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

#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.