#BuyExperienceNotThings: New York Day 2

Day 2…

Today, I woke up at 10 this morning, which was later than I thought I was going to.  I guess I’m still used to the west coast time. But as soon as I got shower and changed, I head out to the city.

Unlike Day 1, today was easier to get around with the subway from place to place. I finally figured out how to use the app my friend told me to get.

With that being said, I took 2 trains to the Brooklyn Bridge and it took about 40 minutes to get there from my friend Dylan’s house. Once I got off the subway, it was nothing but walking for about 6 hours.

First, I started off at the Brooklyn Bridge. It took about 20-25 minutes to get across from Brooklyn to the Financial District. When I got to the other side of the bridge, I saw a group of street dancers so I decided watch for a bit.

It’s nothing new I haven’t seen before. They dance to some music from their Ipod and pick out a couple of spectators to be part of the “grand finale.” So I stood there watching he 7 street performers hype up the crowd. Then, the guy that seemed to be like the leader of the group said, “Woah. We can’t have to do this show…” and the whole group of performers said “Without an Asian guy!” Great, now I was in the spotlight.

There was about 8 of us lined up in front of a big crowd but only half stayed after those performer called out people for donations.

In the end of this “grand finale,” a guy front flipped over 5 of the remaining people lined up and they took $20 dollars away from me (Note to self: Watch street performances from a distance next time).

After walking away with $20 dollars less in my wallet, the next 4 hours consisted for roaming around the Financial District.

Places I visited: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Wall Street and the Bull Statue, The Federal Hall National Memorial where George Washington was declared the first president of the United States, Trinity Church, the South Street Seaport Historic District and saw the Statue of Liberty from a far distance.

Before I made my way across the bridge again, this time back to Brooklyn, I stopped by a bar by the South Street Seaport for happy hour before I headed back. The bartender looked at my drivers license and said, “OHHHHH Torrance huh?!” I thought this guy was trying to be funny because I was from California or something, but it ends up the bartender is from California too. He said he used to go down to Baja Sharkeez in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach to do some shows when he used to live on the west coast.

For those you who don’t know Baja Sharkeez is, it’s a bar in the Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. If you don’t know Hermosa and Manhattan Beach is, book your flight now.

One thing stuck out during Day 2 was the September 11 Memorial. It was surreal to see all those names that served and are still serving to protect the country after the attack. To every one who is risking their lives to make this country a better place. Thank you and I salute to you.

Jun

#BuyExperienceNotThings: New York Day 1

City that never sleeps.

I finally made my first trip of the #BuyExperiencesNotThings  to New York. It’s day 1 of 8 and it’s already off to unusual start.

The day before my flight, I worked until 11:30 pm at Fox Sports. I had already packed most of my things and was anxiety to take off to New York. I went to bed around 1:15-1:30 am on the morning of my flight and slept for about three and a half hours (more so like a nap).

I woke up. Drove to my mom’s place so my sister could drive me to the airport at 5:45 in the morning for a flight that left at 7:25 am.

Everything was smooth sailing from the LAX to JFK, even though I had the middle seat of the section I was sitting in.

Once I got off the place, it was an adventure.

I was going to stay at place where my high school friend live in Brooklyn and according to a New York Transit map, I was going to take me about an hour and 10 minutes to get to my friend Dylan’s house from the airport.

That wasn’t the case for me.

Visiting New York for the first time by myself, I was a little lost. Little lost for about two and a half hours. I had to ask employees and pedestrians at the train station how to get to certain stations, what ticket(s) to buy and how to get to Brooklyn.

I asked one of the employees by the Kiosk machine on how to get to Brooklyn and she gave me the “stank” face and said “BROOKLYN?!” Then proceeded to explain what ticket to get and how to get there.

So after going in to wrong terminals, riding on a train that the breaks weren’t working with being lost for about two and a half hours, I saw Dylan waiting outside of his apartment.

After I got settled in at his place, we went out to go grab a bite and walk around the city of Brooklyn.

For those of you who haven’t been to Brooklyn, it has the Venice vibe in California but on the east coast. And for those of you who haven’t been to Venice, book your flight now.

So after a day of  traveling, I am already overwhelmed with New York which I only covered a piece of the state. 7 more days of the city that never sleeps. Lets get it.

Jun

Bringing back old memories

It's weird when some experience bring back old memories...

My childhood friend Anthony
setting up to play pool

This past weekend, I got in touch with a high school friend and went to go shoot pool with him after work,

As we shot pool for about 3 hours, it brought back memories from when I really started liking to pay pool.

I remember at Mount Mercy, University, when my roommates and teammates would go rent out to pool materials at the university and we would take turns shooting pool and hanging out. This would last about 2 or 3 hours right after we had practice and ate dinner.

One thing that stuck in my mind was one of teammates teaching me the techniques of how to play pool because I would miss he easiest shot that my grandmother could make in her sleep. Even after that, until this day, I struggle to make those shots.

Then, that brought me back to when I would go bowling once a month with all my floor mates to the local bowling alley in Cedar Rapids during my first year at Mount Mercy. We would make bets on which pair would have the highest score (Of course, my roommates and I did). And whoever lost would buy the next round of drinks.

Those days, even when we had homework and project due the next day, we were careless and free with life being simple but complicated at the same time. But we made effort to hang out with one another because who knew when we were going to see each other next.

Don't take granted from those moments that you can be with your friends and/or your family, because it might all just become a memory...


Jun

#BuyExperiencesNotThings

"Happiness is in the content of moment-to-moment experiences. Nothing material is intrinsically valuable, except in whatever promise of happiness it carries."

Mount Mercy University reunion at my roommates
house in West Covina, California.

This past 4th of July weekend, couple of my friends that went to school with at Mount Mercy came down to visit California. There's no better feeling than getting together with those who are almost like family and spending time with them.

One thing that stood out during the weekend, personally, was how much I lacked my own experience of Southern California.

Sure, I been to most of the landmarks like Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Downtown Los Angeles, etc. But when one of my friends was spending a few nights at my place and had to show around Southern California, I panicked. 

Then one of the days, we met up with a friend that lives in California and went to Mount Mercy (also played with me at El Camino) to have dinner. After dinner, he mentioned that the one place we should stop Handel's Ice Cream before our friend, Sarah, went back home to Iowa. Then she pointed at me saying, "He's the worst tour guide."

That night, I thought about how I wasn't the best tour guide for people visiting. Even after living 25 years in the Los Angeles county, I haven't seen or been to majority of the places myself.

It's time to change that. Not just California, but to see the world.

Jun

Lake Mead 2015

What a trip.

This past weekend, a couple of my high school friends and I took a house boating trip to Callville Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada.

Prior to going to this trip, my friend Mark, who planned that trip about a month and a half in advance, asked me if I wanted to go. There was a little money involved and with the amount of money I was paying for it, I was skeptical that it wasn't going to be all that great. Either way, I told him I was in.

The entrance to Callville Bay, Lake Mead

Mark got 8 of us to go and we left on Friday around 2:30 a.m. after I got off of work at Fox Sports. The drive was a little bit further than to Las Vegas leaving from the South Bay. After making a pit stop at the Primm Valley Resort and Casino and a Walmart just outside of Las Vegas, we finally made it to the lake.

We unloaded all our luggages in a crate and made our way over to the houseboat we were going to rent out for 3 days.

Before we got out to the lake, we had to go through an orientation listen to direction on how to operate the boat. Our instructor gave detailed instructions but I couldn't even understand anything because he was trying to explain everything at a fast pace so we can go out and have fun.

We also rented out a speedboat (Thanks Anthony and Marissa!) so we can go tubing and get around the lake at more of a faster speed since the houseboat could only go up to 7-8 MPH.

Shot of the mountains from the deck of the boat. The white
on the mountains indicates were the water level used to
be at.

The worst part of the trip was finding a cove to dock the boat on to because we didn't want the water to be too shallow so that the propeller wouldn't get damaged. Once we found a place to dock the boat, it was all fun from there.

We went tubing, barbecued, drank a ton, drove around in the speedboat, camped around a fire at night, went for a swim and fished. just imagined that in a 48 hour span.

One thing that struck me during this trip was how bad the drought is. Not just in California, but also in Nevada.

Most of us don't mean to at times, but we waste water without noticing.


According to the U.S. Geological Survey, we waste about 76-95 gallons a day per person by drinking water, doing laundry, using the bathroom, washing dishes, etc.

As I sat on the deck and looked at the mountains, I thought about all those times I left a bottle of water unfinished and drained the rest of it out on the grass or when I would have the sink running when I could have had it off for a couple of minutes. All those times I can't get back so I have to make a better effort in myself to try to conserve as much water as I can. Although one person can't really make a difference in this situation.

But biggest thing that took a 360 for most of us was that there was no internet connection or lack of it. The only time we had some kind of connection was in the middle of the lake where there was some random hot spot for data service. It was good for us in the long run because forced us to be creative on things to do instead of play games on our smartphones and also forced us to have conversations instead of texting or looking at some kind of social media through a screen.

On the speed boat on Lake Mead. Missing one guy in the
picture that was sleeping on the houseboat before we left.

For most of the trip, I had my phone on me because I took pictures since no one else really did on this trip. Then one of the times when we were out in the middle of the lake, I noticed I had service and said, " What the! I have service." Not even a second passed by and I saw every one take out there phones like it was some kind of drug and was tapping away on their screens.

This trip was a eye opener for me.

I realized that we get away from society by being on our phones and forgetting what's really around us. We don't cherish those moments enough.

Next time when your hanging out with your friends, take some time away from your phone and enjoy what surrounds you.

Live. Laugh. Love



Jun


Shout out to Mark Yamashiro for planning the houseboat trip for the 7 of us. This was a trip of a lifetime and hopefully there's more to come.

Memorial Day for Murph 2015

First, I want to thank all my friends, men and women who have served or are still serving for our country.

Memorial Day to me a special day.

One year ago today, I walked in to Deuce Gym for a special Memorial Day work out they held called "Murph" in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy of Patchogue, New York, who was killed in Afghanistan on June 28th, 2005. Most of you recognize this name from the movie "Lone Survivor."

6 months later, I told my childhood friend about it. And he wanted in. We would train on a weekly bases. And even at times when I couldn't, he would do it on his own so he can prepare for this special day.

Then on this Memorial, I took my buddy Brian to Deuce Gym for the first time, showing him the place where my fitness background comes from.

Not only that, a guy I haven't seen or worked out with for a year and a half shows up for a surprise appearance (Tyler, made my whole year already!)

As the clock hit noon, Logan gathered the 50 or people that attended this event and gave a speech prior to the workout. Never felt more power and emotion at the same time (You're the f**king man, Logs!)

Post "Murph" on Memorial Day 2015

Then came the workout. All 55 minutes and 19 seconds of it. Beat me up.

As I crossed the finish line on the final mile, huffing' and puffin',  I looked around as people were still working out and the people who were sitting as spectators that we are really blessed to be living in this country.

We talk about adversity all the time. It may be about work. It may be about choosing one friend over another. It may be about pay bills. And of course, those are important things to deal with.

But after listing to Logan's speech, we, well at least I don't, really don't know what adversity is because there are people who are out there risking their lives to protect our country so other people can live their lives. Personally, in the overall scheme of things, that's adversity.

So lastly, although I'm reiterating, Thank you to all my friends, men and women who have served or are still serving for our country. I salute to every single one of you.


Jun

Friendships and Memories

This past weekend, I went back to Iowa to go watch all those who were a freshmen when I transferred to Mount Mercy University play in there last baseball game of the collegiate careers on their Senior day.

The one picture I took during the trip.
Teaching my friend Anne how to
throw up the Westside.

Though I only got to watch one game during the weekend, it made me reminisce the time I played my last game of my college; Standing in on deck waiting for my at bat with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning and the next thing I know I was watching the other team celebrate before my eyes. And then 2 years later, within a blink of an eye, they stepped on to the field as a college athlete for the one last time. And I've told them before, not many people get to say they played 4 years of college baseball in their lives.

Of course, winning in sports cures a lot of thing and losing just sucks, but besides all that it's about the memories and friends you've made throughout the years that makes it special, and that's part of reason why I made these past two trip out there.

On this trip to Cedar Rapids, I tried laying low because last time I was overwhelmed with all the warm welcome backs and going from place to place without having a car. But once word gets out that someone is coming to visit, there's no hiding from it but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Every time I come visit, a (dysfunctional) family dinner is set in stone with my one of teammates fiancé anchoring down the group; Seeing my roommate during the summer when I lived there is a definite; Linking up with my Puerto Rican has to be a for sure thing; And I can't forget to mention all the nursing girls (Thanks, Emily!) for the hospitality and making your house feel like I am at home the past two trips.

To every one of you guys, thank you and you guys rock!


Jun

Life on the Futon

At the beginning of March, I told my mom was going to move in to my dad's apartment. And I'll tell you that she didn't take it in well. As I sat down eating dinner for the last time under my mom's roof, I felt the tension between her and I. We didn't even speak a word at the table.

19 months ago, my mom opened up her apartment for me to live in with her and my two sister's after I graduated from college. The only thing was I was going to be sleeping in the living room on a futon that my mom bought for me during the summer going in to my senior year, which I was fine with at the time having no place to stay back home in Torrance.

The futon I slept on in the apartment
of my mom's apartment

During that time, I landed a full-time job, got to pay off majority of my student loan and most of all, I saved and built my financial status up. Not only that, my mom would always have dinner ready for me when I needed it and she would bring the futon from her room to the living room and have it ready when I came home from work everyday at midnight. From the sounds of it, it's not that bad.

But obviously, there are the cons. With not having my own room, all my things were in the living room including clothes, backpack I take to work, gym bag, books, shoes, etc. With that being said, I had no personal space. If I wanted no one to bother me while I was trying to write a blog or watch a film on Netflix, I had no escape. Also, having cats running around the house at night didn't help with my sleep at all, along with the footsteps and commotion I hear every morning whenever I try to sleep in. I just couldn't handle it anymore.

So when I brought up that I was going to move in with my dad in the beginning of the month, she was calm about it first and told me she was ok with it. But as the conversation went on, the 'mom' side came out and started playing 21 Questions with me on how I was going take care of myself?

On the week I was going to go to my dad's, she asked me almost everyday when I was going to move in to my dad's place? I told her I was going to at the end of the month. She then started her guilt trip ramble on me for making the decision on moving to my dad's, even if I'm going to be living only 5 minutes away.

Of course, my mom is pissed off at me. She has the right to because her and my dad don't get along and that's the last person I want to upset. Even as I finish this blog, she hasn't spoken a word to me. But just turning 25 year's old, sleeping on a futon in the living is not ideal, but if an opportunity presents itself, like my dad having an extra room open at his place, of course I'm going to take it.

Sometimes, not every person is going to like the decisions you make. But if you think it's going to make you a little happier and help you in the long run, do whatever is best for you.

Even though my mom hates my guts, there's aren't enough minutes, hours, days, months and years during my life time to thank my mom for what she has done for me during these past year and 7 months, let alone my whole life! I know she'll always be there for me no matter what.

Thank you and I love you, mom!

Let's see what's in store for me next.


Jun

25

This past weekend, I reconnected with some friends I usually haven't seen in a while. "A while" being about maybe a span of one to four months, maybe even more. With a unusual work schedule I get throughout the year, I don't get to see any friends, let alone never see them.

25th birthday dinner at C&O Trattoria at Venice Beach

But it amazes me how if or when I do shoot them a text or give them a ring on their phones, they'll make the time at any given point to maybe just go shoot some pool or go to a local pub to reminisce the glory days on the field.

That's something I cherish every single day when I'm having a rough day at the office. Those moments when you know your friends are going to be there for you no matter what, even if you haven't seen or spoke to them in a while.

I can't thank my friends enough for celebrating my birthday with me this past weekend. You guys are the best group of human beings on this planet.

Cheers to another fulfilling year of fun!

Jun

February 2015 Challenge: The Conclusion

"You have to participate in the process..."

Earlier this month, I wrote a blog on doing a nutrition and fitness challenge for 28 days. 

In my previous blog for the start of the February Challenge, I mentioned that I was going to keep a log of what I ate and the work out I did, but during the challenge, I got a new phone and switched services and my notes got deleted from my previous phone.

Anyways...

I wanted my nutrition to be something close to what the Whole Life Challenge offered, which was no carbohydrates, no soy, no beans, no starch, no corn, no dairy of any kind, no sugar what-so-ever, no processed or artificial food and no soda, alcohol or juice.

Before: February 1st at 182 pounds.

But I didn't want it to be that strict so I added carbohydrates, dairy and sugar to my diet but only took a small portion throughout the month. 

During the month of February, my meals included eggs, bacon and/or breakfast sausages for breakfast, a bunch of protein such as steak and chicken with a side portion of rice and/or vegetables for lunch and whatever my mom made for dinner. I also drank coffee and fish oil everyday. And water, lots of water.

I also bought into protein shakes for meal replacements so I can save a little bit of money and food for the month.



For my workouts, I planned to work out 5 days out of the week. I went to Deuce Gym twice a week and also to a global gym twice a week as well. The other remaining day, I wanted to get in a cardio day, but that only happened less than a handful of times.

My workouts consisted of a lot of lower body movements because I was skeptical of injuring my right arm again because it wasn't 100 percent healed. But towards the end of the month, a lot of upper body movements were involved in my workout and the pain came back again. None the less, I kept going.

In the 28 days or so days during my workout, I met a personal record of 400 pounds on my deadlift. The last time I did a heavy rep of a deadlift was in December 2014, which was at 375 pounds. I also PR'd on a 5 rep deadlift at 345 pounds. Needless to say, I felt like I was getting stronger throughout the month. 

The biggest thing for me during the challenge was eating right food. 

Prior to the challenge, I would "try" to eat "healthy," but didn't really take it seriously. I would go buy a burger from time to time, eat pizza that my job provided once a week. You know what I'm talking about here.

After: February 28th at 175.5 pounds.

But during the challenge, I was a little more strict on myself with what I want I was going to eat. But there were a couple of time that I "cheated" on my nutrition plan. When my cousins was visiting the States for the first time, my family and I tried to take her to some "American" food places so I ate some burgers and greased up food in the 3 days I hung out with her and her husband. Another time, I went to go get a gourmet burger and a beer with a co-worker after a long day of work. Lastly, after another long day at work, I went to go grab a few drink with some other co-workers. In the total of 28 days, I had 3 beers during the challenge. I didn't want to intake any alcohol during it but not even drinking a handful of an alcoholic beverage had a big part in my diet.

Im not really a big weigh guy ever since my coach at Deuce, Logan, told me something along the words of being functional fit and being able to do everyday stuff through those movements, I'll be fine. But the little part of me still wants to know how much I weigh and get results from working out.

So on the last day of February, I weighed myself in the morning at 175.5 pounds, where on the 1st day I weighed about 182 pounds. Not that much of a difference in weigh but I feel as if the fat in start of the challenge turned into some muscle in the end.

At the end of challenge, I felt better and healthier about myself. I knew that I had to put in the hard work, time and effort to make the changes. I was going to end the challenge at the end of this month but I'm going to try to continue this for the whole year.

Put the time and effort in if you want to see changes, not just in seeing result with your body, but also in life. 

Nothing comes easy.

Jun

Being a Role Model Part 2

Someone is always watching...


Before I moved back to California from Iowa, I played in a semi- professional baseball league in Dubuque County.

At one of the games at Dyersville, one of my teammate's wife came up to me and said, "Our son thinks you're so cool, especially with the hair you have. He said he wants to grow it just like yours." I never had someone come up to me to say anything close to that (See http://keepinthatswag.blogspot.com/2013/08/being-role-model.html).

In the past two weeks, I got to visit Deuce Athletics, the sister gym of Deuce Gym, located just in my backyard of Torrance, California.

The classes I attended were with young middle school that are pursing to play high school baseball, and then move onto the highest level they can afterwards.

On the second week I attended a class, the first half an hour involved a strength portion and then the rest was the Workout Of the Day.

Deuce Athletics athletes, Sebastian and Justin.

For the strength portion, we were doing 5 reps of heavy deadlifts.

As I got to my max weight for the deadlift, I remember when I was going through my pre-preperation to stay focused before the lift, the other five young athletes stopped what they were doing and watched me pull up a 345 pound bar 5 times.

One kid asked me, "Is that even heavy for you?

Hell yeah it was.

I talked to the two coaches the run the gym after the workout and one of them said, "It's good that you came to class. All the kids here looked at you today and probably thought to themselves, 'I need to get to that point someday.'"

It's a very humbling experience to hear someone say that he or she wants to be like you or looks up to you from doing what you like, whether if it's playing baseball, lifting weights or just going about your business.

A saying from one of my high school coaches stuck with me, which was, "Always run a hard 90 out of the box because you never know who's watching you."

I take pride in hard work that I put in at the gym, at work, on the field, in everything I do and I think it all started from that saying from my coach.

I hope, in the years to come, I can become a better person to be a role model and set an example to more people.


Jun

The Shooting Star

Whenever I listen to country songs, it always gets me thinking about life for some reason.

The other day after work, I drove down to Santa Monica around midnight. I didn't have quite the smooth day at the job. I needed a breather before I headed home.

I sat on a bench looking over the beach on Ocean Avenue. Of course, I couldn't see anything but stars in the sky and the Pier that was lit up like a Christmas tree.

I sat there for a good 45 minutes just thinking about the past year and a half, which is from the time I graduated until now. I got hired at a great place, got to travel to places I wanted to go so far, almost got picked up by a team in Europe, just to name a few.

One thought that came to mind the summer of 2013 when I was driving back to California from Iowa. I think I was driving through the last stretch of Utah at night, and I looked up at the sky and saw a shooting star.

Before I move on, during the winter before I attended Barstow Community College, I lived with a teammate-to-be in Silver Lake, California. Nice little community but in the middle of no where. I remember one night, though I forgot where we were driving home from, my buddy Griff saw a shooting star as we were talking about something in the car. He immediately stopped talking and stared into the distance. I thought he got possessed by the "Hill Have Eyes." 

After 15 of 20 seconds of silence, he told me he saw a shooting star so he had to stop what he was doing and make a wish. I thought he was weird for believing in that then.

So going back to the summer of 2013 in August, I saw that shooting star and immediately thought of what Griff did. 

I stared off into the distance and wished to either get picked up by a team from an independent league or get a full-time job.

Then 8 months later, I got hired full-time at Fox Sports.

But as of late, I've haven't been satisfied with where I'm at overall and I'm ready to make some moves.

As much as I love the city of Torrance, maybe I need to move out of here, or California in general, or even move out of the country. 

The thing I fear is starting over from step one again when I put countless amounts of work at one place already. But what's life without some risk.

We'll see what happens soon. Who knows, maybe I'll see another shooting star soon.

Jun

“You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.”

My first blog in Japanese

So I decided to do something different with this one.

My cousin took her first trip to America this past weekend with her husband.

I thought since her husband has a Facebook and likes my blogs at time, I thought I write this one in Japanese so he can read it.

Im sorry for the lack of the sentence structures for those of you who can read Japanese.

...

この三日間、僕の従姉が日本からアメリカに初めて遊びに来ました。その三日間の間に色々とロサンゼルスの周りを行きました。

一日目はメリニアムビルトモアのホテルに迎えにいってすぐデズニランドに行きました。それが、デイズニーランドに着くまで、一時間ほどかかってフリーエーでトラフィックの中運転しました。

やっとデイズニーランドに着いて、最初に行ったとこはデイズニーランドのカリフォルニアアドベンチャーに行きました。始めに、カリフォルニアスクリームの乗り物のファストパスを手に入れて、一番最初に乗った乗り物はトイストーリーのミッドウェイマニアに乗りました。もちろん僕が得点王でした（＾＿＾）

そのあとカリフォルニアスクリームのジェットコースターにのって、カリフォルニアアドベンチャーちょこちょこと歩いてデイズニーランドのほうに迎いました。

デイズニーランドに行ってメインストリートを歩いてたときにデイズニーランドのメインな城が再建してたんでちょっとがっかりしました。

デイズニーランドのあとアメリカ西側の人気なIn-N-Outに行って美里ねーちゃんと大樹さんをハンバーガーを食べに連れて行きました。

二日目はハリウッドに最初行きました。一時間ぐらいハリウッドブルバードをちょこちょこ歩いてそのあとメルローズの道あたりにあるお店にいくつもりでしたが、その町にある高校でフリーマーケットを遣ってて、楽しそうだったので、二時間もフリーマーケットで買い物をしました。

フリーマーケットで買い物したあと、ビバリーヒルズに行ってスプリンクルズのカップケーキ屋にアイスクリームを食べにいきました。

僕は大樹さんにカリフォルニアに来てから何が一番したいのって聞いたら、”ハリウッドのサインが見たいな〜”っと答えました。

スプリンクルズでアイスクリーム買った直ぐあとにハリウッドのサインの方に迎いました。役三十分ぐらいかかってやっとハリウッドのサインに到着しました！美里ねーちゃんと大樹さんがすごい嬉しそうにしていました！！

ハリウッドのサインの前で写真を取ったあと、サンタモニカのサードプロミナードに買い物しに行きました。買い物のとちゅ、ちょーど夕焼けだったから断崖のとこで見ました。

その後、サンタモニカのサードプロミナードをもーちょっと歩いて、その後、晩ご飯をボイリングクラブに食べに行くつもりでしたが、ニー三時間待ちだったのでレドンドビーチにあるそっくりなレストランに行って食べました。美郷ねーちゃんと大樹さんがそーゆ食べ物が食べたことがないって言ったからうれしっかた！！


三日目はロスにあるシテダルアウトレットに行って、もっと買い物をしました。買い物を三時間ぐらいしたあと、僕の住んでるトーランスの方に向かって人気なオーガニックスーパーマーケットに二件見に行きました。

最後の食事のためにブラジルのバーベキューレストランに連れて行ったげたかったけど、

二カ所知ってるとこがどっちも閉まってて困りました。だけどもYELPのおかげで助かりました！直ぐ近くにあるサンフランシスカンのステーキレストランにたべにいって、ステーキがちょーさいこうでした！

晩ご飯食べ終わったあと、美里ねーちゃんと大樹さんが止まってるホテルに連れて行きました。やっぱ、お別れの時は悲しーね。


美里ねーちゃんと大樹さん、アメリカを楽しんで本当に嬉しかったです！いつでもでも遊びにきてください！


潤


And here's the brief version in English (since google translate doesn't do a very good job at translating)

...

So as I mention at the top of the blog, my oldest cousins and her husband came from Japan to America for the first time. And let me tell you, I'm always the one being driven around when I visit friends so I felt what it was like to drive people around.

My sisters, my and I tried to cram everything we can during those 3 days to show them all of LA.


On the first day, we took them to Disneyland right after we picked them up from their hotel in the late afternoon. Then for dinner, went to In-N-Out for my cousins first experience of greatness.

On the second day, we gave them the tour of Los Angeles. We went to the see the Chinese Theater and walked down Hollywood Boulevard. Then, we stopped by a flea market where we spent way too much time there. After, we took a quick pit stop in Beverly Hills to get ice cream at Sprinkles Cupcake. Little after that, we headed towards the Hollywood sign and took a million pictures in front of it. In the late afternoon, we went down to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica as my cousin and her husband caught their 1st glimpse of their California sunset. For dinner, we went to the Boiling Crab but since the wait was about two to two and a half hours, we decided go to a place similar in Redondo Beach instead called the Shrimp Lovers.

On the third day, we took them to the Citadel Outlets in the City of Commerce so they could do more shopping and let me tell you, my cousin almost bought everything she saw in her sight. Then we went to Grimaldi in Manhattan Beach to grab some pizza. After went to Whole Foods to check out an organic grocery store that my cousin wanted to see. Then on our way to dinner, they caught another glimpse of a sunset. For dinner, my cousin and her husband wanted to eat an "American" steak so we took them to The San Franciscan, where the steak is hands down the best I've eaten anywhere. After dinner, we finally dropped them off at their Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and parted ways.

I thought my sisters, my mom and I did a decent job of trying to show as much of the Los Angeles to them with the short amount of time we had. It was a process of figuring out where to go first at what time because LA traffic is a hit or a miss day-to-day. There were times I felt bad because we were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I wish we could have showed her and her husband around more but there's not enough time in a day to do every single thing when you're on vacation.

With my cousin and her husband visiting from Japan, I realize that hanging out and sticking around with family gets more important as we grow up, even if they live 6000 miles away. It's the unconditional love they bring to you during your ups and during your downs.

Because at the end of the day, that's who matters most.


Jun

My Apology Letter To All My Friends

"All these touch screens is making us...lose touch."

Just yesterday, I clicked on a link on Facebook that someone shared.

The title read " If This Video Doesn't Convince You To Put Down Your Phone, Nothing Probably Will." 

So I said, "All right. Let give this a shot."

First I thought it was going to be a funny video of a person lecturing another person people post on YouTube just to get viewers.

But I was totally wrong...

After watching this video, I sat on my couch for a good 10 minutes, and watched the video again.

I thought about all those times I was hanging out with friends, out to dinner, at an event, on a date, at work, a party and I was on the looking the the screen on my phone looking at some social media the recent being when I went to visit Iowa for a week.

Looking back at all those times I was on my phone during those moments, I wish I could take it back.

I guess in this day and age of technology and using as it communication now, there are certain exceptions. For instance, I have friends in Iowa that I could make a phone call to, but texting is little more convenient since the time difference is by 2 hours from there to Los Angeles.

One friend texted me right after he saw this video and told me "Yeah man, it's crazy how it just consumes us when we should be in the moment."

I going to do my best to not be on my phone when I am out and about. I realize that it takes everything away from being "in the moment" if you're looking at your phone all day.

Long story short, I wanted to apologize to all my friends for being on my phone during those times.

I hope you accept my apology.

Jun

World Cancer Day

Sometimes, life treats us unfair...


Today, as people know, is World Cancer Day.

When I think about cancer, theres two particular people who come into my mind. My Aunt Yuriko and my childhood friend's mother, Fukue.

March 2014 in Saga, Japan

I found out my aunt, who lived in Japan, had cancer back in mid-2013. She was going through chemotherapy, which meant her time was coming up soon.  When my family and I heard that, we decided to take a trip to Japan to visit my relatives, especially my aunt and my grandmother. After making the trip and spending time with my relatives for a week in the end of March 2014, on April 16th 2014, my aunt passed away.

I remember clearly the last thing she told me before I left my Uncles house during the trip was "Make sure you take care of your mother." I couldn't help it and shed tears as she laid in her bed and was getting ready for bed.


Fukue was like another mother to me growing up. My childhood friend, Brian, were on the same little league team in middle school and from then, grew up playing on the same team until the end of high school. Throughout those years, I would always go to their house and always cause trouble in and out of the house with Brian.

Looking back, I didn't know how she dealt with not just me but all our other friends that always came in and out of the house all these years.

In college, every time I visited Brian's family, Fukue would always ask me how everything is and praise me to other people in the Buddhist community that she was in.

But the one thing I'll remember is how she always had a smile on her face until the end.

I can't thank her for everything she has done for my family and I.

When I wake up every morning, I think about Fukue and my aunt Yuriko and that gives me the drive to go do the best at everything I do in life, because life is too short to just sit around and wait for things to happen.


Jun



Rest in Paradise Aunt Yuriko Kitamura and Fukue Kohrogi.

February 2015 Challenge

Side Profile 1/31/15

Front Picture 1/31/15 (after I had two
 double-doubles and fries from In-N-Out
after my trip back from Iowa)

Time to stick with a challenge...


After injuring myself on December 16th, the past 47 days has been really rough on me.

My lifestyle went from working out 5 days a week, splitting time between Deuce Gym in Venice, CA or at Hardbody Fitness Gym, a global gym in Gardena, CA to sitting around, going out and eating everything in my way.

I went to go see a chiropractor, a sports medicine doctor and a sports massage therapists to see what was wrong with my injured right arm. I just couldn't sit around doing nothing anymore.

After being diagnosed with a strained bicep/tricep where I couldn't extend my arm all the way out, going to go get a sports massage once a week for 3 weeks, my arm got finally better so I started to go back to Hardbody again but strictly working out my lower body.

Now, my right arm isn't 100 percent recovered yet, but it's to the point where I feel minimal pain and I feel as if I could slowly start getting into the swing of things.

I write this blog as I am on the plane back to Los Angeles from the greater state of Iowa where I took a trip back to visit friends and teammates I haven't seen in a while. And during this trip, let's just say I relived college and my body feels like a train ran over me.

Then I realized when I arrive back to LA, the month of February starts. I thought to myself that I should do a month challenge of going on strict and working out on a daily bases again.

It'll be something similar to the Whole Life Challenge which I did in the Spring of 2013 and never finished because I was in baseball season at the time.

People would probably ask me why are you going to do this? No reason in particular but for a better, longer health in the future.

I'll posted a blog in a month with the nutrition and workouts I did during February.


Jun

Trip back to the Midwest

You always to stay humble...


After I found out that I wasn't going to be playing baseball overseas in Europe this summer, I told myself I wanted to travel more.

I talked to my co-workers at Fox Sports about where I should travel. Perhaps Europe? South America? Africa? Mexico? I didn't really know where I wanted to travel first.

As I was thinking about where to travel, I used stumbleupon.com to see what kind of places people travel to or unique places to go to. And what I really was looking forward to was traveling out of the country.

After nights of "stumbling," I became more overwhelmed of where to travel. There were just too many places to choose from.

So instead, I went in another direction and decided to go back to my old stomping grounds and visit some friends in Iowa instead.


I arrived to Iowa from be in 80 degrees and sunny SoCal to being 45 degrees in Des Moines, Iowa.

Just to keep it brief, I felt like I was on a tour.

Sarah and Emily. 

My friends Sarah picked me up from the airport in Des Moines, then the next day my summer roommate Alicia picked me up from Des Moines to go to Cedar Rapids. She was kind enough to let me borrow her car and drove to a restaurant to meet up with my roommates during college and their girlfriends. Then the first day in Cedar Rapids, I drove to the school to visit some people and surprisingly after a year and a half since my last visit, people remember who I was (crazy, right?). Then still on the same day, I met up with another teammate from Puerto Rico and catch up with him. Then the day after, went to go have lunch with my summer roommate and her parents when I was out in Iowa for an internship. Then met up with another roommate for dinner. (How about that for a tongue twister, and keeping it brief. Joe Sheller would definitely not be proud of this.) And now at this point, I still have one more night left to survive before I go back to LA.

Teammates from when I played at
Mount Mercy University

A lot of people would or did tell me, "Why Iowa?" But this trip back to the Midwest reminds me that I am blessed with friends around the world and I wouldn't give up anything for that. It also keeps me grounded from living in a city with a million people in it, where I personally take a lot of things for granted.

I wanted to thank everyone that went out of their way just to come say "hi" to me. It really meant a lot to me. I wouldn't be where I am at today without you guys.

Special shout out to Sarah Beck, Alicia Spurgin, Emily Roder, Vinnie Pantaleo, Jeff Dorman, Colin Johnson, Carlo Rivera and Elizabeth Sadler. I can't thank you guys enough.


Jun


“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.” 
― Muhammad Ali

Dream that remains a Dream

Everything happens for a reason...


A lot of people might not have known, but after I got done playing baseball at Mount Mercy, even with no connections what so ever, I still had the itch to play.

After graduating from the Mount, I was still in Iowa during the summer of 2013, interning at a Newspaper company and playing semi-pro baseball on the weekends. One day, I was hanging out around school and ran into my coach. He was asking what I was up to and there I asked him if he had any connections to any professional teams, not the Major Leagues but other independent teams out there. He looked at me with a blank face and told me, "No."

Then in October 2013 2 months after I moved back to California, I went on a trip to Las Vegas to coach in a baseball tournament with a travel ball team that one of my college coaches started up. One of the guys that coached for the team just came back from playing baseball in France. On the last day of the trip, I introduced myself and asked him how he got in to playing at France. Of course, he had a track record of by starting in the Pecos League, then going to the American Association, then going over seas to play in Europe. When I asked him, he told me he went through a website and sent out an email with a resúme and couple of team got back to him.

After he told me about that, days after a got home from the trip, I started to send some emails to France, England, Germany, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and so on and so forth.

I waited about a couple of months before I got any reply back. But during the time I was waiting, my buddy Mason told me about a guy he knew and told me to get in to contact with him.

So I got in contact with a guy named Keith. He was basically a recruiter. When I talked to him, he laid down how much he wanted from me just to talk to a team, and if I made the team, there was a more money involved added to the negotiation. At the time, I was only a part time Production Assistant at Fox Sports so I didn't have much saved up, so I passed up on it. But while we were discussing the possibility of me finding a team, he mentioned the Pecos League.

Now, the Pecos League, if you haven't seen the show on Fox Sports 1, is a professional baseball league where undrafted players go to play if they didn't get pick up by any other teams in other leagues. So When Keith told me about the Pecos League, I checked out the website. There I saw a possible ticket in to playing professional ball. There was an ad saying there are try outs in the state of Texas during the month of February. But the thing was, it was about $2,500 for the try out for the whole month. I knew it was a long shot since money was at the issue again, but I emailed one of the manager of the team and got in contact with him. In the end, after talking to the manager from December to February, I didn't end up going, but found out one of my teammates from Mount Mercy went out there and made that team.

So back to talking about Europe. After the Pecos League fell through, my thought was, "Ok, I gave it a try. I guess I'm done."

Then in mid-April, I checked my email in the morning. I looked and saw that the email was from baseball team in France. And the weirdest thing was, this was one of the team I DIDN'T send a email to. But it was an opportunity to play again. But there was one problem.

I just got hired as a full-time employee at Fox Sports in late March.

If I was a part-timer, no questions asked. I would have packed by bags that day and left whenever they needed me. But that wasn't the case. So I talked to the manager, Manu, for about a week and a half. I had a hard time deciding since being full-time at Fox Sports means having benefits and the whole 9. Then again, in the end, since I replied to his email with an open-ended answer, he signed another player.

Some things just doesn't work out.

Then the Summer of 2014 came along and I was asked if I wanted to play in a local sunday league team for the summer. Even with the crazy schedule at work, I agreed to play.

Meanwhile, I kept in touch my my buddy that played in France while he was in season. Some bad news came from him that he just got released from the team, but found another team in Belgium couple of days later. He kept telling me I should try to still play if I can because you only get to play this game when you're young.

That got me thinking about playing again, so I sent a mass email to all the countries again. This time, I had teams reply back but saying they didn't really need a player or there are no roster spots. One team from Norway emailed me back actually trying to help me out to find a team through another recruiter, but things didn't work out there.

Then this past October (2014), a team from Sweden emailed me saying they were interested in me and wanted to speak with me. I had an interview via Skype and it went well. The GM who I spoke to, Johan, actually went to school at Santa Barbara City College for a year and played baseball so I thought we had a connection there.

2 months passed by and I didn't get a reply from him whether or not he was going to be on the team or not. But regardless of having the job at Fox Sports, I ready to let that go to go chase my dream.

Then finally on January 13th, my dreams got crushed. I got an email at midnight saying that they were gonna take another player instead.

My mind raced with a lot of thoughts. I killed myself for about 4 months to be in the best shape to play baseball if the opportunity came; I woke up extra early to go work out before I went to work at Fox; Off days weren't even off days. I should have took the offer from France when they asked me to play for them. Just a lot of things running through my head.

Until that point, I always worked towards something, like getting ready to play baseball. But now, I feel like I have more free time on my hands, I don't even know what to do. I guess I'll have to find another hobby. I'll get over that hunch sooner or later.

Shoutout to Brian Kohrogi, Taylor and Logan Gelbrich, Brian Ramirez, Chris Pascual, Ronnie Lopez, Mike DeMaria,  Jenny Valliere, Brian Collins and last but not least my family who was in support of all this. Can't appreciate how much it meant to tell me or allow me to chase my dreams. And it was that close!

Now that this is put to rest, what now?


Jun

The one change in 2015

2014 has been a grind for me.

For about 6 months of the year, I was working out 5 days a week (with some being two-a-days) and finally got hired full-time in March at Fox Sports.

It was a constant case of running around and then going to work. Even on my days off, I would go work out in the morning and then come home to realize my friends are either in school or they don't have week days off, so I end up working out again.

I felt my body getting exhausted but I kept pushing myself but felt in the best shape of my life, until I injured my arm (not sure what it is even until now). But it's set me back from going to the gym to workout or even go hit at the batting cage if I was bored.

In the last two weeks in 2014, I've done a lot of sitting around and thinking, but mostly itching to get back to working out.

But during that time I was just sitting around, I realized I never make time for myself. I'm usually at work 5 days out of the week, training with one of my buddies 3 days out of the week in the morning, going to CrossFit classes twice a week before the crack of dawn, and running errands on my days off. All the hours add up without realizing it and then a new week starts.

In 2015, I want to do something different. 

I always said to myself I want to travel. I see friends on Facebook post pictures of them going to different places and seeing the world. I envy them for that.

So this year, on my days off, Im going to try to start traveling a little more. Nothing big at first though.

I'm feel as if I'm always stuck in the South Bay, and haven't really seen much of the greater state of California. So first things I'm going start with is seeing different parts of California.

I don't know if I can do it every week, but I hope this goal lasts for the whole year.

Jun