APSA undergrad-alumni sports day! =) had a great deal of fun in the sun (i might be slightly burnt) kickin it with APSA folks. benji, laurence, james, and myself drove down to SD today for a day full of basketball, dodgeball, and soccer. we didn't do too hot 2 years ago in any of the games. this year though, alumni showed up in force and had a close game against the undergrads in basketball, but we took home the win! dodgeball was a different story because not too many alums played to begin with. lost that. but soccer was the best, if i do say so myself. undergrads were taken off-guard when they saw a whole bunch of us bustin out our shin guards and cleats. =) what can i say? if i have em, i might as well use em. and to come down to play sports? we're gonna play for reals. although, my body will be paying for it tomorrow...

afterwards was dinner with the old timers at good ol' sam woo. i miss y'all. good to see folks i haven't seen in a LLOONGG time... like aldrin, susan, ian, mikey, beza, green, rhen... =) i love the apsa family. thanks for good times once again!

why they still refer to fortune cookies as such boggles me. my "fortune" last nite: "DON'T USE DRUGS."

my family has to move out of their duplex, because the place got bought out by a new owner. i think the plan is to have us out so they can remodel and rent it out for more. *shrug* such is the capitalistic world we live in. now we need to try to find a new place to live, but cheap rent is hard to come by. a 2-bdrm for less than 1000? i wonder if they can even stay in torrance.

gotta love mexican parties. last nite i went to one of my student's birthday parties at his house. as usual, it was outdoors with lotsa tables and chairs. they got the music up loud, spongebob everything (tablecloths, napkins, cake, the pinata, balloons), and PLENTY of food. dad is a construction worker and he built a cement pit bbq grill in the ground. and they have a deep fryer, and a brick oven out back! i had two whole plates of half a gaming hen, spanish rice, beans, and macaroni salad. two full plates dood. then i had to have a huge slice of cake (yum!). and then they broke the pinatas and i got all this candy too, as well as candy goodie bags at the end. =p so full.. yet so much fun! i didn't even realize how long i was there for... over 3 hours. i love my kids and their families. =)

speaking of partying... methodology last nite was a great success! it has been the past two months, but last nite's party was an all-around feel-good vibe with lotsa happy conscious folks. different kinda crowd than last time, which was a whole bunch of young 20-somethings getting drunk up the wazoo because birthday boy just turned 21. that was the most we ever made at the bar. last nite was a crowd of organizing folks, from KIWA (korean immigrant workers advocates), Bus Riders Union (Labor/Strategy Center), MIWON (multicultural immigrant workers organizing network), SEACA (southeast asian community alliance), grad students in urban schooling, women studies, etc. and more. these folks know how to party hard, as this was the only time that the place was packed until the very end at 2am. usually folks go home between 1:30-1:45, and the last 20 minutes or so will just be us folks from chinatown collective and close friends. i myself was playing host to many first-timers to methodology, giving them the VIP treatment and buying drinks left and right. rang up a pretty hefty tab, but it was worth it! i just had two drinks and i was GOOD. korean soju, man.... =p

anyway, everyone said the music kicked ass so for all y'all that haven't made it out yet to methodology better try to get yourselves out to the next one! every third saturdays at chow fun restaurant in chinatown. and all the funds go to the youth programming for the chinatown collective for community action! help us help the kids. =) if u want me to email u a flyer with details, just hit me up. and lemme know if you're interested in volunteering for the youth programs which are once a month on a saturday, from 2-5pm. next one up is this saturday. we always need extra help. peace. =)

the chinatown parade was well enjoyed by myself and my 5 students that i took with me. =) they already learned a lot about the way the chinese celebrate lunar new year, so they recognized the lion dancers, dragon dancers, buddha, and leisees (red envelopes). they enjoyed chinese food and got to go home with some souvenirs (they wanted silly spray string and the firecracker poppers). i tried to get them to buy something "cultural" if you will, but they weren't havin it. ah well, i tried. well some of them actually wanted to buy leisees, but i told them there wasn't money inside and they said "oh, forget it". hahhaa... that would be cool to buy a stash of leisees that had money inside. =)

today was the chinatown firecracker 5k run. now, mind u, i haven't run in 3 months. literally. so i went to run over 3 miles out cold with no training. i got the same friggin time as i did last year when i DID train for it. that proves to me one thing. that i am really not made to be a runner. whether i train or not, i get the same time. i have a maximum and i think i've reached it. and i ain't gettin any younger. so next year, im not training. =p and i've always got dim sum with cool folks to look forward to after the run. =)

happy lunar new year! se-heh-bok ma-nee bah-duh-se-yo! (korean)
gung hay fat choy! (cantonese)

tomorrow will be the year 4703, the year of the Rooster, according to the lunar calendar. koreans will celebrate Sol Nal, vietnamese will celebrate Tet, and of course the chinese will be doing their well-known things. i'm sad as i say goodbye to my year... the year of the monkey will not come around for another 12 years. by then, my first graders will most likely have graduated high school. aiya...

have a blessed new year! i will try to drink more water and take care of myself more. in fact, i've done very well for myself! i got my eyes checked, i went to the doctor's after being very ill for 5 days straight (pneumonia or something), got some serious medication that apparently is a heavy sedative, bought multivitamins, and... i'm working on the drinking more water part. oh yes, and exercise. =/ mm. that part is really hard for me. i guess tha'ts part of my hope for the new year. i need some motivation though.