The KOFF Is In Trouble This Week!

Here's a look at my (tentative) starting lineup for this week:

Ben Roethlisberger
David Carr

Kenny Watson
Ron Dayne

Reggie Wayne
Lee Evans
Roddy White

Jason Elam

MINNESOTA

Injuries and byes have left me somewhat decimated. I don't have JP Losman (who sucked anyway), Jason Campbell, Reggie Bush, Brandon Jacobs, LenDale White, Anquan Boldin, and Santana Moss available this week. It's gonna be a struggle! Let's hope the KOFF can show what he's got!

Best Kept Secret in the NFL?

Sure...everyone knows about Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Steve Smith, Ocho Cinco, etc. But Anquan Boldin deserves to be up there in the elite as well! This guy is a beast! He has sure hands, runs precise routs, and shrugs off tacklers like mites, making him one of the best YAC guys in the league! Check out this highlight reel and tell me he isn't one of the best WRs in the NFL...
As you can see...I have much man-love for the "Q". ^^;;;

The KOFF is 2-1

Wow...another Monday night miracle! My team was down by 27 pts to Illegitimate Children going into Monday night and I had Reggie Bush and LenDale White remaining while he had Marques Colston left. Not a pretty prospect. And as I watched my DVR of the game, I saw Colston getting a lot of looks in the 1st half. Not pretty.

But then Bush rushed in 2 TDs and then even LenDale got in on the action with a TD of his own. Yes! I now had a feeling that it was a close game. And then, as the Saints got more and more behind, they dismissed the downfield game altogether and started dumping off short passes to Bush. Since we get 2pts per reception, I was loving it!

After the game was over, I went to check the scores and yes! I won by 1 pt! Sweet! Gotta love those garbage time catches!

But this week is gonna be tough. I have Jason Campbell, Reggie Bush, and LenDale White all with byes and JP Losman and Brandon Jacobs are hurt. Gonna have to do some scrambling to get a decent lineup together!

NOTE: I was thinking about picking up JP Losman's backup Trent Edwards as a free agent but when I found out he was from Stanfurd that automatically blacklisted him from my team.

Chuseok and Hanbok

In Korea, it's time for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) again and one of my favorite things about Chuseok is that everyone wears hanbok, or traditional Korean dress. There's just something about hanbok that I find very attractive. The amazing mix of colors and softness of the materials making it look quite comfortable as well as elegant at the same time. I don't think I've worn hanbok since I was a young kid and wouldn't mind getting a new one now. Hey...maybe that's something I'll do when I'm in Korea! It's too bad my cousin-in-law moved to China cuz she was an amazing hanbok designer and even had her own shop.

Grossman....Who Knew?

That's your boy, Maximus! LOL

The KOFF is 1-1

Wow, what a terrible week for my fantasy football team. Not one of my guys scored over 20 points! That is truly sad. My RB2 Brandon Jacobs was hurt so I was forced to start Jerious Norwood who didn't really produce much. What I thought would be my strength, my WR corps, didn't do much of anything either. Lee Evans is the biggest concern right now with only 4 catches for about 40 yards in the first 2 games combined. I may have to bench him in favor of Santana Moss this week.

In any case, the season is still young and I think I just made a big steal in acquriing RB DeShawn Wynn yesterday. I think he could end up being the starting RB in Green Bay.

Step By Step.....Ooh Baby!

First step for my Korea trip was getting my airfare squared away, which I did last week. Second step was to secure the hotel reservations.

I did some researching on the net and think I found a gem for a great value. When I went in Spring 2005, I stayed at the Hotel Centro which ended up being about $75 a night. But the room was kinda tiny and not that great, although in a very convenient location in Gangnam. This time around, I was looking for something different and have decided to stay at the Tria Hotel, also located in Gangnam. From the pics on the website, it looks to be a pretty stylish place! Amenities include 42" TVs in every room, free internet, and free water and healthy drinks. Good enough for me!Here's the best part....the hotel's homepage lists the Standard room as 90,000 won a night, which is about $95. When I did a search on the net for discounts, the best I could find was 71,000 ($76) a night but after added on taxes and charges, it woulda been about $85 a night. But then I Googled "tria hotel seoul" and found a link to a japanese "gaijin" message board where someone posted the info that if you call the hotel directly, they'll give you a flat rate of 70,000 won ($75) a night. So I called the hotel and talked to the agent (in English at first but her English was not so great so I busted out my amateurish Korean). She said that their normal rates were 90,000 a night but she could give it to me for 70,000. I asked her what about taxes and VAT and she said since I was a foreigner, they wouldn't tack them on.

Sweet! So that poster on the message board was correct! I love finding good deals.

Now that Step 2 is over...it's time to start planning out my daily activities (in a really loose, flexible way of course)!

ARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely f---ing hate the new hotmail interface! What the hell? They don't even give the users the option of going back to the old style! This new hotmail is totally terrible!

I like my emails in my inbox to be listed from oldest on top to new ones on bottom. It won't let me set it that way permanently. I have to click adjust it every single time I enter my inbox. I also can't just click on "Empty" to empty my junk email box. I have to click on them all and then click delete. Not to mention...it is very ugly!

I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!!!!

Why won't they give us the option to switch back, these email Nazi's!!!

Korea....Here I Come!

Well, I've finalized my itinerary for my long awaited trip to Korea. I'll be leaving Honolulu on Wednesday, 10/17, and returning on Saturday, 10/27, for a total of 9 nights in Korea. I last went to Korea in the Spring of 2005 but that was for only 3 days so I don't really count that (as fun as it was), so my last trip before that was in Fall 2004 with WW and Phat Booty. This time, however, I shall be travelling alone. I'm a bit apprehensive about going solo but I've always been kind of curious about travelling alone and just chilling in a foreign country so why not make that country the motherland, right? Hopefully, things won't get too lonely and boring for me out there. I'm not too concerned about the daytime cuz I can spend my time sightseeing and stuff. Nighttime however...I wish I'd have someone to have dinner and some drinks with me! ^^;;;;

This time around, I plan on making some visits to the touristy places that I didn't get to check out the previously. Places like CheongGyeCheon, GyeongBok Palace, 63 Building, and the Noryangjin Fish Market which is close by. I'll also be revisiting favorite spots like MyeongDong and InsaDong. I'm also hoping to ride the KTX to Busan and maybe spend a night there as well...If anyone has any recommendations on places to visit or restaurants, I'll be more than happy to listen!

Anyways...even if I'm going alone...I can't wait!

무가당 - OAO

And while I'm in the youtube website, I did a search for the MV for my current favorite Korean song. The title of the song is "OAO" and it's by MooGaDang (which translates into "no sugar"). It's a really catchy tune and I always listen to it while on the treadmill at the gym.

Gingerbread Haka

Thanks, Evil Bunny, for sending me this video!

With all of the controversy surrounding the UH football team and its performing of the Maori haka dance, maybe no one would complain if they were doing it as cute as these guys!

Greg Oden Out For the Year!

Ouch! Portland can't be happy about this. Center Greg Oden, the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft will miss his entire rookie season after having knee surgery on Thursday.

What a blow to the Trailblazers. And as fans, now we gotta deal with a bunch of crappy games featuring Portland on ESPN, TNT, ABC, etc. that they agreed to show based on Oden playing.

Let's just hope he doesn't become another Sam Bowie for them!

Rex Grossman...Mental Midget

Read this blurb about Chicago Bears rubbish QB Rex Grossman...

"San Diego linebacker Matt Wilhelm told a California newspaper that Chargers linebackers coach Ron Rivera advised his players they could rattle [Rex] Grossman because he was a mental midget."

Now that is just funny....and true!

Honey Lee....WTF?!

Korean Matchmaking Clubs on the Mainland

Some of the comments on my Birthday Binge post mentioned the relation between getting older in age and the desperation for marriage (by the parentals). Funny thing, I was reading the latest KoreAM Journal (a great magazine, by the way) and there was an article about Korean parents on the mainland forming support groups in order to help get their kids married off.

According the article, the group is called the Parents Club of the Unmarried Children and it has about 500 members, all Korean Americans. They meet regularly in New York or New Jersey to talk (boast) about their kids in the hopes of setting up a match made in heaven with the offspring of other desperate parents. At the meetings, parents register at the door and wear a blue (for sons) or red (for daughters) tag that also lists their child's name and birth year. Once inside, they mingle with other parents and also check out pre-printed lists taped to walls that "inventory" all the children of the club members.

After the mingling, the formal program begins where parents go on stage to try and pimp out their kids. Here are some of the quotes offered by the article:

"My daughter works in an office where there isn't a single Asian"
"I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking about my single daughter"
"My son is so old he's an antique. Please take this antique off my hands!"
"At first, I was so embarrassed, everyone else is married and my daughter can't do it."

Jeez...I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read this article because my parents would probably be the first to join if this club ever reached Hawaii! Nah, now that I think about it, they'd probably be too "shame" to go public with my failure to wed.

It just tells you how much cultural importance marriage has in Korean lifestyles and how they see getting married as a significant accomplishment in life. Failure to get married almost equates to shame and embarrassment for the parents. Maybe it's just me...but something about this club seems wrong. Something about the parents selling off their spawns just feels weird.

Also, why limit it to just names and birth years? Why not walk around in a sandwich board with a photo, name of college attended, job title, and annual salary of the kids too? You know that the Korean parents want to know that info as well! LOL

Iron Man Teaser

The teaser is here in wonderful Quicktime! It comes out next May but I can't wait!

Iron Man Teaser

Fantasy Football Week 1

It's finally here! NFL season!

Week 1 I play Soi Cowboy (WW) and it got off to a great start with Reggie Wayne posting 36 pts to Soi's Marvin Harrison with just 21. Then things looked even greater Sunday morning with Ben Roethlisberger throwing for 4 TDs and my MINNESOTA DEF/ST scoring a whopping 35 pts! Not to mention Jason Elam's 3 FGs. Yeah, my Buffalo duo of JP Losman and Lee Evans absolutely stunk it up but after the morning sessions, I was feeling pretty confident holding a 140-80 lead over Soi Cowboy.

Then...the Sunday late game. First of all, my RB2 and 2007 sleeper Brandon Jacobs leaves the game with a knee injury in the 1st half. Indications are that it's not good (turns out he'll miss 3-5 weeks). Then...Tony Romo starts going off on the NYG D! What the hell! It's like Madden out there with Romo just flinging it downfield and the NYG defenders nowhere in sight! After all is said and done, Romo finishes with 46 pts and I'm sitting on a manini 9 pt lead heading into tonight.

Soi has WRs Mark Clayton and Larry Fitzgerald and I only have WR Anquan Boldin. I'm hoping that Boldin pulls out a big Monday night performance like he did for me last year against WW and I can pull off the victory!

Birthday Binge

It was my birthday this past Monday (34! Yikes!) and as usual, I pigged out. Sigh!

My parents took me to Sam Choy's Breakfast Lunch and Crab for a late breakfast. It was unusually empty for a holiday morning.

I had my usual, "Da Pake" Moco ($7.95), a variation on the loco moco with lup chong and charsiu instead of the usual hamburger steak. Covered with an egg (your choice of style - I always get mine over easy), and smothered in gravy. Put a few dollops of Tabasco on there, and you're good to go! Yummy!
My mom had the French Toast Platter ($8.50) which comes with 2 slices of sweet bread French toast along with 2 eggs and 2 bacon.
My dad his usual, the "Hawaii's Very Best" ($9.95), an absolute feast of a breakfast. Comes with 2 eggs (seemed like 4!), bacon, portuguese sausage, Spam, and homemade corned beef hash. Enough to feed 2! (bacon not seen cuz they forgot it and brought it separately later)

Then for dinner, my folks prepared some of my favorite foods as they do every year.

If you're Korean, you gotta have seaweed soup on your birthday.
Fried chicken...Chicken Alice's style!
Japchae, Korean style noodles
And finally, tangsooyook, Korean-Chinese version of sweet sour pork. My dad usually makes it with vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, and onions mixed in but I told him no need since it was just us and never need make fancy. I never eat the veggies anyway! ^_^
Topped it all off with some chantilly cake...and I was stuffed! Okay, I am officially done eating for the week!

Cal in the Top 10, UH in the Top 20!

In the new college football rankings, both Cal and UH moved up a couple of spots. Cal is #10 in both the AP and the USA Today polls after defeating ranked Tennessee 45-31 in an impressive showing at home. UH pounded on Northern Colorado 63-6 and moved up to #20 in the AP and #22 in USA Today. Michigan, who lost to Appalachian State in a shocker, dropped completely out of both polls after being ranked #5.

I can't stress how blessed we are to have a nationally ranked football team here this year. This is really a team to remember as we will be getting national attention all year due to our ranking. No longer are we regulated to "other conferences" designation. I hope y'all can really appreciate what we've going on this year at UH!

Lovin' the Chargers' New Unis!

I've been a San Diego Chargers fan ever since I was a little boy. The days of Air Coryell with Dan Fouts, Chuck Muncie, Wes Chandler, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow, et al. really got me to love the game of football. I still remember the day when the Chargers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game to get to the Super Bowl (only to get crushed by the 49ers)...they won the game on the final play and I was yelling and jumping up and down as I was at home alone watching the game. They certainly do have a great tradition, from the players I mentioned above to Natrone Means, to Junior Seau, and now to LaDainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman.

Anyways...as I watched some preseason games this year, I noticed that they are sporting new uniforms! I've always thought that they already had the best unis in the league but they've gotten even better! Check them out! The changes are subtle but definitely noticeable to anyone's who's familiar with the team.

Great News for TO Owners

Here's a letter written to ESPN from Terrell Owens, WR for the Dallas Cowboys:

To All ESPN Fantasy Team Owners,

2007 is going to be a great year … for me and the Dallas Cowboys.

I came into training camp in excellent shape, feeling good about our prospects for the season and proud to be part of the great Dallas Cowboys tradition.

I want to help your fantasy team win its league title … and that means generating huge statistics. This year our offense is set up to make big plays. We worked hard during the preseason and we're going to connect on a lot of touchdowns. Coach and I are on the same page. He understands my role and how I can help us win.

So here is my pledge to all ESPN fantasy owners who draft me in 2007:

I will catch the ball.

I will score touchdowns.

I will have a great season.

Did you see the preseason game against Houston? One touch, one touchdown. That's how it's going to be all year long. I'm aiming for 100 catches, 1,500 yards and at least 20 touchdowns. With our quarterback passing the ball, this is entirely possible.

And speaking of my QB … you might as well draft him too, because he's going to the Pro Bowl this year.

Put me on your team and you won't be disappointed. I am going to help you win your fantasy league this season.

Sincerely,

Terrell Owens, No. 81

Great news for TO owners. I do own him in my co-worker's league so let's hope his predictions pan out!

Okinawan Festival 2007

WW and I volunteered at the Okinawan Festival this past weekend on both Saturday and Sunday for about a total of 14 hours. Was good fun as usual and had choke people! Weather held up nicely as well. I didn't really get to catch too much of the entertainment but sampled some of the food and bought a lot of stuff!

Volunteers busy making the ever popular andagi
Snacks for sale!
Fresh produce too...
Bonsai tree display
If do right....no can defense!
10 Most common Okinawan names...are you on the list?
Beatiful orchids...I didn't buy one but I did buy a desert rose plant
T-shirts...
Rubber stamps...
Check out the lines for the food!
Had some ono pig's feet soup for breakfast on Saturday. I'm Korean! I gotta have soup for breakfast! Lots of bits of fatty pork on the bottom...oishi!
Anda-Dog for a snack...
Was super hot and I was working hard so here's my reward! The ice was shaved coarse how I like it.
Check out this massive stage they built!
This was the only act that I saw. They were blasting the Wong Fei Hung music so that's what drew me to the stage. Was really good!

Waikiki - Wonderful Wedding, Funny Fisticuffs!

I went to a wedding this past Saturday night at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider and the setting was absolutely beautiful. The ceremony (which I was too late to attend) was held on the veranda overlooking Waikiki Beach and the cocktail service followed immediately after as the sun set to the West. The wedding was tons of fun (even though I ate too much!) and melded Japanese, Chinese, American, and local traditions in smooth and very entertaining way.

Great view of the beach...
Beatiful sunset...
After the wedding, some of us went to The Yard House to have a few drinks. It was my first time there and gotta admit....not really a fan. Anyways, my car was still parked at the Sheraton so I had to walk my butt back down Kalakaua Avenue to retrieve it. This was at around 12:30pm and I started to hear a ruckus across the street. BEEF! No, not my friend Mike but a real fight! Aw-right! Nothing's more entertaning than seeing 2 drunkards trying to duke it out. In the red corner, a tall and lanky Caucasian tourist! In the blue corner, a short and fighty local! BOX! How voyeuristic am I? I took video of course!
Now the funny part...after the fight was over and the tall guy walked away, he started acting all tan-da-rah again and started punching a tree (yeah, real smart!) saying stuff like "You want some of this?". Well, then the local guy said "You wanna get nuts?! Let's get nuts!" and then proceeded to strip down to bare nekkid! Everyone watching just started cracking up! I tried to take some video as I was convulsing with laughter. Ah...Waikiki....no place in the world like it!

Revenge is Sweet!

After losing last year's season opener in Knoxville 35-17, Cal bounced back in a big way and got their revenge against the University of Tennessee, 45-31. I have yet to watch my DVR of the game yet, but I can't wait to see how it happened.

Cal's got a great season ahead of them with accurate passer Nate Longshore at the helm and all around awesome athlete Desean Jackson at WR. And Justin Forsett looks to replace Marshawn Lynch's great skills.

Roll on you Bears!