[112] Chicago #1

Imagine if I started every post with the name of the city I'm in followed by the number of consecutive days I'm in that city....even if I'm in Chicago. This blog will have the most boring post titles of all time.


I thought it'd be fun to do it for this first post.

Morning
Anyways, it was great to start my first day back with none other than yoga, pilates, and Zumba (just like all my other Saturdays). Well... we actually didn't do yoga this time. We never really get to. Yoga starts promptly at 8am, and we've never arrived earlier than 8:30am. It was no different today--got there at 8:30am. We were just a bit lazy, a bit tired, a  bit hot, a bit thirsty.

Pilates and Zumba was fun as always though! Today, both activities had new instructors. It was really refreshing. The new Pilates instructor sounded really, really nice but SHE WAS HARD! There was a new girl in Zumba too who also seemed really nice, but her workouts were MORE ENERGETIC. "Dang girl, we've been dancing and cardio-ing non-stop, give us a break!" It was all good though.

Afternoon
Yo! Kelly and I copped them $1 flip flops from Old Navy. Holla!! Wait....does "cop" mean we stole them or something? I'm not sure, but we didn't steal 'em. Every year, there's a $1 flip flop sale at Old Navy and this year, we were able to take advantage of the sale. Much thanks to Carmen for telling us though. If she hadn't told us, we would probably just have gone home. But nope! Kelly and I both got a few pairs, then went to Sports Authority to check out some prices on workout clothes, then enjoyed a very rewarding meal at Halo.

If anyone is in downtown Chicago, check out the Spicy Crazy Chicken at Halo. It's good stuff. Love this place! The people there are really nice. Kelly and I had a nice conversation with them the whole time we were there. I'm surprised the cashier guy recognized me with my short hair. Props to that wonderful man.

After our hunger has been mollifed (totally learned that word from Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games series), we biked to Shi Yu's with whom we walked together to Chinatown to check out a certain cutie....who wasn't there. Bummers. However, we ran into two other cuties, my friends Sohee and Nene from Urbana and spent a good time with them. I love friends getting along with other friends. It's like....seeing your child play nice with the neighborhood kids....except nothing like that at all.

*If you've read it this far, good for you! I appreciate your patience and interest. This day's post is long, un-interesting, and ... really? seriously? not even a single picture? ... unanimated.*

Nightime
Yeah...pretty much knocked out shortly after arriving home. Showered, sat in front of the laptop, snoozed off without realizing it, supped quickly, and saw some Avatar: The Last Airbender with Becky before finally sleeping again.

((~~~D  R  E  A  M~~~))
I was playing Soul Caliber against a computer. It was a special sort of match where each player fights through the match with 3 characters--once all three characters dies, the player loses. However, a really cool thing in terms of health is that if during the match, the player performs cool combos or nice hits, their character can gain health. 

In the character selection screen, characters were chosen at random with the opponent's characters reflecting yours in some way. Screw these details! I'm not even going to tell you my characters...it's useless. All you need to know about the dream was that it was very, very stressful and I lost ... badly. 

^ --- oh geez. do you see that dream entry? trying to incorporate it into a blog post. what an awful first dream entry. this is a bad post. boring title, long-winded post, horrible closing....


over.n.out. 

[111] Urbana Day #5

Since first arriving in Urbana, there was ONE big plan for the week. Sometime, Jeff and I have to watch The Avengers. If all I did stay in the apartment allll weeeekk loonnnngg, I at least gotta watch this before going back to Chicago. yEp yEp! To kind of get into The Avengers mood, I re-watched Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and on the very last day, we achieved our goal.

It was a great movie! I want to re-watch it again... I'll wait until it's out of the theatres, and I can just watch it at home.

[110] Urbana Day #4

I started the week with pizza, and now I end the week with pizza.

Pizza #1 - Garlic crust, chicken, caramelized onions, sausages, and two layers of cheese

Pizza #2 - Same thing

Confession: I did start the week with homemade pizza, but I am not ending it with homemade pizza. I'm actually leaving tomorrow. Gah... I just love parallelism! 

[109] Urbana Day #3

I was learning a bit more about Tumblr today, and how it works. Before I thought it was a bit mind-numbing just scrolling and scrolling, but it's actually not. I'm finding a lot of interesting things on Tumblr -- beautiful artworks, GIFs of shows I love, interesting stories, news, videos, music and .. of course .. jokes and funnies. It's ironic I'm blogging about Tumblr when I'm using Blogger...or Blogspot.

Anyways, waking up today was really horrible. I ended up sleeping really late last night...or morning. There was a black out that occured last night, so I was walking around for a couple of hours with Jeff and Vivian. Visiting friends and etc etc. 

After waking up though, it was nice to hang out with Jeff and cop some free food at the quad and watch Iron Man 2, birthday planning with Vivian, and seeing Marz and Venus for the first time since I got here. 

I'll be here for two more days! I'm not sure what I'm doing yet for these last two days, but I'm loving every single day here. I really needed this.  

[108] Urbana Day #2

There was a lot of business taken care of today, but the best part of the day.... was Courier Cafe!

Courier Reuben - corned beef, sauerkraut, ¿caramelized onions?, thousand island w/ horseradish mixed in

All of it was soooo delicious! I can't believe I've been missing out on this all my life. I recommend everyone and anyone who follows this blog to try this if they haven't yet.

I spent a whole day in Urbana and got to see a lot of friends I've missed and I only blog about this sandwich? Unfortunately, yes. ;D

[107] Urbana Day #1

In lieu of Jeff's birthday, which passed, I came down to Urbana for a week. I'm spending a lot of time with my buddy and in between, having a lot of fun back on campus.

On my first day, after a good day, I slept over at Wing's. We made pizza!!

Garlic crust dough, cooked chicken, American cheese and assorted shredded cheese, and too-raw onions 

This pizza was really good, surprisingly. Wing will attest to this....Wing will PREACH this! He wouldn't be quiet about it actually. 

Here's Wing eating his pizza...He later ate about half of my pizza

[106] Pride Parade 2012

Kelly, Shi Yu, and I waiting for the parade to start.

Super cool balloons!!

More super cool balloons!!

Super DUPER cute dog!

Thanks to Gladys for all the pictures. Even if I took any, I would still probably use hers. She's a better photographer, and the quality of her pictures are sooo amazing!!

Maan, it's been so many years since I last went to the Pride Parade...what the heck have I been doing these summers to have missed it for like 4 years? But anyways, it was tons of fun! Yelling, cheering, screaming, dancing, waving stuff.... very festive. It's a great environment with a lot of love. It's hard to find replicate an event like this. It is irreplicable! :Þ

Too bad I got burnt... AGAIN. 

 Deffffffffinitely worse than my first one. It is stinging at the moment. It knows I'm blogging about it. Shh......

[105] Faded #2

It's been two fast and long weeks......¿two slow and short weeks? since our last haircut, and it's about upkeep time. But instead of maintenance, Kelly and I decided to give each other a whole new fade.

Kelly's Fade #2

Henry's Fade #2

We are slowly mastering our craft --- our fade craft. Does that sentence even make sense? Anyways, that was a pretty pretentious sentence anyways. We don't really know what are the standards for fades, but we're just going our own thing and having fun with it. It's all experimentation, folks! We're exercising our creative rights we've given to each other...the creative right to do whatever we want to the other person's head. So far so good, and I actually really like how mine turned out and I really like how Kelly's turned out too.

Stay tuned! There's more to come!!

[104] Grooming Joe

Since it was a really nice day today, not too hot and not too cold, my mom and I gave Joe a haircut. Then, I gave him a bath and brushed him.

This is after everything. Whenever he gets a haircut, he looks like 10 years younger. You can't really tell from this picture but you would be able to tell in person. I just chose this picture because it makes me laugh. :D

/after looking at this picture longer. Maybe you coould tell from this picture. Does he look younger? Hmm......

[103] Cousins Day -- Part Three: Sunrise (Success)

Phew....We woke up in time today. It'll be embarrassing to miss the sunrise AGAIN. Luckily, we all begrudgingly woke up between 4am - 4:20am and made it to the Lake before the sun came up. The sun comes up from the east which is where our Lake Michigan is. So perfect!!! I actually never realized how perfect that was. It's a magnificent sight seeing the sun peek out from the Lake's horizon. It starts off a powerful deep pink but as it surfaces more and more, it becomes the bright orange we know the sun to be. I wonder how that works. Is there a very obvious explanation for it?

--

At night, Jerry and Daniel went back home--finally!! Just kidding. Since being with my little cousins for three days straight, it's actually really weird now that all of them aren't here anymore. Being with my little cousins puts me in a kind of peace that's ... irreplicable. Even if they find a way to get me mad or annoy me, just hanging out with them makes me really happy.        

[102] Cousins Day -- Part Two: Sunrise (Failed)

After all my cousins had to leave from the day before, Jerry and Daniel stayed over. We were all supposed to wake up at 4am to watch the sunrise the next morning. Yeaaah...it didn't happen. So they stayed all Wednesday and slept over again to try it again Thursday morning. I'm fine with it...they can stay over for as long as they like. :P

[101] Cousins Day -- Part One

Day with the cousins

Daniel: We played mafia and we also made pasta and tacos...um...what else did we do? We watched...
Henry: Howl's Moving Castle
Daniel: "Oh yeah! .......What else did we do?.............we're going to see the sunrise tomorroww!!!"

[100] Choreschoreschoreschores then AVATAR!

Yeaah....the title pretty much says it. Choreschoreschoreschores then AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER! I'm not quite on time with the schedule I made yesterday. I still have the hour-long finale of season 1 to finish tomorrow. I'll be busy with my little cousins tomorrow though, so hopefully at night I'll have the energy to watch it before bed. What am I even saying?! OF COURSE I'LL HAVE THE ENERGY!

[99] Avatar: The Last Airbender REWIND

This is my second "Avatar: The Last Airbender REWIND" post--the same title...word-for-word too. Oooh...the first post was post [44]. And this is [99]. I like the parallels. No...I love the parallels. (insert smiley face).

I wanted to watch all the seasons again before the season finale of Avatar: The Legend of Korra this coming Saturday. In a semi-busy, at-home day, I watched half of one season. Five more of those and my goal is complete. And well, well, well...we have five more days until the season finale.

The goal is on! LEH' GO!!

[98] My First Sunburn Of The Year

Usually, I slather on the sunscreen like it's nobody's business before going out on a summer day. But the day I decide not to, the UV index is high as heck and I'm outdoors for 5 hours. 

I woke up at 6:45 to do yoga, pilates, and Zumba at Chicago's Millenium Park. I figured the sun's rays won't be that strong since it's so early. 

By the end of all the workouts, which I was thoroughly exhausted from, I was already starting to get a little red. I didn't realize the extent of it until I got home to take a shower. The warm water and the loofah scrubbing was very unpleasant. 

Then, I headed out to see my little cousin Katie's ballet/jazz performance,

. 

watch Shi Yu get faded, 

Kelly did a great job!

and by the end of the day, my sunburn looked like...

[97] These Wise Guys..... SMH

These wise guys on the bottom decided to grow horizontally. The ones on top aren't as bad. Whatever... I need to remove all four eventually anyways.

I'm sure there'll be a future post for that when the time comes. Hopefully, I'm all loopy from the sleeping gas they'll give me, and I'll get a funny picture or video from it. <---that's a shout out to my friend, Carms. "CARMS! You reading this?!"

[96] RedEye Crosswords

Maan, I used to do crosswords every single day! I think during the 2011-2012 school year, I've only done a handful--if even that many.

Well, today I got my first crossword since maybe the winter time. I think during winter break I did one or two.

I want to start getting RedEye newspapers again. If I have nothing to do, I can at least spend an hour racking my brain over these crossword clues, learn a bit about what's happening in Chicago, and read about other news.

[95] I'm Working Out

(sung to Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out")

I'm working out

I want the world to see

Got my sis with me

I'm working out

I want the world to know

Also got my dog, Joe

There's a new me working out

And I just want to say

That's all I've done today

I'll blog about it, yay

Warmed up by walking 'round

There ain't nothing to it

Can't really overdo it

Ooh, it ain't nothing new

Then the time has come to exercise my arms

I have to shout

That I am working out

I'm working out

I want the world to know

I'm doing renegade rows 

I'm working out

I want the world to see

10 reps, sets of 3

Arms and shoulder exercise

Delts, biceps, and tris

In-crease in size

As I do strength training

Next work thighs and rear

Butt strong as a bear

Super fly dairy aire

Oh, this stanza's awkward

Anyways.

 That's no way to end

First relax and breathe

And stretch and reach and bend

I'm stretching out

I want the world to know

Stretching is crucial

I'm stretching out

I want the world to be

Flexible and free

I'm stretching out!

Yeah... I really didn't do anything else today. It was really fun making this song parody though. Enjoi! 

[94] Jerry's 8th Grade Graduation

Congratulations to Jerry for graduating 8th grade. Soon you'll be going to high school...then college...then you'll be a senior in college and you'll be old like I am now. I'm using "you'll" and "you're" as if I'm talking to Jerry himself. Because I am. You! Jerry! Yeah you!! L

I think 8th grade graduation is the best graduation, because there is nothing like going into your high school years. High school was one of my best school years. It may not have been everyone's best school years, but you surely learn a lot in those short 4 years. You already know a lot about my high school years, but my time at Whitney Young really helped shape me into who I am today. Seek wisdom and growth. Stay strong-willed and ambitious. Be open-minded but remain true to who you are. You're a great kid, and I'm soo proud to be your big cousin. Keep it up, mang.

Darn robe makes Jerry look even taller!

...
...
...
...

In more important news, I finished Catching Fire!!!!! 

[93] Catching Fire

Finally, I get to go back to reading Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games series.

I'm a little under the halfway mark...hopefully, I can get to the three-fourths mark by tonight.

[92] Closet Clean-up

Gathered up all tees & longsleeves, refolded them, and re-organized them in different piles

I'll put them back in the closet tomorrow.

[91] Matthew's First Month

One more addition to the biiigg little-cousin family. 

[90] Faded

Kelly and I gave each other fades...then basically ended up giving each other full haircuts. I never cut a girl's hair before (or anyone's really) but hopefully it turned out well. We talked about giving Kelly a fade before, but this definitely happened on the spur of the moment. We didn't plan on getting haircuts today--at least I didn't at all for a while--but what the hey, a fade for a fade. I always like a friendship that's fair.

Kelly's Fade

From point A to point B

Henry's Fade/Haircut
Kelly gave me the fade then the haircut, which is basically just buzzing it all over again. Although creative little Kelly gave me a little, asymmetric iceberg of hair. The asymmetry is not very clear due to the nature of the photo...also it 's nighttime...but it's cute. :b

Point A to B ... the sun set by the time we got to B

[89] idon'tknowwhattotitlethisposttralalalalalala

Early hour dim sum at Mayflower with Kyle and Jeff...reunited and it feels so good!!!

Forgot to take a picture of us during the actual meal. Here's a generic picture  of Mayflower instead.

Toiling in the soil with Venus. Just helping lay down some dirt. She had this great project for her significant other. I'm honored to have been a part of it.

What a sweetie...

 Epic massive bike trip with Becky, Hannah, Tiffany, and Andy. I'm so proud of Becky...the noob biked 15 miles total roundtrip. I hope she's sore tomorrow...cause I might be. OW OW!!

[88] Mommy's Birthday/Sharon's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We all pretty much spent the whole day doing chores, but come nighttime, we went out to Ming Hin to celebrate my mommy's birthday.

Coincidentally, it's also my little cousin Sharon's birthday. Sorry we couldn't be at two places at once, but happy birthday to Sharon too! I will earn her recognition one of these days...haha.

[87] Self-Diagnosis: Knee Injury

Yesterday, I hurt my knee somehow, and it didn't feel right moving it around sometimes. So, I decided to stay in today to let it heal....AND DO A SPORTS MEDICINE SELF-DIAGNOSIS ON MYSELF!!!

My Self-Diagnosis Process

1. Soft-Tissue Damage or Muscular Damage?

       First thing with sports injuries is determining if it is soft tissue damage (such as ligament or tendon) or if it is muscle tissue damage. If it's soft tissue, any movement of the limbs will cause some sort of pain because it'll cause the tissue to stretch. If it's the muscle, any contraction or activation of the muscle will cause pain. 

If we move the limbs, won't we have to activate the muscle? 

Nope! I can create limb movement alternatively by using my arms to make my knee bend and straighten instead of using my leg muscles. And when I did this, there was no pain. However, when I use my leg muscles, there is pain. Ding ding ding! Muscular Damage.

2. Which Muscle Is Injured?

       For the knee, there are two main muscle groups that activate it: hamstring group and quadriceps group. The hamstring group (on the back of thigh) bends the knee, while the quadriceps (on the front of thigh) extends it. Since it hurt when extending it, the damage should be on the quadriceps and based on where it hurt, I've narrowed it down to damage on the vastus medialis which is on the inner side of the quadriceps. 

My personal diagnosis is that it is one of the quadriceps muscles--perhaps the vastus medialis--that has been damaged.

*DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional*

[86] A GRAND deLUX Day

JustinY came down to Chicago, so we all explored downtown a bit and then ate at Grand Lux.

Jeff - Kobe Beef Meatballs

Kim - Fancy Sandwich with Apples and Organic Salad

Justin - Chicken Pot Pie

Me - Fancy Sandwich with Prosciutto and Bleu Cheese Salad

The behemoth fly that sat next to us the entire meal

After Grand Lux, we had fun at the beach stepping on rocks, looking for rocks, throwing rocks, playing "rock or clod of sand", drawing with rocks, and frisbeeing. Finally, we went to Chinatown to get a rice box (note to self: try the baked rice w/ Portuguese sauce at Gourmet) and concluded the day with Justin at Jeff's until Justin had to catch his train back home. 

At night, Jeff came over to download something and we had a really nice talk. What am I gonna do without this guy when he's gone to Urbana next week?  

[85] Nothing Much

My body and mind is desperately trying to catch up on rest following the rest-deprived week. I woke up at 3:30pm to poo. If plans didn't pop up, I'm pretty sure I could have slept until 6pm.

Anyways, I went to Caribou to catch up on blogging. It didn't happen there. I spent all my time there watching FRIENDS Bloopers. I love it!!

When I got home and finished dinner, I was looking up lunar/solar birthdays with my mom. I found out that according to the lunar calendar, we're all June birthdays!

Mom: 06/06
Becky: 06/26
Henry: 06/19

[84] Urbana - Day 3

This was the last day we stayed in Urbana. Unfortunately, Henry Kwan, Justin Law, and Amy had to leave in the morning.

And then there were four.

This day made the trip worth every second, every cent, and every moment where we were sleepy, cranky, or hungry. Maybe the anticipation of playing Dance Central helped with getting me really excited for the day. But even before we played, it was great. In the morning hearing about Kelly's crazy Urbana adventure by her lone, glasses-less, phone-less self, attempting a curry dish, getting Shi Yu medicine. /Smiles

And then, Dance Central....here's a video of our little freestyles at the end of the songs...

Dance Central, then dancing and goofing off, and more dancing (+singing) on the drive back home.

Urbana Trip = Worth It!

[83] Urbana - Day 2

Yum....Woori Jib.