Espresso

Simple.  Basic.  To the point.  What can go wrong? 

In the early 2000’s… a TVB show called 美味情缘 said the litmus test of a good Chinese seafood restaurant is ordering Shark Fin soup with a bowl of white rice.  The most complex paired with the most basic.  What can go wrong?

An espresso or as the Italians call it, cafe. Short, black, approximately 1 oz of highly concentrated coffee.  Simple in appearance.  What can go wrong?

How coarse? How fine? How hot? How long? Which region? Filtered or tap? Ceramic or porcelain? 

So many variables and all I want is something simple. Basic.  To the point.  What can go wrong? 

Annual Thanksgiving Service

Since who knows when... PAL uses Thanksgiving as a means of skipping out of preaching.  Rather, he has people come out to give a testimony on God's faithfulness.  This year wasn't different.  

Of all the heart warming, gut-wrenching sharings - the two that stood out (other than Mrs. Yu) was the simple testimony Sean gave.  He openly said he doesn't have anything dramatic.  But the simple act of driving on the freeways accident free and going to pick up his son from day care where Lucas opens his arms to hug him is truly a blessing and thanksgiving worthy. So pure, so real.

The other one was Stanley sharing his trials with one of his daughters where they were engaged in a shouting match to a point where they had to close the windows to not scare the neighbors. And it ended up with a prophetic prayer that forgave his daughter... and him.  He once again experienced God's redemption.  

Praise God for a wonderful, wonderful church family. 

5 Kernels

So much to be thankful for… but alas… I’m going to pick 5. Starting from upper left going CCW…

1) Spirit of Hecker Award - Lifetime Achievement for Excellence Service.  Mom - as rough as our relationship is nowadays… is the example I long to become.

2) Home Sweet Home - a successful move resulting in reduction of drive time and traffic. 

3) 271 - Thankful for Democracy…and the electoral college got it right.

4) Be fishers of men - after so many years of trying… NN and SW finally caught their first fish!! 

5) Grandparents are treasures - thankful that dad is still healthy enough to engage in ping pong, badminton, and hoops with his grand children. 

New Year's Resolution

About a month and 6 days left till the end of the year.... time to check in on my New Year's resolution.  The one I publicly announced was... "Doing 50 pushups."  How close am I???? Well.... between the 5 and 0, I can do one of those numbers! 

Thanksgiving Blessing Backfire

"What's the worse that can happen?" I ask myself. with the whole Thanksgiving Blessings Bag.  

The leftovers were given to New Vine and New Spring.  But since I got in touch with PD first... by the time PHL found out, it was all gone!! HA! No harm, no foul. 

No... the worse part was... getting an email from a sister, who said one of the elderly's daughter called her and asked our church to stop giving food to her mom.  It was causing arguments and tensions in the family.  I guess the food I gave was too sugary and left some of the elderlies...shall we say... tempted?? 

Oops! 

"Beat that wall!!"

It must've been 2+ years... when one day...we random picked a local playground that has a mini-America Ninja Warrior play structure.  One of the obstacle is the infamous "wall" at the end of every ANW race.  Every now and then... we'll go visit that playground, but for the longest time, SW has not been able to "beat that wall." Until today... 

Ordering off the menu

Went to Grand View with the Yu's last night.... and the menu wasn't all that appealing.  So I ordered the "special" that the server rambled off to us.  I didn't really catch what it was other than..."Ribeye."  It was sooooooo good.  Cooked so well.  Marinated perfectly.  So juicy.  So much fat.  

When the bill came... my dish costed.... $290!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just do it...

Had a whim to make Thanksgiving Blessings Bags for church friends, newly baptized and old friends who haven't been at church for a while.  By the time I settled down to start planning... it was already Tuesday - 9 days before Thanksgiving.  Zero planning.  Zero coordination.  Zero ideas on what to do... who will do it... and how to get it done.  

For 10 seconds... I thought about punting Thanksgiving and rolling the money into a more valuable Christmas Blessings Bag.  10 seconds later... I came to my senses.  What's the worse that can happen????  

Spirit of Hecker Award

The “Spirit of Hecker” Award is named after our founder, Servant of God Isaac Hecker. It will be presented to an individual from each of the parishes and centers that we serve, as well as to an individual involved with each of our national ministries.

Awardees are selected for their extraordinary dedication to the Paulist mission to go beyond the walls of the Church to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. They readily share their strong belief that the Holy Spirit is at work in people, the Church, and the world.

As if time stood still....

Went to the long awaited Junior High Musical.  And it was.... a junior high musical.  Much critical, I am.  The storyline itself is quite simple... it's the story of the ugly-duckling.  But it took me all of the Act I to figure out which character was whom....or what.  The creative freedom the director chose was... a little too "free" for the average Joe (or Hank).  The performance... is a junior high performance.  And for some parts of that Act... it was as if time stood still.... *phew*

Most of the kids haven't experienced life enough... or seen enough professional performances... or know what to do with their hands other than making the "gorilla, hanging arms, palms flipped" motion over and over again.  

But I have to say... there are some true talent in that group.  A couple of months ago... NN and I got into a fight cuz she didn't make the cast, and I over-cared.  Well... it turns out... she is not up to par with the main characters.  All of them are amazing singers and dancers.  Tho I will say... NN is clearly a notch above the rest of the ensemble.  Maybe next year.... 

晨龍

 龍 - is the trademark of China and Chinese.  We are self proclaimed 龍的傳人.  In Chinese mythology and fairytales, everyone adores and nothing stops it when the dragon comes out.  Not a T-rex... not godzilla... not the European dragons with wings.  But it's the 八不是。  It's not a horse... it's not a deer... it's not a fish... it's not a snake... it's not a goat.... it's not a tiger.... it's not any one thing, but it's a combination, or totem of many creatures that were idolized.  And in my recollection... in all the movies I've seen... we've failed at all the animation, CGI of this mythological creature.... until Shang-Chi.  It took a US company to properly and most closely bring alive this creature.  

Squid Game

 I fell for the fad... the trend... the constant mentions on Twitter about the hottest streaming series on Netflix - Squid Game.  An 9 episode Korean Drama about a mysterious host that invite hopeless scumbags of society to take part in childhood games where the winner can win lots and lots of money.  The price to pay if you lose... your life. 

Ever since Lord of the Flies... and that haunting Japanese Manga... I stay away from these types of dystopian storylines.  Partially because it's so real.  When it comes to life and death... humankind loses all sense of "humanity."  Case in point... after watching the 2nd episode (right before bed, mind you), I had nightmares all night!!  Not for the faint heart... not for one who has a naive, utopian outlook on life.  But I muscled through it... including that one episode with the strobe light that easily could've triggered seizure attacks.

After finishing the 9th episode... I got on a Zoom call with Geoff and Nita to discuss the show.  Front Man, Suit Guy, the Babe, Snake Eyes.... we gave names to all the characters. LOL.  We got down to the penultimate question... "If it was down to me and Joyce (Nita and Brandon...), what would we do?"  Then the ultimate question.... "If it was down to the three of us... what would we do??"  

I slept like a baby that night.