Slow Week...But Not For Long...

It's been a pretty slow week for me with nothing much going on, which I guess is why I haven't been inspired to blog the last few days. Weekend was pretty boring. Went out mellow drinking till late Friday night after a dinner meeting and then didn't do anything on Saturday except play basketball.

But I did crunch up my left knee again stupidly falling for an around the back layup move and it hasn't felt right since. I still can't put weight on it, but it does feel like it's getting a little better. I hope it's nothing serious since I've already had 2 surgeries on my left knee.

Sunday...just went to go work out. Skipped the treadmill cuz of the knee problem and did stationary bike instead. Was really empty at 24 Hour at around 4:00pm so it was really nice.

Monday and Tuesday...had to work late so skipped my workouts cuz of being too tired. I know, excuses right? You know it!

But the rest of the week should be kinda busy...throughout the weekend I think. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to this fan meeting dinner to meet and greet some people who came from Korea. Thursday, I have a Korean Chamber meeting in the evening. And then I'm supposed to babysit the people from Korea over the weekend, staying with them on the North Shore somewhere. That could either be really fun, or really burdensome. We'll see how it turns out to be!

Lunch in Wahiawa

I go to Wahiawa at least once a week for meetings at one of my current projects at Wheeler Middle School. Usually, I just go back to the office after my meeting because I haven't had time to go to lunch in the area but this past week I took my inspector out to lunch so we decided to go to Dong Yang.

I had never heard of Dong Yang until about 7-8 years ago when I was working in Hilo. One of my inspectors in Hilo mentioned to me that whenever he goes to Honolulu, the first place he visits out of the airport is Dong Yang in Wahiawa. Wow, must be pretty good, I thought. Since then, I've heard several locals mention it as their favorite Korean food so I had to go check it out of curiosity.

Got there at around 11:45am and it was about 3/4 crowded. My inspector ordered the spicy bbq chicken ($7) and I ordered a combo of kalbi and spicy bbq pork ($8). I usually order spicy bbq pork whenever I go to a Korean plate lunch place.The first thing they bring out is a bowl of chicken broth soup and a bowl of kim chee. The broth was okay, I guess. I thought it was an interesting choice to serve chicken broth instead of the usual seaweed soup or miso soup. The kimchee was expectedly bland and flavorless.Then the main dishes came out. I must say...kind of disappointed, considering the word of mouth I heard. The kalbi was decent, but the meat was a little chewy and I thought the marinade was a little on the sweet side. The spicy bbq pork was terrible. The pork was rubbery and the marinade was very bleah. It also seemed like they just pan fried the meat instead of cooking it over a grill. There was no evidence of any searing on it. Also, the macaroni salad had too much mayo (this is actually pretty normal for most Korean plate lunch places), and the watercress and bean sprouts also lacked any real flavor.I sampled a little bit of my inspector's spicy bbq chicken and that was not bad. The spicy marinade was pretty good but the chicken was overcooked and dry.

Overall, I was not impressed at all with Dong Yang and will probably be never going back there on my own again.After lunch, had to stop by Kilani Bakery for their brownies. I've tried their brownies before but this was my first time actually in the bakery. The selection was a little scarcer than I had imagined, but what they had looked good. I bought a bag of brownies (around $5.50) and they were delicious (sorry no pics)! I highly recommend these if you're in the area.

Koreans React To VTech Shooting

Wow, learning that the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre was of Korean descent has really brought some reactions from the Korean government. Several members of the Korean government have already issued letters of condolences and Lee Tae Sik, the Korean amabassador to the US has even gone so far to suggest that all Korean Christians go on a 32 day fast to mourn the victims.

Yeah, that's all great and all, but I'm just curious as to why the Korean government is taking such a huge responsibility for this tragedy? It really has nothing to do with them. Cho Seung Hui, as far as I'm concerned, was an American. Sure, he was of Korean descent, but he was one paperwork step away from being a full blooded American citizen. He's been living in the US for 15 years already! For the Korean government to come out with such force and as a result bear some of the responsibility for his actions just emphasizes the fact that he was a Korean American when that shouldn't be a factor in this incident at all. Part of it is cultural, I believe. Koreans and maybe Asians in general have more a of a "we" mentality whereas Americans tend to focus more on the individual.

The Korean American Coalition and the Asian American Journalists Association have already had to deal with so many questions regarding Cho's race in the last two days. Is it really necessary? The AAJA has stressed that his race should not be used as an identifier because it had nothing to do with the crime. To state his race needlessly raises potential for racial backlash against Korean Americans and Asian Americans in general. Why is it necessary to mention his race? It certainly shouldn't have played any role in his motive, reasoning, etc. The man was just a disturbed individual. Not a disturbed Korean individual.

Watching the news yesterday, I just was kind of bothered by how the media kept talking about his race and that he was an alien resident. That is just silly. How about concentrating on more pressing issues such as mental health, campus security, and gun control? Don't you think that those issues bear more relevance in this case than the man's race?

Sorry...I'm just rambling on here. This incident has really disturbed me and I just keep thinking about what could've been done to prevent it and how we can move on from it with the least amount of trouble.

Virginia Tech Tragedy

As you all know by now, there was a terrible massacre at the Virginia Tech campus yesterday when a student shot and killed 32 people and then killed himself. The killer has now been identified as a 23 year old student, Cho Seung Hui. Wow...what could drive a person to kill so many in cold blood?

Worse yet, how could the school and authorities allow the 2nd shooting to happen? The second shooting, and the more deadlier one, occurred about 2 hours after the initial shooting. Is the school's alert system that slow? If I read correctly, Cho shot and killed 2 people in the dormitory in the morning before moving on to the classrooms 2 hours later. Couldn't the school have sent out an alert within that 2 hour span? Tell everyone to go home and stay there till further notice or something like that? Or did they discover the initial shooting too late? I don't know...it's just so tragic. I feel terribly for the victims and their families.

This guy was obviously disturbed. His creative writing essays led his teachers to tell him to go under counseling and the note he left behind was full of irrational grievances.

I just hope that this doesn't lead to some sort of unnecessary backlash against the Korean students on campus as well as Korean communities nationwide. KAC-DC is currently preparing a statement to release to the press but I wonder how this will affect the image of Koreans.

UPDATE: Here's a link to his 2 plays that he wrote. Some pretty twisted stuff.

Finally Did My Taxes!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know. Waiting till the last minute again. But I finally did my taxes yesterday morning. This was the first year I purchased the Turbo Tax program and I must admit, it did save me a lot of time. Was it worth the $40 I spent for it? Probably, just for the time savings.

Unfortunately, when all was said and done, I was sad to find out that I was getting a much smaller refund this year than the previous year. I mean, hundreds of dollars less. I was kind of half expecting a substantial refund to help make up the cost of some of my recent expenditures but not to be. Oh well...can't be helped I guess.

Funny, I'm assuming most people who wait till the last minute to do their taxes do so because they owe the IRS money. I wonder how many are like me, who know that they're gonna get a refund yet still put it off. I wonder what kind of procrastinator that makes me? The stupid kind? LOL

Now it's off to the post office to get that baby postmarked by today!

RIP Don Ho

Wow...Mr. Tiny Bubbles himself has past away at the age of 76. I can't say that I was a fan, but there's no doubting the fact that the man was an icon and did much to promote Hawaii to the mainland. Whenever you become a part of national pop culture, that's a big deal.

Sorry to hear he past. RIP

What Songs Do You Listen To At The Gym?

The latest issue of Men's Fitness had a bracketology pitting the best 32 songs to listen to while working out. The songs from 4 different genres were challenged against each other ala March Madness style and the results were interesting! Here were the contenders:

Urban/Rap:

50 Cent - In Da Club
Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
Jay-Z - 99 Problems
Run DMC w/ Aerosmith - Walk This Way
Eminem - Lose Yourself
Outkast - Hey Ya!
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
Beastie Boys - Sabotage

Pop/Dance:

Justin Timberlake - SexyBack
Eric Prydz - Call on Me
Britney Spears - Toxic
Daft Punk - One More Time
The Killers - Mr. Brightside
The Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get it Started
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Madonna - Ray of Light

Rock:

Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
Kid Rock - Bawitdaba
Metallica - Enter Sandman
U2 - Beautiful Day
Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Bon Jovi - It's My Life
Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize
AC/DC - Thunderstruck

Alternative:

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give it Away
Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People
Green Day - American Idiot
Hoobastank - Crawling in the Dark
Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
Nine Inch Nails - Closer

The Final Four (one from each genre) was Eminem's "Lose Yourself", Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack", Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle", and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give it Away"...with the winner being "Lose Yourself".

Now what do you listen to when you work out? Here are some of my personal favorites for lifting/running music. Go ahead and DL them while you can if you want!

Freestyle - Don't Stop the Body Rock
Britney Spears - Do Somethin' (yeah, that's right!)
Dr Dre - Still Dre
Journey - Only the Young (remember Vision Quest?)
M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume
Mary Mary - The Real Party
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Snap! - The Power
Ivy - Temptation's Sonata (#1 song in Korea right now)

LOST - Now That Was a Good Episode!

Just finished watching my DVR of this week's LOST.

After the silliness of LOST the last couple of weeks (Razzle Dazzle!...and come on, the black smoke monster can't go over the electric fence like how Locke guys did? Pleez!), this week's episode got back on track and was great. I think Juliet is a great character and she's helping to tie up some of the loose ends that have been present since Season One. We're finally getting some answers about the Others thanks to her and I'm loving it! I always knew she couldn't be trusted!

Here's hoping the last 5 eps end with a bang!

Hyundai Better Than Lexus?

Here is an article from the Washington Post comparing two luxury SUVs - the Hyundai Veracuz and the Lexus RX350. Basically, it's telling you to forget about Hyundai's "cheap" image and start believing that they're making some quality cars. I really like the fact that both engines have very similar horsepower capabilities, but the Hyundai runs on regular unleaded where the Lexus requires premium. The Hyundai is also $5K to $6K cheaper!

I've been keeping track of their cars for a little over a year now and I have indeed been reading some pretty solid reviews on both their middle class sedan models as well as now their luxury models.

My dad's been hurting for a new car but he wants something with style...hmm...maybe I can convince him to get a Hyundai instead of a "name" brand?

Help The Police! Help, Help, Help the Police!

- "What day is it today, Jasper?"
- "Tuesday?"
- "Wrong! It's NWA Day!"

I was a big NWA fan back in the high school days. Straight Outta Compton still stands as one of the most excellent and groundbreaking rap albums ever. So when I came across this youtube video, I had to literally LOL! Classic!

"Searching my car, looking for the BISCUITS, thinking every CHAP is selling BITS OF CHOCOLATE" I'm rolling!!!

Strong Guys at Pearl Kai 24 Hour!

After lifting at 24 Hour Kapiolani the last month or so, I went back to 24 Hour Pearl Kai yesterday cuz I didn't feel like driving into town. First of all, it was packed! When I went there before, it was usually pretty sparse, but yesterday was sardine city. This was at about 4:30pm by the way.

The other thing I noticed was...man, these guys are strong! Yesterday was chest and tris day for me so the first exercise I normally do is flat bench press. My timiing was perfect as someone had just finished their sets as soon as I had finished my warm up run and walked over to the weight area. So I put my towel on the bench and started looking around for a pair of 45s. There were none to be seen (the guy before me had been using 35s). I looked around at all the weight racks and all I could find were 35s and 25s, no 45s.

And then I looked around some more and then it finally hit me that all the 45s were being used! One guy was flat benching 4 plates each side, another guy was on the chest machine with 6 plates on each side! Holy cow! And no one had no less than 4 45s on their weights. No wonder I couldn't find any 45s! Man, these guys are strong! I was half looking for WW to be in the gym somewhere! So finally after like 2-3 minutes of walking around the gym looking for weights, someone finally put a pair back on the rack and I was quick to grab em.

They sure eat their Wheaties in Pearl City!

Heidi...You're Fired!

Anyone watching The Apprentice on NBC Sunday nights? After watching the first 2 editions of this show, I stopped watching but started again with this season (I watch more TV now that I have the DVR). It's been pretty fun!

But last night's show was awesome! I can't stand that teacher's pet Heidi. All season long, she's been taking too much credit for her team's wins and Donald was kissing her ass so much! She was so full of herself. I loved watching her choke big time during the presentation. And then I loved it more when she started stammering and contradicting herself during the boardroom. Frank totally pwned her! She kept trying to push blame for her mistakes (that awful brochure!) on Frank when he had nothing to do with it. She's so slimy. Even Don Jr. saw right through her. So Don Sr. had to fire her. You're out!

And then he doesn't skip a beat, turns to Kristine, and fires her too! Man, that was sweet. I actually liked Kristine and gave her credit for taking a risk and separating herself from Heidi's shadow to take her on head to head. But the look on her face was priceless when the Don fired her. "But I didn't even get a chance to defend myself!" was all she could say. Sorry, babe!

But the Final Four leaves me conflicted. I genuinely like Frank and James. Frank gets things done and is a strong debater in the board room. Yeah, he's a goof but so am I so I like that trait. James has won multiple tasks as PM and has a good head on his shoulders so he belongs in the Final Four too. Stefani is a little too under the radar for me. Yeah, she's a good speaker and all and hasn't really messed up to date, but she hasn't really stepped up either. This season's rule where if you win you stay on as PM has prevented her from taking a leadership position so its hard to say what she's capable of. Nicole is just downright irritating and incompetent. She's full of bad ideas (the roller skating?) and full of herself. Both Heidi (as much as I disliked her) and Kristine deserved Final Four over her.

But let's not kid ourselves. The Apprentice is not about finding the most qualified applicant. It's about good TV and dammit! I loved watching my TV last night! Go James!

Rain in Hawaii

No, it's not a weather forecast. Apparently Rain (aka Bi - Korean for "rain") will be having a concert in Hawaii on July 3, 2007. He was recently named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. Ticket prices are said to be between $80 - $250.

Meh. This news did not really interest me cuz I'm not a fan of his music so I don't think I'll be going to the concert unless I score free tix and even then, I don't see myself going unless it was on a date and the girl really wanted to go. Just not interested in this guy whatsoever. I actually enjoy his dramas more than his music. But it will be interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up. Aloha Stadium? That's pretty ambitious. We'll see.

Apple Store Ala Moana Customer Service Sucks...Big Time!!!

First of all...apologies to Gee Why cuz I know he's a big Apple supporter. But man, did I have a terrible encounter with stupidity today at the Apple store in Ala Moana.

About 2-3 weeks ago, I bought an iPod Nano from the store but I didn't open it and use it until about a week ago. That's when I found out that the "back" button wasn't working too well. Yeah, it functioned okay enough I guess, but whenever I pressed it, it didn't have the "clicking" sensation as the other buttons did and I sometimes had to press it 2 or 3 times to get it to work. Being that it was a brand new purchase I felt that I had the right to return it for one that worked properly. So I stopped by the Ala Moana Apple store at around 4:45pm today (Sunday) to exchange it for another one.

I walked up to the cashier's counter and explained my situation. The cashier I encountered was some snot nosed kid with bleached blonde hair who looked no older than 17. This was our conversation:

Me: I'd like to exchange this nano for another one. The "back" button doesn't work properly.
Bleached Blonde Cashier (BBC): Tries out the buttons. Seems to be okay to me.
Me: The "up", "down", and "front" buttons all have a click feel to them when pressed. The "back" button doesn't.
BBC: Yeah, but it still works.
Me: Still, I consider it a defect and would like it exchanged.

Okay, this guy is basically telling the customer to just accept a defective product. STRIKE ONE!

BBC: Do you have the receipt?
Me: No, I don't. I threw it away.
BBC: Well, we're not really supposed to do exchanges without the receipt.
Me: What if it was a gift? How would I have the receipt then?
BBC: Blank stare

STRIKE TWO! By this time, I was already getting fed up but the stupidity was just starting to build up!

Then BBC tells the guy next to him, a taller chubbier cashier (TCC) what my deal is and I hear him say, "He says the back button doesn't work properly but I can't find anything wrong with it". Yeah, call the customer wrong right in front of his face. That's just wonderful service! NOT!

Me: Can't you just use the UPC code and look it up on the computer?
BBC: Oh yeah...okay. Looks on the computer
BBC: Oh, it's been past 2 weeks already. We're supposed to charge you a 10% fee because the item has been opened.
Me: Are you kidding? You're going to charge me for a defective product? I'm not paying that fee.

Are they serious with this 10% fee? No way I'm paying that! STRIKE THREE!

BBC: Actually, you need to set up an appointment with a technician and they'll try to help you with your problem.
Me: I really don't think that's necessary. I know what the problem is. The dial doesn't work properly. The technician will say the same thing.
BBC: Yeah, but we have to have the technician see it first before we can do anything.

So he takes me over to a computer to make an appointment and then leaves to take care of another customer. I go through the motions and discover that the next available appointement is 6:50pm! Are you kidding me? I have to wait almost 2 hours for this crap? STRIKE FOUR!

So I went right back up to the cashier desk. This time, I got TCC. TCC was actually standing next to BBC the whole time so he knew what my situation was. By this time, I was getting really pist off.

Me: I was told to make an appointment to see a technician for this defective nano but the computer says that the next one is at 6:50pm. I'm not going to wait 2 hours for this. That's crazy. Can't I just see one of your managers?
TCC: Okay, I will exchange it for you right now. But I'm really supposed to charge a 10% fee for this since it's past 2 weeks and it's opened.
Me: So you would charge people a 10% penalty for returning an opened product? How are they supposed to know it's defective if they don't open the package? And you're charging them for a faulty product? Isn't that unfair?
TCC: Blank stare

Then, as he hands me the package, he tells me.

TCC: Don't lose the receipt this time.
Me: I didn't lose it. I threw it away.

STRIKE FIVE! Can you believe the nerve of these guys?

Now the icing on the cake. As I was driving home, I got a phone call from the Apple store.

Apple: Is this Myong Choi?
Me: Yes.
Apple: Did you make an appointment to see a technician at 6:50pm today?
Me: Yeah, but I don't need it anymore.
Apple: Oh, that's good because we're closed at that time anyway.

STRIKE SIX!

Believe me, the transcripts above have not been exaggerated or embellished. That's almost word for word what happened at the store today. That Apple store better get their shit together because I was not a happy consumer today. I have little tolerance for stupidity. I mean, these policies that they were throwing around at me were just ridiculous. A 10% fee? A 2 hour wait to see a technician? That's just crazy.

This might've been the last purchase I ever make at an Apple store. Their customer service sucks!!! If you ever have customer service issues with them, don't let them bully you around with their bullshit. If you believe it's within your rights, demand to see the manager and get past the teeny bopper cashiers.

IDIOTS!

What the Hell?

This is just so disturbing. The city of Kumamoto in Japan has opened up a "baby hatch" where people can just dump off unwanted babies anonymously. I guess I can see the motive behind it - decrease in abortion rate, saving baby lives, etc. but this method just seems so wrong. It's almost like it's encouraging irresponsible behavior. "Got an unwanted baby? No problem! Just drop it off in our hatch and no more worries for you! You can go back to partying and have more babies!"

Ugh.

Baby Hatch Opens in Japan

Oh My God...I Want This Phone!!!

Sorry, I just sounded like a teenage girl there, didn't I?

But man, do I want this new phone! I know, I know, I just got my new Helio Drift phone about a month ago and I absolutely love it, but when I saw this today...I think I literally drooled.Check out the new Helio Ocean! It's a double slider (slides both horizontally and vertically) that has both a numeric keypad and a QWERTY keypad. How awesome is that! Man, I think Helio really is gonna go through the roof with this phone. Can I buy Helio stock? Cuz I think it's gonna skyrocket!

Check out this video showing the cool ass features of the phone. Me likey!

There's also a really good review of it here: Helio Ocean review

The Helio site says it's coming out this Spring and prices it at $295. Hmm...I wonder if they're gonna have a Korean version that has hangeul characters? If they do, I'm so getting it.

Live Free or Die Hard Trailer!

Is the Die Hard series not the greatest American action series ever? Freakin' awesome films!

Well, here's the new trailer and man...I'm blown away! Bruce Willis, Maggie Q (the new Kelly Hu - Asian action chick?), Kevin Smith, the Mac guy, cars blowing up choppers, did I see some parkour in there? It just looks so great. I miss the days of the big budget blockbuster action movies. All we have now are CGI fests and comic book adaptations. We need more John McClanes in film! I just wish they somehow bring back the Al Powell character, even if it's as a cameo. I loved that guy and they should've kept him in all 3 movies somehow.

I'm also adding a link to the Korean trailer. There's a little more action in it and more Maggie Q stuff. Funny, they translate "Yipeekaiyay MFer" as "Yahoo!". =)

Live Free or Die Hard Trailer
Korean Trailer

One Shining Moment....20 Years!

Well, March Madness is over and Florida has become the first repeat champion since the Christian Laettner Duke teams in the 90s. Wow, it must suck to be Ohio State right now, losing the national championship to Florida in both football AND basketball.

I have to say that this year's tournament was not too memorable overall. No Cinderella teams, very few game winning baskets, too many higher seeds winning by too big of margins. A very boring tournament. There were no inidividuals that really stuck out either, besides the obvious Oden, Hibbert, Noah, Afflalo, etc. Where's the Adam Morrison bawling on the court? Where's the Tyus Edney (edited - Thanks Tabasco Man!) game winning coast to coast layup? Where's the drama? There was none!

But as much as a March Madness freak that I am, my favorite part has always been when they show highlights of the tournament to the song "One Shining Moment" at the very end of the broadcasts. That has got to be the best sports songs ever. CBS announcer Jim Nantz calls it the "anthem of college basketball". I just love how they match the clips from CBS's great camerawork to the lyrics as you relive the tournament's best moments over again. It literally gives me chicken skin and even a tear on occassion. Yeah, you read that right! I've actually teared to "One Shining Moment" here and there. What can I say? That song really moves me!

Anyway, 2007 is the 20th anniversary of this wonderful song, written by David Barrett. I've always liked his version of the song, as well as Teddy Pendergrass's version. Not too much a fan of Luther Vandross's version (the current one). When I was in college, I used to keep a videotape of just the "One Shining Moment" clips from every year. I think I had that tape up to 5 years or so and then I lost it when I moved back to Hawaii.

But I found this great blog site that has youtube videos of all the "One Shining Moment" from 1997 until 2006. Take the time to go through all of the clips, it's just awesome if you're a college basketball fan, reliving some of the greatest March Madness moments.

Here's the blog with the videos: One Shining Moment Blog

Joe TV?

Long time KHON news anchor Joe Moore has announced that he will be retiring from his desk job with KHON at the expiration of his current contract at the end of this year to pursue hosting a TV show on OC16.

Moore will follow in the footsteps of Tiny Tadani, another newscaster to jump to OC16, and will have a similar format to Tiny's popular show. Moore will attend public events and do "man on the street" type interviews with a handycam, concentrating on issues crucial to Hawaii's society. Themes for his first few shows are said to include:

- "Do you think the Hawaii 5-0 theme song should be entered in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

- "Do you think June is a boy's name or a girl's name?"

- "What's bigger...the moon, or my ego?"

Since I'm no fan of his, I can't wait for this change to happen. I hope they replace him with someone smarter like Paris Hilton, Screech, or a pea.