Santa Claus

How old were you when you last believed in Santa Claus? I vividly remember that I was one of the innocent children to be cheated out of imagination around the age of 2. But here comes along a TV show (around 4th grade) that convincingly told us Santa DOES exist. He only doesn't exist because you don't believe in him. In fact, the show portrayed Santa visiting a child who had previously believed in him...but was convinced otherwise by his evil grandmother. That night, Santa came to visit and ran into the grandmother. He opened up his list of "children that believed", but the child's name was gone! Obviously, the grandma was to blame for this.

That year... after watching that show... I faithfully believed there exists a jolly old man with a jelly belly in red and white that lived in the North Pole. And that he'll come visit me on Christmas Eve and leave a bunch of stuff in my stocking and under our artificial tree. I even made out a list of things to put into my stocking. Of the things, I included a Jingle Bear, a blue skateboard, a blue bike...

Needless to say... I never got any of those (that year).

I can almost spin this into a religious sermon... but I'll save that for next time.

Egg Nog Latte

Long time no update... I've stored up some posts, so I'll let loose a bit.

Been running into some problems convincing people to try Peet's Egg Nog Latte. I admit...Egg Nog isn't the best of beverages which is why people normally enjoy it with rum. Then again, O'Doul's (Non-alcoholic Beer) is also nasty without the sweetness of alcohol. I can probably argue with you that egg-nog alone can be a drink... but I'll pick my battles.

When made correctly...when mixed efficiently... when prepared accordingly... Peet's can make the most desirable drink known to mankind. I happened to be in San Diego a few weeks ago and visited the Starbucks at the airport. Their Egg Nog Latte was nothing less of piss-poor. So it's not just espresso beans and egg nog that combines into this nectar of desire. It really is about getting it at the right place at the right time.

Have you tried one today?

MILCOM:08 ASSURING MISSION SUCCESS

MILCOM - the premier international conference for military communications, attracting decision-makers from government, military, academia, and industry.

This year, MILCOM took place in San Diego. The largest concentration of Naval Officers in the world. It was my first time at MILCOM and among the hundreds of papers presented, among the thousands of people that are here networking the thing that stood out the most, was everyone's desire to serve our country and the honor we give those men and women who are in uniform.

Extremely touching that at the beginning of the first day of the event, there were the presentation of the colors (US and California flag) and we sang the national anthem. During the national anthem, the California flag is tilted so that only Old Glory stands up. At the beginning of every lunch, we said the "Pledge of Allegiance." At the beginning of every meal, a naval chaplain led in prayer.

It's this respect for your country that makes me feel proud to be an American.

Eve of Election Eve

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第312日. 雨

Wow... it's been over a month since I've updated. Thank you to all my fans who still visit my blog every now and then. With the emergence of more and more "Sharing" softwares and websites, it's less and less frequent people would update blogs anymore. And as our attention spans shorten ever so much more as the IT-age continues to progress, who has the time to sit through an entire blog entry anymore? Such it is...

It's now Sunday 11/2/2008. Two days before the most important election of my short visit on earth. Why do I say that?

A certain Bay Area newspaper said that "No matter who wins -- the next president could transform American politics, expert says." But that's like saying, "The sun will come up tomorrow and the weather could be hot, warm or cold." The election is not important just because America is in it's biggest economic crisis since the 1930's. It's not about the eminnent race to another Cold War with Russia and North Korea. Or the on-going disparity between the rich and the poor due to America's self-proclaimed version of capitalism. For me (and this is MY blog... so back off!!) this election is important because this marks the first time in my short voting history where I'm swinging back to the right.

One of my mentors at work, a Vietnam vet and a true patriot (just like McCain) said, "The more money you make, the more you'll become a conservative."

Another co-worker said, "My parents were conservatives, but as they're retiring, and the Democrats can offer better benefits, they're switching over."

A lot of people base their political following on ~~~money. Cut more taxes! (Money). Spend less on war (Money). Why give out welfare? (Money). National health insurance? (Give more money away). Capitalism has tranformed into greediness. What was once the cornerstone of this control has led to the demise of our nation

There are, of course, more underlying issues like morals and values. Prop 8 sticks out like a sore thumb when we try to argue either way. Eight years ago, without a doubt shadow of a doubt, I would've voted NO on Prop 8. I don't think I would've even hesitated to vote for Obama/Biden.

So what has caused me to transform from a deep dark blue blooded Democrat to become what experts call, a "Blue Pig Democrat?" (to be continued...)

Mission Conference 2008

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"God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things."

Modern Love Story

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友人問: "葉子的離開，是因為風的追求，還是樹的不挽留‏...?"

"Is the departure of a leaf due to the pursuant of the wind or the neglection of the tree...?"

A satisfying weekend...

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第263日. 晴

A satisfying weekend...

Friday Night Fellowship
僞簽家長名 ＆ 鷹爪功

Saturday
Timmy pitching a CG SHO
Fixed mom's computer and got her scanner to work
同爸爸合唱血染的風采

Sunday
Getting Phantom of the Opera tickets
49ers 33-30 OT Victory
A Sunday afternoon nap (while the roast was in the oven)
A cooked roast in the oven (after waking up from the nap)
同太太後院賞月．不出十秒就返入屋，因為太凍．
Mooncake and tea

A satisfying weekend indeed...

血染的風采

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第256日. 晴

51 項金牌

2012 相約倫敦

同一个世界 同一个梦想 (Halftime Report)

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第235日. 早上有雲, 下午天晴

One world. One dream.

Halfway through the Olympics... here are some random thoughts I wanna jot down before I forget them:

1) 1996 Open Ceremony (in Atlanta). I spent that Friday night having dinner with my high school chemistry teach at Alioto's at Fisherman's Wharf.

2) 8/8/2008 - 8:08PM

3) 2008 Opening Ceremony - nothing short of amazing. Zhang Yi Mou vindicated his debaucle in the handover ceremony at the closing of the Athens games.

4) 2008 Opening Ceremony - "終於可以吐氣揚眉！" -- S. Chung

5) Did a Tom Cruise jump onto the couch when US swimmer Jason Lezak chased down France to win Michael Phelps his 2nd of 8 gold medals.

6) Tears of pride as China places gold and silver in the women's 200m butterfly

7) Gymnastics men and women's team all around and Yang Wei getting his due

8) The shady gymnastics scoring system

9) Getting bored of the diving competition cuz there's simply no competition

10) Jamaica outruns the entire world with one hand tied behind its back

11) Why does Shawn Johnson run so funny when she does her Vault?

12) I wanna swim 50m under a minute when I turn 41.

13) I wanna do a double twist vault when I turn 33.

14) I wish I'd won the parallel bars gold (and team gold) when I was 13 years old.

15) USA steals Lang Ping to coach the Women's Volleyball team. So China steals Walsh/May-Treanor's coach to coach the Chinese beach volleyball team. Talk about "World Trade Commission"

16) Medal count: USA-72, China 67, Great Britain-27. If I didn't know any better, I would think that the only sporting events in the Olympics are beach volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, basketball and track.

17) Project 119 - China has 52 medals to go

18) Redeem Team will get trashed by the original Dream Team any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

19) President Bush went to church in China.

20) "Jia You!"

The Prime Rib (Philadelphia PA)

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Went to "The Prime Rib" for dinner tonight. It was one of the steak houses I wanted to visit during my Washington D.C. excursion - but we opted for Sam and Harry's instead. Mainly because the Prime Rib has a strict dress code. (Jackets required!) Visiting Philly allowed me to check off another steakhouse off my list...

Here's my review:

Went in with a full suit/tie and sat at the bar. Everyone there was either a politician, a neural surgeon, a partner of a firm or a wife of the aforementioned. So I didn't feel too out of place dressing up. They offered a nice Hot August Nights menu. $33 for a 12-14 oz cut, salad, 2 sides and dessert as opposed to just their signature dish - a 28-32 oz bone in ($41.95). Of course, need to order RARE when it comes to prime rib. Anything warmer will be uncivilized.

Salad wasn't anything special. HOPR puts on a better show. The potatoes layonaise and creamed spinach both were portioned perfectly. The onions were beautifully cooked to provide the perfect sweetnesss to balance out the rest of the meal. (skipping the steak for now) The chocolate mousse pie was waaaaay too rich. And the "Ghosty Town" Cab was a tad too acidity for my taste buds.

And the main course - was unfortunately - overcooked. SIGH.... I asked my bartender if I indeed ordered RARE. I didn't even finish my sentence and he already said, "Yeah...that looks a bit overcooked." A bit?!?! The steak was well done!!! No signs of blood anywhere!! Much to my regret, I turned down his offer to bring out another steak. As I was walking out to use the restroom, a random stranger comes up and apologizes to me for overcooking the steak. Turns out he was the manager. (WOW! That's impressive.) Then as I got my check, the bartender said "Your wine is one me. Sorry for the temperature problem."

I didn't completely blame the chef for overdoing my steak. It was partly my fault for not ordering the signature dish and going with a half-cut. But I take offense at the bartender for not openly admitting to the chef's utter complete failure at cooking a prime rib the way it's ordered. Nonetheless, definitely worth a second trip. Only next time... order the House Cut.

The Phillies

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Philadelphia is known for it's US history, it's cheesesteak and it's sports fans. I had the honor of visiting the Phillies ball park - Citizen Bank Ball Park and listening to AM 610 WIP Sports Talk Radio. Here are some my of thoughts:

1) Beautiful park - Up close and personal - just like AT&T. But there are too many sections are tiers - makes it hard to buy a ticket and find a seat.

2) Die-hard fans - everybody and I mean EVERYBODY was dawning Phillies RED or else some other Phillies paraphernelia. Those who weren't were probably visitors (like me). The shirts aren't cheap either... goes to show how much they're willing to spend to show their support.

3) Not too intelligent fans - Always heard that Philly fans knew their stuff. They'll not only heckle you... they'll heckle your mom, your sister, your sister's boyfriend, etc... And they'll skewer you if you're doing bad. But when they were annoucning the opposing team's players - I didn't hear one single "Boo." What's up with that!?

4) Not too intelligent fans Part II - Bottom of the 6th... middle reliever comes in. Strikes out the first batter in 3 pitches. Strikes out the second batter in 4 pitches. The third batter is down 1-2... nobody claps?!? Is anyone watching the game?!?!?!

5) The wave - some kids tried it... albeit it only lasted a couple of sections but they shouldn't have done it.

6) Ballpark food - Cost the same as AT&T (an arm and a leg) but the food quality is sooooo much better. Waited 35 minutes to get a Tony Luke's Cheesesteak. Crazy.

7) Paying tribute - the entire stadium stopped, removed their caps and turned towards the American Flag during the National Anthem. Can't expect anything less from the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence. Very touching.

8) Multi-cultural - blacks, whites... not a lot of Asians though. And on my way out to the parking lot... someone called me a "gook." (Love thy neighbor....Love thy neighbor)

9) Sports talk radio wasn't as harsh on the organizations as I expected - but the fans are very passionate. And they'll REALLY get into it with the hosts - all in good fun and in the name of a championship.

10) When it comes to franchises... Iggles come in first..... and second. Phillies come in a distant third.

11) Stupid house rules - so I bought a shirt on Tuesday night's game. Go back to the hotel and realized it's too small. So I drive to their team store the next day to exchange a size. Usual hours are 9-5PM, but there's a day game. So the store doesn't open till 1.5 hour before the game. And get this... you can't enter the store unless you have a friggin ticket!! All I want to do is make an exchange!! The worker wouldn't let me in and didn't even try to help. She just told me to buy a ticket and come in the gates. Pay $14 to exchange a shirt??? NO WAY!!! And I was running late...

12) Stupid house rules Part 2 - so after I was done with work, I drive back to the ballpark. It was already 5:30PM. Parking lots empty, everyone's gone home. I knock on the store again, hoping to talk to someone sensible. A dude comes by... tells me they're closed. I explain my situation to him and say, "All I want to do is exchange sizes." Without hesitation... he grabbed a new shirt for me. DONE! So simple.

Dear Phillies Organization...

Hire more people like him, not the OTHER type.
It's for your own good.

Sincerely,
Satisfied Visitor