Batting Cage Pains

After attempting to hit several rounds of 50 mph baseballs, I think I did some damage to my hands and feet. It caused me dear pain on my next 12 mile run. How unfortunate.

Oldies, I'll Share Them Anyways

By accident, I came across 2 short films on You Tube that I was involved in. They are older, but thought I'd share them anyways.


Memmy's Egg - short film by Timmy Ngo


Lucky Lotus

Still No Runner's High

From Manhattan Beach to Palos Verdes and back. Those 15 miles of running seemed like a dreadful 2 hr 15 mins of my of life. And yet, still no runner's high? I must be doing something wrong. Sore legs and fatigue is pretty much all I feel so far. Time to sleep.

Fun in the Sun in Arcadia

Summer in Los Angeles isn't so bad afterall. Sure it gets a little warm and smoggy, but I don't really mind some fun in the sun on occasion. This past Sunday, we were able to enjoy a few juicy crab dumplings at Ding Tai Fung, a nice stroll along The Arboretum, and ended the night with beer and games at Dave & Busters. Those are probably the best locales of Arcadia, CA in case you are wondering.

Click for Arboretum Album:

From The Arboretum

Amanda's Photos:

Our Good Ideas

Week 8 - Our 12 mile run last weekend seemed to have gone well. We had a very late start since I forgot my iPod and we had to stop by the office to look up an approximate running distance. We started from around Playa Del Rey, ran to Hermosa Beach, and back. After 8pm, we finally started on our way down, and it actually felt okay, even though it seemed long and never ending. By about 10:05pm we approached the area where we "thought" we parked the car, but of course could not find it. We walked back and forth several times, thinking perhaps we missed it. With no cell phone or money, we really didn't have much choice but to seek help from strangers. Luckily a very helpful beach employee was getting off work and offered not only her cell phone but a ride to the gas station. After calling and startling all the family members and friends we know, we had Gary's cousin, Pat, come pick us up and take one last look again, only to find the car 2 and a half ours later. We are idiots! We drove home laughing at ourselves because we were embarrassed and happy that the car was not stolen at the same time.

Week 9 - 13 mile run. I thought it might be a good idea to change the pace and scenery a bit, and found a 13 mile hiking trail at Malibu Creek State Park. This time we got started around 6:30pm thinking we still had a good 2 hours of day light. Little did we think about the 4-5 minute of going straight up hill, and not really sure of the trail we were suppose to be on, then having to tress pass a very eerie abandoned blocked off shelter. We ended up rushing to get back before there was no more daylight left, and got extremely lost and off trail. Finally close to 9pm, and luckily with a full moon, we were happy to see the car still in the same spot. We ended up only going 11 miles, but our workout was definitely more than expected. Another adventure completed.

We are just so full of good ideas!

That's One Small Step For one, One Giant Help for Another

Happy 40th anniversary of the first moon landing for human kind - Apollo 11! Thanks to modern technology, the Apollo 11 Video has been restored. It just shows that every discover and every step made can lead to bigger and greater things.

This weekend was full of adventure. Outside of the 10K OC Mud Run that I endured, there were many suprises along the way. On they way out the door, we were stopped by an 69 year old Japanese lady wearing nothing but her long sleeping garments mumbling words we could not understand. She was calling for her husband, who was obviously not around. She seemed extremely distraught so we went to her doorway to find out what was wrong, and she asked for our help. Her husband was suppose to be off work in the early morning and should have been home already, but she was frantic because she could not locate him. On top of that she kept repeating those words and let us know she was sick some how. We entered her apartment, turned on the A/C for her as it was over 90 degrees that day, and sat down with her to find out what she really needed. During this time, we found out her age, that she re-married, that she is the youngest in her family of 5 sisters, that she had 2 children that live in New Mexico, that she is retired but worked for a dentist that fixed Arnold Palmer's teeth, that she's orginally from Okinawa, and that her husband was a honests man. We ended up locating her husband at his work, as we found out he was a chef at a golf resort. I'm not sure staying there to help this disoriented old woman until her husband showed up really did much help, but at least she felt safe at that time. There were two things I took from this situation: 1) I'm proud to know someone who would spend their time to help another, even though it wasn't necessary, 2) Being that woman's husband must not be easy, but he still deals with the situaton with patience. One day when I am old and fragile, I would hate to be alone.

So as we finally left to Palos Verdes as originally planned, we had decided to do some hiking while in the area. Along the Shipwreck trail, we discovered 3 dead stinking seals, millions of crawling bugs, a few gigantic bumble bees, and millions of flying insects. I'm still glad we went, as the view was amazing, but I'm not sure passing by these living and dead creatures made it very pleasant. I don't think I'd go back again.

Wordless Day

I'm speechless, or rather, wordless today. My thoughts are preoccupied by the run that I completed tonight, the OC Mud Run this Saturday, the 100+ miles I drove throughout the entire LA county today (twice), the non-functioning parts of the Pink Princess I encountered today, and the yummy A&J Chinese food that I just had for dinner. The truth is, I haven't given myself the chance to really sit down and let me writing bug kick in. Perhaps another night...

In the mean time, here are photos from a lovely wedding at the Long Beach Aquarium.