Oh…

Monterey….

That’s the phrase I said whenever I would be asked where we were staying.   At one point I kept saying it because it gave me something to look forward to.  not that I wasn’t already looking forward to it.  It just got me even happier than usual whenever I would say it.

So, come Monday the 16th we set off on a 2 hour journey to Monterey.  The weather was pretty bad at one point.  Highway 17, was probably the worst ever.  Sideways rain and a mixture of hail and traffic.  After awhile traffic cleared up, hail reduced to just rain, and instead of being sideways it turned 90 degrees and became regular.  1/4 tank was all I had left before we left Daly City.  When I finally got to Monterey the low light fuel lit up.  Took the first available exit I could find with a guaranteed shell gas station and BAM! The hotel we were staying at was right there.  How convenient was the exit that I took.  Also the sign when I exited had an arrow pointing to the left where Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway was at.  We gassed up at Shell at 2.43 a gallon, then went to McDonalds 10 piece meal for the win.  Then off to Laguna Seca it was.  Laguna Seca was something different than what the game was offering.  Haha. I’ve played way too many racing games to really see how it is to be on the track.  Fortunately there was an Audi Open Track in which we got to see and take pictures of.  Lots of Audi’s, but there was an Evo, and an STI.  Which was pretty awesome.  Evo was loud, but slower than the Audi’s haha.  How gay.

Here’s one of the pictures from Laguna Seca.

Next on the stop was Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I would say it’s an overpriced aquarium, but it was still fun regardless.  It is a lot smaller than what he had both imagined.  Seemed like it was bigger a while ago.  There were a lot of pictures taken from the aquarium.  It’s so amazing seeing all the fish just be there.  There were sharks and Sea Otters.

LOL these sea otters wouldn’t stop moving around.  It took me forever toa ctually take a picture of them.  They were just rolling around or tossing around in the water.  They reminded me of two kids who wouldn’t stop wrestling.  They were pretty adorable.  I won’t post many pictures onto here so it’s not Picture heavy.  Click on any of the pictures and it will take you to the album directly.

If the weather was cooperative I would’ve gone to 17 Mile Drive.  It was getting late and the weather was very gloomy.  There is always next time!  It was time to go to the hotel.  Yay…me! JK.  The hotel was called Best Western Monterey Beach Resort.  We went to a safeway with a full service restaurant inside it.  It was pretty crazy.  Anyways we went to the hotel.  She made sushi and brought champagne with her.  She says the dessert would have turned out better if the chocolate was still runny, but I think it was great chocolate or not.  Anyways theres more to talk about, but that’s not for this.  Overall, this valentines day/birthday was a lot different from last years.  Teatro Zinzanni and dine and dash haha.  What a turnaround.  What’s in store for next time?

PS.  I will try AGAIN to update this more often.

And the verdict is…

Successful. As much as everything isn’t going the way I anticipated I still manage to keep a positive outlook on life. Many really don’t see that there really is a good side to everything. I have the habit of kicking out negativity and soaking in everything else. It’s a good trait to always look ahead and not behind. The past is what has lead us to where we currently stand. We not need forget, but reminisce about what events took place. I really feel like I’m going in circles here. It’s practically 5am and I still haven’t slept yet. Say thanks to Calculus 2 and Chemistry exams. Calculus 2 really isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. The first half of the class was a struggle to keep sanity and pleasure in separate places. Now I am able to bring both together without any concern. Doing these problems is really not a big deal to me anymore. I think they are pretty fun. I know what a square right. Hey I do whatever it takes to get the job done, even if it means enjoying what I do. Isn’t that the point of going to school? To get a degree in something you like? Or at least that’s how I see it. I want to get a degree in something I like and hopefully get a job and enjoy doing it.

I really should be sleeping. It was a bad idea to drink an energy drink at 10PM. Now I’m pretty wired up and have a hard time sleeping. DInner today was unexpected and was very pleasant. Dudong texted me and told me to have dinner with him, in a not so gay manner, and some other friends. The place we went to was called Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. Supposedly it’s a chain of restaurants all over China and some select places in the USA. Turns out there’s another location in Union City. Which is excellent since I live in the East bay. Definitely worth a try, that is if you like hot pot. Just make sure to bring friends who will eat Lamb. Haha.

Once again, I feel lost and undecided in what I want to do with school. I still am on the path to get my AA in Physics and eventually get a BS in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. But I’m also looking into being a firefighter. It’s just been interesting to me this whole time. I don’t knwo what about it, is interesting to me. IN doing this, it will take a long time. Not really. It’s a longer process, but will reap better rewards. Or so I believe. I think this will be better in the long run. Firefighters can’t be outsourced. People 2,000 miles away can’t put our fires away. It’s a 3 step process in becoming a firefighter. EMT => Paramedic => FIrefighter. It will take time do accomplish, but it seems to look promising to me. I need to make up my mind soon.

BTW I’m on a 3 week hiatus from video games. That’s the plan!!! I doubt that will work because I seem to have video games as my relaxing point, where no one can bother me, and I’m at an equilibrium. Plus my xbox is the heart of where I watch flicks, especially since the new update released. In the meantime, my Blackberry pearl is horrible, it’s battery life is horrific. I don’t like the iPhone anymore. I actually want the Nokia 6650. Basic flip phone with Symbian OS. Awesome possum. Anyways I’m going to go snooze as much as I can. I do have Class/Work/Studying too. Not necessarily in that order, but what say do I have with a set schedule? For the meantime I leave you with this quote, “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

In the wee hours

of the morning, I am still up!  What crazy person would ever stay up watching Heroes till the sun rises?  Well I would if I could, but that’s not the reason I’m up today.  Surprisingly enough, I’m studying for my Calculus 2 Exam.   When I was looking at the material yesterday, I was so unmotivated and compelled to throw my stuff out the window get into my car run over it, stop and throw it in reverse.  We all know that doing that would not solve my problems, your problems, but rather create more problems.   What we don’t need now is problems, but rather guidance and motivation.  This morning after a very unfortunate event, which I would rather not go into too much detail, I looked at the material once again.  At first, confusion struck, then paranoia hit.  What was I to do in cramming everything in last minute.  I started to read the chapter and decided to skip right into the problems.  To be honest, I actually needed help by looking at the solutions manual or the examples done in class.  After a couple of problems I actually got the hang of it.  Then I realized that I really could do this.  Couple of hours later I finished the material and really can’t get enough of it.  As weird as that is.

Btw I got Fable 2 for my 360. It’s pretty interesting game.  Even more interesting the new update for xBox Live is set to release in a couple of days.  Netflix streaming will now be a standard in xBox 360 home entertainment systems.  Also Heroes is way too damn addicting.  Despite the bad acting, it’s still addicting.

On a happier note, it’s been a year since we met, 11 months since we started dating, 9 months since I fell in love, and yet I can’t stop thinking about her.  It’s weird, I never expected anything but I’m happy.  Happiness prevails above all.

A means to an end

was a chapter in a book that I read 2 semesters ago in English class. The book was called….I forgot the name of the book actually, but the name is not important. The content was more important than anything. The book goes against the grain and questions the existence of a God in our universe. It did bring up some interesting topics. Well it’s up to you to figure out what the book is called, I doubt you will, but it’s worth a read. haha. sorry.

I realized that I really haven’t posted in here for a certain amount of time. Actually for a really long time. I haven’t kept readers posted in with what’s going on. THough I really feel it’s not very necessary for people to really know what’s going on everyday of my life. So what better way to keep people from reading about my everyday life than just posting whenever I get the chance to. Arg whatever not really a big deal.

School ended not too long ago. to be exact last Thursday and going into the final I was scared about my final grade, but had a very good feeling, I would pass the class with at least a C. I still felt scared about not passing, but had a very good and strong feeling that I was passing. Turns out I really did pass the class with a C. Better than the past three times I took the class yeaH? Of course it is. 4th time is a charm you might say.

The weekend before my final was my great big adventure to Las Vegas, Nevada. This was my first trip to Las Vegas in like the longest time ever. If I remember correctly I went to Vegas when I was a sophomore in High School which was back in 2002. Within 6 years, things have changed. I’ve gotten older is one. haha. The biggest obstacle with this trip was the fact that I was driving to Vegas in Snow White. The trip should take 8-9 hours, but I did in 11 hours. Whoo, added a complete 3 hours to my minimum expected. How did I do that? I hit traffic leaving Hayward, and entering Nevada. How they place these road construction is so obnoxious and in the time when I am driving. The frustration while I was in traffic made me so angry. Pulling out my hair haha. Drinking the Monster energy drink that I bought 10 hours ago. I am really surprised as to how two of my friends fit in the back seat of the car so comfortable for 10-11 hours. I take back the comfortable part. Them complaining is almost like finding a winning lottery ticket on the floor, getting hit by a non-moving bus, and getting struck by lightning, while acid rain is pouring on top of your head. Yeah almost impossible to happen. But anyway the trip, despite my long restless drives, was a fun trip. I really would not mind going back and reliving the experience again.

Unfortunately time travel is not possible and reliving the experience all over again is quite impossible. Instead only new memories can be created and can be enhanced by the sights and smells of the original trip. The first experience will hold precedence over all others, and is something that cannot be achieved again.

My photography is going to start up again sometime soon. After I get to sell all of my lenses that I don’t need my photography will start up again. Flickr will once again be updated ever so often. For now, I will part, until i get to do what I need to be done.

How to capture light.

Light is all around us all the time.  The images you see emit from your tv screen, headlights, computer monitors, cell phones, are all emitting light.  What most people don’t know is that when you open your eyes light enters your pupil.  The person you see in front of you is actually reflecting light away from them and towards your eyes and in every other direction.  The job of any camera is to freeze light in time and keep it.  Any good photographer is able to manipulate light around them and capture any thing.  A camera can be easily compared to the human eyes.  In a way you can claim that we are always taking pictures everytime we open and close our eyes….

I have no idea what I just wrote about, but it sounds cool.  I will go more in depth later on.  There has been a lot of things going on since my last post.  

Little Red Riding Hood No More

I really have no knack in writing anything anymore. I feel that I really should start writing more because it’s good for you. I heard it brings out another side of people that you wouldn’t normally expect. At least for some people that is the case. I don’t know if that is for me. Whatever though. I take my own path.

Lately I haven’t really had much time to do anything. Sitting down and relaxing hasn’t been on my agenda for awhile. One time my gf was with me at starbucks studying. At first I really didn’t think I could study, but her being there, just her presence, alone actually helped me study. It was fun, just sitting there, studying, talking, drinking coffee, getting wired from the caffeine infested into these drinks they call Starbucks. What the hell? Starbucks charges so much for drinks, when in technicallity the cost of these drinks is less than a dollar. The materials they give you probably costs them less than 10 cents considering they buy in bulk. So what does that mean 1.10 for your whole drink is their total cost, but they ass rape everyone and charge 5.00. That’s practically a 500% mark up. Whatever though it’s all business tactics. What i’m getting at is that Starbucks could be cheaper for what they give you.

So for all who knows me, my 1995 Honda Del Sol Si had a nickname, which was Little Red Riding Hood. If one must ask why, all one has to do is take a look at the pictures and bam it should automatically hit them and be like oh the car is red. So April 1, 2008, no it’s not an April Fool’s Joke, but I officially sold the car. I remember joking around a couple weeks ago saying, “I’m getting a new car for my birthday.” Well at this rate I think a new car is just around the corner for me. I have my eyes set on a specific vehicle already, it’s just a matter of getting it checked out by my mechanic first. It’s easier for me to make my decision that way. 2002 Premium White Pearl Acura Rsx Type S is looking like the next car I’ll be rolling in. Type R exterior here I come.

I can’t believe the events that’s happened lately. Or at least the end of last month. The passing of a friend occurred. It all felt so quick and surreal, that it was all a dream and i was bound to wake up sometime soon. It didn’t feel real until I actually went up there and paid my respects. It’s so hard to not feel anything, but emotions especially when you know them.. i have no idea what happened when someone told me that moring of. I thought it was just one sick joke that everyone was playing. Then I got confirmation that it was real, it was no lie.

Next week is my birthday already. Wow. Being 20 has no perks at all. Being 21 gives me more things to do, but, doing things the legal way kind of loses it’s edge. We’ll see how it ends up next weekend. I’m going to make sure I don’t remember the next day. Kind of, probably not, I don’t like getting that passed out. Anyways this might or might not be the last post I put until after April 20. I’m sleepy and I shall go.

Will update later.

Crazy

How everything seems to fly right by you. You try to savor every second of it, but no matter what you do nothing happens. Actually I have no idea what I’m talking about. If only I knew.

Oh, on a side note, Valentines Day, was an experience that I don’t think I can forget. Talk about romanticism mixed with a hint of wildness. I’ll get to that later, maybe, depends how I’m feeling by the end of this paragraph.

So, last month, marked the 21st celebration of a special someone. I asked her, “What do you want for your birthday?” I was given a response that I knew would come, “Nothing!” to top it all off I got threatened. I really forgot what the threat was, but it was funny. At that point, I knew I had to think of something creative, something I have never done before. Her birthday I bought 3/4″ wooden cubes. 7 of them to be exact. With each cube I glued 1/16″ mirrors to it, so now these cubes have mirrors all over it. On top of that, I etched out a letter of her name on each side. It’s really a lot more difficult to explain, easier shown than said. When I get my D70 back, I’ll post pictures. Anyways, Valentines Day came around. I’ll skip to the end, actually I’ll just skip to the bitter end. Anyone ever hear of a little Dine-N-Dash? That’s it.

Friday, was the kicker to it all. It topped everything off, and even exceeded my expectations. Teatro Zinzanni, is really a place to check out. Price is expensive, but it’s worth every penny of it, You do get a 5-course meal. Tadow! Most places you can’t get a 5-course meal for the same price. At this rate, I’m a little lazy to go on any further.

School sucks, not really. I enjoy going to class on Thursdays because it’s what I call my shorter school day. Only 9-1:15, 6-9:00 rather than my usual 9am-9 pm Tuesdays. Ballroom dancing is pretty cool, better than the last time I took it, due to the fact, I have a partner to dance with, my own gf, it’s cool. You really should try it. Activities with your loved ones, are always amazing.

Work could be better, but I’m really starting to get my act together at work. Being pro-active is makes work go by so much quicker. Anyways, it’s late, I will stop at this for now. My Shuttle XPC is finally up and running faster than I thought it would, quieter than my old computer, smaller than most computers (except the Mac Mini, that one is just ridiculously small). I’m getting out of here later.!

A Vision Of The Past

2007 has finally reached to a conclusion. Every year always brings happiness, sadness, joy, laughter, madness. We always think of better ways to enhance our lives as each year passes. 2007 seemed to have a different path than what I had thought out.

Once again my usual trend follows of getting a job before I reach the one year mark with a company. From a sales representative for a marketing company to a sales consultant for a leading telecommunications provider. What can I say job offers that pay me more will not be turned down, unless for some weird reason it requires me to do some impossible task, such as, dancing naked on a pole, or doing backflips 30 feet above on a high-wire. It seems that there are always exceptions to everything, at least that’s what I get in school. Everybody will find a reason to back out of something.

- On a side note, Calculus 1, with a certain professor at Chabot, really bothered me. Homework assignments are due every Monday, which is quite ok with me, though I do not understand what the point of the HW is if it only counts for extra credit, seriously though, 50 math problems for 2.5 points is really not worth it. Anyways, I did the HW, on 4 seperate pieces of binder paper. Unstapled. As I went to turn it in, the teacher did not accept it, since it was not stapled. At this point I was irritated at the fact that it was right in his face and would not take it. He then told me to follow him into his office, which I did, in hopes to use his stapler to staple the given assignment. As I walk into his office and ask for a stapler, he automatically shoots me down and says, “It is your responsibility to find a stapler.” I could really not believe what I just heard. He would not even let me borrow his stapler. I had to walk around campus in hopes of finding a stapler, luckily, this was early in the morning, so the library always had a stapler.

School seems to have been an upset for me during 2007, at least for what I make it to be. I am on track to getting a degree, but when in time is that going to happen? I have seriously though about changing majors, just to get a degree quicker, but I’ve been talked out of it so many times, that it’s not going to do me any good, if I’m only changing it for the sake of getting out of school. Since then, I’ve managed to stay on course with a major that I plotted out since the fall of 2006. Mechanical/Aeronautical Engineering is my desired field of study. I think minor in Photography, would be good too, but with the amount of work in not just phsyical sciences and mathematics, I don’t think I have time for any artistic work. Though I don’t see any reason why my camera cant’ be with me at all times. With all the work ahead of me still, I have no reason to believe that graduating 2009 is possible. Which I actually accept now. This is the punishment I get for not making up my mind earlier on and changing majors 3 times, for partying too much, for not concentrating. If I really think about it, it’s not a punishment. If events did not happen, then I don’t think I would’ve been happy.

Sometimes I feel like I have not accomplished much in 2007, but as I look back, I did accomplish a lot. I know what I want to be when I grow up, I know how it is to work, I know how it is to keep up friendships, I know how to go out and have fun, I know how to study. There are a lot of things I got to learn and even enhance the skills I already had. There isn’t much I can say that I regret doing. Everything does happen for a reason!! If time travel was possible, I would tear it apart, and not let it ruin the world I currently live in.

-I really don’t think time travel is possible, at least not backwards in time, but we can definetely go forward in time.

This world that I live in, is not perfect, but I’m content with what I have. Can’t really ask for more! At this time the only thing I want…IS TO SLEEP. So for now, I will end with a quote.

“ Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy. ” - Sigmund Freud

P.S.
I started a deviantart account….

Hands to Heaven

How difficult is it to tell someone the truth?
It’s weird as to we always beat around the bush.
Being upfront about everything seems to be the hardest thing to do for any one person. I guess that’s how it has to be. Not all things in life is easy to accomplish. Every thing can’t be accomplished in a single lifetime.

Whoa, wtf was that about lol. But yeah. The last entry I had on here was awhile back. Been a busy bee, since halloween 07. Interesting how the days since then feels like it’s been collapsed into a single week. I can vividly remember the days as if they happened a couple of days ago. Not often can someone remember that much information. All the late nights I’ve spent seems to not have taken a toll in my weird enough time clock that my body runs on. I’ve been running on fuel powered by joy and excitement. I look forward to each day as it passes. However, not everything is all fun and games. I really have no idea what I’m saying anymore. It’s late. really late.

I can’t believe it’s already December 24, 2007. As far as I can remember Thanksgiving was just last week. It really is true that time flies when you’re having fun. My personal life seems to move so much quicker than my days at work. The 8 hours I spend at work seems so much longer than the 10 hours I spend with friends/family. I can’t berieve it. hehe.

Jokes that turn out to embarrass you, is something we all try to avoid. We all know it’s quite hard to do such a task. I really don’t know why i’m goign to keep at this, for now I really do think I will stop writing. My hands are cold, my feet are cold. My laundry needs to be done. Heaven really is a place on earth. I’ve been there and back everytime we part. On a good note I did find someone!!! Till the next blog, one more before the year ends is my goal. If it’s a goal, it’s close, if it’s a dream, it’s reachable.,p.

Live free, act random, think smart

October 28, 2007

Normally Sunday nights I go home right after work. My normal shift of 9:30-6:30 is usually enough for me on a Sunday, considering that I don’t usually sleep early to get a full night’s rest. That night my Auntie was having a birthday dinner at some filipino restaurant in Westlake. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a normal dinner that I would expect. This had a different atmosphere, they had full lightning with enough equipment to hold a concert. The only thing missing was the band members. What they did have, was sort of an open mic event. A lady was playing some songs on guitar for all participants while we ate dinner. It was rather a very relaxing atmosphere, one that I don’t usually partake in. Definetely would go back and maybe even consider playign a song or three. After dinner, mother went on with her friends to go celebrate more of her birthday while I almost went home, until Ter called me up and invited me to eat. I already ate at this point, so I watched him eat at Ling Nam. After this I realized I had my gear in my car so we set out to find a spot to take pictures. We drove out close to College Drive. Skyline College that is. We parked, walked along Highway 35 for what seemed like miles, but it was probably only 1/4 to 1/2 mile. Kind of long considering that I don’t normally take long walks anymore. It was around 11 when we were packing up everything, the tripod, and the cameras when a police car drove by and flashed the lights at us, or that little flood light he has outside his car, whatever it is. In my head, on snap, here we go again, encounter with the cops. We weren’t doing anything wrong, or at least in my head we weren’t, probably the only thing we did wrong was walk along Highway 35 at night. The cop was sort of nice, didn’t know much about photography from what he asked us. He did the usual Routine check, ID/Drivers License. Though I am quite unsure as to why he asked us where we worked and what not. Oh well, nothing better happen. He kept asking us questions what we were taking pictures of and where else do we go take pictures. I said we were taking pictures of the city in general. Landscaping is what we do, told him it was more of a hobby than anything else. Took pictures of the airport, since the plane’s lights provide that streak of light across the frame, which really does look nice. Before he let us go, he asked us if we took pictures of PG&E power stations, Firestations, malls, police stations. I was like wow he thinks we’re planning on doing something. Whatever though, it wasn’t a big deal since I wasn’t doing anything of that sort, well except I took pictures of the airport, but not for any particular reason. Weird thing before we left was he said, “Be safe walking back to your car.” WTF dude! First you were telling us how dangerous it was being there, now you’re going to tell us to walk back. Haha, was quite a funny experience. Got a kick out of that. Here’s some pictures from that night actually I like these pictures a lot.One of the pictures is a slow shutter speed with it facing HIghway 35, it was pretty cool I like how pictures like those turn out. The other was a shot of South San Francisco/San Bruno/Part of Daly City. Airport is visible in the picture as well too. Really is quite an oustanding view up there.

November 2, 2007 – November 4, 2007

Before the 2^nd Les was @ my house chilling until we started talking about work and how we were off this day and that day. At this point one of us came up with the idea that we should go to Santa Cruz to chill or what not. Then someone else said, let’s go to San Diego instead. So knowing us, we went for the farther destination, San Diego. Called up the contacts we had in So-Cal and grabbed another one of our buddies Marv to go with us. 1 day of planning and we were off for one of the randomest trips we’ve ever taken, considering we planned a couple of days ahead. Les and I, expected the usual, Marv’s car, Marv sitting in the back me and Les split the driving. That’s what we expected and that’s what we got. Haha. It’s nothing new. If it’s Marv’s car, he’s not driving whatsoever. Everytime we ask him to drive he’ll come up with a good excuse for us to not let him drive. “You want us to get lost?” “I’m tired!!” For some odd reason that “I’m tired,” clause seems to work, even though he just sits there. Lol. It’s cool we got there in one piece. November 2, 2007 was a Friday, our plan that day was to leave as early as we could to get to UCLA, Angela’s place as early as we could to avoid all sorts of traffic. Unfortunately, us Filipino’s cannot help but run in the time we know as Filipino time, in other words being late. Plan was to leave @ 11 for LA. We left @ 1 close to 2. We stayed @ Angela’s apartment that night, her roommates were having a party so that was pretty cool and interesting. No partying for me that night, I actually got to experience a whole party without missing the 2^nd half of it lol. Oh BTW, we got to meet some of Angela’s friends. Her friends Linda, and her bf, Quy [sp?] resemble us. It’s weird. We all act like each other. Lol. It was an outstanding visit to LA.

November 3, 2007 we set out to San Diego, to meet up with our main goal of the visit, Warren Ricafort. Picked him up ate at some thai place in Downtown San Diego. Good food. Had a double dose of curry the last meals I had there. First the curry house the night before then thai curry. Whatever though, something you wont’ normally do you know. After walking around DTSD, I called up Alva in UCSD to see if she wanted to kick it. So in turn we went to UCSD and paid her a visit. It was getting late and we still had to look for a hotel/motel to sleep at, but Alva offered to let us spend the night. Felt kind of bad though. Sorry! But hey looks like we did get stuff done and was worth the stay.

November 4, 2007 back to DTSD to drop off Warren and pay Daniel a visit at his pad. Nice pad by the way. Way cheaper rent down there than up here in the bay area. Considering the transfer to down there rather than stay up here.

These are the three guys that made this trip happen.
Next picture is a random picture of someone posing.

The trip was a random trip and it was successful thanks to the kindness of friends who took us in at such short notice. I guess a word of thanks is in order for your kind services hospitality. =)!!!