu (the karaoke place) with Jen, Wayne, Dave, Mike and Charles.  We sang for about 90 minutes and parted ways. 

Sunday

My mom woke me up around 10:30 a.m to help my dad.  Apparently he needed me to bring him the batteries to the camcorder he was using.   I didnt' know there was two batteries and ended up bringing one.  Of course I wasn't aware of this until after I got to him, and had to go back to bring him the other one.   Once I completed my little mission, I crawled back into bed and slept until 1.   Church was especially good.  The sermon by Andrew Kim was on joy.  A lot of things he said really hit home.  I'll expand on this in my thoughts section.   There was no balling due to the rain and cold.  I ended up going to the gym for a bit and came back home to watch WWE's Armageddon.  That sums up my weekend.

Getting back to the sermon, one key point that struck me was when Andrew explained what joy wasn't.  He would continue to go on by informing the congregation that a person can have fun yet lack joy.  An example is when people go out when they're down in the dumps.  They hope to escape their troubles with a night of fun but end up going back to where they started.  Temporary fixes that don't get you anywhere.   This really made me think that as the Christmas season approaches, where will I find joy?  Is it in the many wrapped boxes under the Christmas tree or in the stockings by the chimney?  Nope.   The joy will come being with my family. It will come being with God as we celebrate the birth of His son,  Jesus Christ.   Indeed,  real joy is something that can't be taken away like the love of a father for his child.

Christmas

Christmas isn't as far as it seems.  I remember as a child, it took forever for Christmas to come.  The night before, I couldn't sleep because I hoped to hear the jingling bells of a jolly fat man and his eight reindeer.  I ended up falling asleep and waking up at like 6 in the morning to find the presents. Santa was here.  As well as his loyal sleigh pullers: dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donder and blitzen (sorry if I misspelled any, it's been a while). Oops, can't forget Rudolph right?  It's definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas now.  My pop and I got a tree on Friday.  I even helped decorate.  

Saturday 

I picked up Esther and we went to Hurry Curry.  We met up with Heidi, her friend Ray, Jen, Wayne and Cameron.  It was crazy to see Cameron since he's been in Chi-town the last five months.  Apparently he's doing very well for himself and will be done next year.    Anyways, so after a long time of waiting, we finally got seated and enjoyed some tasty curry.  Mike and Dave showed up later on and grabbed a table on their own.  Once everyone was done, we went over to that boba place (used to be relaxtation) and passed the night away playing Uno. Charles showed up a little later on in the night.   It was time to go home around 1 and we all parted ways. I dropped off Esther and headed over to the Evan's. Hilo, Erwin, Mike, Ryan, Hubert and Glenn played their texas holdem tourney. I left at 3 but I heard it went until 9 in the morning.  If that's not hardcore, I don't know what is.

Sunday

I slept in and missed church. I was pretty angry with myself and ended up lifting weights at the gym.  Around 4:30, Mike and I went to ball. Erwin showed up and we had a game of 21 going on.  It started raining and we relocated to the Evan's.  When we got there, Bryant was just finishing changing his oil. I left to go eat dinner and went back. The guys were playing more poker and I played some CS on the x-box. After poker, we played some halo.  I still suck at halo and doubt that I will get good anytime soon.  

It's about time

I must give props to  Mr. DBZ.   He now joins the billions (and billions) of drivers in the world.  Let's hope he doesn't become of those really crappy drivers, otherwise known as "L.A. drivers".     Yes folks, he's no bitch.

Friday

Esther and I chilled at my house.   When she came over, she suprised me with a dvd player and cd-rs.   How nice huh?  You just have to love those Best Buy super sales the day after Thanksgiving.

Saturday

After work, I picked up Esther and we ate at Chili's.  That was my first experience there. We went to Toys R Us afterward and looked for some Uno cards and Simon (that old school game). After that, we went to Target and I bought Uno cards there.  I saved a whole buck.   Hehhee.   Around 10:45, we met up with Shane, Charles, Jen and Wayne at Lollicup. Jen and Wayne actually showed up later than that. Way later! haha jk. We played some Uno for a bit and then played some more at Shane's.

Sunday

I went to church but there was no seats so I went home. I should've tried harder to look for a spot. Around 4, I picked up Mike and we went to ball with Jack, Hilo, Erwin and Jimmy. We must've played for about four hours. Dang I was exhausted.  I went to the Evangelista's around 10 for a night of Texas Holdem.   Well, for the guys at least.  I just watched.

Another Thanksgiving came and another Thanksgiving left. It's weird because when I got to my aunt's for our tradional dinner, the house was empty. Well, there were people there but not nearly close to it's normal occupantcy.  I found out that people went to the other side of the family for dinner. It was the first time there were that few people at my aunt's. I'm not sure how to explain it but it didn't feel right. However, despite those feelings, it was a good Thanksgiving. I was able to socialize with the family that was there, which I don't normally do that much.  As I get older, I seem to understand more and more what holidays mean.  When I was a kid, I dreaded family dinners because I couldn't play with my toys but now as an adult, I enjoy them.  Family dinners rock!

I found out my cousin is going to be a father.  His girlfriend is expected to give birth to a baby boy in about five weeks.  They even have a name picked out:  Bryce.