Pre-partying for jet-lagging

I have been absent for a few days. Not much has happened since the last post. On Friday 08/17, I celebrated my friend Joe Brubaker's 25th birthday. We played Cards Against Humanity for a few hours, and then all peaced out. Saturday 08/18 was my last day working at Fremont Peak. We had loads of food for the annual BBQ, cleverly dubbed the "Star-B-Q". Sunday 08/19 was loads of fun. I had friends over for a BBQ/potluck. I got to see Kelvin, his wife Nichelle, and their son Garret Charles, Tamika, Victor, Edgar Navarro, Joe, Joann, Kristy, Ray, Natalie, Pamela, Jin, Michelle L, and Corey. Tamika's Mac and Cheese was to die for. We played Mafia twice, and went out for frisbee later in the afternoon. The mafiosos won once and the civilians the second time. During frisbee, the older team won, with much help from pinch thrower Corey. Later that evening, I repacked, and watched "Inception" with Edgar for the second time. Things were SO much clearer the second time around. It also helped that Edgar had recently seen it. On Monday 08/20, my mom, dad, and I ventured to SF so that I could pick up my passport from the Consulate General. After hearing a quick briefing, I left to have lunch with my mom and dad. I split the bill at an overpriced Chinese restaurant in SoMa that served dim-sum. While it was rather good, the price was just too steep. Then, we found out that my dad's car had been towed away for not parking it correctly. Thankfully, Terry, Edgar, Joe, and Jermoy were in town, so my dad was able to hitch a ride to the impound to free our beautiful blue Volvo wagon. We then all went out for Irish coffees at The Buena Vista in the Aqua Park district of SF. So. Good. After saying farewell to my friends, the parents and I headed southbound for Sunnyvale. My aunt Jeanie will drive me to the airport in less than 9 hours. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

just hula

Yesterday was pretty simple. I had to give a final presentation of sorts at MIRA, the Monterey Institute of Research in Astronomy, where I was working as a volunteer researcher over the summer. I talked about the Deep Space Project, which successfully planted a 364 kg copper chunk onto the surface of the comet Tempel 1 in 2005. The presentation went smoothly. Unlike some of the other one's I've given in college.

After the presentation, I was bound for my alma mater, North Salinas High School, to pick up Edgar (bffl), and see my Japanese teacher, Mr. Yo Azama (ACTFL's Foreign Language Teacher of the Year, 2012). We talked a little bit, and made dinner plans at a Hawaiian restaurant in Monterey called Hula. It was Azama-sensei, Troy, Michelle, Tomoki, and I. Several Mai Tais were drank, as well as a Tropic Itch, and the mood was lively and fun. I may not see Azama-sensei for quite some time, but it's truly always a pleasure. We returned to his house to sober up on coffee. I returned home on side roads, avoiding the main thoroughfares as often as possible.

I got home and began working on sorting through my photos for a scrapbook to show people who I am and where I'm from. I have a lot of pictures from the past two years, but they sure have been some of the more meaningful ones. It's not so bad, then, that I've lost many photos to crashing harddrives. Facebook does a good job keeping records of the old me, but my personal photo collection is as limited as my own memory. Which can be a good thing I suppose.

Beaches

Yesterday, my trip in San Diego ended with a long drive home down the 101. Before leaving San Diego, though, we made sure to stop at a beach along the way. My dad and I tested the waters, and were absolutely thrilled that the water was warm enough to jump in. For those of you who don't know about the ocean water in the Monterey Bay, let me tell you that it is FREEZING! I wouldn't dare (though many people do) get in the water without a wet-suit. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun in the water, riding the waves. The last time I did this was in Mexico in 2011 with Pitt from Luxembourg.

I was a little sleepy for the drive home; we had lunch in Ventura, and it was my turn to drive. I was a little afraid of passing out while driving and crashing the car. Thankfully, both my food coma and sugar low passed, and I drove pretty well to a little outside of Paso Robles. For the rest of the way, I continued on through A Game of Thrones. I can't believe how awesome his dream was! I can't recall if the HBO version showed his dream, but it was very exciting.

We arrived home around 8:30 pm, and I took Edgar home, who was house-sitting for us.

San D

Prior to my departure, my mom, dad, and I decided to go on a mini-vacation to San Diego for a few days. We are staying in Old Town San Diego, which is rife with restaurants and the labyrinthine Hacienda Hotel. Mission San Diego is also in this area, though we haven't visited it yet.

We arrived in San Diego, or as my dad likes to call it San D, in the afternoon on Sunday 08/12. We had enough time to explore Old Town, and scope out a restaurant. The atmosphere and temperature here are phenomenal. I know, there are lots of tourists, but it's still a load of fun seeing the architecture.

On Monday 08/13, we spent most of the day in Balboa Park, seeing the gardens and some museums. I definitely want to come back and see more of this city, and maybe even trek down to Mexico from here.

1 more week until departure. Still so many things to do.

Some things to keep in mind

This website has some interesting things that I should definitely consider doing.

There are some things that I already do, and others that I should take up. I am often good about eating breakfast everyday. I don't have water when I wake up, but I drink it before sleeping, and I also have plenty of it during the day. I'm also pretty adamant about taking the stairs; counting the stairs is also a reason why.

There are some things I could definitely do more of. While I don't drink soda very often, I have been very lenient with my intake of it these past few years. Time to cut that. 30 minutes of exercise a day? I sure do hope that I'll have to bike to my schools in Yoshino-cho (which is where I'll be placed).

This list reminded me of what a friend once said to me, that we don't need New Year's Day to inspire us to change ourselves and our habits. We can change, or at least set ourselves on the path towards change any time, any day. How will you change?

First post

Hello worlds, digital and real.

I have unsuccessfully started blogs before. I hope that this one fares a little better than those in the past. My primary goal of once again beginning another blog is so that I can have some place for my friends and family to see what I've been up to. This is especially important as I will be departing for Japan in a little over 8 days. I feel that I should be preparing more for my trip, but I haven't done very much. For some reason or another, I feel that for this time around, I should be preparing myself mentally for what is to come in the next year(s).