COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 1 - 3/16/2020

Technically, this isn't Day 1.

The real Day1, let's call it Day 0, which was Thursday, March 12th. I drove to the office at Fox Sports and hopped on a work conference call with my bosses and colleagues, in which was supposed to be a in-person meeting at first, but got changed to a call instead.

We were informed that if we were non-essential to the building, we were to work remotely from home that was effectively immediately.

Since then, almost all sports is postponed until the month of May or got canceled all together.

---

Now to Day 1...

I woke up to my alarm at 6:00 am PT.

It is my roommate, David's birthday and we started off our morning going to the Ralph's down the street from our place, which opened at 8:00 am.

We got there around 6:30 am and there was no one waiting in outside of the store, although there were people going up to the sliding automatic door, where it didn't open and the potential customer disappointedly turned around and walked away from the door.

David and I parked our cars and sat and watched people go up to the door for about 45 minutes. Still, no one was lining up at the door. They would just walk away.

I went on a walk around the block, since there was another door on the other side where we parked, but there was a sign that read "USE OTHER DOOR". Since I was out scouting the premises of Ralph's, I went to the The Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf shop on the same block to get coffee.

A few seconds later after I got my small coffee, at 7:20 am, I received a text that read, "Aaaand I think we might have our first waiters."

I hastily walk back to the entrance of the store and got in line as the 10th customer or so.

When I store opened at 8:00 am. I went to the paper towel/toilet paper aisle at first. When I got to the aisle, there was only 4 packs of toilet paper and 2 packs of paper towels left. Unluckily, the 2 customers in front of me grabbed the 4 packs of toilet papers (limited 2 per person), but I was able to get a pack of paper towels, which I left one for whoever was behind me.

I got out of the paper towel/toilet paper aisle and went to the east/poultry section, where David went towards there first.

There was literally nothing left and it seemed like nothing was restocked.

We left Ralph's with whatever we could get on our list.


Immediately after, since all gyms are closed due to the Executive Order of the Mayor of Los Angeles, David and I went to over to Santa Monica College around 9:40 am to go workout with the Home Programming Deuce Gym has provided for us throughout these tough times (Thank you Logan and the Deuce Gym staff, all of you are legends).

The Workout Of the Day was...

Progressive Volume Work:

Complete 4 rounds for quality:

12 Hollow Rocks

15 Push Ups

20 Squats

Progressive Tempo Run:

Run 8 Minutes Out

Return with a Negative Split (<8 Minutes)

I finished my workout as David joined in a little later, since he was supposed to be on a conference call around the time we started.

As David was finishing his last round of volume work, the Santa Monica Police came up to us and informed us we had to leave the football field, in which we found an open gate that wasn't supposed to be open. That left us with the run we still had to do and since we were already out, we went to Playa Del Rey to finish off the workout.

Now back at Casa Del Dova-Endo, I started to do some research on my next upcoming events, the big one being the USGA U.S. Open Championship.

I texted one of my colleagues about some questions about the U.S. Open and he replied back saying we might not even have a U.S. Open. But my instinct is to prepare as if it was still happening, because if and when it does, I wouldn't want to be scrambling to make a deadline.

But what my colleague said made me feel uncomfortable. Even though the U.S. Open isn't until Father's Day weekend, it might not happen because who knows how long this will COVID-19 will last...

After getting work done, I skated to the local market to grab a couple of things (also, support your local stores, shops, restaurants, business if you can). It wasn't the best idea to go around the time I did because it started to rain, but I was already half way there so what's the point of turning back?

When I walked into the market, it didn't look as if they were out of stocks for food, but when I walked through the isles, all the bread, all the meat, all the paper towels and toilet papers were gone...

My thought when I was walking throughout the market was the scarce of food and supplies, where people in need wouldn't be able to get what they need, an example already with toilet papers.

Afterwards, after a couple more hours of working, I decided to surprise my roommate with a his own large pizza from Slice and Pints in El Segundo for his birthday since we couldn't go out do celebrate. I did ICE him with a Smirnoff Ice to start off with.

...and of course, I had my own large pizza too.

The night ended with watching about 6 or 7 episodes of Mad Men and waiting what Tuesday's workout was going to be.


Let's see what Day 2 brings us.



Jun

From The Bluffs To An Auto Shop

I started to write this on a 6-hour flight and honestly didn't have a direction whatsoever. But whatever, here it is. I apologize if it doesn't flow at all.

- - - 

The Yard at DEUCE Gym
(via Instagram: @kaz_kaptures)

I knew this place was going to be special when it opened. What I didn’t know was how magical it was going to be. And not until in 2019, I didn’t really realize it...

I’ve been a long time attendee at DEUCE before it was DEUCE. 

Functional Fitness On The Bluffs, also know as FFOTB, also known as #FakeGym, which was a pop up tent located on the Palisades bluffs on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. Some of you know me as the Silent Assassin, or The Godfather. Ok, maybe not anymore but only the few know.

(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

We, as in maybe about 3-4 of us, would show up around 8:30 in the morning and grab the kettle bells, PVC pipes, the big tire, sledge hammer, medicine balls and yoga mats out of the back of two pickup trucks. As both coaches, Logan Gelbrich and Danny Leslie (aka Big Perm) would set up the EZ Up and then write the Workout Of the Day on a medium sized portable whiteboard, which still seems to be going strong til this day, in certain aspects.

I attended one of the first classes. I remember it clearly because driving there, the directions led me to an upward dirt slope that only a crane could take you up. Needless to say, I was 15 minutes late to class. 

No burpee penalty, thankfully.

The very first class I took at FFTOB back in May 2011
(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

I say thankfully because the workout almost made me vomit (Note: I said I clearly remember the first class).

3 rounds of:
100m of Farmer's carry
20 Kettle Bell Cleans
200m Run
20 KB Swings
100m Farmer's Carry
20 KB Snatches

My total time: 18:55

Luckily, I had 2 other people in the class I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of, Nikki Pounds and Christy Desai, that made me hold in my vomit. And I also didn’t want to show any weakness to the coaches: Logan, Danny, and Annie Mello. 

Tyler Nilson and I after a workout at FFOTB
(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

I’ve continued taking classes sporadically in 2011 until eventually, I had to leave for college to the middle of America. I would drive about an hour and fifteen minutes every Tuesday and Thursday from Torrance to the Palisades, take a 15 minute “tiger nap", go help set up for class and then take class.

Fast forward to 2020, FFOTB moved its location to Santa Monica for a year. Then to an auto shop garage in Venice, which is now known as DEUCE Gym.

The 9(:01) class back in 2015
(via Emily Stanwyck)

I was a member at DEUCE shortly after graduating college in 2013, but had to break away from it because I started traveling a lot for work.

I would be and still am a frequent attendee, whether if it's dropping in for a class, being a student for coach’s prep in the mornings, but more so lately taking photos, which has become a hobby of mine.

It’s one thing to see what’s going on with your own eyes, as a coach, as someone taking a class, or if you’re simply just kicking it. It’s another thing to see it through lens of a camera.

 

The story of the emotion a person shows when I look through pictures amazes me. Especially at DEUCE, where people make the trip across from all over the world to attend a class. Some move across the country to become part of what is called 

“Hold The Standard”.

(via Instagram: @ kaz_laptures)

Smiles. Agony. Learning. Teaching. Love. Hate. Joy. Pain. Independent. Community. Focus. Resiliency. Calm. Chaos. Dedication. Community. Standard.

It puts a smile on my face to be able to showcase the success a friend's business, especially being there from the start of it. Even if it's only a 100 people that follow me on my social media account.

I guess I wanted to say is, thank you Logan for everything. And also for getting me out to the Bluffs and guilting me by saying I have a good attitude and I want to train...and it would kill you if you couldn't (Conversation still saved on Facebook somewhere).

If you're into fitness and haven't gotten a chance to visit DEUCE Gym, you definitely should. it's a pretty magical place.

Jun

Thankful.

Every Thanksgiving, it's the one day I go deep into reflecting on the year, how I am thankful for my friends and family...

Sometimes, traveling for work every week is tough.


You don't get to see or spend enough time with the people that matters most. You miss big events like birthdays, holiday gatherings and weddings. It truly does suck to miss those moments. But it's the occasions when you finally see each other or get together, even if it's on a smaller scale and it seems like nothing has skipped a beat. Cherish those moments.

This year, especially, I am most thankful for those who helped me find balance between work and life. As most know, I'm usually all about work. It's on my mind 24/7, 365 days a year. Even the hand full of times I visit my family, my mind is filled with work (like right now). 

But this past and a half month made me realized that there is more to life than just work. Don't get me wrong, I still put 110% into my job, but not overdoing it when I don't have to. 

Be thankful for the ones that show appreciation for what you do and how you are, make sacrifices for you, and love you most. Not just today, but everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.


Jun

Disconnect.

I felt like I needed to make a little change for a while. And maybe forever.

Spending countless amounts of time scrolling and refreshing through social media threads from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep.

My face glued to my phone in conversations over a Facebook Messenger, when I'm with friends blocking everyone out around me.

The quick reaction towards my phone vibrating and unlocking it to see a retweet notification, interrupting a colleague mid-conversation.

Going through hours on my profile, to see who are my followers and how many likes I have on a picture or a tweet so I can see where my self-worth is.

It's slowly starting to not be worth it anymore.

For starters, no social media for the rest of the year. But I'll have an account dedicated just to sports for work purposes.

We tend to miss what's going on in front of us because we are so invested in social media, becoming anti-social.

Get out. Cherish moments being with others. Be present in the moment.

Jun

A Message from the Past

2017 has been nothing but busy.

I started a new position at Fox Sports as Broadcast Associate, which I am really grateful for, but it's consumed my life since this past March.

From working in the production truck for a baseball game, golf event and right now, NFL games and everything in-between, with working 7 days a week, I haven't had time to even blink for one second. And to be honest, it's wearing me out and I haven't been myself lately.

Today, I got a picture message on Instagram by one of my former college teammates with some writing on a piece of paper, laminated and everything. It read...

"Don't take the sport you play for granted. Every time you play, you better be damn thankful that you get to do something you love. Don't show up to practice complaining about not wanting to be there; you're there hopefully because you love it. Work hard every moment. If you're not working hard, you don't deserve to play. Play every practice or game like it's your last, because it very well could be. When you finally reach the day that you can't play, and you can only watch, then you will know how much you love something that you once took for granted."

I remember (the old cliche) back when I was playing college baseball, I never became a starter until my 5th year as a senior.

In the 4 year prior, my teams played about a combined 195 games and I played in only 35 of them. It was a struggle every day for me knowing I wasn't going to get playing time but throughout those year, even though when I knew I wasn't going to get any playing time, I always worked as hard as I can preparing myself for the day I got into the game.

Back then, I used to post a lot statuses on Facebook, most of them being some kinda of quote and the  one my teammate sent me was probably one of them. And little did I know, he told me it helped him throughout his college career.

To sum this up, do the little things right and set an example to others.

Just a little pick-me-up for me today.


Jun

Looking Back: 2016

A lot of people said 2016 was a down year for them. For me, it was the total opposite.

Colin Cowherd and the drapes I had to steam for
two and a half hours (Instsgram: @endom4tic)

2016 started off on a weird note for me. I woke up around 5 am, a little hungover, for work at my friends house from celebrating the night before. I had to pick up some coffees and bagels for a TV Shoot I was doing for Fox NFL Kickoff. When I arrived on set, my producer and I looked at each other and had the same thought that we both had a long night and a long day ahead of us. 

I helped with setting up the look for the shoot, which was a red carpet, award show look. The grip guys was setting up a black drape I had rented and picked up a day before. The director of photography (for those of you who don't know, a fancy word for camera guy) was looking through his camera and told me there were a lot of wrinkles on the drapes. Luckily, we had a handheld steamer to get the wrinkles out. On the other hand, I was the one who had to take those wrinkles out and steamed away for two and a half hours straight. 

My teammate Rafael and his wife,
Racquel's wedding in Ecuador
(Instagram: @endom4tic

In 2016, I also wanted to start traveling. It all started with my best friend telling me that we were going to go to Costa Rica for a week in April. Then shortly after, I booked a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador to attend wedding in July for a teammate of mine that I played at Mount Mercy with. After that, I booked a flight to Montreal in August to visit people I met while I was at Costa Rica. 

In Tamarindo, Costa Rica
(Instagram: @endom4tic)

Also in 2016, I got offered a new position at Fox Sports in which I would be working with a remote crew that covered College Football games. I got to work alongside a producer who brought the energy to the group; a director who could probably be a comedian and comedy writer; an associate director who never let an awkward silence ruin a moment; a broadcast associate who guided me throughout the whole season; a stats person that could possibly be a sport encyclopedia; a spotter who gave me words of wisdom every week; a play-by-play announcer who is going to be taking over the Dodgers broadcast; an analyst who went from a first round draft pick to an on-air star; and a reporter who is probably the nicest person I have ever met.

I got to travel every week with that group during the fall to cover college football games (Phoenix, Tempe, Fort Worth, Salt Lake, Downtown Los Angeles, Eugene, Tucson, Lubbock, Stillwater, Boulder, Austin, Seattle and Santa Clara to name everywhere I went).

In a nutshell, 2016 was a great year. I hope 2017 has a lot more to offer.

#BuyExperiencesNotThings: Costa Rica

In 2015, I bought a world map and pinned it to a cork board in hopes that it would motivate me to travel a lot more than staying in my bed and watching Netflix all day. My goal is to fill up the map as much as possible by 2020 and see all cylinders of the world.

... 

Taylor, Olivia, Trevor and I going zip lining
(Photo Credit: Taylor Gelbrich)

Last month, I went on a trip with 3 of my friends (Taylor, Olivia and Trevor) to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. I've never been out of the country beside Japan with my family so this would be my first big trip outside of the States.

Having this trip planned 3 months before we left, I was really antsy to leave since it's been 8 months after I went to New York and got the travel bug then.

When we finally got to Costa Rica, it didn't seem like it was all to be. From Liberia, the city we flew into, to Tamarindo looked like as if the country was in a drought and it was. The locals we meet told us that it hasn't rained hard for nearly 4-5 years. I guess California isn't the only ones having that problem.

Once we got to Tamarindo, it was like arriving to paradise. The beach, palm trees, surfers walking around with their boards, everyone in their swimwear. It was everything you could ask for in a vacation.

We stayed at a small hostel called Blue Trailz. Im glad my best friend, Taylor, booked us a room there instead of a hotel and here's why.

Blue Trailz I would say is about the size of a full NBA sized basketball court. At the front of the hostel, there are 2 entrances; one to the office/surfboard rental shop/pro shop and the other which leads to the rooms. Along the walk way that leads to the rooms, there were about 30 surf board lined up which you could rent through the hostel and also get lessons if you wanted. Then about 20 feet from the entrance, there is a decent sized lounge area with a wooden dining table, couple of futon chairs and 2 hammocks. Right behind the lounging area is the building where the rooms are located.

Hanging out at the little lounging area before a night out
(photo credit: @noemichlopecka)

The building is 2 stories with 4 units. The ones down stairs are a dorm style in which it could fit 6 people with 3 bunk beds, a shared kitchen and bathroom. From when I was there, I saw a lot of people spending the night in that room for a couple of days and then leaving after a couple of days; the one upstairs was label the "private" rooms which included 2 queen beds, 1 bunk bed, a shared kitchen and bathroom. Since there was 4 of us, we never had anyone come in and out of place,
though we did have one empty spot on the bunk bed.

What I think made this place unique was the lounging area that was in-between the entrance and the rooms. It was big enough to have a break dance battle but tight enough to where you didn't have to yell across the area to talk to someone. The hostel provided wifi but the connection was terrible in the rooms so the only place you can get some service was in that lounging area. You saw a lot of people hanging out there in the morning and during the night. This also allowed a chance for others to meet and greet instead of being on their phones, tablet or computers all day along.

During our stay at Blue Trailz, I never thought I would meet people in such a small area from different parts of the countries. Here are the people who we met when we got there.

Group photo of the first group of people we met at the hostel
(Photo Credit: Matthijs van der Graaf)

• Matt - a college student from The Netherlands who found out he graduated while he was in Costa Rica. From what he told me, he's travel to a lot of places but this was the first time (or at least I think he said) he was traveling alone for a long period of time. For 2 and a half months, he's traveling to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama then taking a boat trip to Columbia to meet up with his friends.
• Marc - a guy from Montreal, Canada. He stayed in Tamarindo for 10 days by himself. He was only suppose to take 7 days off from work but booked a 10 day trip anyways. He said he was going to go travel elsewhere with a friend but he bailed so decided to book a trip to Costa Rica instead. Told me it was worth it 
• Sam and David - 2 guys from Texas (one originally from New Jersey). They both quit their jobs and decided to take a trip to Costa Rica. David went back home to Texas after 2 days of meeting them and Sam went down to Nicaragua to be part of a surf camp. They are (hopefully) going to train for the Iron Man competition in Europe sometime this year.
• Camille and Alexandra - 2 best friends also from Montreal. Alexandra just graduated and is about to go get her masters in psychology and they both decide to take a vacation to Costa Rica before she started school again.
• Boaz and his friend - two Australians who were doing a surf tour of there own traveling from South America to Central America. We didn't really talk to them much but I hope they are doing well.
• Melissa - a girl from Toronto and was traveling because her boyfriend was on a volleyball tour and she just finished finals for school.
• Keegan and Taylor - two friends from east Canada (don't remember exactly where). 

This group stayed together, hung out and went out at night for 2 days since we got to Tamarindo, but once those 2 days were up, we saw travelers checking in and out of the place on a daily bases.

Trevor getting ready to go down one
of the 10 zip lines in Vandara

Once you are in Tamarindo (for vacation), there's not much to do during the day but to hang out with friends or people you meet, and/or go to the beach. Our hostel did provided us with a brochure with variety of excursions that guest(s) can choose from. Taylor, Olivia, Trevor and I choose a package that included a horse back ride, zip lining, a water tubing, a hot spring and lunch. 

The excursion was about a little over an hour away from the hostel and the place is called Vandara Hot Springs and Adventures. When the shuttle arrived to pick us up, our tour guide gave us a second option.

Originally, we were suppose to go to Buena Vista, which was the name of the package we chose, and also the name adventure park. Our tour guide, Eugene, told us that the Buena Vista Lodge and Adventure was about 2 hours away and it was an all day event compared to if we went to Vandara, it was only an hour away and we would be back in Tamarindo before sunset. Shout out to Eugene for that recommendation!

Mama Trunk Lady selling her food
on the street of Tamarindo

For food, we ate a couple of restaurants like the Nogui's and Green Papaya, but the food I really like most was sold on the streets. 

Before going to Costa Rica, Taylor, Olivia and I read about a lady that sells a plate of food from the trunk of her car (we called her Mama Trunk Lady for some reason). I didn't really believe it until I actually got there. She had about 5 pots in sitting in the trunk of her car that consisted of chicken, pork, white rice, a chicken fried rice type, and beans. My favorite thing to get there was the chicken fried rice plate with some cole slaw, beans and plantains. For those of you who know me, I eat massive amounts of food. I couldn't finish this in one sitting.

Also, as we walked around town, we saw multiple people seeking chicken and pork skewer on street corners. We didn't really think much of it until we bought some. Each screws come with about 4 small pieces and I crushed 5 screws within 10 minutes. The person that sells it usually have their own type of hot sauce and I recommend you getting the hot sauce brushed on the skewer the you order some.

One thing that amazing me, besides the chicken skewers and Mama Trunk Lady, was how warm the water was. I've never been to any other beaches besides the ones in the South Bay and Santa Barbara and the water is always cold. 

When I first stepped foot in the ocean at Costa Rica, it was like take a lukewarm bath. It was amazing. I could have been in it all day long. I would even be out surfing but would just lay on the board and watch the sunset without freezing to death. The water was clear and was unreal how warm it was.

The night life in Tamarindo was eventful. There is 4 or 5 bars that held an event on different nights such as karaoke night, ladies night, reggae night and live DJ and Salsa. And me, of course, not wasting any time went out every night I was there.

So the breakdown of my trip, besides the day of the excursion went like this...

• Woke up around 8 am.
• Went to go grab a cup of Cappuccino from the coffee shop next to our hostel called Santa Rita.
• Hung out and talked to other guests at the hostel in the lounging area.
• Headed down to the beach around noon.
• Got to the beach at 12:05 pm.
• Either surfed, played smash ball or just hung out until about sunset.
• Went back to the hostel and showered.
• Went down and hung out a little more in the lounging area.
• Went to the supermarket just down the street to buy a lot of waters and alcohol (we did this about 4-5 times a day)
• Went to go buy a smoothie from a little place right next to our hostel.
• Drank the smoothie and showered again.
• Went to go grab something to eat for dinner.
• Came back and laid in the air conditioned rooms (no matter what time of day it was, when you were outside, you sweated like Niagara Falls).
• Went down to the lounging area at 9 pm, where we would play card games and pregame before we went out for the night. 
• Head out to the bar of the night at 11 pm
• Headed back to the Hostel around 1-2 am.



Sunset at Costa Rica (Photo Credit: Trevor Clemons)

• Some nights, we would go out to the ocean after we get back from the bar.
• Go to sleep around 2:30-3 am
• Wake up around 8 and do it all over again.

The 8 days I was in Tamarindo, Costa Rica was an unbelievable experience. I've never been on a true vacation and this trip definitely set the tone. From surfing in the warm ocean to going up to the volcanoes and go zip lining; going on a trip with old friends and making new ones along the way. I hope my next trip can be as good as this one. 

Thank you to the town of Tamarindo for bringing endless amounts of joy to us!

Pura Vida!

Jun