WTF of the day

This guy is either...
A) confused - he can't decide whether he likes the Sox or the Yanks.
B) a front runner - he roots for whoever wins. So for convenience sake, he keeps both teams' gear on at all times.
C) a fan of the recently formed: Yank Sox - whatever...

The answer is, D) None of the above. He's basically an idiot, and should be fined by major league baseball.

Reasons to drive a hybrid car

1) It pays you back.
2) You get a tax break.
3) At the pump, giggle as an SUV pulls up next to you.
4) Chicks dig green... super green.

Extinguish Smoke

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Just read this article in the paper. First, why don't I translate it:

Ever since I've been sick, my life has taken a 180 degree turn. In the past, cigarettes and my presence would be synonymous. Friends would say to me, "if you believe you can quit smoking, you'll definitely be able to do it". My answer to that was, "I firmly believe that I'll never be able to quit, and your point is?" How ironic that I am now constantly asking people to quit smoking.

Illness makes us realize the importance of life. Because of my desire to live, cigarettes have become my enemy. Out on the street, I am constantly trying to avoiding smoke. It is only now that I truly understand the definition of the word, "unavoidable". Even in the elevator of my apartment building, people smoke. I want to go out and grab a bite to eat, and cigarette smoke is everywhere. Their so-called non-smoking area, is surrounded by smoking sections. One time I got mad, so I wrote on a piece of paper: "Excuse me, but I have cancer. Please stop smoking for the time being, thanks!". Since then, every time I am at a restaurant and find someone next to me smoking, I will politely ask them to put it out.

Some people smile as they blow smoke in my face, thinking its a joke. Some will give a well mannered response, then proceed to put out their cigarette. Then there are some who will stare at me with disdain, and continue to smoke. A friend once pointed out that I'm selfish. He said, "cigarettes aren't the only thing in this world that cause cancer. Why not be a little patient? You used to be a smoker. Surely you can understand our (smokers) plight?". After hearing this, I was dumbstruck. I really wanted to tell him that actually I understand completely. I don't hate cigarettes, but my body suffers whenever I smell smoke. My immune system isn't strong like normal people, and smoke lowers my immuno-defense, increasing the chances of my cancer having a relapse. I'm only trying to stay alive. I'm sure everyone does things to protect their own life.

Oftentimes I feel its not that I'm prejudice against smokers, its that smokers are prejudice against me. I am now in the process of writing a book about me during my sickness. I hope smokers will read it, and that they will realize how difficult it is for a sick person to return to society.

The girl who wrote this is 23 years old. She is recovering from nasopharyngeal cancer. Visit her site here.

Smoking is a topic that has been beaten to death on my blog, but as long as it continues to exist, I will continue to fight against it. I'm not ignorant. I'll admit that I understand why people smoke: they're coerced into doing it by Philip Morris and friends. What I still don't understand, is why smart people continue to smoke. So who is smart enough to not smoke? People who know that its bad for them (that means pretty much everyone).

I feel sorry for the author of this article not because she had cancer, but that the hardships she has to face after achieving such a heroic victory. It is almost as if her reward for defeating cancer is a lifetime of confinement and solitude.

Taipei: Cockroach City

There are cockroaches everywhere in Taipei! It is quite unbelievable. Pretty much every street I walk on, there are roaches just hanging around. The streets can look really dirty or really clean, and still there are roaches. One visit was especially appalling: The amount of cockroaches I saw during one weekend was equivalent to the amount I would see in Hong Kong during one year.

Hong Kong isn't even that clean, so I really don't know why there are so many bugs in Taipei. Do they just have a crappy sewer system? Does all that soy sauce marinade (滷) attract roaches? The people who sell bug spray are either a) having a stellar year in sales, or b) selling a shoddy product.

The overall feeling I have, is that Taipei isn't very clean.

Workout Diary

Nice pants...

I came across this ridiculous Ronnie Coleman video a while ago. Then I caught it again recently on the Tube. I'm glad I did, because that night I had the best workout in a long time. I wasn't motivated by his ability to lift insane weights. Instead, I observed and employed the way he motivated himself before and during the lift. By getting pumped up before the set, I was able to get in more reps. I proceeded to do this for every exercise I did, and it was great!

In the past when I had a workout partner, we would motivate each other. I've been working out alone for so long that I've forgotten what its like to have a good workout. Usually, I go to the gym after work and after dinner. I'm more ready to fall asleep in front of the TV at that point. I know that right now my biggest hurdles are getting enough sleep, and getting enough to eat. Neither problems are getting solved at this point because I'm a picky eater (low salt, low fat, low sugar), and I just don't sleep enough.

So from now on, get angry before you bench press 400lbs.

Even little people can learn from big bodybuilders.

Megaten

People who know me, and who keep up with games will know that I an a huge fan of the Megaten series. I have mainly been keeping up with the Shin Megami Tensei (真女神転生) series, having played all three episodes. I'm not going to bother writing an introduction here. If you want to know more, click on the Megaten link, or the title of this entry. This link is the official site.

Back in the early 90s, when the Super Famicon was all the rage, pretty much all the mainstream RPG games were based on medieval or fantastic settings. I played Zelda, Y's, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Breath of Fire, Phantasy Star, etc. They were all decent, but they were all quite similar. Some took place in the future, and some took place in a fantasy land of the past. Most of course take place in a world that never existed. Naturally, there was always a bad guy, monsters, and evil at work. None however stood out to be anything different or spectacular in my opinion. Final Fantasy Six was the game at that time, and for good reason too: FFVI was just spectacular. While everyone was happily playing (and salivating over) FFVI, I was into something different.

I stumbled onto SMT by accident. I had no clue what the name meant. "Goddess Reincarnation" didn't ring a bell. The game started off with a computer screen and really scary music! Someone was using a computer and inputting some info into a "Digital Devil Story Net". In between all this, we could see glimpses of images like a figure hanging on a cross, a dude in a lab coat standing in front of a creepy device, scary dudes in front of an altar. Just dark, creepiness all around. My first thought was, "Wow! My kind of game!"... but what was it about?

So the game begins with a dream sequence with mysterious music and more religious symbolism. See this description from wikipedia:

Shin Megami Tensei begins with the player dreaming. In his dream, he encounters a stone slab that asks his name, a boy on a crucifix (a possible reason for this game never being released in western territories) and another boy being tormented by a demon. After this, he wakes up and receives an e-mail informing him that demons wander the earth once again. To allow him combat to the demons, a Devil Summoning Program is attached to the e-mail.

After these odd events, the Hero's mother tells him about a murder that occurred last night. He receives his allowance and hangs out at the mall. At the mall, he is attacked by a demon, after it eats a crazy man with a knife. After this, he goes home and goes back to sleep again. Then, he has another dream, this time, a girl is being sacrificed to summon a great demon. The Hero invokes her name, and she is set free from the summoners' control.

Wow! A game that took place in modern times! The theme was overwhelmingly dark. I could be that guy! As I played more, I discovered that the locations in the game were real places in Tokyo: Shinjuku, Kichijoji, Shibuya, Asakusa, etc. All the monsters in the game were demons from real folklore and from multiple backgrounds. It was a good mix of Christian angels, satanic demons, Hindu gods, western spirits, Celtic legends, etc. It wasn't just limited to a "blob", or "skeleton". The people who made this game actually did a lot of research before coming up with the massive enemy list. They took it a step further by introducing "Demon Fusion".

Demon Fusion and Summoning were the main draws of the game. Besides killing demons, you could befriend them and invite them to join you by offering them money, coercing them, or simply threatening them. It didn't always work of course, but when it did, you could immediately have them fight alongside you. Then comes the option of fusing two or three demons together to create a new, more powerful demon. The game was extremely complicated, but really interesting. There were more ways to becoming a powerful force than just leveling up and buying weapons.

I could go on and on about my fascination with all the types of demons and creepy religious storyline, but instead I think I'll leave you with a few thoughts:

• SMT's first and second episodes didn't make it to the US probably because they were deemed religiously inappropriate (i.e. the Christian god wasn't necessarily the good guy).
• The soundtrack was excellent. The music suited the game's mood perfectly.
• The story was very open: you could choose among many different paths or combination of paths (Law, Neutral, Chaos, Light, Dark, etc.) .

...to be continued...

311

牛丼(Gyudon) aka. Beef Bowl

Gyu-don is one of the easiest Japanese dishes to make. How else do you think they can sell them so cheap. There is a really simple recipe that Isao-san taught me a couple of years back. Just remember "311".

Ingredients:

• 3 parts water (1 cup)
  
• 1 part soy sauce (1/3 cup)
  
• 1 part mirin (1/3 cup)
  
• Shredded or thinly sliced beef (400g)
• Shredded onions (2 medium onions)
• Ginger (1 slice)

It couldn't be more simple. Just prep the ingredients and put them all in a pot over medium heat. Bring the pot to a slow boil, then simmer for about one hour or less. I like both the beef and onion to be sliced very thin, but that's just me. Serve the beef and onion over rice with as much sauce as you like. I eat it plain, but people often eat this dish with marinated ginger (available in stores), and/or a raw egg. You can also substitute the beef with chicken, pork, or even tofu I suppose. Makes two servings.

*(pics coming soon)

Godzilla goes down

For those of you that don't watch baseball...

Hideki Matsui broke his wrist while sliding into a Mark Loretta hit. It looks like he's going to miss the rest of the season.

Perhaps to the surprise of many, this doesn't make me feel good. I'm happy that Steinbrenner might get another ulcer, and that the Yanks won't get as many wins. However, a weaker Yanks team doesn't make for great baseball, and it makes our wins against them less legit.

Their lineup looked so great just a few months ago. Now with both Shef and Matsui out, it just doesn't look that scary anymore. It is also pretty scary to see how two injuries can change your whole lineup. This situation could happen to any team, like the mets losing Zambrano (and that's all I'm saying about that).

Quote of the Day

"When you intentionally walk Big Papi, it's almost like giving Manny a Ritalin tablet."

--Bill Simmons

Sox take series 2-1

To be honest, I didn't feel too comfortable with Willie Harris in the 9th inning with one out, hitting against the almighty Mo Rivera. Harris, a pinch runner (and a speedy runner to say the least), is currently batting .136. Whaddaya know, Willie gets a great hit into right field.

However, the hero of the game was of course Mark Loretta. He's been in what RSN would call a slump recently, and he went 4 for 6 with three RBIs. Two things made me feel pretty good about this game: 1)Our guys played well despite Manny and Ortiz both getting no hits. 2)Papelbon is so darn good.

Sox pitching was great tonight. It was fun watching old reliable Wake K nine guys. It's pretty funky watching good players get screwed by the knuckleball. It just drops in, flies around a bit, and the batter swings. That's right, if you want your kid to have a nice comfortable career in the bigs, teach him to be a knuckleballer.

Even more fun was watching Papelbon close. This guy is fearless. I remember him looking like a pudgy big kid last season, but now he's got this meanacing stare. He's a flamethrower with a sweet splitter. He has now added a mohawk and five o'clock shadow to the overall package. Just awesome. I think I'd be pretty scard to bat against a huge dude with a mohawk. In the ninth, Pap battled Jeter to a full count. I think the eventual walk was acceptible with Jeter having 3 hits on the night. The rest of his performance was quick and dominating.

Lunch Money

I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture. Nagoya teishoku minus curry katsudon.

Maybe I'm cheap, but I am surprised at how much Hong Kong people spend on lunch. I usually spend about HK$20 on lunch. That or I bring my lunch from home. Occasionally, I'll go to the mall and have something better. Still, the "better" meal usually won't cost over $50.

I notice that while I'm eating my <$50 meal, everyone else is eating stuff that's $50+ or close to the $100 range. That's shocking considering how frugal Hong Kong people are. I've seen people take complicated bus routes in order to save a few bucks on transportation, yet be willing to spend 8-10 times that amount on lunch. What gives?

Here's my theory: most office workers are so disatisfied with their job, that they feel the need to have a good lunch. Lunch is their outlet. Lunch is the time they can enjoy. Maybe they feel their life sucks, so they need a good lunch to compensate. Though complicated and difficult, I feel good about life and I don't think my job is a dead end... [takes a minute to think about that]. So I guess I don't need to compensate with a great lunch. Lunch for me is mainly to fill the empty stomach.

Soft spot for Judas

What an exciting first Sox-Yanks game of the season. I couldn't help but sneak a peak at work via MLB.tv. I was shocked to see Mirabelli's name on the roster. At first I thought it was a horrible misprint, but no. Wakefield's personal catcher is back, and thank goodness. I don't think anyone else in the league can catch the crap Wake tosses out.

Besides Big Papi's nail in the coffin three run homer, the thing I was anticipating was the way Fenway would react to the return of Johnny Damon. In a sense, every player from 2004 deserves immunity. I guess the line is crossed when you say you'll never leave, then immediately join the enemy.

I didn't have great feelings for Damon after his departure, but I didn't hate him either. He was just doing what some ballplayers do: go for the dough. However, when he tipped his cap and saluted the fans only to get booed in return, I kind of felt sorry for him. He played so hard and did so much for the Sox. When you think back to 2004, you can't help but want to say thank you to the guy.

Anyhow, thanks for 2004 Johnny. I won't hate you until you get your first hit in Fenway.