#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