2009: Year of Adventure

As 2009 is coming to an end, it is time to look back at the year its been. For me, 2009 can be summarized in one word: Adventure. I adventured to numerous places this year and it was a lot of fun. I faced challenges along the way but overcame the tough obstacles.

First day of the year, January 1st, I hit the slopes with friends at Snow Valley. I went snowboarding for the 1st time ever. It took me awhile to understand how to balance everything out but I eventually kind of got the hang of it. I fell many times and was sore the next day. But snowboarding was a fun first time experience. Next time I go up to the mountains, I will snowboard again.

During Spring Break, I hiked the Grand Canyon with 5 other people. We hiked down from the South Rim to the Colorado River and back up in 3 days. We met all kind of weather imaginable. As we drove to Grand Canyon, it rained and snowed. Camping up at the Rim in snowy conditions was not pleasant as it was cold, even inside my tent and sleeping bag. But on the day we started down on the South Kaibab trail, the sun came out and we got perfect 75 degree weather. It was surprisingly warm down at the river. It stayed that way for the whole trip until our last night at the rim, in which the weather turned bad again. We all thought going down the Canyon would be the easiest but turned out to be the toughest day as it put a lot of stress on our knee and leg going downhill that constantly. Every part of my body was sore that 1st night. And I got to do something only less than 1% of 15 million annual Grand Canyon visitors had the chance to do: hike down to the River. And finally, I celebrated my birthday at the Grand Canyon. My birthday was on the last day of our journey, coming up through the steep switchbacks. That was a cool birthday experience. I still remember the wonderful feeling that struck me when I got back up to the rim.

A few days after school let out, I went to Cherry Valley in Catalina for a boy scout summer camp for 7 days and 6 nights. Catalina is a beautiful place and I got to do many water activities such as canoeing, kayaking, sailing, swimming, etc. But one I cherish the most from there is scuba diving. I was hesistant and scared at first about doing the scuba diving program but I overcame that fear and did it. I only got to dived once but it was something that only 5 of us out of many troops there got to do. I still remember putting on the wetsuit and going into the water. The instructor taught us how to breathe underwater with our gear in the shallow part of the cove. I was slow at first and didn't catch on. I was fearful of the unknown underwater. Finally when we were about to descend underwater, I just told myself that I was able to do it. I did it. We were underwater for about 60 minutes and I did many things such as purging and changing the breathing pattern. I saw a few schools of fush and most notably the garabaldy fish, the California State Fish. Scuba Diving was a fun activity to do at Catalina. I am glad I did not give up.

Then in July, I went on a high adventure trek with 10 of my fellow Boy Scout crew to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. The 12 day 52 mile hike summed "challenging" up. The weather was pleasant at times and turned scary really fast. For the first 3 days, we got perfect Southern California type weather, sunny. But then Monsoon season kicked in and it was a wet last 7 days out in the backcountry. Our ranger had told us that we would get rain the last 7 days but we didn't think it was true. Every afternoon, we would get rain and it came down at us fast and heavy in spurts. One day there was thunder and lightning right above our head as we were in our campsite. We even got hail, marble sized!!! It was many of our 1st time experiencing hail. Imagine cooking your dinner in those conditions, not an easy task. Day 10 was the worse as we hiked downhill in the rain. Some of my crew almost slipped and fell down the hill. The rocks were slippery. I experienced something really scary on Day 4. After we had taken a nice first (and only shower) in the backcountry I was cooking dinner for our crew. Then suddenly I sneezed and blood started gushing out of my nose. I tried everything but it wouldn't stop. Luckily, we were at a staffed camp and there was staff there. They radioed base and were this close in bringing me down back to base, which would of probably ended our journey. But after 45 minutes and many tissue used, it stopped and I was fine. I thought I was going to bleed to death but I think I was just dehydrated. That shook me up. Overall, Philmont was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and something that is hard to explain unless you've been there before. We got to experience and do many things: baseball in the backcountry, Red Roof Inns, pilot and bombadeer, beautiful sunrise, branding, shotgun shooting and reloading, 30 .06 rifle shooting, rootbeer cantina, chuck wagon dinner, and many more.

In Late August-Early September, I traveled to Taiwan with my family. Best vacation ever. It was our first time back in my birth country since 2003. 6 years and Taiwan has changed a lot. We visited family in Taipei and Kaohsiung and my parents reunited with their college friends. Kind of like a homecoming. I really took in a lot from this vacation since I am older now. Anyways, we used the subway systems a lot. It was fast and convienent, a train coming every 2 minutes. Kind of like New York City but cleaner. Going down south to Kaohsiung from Taipei, the new High Speed Rail Train got us there in 90 minutes. Saved us so much time. The food was legit chinese food, all day long and priced real well. I went to night markets almost every night and each day brought something new, whether in food, or shopping. I also went down to Kenting, Taiwan, the southernmost city of Taiwan. That city was devasted by Typhoon Morakot and I saw typhoon debris as we drove down the highway. But Kenting, Taiwan was the most beautifulest place I've ever seen. We biked in Kaohsiung which was a cool experience. The bike lanes are so organized. I saw a beautiful sunset at Danshui which again was another site. It rained on us a few days but overall, it was hot and humid for the 15 days we were there. I love Taiwan. It is a wonderful country. I reiterate, best vacation ever and I want to go back, most likely in the summer of 2012 after high school graduation.

2009 has been the year of the adventure for me. I had a great time in each adventure and took A LOT of pictures for each adventure. I do not regret going each trip as it was worth it. Its been a dramatic and amazing year for me. 2009 will be a memorable year.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

winter break is here

So its finally winter break!!! actually the third day today. We get to finally relax and enjoy ourselves at home after 3 months of school for 2 weeks. Christmas is 2 days away and 2010 is coming up in 9 days. And I've been partying a lot (Saturday and Sunday) and will have a few more before the break is over.

Anyways, I haven't been blogging that frequently since I came back from Taiwan. Many reasons contribute to that as 10th grade has totally changed my lifestyle. I have been sleeping around 11:30 on most nights, sometimes going to 1 AM. Also, I have a lot of other activities that I have to tend to. So I'll try to blog more now but it'll be tough.

This past Saturday, I attended a family friend's Bar Mitzvah. For those of you that do not know what a Bar Mitzvah is, its a Jewish ceremony of a boy turning 13, becoming an adult in the process. It is similar to a baptism, except in the Jewish way. Saturday morning, I went to the Jewish synagauge and viewed the ceremony. Although they read many scrolls in Hebrew, I got a sense and taste of their culture. In the ceremony, I had to wear this Jewish hat since all boys were required to wear one. Then in the evening, I went to the celebration/party part of the Bar Mitzvah. I was impressed by it. I mean the whole party was well run with catering service and DJs hosting it. It is similar to a wedding in some degree. We were served with appetizers as we walked in and the chicken in peanut sauce was tasty. Then the fun began as we were assigned seats of the places they had traveled to. I was assigned to sit with the teenage group. That was nice getting to meet other people. The DJS called everyone up for a dance as we celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. The food was delicious. In addition, we got a lot of stuff such as ring lighters, shades with lights, and many more. Overall, I had a great time experiencing a Bar Mitzvah and what it really is. They must have spent a lot of money on it to accomodate so many people and the wonderful services. I had a fun time Saturday night.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe one.

Cerritos Lady Dons Volleyball Championship Game

I attended the Cerritos-Mayfield Girls Volleyball match tonight at Cypress College. It was the CIF Southern Section Division III A Championship game. Our Cerritos Lady Dons fought hard and never gave up (especially in set 4 with them facing elimination, they scored 4 straight points before losing), but lost in 4 sets, 25-21, 21-25, 19-25, 21-25 to claim runner-up. Mayfield was ranked #1 in Division III A and Cerritos was ranked #3. The match was dramatic and drama filled to the last point of each set. Amazing plays happened as they rallied back and forth numerous of times and when it appeared play was dead, they were still able to rally it back. Even though they didn't win the southern section championship, they qualify for the State Championships, which are next week.

The atmosphere was great as Mayfield and us were divided into different side of the gym. We totally owned Mayfield in fan support as we doubled their size. Everyone you could think of was at the game. A lot of teachers were there and so were a lot of students and alumnis. Even a lot of parents came and enjoyed this second girls volleyball game championship in school history. Overall, there were a lot of fan spirit from our side as we cheered and jeered on every play, kill, dig, or spike that took place.

This was opposite of what took place last Saturday at CPE in our Water Polo's quarterfinal match against Royal. 2/3 of the crowd was cheering for Royal, which is located at least a hour away. The Royal fans took over CPE and at one point started a chant of "Royal...Royal...Royal...". It was embarrasing sitting there to see this happen at our home game.

I have just realized recently volleyball is a really fun and great sport. We played it in PE and I enjoyed it even though we didn't always win. Watching 2 CIF games, one play could change the tone. Momentum can shift from one side to another in a beat. Volleyball requires a lot of teamwork as you have to work with your teammates on setting the ball or hitiing it over.

Again, congratulations to the Lady Dons for such a great 2009 season (30-4 record). In CIF, they defeated Montebello, Colony, San Dimas, and Riverside Poly to get to tonight. It was the second championship game in Girls volleyball history as last time was 1995. They outright won the Suburban League by finishing 12-0. And being rancked #3 in Division III A is amazing. Season's not over for them yet as they have State Championships coming up. Good luck girls and great effort tonight.

Baseball Playoffs

So the baseball playoffs are here. I'm rooting for a Freeway World Series. How cool will that be, the L.A. Dodgers vs. L.A. Angels in a battle for baseball's championship. It's looking more like it after the Angels dramatically came back from behind to finsih off the Red Sox earlier today, 7-6, winning series 3-0. LAA was down to its final strike before a single got the rally started. That's how the Halos have been playing this season, coming back from behind. The Angels looked great the 1st two games in Anaheim, with there pitching dominating Boston. The Dodgers finished off the St. Louis Cardinals last night winning 5-1. Boy that series was marked by Game 2 as the Dodgers dramatically came back in the bottom of the ninth trailing 2-1. That pinch hit single by Mark Loretta summed it up. I was watching "dodgerfilms" videos on Youtube of the game 2 and it was an electric atmosphere at Dodger Stadium. Both L.A. teams are 6-0 right now. The NLCS begin Thursday (PHI/COL @ Dodgers) and ALCS begin Friday (Angels @ NY Yankees). It should be fun.

Game 1 of World Series Wednesday, October 28th: Los Angeles Dodgers @ Los Angeles Angels. That's what all of L.A. wants

The Recession

The Recession has been going on for almost two years now. It started back in December 2007 and the world has changed. Business' has been slowing down and more people have become unemployed. The auto industry ran out of money as they declared bankruptcy and its ghost town in Detroit. It has been scary. California's unemployment rate is at around 10% now. All the schools have been hit with budget cuts, the cuts influencing the colleges the most. Colleges have had to lower down there student admission rates.

Personally, it has not really affected me yet but my family has not been out to eat for a long time. We have eaten at home most of the time. But recently, we went to Artesia City Plaza to dine. We had gone there a lot earlier this year especially that Pho Saigon restaurant. But when we went there, that plaza was so quiet. The Pho place had closed its doors and so had Four Seasons Cafe next door. That really shocked me. We had just ate there 6 months earlier. Both had closed because of the recession. And to add to it, there were many vacant and empty spaces in that plaza. This is what the recession has done to that plaza that opened around 2007. Earlier this year, one of a Korean restaurant we would go too also closed its doors due to the recession.

I hope this recession can end soon. It is too scary seeing this happen.

Busy week ahead

In the next week, I will have four tests, one for each subject. Tuesday will be Spanish and Chemistry. Ms. Marcroft,our real spanish teacher, will be back on Thursday. Thursday, I will have a test on Parts of Speech. I don't usually do too well on the parts of speech section so I have to bear down and get it down. I also have a math test on Chapter 1 and 2. ITs review but I need to get it clear in my head. In addition, I also have to prep for the Cerritos Conference. We're starting speeches on Tuesday and Position Papers are due Wednesday. So I will be extremely busy this next week. Its the first major TESTS of the school year for me.

First week of school

School has been in session for 7 days now. 10th grade has been pretty cool so far. I have the classes that I requested and boy there is a big difference between a honors and regular class. I've been getting my homework done during the school day and so it makes it easier at home. There hasn't been any major tests yet so it's still quite relaxed. My teachers are pretty chill and aren't as strict as last years. The budget cuts have really affected the school. The classes are so crowded now and filed to the max of 36 people. My MUN class has 51 students. The lunch prices have increased and so on. Heard the teachers got a 5% paycut so no one was laid off. So budget cuts on education is a big issue.

I've also been running cross country. Been to practice since I got back from Taiwan. I have practice everyday from 3-5. I have been in 3 races already, the Great Cow Run last saturday, ABC District Championships, and Woodbridge Invitational today. Woodbridge is one of the largest race in the nation and it was quite fun today running. All the races are 3 miles and I set my PR today. Not sure of exact time but somewhere in the 21-22 minute mark. With the training, my legs aren't as sore as it was last week and that is a good sign. Cross country is fun!!

Taiwan

Taiwan was the best vacation ever, overtaking my trip to the east coast in 2008. The 15 days I stayed there was really fun and a lot of sights amazed me. Taiwan has changed a lot in the 6 years since my last visit but I had a wonderful trip. The trip went too quickly but I still had a lot of fun. I stayed in the city of Yonghe in taipei for 3 days, then took high speed rail train down to Kaohsiung for 7 days, and spent my last four days back in Yonghe. It was FUN!!!


Taiwan is so convienent now in many ways. There are a lot of transportation methods in the city side. You can go by car or motorcycle. Almost everyone has a motorcycle there as it is easy to park and easy to go. Driving cars are a big problem as it is hard to find parking place. There is a taxi on every street you can call (like New York). Also, the subways make it a lot faster and easier to travel to places. The subway station where I stayed in Yonghe was only 3 blocks down. And in Taipei, there is a train every 2 minutes. The subways are clean as they enforce a policy of no eating or drinking. They are still extending the subway. The High Speed Rail Train connecting Kaohsiung and Taipei saves time and it is fast. Instead of flying or driving, you can now take the super fast 1 1/2 hour train. Regular trains are still there. So there are many transportation methods in Taiwan that make it convienet and fast to travel to places you want to go.

Also, Taiwan is convienent in what you want to do. If you want to shop, buy food, or regular living necessities, there is a shop just around the corner. On almost every street, you can see a 7 Eleven, Family Mart, OK, Hi-Life, or any of those convienence store. Taiwan has over 4,000 7 Elevens. Those stores sell water, drinks, food, and all kinds of basic living supplies. Turning the corner from where I stayed in Yonghe, there were shops all on the street on Yonghe Road. The majority is food and they sell them at a good price and it is legit Taiwan food. IT is so delicious.

Taiwan is known for its Night Market and I went to one almost every night. At Yonghe in Taipei, went to Lehua Night Market as it was right next to my aunts house where I stayed. In the night market, you can shop and eat food. They run from sunset til 2 AM every night!!! In the weekend, it is extremely packed. But the food there is again legit and the shopping pretty cool. Went to Lehua, Shilin Night Market, Kenting and one in Kaohsiung, where I forgot the name. But the Night Markets are great to chill at night.


One of the highlights of my trip was going down to Kenting (yes it has my name in it but its pronounced "Kun Ding" in Chinese). Kenting is known for the scene where the movie "Cape No. 7" was filmed. That movie gave Taiwan a big boost in tourism. We rented a big van and drove down from Kaohsiung to Kenting. On our way, we say pieces of wood fragments the result of Typhoon Morakot that hit Taiwan on August 8. That was devasting and the worst storm in taiwan history. So wood fragments and logs were there and people were burning them to get rid of it. Once we got inside Pintung County, we saw the Taiwan Strait. Went to South Bay Beach and chilled there for a while. The water was not cold and it was cool and clean. IT felt so good dipping our feet in there. The sand was also clean. Afterwards, we drove even south and went to the southernmost point of Taiwan. If you look at the map of Taiwan and see those two points sticking out, I went there. The southernmost point was awesome. The view was the best as I saw the Taiwan Strait and Pacific Ocean meeting. It was extremely windy there but I took lots of pictures. It was a great site. We went to Maobitou, the second southermost point of Taiwan the next day. That site was also amazing. From that point, saw the indent and the southermost point of Taiwan. It was the best view I ever saw those two days.

Kaohsiung was also pretty fun. We biked through the improved and new bike paths at Kaohsiung. They took down an old railroad track and converted it to a bike lane. Biking is really popular in Taiwan and we got to explore around town. Kaoshiung also has two pretty big malls. One is next to the subway station called "Mega Mall" and that is 17 stories high of a mall. The other was on the south side of Kaohsiung city and that one is brand new as it just opened recently. It was nice cooling off inside those malls.

At Taipei, I went to a lot of places. One night, went to the Taipei 101 Tower. It actually has 106 towers but 101 sounds better and easier. Didn't get to go up to the top as we came too late. There at Taipei 101, we got rain at night. Taipei is a really clumped city. So they built an Underground Mall at Taipei Main Station. It is like a real mall as you walk out of the train or subway stations. It is pretty cool. Another day, we also rode the subway up to Danshui. Danshui is the near the north west of Taiwan. The Danshui River opens up to the Taiwan Strait over there. We went in the late afternoon and got to go to the San Domingo. That house was built as the Spanish and French used to be in Taiwan. Then, we took a bus up to Fisherman's Wharf. We caught the sun setting at San Domingo but when we got there, the clouds had covered the sun. But it still made a nice view of the sunset on that bridge at Danshui. Anyways caught sunset and then ate over there. When we were all done, took a ferry back to the subway station. Danshui was pretty cool and beautiful.

To sum things up, I like everything about Taiwan except the weather. It is TOO hot there and very humid. So you sweat wherever you go. Going to run an errand, you will sweat in the summertime. It did rain heavily on us for a few days as a Typhoon was coming but luckily, it turned north east and avoided Taiwan. Taiwan is small but there a lot of great attractions you can go to. I like the culture there of people. People are really nice there and are follow a certain order. For example, on the subway esclators, there is a tradition of standing on the right side. The left side is for people who want to walk down the esclators. That's pretty cool. I saw virtually no trash on the streets. It is really clean there. And Taiwan is making money in a smart way. When you go shopping, if you better bring your own bags. They charge 1 dollar in Taiwan dollars (1 dollar = 33 Taiwan dollars) for a bag. Also in Taiwan, they have trash and recycling bins in public places. So that method has been working for Taiwan. Taiwan is growing internationally right now. This summer, they have hosted the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung (July) and the 2009 Deaflympics in Taipei(September). So it is making a name to the world. It was fun vacationing the country where I was born. I love Taiwan and will go back there in the future.

I leave you with this. Here is the most funniest thing I saw. They translated this sign wrong....

Back Home

I am back home from Taiwan. Got to LAX this afternoon around 12:30. It was a 12 hour flight and we actually landed early by abt 20 min. I hav gone through 2 Mondays these last few days. When I left Taiwan at 3:45 PM Mon. Sept 7, it was Monday and Sunday night in the U.S. When I got here, it was a Monday again. So pretty cool factor. It feels so good to be home. So relaxed and unpacked all of our luggages. 2 more days then school starts. Vacation time is over and I have to focus on school now. Still have to go to office to turn in paperwork and get ID and stuff. 10th grade is starting. More on Taiwan in the next few days

My Schedule

KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN - I have checked ABI and found out my 09-10 schedule. It is completely different than the one that was posted on the last day of school.
1. Chemistry H (Megna)
2. English II H (Rogan)
3. Math Analy. Calc A (Brose)
4. PE (Denhart)
5. MUN (Mustard)
6. Spanish II H (Marcroft)

Tell me if u r in any of my classes.

I will be leaving Kaohsiung soon on the super fast high speed rail train to go back to Taipei. Kaohsiung has been fun since I came here last Thursday. We biked through the improved and new bike paths in Kaohsiung on Friday. Saturday, I went to the Animate Expo in Kaohsiung Arena. Animate stuff is really popular in Taiwan for teenagers.

Sunday to Monday, we went to KEnting, the city that has my name. It's pronounced Kun Ding actually but that place was really beautiful. The ocean water was clean and not cold. The sand was real soft and beautiful. The movie Cape No. 7 was filmed there at some points. Visited some of the filming location. Went to the 2 southernmost points of Taiwan. Those two places were AMAZING. The view was magnificent and the wind made it a place to beat the heat. Saw where the Pacific Ocean, Baotiao Sea, and Taiwan Strait met. That pretty much was Kenting, the best place I've been in my life. I never knew Taiwan was that beautiful.

Yesterday, went to Tainan and to the Chen Family's original hometown. My grandpa grew up there and moved into the city. IT was pretty cool as my name is scketched on this family tree of the Chen Family. Only the boy's name r on there as they carry on the last name. A tempo was there mostly for the Chen Family. Everyone there has the name Chen I think. So it was cool seeing my family's origin. Also saw my grand auntS. Saw 3 of them which were pretty tight.

Kaohsiung has been fun. It is much cooler here than Taipei for sure. The wind always blows in which makes it a pretty cool scene. IT's right next to a harbor. The atmosphere is a lot more different than Taipei. It's more domestic as Taipei is more international. But Kaohsiung has taken steps to become more international. The new subway makes things faster to get to. The 2009 World Games were held here. I also got to know my 5 cousins here a LOT more better. One cool note to end with, us 7 cousins were all born in 7 years. One was born in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 (me), 1995, and 1996. So we all were born within 7 years.

At Taipei, I will go visit the TAipei 101. Will definitely shop some more. I've done a lot already but will do more especially at the Night Market. Will have 4 days there to chill.

Back home in L.A., heard about the brush fires burning in the Angeles National Forest. It is really hot there I think and the air quality is unhealthful. So thats wht I've been informed of going on back home. The brush fires are bad. Hope everything is OK back home.

Subway in Taipei

YONGHE, TAIWAN - Yonghe is the most densed population in the world. That's what I heard. A lot of people live in this small city of Taipei. Well anyways, today was mostly spent on the subway up and down Taipei. We went to took a subway to Taipei Main Station. Boy that place is huge. A lot of stories underground and above ground. There is even a mall underground. So after building Taipei 101 Tower up, they are going under ground now.

At Taipei, we walked through the streets of it. IT was another hot and humid day again and I have a lot of mosquito/bug bites. But I put medicine on it and it should be good. Taipei is really clean. I barely saw trash but there were a lot more people and stores there. Eating at Taiwan is so easy and convinent. All you have to do is walk a few blocks and you can find a store. And the food is a lot cheaper and more tastier eating there than back at home.

Rode subway through Taipei Metro area into the suburbs of it. Everything was different out there. There was more green and the houses were a bit bigger and better. Went to a friend's house and we chilled in there house the whole afternoon to evening. Took subway back to Yonghe. Subway is the transportation these days in TAiwan. It is fast and easy and saves time.

Another fun day at Taiwan especially roaming the subways like New York...

SO HOTTT!!!!

YONGHE, TAIWAN - It's so hot here in Taiwan. I mean I sweated when I set foot on the airport. O well, that's how summer's like here. Your body gets really sticky. I just have to deal with it.

We got to Taiwan this morning around 6AM after a 13 hour flight over the Pacific Ocean. We were fed two meals which was really good. It filled our body up completely, a dinner and breakfast at weird times. I got to sleep on the flight but woke up a few times. But at least we made a safe flight and landing @ Taiwan.

After getting to my cousin's house @ Yonghe, we started our walk around Yonghe. Went to banks after banks as my parents had to do some work there. I went with them. We circled the city like 2 or 3 times. There are a lot of motorcycles here in Taiwan. And man you have to watch where you walk as you might get hit by a driver/rider that isn't paying attention. But overall, today was us getting the hang of Taiwan. Hot dry sweaty and much more.

I am tired right now. IT's been a long day since we landed. I did not sleep today and should not get jet lag. That's good. Might go to night market later on tonight. But a really fun first day that involved me seeing some signs that weren't tranlsated properly. Day 1 almost over. It was a fun first day walking the streets of Yonghe!!!

Still sweating now...gonna shower rite now then have dinner. I feel so sticky...

To Taiwan

Tonight, I will be leaving on a plane for Taiwan. I will be in Taiwan for two weeks for a family vacation. It will be fun as we will travel to both sides of Taiwan in the two weeks. We have a lot of things to accomplish there and will take care of that. We will visit some family and also might help out with the typhoon damaged. A really bad Typhoon hit Taiwan on August 8th that killed over 500 people. Some villages are completely destroyed and a lot of blame is being put on the government.

Anyways, this will be my first time going back to Taiwan since 6 years ago. That time, I was really little and didn't really take a lot of pictures. I probably did but that was the pre digital camera era. When I go back tonight, I will be sure to take a lot of pictures.

We will see many attractions. Will definitely see the Taipei 101 Tower. Last time, it was still being built when I went there. Taiwan has a lot of night markets in its major city and we will go shopping and eat food there. Also, the subway system is improved and convient. It will be fun riding on the subway, just like New York. In southern Taiwan, we might go to this vacation hotspot right next to the sea. Heard that place is pretty cool.

Jet lag shouldn't be a big issue. Our plane leaves LAX around 1 AM Sunday morning and we will arrive at Taiwan Monday morning local time 13 hours later. So it will be like a redeye flight. If I don't sleep on Monday during the day, I should have no problems.

This trip to Taiwan will be really fun and a great end of the summer trip to see my family back in the country I was born. I will have fun in Taiwan.

Goodbye Turtles...

On Tuesday, we released our TWO turtles out into this small pond @ the golf course. We had been looking for suitable places for our two pets and realized that was the best place for them. We thought of El Dorado park but abandoned that idea as it was too dangerous. So we brought them down next to the water when we went to driving range. We first released Claw on the dirt and he quickly crawled into the water. He was really eager to go into his new home. Next, we released Greenie. Greenie didn't move when we put him on the grass but then after we moved him/her next to the water, he crawled into the water and Greenie was gone. I was so happy to see them that eager and happy in going into the pond. It made my family proud of the decision we made of releasing their turtles instead of being confined. They have freedom now.

A bit more about my two turtles, their names are Greenie and Claw. We got Greenie 5 years ago on my sister's birthday. Greenie is dubbed as a scary cat as he is afraid of a lot of things, like us picking him up. Claw, we got a few years ago. We had another turtle named Annie but it died and we replaced it. Claw is named Claw because of his sharp pointed claws. He scratches a lot of things and scratched me one time. He is really brave as he walked around a little a few weeks ago in my backyard next to my dog. Those two turtles had grown too big for the small 20 gallon fish tank they were living in. They would often clang and scratch the fish tank and move around. We could tell they were unhappy about living in a fish tank.

Greenie somehow got out of the tank a few times in the past year. I don't know how he was able to climb down the cabinet he was on but he was gone for almost a week one time. We were abit worried on his whereabouts but we found him under the sofa one time. That was pretty cool. Another time, we found Greenie stuck in between the two cabinets holding the fish and turtle tank. Greenie had his adventure in our house that I won't forget.




The turtles are free now. They are out in mother nature where they belong. They are in a better place. They can socialize with other turtles and don't have to be kept under a watchful eye from humans. They are about medium sized and should do fine out in the water. They can find their own food by themselves. Farewell Greenie and Claw...you both were great turtles to the Chen Family. I will miss you and may not see you ever again, but you both will remain in my heart, especially Greenie. Greenie has had so many fun memories in the 5 years you've been here.

Every time when I go golfing, I will look for you guys. Long live Greenie and Claw.

Sparks Game

Tuesday night, I attended the Los Angeles Sparks - New York Liberty matchup @ STAPLES Center. We picked up our tickets at the will call and they were row 6 seats in section 110. It was the closest I've ever been in a game @ STAPLES. We got a pretty good deal, 15 dollars for each tix as original price was 55 dollars. That game was a national TV game on ESPN 2 and they handed out a lot of free stuff.

We got free rally towels to cheer the team on alongside this Lisa Leslie's poster. It is a life size picture of her. That was pretty cool. During the timeouts, the SparKids threw out mini basketballs that had a bear inside. Since my row was empty, I had a lot of space to move around. They threw four basketballs to me. Some landed in the row in front of me so I snatched it and some I caught. It was pretty cool. I filmed myself later trying to get a ball but a guy caught it in front of me. I was trying to be like dodgerfilms of youtube. Watch their videos, it is so amazing.


For the game, the Sparks got off to a great start. They had the lead as they made their shots. We were all into it. But in the third quarter, they started missing their shots and started trailing. In the fourth quarter, Candace Parker came to life (8 points in 4th) but it was too late. They only made 2 field goals and missed plenty of huge free throws. Sparks lost 65-61 in front of about 9,000 fans.

That night, the players of the Los angeles Sol (women's soccer team) were there signing autographs at halftime. I went and got a few pictures and autographs. The only bad part about that night is I misssed the Beijing Olympic Ring Ceremony for the Sparks' four olympians that played last year. It went on during halftime. Man, I had a sense that it might go on but I missed it. O well. Before the game, Lisa Leslie was honored for reaching the 6,000 point mark in WNBA History. I witnessed that and it was pretty cool. The Sparks' starting five are all olympians.

Watch the videos I made www.youtube.com/ktcn414

I had lots of fun that night at STAPLES Center. It is so fan friendly. Saw Shelden Williams of the Boston Celtics sitting courtside. It was pretty cool. The Sparks have made their game much more fun since I last attended in 05. 6th row seats weren't that bad.

Camping Trip

So this past weekend, I went camping up at Mcgrath State Beach in Oxnard with my family and relatives. There were 12 of us total in the 3 day 2 night trip. It was a fun trip as we got to camp close to the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect both days. Wasn't too hot and wasn't too cold. My grandma came along, her 1st time camping and so did my grandpa too.

Left our house Friday around 11. There was traffic along the way and it took us 2 hours to get to campground 145. We unloaded and set up our camping stuff. We had a total of 5 tents for 12 people: 2 two man, 1 three man, 1 four man, and 1 6 man tent, the tent that housed me. It took about an hour and then we surfed around the beaches around that area. At night, we had good dinner of BBQ ribs and corn. I ate a lot that 1st night.

Next day Saturday was the relaxing one. All 5 of us, my cousins, sister, dog, and I slept in the big tent on air mattresses. It was really comfortable. My dog barely slept that 1st night. So Saturday, we cooked pancakes for breakfast. We had the liquid kind. Cameron, Kerry, and I made good round perfect shaped pancakes. It was pretty good. Then, we headed up to Ventura Harbor to Harbor Cove Beach. For about 2 hours, we chilled at the beach. I went in the cold ocean water for a while but didn't go down deep. Water too cold. We built a SEAL ISLAND as we were playing with sand. IT looks pretty cool. In the afternoon back at camp, we chilled and relaxed. Played some cards while the adults took a nap. Walked to McGrath Beach with no dog as there were a lot of birds there. Had PHO for dinner and I took a shower. We had a campfire going and ate some yummmy smores.

Last day was cleanup day. Tore down our tents and cleaned up our mess. Packed everything back into the car and that took almost 3 hours. Walked around at Ventura's Fisherman's Wharf. Then, we hit the road and took Pacific Coast Highway down along the baches. Passed Malibu and then Santa Monica. At home, we cleaned up some of our gear.

This camping trip was fun. Being with all my family members was cool. We will plan another one for next year, different beach. We got lucky as our campsite was a handicap accessible one and shaded with trees.Next summer, we will definitely go at it again.

This past week

Haven't blogged in a long time so I will get you up to date on what's been going on for me...

Ever since school let out, my satellite cable has been black out. They haven't released the code yet. It has been almost 2 months so all I have is the digital air channels in HD. But I have adapted. The code should be out soon...

Going camping this weekend up at McGrath State Beach in Ventura with my family and relatives. There will be 14 of us total in a campsite that can hold 8. But I'm leaving Friday and coming back Sunday. IT's gonna be fun. I'm bringing my dog, Rusty...

I've been playing a lot of golf lately. Including today, it has been three consecutive days playing. Played a round at Ironwood today and Monday, and Little Rec yesterday. Set a PR of 38 today @ Ironwood...

I am almost completely rested from Philmont. Sleeping in has been helping. But my legs are still a bit soar. Regarding Philmont, all of my stuff has been cleaned and put away. My clothes smelled the worse but it is all clean now...

Last Friday, I went to Wild Rivers in Irvine with Kevin and Nick. Kevin got tickets and we went. I had a fun time there playing in water. We rode on almost all of the rides there. It is fun going down a water slide and then falling into a 7 ft deep pool...

I'm taking HEALTH online right now. So far, I am half way done with it. I finished Lesson 4 yesterday. My goal is to finish this course before I head to Taiwan August 23rd. So have 2 weeks to do it. It is actually not too bad if you find an efficient way of doing it...

NBA Schedule released yesterday. Lakers' schedule is a lot like last years. They play 17 of first 21 games at home and then finish the season with lots of road games. So Lakers can get off to a great start like last year and set the bar in the western conference. I believe Lakers will repeat. Only player they lost was Trevor Ariza but they replaced him with Ron Artest. He should be a good upgrade...

This summer is 11 weeks. That's almost 3 months, the longest summer in a few years. I calculated and I will be out of my home for 5 weeks. Cherry Valley 1 week, Philmont 2 and Taiwan 2. So I have 6 weeks at home. I will probably go to some cross country practice next week when everyone returns from Mammoth...

Dodgers vs. Angels October 28th Game 1 of World Series??? It could happen and I hope it does. A Freeway Series will be perfect as it will show the sports world that L.A. is the Titletown with Lakers, Dodgers/Angels, and USC Football...

That's all I can think of right now. Gonna pack for camping trip tomorrow.

Philmont

From July 12th to the 27th, I went to Philmont Scout Ranch, a Boy Scout owned high adventure trek in Cimarron, New Mexico. Philmont is the southern part of the Rocky Mountains. I had many doubts heading into this 12 days, 10 days out on the trail of 56 miles. I did not know what to expect. Heading into the 12th, I had mixed feelings about going. Half of me wanted to go and the other half wanted to stay. But I went anyways and here it is, a day by day recap of what we did. My crew consisted of Matthew/Mark Chern, Eric Prana, Andrew Choi, Brian Hsiang, Eric Cho, Victor Peer, me, and our two advisors that made it possible, Mr. Prana and Mr. Hsiang. We were 714-J-1.

Sunday, July 12th to Monday July 13th
These were the travel days. We left the Fullerton Amtrak Station around 7:30 PM Sunday night for a 23 hour train ride. The Amtrak train wasn't too bad. There was A/C on the train which was nice. The food was expensive but thats typical train prices. IT was a bit hard sleeping cause it was like airplane seating. We played cards in the lounge as we passed through Arizona and New Mexico. We turned our clocks one hour ahead when we got into NM. We stopped @ Albuqurque for a bit. I bought some magnets. Finally at around 5:30 PM MT Monday, we arrived at Raton, NM where a bus picked us up into Philmont (40 min drive). We spent the night at base camp of Philmont. We got a nice little rain the 1st night. Base camp is about 6600 feet in elevation.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009: Day 1
Our trek officially began today. We were 714-J-1. We met our ranger Matt, from Mission Viejo, in the morning. He led us to the tables where we filled out some paperwork. Got some info on First Aid and a medical recheck to make sure we were fit for Philmont. Everyone passed. We played some games and got to know our ranger better. Matt looks like Adam Morrison. We took our group picture of Philmont and had our meals in the dining hall. Overall, it was a pretty straightforward boring day 1. After the opening campfire, in which we got to hear the story of Philmont, I took a warm shower. Also, since I forgot to bring my hat, I bought a $25 full brim one with the Philmont logo.


Wednesday, July 15, 2009: Day 2
Day 2 of our trek, 1st day of hiking. Checked out of tent city in the morning and hit the bus. The bus took us to Turkey Creek Turnaround. There, Matt conducted more ranger training. He told us what to do in case of bear, lightning, and other scenearios that could happen out in the backcountry. We started hiking and it was 3 miles that day. We took our time, 3 hours, and saw the town of Cimarron. I had to adapt to the high altitude a bit, but I kept drinking lots and lots of water. Reached our campsite, Vacca Campground, in the afternoon. Our ranger taught us how to do things, setting up dining fly and bear bag. He also told us about the Red Roof Inn. Learned how to cook dinner and wash dishes the Philmont way. Set up camp and played some cards. 1st night out on the trail, it wasn't too bad. The trail was pretty easy. I weighed my pack when we left base camp and it weighed 48 pounds. That includes 3 days of food, water, and the other things. It was the heaviest of my crew.


Thursday, July 16, 2009: Day 3
2nd day in the Philmont backcountry. We tore down camp in the morning and hike 1/2 mile up to Harlan. There, we played baseball with our sister crew, 714-N from Tennessee. In the 1st inning, we were down 7-0. I batted in the bottom of the 1st inning and hit a 3 run home run. The next inning, I came up to bat with bases loaded and cleared it with a triple. 6 RBIs, not bad...We won 12-11 as Mr. Prana hit a walk off home run. That was pretty cool playing baseball @ Philmont. We used rocks as bases. We did some reloading which was tight. IT is recycling bullets. Put in the powder and capped it off. We shot the bullets that we reloaded. It was 12 gauge shooting. We had 5 shots and we had to shoot this clay moving bird. I hit my 1st one but missed the last 4. 12 gauge shooting was a cool 1st time experience. We decided to cook dinner for lunch. After lunch, hiked about 1.5 miles up to Deer Lake. Set up camp there and came back down for burro racing at 7:30. Me Matthew and Mark teamed up with a burro named Coach Jr. I was the back person, the person who pats the burros butt to go. It was cool as our burro got 2nd place in our heat. Immediately after that, we hiked back to Deer Lake. It was getting dark so we hiked as a clump. IT was a bit scary as mountain lions roamed the night but we got to camp safely when it was almost dark. That night hike back to Deer Lake was dangerous but another cool experience. Also, we got to experience what a pilot and bombadeer was, back to back toilets out in the open. Red Roof Inn can be pilot and copilot (next to each other)or back to back.


Friday, July 17, 2009: Day 4
Day 4 was a scary and tough day. We broke camp at Deer Lake and headed towards Ute Gulch Comissary, where we got resupplied with 4 days of food (beef jerky for breakfast, crackers for lunch, dehydrated food for dinner, and snacks to go along with it) and toilet paper. Then, we hiked down to Cimarroncito, where we were gonna do rock climbing. But when we got there, the staff told us that no more time slots were available. So as a compensation, we got to shower. The shower felt great and the best thing was it was warm. I was in charge of cooking dinner that day and cooked Mexican rice with tortillas. Right after I finished my 1st bowl, I sneezed. Blood started coming out of my nose and it kept gushing. I applied some napkins to try to stop the bleeding. I pinched my nose and let it sit for about 10 min. I changed tissues and bam it was still coming down. I walked up to the staff cabin where they gave me more tissue. I held it there for 10 more minutes and changed another tissue. Blood was still gushing out of my nose. I was scared. I thought I was gonna bleed to death as my other nose was bleeding too. I was brought inside of the staff cabin, where the medic radioed base camp. He asked for my information and so on. But my nose stopped bleeding and I was ok. My nose was bleeding for 45 minutes!!! That was my longest ever. Thank goodness it stopped. After that, we hiked up to Websters Parks. The cause of my nosebleed was most likely cause I did not drink enough water after my shower. I made a big mistake. IT was a scary moment for me that Friday. I seriously thought I was about to die but I didn't.


Saturday, July 18, 2009: Day 5
Up to this day, we had not gotten rain yet. Starting around mid July is monsoon season for Philmont as it will rain everyday in the afternoon. We finally got rain today. We hiked about 4 miles today to Sawmill from Wesbsters Park (had to set up camp in the dark cause of my nose bleeed delay). It took about under 4 hours. Had lunch at Sawmill, our first staff camp, and wrote a letter home. Sawmill is 9280 feet in elevation. We got to reload and do 30 .06 rifle shooting @ Sawmill. The reloading was a completely different method. We shot our targets laying down instead of standing up like the 1st time. Again, it was pretty cool shooting. We got our campsite after that. By that time, the clouds had moved in and it was really grey. All of us knew rain was on its way. So we set up our bear bags, dining fly, and tents real fast, in about 20 minutes. THEN, it started raining. Thunder rumbled up in the sky and we all gathered under the dining fly. We started cooking our dinner. All of a sudden, it started hailing. That was all of our first time seeing hail. IT was hailing the size of a marble and hailed for about 20 minutes. I covered my head a bit and thunder kept rumbling. Soon, the hail stopped and it rained. After about another 20 minutes, the rain stopped. We ate dinner and then quickly went in our tent and called it a night. IT rained after that too. Day 5 was really cool as we saw hail for the 1st time in our lives.


Sunday, July 19, 2009: Day 6
Day 6 was our hardest day. We climbed up from 9280 ft and then down and then back up to about 10,660 ft. 9 miles. We rised at 4 AM to catch the sunrise at Sawmill. WE waited about 30 minutes for the sun to rise fuly. It was cool as I never saw sun rise before. I always see sunset back home. Took down camp and our longest day began. The trail started gradually and then when we hit the 4 wheel drive road, it was steep uphill. That was tiring and we took many breaks and took it easy. It was a bit difficult but we flattened out and reached Thunder Ridge camp. 6 other crew members plus me decided to head down to Cyphers Mine to fill up on water. Going down 1.5 miles was easy. Cypers Mine had no potable water so we had to borrow someone's filter. When we came back, it rained on us. It hailed and we all took cover under this shed. Thunder roared above us and there were some flashes of lightning which was farther away. We climbed up the 1.5 miles slowly in sets. Went one by one and then stopped under a tree. We did this and reached Thunder Ridge. Rain had stopped by that time. We finished the final leg of the day which was gradual uphill to Commache Peak. We were happy that rain didn't hit us while we were carrying our backpack that day 6.


Monday, July 20, 2009: Day 7
Day 7, the day we climbed Mt. Phillips. Broke camp at Commanche Peak and hiked out to the viewpoint. Saw the city of Cimarron. IT was pretty cool. Then, we elevated through rocky terrain. It was a pretty gradual uphill though. Kept going and we reached the summit of Mt. Phillips, 11660 ft in elevation. The view up there was pretty fascinating. Saw the other mountains around Philmont like Mt. Baldy, the tallest summit in Philmont. I took a lot of pictures up there. It felt like I was on top of the world. The sky was clear too so the view was spectacular. After 40 minutes up there, we started hiking down. And we thought going down would be EASY but no, it was challenging. The slope was at a 45 degree angle and the hill was rocky. I took it easy and used my hiking poles to my advantage. After that downhill part, we reached Clear Creek. Had lunch there and I had to stand in the pond water for 30 minutes because I was crew leader and it was a tradition there. The plus side, my stinky feet were rinsed off. It started sprinkling a bit as we were hiking to Commanche camp site but it was a gradual downhill. The rain wasn't that serious. We had to hike up to our campsite and that last portion was hell. But we got to our campsite. We were on high bear watch that night as we spotted portions of bear poop.



Tuesday, July 21, 2009: Day 8
Day 8, we woke up early at 4:30 AM. We had a 1:00 PM horse riding @ Beaubien to catch. Hit the trail at 6:30 AM and we went down. It was all downhill or flat for 5 miles and we finished that in about 2 hours. Picked up food at Phillips Jucntion, our last one of our trek. We stuffed it into our packs and headed up 1.5 miles to Beaubien. Reached our campsite where we stayed 2 nights around 10:30 AM. We had extra time to spare so I decided to do branding. Philmont has 2 brands, a cattle and horse brand. I decided to brand one on each side of my boots and on my hat. IT looked pretty darn good. They take this medal thing and put it in fire and then press it down on my boots and other things. So we were planning to do horse back riding at 1. We got all the instructions and rules and put on our helmets. But then it rained and then the rain turned into hail. So they called the horse back riding off for that day. Boy we were all furious with mother nature. Bad timing. That day, it rained from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM non stop. The rain stopped as we set up our tents but it kept sprinkling and some downpour. That night, we had our chuck wagon dinner. I volunteered along with Eric Cho to go make it for our crew. So around 3:30, we headed down and made the cobbler and biscuit. Stirred it in the pot and that was it. That night, we all gathered for the dinner. It was beef stew with biscuit. I got two scoops into my bowl which was nice. Afterward, the peach cobbler tasted great too. We finally got decent food that night instead of trail dehydrated food.


Wednesday, July 22, 2009: Day 9
Our layover day at Beaubien. Got to sleep in and got 10 hours of sleep. Not bad. We had our conservation project from 8-11. The first hour was mainly instructions and then we started. We went to this campsite and cut the logs into stumps. I also help cut down this small tree. Cutting down a tree is pretty simple. Make a triangle cut and then one from the back and bam, it will fall. I also help cart this wheel barrow of dead scrubs and weeds do this dumpster place. So we got 3 hours of service working with the saws and other pieces of equipment. In the afternoon, we hiked the 8 mile trail peak. We saw this dead deer bone on the trail and I took a picture with it. It was pretty tight. We reached the peak after 2 hours with no packs, only a day pack. Up on trail peak, there was the Bomber 24 plane, a plane that crashed April 22, 1942 as they were doing a training flight. All the plane pieces was all there. As we climbed up, we saw more of it. The wing was up on the peak and there was a small memorial there. We hiked back in 2 hours too and the weather became all cloudy. We started preparing dinner and suddenly it rained. Then we saw lightning and we all ran under the dining fly for cover. The lightning was right above us as we counted 2 seconds and then thunder rumbled. Boy that scared us and we all prayed for 45 minutes. Rain kept pouring and lightning and thunder was in the sky. I was personally scared. After that moment, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. It was a scary experience with lightning right above us. We were lucky we weren't struck. We survivied day 9.


Thursday, July 23, 2009: Day 10
Day 9 was mostly downhill for 7 miles. And we hiked down after a late start. As we were hiking down, it started raining. And it was a steep downhill. All rocky and we kind of got lost with the trail. The trail disappeared on us. We put on our rain gear and continued hiking even with the rain. The rain increased in its strength and we all were in a bad mood. My pants got wet as I didn't put on rain pants. The trail was all muddy and slippery. I almost fell on this log but my hiking sticks saved me. It was just a slick nasty last 3 hours of hiking. I hated it. Mr. Prana fell twice. Nathan's hiking poles broke. Eric Cho fell a few times too. We missed a turn and I had to lead our crew back and up to Carson Meadows. Once we got there, we were all happy. We changed our wet clothes and let it dry as we drank hot chocolate to cool up. Thank you Carson Meadows staff. My feet were all wet and my boots were filled with mud. We decided not to do program that day and set up camp. I dried my socks and my hat and shirts. That night, we created a campfire and we all held our socks next to it. It was pretty funny scene. I got to tent by myself that night and got a really good night sleep. It was really relaxing by myself.


Friday, July 24, 2009: Day 11
Last day of hiking. We did the Search and Rescue program @ Carson Meadows. We learned what it was like for the staff rescuing people. The activity was pretty fun. We hiked about an hour down to Abreu (2 miles). There we dropped our packs and did some program there. We did Adobe brick building, the old fashioned way of making bricks. We dug dirt from the big hole and dumped it into this shaker. Then, we mixed the dirt with water and it became muddy. We dumped it into this square shape perimeter and mixed it with hay. There we did it, the making of bricks. We also toured the cabin there which was home to people back in 1912. It was a pretty cool house with most of the stuff still in tact. We did some tomahawk throwing. I almost hit someone but was able to chop down the wood. After that, we drank root beer at the cantina. They have a mini trading post there. I drank one cup which tasted the best ever. I also ate some peanuts there as we played cards and chilled around there. IT only sprinkled that day so we were lucky. Rain didn't hit us as we hiked the last mile (30 minutes) to Zastrow. At Zastrow, we set up our campsite for the last day. Cooked dinner. After dinner, we ate some more cobbler, this time an apple one. We shared ours with our sister crew. It was tasty. So that was it, our last night out in the backcountry.


Saturday, July 25, 2009: Day 12
Last day at Philmont. We woke up and broke camp and hit the trail at 8. For some odd reason, we got everything packed away that day in one hour instead of the normal 2. The hike was about 1/2 mile. IT was uphill and then flat. We reached Zastrow Turnaround in 20 minutes and the bus came. We were all happy on the bus back to base camp as we all sang "Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" and "We are the Champions." We were all excited to exited the back country. Once we got our tent assignments, I went to go shower. The water was again warm and I applied 2 times the amount of soap and shampoo. Boy was I dirty. But I was finally clean. Called home and saw the package I recieved from my family. They sent over some LA Times Sports newspapers along with this hat they made that has my name, expedition, and Philmont on it. In the afternoon, we all shopped around at the Tooth of Time Traders trading post. I spent most of my money. I bought the Philmont belt along with belt buckle ($30) bronze one. IT looks tight. Bought a neckerchief slide along with many T-shirts. Also bought some smaller things like magnets and etc. We had pizza for lunch which was awesome again. I went to go tour the Philmont museum along with Waite Phillip's Villa Philmonte, his summer home. His house is huge. I took many pictures of it with my battery dying. At night, there was the closing campfire where we were all happy we were on the home bound side. We received this "We all made it " plaque. So that was our last day in Philmont.

Sunday, July 26, 2009 to Monday, July 27, 2009
Our travel days. Left Philmont on the bus at 9 and said goodbye to it. The bus took us back to Raton where we boarded our Amtrak Train around 10:30. The train chugged through New Mexico and we stopped by Albuqurque for over an hour. I went to this Japanese store and bought a chicken bowl with miso soup. I finally had rice. Ate that on the train. We got back to the Fullerton Train station Monday morning at 6:30 AM. All of our parents and family siblings were all there. They were extremely happy to see us back home safely.

Overall, Philmont was fun. It was a trip of a lifetime. I will not forget the experience, 7 days of rain, hail, thunder, lightning. It was a cool experience being back in the backcountry. I probably won't see that place again but the pictures will bring back the memories, whether it was good our bad. Thank you mom and dad for signing me up for Philmont. I didn't want to go at first but now I can have the cool honor of "Philmont veteran" and can show off to the other scouts my belt, neckerchief, and much more. Philmont, I had a great time.

I'm BACK

I'm back home now after completing my 12 day Philmont trek. It wasn't easy and was hard, mostly on the mental side, but I made it. We did 56 miles of hiking over 10 days in the southern part of the Rockies, Philmont Scout Ranch. There were ups and downs but the most important thing is we made it safely.

I just got off the train this morning from Fullerton and is really tired right now. In the next few days, I will create a post about the whole trek. I am getting caught up to the civilization life of computers, TVS, etc. Gonna relax these next few days.

More on Philmont later...

Off to Philmont

July 12th is here. We have looked to this day 2 years ago, when we first signed up for Philmont 2009. In less than 5 hours, I will be on the Amtrak Train. Our train will take us through Flagstaff along Route 66. It will then stop at Raton, a city in the middle of nowhere tomorrow evening around 5 PM. We will take a bus to Philmont and spend 2 nights at base camp. Wednesday will be our 1st offical hiking day. Before we leave tonight, we will all have a send away dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory near the train station. All of us along with our family will be there. It will be cool. Then, 23 hours on the train.

I'm having mixed feelings right now. 50% of me wants to go and is excited and 50% of me is saying why did I do this. But hey, July 12th has become reality and I'm going on it. No turning back now. Same thing happened to me before Grand Canyon. I was really hesistant on going but went and had a great time there. It will be the same at Philmont. I will be a different person after completing the 12 day 56 mile hike. Looking at the whole trip, it is basically 4 days of strenuous hiking. The 1st few days are easy and the last few are easy, less than 3 miles. In our layover day, we will hike 8 miles but with no pack. So I am ready for Philmont.

I finished packing all my stuff and will put some stuff away. I have a backpack with all my gear in it including my shirts and stuff. I also have a really small duffel bag with my base camp stuff. It has my towel and clean clothes. I will bring some magazines on the train to read and some playing cards.

Off to Philmont later at 7. It will be a tough and challenging trek but it will be worth it. No blog for me for 2 weeks. But follow me on twitter.com/ktcn15. I will try to see if I can tweet about Philmont.

Interview

This morning, a reporter from the Chinese Daily News 世界日報 came to Starbucks at Towne Center and interviewed some of us going to Philmont. 5 members from my crew were there and we sat and told the reporter about Philmont. She got all the information she needed and took some pictures of us. She also asked each one of us questions about what we think about Philmont. I said we are all physically ready but it is all on our mental. So the article will be in tomorrow's Chinese Daily News 世界日報 instead of Monday's. That is good as more people buy the newspaper on Sunday than Mondeay.

One more night of good relaxing sleep on my bed tonight. Then, it will be 14 days away from home, 2 for traveling. I have heard both good and bad about the Amtrak Train and will find out when I spend 23 hours on it tomorrow night. I'll twitter about the train on my phone so you can follow me, twitter.com/ktcn15. there will be updates. So Philmont, I am pretty much packed. Just have to put the stuff in my backpack and some final stuff. Have a full day tomorrrow though. Having a family crew dinner at Spaghetti Factory at 5 tomorrow evening. Gonna be pretty fun.

I went to the Archery Program at El Dorado Park this morning. My sister was in the class for beginners and I decided to take the safety course as my friends were there doing that. We learned the safety information and I shot the arrows a few times. I hit 2 bullseye. IT was really fun.

So Philmont tomorrow. Gonna finish packing completely and leaving at 7 from Fullerton.

710 Day

It's 710 day today. July 10th, 7/10, the radio station, 710 ESPN celebrated their day today. 710 ESPN is my favorite radio station as it is sports 24/7. Also, they will have the Lakers play-by-play next season. They had festivals and giveaways at the Nokia Plaza. I wanted to go up there to Downtown L.A. but couldn't go. I wanted to take a picture with the Lakers Championship Trophy. O well, I'll try to go next year then.

My sister had a city summer league game tonight. She made a 3 point bank shot that got everyone surprised. Their team lost with a lot of controversery. The score keepers did not change the possession arrow after the opposing team had the jump ball tip. It didn't switch and that was a crucial blown call down the stretch. WE were all screaming at the ref and score keepers to change it but they did not hear us. They HAVE to wake up. But my sister did great. She is the only girl on her team. Good job sister!!!

In less than 48 hours, I will be on the Amtrak Train heading towards Philmont in New Mexico. It will be a 23 hour ride. I have heard that the Amtrak Train is not comfortable and is not a good place to sleep on. It is really noisy and they are rude. This is just a hear say but I feel it won't be very comfortable. That will be a full day through the dserts. I have sorted out my gears today. I'm still waiting for a few things to be washed here and there. Tomorrow, I plan on putting on my gear into my backpack and do some last minute shopping. I'll be gone til the 27th and will be returning in the morning. That is Philmont...

Played golf today at Heartwell. I was paired up with my sister and Jon Gau and his sisters. We 5 had a really fun round. It was really competetive and I was a bit Rusty as I haven't been playing there in over a month. I shot a 43 and Jon's sister Mimi shot a 44. Jon and my sister both shot a 45. It was a round that went down the stretch.

I'm geetting interviewed tomorrow morning @ 9 at Starbucks in Towne Center. The Chinese Daily News reporter will interview me and few of my crew members. It will be awesome getting some media attention for Philmont.

The Philmont Shirt

Tonight, I recieved my Philmont T-shirts. They look so cool. The front has the Philmont patch that we will receive when we are done with the trek and the back is the logo that we decided on a few months back. It shows the Philmont head in the middle with the L.A. lifestyle on the left. It includes downtown L.A., palm trees, the beach, and the famous HOLLYWOOD sign. Through the middle, it shows the Amtrak Train going towards New Mexico. The right is Philmont. See the picture of the logo. We are trek 714-J-1. So that's Philmont. I saw the list of foods we will get @ Philmont. IT will be tough not eating home food and eating trail food for 10 days in a row. I will bring some dry noodles and soy sauce to spice up the food.

I golfed today @ Little Rec in Long Beach. It was my first time playing there. I shot a 43, 12 over par 31. My drives were pretty straight and my game was pretty consistent today. It was really windy though so I had to play out the wind. We played pretty fast today less than 2 hours. I had fun golfing there @ Little Rec.

Friday tomorrow, just 3 days til Philmont. I will pack tomorrow for sure for Philmont. Gonna take a day off from cross country again. Today was time trials and I ran my 2 mile course in under 16 minutes.

Sleep in tomorrow for me.

4 days

4 days til I leave for Philmont on that train. I have started to get my things ready and packed. I am still waiting for the cooly nice designed T-shirts to arrive. IT should come anyday now. When that comes and that is washed, I will fully pack. Sunday night, we are boarding the Amtrak Train for a 23 hour train ride.

I will be in the chinese newspaper 世界日報 or Chinese Daily News this coming Monday, July 13th. They will run a feature on our crew to Philmont as 9 out of 11 people have some chinese background. My dad got them to run a feature. That will be pretty cool getting some media attention about our trek. On Friday or Saturday, a reporter will interview me and some other people from our group. Look for me in the chinese news paper all of my chinese friends this Monday.

I have started going to the cross country workouts as I have been biking there mornings. I took a day off today. My legs, especially my calf, are real sore right now. Tomorrow is time trials so it will be a good assessment.

I had nothing today on my schedule and it was really relaxing especially the sleeping in part. I finally finished Lesson 1 out of 8 of online health. For my Speedback Assignment, I scored a 37/40.

Just 4 days til Philmont. It will be a long 2 week trip but will be fun. I have some mixed feelings about it.

Michael Jackson Memorial

Los Angeles was at the center of attention to the whole world today as the Michael Jackson Memorial took place at STAPLES Center. It was an amazing atmosphere there. There were over 27 news trucks parked along STAPLES Center and all the networks set up their shots in front of Star Plaza and Nokia Plaza. We will never see anything this big ever again. I think over 1 billion people watched this event today as it was broadcasted for free to any networks. I watched the memorial from my house from the start and it was pretty cool and really well run. Everything went as planned and that was good. L.A. will get a big tourism boost from this as people came from all over the world.

To me, I never really understood Michael Jackson. Before his death, I always thought he was a person who screwed up his life with plastic surgery and the child molestation charges. I never thought he was this popular. Also, I was scared to see his face as it was really scary. But now my perspective has changed after his death. I fully understood who he really was and I am not scared to see his face anymore. I'm used to it. Michael Jackson was a person who did a lot of good things for the world. He holds the record for the most money donated to charity as he gave to a lot of child charaties. Also, Jackson influenced many singers style like Usher and others. He invented the moon walk and blossomed. His songs are pretty cool too as I know "Beat It" and "Man in the Mirror". Michael Jackson didn't moleste that kid. The kid only said it so he can gain money. Michael Jackosn was a great man and very influential to the world. I know understand him after his death which is pretty sad. My generation will have mixed feelings about the king of pop.

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson. We will miss you!!!

One More Week

One more Week til I depart for Philmont. Next Sunday at 7:40 PM, I will board the Amtrack train @ Fullerton and head east towards New Mexico. The train ride will take about 23 hours and we will be at Philmont Monday evening. On Tuesday, our trek will start. Our trek will be a total of 56 miles over 11 days. We will hike 2 miles the first day, about 3 miles the second day and it will increase. Day 6 will be the hardest and longest as it will be a 8 mile day. After that, the mileage will decrease each day and that will be great. The longest day will be a dry camp day, meaning we will have to cary our own water. It will be a tough 2 weeks away from home but we will be doing many events there also such as rifle shooting and much more. I will write more on our itienary later on this week. Next Sunday before we leave, we will have a dinner at the Spaghetti Factory which is next to the train station. This week, I have to start packing and getting all the things down. I am a bit nervous right now but that will be the case for everyone going to Philmont. So that is next week

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy 233rd Birthday America!!! This country broke away from English rule in 1776 and is still standing as of today. So today we celebrate the best nation on earth's birthday. It was Independence Day.

I went to my Aunt's house for a BBQ Party. There were about 20 of our family friends there. We all brought different things. For example, my sister, cousins, and I baked some brownies as deserts and brought it there. Things that were cooked in BBQ or oven were chicken legs, Korean BBQ Ribs, potatoes, sausages, and other stuff. I overloaded on a lot of them as I ate 3 chicken legs, over 5 Korean BBQ Ribs, 2 potatoes, and other snacks and deserts such as shaved ice and brownie. It was really delicious. We all chatted about a lot of things this afternoon. It was a nice family gathering event.

We all went to the firework show @ Cerritos High tonight. We parked near Elliot Elementary and my cousins and I walked to the CHS parking lot. There we had perfect view of the firework as it was above us. This year's was way better than last year's. There were music and a lot of cool new designs. It was boom boom boom continued. Afterward, the streets were all blocked off and it seemed as if it was the Lakers fans celebrating after they won thee championship last month. At my aunt's house, we set off some fireworks that were left over from last year. We lighted them and they blew up. Some made a huge noise. Man I still hear fireworks right now. Everyone is doing them illegally in Cerritos so who cares. We had a lot of poppers too. It was a really fun day today.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Mom's Birthday

Today is my mom's birthday. It is also my aunt's birthday. They are sisters and were born on the same day but 7 years apart. At home, my sister and I prepared for the birthday celebration. I made a card from my card maker program and then we baked a cake ourself. It was our first time and we made a strawberry one. Ate it at night and it tasted pretty good. We had BBQ Ribs for dinner and it was yummy. I ate 4 3 pieces of them and was really full. So happy birthday to my mom and aunt.

Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza swapped places. I say Lakers got the better hand of it. Artest signed for 3 years and he brings toughness and defense to the Lakers. He will be like Dennis Rodman of the Bulls in the 90s. Lakers will be a pretty deep team next year with Fish, Kobe, Artest, Pau, and Bynum.

Manny Ramirez returned tonight to the Dodgers at San Diego. He got a standing ovation mixed with cheers and jeers. But there were more Dodger fans there than Padres fan. Dodgers will be a great team down the stretch as Manny Ramirez will be really fresh from his 2 month vacation. He will help them out.

America's birthday tomorrow...

Triathlon

I accomplished the triathlon today in a weird way. I ran cross country this morning for 1st time this summer. I woke early and biked to Cerritos High. At XC, we did Indian Run. It wasn't too hard as my group had to do it for 15 minutes. Then I biked back home. In the afternoon, I biked to CPE and swam at the Swimming Pool. I swam about 40 laps back and forth which was a really good workout. I went at my own pace. I biked back home. So there it was, the triathlon. Cycling, Running, and Swimming. I performed the trio in an unofficial way. That was a pretty cool accomplishment.

I had a lot of free time today and finally started on health online. Finished 1/3 of the lesson 1. There are 8 lessons. It wasn't too bad. I played on my play station 2 a lot today.

2 years ago on this day, my family and I went to the Carson Animal Shelter and adopted Rusty, my German Shepherd Mix dog. It was on this day he came to our house. He is now 5 as we have said today is his birthday. So my little brother is growing up. He has been a great addition to our family. Rusty is a really great dog although can act naughty at some times.

3 years ago, I moved up street into my current house. From 2000-2006, I lived at my old house on Park Street that we remoldeled. But my mom and dad found this house at an open house and decided we should move here. So we did but I wasn't quite thrilled at first when I found out they had purchased this house. We had remoldeled it into a nice new house. I got over the unhappiness and now is happy we moved here. Our house is bigger and has 2 stories.

There are 2 important events on this day July 2nd. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday.

July 1

Today is a big anniversary day. One year ago on this day, I fractured my right foot while playing basketball. It changed me for a long time. I was on crutches for 10 days and it was painful. I couldn't go to summer basketball practices. I couldn't go to cross country anymore. The fracture was only a dot but it hurted a lot. I still played in the last summer basketball game and did well in limited minutes despite my injury. So that was one year ago on this day. IT was my first major injury in my life. From that point on, I was really cautious on how I played basketball.

I went to go renew my passport today as it was set to expire in November. I need my passport for my trip to Taiwan as it is really important to get through customs while traveling internationally. It should get done in 4-6 weeks. For Taiwan, we have bought our airplane ticket. Leaving at 1 AM August 23rd and coming back 12 PM September 6th.

Played a round of golf at Ironwood today and set a personal record with 39. I had 2 pars. I finally broke 40 there. It was a pretty good day to play, perfect weather.

Gonna go to cross country tomorrow for 1st time this summer.

Last Day of June

Another relaxing summer day today. I got to sleep in for 11 hours which was a nice thing for me. I stayed home for majority of the day. Registered for the Chinese SAT II Test with listening and I will be taking it November 7, 2009 at Valley Christian High School. It is approaching and I will have to be ready for it.

My mom and dad will buy our plane tickets to and from Taiwan in the next few days. It appears that we will be leaving Sunday August 23 and come back Monday September 7 on Labor Day. With us going out of town, we have a problem with our dog Rusty. We have found the perfect solution to where he will go. He will go to my friend Kevin's house and stay for 2 weeks. We will pay them and will provide orders such as when to walk him and feed him. So that will save us some money from bringing him to the kennel.

Summer is so relaxing. I have so much free time and I will take advantage of that. My dog's birthday is coming up on Thursday, then my mom's on Friday, then July 4th on Saturday.

SUMMER TIME

My Summer

Today was a really nice summer day. I got to sleep in on this Monday and didn't have anything. I first filled out some forms for my physical for Philmont and my blue cards for playing sports. Then, headed to REI and bought some final stuff for Philmont. I will pack next week for the 2 week long odyseey. I took things slowly and relaxing and on my own pace today. I cleaned up my room for the most part and it is pretty neat.

These next two weeks, I will relax and just rest. I might even go to some cross country workouts later this week or next week. Then, it's Philmont from July 12th to 27th @ New Mexico. It will be a tought 2 week backpacking trip and won't be easy. Will have August off and lots of free time. Will go camping with my family on August 7-9 and go to a L.A. Sparks game on August 11. Finally, going to Taiwan from August 23 to September 6. School starts September 10th so I will have a few days to change my time schedule. My family and I are thinking what we will do with Rusty, our dog.

It will be a fun summer but I will have to study for chinese SAT II and complete Health online. I will do some studying for next year courses too. summer time is so cool.

Summer Camp

I'm back from my Boy Scouts Summer Camp that took place Sunday to Saturday at Cherry Valley, Catalina Island. It was a fun 6 days away from home and I did many activities and finished three merit badges. I challenged myself and did things that I never thought I could've done. I went away from the technology and the city lights and my phone was turned off the whole camp meaning no distractions. But I had lots of fun and I will describe the highlights of each day.

Sunday
Sunday was the travel day as we all met at the Queen Mary at Long Beach and then we got our gear onto the boat and we took off. I didn't really feel like going as my foot was aching from the hike last week. We took the Catalina Express instead of the Catalina Classic Cruise as the Cruise was being fixed. The Express took under a hour but it was really rocky. They showed the U.S. Open for Golf and I watched part of it. I almost threw up. After arriving at Two Harbors, we hiked 1.3 miles to Cherry Valley. Then, we got all the orrientation of the camp and where everything is. Our campsite was the 1st one which was good compared to last time we came in 2005. We had the last campsite. There was an opening campfire Sunday night.

Monday
1st day of camp. We took our swim test and we swam in the ocean water. It was really salty and it was a bit tough for me but I passed it. I was too scared to breathe underwater. In the afternoon, we had our merit badge classes. I had Rowing, Orrienteering, and Wilderness Survival. It was a pretty easy day. I showered after the swim test and that felt good. At night, I had my orrientation for the Discovery Scuba Program where I watched this video on Scuba Diving.



Tuesday
We had merit badge classes in the morning and it was mostly all going over the requirements. Stayed onshore for rowing. Then in the afternoon, I went to the Scuba Locker. My gear was over there and I was going to do my dive. The instructor helped me and two other scouts from Oakland put on our gear. It felt tight at first and heavy but we went into the water. There, we practiced some basic techniques such as hand signals, clearing water from our eyes, purging, etc. I was nervous by then and didn't feel great going down there. But after a while, I decided I was ready for it and I went down with the group. We went underwater and stayed underwater for about 20 to 30 minutes as we dove down to 40 ft. I brought a waterproof camera and took pictures of things with it. Saw this globe and wheel down there along with many fishes like the gerabaldies and this big fish that swam back. It was so cool underwater. I breathed perfectly and nothing went wrong. I was so happy afterwards. It was so cool, 1st time doing it. I won't forget the experience of scuba. But I did it and overcame my fear.

Wednesday
Wednesday was the high adventure day. Our troop 693 was assigned to canoe/kayak to emearld Bay and then hike 3 miles back to Cherry Valley. The older scouts were assigned the kayaks and I paired up with Ricky. We went onto the open water and kayaked. We went pretty fast but had to wait for the war canoes as it was moving at a slower pace. Soon, got to Emearld Bay and then we played in the water for 2 hours. Then, we hiked back along the dirt road which was pretty simple. Nothing much more to say. Stopped a few times for water. It was an easy hike. Afterwards, I took my third shower of the week to keep clean. There was a commisioner campfire and there were skits. Our troop had a nice skit, run on and yell. I slept pretty well again on the comfortable mattress bunk.

Thursday
Back to normal schedule day. We had merit badge classes in the morning. In rowing, I finally rowed out of the rowboat and it wasn't easy. We went out to the end of Cherry Cove and I rowed back in. I had some trouble in the beginning getting control but with help of my row mates, I started moving back into shore. During free time, I wandered around and didn't do anything. Went on the mine tour and got my beads there along with the sea lab and nature trail. It was quite interesting listening to those stories of the mine. We played some highland games during the night and we all banged things making drum noises. Then, went on the honor trail in which they told us about our honor to god, country, and ourselves. That night, I spent the night out in the wild as part of the requirements for wilderness survival merit badge. I built my shelter earlier in the day and put lots of brush on top of lots of logs. It was a pretty good night sleep although I fell alot downhill and hit Hojo in the head. There were 33 of us that slept outside. It was a great experience to spend a night out in the wild. Also, we were informed that Michael Jackson died as there had been crazy rumors out there. I was really shocked.

Friday
Last official full day of camp Friday. Finished up the merit badges in the morning. I got a complete in rowing, orrienteering, and wilderness survival. In free time, I first went rowing as Hojo had to complete the requirement. Then, snorkeled for a few minutes but water was too cold. Then, I decided to go small boat sailing with the two Edwards. We boarded a sail ship and our troop friend took us out of the cove. It was scary as the boat rocked back and forth. It went on one side as we were going but I learned that was normal. We had to switch sides often to go with the wind. It was really fun though and a cool experience. I took some pictures. At night, I was honored as a warrior, second time people coming to CCV. There was also the closing campfire.

Saturday
The travel day back home. We packed up our stuff and hiked back to Two Harbors. There, we said our final goodbyes to the wonderful camp staff. Then boarded the Catalina Classic Cruise ship and headed for Long Beach. I slept on the 2 hour boat ride. I got home in the afternoon to find so many things had happened. One of my friends grandma passed away last Sunday, Michael Jackson died, and other news.

Anyways, summer camp was really fun. It was my best one yet. I did so many fun activities, kayaking, rowing, snorkeling, scuba diving, small boat sailing, and much more. It was a nice 7 days away from home with no distractions. All my pressure from the school year were released. Cherry Valley @ Catalina Island was soooooooooo fun.

Backpacking Trip

Yesterday, my Philmont crew and I went to San Gorgino Mountain, just south of Big Bear, for our last Philmont Training hike. We are going to Philmont from July 12th to July 27th next month. Anyway, it was about a 1 hour 15 minute drive from Cerritos to that area. Getting into the trailhead wasn't easy as we had to drive through this dirt road full of rocks. It was rocky and bumpy, back and forth. We were at 6,000 feet elevation.

We started our hike. Our plan was to hike 7 miles up to 10,000 feet to our campground and view the peaks there but we soon abandonded tht plan. Instead, we hiked only 4.5 miles for numerous of reasons. First, it was all uphill. And we were at a high altitude, meaning we would be short on breath. We took a break every 5 minutes. Second, one of our adults had a bummed knee that was still healing. So we took it easy for him. Third, nobody had a mood for the hike. We all were very tired and didn't have our legs. But we made it all uphill to our campsite, taking 5 hours total including lunch.

Our campground was at Jackstraw Springs and we set up camp. It wasn't too bad as there were pretty good campsites. I tented with Eric P. and that was pretty cool. We filtered water from the nearby spring and cooked dinner. It was freeze dry food so what we had to do was only boil water. We went to sleep at around 9 PM after playing some cards.

Today it was all downhill. It was really easy, 4.5 miles coming down. We had less stops and completed it in just over 2 hours. That was cool as we got home around after noon. The bad part was it was really rocky and I kind of sprained my ankle again. I was breaking in my new boots and used them. Really comfortable. My right ankle wasn't 100 % as I sprained it last week and I turned it again today. I also turned my left ankle a bit but that isn't as bad. I will be soar for a few days. I was really stinky and came home and showered. Did that feel good.

Tomorrow at 11, I am leaving for Catalina Island for boy scouts summer camp at Cherry Valley. It will be very fun as it is close to the ocean. I will be staying there for 6 nights and come back on Saturday. So no blogs for 6 days. I have to finish packing my stuff. I will take lots of pictures at Catalina Island, my second time there.