sainueng

Bay Area Ramen rating update - 6/3/2011

2011-06-03T01:14:00.017-05:00

Some new ramen restaurants and updates on the list. The new restaurants I found were from E-じゃん, a magazine on Japanese lifestyle in the Bay Area, curtesy of Jun.

We tried Ramen Shalala in Mountain View by Castro St recently. A post on Chow Hound claims that the chef used to work at Kahoo Ramen. Given my opinion of Kahoo, that does not raise my expectations. :p Hsin-Tien had shio while I had spicy miso. We felt that the broth lacked depth. The broth tastes like it's mostly a chicken base, so it was light and somewhat oily. The spicy miso reminded me of tan tan men. The noodles were quite good, so was the chashu, which was flavorful, fatty, and tasty. We felt that we would prefer Ryowa (Hsin-Tien) or Maruichi (me) over Shalala. The waitress did say her favorite was the shoyu, so I will probably try that when and if we come back. One final thing, the chicken karaage was a complete disappointment. There was not much taste, and the thick breading was flavorless and did not stick on the chicken properly. (HT)

I also tried Yuuraku in San Mateo. This is actually a Japanese Chinese restaurant, i.e. chinese food adapted to Japanese tastes. Still much better than American Chinese. ^_~ They have a large variety of ramen, which can be a red flag. I tried the Yuuraku Ramen since that was what was listed in E-じゃん. It was not a traditional ramen and rather interesting. The meat slices were thin but chewy with good flavor. The broth is supposed to be spicy shoyu. It's interesting but not very complex. I think overall it's an ok ramen house and would like to come back to at least verify their more traditional ramen offerings.

I have also made some adjustments to the list. I've decided to promote Santouka, since we've had it very often and still find it to be very high quality.

Pictures for Shalala:

My spicy miso and Hsin-Tien's shio

Pictures for Yuuraku:

The ramen menu and close up of the meat for Yuuraku Ramen

Revised list:

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shouyu, Shio)
Santouka (Shio)

Middle
Ramen Dojo (Tonkotsu stamina)
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Ramen Tenma (Okinawa, pork based)
Haru (Various)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)
Yuuraku Ramen (?)
Shalala (Shio, Spicy Miso)
Katanaya (Kayanaya ramen, shyouyu-based)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)
Ajisen
Kumako

Question mark?
Ogisan in Campbell. New
Douhatsuten in Palo Alto.

On the other side

2011-03-02T02:10:00.002-06:00

Now that I have actually attended several practices sitting on the sensei side, I must say the oddest thing so far to me is hearing "Sensei ni" and seeing a bunch of kids in front of me.

4 dan!

2010-11-27T21:41:00.003-06:00

On my fourth try, I finally passed my kendo 4 dan exam. It is both a relief and a stepping stone forward. Many thanks to all my senseis and people who practiced and tested with me. And a big thank you for my wife for letting me attend all of those practices.

I must admit that my kendo now feels much more solid than the first time I tested 2 years ago. Although, I think I was in better cardio shape back then, my kendo now is much steadier and I think my eye for reading an opponent has improved significantly. However, I am still prone to being reactive than proactive. Never going to run out of things to work on, I guess. :p

Bay Area Ramen rating update - 11/27/2010

2010-11-27T21:26:00.004-06:00

Wow, it has been a while.

There is a fairly new Ramen place in town, called Ramen Tenma on Saratoga Ave, in the Lion City strip mall between Mitsuwa and Halu Ramen. They claim to be Okinawa Ramen, with a pork bone soup base and thin noodles. Despite being pork bones, the soup is very light and not oily at all. The flavor is arguably a little light. They also have Okinawa Soba, which tastes more like a konbu based broth. Also very good.

Ramen Tenma also has some interesting appetizers. One is the fatty pork that you can find at other ramen places. Another is a set of 4 pieces of chashu w/ some melted cheese on top. I would recommend trying this one. Lastly, they have something called the Okinawa Bowl, which is andasu over the rice. It seems to be some kind of flavored, almost fermented pork. It's an interesting try.

Overall, I think Ramen Tenma is a decent addition to the Ramen scene in the Bay Area. And Hsin-tien and I appreciate how close to our house it is. ^_^

Pictures:

Revised list:

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shouyu, Shio)

Middle
Ramen Tenma (Okinawa, pork based)
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Ramen Dojo (Tonkotsu stamina)
Santouka (Shio)
Haru (Various)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)
Katanaya (Kayanaya ramen, shyouyu-based)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)
Ajisen
Kumako

Question mark?
Ogisan in Campbell. New

Bay Area Ramen rating update - 8/15/2010

2010-08-16T00:07:00.005-05:00

Hsin-tien and I tried Kumako in downtown San Jose a couple weeks ago. That was definitely a mistake. The only reason we went there instead of any other restaurant in Japantown San Jose was because we didn't get there until 2PM and all of the other Japanese restaurants are already closed. Nothing about the ramen was good, in my opinion. I didn't like the soup, noodles, or chasu. I would never go back again unless all of the restaurants were closed again. And even then, I would seriously consider going somewhere else...

Hsint-tien and I tried Katana-ya (刀屋) in downtown San Francisco yesterday, when we took a friend of hers to SF. When I saw their menu, providing a diverse mix of broth and many rice dishes and even sushi, I pegged them to be about Himawari or Ryowa's level. I was right. Both of us tried the Katana-ya ramen, which was unorthodox. It was a soy sauce broth, with corn, seaweed, chasu, fried gyoza, and fried chicken. For only $13, it was well worth its value. The fried chicken, or chicken karaage (), was actually pretty decent, and even withstood soaking in broth. I can't help but wonder if its four start ranking on Yelp is helped by people dropping by after drinks late at night. ^_^

Two updates this time.

Revised list:

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shouyu, Shio)

Middle
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Ramen Dojo (Tonkotsu stamina)
Santouka (Shio)
Haru (Various)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)
Katanaya (Kayanaya ramen, shyouyu-based)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)
Ajisen
Kumako

Question mark?
Ogisan in Campbell. New

Bigger men strike

2010-08-04T01:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Tanaka sensei reiterated that I wasn't raising my hands up enough before striking men (面), sashi men (さし面), in particular. I didn't understand him the first time but I think I see now. Because of all the pressure to get faster, my form has been changing and deteriorating. This advice, raise up and hit from above, was what I used to tell beginners in Illinois. I feel kind of ashamed when I realized that I was no longer following my own advice. -_-

Legally married!

2010-07-17T02:01:00.008-05:00

Hsin-Tien and I attended our civil marriage ceremony today, so now we are legally married! Reception dates are yet to be determined. :p

Special thanks to our parents, including Hsin-tien's mom for flying all of the way from Taiwan, my sister and brother-in-law Drew, and my aunt and uncle for joining us.

More pictures, courtesy of my sister:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sainueng/CourtWedding#

Kendo practice - 20100604

2010-06-05T02:34:00.002-05:00

Rather hot practice tonight. I thought I did fairly well. Got some good advice tonight.

Yamaguchi sensei - Don't rush. When I rush I hit and reach with my right hand. Need to stay straight.

Kim sensei - Reach forward more and then hit men (面). Don't cock my right hand and tip back too far. Kim sensei was picking off my kote (小手) with ease. I used to hit this way a while back, but I have been swinging bigger lately because I felt my tenouchi (手の内) has not been enough. The strength of the hit hasn't been there. I think it is time to reevaluate, yet again. :p

Gen Mikuni sensei - Need to commit, especially when I strike kote (小手).

Nishiura sensei - Don't hit too much hiki waza (引き技). I was trying to be more aggressive, and went too far I think. Especially when trying to do shinsa keiko (審査稽古).

Bay Area Ramen rating update - 5/15/2010

2010-05-15T02:26:00.004-05:00

I tried the shouyu ramen at Orenchi this Wednesday and I really liked it. I think it's not the usual shouyu. I'm guessing they mix in soup from the pork stock. Yet it also retains some of the fish stock, smoky taste of shouyu. I like it better than Orenchi's shio for sure.

Updated list:

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shouyu, Shio)

Middle
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Ramen Dojo (Tonkotsu)
Santouka (Shio)
Haru (Various)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)
Ajisen

Question mark?
Kumako in Japan town San Jose. Heard it wasn't good.
Ogisan in Campbell. New

No more coasting

2010-05-07T22:54:00.002-05:00

At kendo practice this Thursday, I realized that I've been coasting too much at practice for a while now. I realized this when Kim sensei pointed out during suburi (素振り) that my step size should be bigger.

I should be putting in more effort. I've been hiding behind my elbow discomfort, telling myself I'm trying to establish confidence, etc. I need to return to the roots of kendo and push myself instead. The senseis, Tanaka sensei in particular, have been pushing me still. But on my own, I feel I have not been putting in the same amount of dedication.

Time to change.

Oh yeah, and I failed my yondan (四段) test again, for the 3rd time. >_< :(

Bay Area Ramen rating update - 4/24/2010

2010-04-25T01:13:00.010-05:00

I ate at Ajisen in Fremont and the newly opened Ramen Dojo in San Mateo recently.

I now understand why Hsin-tien never wanted to go to Ajisen. LOL It is not that special, at least in terms of a ramenya. As a noodle place, it is good. The broth is decent, but not deep. The noodles were ok. I had the spare ribs ramen, which were recommended, and I must admit to being impressed w/ the meat.

Ramen Dojo is by the same people who do Santa Ramen, so expectations were high. It opened at the old location of Santa Ramen and specialized in Stamina Ramen: spicy high-calorie ramen. There were 3 base broths: shoyuu (soy sauce), tonkotsu (pork bone), and miso. Three levels of spiciness: mild, regular, and spicy. The toppings were also a little different. There was a quail egg, roast pork, kimagure, fried garlic, shredded red pepper, sliced green onion, and chicken gravy. (I may have missed a few items.) Again, I was not impressed w/ the chasu, but I like it better than Santa. I've tried the tonkotsu and the miso at regular spicy, and I prefer the tonkotsu. The spiciness is not bad for the mouth, but could affect your digestive system. >_> I would try mild next time. Hsin-tien had the mild and it seemed like the spiciness is more controlled and generated by black pepper, not hot chili oil. Hsin-tien prefers Santa and I have to agree. Although Ramen Dojo is a good change of pace.

Pictures are from Ramen Dojo.

Updated list: (I've also decided to promote Santouka above Haru)

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shio)

Middle
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Ramen Dojo (Tonkotsu)
Santouka (Shio)
Haru (Various)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)
Ajisen

Question mark?
Kumako in Japan town San Jose. Heard it wasn't good.
Ogisan in Campbell. New

IP TROLL

2010-04-14T18:36:00.002-05:00

This morning I saw an Infinity with a license plate saying exactly that, "IP TROLL". Made me almost want to key the car... >_<

Bay Area Ramen rating - 3/24/2010

2010-03-24T04:02:00.003-05:00

I was eating at Kahoo Ramen for lunch today and it occurred to me that I should probably rate my preferences for the ramen restaurants that I know of and tried in the Bay Area. Just for kicks. :) I'm restricting this to restaurants centering around ramen. Restaurants that happen to serve ramen won't count. Maybe I'll have honorable mentions later on.

Anyways, here's my list of ramen restaurants, along w/ my preferred soup base.

Top
Santa (Tonkotsu)
Orenchi (Tonkotsu, Shio)

Middle
Maruichi (Tonkotsu variation)
Haru (Various)
Santouka (Shio)
Ryowa (Butter Corn)
Himawari (Tantan, Shio)

Bottom
Kahoo (Shio)

Question mark?
Kumako in Japan town San Jose. Heard it wasn't good.
Ajisen in Fremont
Ogisan in Campbell. New

It wasn't just ramen deprivation!!

2010-01-31T01:36:00.004-06:00

Back when I was in IL, Katousan Ramen (火頭山) in the food court of Mitsuwa was the only ramen place I could find. Practically every time I went up to Chicago, I had to eat there. However, a part of me always wondered if it was actually good. Or if I was just ramen deprived.

Recently Katousan opened up a branch at the Mitsuwa here in Saratoga. I finally tried it a couple nights ago and found it to still be rather tasty, despite the abundance of ramen shops here in Bay Area. So I am glad that it wasn't just ramen deprivation that made me like Katousan Ramen! :)

Correction: It's Santouka (山頭火). :p

Fantasy football: addendum

2009-12-22T10:17:00.001-06:00

And... I lost in the 2nd round of playoffs. T_T

Fantasy football

2009-12-08T10:46:00.002-06:00

I'm in the playoffs for the first time that I can remember!! Woohoo!! With a first round by no less.

Too bad the Niners' chances for the same aren't that good... Oh well...

Kendo practice: 2009-12-04

2009-12-05T01:09:00.002-06:00

Got many comments at today's practice. Figured I should write them down so I remember.

Matsuda sensei: Timing of kiai (気合い) and strike. Need better ki-ken-tai-icchi (気剣体一致). A more complete cut. Start with a sharper kiai.

Yoshida sensei: Push-pull w/ the left hand. Relax the right hand onto the left hand. Raise the kensen by pushing forward w/ the left hand and then strike by pulling, while pushing forward w/ the right hand at the end.

I remember trying this before and wasn't happy w/ the results, but it may be time to revisit it.

Nishiura sensei: He was watching my practice after practice and then asked me to try a couple men strikes in front of him. He reminded me to push with the left foot, kicking the floor, and move forward with the hara (腹).

Waaahhhh!!!! So much to work on... T_T

(Thank you to all of the sensei-dachi (先生達) for their advice. ^_^)

Kendo

2009-11-13T11:04:00.004-06:00

On my recent trip to Japan and Taiwan, I was able to practice kendo once in Japan at the Noma Dojo at its new location and once in Taiwan. Both times I was told the same thing by sensei, so I should probably, probably, write it down and work on it. :p

After I go for men, I am too rigid and tense and unable to strike again if my opponent steps back and I miss.

Sigh >_<

Camping at Pinnacles

2009-10-22T22:44:00.015-05:00

Last weekend Erwin arranged for a car camping trip at Pinnacles National Park, which is about a 2 hour drive south of here, past Gilroy and Holister. Hsin-tien and I decided to join in. This would be Hsin-tien's first camping experience. The plan was to drive down Saturday, go on a hike, relax at the campsite, and go on another hike Sunday if people feel up for it. The main attraction at Pinnacles were the caves, which aren't always open due to the bats.

Originally there were 5-6 families/couples going, with 4 babies involved. O_o Scary... In the end though, due to various circumstances, it went down to 4 families/couples with 2 babies. That made it a lot more tolerable. I think we all concluded after the trip that more than 2 babies would be impossible. :) Eric and Ce joined us from Fresno, and Simon and Yoon came down from the Bay Area.

Hsin-tien and I met up w/ Erwin, Amanda, and Oskar around noon at Bear Gulch. After we ate lunch we got our gear together for the day hike. It was to be short, 2-3 miles. But there is a cave, and a baby involved. It was fun. The cave was interesting, and we got to go through the upper caves as well, which is often closed for the bats. Parts of it were a tight squeeze and I don't know how Erwin did it w/ Oskar on his back. O_o Oskar was a very cooperative and happy baby. :) After stopping at the "reservoir" we had a leisurely stroll back.

For dinner Erwin put together a terrific spread. My only real experience w/ camping so far has been backpacking, where we had to carry all of our equipment and food for multiple days, hiking many miles per day, and ending on freeze-dried food (which were delicious then :). So this car camping w/ cutting board, knives, cooking and eating utensils, was quiet different for me. Following are some pictures of the food and camp.

Unfortunately the shower facilities were... adequate, but a little spooky, since there were no lights. O_O

I think Hsin-tien came back fairly unscathed. We decided to take it easy on Sunday and just came back after cleaning up camp. We stopped at Gilroy for Hsin-tien to pick up some gifts for our trip to Taiwan. Both of us are a little under the weather right now because of stress and general tiredness, but nothing really from the trip. Perhaps this means more camping for the 2 of us in the future... ^_^

So disappointed...

2009-10-19T00:01:00.004-05:00

I really should have known better...

I got a letter saying "2009 Obama Agenda Survey." Then I noticed that it's from the Republican National Committee. I figured I would still take a look. The letter says that there is a questionnaire included and they want to hear back from people. I'm thinking, "Ok, maybe they're interested in getting their message out and getting some feedback." Then on the other side of the letter it asks for money. >_< I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but still, I figured I would look at the questionnaire.

But going through that questionnaire I was really disappointed. They basically listed a bunch of topics in a divisive manner, and gave the options for Yes/No/No opinion. There is almost no way I could answer these questions w/ just Yes or No!! The first question was do I agree w/ Obama's budget plan. The 2nd question was do I believe the federal government went too far w/ the bailouts. And the 3rd was do I support amnesty for illegal immigrants. Is it just me or are these questions that cut and dry?

I especially liked the one that asks if I believe that Obama's nominees for federal courts should be immediately and unquestionably approved for their lifetime appointments by the U.S. Senate. I mean, a) I don't think he's going to be able to change how the system works, nor is he proposing to, b) if you just bow down yourself then you're not doing you job, and c) didn't you guys basically do similar things after 9/11 when you had the popular and media support?

And at the end of the questionnaire there was just the contribution reply. No space whatsoever for additional thoughts or comments. Granted, it may be next to impossible to go through random responses, but still.

To me, this questionnaire just seemed like a hoax. They list a bunch of divisive topics that appeal to what their current core constituency already believes in, build up their fervor, and then have them send in money. Makes me wonder if they would even take the results of the questionnaire seriously...

Alpine Lake Wilderness Backpacking Trip

2009-09-28T01:42:00.005-05:00

I joined Ian's yearly backpacking trip this year at the Alpine Lake Wilderness near Seattle. He has a great write up with pictures here. My pictures can be found here. I flew up to Seattle from San Jose and met up with Todd, Andy, and Kevin, who graciously drove and picked us up.

I just wanted to add that my left knee started hurting part way through the first day. I think I was not used to changing elevation, especially while carrying a 40 lb pack. :p Managed to go through the rest of the trip w/o too much problems. Really appreciate Ian loaning me some trekking poles. Definitely picking up a set before the next trip.

The tent Ian got for me in OR, to avoid the sales tax, also worked out well. :)

AC/DC Rocks!!

2009-09-03T23:32:00.010-05:00

Went to see AC/DC concert this Wednesday. It was great!! The crowd was very energetic and the band was basically going all out non-stop for 2 hours. Angus Young was very impressive.

Unfortunately I had gotten tickets on the side of the stage. This was one show that should definitely be viewed front and center. They had a lot of props and theatrics that are best viewed from the front, including a train, the Rosie blow-up doll, cannons for "For Those About to Rock", a bell for "Hell's Bell", and more. In the first picture you can see the circular platform at the end of the catwalk where Angus performed part of his solo and the bell in the second picture. If they're ever in town again, I would be tempted to see them again.

ため。ちょっと分かるかな。

2009-08-30T18:02:00.003-05:00

今週の金曜日の稽古でいい攻めて面を打っていました。左右田先生も思いました。しかし、一回、二回だけ打っていました。：P　まだまだ勉強しなければなりません。

上個星期五的劍道練習的時候我有打了不錯的面。連左右田老師也同意。可惜只有打出一兩次而已。:P 還得在更加磨練。

At the kendo practice last Friday I was able to hit a good seme men. Even Souda sensei stopped me to comment on it. Unfortunately I only did it once or twice. :p Need to keep practicing. The footwork actually felt awkward... >_>

SIGGRAPH at New Orleans

2009-08-13T10:55:00.010-05:00

I went to my first SIGGRAPH at New Orleans last week. It was an interesting experience. Much different from the other conferences I've been to due to its size. Unfortunately, according to my coworkers and others, it was much smaller than previous SIGGRAPHs. The economy has hurt a lot. Still, it was very impressive to me given that there was a huge party at the beginning at a club, a parade to the reception at the end of the week, and attended by several thousand people.

Much of the technical graphics talks were above me. But there was such a huge range of topics that I did find some that I could relate to, such as OpenCL, animation talks for fun, and physics simulation in games. Will Wright's keynote was interesting and inspirational, even if it was so fast I don't remember most of it. He went through ~240 slides in 2 hours. @_@

I also did some limited touring of New Orleans, and ate a LOT of good food. I was not expecting to see so many strip clubs on Bourbon St. O_o Most of the bars did have decent live bands though. We ended up just walking around and talking on the street. I visited Emeril's Restaurant, where I had an excellent pork chop. The sauce had an interesting contrast between the mango mole and tamarind. Most of us were sick of Creole and Cajun after a couple days because there was just too much fried foods and too oily. Another treat we found was Cafe Adalaide, which had 25 cent martinis at lunch. I had a terrific shrimp salad, to try to clear my blood vessels a bit. :) Rio Mar was an excellent Spanish restaurant, and then lunch at Cochon blew me away. The oysters were fantastic and the meat plate was very interesting. I loved the bacon. ^_^

First real VFF run

2009-07-29T12:07:00.003-05:00

Wednesday last week I actually tried a real run w/ my VFF. I aimed for about 3 miles, w/ a stretch along the railroad tracks because I wanted to see if I could actually handle trails w/ them.

It was a mistake. :P A minor one, thankfully.

I could run in the dirt along the railroad tracks fine. The small jagged rocks right by the tracks don't work though. Walking in them is barely tolerable and the footing is too loose to run in.

The real mistake was trying to run 3 miles off the bat. My calves were tired after about 1 mile, and threatened to cramp up towards the end whenever I stopped at a light. I think I'm not running toe-first correctly yet. I suspect I wasn't landing on my heels at all for the first 1/2 to 1 mile, which stressed out my calves. I also probably ran too fast at the beginning. The pacing and timing are different. It also took quite a bit of concentration to keep the form.

Next time, shorter distance w/ the VFF. ^_^

ため。。。

2009-07-25T11:51:00.001-05:00

ため。剣道によるとどんな意味かな。僕ができるかな。。。

Monterey and Carmel

2009-07-05T12:15:00.019-05:00

This Fourth of July weekend I went down to Monterey and Carmel with Hsin-tien. We were aiming for a nice leisurely and relaxing trip. And the thing dictating our itinerary... food. ^_^

On the way down, we stopped at Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing for an early lunch. Unfortunately that also meant we weren't very hungry so we passed on the cioppino. Instead we had some sauteed oysters, which were one of the day's specials, a bowl of clam chowder, and steamed clams. I was not impressed by the sauteed oysters, but the clam chowder and steamed clams were good. I would definitely have to try the cioppino next time. Maybe when it's crab season.

We had to spend some time driving around Cannery Row to find parking for our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. All of the lots were full, but the aquarium didn't feel too packed after we got in. We took our time walking to the aquarium before entering quickly (and for free) thanks to my parents' aquarium membership. :) The current special exhibit, "The Secret Lives of Seahorses," was interesting. And my dreaded nemesis the Sunfish was missing. :D

There was a bit of traffic between Monterey and Carmel. Upon arriving in Carmel, we checked into our bed and breakfast, the Colonial Terrace. Then we walked down to the beach and had a nice stroll. The sand was very fine and comfortable, and there were many people starting up fires on the beach. Unfortunately it had become cloudy so no sunset for us. :p

We cleaned up and went to dinner at Anton and Michel. Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures of the food. :p The food was good, but nothing too exotic or different. The atmosphere is very nice though.

The next day we slept in before heading to Carmel Belle for lunch. We found the place w/ relatively little difficulty. It is a nice quaint place, and the food was pretty good. The prociutto was a nice reminder of Spain. Hsin-tien and I have trouble remembering to photograph our food before digging in. :p

After a little shopping along Ocean Ave we decided to head back. For dinner we tried Tanto on Saratoga Ave. We got there early, around 6 o'clock, and they were hesitant to seat us w/o reservations. Guess they're really popular and crowded. O_o They seated us anyways, ahead of a reservations I assume, and somewhat pushed us to order quickly. They were nice about it though. We had kakuni (stewed pork), asari ramen (clam ramen), and kaki ika (grilled squid). Hsin-tien also had an order of egg nigiri. All of it was really good. Again, we forgot to take pictures of the food. :p

VFF and stairs: Feels like cheating

2009-06-09T10:30:00.005-05:00

Did a lot of stairs this past Saturday w/ Shannon and Kaori. Of course I wore my VFF. ^_^ I swear it feels like cheating given how light they are and the ability to use your toes. My calves are like dead still though. :p

VFF 1st workout: Exhilarating!!!

2009-05-24T15:16:00.004-05:00

So after wearing my Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) off and on this week, I finally took them out for a workout this Sunday morning. I decided to do a short jog, about 1 mile, to the De Anza College track to do some core workouts, since I didn't think I was ready for a long run yet. (I haven't run since my marathon in January. :p) The jog there was ok. Felt a little odd, and stepping on a joint between pavement hurt a little bit, but it was fine. Slight detour on gravel was fine, as was grass and mulch under trees. I realized that there are places you can't step in/on though, such as grates with wider holes. I think your ankles also get more of a workout, since the VFF allows and forces you to use your ankles more, for both stabilizing and pushing.

I always disliked stair works, but it was a lot more tolerable with the VFF. Being able to bend and use your toes more made the stairs much more tolerable, both going up and down. Lunges were also interesting being able to use my toes more, but my left toes were not too happy due to a tough and tense kendo practice on Friday. It was also easier to stay on my toes and stabilize during burpees.

But the real surprise came on the jog back. It had felt like the one thing that feels off w/ the VFF is actually running fast, or sprinting. I don't have a good sprinting form. I'm not used to running only on the balls of my feet and my toes. Rather, I lengthen my stride and power faster. But then landing on the thinner heel of the VFF kind of hurts. On the jog back I tried to jog in the toe/ball first form, which is landing on the balls of your feet and not your heels. It's supposed to be how you do barefoot running and how the Kenyans run. It was not easy, but easier in the VFF than regular shoes. It was more of a strain on my calf and ankles, but I kept going. On the last stretch of my block, I started to up the speed and start sprinting. And I could actually sprint on the balls of my feet! And I kept going faster and faster, and soon it felt like all that was touching the ground were my toes!! It was exhilarating!! So it was a great fun first training w/ the VFF and we'll see how we go from here. ^_^

Vibram 5 fingers

2009-05-20T22:03:00.006-05:00

Kenney my coworker has been talking about the Vibram 5 fingers for a while now. He's a pretty serious runner and keeps up with the running trends. One of the trends is the benefits of running barefoot, and the Vibram 5 finger is trying to simulate barefoot running as much as possible. I always walk around barefoot at home and kendo is also always barefoot, but I was still kind of interested.

So yesterday afternoon during lunch we went down to Palo Alto to Zombie Runners to try them out. I wasn't sure if I would like them, but neither of us could take them off after having them on. And in fact both of us wore them out of the store. Kenney even threw away the shoes he was originally wearing since they were worn down quite a bit already! I think I'm going to try a little running and core work w/ them this weekend.

The picture is of our feet after coming back to the office. I'm the one w/ white pants.

四段が取りませんでした

2009-05-20T02:09:00.004-05:00

今回五月の審査でまだ四段が取りませんでした。本当に難しいでした。今回が十一月の審査よりいい稽古をしたと思いました。だがまだ「四段を取った』と思いませんでした。やっぱりまだ駄目です。もっと練習しなければなりません。先生達、先輩達、とみんなの稽古感謝しました。また四段のチャレンジをします。

Well, it's official. I did not pass my yondan test this May. I thought I did better than my previous attempt last November, but I did not have the feeling of "I got it!" during the test. It really is difficult. I need to practice more, which I plan to do now that I no longer have soccer on Saturdays. I must also thank my senseis, my senpais, and everyone at the dojo for their practices. And the challenge continues.

On a separate note, Tanaka sensei told me during kata practice yesterday that I'm too stiff. Kata needs to have emotion, but also needs to look smooth and beautiful. I am focusing so much on displaying emotion that my motions are jerky and unpleasant. I think my keiko is being affected in a similar way as well.

Black eye from kendo!!

2009-04-06T23:10:00.007-05:00

That's right, I actually got a black eye from kendo. Hopefully it will be my one and only, ever. It was from practicing kata.

It happened on shoutou ipponme (小刀一本目). I was shidachi (仕立ち) with the shoutou (小刀). I was a little late with my sidestep and my block wasn't strong enough, so the uchitachi's (打太刀) strike knocked my shoutou (小刀) into my face. :p My left eye teared up but I finished the rest of the kata (形).

The next morning my coworker asked if I had a black eye, which really surprised me. It's not very noticeable, but there is a bruise on my left eyelid. So yeah, I got a black eye from kendo. ^_^

Update: Another picture, this one is 2 days after, on Tuesday. The bruise is even more apparent. :p

Optometrist visit

2009-03-27T00:11:00.012-05:00

A couple weekends ago I went to visit the optometrist. He was startled to find a scratch in my left eye!! He said I should have been tearing and hurting like crazy from it, but I can't even remember when and how I got the scratch. :p So I had to wear a soft contact lens in my left eye as a bandage for a couple of days before going back again. Luckily everything healed up fine. Whew...

He took some pictures, which I've attached. The blue one is when he put that dye in the eye. He said the scratch was fairly deep, which is why the dye pooled into one spot.

Facebook ads again

2009-02-13T16:48:00.003-06:00

Ok, now I'm being bombarded by ads saying it's ok if I loose my job, because I can make tons of money via Google somehow. Haven't checked yet. Haven't needed to yet, thank goodness. :)

Interspersed with the dating ads still, of course. ^_^

A more complex cruise control?

2009-02-02T13:18:00.005-06:00

So I started using the cruise control on my new Prius. Given the feedback on mileage the car gives, I started thinking if a better system for cruise control can be provided. One that takes mileage into consideration.

Instead of only specifying a speed for cruise control, the driver specifies a range of speed. The car will then restrict its speed within that range while maximizing the mileage. I was thinking that this could then adapt to elevation changes and wind. I think the biggest problem would be user interface, and making the system understandable to the common driver. Maybe instead of the driver specifying a speed range, the system just assumes a range of 10 mph around the specified speed.

Wonder if I should look into patenting this crazy idea... ^_^

Piano

2009-01-25T12:34:00.003-06:00

I've been back in CA for 6 months now (time flies! O_O) and yesterday was the first time I touched the piano. I am both ashamed and proud of myself. -__- But, I promised myself that I would play the piano first before playing video games from now on. We'll see how long that lasts... :p

Deal w/ the devil?

2009-01-21T10:37:00.002-06:00

If this was true, we wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, be loosing money. ^_^

New car!

2009-01-19T11:50:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I decided to finally go test drive a Prius. And ended up getting a silver one. :p The Jetta was starting to have some problems and I guess the bells and whistles (and gas mileage) got to me. ^_^

My first marathon!

2009-01-19T00:13:00.003-06:00

I finished my first marathon! I did the Disney World marathon on Sunday, 1/11/09, with Shelly and Aqeel. It was a lot of fun. Painful, but fun. :p

The run began with a bang, with fireworks. After winding through Epcot center, the run proceeded to the Magic Kingdom. We got to run out from under the castle. The run then winded through Animal Kingdom, made a short side trip to the Wide World of Sports, before going through Hollywood Studios and ending in Epcot. One of the best part was going by the costuming department in Hollywood Studios, in my opinion.

I really wish I had brought a camera with me on the run. All along the run characters like Goofy, Donald, and Mickey, showed up at various intervals. People lines up to take pictures with them. There were also people dressed up in costume running. There were many Disney employees lining the route cheering us on at the beginning, who were replaced by spectators as the day wore on.

I didn't have a finish time in mind, but I was trying to maintain a 11 or 12 minute pace. When it looked like I could break 5 hours around mile 18, I made that my goal. I finished with a time of 4:38:15, a 10:46 pace. I pushed really hard for the last three miles and flew through the last mile. I guess that meant I was holding back and could have ran faster earlier. :p There were many water, food, and aid stations available. I ate everything and didn't hit the wall at all. My hamstrings did tighten up between miles 18 and 22, and I had to use Biofreeze and stop to stretch. Aqeel hit the wall at mile 18 unfortunately and couldn't accomplish his 4 hour goal. Shelly did pretty well despite not having had the chance to train and doesn't know how to feel about that. ^_^

Lastly, there is apparently something called the Goofy Challenge here, which is to run the half-marathon on Saturday and then the marathon on Sunday. Crazy... This event is also really popular and fills up fast. Apparently the sign up for next year begins on Monday! O_o

2008 Vacation to Spain

2009-01-18T23:42:00.005-06:00

This winter I joined Shelley and Pablo on their trip to Spain. Two more of Shelley's friends joined us as well. Pablo graciously planned out our itinerary, which was a tour of Southern Spain and spending New Year in Leon with his family.

I left San Jose on 12/25 and I met up with Pablo and Shelly in the O'hare airport in Chicago. We were on the same flight to Madrid. Thankfully there was no delay whatsoever.

After arriving in Madrid in the morning, we decided to walk around. We started it off with a snack, some brocadillo calamares, which was basically fried calamari in a sandwich roll. It was so good. We visited the Plaza Mayor, the Plaza del Sol, the royal palace, and other places. We also had chocolate con churros, which was fried dough with a very thick chocolate. We met up with Ryan after lunch while Helena arrived in the dead of night. :) We spent most of the afternoon w/ Elena, Pablo's friend in Madrid. The next morning we had reservations at El Prado, which was a fantastic museum, featuring El Greco and many other artists. After lunch we got on the train to Grenada.

At Grenada the big show was of course Alhambra. It was very intriguing and beautiful, and personally I think the Muslim portions outshone the Christian parts, with the possible exception of the Palace of Charles V. We also went up Albayzin for the view of Alhambra. We concluded with a visit to the cathedral.

Next up was Sevilla. The cathedral of Sevilla was very impressive. It also holds the supposed tomb of Christopher Columbus. The first night Pablo wasn't feeling well, so Ryan, Helena, and I wondered around for a long time before trying our best to order dinner for ourselves. I must admit I think we did fairly well. The second day we visited Alcazar and its gardens. We also visited the Plaza de Espana. Pablo says it was used to film part of the Star Wars prequel. I vaguely remember it from one of the scenes cut out of Episode 2.

We finally head for Leon on 12/31, New Year's Eve. We arrived just before lunch. Ryan and I were fairly tired, and with a long night ahead of us we decided to take a siesta that afternoon. However, since Helena would be leaving Spain that night/early next morning, Pablo and Shelley took her around Leon on a tour. That night Pablo's mom put on an incredible spread for dinner, which lasted 3 hours. ^_^ We also participated in the Spanish tradition of consuming one grape on each ring of the New Year bell. Then we headed out to the bars before concluding with chocolate con churros at 5 in the morning. I think we would be considered to have stopped early. O_o

Everyone took it easy on 1/1. On 1/2, Pablo's parents took us to Astorga where we visited the sights and had an INCREDIBLE lunch. We also stopped by a small village on the way back. Ryan left that night. The next day I joined the family at the "Presentation of Shelley" lunch with family and friends. :)

I was originally going to leave in the early morning of 1/5 by bus for the airport, just like Ryan. However, Pablo commented that Leon is a small town and suggested that I might want to look into visiting other cities instead. So we scoped out what's available and I ended up heading down to Madrid on 1/4 in the morning. I attended a Real Madrid vs. Villareal game, which was exciting and good. And I went to Restaurante Sobrino de Botin for dinner, which is certified by the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest restaurant in the world, established in 1725. I originally wanted to go to La Broche, but they weren't open on Sundays.

In conclusion, I had an awesome time. Without Pablo, I think our culinary experience would not have been as terrific. Also having 5 people meant we could order and share many different dishes. I will definitely want to go back. After all, I still have at least Barcelona to visit and so much more food to eat. ^_^

My Pictures

Flying to Half Moon Bay for lunch

2008-12-12T23:01:00.007-06:00

A co-worker of mine owns a helicopter. On good weather days he sometimes flies out to Half Moon Bay for lunch and this Thursday he asked me to join him. I figured that it's a pretty rare opportunity so I said yes.

It was a lot of fun and very interesting seeing all of the preparations that he had to do and the communications with the towers. I have only been in a helicopter once before this, and it was rather large comparatively. This helicopter only seats 2-3 people, and I had to move my leg around the controls, and make sure I don't hit them. :p

On the way back he did a hilltop landing, and even offered to let me try a slight turn. I lightly touched the control stick and said "That's enough for me!" :p Then we did a steep turn before heading back... to work.

Mushin (無心) Or kendo is not a flowchart

2008-12-12T22:56:00.003-06:00

I received a very good advice from one of my sensei recently. He commented that it seemed like I was thinking too much, and I was lacking mushin (無心). (Lacking mushin, does that make sense? :) His follow-up was that kendo is not a flow chart. ^_^ That is very true, and unfortunately I tend to approach kendo with the "pressure, observe reaction, then attack" mindset. I have received a lot of good advice since failing my 4 dan exam, but I think I am trying too hard thinking about them and trying to do them, and not following the flow of the keiko (稽古) itself.

More things to work on... :p

$79.99 per pound?!

2008-12-07T21:42:00.003-06:00

Saw this at Mitsuwa today. At first I thought it was a typo, but it wasn't. So I had to take a picture. It's Wagyu beef (和牛) for shabushabu (しゃぶしゃぶ).

For the record, I ended up w/ a dry aged rib eye steak from Whole Foods, at $21.99 per pound. :p I figured I would try it. It's good, good steakhouse good, but probably not worth it except for special occasions.

Hair

2008-11-24T13:54:00.003-06:00

Lately I've noticed more white hair. Kind of odd since I don't think my current work is much more stressful than grad school. At least it's not accelerated rate of hiar loss. [crosses fingers] ^_^

Machiaveli's The Prince

2008-11-19T13:12:00.002-06:00

I finally finished reading The Prince by Machiavelli. It was actually very short. I just kept putting it off after starting it. :-p I found it on the bookshelf here in Cupertino after moving back and organizing stuff and figured that I should read it since I've always thought that I identified with his philosophy.

It turned out to be a very interesting read. I don't think he so much advocates benevolent dictatorship, but reliable tactics for sustaining a state. Dictatorship is a natural assumption since monarchies were the norm of his times. However, he also referenced republics as well. Finally, I'm not sure how applicable his ideas are in our age. I think a large underlying assumption in his writing is the fluidity of states through war and conquest, which is not so much the case any more.

Gooooooaaaaaaallllll!!!

2008-11-18T10:35:00.002-06:00

Our indoor soccer team didn't do too well last night, but I did score a goal w/ a header, so... Woohoo!! ^_^

Mama kills animals

2008-11-17T12:13:00.006-06:00

Just played this flash game.

Is there something wrong w/ me? The only things going through my mind (other than "Psh, they're just adding more blood to upset people. I mean come on! Blood and feathers out of an egg?! These people have been away from meat so long they don't remember anything anymore!) [Wow, that was a long parentheses. :p] AHEM!

Anyways, as I was saying... The only things going through my mind were "Hmm, the ingredients and procedures seem fairly accurate. Yeah, most people are unaware of the gory details of preparing an animal for consumption. I wonder if this is what Cooking Mama is really like? I could almost see myself playing it. It's kind of hypnotizing." ^_^

And finally concluding w/ "Ewww, tofu turkey. >_<"

Oh, and Cooking Mama holding a kitchen knife w/ blood is kinda cool. :)

But yeah, ethical treatment of animals, fine. Somehow that equating to vegetarianism, I don't think so.

Facebook ads

2008-11-14T22:41:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm curious. Who else keeps getting all the "Want a Girlfriend" ads on Facebook? Is it because I'm listed as single and over 30, or does everyone get it?

気迫 (kihaku)

2008-11-14T02:05:00.002-06:00

Well, it's official. I failed my 1st attempt at 4 dan. :p It wasn't a surprise because I myself felt that I did not do too well.

Tanaka sensei gave me some advice at today's practice. He said that I lacked kihaku (気迫). [Translators say "Spirit." I've always thought "Presence."] I should be ready to fight from the moment I stand, before the bow. And all the movements afterwards should show my determination to fight. And first movement from getting up should be forward. He said that I moved sideways, no good.

I've noticed lately, more during kata practice, how Tanaka sensei's kiai has a presence that mine doesn't. My kiai is just noise. His... well, all I know is it startles me. :p

He also said I'm attacking too much. I'm doing 2-3 dan kendo, which is ok for tournaments. But I need to have an actual opening before I strike. For the shinsa I only need to strike about 4 times, he said. I need to be ready, and then strike just as my opponent is coming in. Or break my opponent so I can make a strike (崩して). Something I've been trying to work on but still not effective yet.

I think it's not my natural instinct, unfortunately. For example, when I'm playing video games, I usually go for the automatic, rapid-fire, large ammo, large spread weapons. I rely on coverage fire. I am usually adverse to the other extreme, such as sniping.

Well, time to start working on my kendo again. ^_^

Decline of patience revisited

2008-11-10T18:32:00.001-06:00

Just read the following article.

So am I just becoming less patient or "infected" by the new Internet-connected world? ^_^

Is there something wrong w/ me? :)

2008-11-10T10:34:00.003-06:00

So I was reading the comics today and saw the following Pardon My Planet strip.

I thought to myself, jokingly of course, "Cool. Does that mean you're an RTSer?" (Real Time Strategy, like Starcraft.) And then my reaction was "God that was lame..." ^_^;;

Perception of distance

2008-11-09T21:40:00.002-06:00

At Illinois, part of my run was on University from Lincoln to Mattis and back, about 6 miles. I have a similar run now here in CA w/ the same distance going down Stelling until it changes into Prospect and hits De Anza Blvd before coming back.

For some reason the run here in CA seems much longer. I wonder if it has anything to do w/ me having done the run when I was younger, which colors my perception. But I still run it at my desired pace and it seems less imposing now that I've done it a couple of times, so I guess it's pretty much all mental. I think the density of the neighborhood, the knowledge of stores and stuff passed also make a difference.

Decline of patience

2008-10-28T09:45:00.002-05:00

Admittedly, my patience isn't the best. But lately I find it falling off rapidly when it comes to reading non-critical stuff. If I see a blog entry that consists of long paragraphs, I automatically tune out and say "Next!"

Is this my ADD forming or just years of training reading technical papers with concise paragraphs? ^_^

My loofah

2008-10-05T21:11:00.004-05:00

That's a picture of my loofah. It started out white, w/ a slight blue tinge. Now it's an uneven light blue. Why? Because I wore a new gi and hakama today for kendo.

That is why I want everything in the bathroom to be blue, not just because I like blue. ^_^

写真は私のルファです。ルファは最初に白いでしたけど、今は青いです。理由は剣道です。今日のごど稽古で私が新しい着と袴を着ました。そしてシャワーを浴びて後でルファが青いになりました。だから、私が青いの浴室が欲しいです。^_^

Running

2008-10-03T11:23:00.001-05:00

I always have such a hard time getting out of the door, and the first mile never feels good, but it always feels good at the end. Damn you...

Korean food consumption

2008-09-21T12:39:00.003-05:00

It's odd. The other day I just realized that I have only had Korean food once since being back in CA. I used to have Korean very often back at UIUC, about once a week. I guess it was the best Asian food widely available there. Nowadays I seem to have Japanese quite often. ^_^

Ramen...

2008-09-19T22:33:00.002-05:00

So tonight I went to Santa Ramen in San Mateo for dinner. I sat at the counter and a mom and daughter sat next to me. The kid was probably in the first or second grade. Yet, they ordered 2 full-sized bowls of ramen. I spent most of my dinner glancing at them wondering if they are going to finish all of it and if I can get the leftovers if they don't. ^_^;; Even though I was really full w/ my own order...

今天晚上我去 Santa Ramen 吃拉麵。在我旁邊坐著一位媽媽跟他女兒。女兒差不多一年級左右。他們叫了兩碗拉麵。我一直想他們吃不吃的完。假如沒有吃完的話我可不可以把剩下的吃掉。^_^;;

(And... I decided that doing this in Japanese was too hard. :p)

Update: Seinfeld & Gates commercial

2008-09-19T16:56:00.002-05:00

And apparently the Seinfeld & Gates ads end after 2. I guess I will retain my WTF opinion of them.

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercial

2008-09-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

Ok, I admit, I was never a Seinfeld sitcom fan and I never 'got' much of his humor. However, I think his new commercial w/ Bill Gates just makes no sense. :-(

Kendo since coming back to Northern CA

2008-09-06T12:12:00.003-05:00

I think my kendo has progressed quickly and greatly since coming back to Northern California. Part of it is the two grueling and rewarding summer camps. ^_^ However, it is also having the pleasure of being around high level sensei on a regular basis. Having people to push me and advise me. This is something I missed in Champaign.

On the other hand, without my foray to Champaign I would not have my current hunger for advice. I probably would be content to be yet another person practicing kendo. I would probably not be brave, or needy, enough to constantly approach sensei after practice for more details. I also would not have had the opportunity to teach and reflect upon my understanding of kendo.

Ah life...

掛かり稽古 (Kakari keiko)

2008-09-06T12:02:00.003-05:00

I received a very interesting piece of advice from Nishiura sensei (西浦) on Thursday. At the end of jigeiko (地稽古), we were basically doing aimen kakari keiko (合面掛かり稽古). I... didn't do too well. :-p At the end of practice, he commented that I need to be ready to attack right after my attack. And if I'm able to do that, then I can do the regular setup, seme (攻め), and attack.

I have often felt that I reset too much and take too much time getting settled before beginning my attack. I never seemed to possess the mentality and ability to be able to attack at any moment. And I have often wondered how I should fix it but never got around to it. -_-;; Hopefully this time with a concrete advice and plan of action, I can make this change.

Notes from keiko

2008-09-03T01:15:00.003-05:00

Two important comments from tonight:

1) From Tanaka sensei: Don't waver in my feeling (気持ち) and attack. Even if I miss. I have to commit and not waver. 自分の気持ち。I think of doing this all of the time and I never do it. :-p

2) I should be practicing w/ Tanaka sensei at every practice until the exam. I can't believe I didn't realize this one... -_-;;

AUSKF Summer Camp 2008

2008-08-30T22:21:00.005-05:00

Some notes from the AUSKF Summer Camp that I can still remember. :p They are from Terachi sensei (寺地) from Tokyo Metropolitan Police (警視庁).

Krikaeshi: dai kyo soku kei (切り返し：大強速軽)

The priorities of kirikaeshi are in that order. First it's big and correct. Second is power. Third is speed. And finally it's lightness.

Kote men: Not just speed. Having 'impact' on your opponent. (Like how it feels from Arnold and other sensei.)

Kata

#3 uchidachi: The blocks are more pressure. Don't hit. Keep the hands in the center of the body and tip to shidachi's throat. Slight turn of body as you step back.

#7: Uchidachi's tsuki is to the shoulder level

Uchidachi's tsuki in #3 and #7 is not flat, only slight turn. Uchidachi's tsuki in #4 is flat. #4 is aiming for in betw ribs for the right lung. #3 is the solar plexus, #7 is to the shoulder in an aggressive move to intimidate the shidachi.

#6: While responding to shidachi's pressure from gedan, uchidachi keeps the blade straight up-and-down. Don't turn. There is a brief turn for kodachi #2.

懸待一致と捨て身 (kentai icchi and sutemi)

2008-08-22T10:17:00.008-05:00

Lately I've received similar advice from different senseis. I am too aggressive. Rather than seme 100% offense all of the time, I need to have some give and take. I need to lessen my seme from time to time to invite my opponent to attack so I can utilize ouji waza. I think this falls under the concept of kentai icchi.

I've been experimenting with this and I think I have been able to do this a bit better. However I got another piece of advice at practice on Tuesday. Tanaka sensei said I am not committing 100% to my attacks. I think I am lacking sutemi. In an attempt to have a more balanced kendo my commitment to my attacks have deteriorated. :-p

Ahhh... hurray for trying to simultaneously fulfill conflicting desires and requirements... ^_^;;

私が最近先生達から同じようなアドバイスを聞きました。いつも１００％前に攻めては駄目。時々攻めをちょっとリラクスして、相手が攻撃できると思います。その時応じ技を応用します。私がこれは懸待一致とおもいます。

稽古の時この概念を練習しました、ちょっとできるかなと思いました。だが、この火曜日の稽古で、田中先生からほかのアドバイスを聞きました。私が打てるの時に、全部を出してませんでした。私が捨て身が足りませんと思います。もっとバランスいい剣道を欲しくでも、打てるの時は１００％しなければなりません。

難しいな。。。 ^_^;;

One game, one penalty

2008-08-12T00:01:00.003-05:00

Tonight was my first indoor soccer game. One of the engineers at SCEA, my group's newly appointed technical lead actually, plays soccer and invited me to join his team. The facility is actually located in Santa Clara.

Since this was my first indoor soccer game, I wasn't aware of all of the differences in rules from outdoor soccer. Such as the no sliding rule. :-p And that, is how I got my 2-minute penalty. It wasn't even a real slide... All I did was go down to my knee while reaching for the ball. I guess if you're not standing, you're sliding. :-/ I'm going to have to adjust... And the penalty is like hockey. You serve it in the penalty box while your team plays a man down. :-O

Well, at least our team won in the end. Although apparently we don't want to win the league because we don't want to get promoted to the higher level leagues, LOL. ^_^

California plates!

2008-08-09T13:55:00.002-05:00

Well, I've cast off the last remaining obvious sign of me being from Illinois. I've registered my car and now it has California license plates. Although I've also put on the gift from Nick showing that I did spend some time in Illinois. ^_^

LCPC 2008

2008-08-04T23:33:00.004-05:00

Well, I attended LCPC last week at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Boy was I glad I only stayed one night.

I had made reservations for a room in the Schaffer hall, which is supposed to be a private room with its own bathroom and shower. And they told me that was my reservation. However, when I got there they put me in Henday hall instead, which turned out to be just like my old dorms in Berkeley, with shared bathrooms. To make things worse, the urinals are flushed automatically about every three minutes. I thought someone was playing Mahjong at first. :-p And to wrap things up, there was construction in my building starting around 7:30AM. :-( At least I got my own room and it seemed like there was only one other person staying down my hall. Still, it rattled me and pissed me off...

The conference and presentation itself went very smoothly in comparison. I was the first to present and a bit nervous. I talked too fast and finished in about 20 minutes when I was scheduled for 25 minutes. Well, I contributed to getting the conference back on time I guess. ^_~

Sunburned back

2008-07-29T01:50:00.003-05:00

I went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk this past weekend with some friends. I decided to take my shirt off to try to even out my tan a bit. I got lazy and didn't bother asking someone to put sunscreen on my back. :-p I swear I only had it off for half an hour or an hour at most while playing cards, but now my back is sunburned. :-( Granted, I had my back to the sun the whole time, but still... Either the sun was that intense or my torso is that white. I think it's the later... -__-

P.S. I thought about posting a picture, but I don't think anyone would want to see that. LOL

Yay, everything has arrived!!

2008-07-25T18:21:00.003-05:00

Like the subject says, everything has arrived!! :-) Even the car, for which I left work early today. ^_^ That was a rather interesting experience because the truck couldn't drive into residential areas, so I met the truck at the corner of Stelling and Stevens Creek at 2:40PM; I left work around 1:30 to get back in time. Then I got into the truck and we drove down Stevens Creek, all the way past San Thomas, looking for a spot where they can stop. I figure that's going to be the only time I get to ride in a huge truck, so it was a rather interesting experience. :-D

The couple, I assume they're a couple, has been doing this Illinois to California thing for 12 years now, apparently. We talked quite a bit about how big the truck is (~100 feet long, 13 1/2 feet tall, 80,000 pounds fully loaded, loads up to 10 cars, and like 3 inch clearance on the bottom) and how the commercial GPS systems don't know anything about bridge limits. Apparently the Army has a version that does though.

The household goods delivery was a lot less exciting, in comparison. :-p They tried last Friday w/o telling me while I was at kendo summer camp, so they came back Wednesday morning.

Getting old?

2008-07-19T10:29:00.002-05:00

I must be getting old. Just a couple of days ago I spent an hour watching an 1 hour show on Van Gogh on PBS. Either that or the TV available over the airwaves contain only sucky reality shows... ^_^

First run

2008-07-16T12:38:00.004-05:00

Went for a short jog this morning for my first run. I only did around 2 miles. :-p I've been feeling inactive so I went out yesterday, bought a pair of running shoes, and decided to hit the pavement.

I'm going to have to work out when to do my runs around work and kendo... Kendo is Tuesday and Thursday nights, so right now I'm thinking a run on Wednesday morning, and then a long run on the weekend.

First practice back at San Jose Dojo

2008-07-16T12:34:00.004-05:00

Last night was my first practice back at San Jose Dojo. Went fairly well. I forgot my San Jose zekken though. :-p

Talking to Tanaka sensei after practice he told me that keiko is for practice and improvement. It's not shiai. And I should keep that in mind. I'm not exactly certain what he's trying to tell me. I think he's saying that I'm trying too hard to win, or maybe I'm looking not to loose. The other thing that went through my head was "Do I know what I am, or should be, practicing?" :-p Maybe I was spending too much time in tsubazeriai, looking for opportunities, and he would rather I not spend so much time on that. At least he said my kendo is straight. ^_^

昨日は私がサンホーセに帰った第一回の練習でした。いい稽古でしたと思うけど、ぜっけんが忘れちゃいました。:-p

田中先生のフィードバックは稽古は練習と上手になるのためです。試合じゃありません。そして、私はそれを覚えなければなりません。それはどういうことはよくわかりません。多分私が「負けいけない」の気持ちが強すぎると思います。または鍔ぜり合いの時間が長すぎると思います。少なくとも、先生が私の剣道は真っ直ぐと言いました。^_^

So... I guess I will continue to concentrate on the following 3 things for now:

1) Seme (攻め): I still need to be able to pressure my opponent better, and have a smoother transition into the attack. I want to also practice the backing-off to invite my opponent technique that Sugawara sensei suggested. I tried that last night on Kikunaga sensei with mixed results.

2) Zanshin (残心): My lack of zanshin after certain strikes and not being ready to strike at any time has been pointed out to me repeatedly. This is something I should be able to fix but have not done so. :-(

3) Hikiwaza (引き技): I want to improve my hikiwaza.

LCPC 2008

2008-07-12T10:02:00.002-05:00

Wow, I just realized that I never posted that my LCPC paper got accepted. Hmm... I wonder if that says something... :-p

After some adjustments for reviewer comments and acknowledgments, with a good amount of work and ideas from Wen-mei, I got it to fit within the page limit. So a couple more passes for stupidity like the "the the" I found last time and I'll be done with this. Well, there's still the presentation... -_-;;

The title of the paper is "CUDA-lite: Reducing GPU Programming Complexity." Unfortunately Wen-mei kiboshed the one line I wanted, which I had at the beginning of the conclusion: "CUDA-lite performs great, with less coding requirement." Wonder if I should sneak it back in... ^_^

Empty apartment

2008-07-12T09:58:00.003-05:00

Well, the movers came yesterday and packed my stuff into a vault to be delivered to California. Almost all of my material goods (minus the kendo bogu, some shinai, and one suitcase) into 34 boxes. It feels so weird seeing my apartment empty...

So let the cleaning begin!! And see how soon Sain says "F**k it!" to his security deposit. :-p

Unfortunately the car shipping is not working out, so I have to arrange for someone else to hand it over next Tuesday. :-(

My new kitchen mitt

2008-06-25T20:00:00.003-05:00

I found this in my mailbox after coming back from Taiwan. I had completely forgotten about it. :-p

I had decided to make a donation after watching A Night Of Too Many Stars. I usually donate $100 at a time. However, the $100 gift was a beanie, which I didn't want. I wanted the $50 gift, the kitchen mitt. So I donated $99.

Taiwan Trip

2008-06-25T19:49:00.003-05:00

Just got back from a 1 week trip to Taiwan. For some reason, it was very tiring. I was tired the whole time I was there. Maybe I'm getting old. Or I need more naps. ^_^

I practiced kendo 3 times while in Taiwan. I think the biggest take away that I want to make sure I remember is my zanshin (残心). It sucks. -_- 林老師 mentioned that I need to be more ready for opportunities for multiple attacks. I should not just attack and go through. I need to be ready to attack again. Which also fits with the philosophy of being ready to attack at all times. 菅原先生 at Indianapolis had also mentioned that I need to pay more attention to my zanshin on my last visit, so I guess I have something concrete I need to work on. :-p

4E D&D

2008-06-16T06:17:00.003-05:00

That's right, Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons... :-p

I decided to try playing a game with Nick and Ryan this past weekend using the new rules, with Ryan being the DM and Nick and I both playing 2 characters. Personally I never do quite as well when I have to play multiple characters, but meh...

I played a Warlord (new class) and a Cleric while Nick played a Paladin and Wizard. I barely finished creating the Cleric when we started, and didn't even really read over the combat section yet, which made certain things a little confusing. Ryan had to save our asses because Nick and I apparently can NOT roll. Let's just say that the number 1 on the d20 appeared way too often, as well as numbers below 10... -_-;;

I have to say I still don't know what to think about the new system yet. The simplification of the Skills system is intriguing, yet harkens back to the Non-weapon proficiencies of 2nd Edition. I think it's an improvement though. I definitely do NOT like how many minuses were eliminated by boosting everything overall. :-( It feels like they don't want to imply weaknesses and/or make the math simple. However, one thing I'm furious over is putting the magic items in the Player's Handbook. >:-( Not only is the system magic heavy to begin with, this violates so much about the premise of D&D in my opinion.

As for the REAL major change, the at-will, encounter, and daily power system... I withhold judgement for now. ^_^

13 years of kendo and I still get blisters

2008-06-10T19:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I decided to do suburi (素振り) while watching TV, and I got a blister on my left hand under my callus after about 300, finishing with 600. The callus is below the pinky, about half-way down the hand. 13 years of kendo and I still get blisters. :-p I want to say that my hands have not built back up since the surgery, or that the dragonfly bumps on the tsukagawa (柄がわ) contributed, but in the end, all I can do is smile, clip off the callus, and bear the pain. -_-;;

昨日私が素振りをやりました。三百素振りをやった後で、私の左手がまめを得ました。全部六百素振りをやりました。まめは小指の下で、手の中心にいます。十三年の剣道、私はまだ素振りでまめを得ます。-_-;;

昨天我自己練了一下劍道。練了三百下我的左手就起水泡了。總共練了六百下。水泡起在我的小指以下，差不多手的中心。劍道練了十三年我還在起水泡。:-p 可能是手術後練習不夠，還是劍柄上的蜻蜓，可是還是有點無奈。

-_-;;

On my way out of IL

2008-06-07T11:12:00.003-05:00

Well... I finished my LCPC submission this past Monday and verbally agreed to Sony Entertainment's offer, so I guess I'm on my way out of Illinois and back to the Bay Area. They're still waiting on a final signature from Japan before mailing me the official offer. Hopefully this isn't indicative of how things will work. :-p

Feels... a bit odd. ^_^ But I've been getting more and more excited about starting work, so I think that's a good sign.

Amazing video

2008-05-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

Pretty crazy graffiti animation video. I guess they left behind a lot of white walls. ^_^

打突部位なしの攻め

2008-05-13T23:35:00.003-05:00

最近、私はもっといい攻めを練習します。昨日の稽古でちょっとなんか分かってなりました。多分。^_^;;

私はまだ打突部位に攻めしました。例えば、面に攻めて、もし小手が空ければ、小手を打って。または、小手を打ちたい、面を攻めてします。もっとよく考えて、それは多分間違えました。私が打突部位に考えての時、私が柔軟性をなくなりました。するべきのは打突部位を考えなくて、攻めて、何か空けて、その打突部位を打ちます。

Seme without a target in mind

Recently, based on some really good advice, I have been working on my seme. I'm trying to be less hesitant and more aggressive, with a smoother transition into the strike. During yesterday's practice I think I understood a little better. Maybe. ^_^;;

I am still doing my seme with a target in mind. For example, I would seme towards the men, and then hit the kote if it opens up. Or if I want to hit kote, I would seme towards the men to open it up. Now that I think about it, I think that's probably erroneous. Once I start having a target in mind, I loose my flexibility. Instead, I think the proper way should be to seme without a target in mind, and then hit what opens.

Indianapolis Mini-Marathon

2008-05-03T14:46:00.003-05:00

I went to the 2008 Indianapolis Mini-Marathon with Aqeel this past Saturday (5/3/08). It was a half-marathon, with part of the course on the Indianapolis race track. Don't ask me why they call it a mini-marathon.

I was hoping to get under 2 hours, since I apparently had a chip time of 2:01 at Chicago 2 years ago. I thought I had a 2:10. I was feeling good around 6-8 miles, but I got really tired around mile 10, and I really ran out of gas for the last mile. Still, I finished around 2:06 for the gun time and I had a chip time of 1:54:35 for a pace of 8:45, so I accomplished my goal at least. Apparently I finished 712 for my age, 4409 in my gender, and 5679 overall. My bib number was 40735. (Searching for results by my name failed while bib number worked. :-p)

Now I can slack off until I got to start training for the Disney marathon next January. ^_^

Zakir Hussain Concert

2008-04-30T23:06:00.005-05:00

I went to see a concert by Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion at the Krannert Center on 4/30/08 with Alice. It was very interesting. It was classical Indian music, something I am not familiar with. Still, the level of skill comes through all the same. It is fascinating how he manipulates the tabla to create all of those sounds at all of those volumes and how FAST they can all drum.

2008 Niten Ichi Ryuu Musashi Kai (二天一流武蔵会) Seminar

2008-04-30T23:04:00.014-05:00

This past weekend I went to Salt Lake City, UT for a kendo seminar. Many thanks to Michael Wilkinson and Andria for putting the seminar together. It was incredibly educational, and I learned a lot by watching the sensei tachi (先生達) practice nitou (二刀), and from their explanations and instructions. Seeing people who really know nitou (二刀) in action teaches at a level that just can not be conveyed sufficiently through a book.

There were 7 senseis visiting from Japan, including Nakamura sensei (中村先生), the 17th shihan of Niten Ichi Ryuu (二天一流十七代師範). I even got my book signed by him. :-p There were about 30 attendees to the seminar. To my pleasant surprise, I actually knew a couple of people. Stroud sensei from Idaho and Sasaki sensei from Omaha were also there. Stroud sensei was Joon's sensei in Oregon and had visited UIUC once. I met Sasaki sensei at the MWKF summer camp 2 summers ago, where he generously shared his Patron w/ us. ^_~

I didn't do much else at Utah besides kendo, but I did spend some time with my sister and her fiance, including some board game time. We played an aborted game of Catan and a couple of games of Ticket To Ride: European Edition.

Saturday 4/26

We had jigeiko (地稽古) from 4-6PM, w/ a 20 minute break in the middle. It was supposed to be a chance for them to get to know us since there was large range of capabilities among the attendees, from beginners to 7 dan (Stroud sensei). Since I wanted to present the best of my ability, I did ittou (一刀) for most of the practice. I practiced with Fujii sensei (藤井先生), Satou sensei (佐藤先生), Nakamura sensei (中村先生), Inoue sensei (井上先生), and Stroud sensei. Inoue sensei (井上先生) was the only one I practiced nitou (二刀) against.

Fujii sensei (藤井先生)

Chudan no kamae (中段の構え). Try to have the knuckle of the left thumb be in the chushin (中心).

Then tip goes slightly towards opponent's left eye. No bigger angle than that.

If you move in, this naturally deflects your opponent's shinai. If you raise up, this naturally does kaeshi waza. If you go in, you can pressure down your opponent's shinai (竹刀) as you go in for men (面).

Satou sensei (佐藤先生)

Go forward. If you go back, it's weak and you loose. Even if hit, go forward.

Stroud sensei

Pressure, don't wait. Have the feeling of coming in and being able to change your strike if need be. When I mentioned that I feel like I've been seme(攻め)/pushing in too hard and losing because of that, he demonstrated seme w/o actually moving in. I need to practice similar things more (if I can figure it out :-p). I think I am hesitating because I want to see the opening before going. Maybe the idea of being able to change my strike as needed will help. He also said I backed up too often.

Sunday 4/27

We did footwork, suburi (素振り) using the bokutou (木刀), and kata (形) in the morning from 10AM-1PM. After breaking for lunch, we watched some paired demonstration matches between the sensei tachi (先生達) from Japan, which had different combinations of ittou (一刀), sei nitou (正二刀), and gyaku nitou (逆二刀). I took videos of this. Then we did kihon (基本) strikes and waza (技) in bogu. Then we had a couple 2 minute demonstration matches (I got to fight one) and concluded with one round of jigeiko (地稽古), where I got to fight Nagasaki sensei (長崎先生).

Footwork: They focused on a different footwork, one that is supposed to be what the samurai traditionally used. There was a lot more focus on the movement of the koshi (腰) [hips], and keeping one's hips squared. One of the big reason for this is because when you step forward with the foot that you are striking with (think sei nitou (正二刀), right foot forward) you would open up your body if you do not bring your opposite hip forward. I'm not sure how much this applies to how I do it, gyaku nitou (逆二刀) with the right foot forward. But I would have the left foot forward for dou (胴), so it's something I need to consider and practice regardless.

Nitou Suburi (二刀素振り): Visualize the jyuushin (重心) [center of gravity] of the sword going straight down towards the mune (胸) [chest] of opponent. Hand goes into chyuushin (中心) [center of the body] and strike. The sword should rotate or pivot about the center of gravity, not the end of the handle.

Sei Nitou Kote (正二刀小手): Should form a shape like ku (く). The center of gravity stays in the chyuushin (中心) while the right hand crosses over.

Gyaku Nitou Dou (逆二刀胴): Hasuji (刃筋) is same as sayuu men (左右面). The center of gravity stays in the chyuushin (中心), so the left hand crosses over. Left foot goes in front, but right hip needs to follow. Hiraki ashi (開き足), most likely. My observation is that instead of keeping the left hand in the center on the strikes, you're keeping the center of gravity of the sword in the center.

Saying: There is a saying in kendo called ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki (一眼二足三胆四力) [one eyes, two feet, three courage, four strength]. Apparently there is a similar saying for nito, which is ichi tan, ni shyou, san tai (一丹二小三大) [one body, two shoto, three tachi].

First it is the movement of the body. Then the shouto (小刀) is what you seme (攻め) with. Finally you think of hitting w/ the tachi (太刀). Note: I'm not sure I got the kanji or the saying completely correct. I only really remember the explanation.

Picture of the Pope's plane seat

2008-04-19T14:34:00.003-05:00

Now THAT'S leg room. ^_^

It's time for Viera Time

2008-04-15T22:45:00.003-05:00

"It's time for Viera Time." That is part of the Panasonic commercial for their new line of TVs called Viera. I have an interesting problem w/ these commercials...

All of the commercials revolve around families being too busy for time with each other. So the commercial suggests that they take time to watch TV together.

My problem/question is... when did TV time become family time? I suppose watching TV together as a family is not a terrible thing, but still doesn't seem very interactive. Oh well, advances in technology...

Indianapolis Mini-marathon: May 3rd

2008-04-12T18:11:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official. Aqeel and I got transfer bibs fro the Indianapolis Mini-marathon (a half marathon) on May 3rd. Cost us $22 each plus $21 for each transfer fee, which was actually lower than the initial price of $50 per bib, I think. We got it the day before the deadline for the transfer. :-D

Now I need to keep up my training and not slack off. :-p

Good news!!

2008-04-10T08:46:00.003-05:00

Saw my surgeon this Tuesday, and he gave me the all clear. Woohoo!! Now I can practice kendo again... w/ an open conscience. :-) I'm going to go back to practicing nito for a while in preparation for the nito seminar at the end of April in Salt Lake City.

這個星期二我的醫生說我可以開始練劍了。真高興我可以光明正大的練。:-) 這一陣子我打算練二刀流因為四月底在 Salt Lake City 有一個二刀流的 seminar.

この火曜日に医者が剣道をするのは大丈夫だと言いました。とってもうれしかった。この月私は二刀流を練習すると思います。四月に、Salt Lake City で、二刀流の合宿があるから。

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts + Cheap Trick

2008-03-28T23:09:00.008-05:00

Nick and I went to the concert tonight featuring Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

She can still sing and play. The sound came through very clean and clear. And boy is she intimidating. She looked buff and like she could beat the crap out of most people :-p Although I reviewed the songs I had of her this morning, basically her greatest hits CD, most of them were still a bit unfamiliar. The crowd also seemed uncertain for a good bit of the show, but warmed up towards the end. I thought some of the songs from her new album "Sinner" were interesting. ^_^ I always knew her lyrics were provocative, but didn't realize how much... To me Joan Jett is one of those guilty pleasures. :-p

Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick rules. Nielsen went through 16 guitars and 21 necks for 16 songs. There was even a Rockford guitar, which was a yellow square with the album cover on it. Peterson had 1 bass. LOL :-D I definite agree w/ Nick in that the Assembly Hall's acoustics is screwy when the volume is turned up. The vocals were all too screechy. :-( One of the amps was also buzzing really loudly, and Robin Zander's mike wasn't working properly for the first 2-3 songs. Nielsen rolled w/ it and made fun and kept the show entertaining though. He also took digs at Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), who apparently was on Don't Forget the Lyrics last night, and complained that his replacement guitar tuner sucked because he played for Bon Jovi. ^_^ His mike stand was filled w/ picks which he kept throwing out into the crowd. He even threw out handfuls of picks towards the end. All in all, a great show.

Oh, and Nick, despite what he said at the show, Rick Nielsen is from Rockford, IL, not Urbana. ^_~

No Country for Old Men

2008-03-18T00:15:00.005-05:00

Possible spoilers...

So I watched No Country for Old Men last night with some friends. One person remarked upon how before the end of the movie, the story for one of the protagonist ends abruptly. I countered that that particular story was never the main story of the film anyways. In retrospect, I think I misunderstood the point that she was driving at. (And if I STILL have it wrong, I apologize. :-p)

The story that ends abruptly, that of a man trying to survive after taking the money, is not the main story of the film. However, it consumes most of the viewer's attention since it is the liveliest plot line. By ending that storyline so abruptly and with so little fanfare, and obviously with material left over, the film compels the viewer to search for an alternative meaning to the film, thereby leading the viewer more firmly to the main point of the film without bashing them over the head with it. I think that was the point my friend was trying to make.

I guess I am rather slow to recognize and understand film/literary techniques like this... ^_^;;

P.S. How is it that everyone in this film is able to walk so softly and quietly in boots?!

Beat of the drum

2008-03-18T00:13:00.004-05:00

While it is admirable to live by the beat of your own drum, if you are to interact with others, it helps to adopt the beat of another's drum from time to time. Or to at least be in sync and in rhythm to another's beat.

I wonder to what beat am I drumming to...

What you don't want to hear at the dentist...

2008-03-12T09:00:00.003-05:00

I was at the dentist yesterday for my routine checkup and cleaning. They had CNN Headline News on, and a report of a girl who died at the dentist came up. Apparently they were extracting one of her molars and the dentist lost his hold on it. The tooth dropped into her windpipe or something and killed her.

NOT what you want to hear as you're sitting in the dentist chair... :-p

More movie rankings

2008-03-05T21:00:00.006-06:00

Citizen Kane:

Overall (blue) Entertainment (red) Artistry (green) Appropriateness (yellow)
Entertainment (8): Action (0), Comedy (2), Horror (0), Romance (1), Education (0), Drama/Story (9)
Artistry (9): Acting (9), Directing (10), Effects (9), Audio (5), Story (10)
Appropriateness (7): Language (8), Violence (7), Sexuality (8), Understanding (7)

When Harry Met Sally:

Overall (blue) Entertainment (red) Artistry (green) Appropriateness (yellow)
Entertainment (9): Action (0), Comedy (10), Horror (0), Romance (10), Education (0), Drama/Story (7)
Artistry (7): Acting (8), Directing (8), Effects (2), Audio (8), Story (7)
Appropriateness (5): Language (4), Violence (10), Sexuality (3), Understanding (8)

I've added some more categories. I really didn't want to add Drama/Story under Entertainment. I have always felt that Drama is such a catch-all description. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of how else to categorize movies such as Citizen Kane.

In fact, I think the Entertainment category is not working as I thought it would. The original idea is that movies can't be described in a word or two, like "Romantic Comedy." ^_~ I felt that the theme of movies need to be broken down more finely. Unfortunately, so far it looks like movies CAN be summed up in a word or two. Especially if you allow the use of Drama.

So while I plan to continue trying to categorize, rate, and track the movies I watch using this method and to refine the method, I don't think I'll embarrass myself any further by posting them up anymore. :-p

Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008)

2008-03-05T09:20:00.003-06:00

A sad day...

Note to self...

2008-03-01T14:33:00.002-06:00

When you get turned down for a relationship, Sting's song "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is not a good one to listen to. :-( T_T

失恋の時、Sting's 歌「If You Love Somebody Set Them Free」はとってもまずいです。

失戀的時候不應該聽 Sting 的歌，“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free。“

Bad Sain, bad...

2008-02-13T09:55:00.003-06:00

Well, my surgeon says I shouldn't practice kendo yet, but my physical therapist had said it's probably ok, so my idea was to at least put on bogu to be motodachi (元立ち), to receive hits and help guide practice. To be honest, it feels kind of weird to do a full swing, so I'm hesitant to jump back into practice. But I was hoping to start practice swinging slowly, until my surgeon shot me down. :-/

So last night I did it for the first time. And of course when jigeiko (地稽古) rolls around I don't stop. :-p I didn't really go hard or attacked quickly, and I stayed away from striking men much. In other words I held back a lot. But the arm felt good so I'm happy. ^_^

Disney World marathon

2008-02-13T09:51:00.003-06:00

Well, it's official. I've paid the money and now I'm roped into doing the Disney World marathon next January. I'm also planning on doing the Indianapolis mini-marathon in May so I've started training, which means getting up at 6AM to go running at the gym.

Ugh... I blame Shelley, peer pressure, and my innate stupidity...

Snowshoeing: Wear good boots

2008-02-10T23:07:00.001-06:00

So I was in Whistler this weekend for my brother-in-law-to-be's bachelor party. Since I'm not supposed to ski or snowboard yet due to my shoulder, I decided to go snowshoeing. Unfortunately, I didn't plan it out ahead of time, so the only shoes I had w/ me were my regular boots: Waterproof, but not meant for extended up and down walking. I think I did about 5km. Slight blister on the back of my left foot, but not too bad.

I did enjoy it. Would have been even more enjoyable w/ others and not just by myself, I think. Basically it's a hike and the snowshoes let you go over more terrain and therefore access more places.

It was also not as difficult as I remembered. My only experience was back in junior high at Yosemite. The snowshoes probably weren't as good, and I was weaker then. That extra weight on your feet on every step adds up quickly. The trail was also packed down, so you barely needed the snowshoes if you stayed on the trail. The few times I had some fun going through the powder reminded me of the potential difficulties of snowshoeing if the trail wasn't packed down.

Oh, and yield to bears, LOL. ^_~

Kendo practice on 1/29

2008-01-30T11:14:00.001-06:00

Seven other people showed up to kendo practice last night. Four beginners, including Kurt coming back from knee surgery, and three people in bogu: Alice, Calvin, and Bernard.

Last night was howling winds, freezing precipitation, and I couldn't even get my trunk opened. I had originally intended to cancel practice until I called Aston and found out that five people had already showed up. I was shamed into going. -_-;;

Only other club to show up was the Judo club. Naginata had a good turnout as well. About six people. We were able to do a lot more kiai, some good fundamental practices with interaction with bogu, and finally a little bogu practice at the end.

Humbling and encouraging experience.

Discovery Channel's Behind the Great Wall

2008-01-27T21:36:00.001-06:00

I watched the 2-hour special called "Behind the Great Wall" on 1/27/2008 on the Discovery Channel. It was rather interesting, both in its portrayal of people and events. It claimed to show sections of the wall not captured on film before. It also explained things in ways very different from what I know of the Great Wall. Shows how flawed my knowledge of Chinese history is. :-p

Some points:

Language: All of the dialog was in English. This was a bit odd, I think, especially since in some of the scenes you can clearly hear the cast talking in Chinese. All of the speakers had no significant accent when speaking English either. I think it was odd, but it worked fairly well.
Chinese cannons: The documentary claimed that there were cannons used, and the design was imported from the West. I wasn't sure when contact with the West happened and I didn't know cannons were already in use by then.
Mongol raiders: There were no Mongol archers depicted, which was what the Mongols were known for. I speculate that's because mounted archers would greatly complicate filming.
Timing: The documentary covers the events in the Ming dynasty (明朝), focusing on 戚繼光. (Explanation thanks to my friend Kai-ping.) I had always thought that it was 秦始皇 who is credited for the Great Wall.

Well, all in all I think it was an educational special without being too cheesy.