LA Recap - May 25-28. Memorial Day weekend was a 4-day reprieve from work for me (Friday-Monday), so I decided to head out to LA. I drove out Thursday night and stopped off in Riverside for Jeni's TaiKe party. It was a little too (intentionally) fobby for my tastes, and I felt pretty out of place, so I didn't stick around for too long.

On Friday, my brother & I walked around the 3rd Street Promenade for a bit, then went and ate ramen at Daikokuya with Carol in Little Tokyo- good stuff, the meat was melt-in-your-mouth soft. After that, my brother & I went surfing at Santa Monica. Things started out pretty well, but then maybe 30 minutes in, I get flipped over off my board, and the tip of the board rams directly into my ear! It hurt like a mother, and I couldn't really hear well out of that ear, and I was dizzy and disoriented. That pretty much put an end to the surfing. I looked it up on WebMD later, and it sounded like a ruptured eardrum. It was weird, cuz Lei got hospitalized surfing with my brother a few weeks earlier. So we were joking that my brother's cursed- anyone who surfs with him ends up getting injured, hah. Later on, me, my brother, Carol, and Chris W went and had Korean BBQ at Manna. My brother says it's his favorite Korean BBQ in town, but I thought it was just better-than-average; I think we just like different cuts of meat. I mainly like the marinated stuff, like bulgogi or galbi.

On Saturday, I had brunch with Vivian at Blue Jam in West Hollywood, followed by some frozen yogurt at Pinkberry. Blue Jam was a pretty interesting & cozy little place that I probably wouldn't've happened upon by myself; food was alright. Pinkberry was really tasty, and not nearly as crowded as it was hyped up to be, which was good. For dinner, me & Mike drove out to Alhambra to meet up w/ Allen and his posse and ate shabu shabu at Jazz Cat. After that, we went back to Allen's place and played Phase 10 (this card game that's vaguely kinda like Uno?).

On Sunday, me & Mike had a dim sum lunch at The Kitchen in Alhambra. Then me, Mike, Allen, and Daisy went and watched Pirates of the Carribean 3; was ok- liked it better than the 2nd, but not as much as the 1st. Later, me & Mike grabbed some pastrami sandwiches from The Hat; they were really tasty, but cuz of tall-tales, I was under the impression they'd be humongous, like bowling ball sized, hah. Oh, and Hat grease stains like a mother, hah. Later, the same crew as for Pirates headed over to Linda's place in Riverside. We played some more Phase 10 and some Uno, and Linda cooked porridge for us. =P~ Then we watched the Juon tv series. Everyone except me & Mike fell asleep, and by the end, we were reduced to whimpering messes, even though we'd both seen it already, haha.

In the morning, we all went to Cabin Sushi for some all-you-can-eat goodness; it was the kind where they make it when you order it. Afterwards, we finished up watching Juon, but it was a LOT less scary in the daytime, hah. Headed back towards Vegas in the late afternoon.

Protein Packs a Punch. So my brother linked me a bargain from the forums of Slickdeals (my favorite discount site; FatWallet is alright too) for some protein supplement powders today. He said he's used them before and they worked pretty well. I thought about it all day, but eventually the Asian in me couldn't resist a bargain, so I caved and ordered some.

You know, I've been (jokingly) accused of using steroids a few times cuz of my build. And I can always laugh it off cuz I DON'T (and hope I never will). Then the next question is often whether I take protein supplements, to which I also answer "no." Now, I'm not averse to like downing a powerbar or grabbing a smoothie with protein in it after a work out, but I've never been one to go buy creatine or those protein powder (supplements) mixes for regular use. (I usually prefer to eat a steak or something meaty after a workout to get my protein fix.) Like I typically consider protein supplements juuuust short of the boundary where it becomes "cheating" to get your muscles (; creatine rides the line in my opinion).

There's a comfort in knowing that your muscles are "all natural," a certain bit of satisfaction that comes with being able to look at your physique in the mirror and know that that was all YOU. No shortcuts, no magic potions, just your own blood, sweat, and tears. And you can take pride in that, because it's one of the few things in life where you can actually see your hard work paying off, and you can hold yourself accountable for it.

But I worry I'll start on this protein, and I won't know if future changes in my build are cuz I was trying harder or if it was just the protein supplements. Like ok, I remember playing Soul Blade (the first game in the Soul Caliber series) way back when. And in that game, everyone's searching for this mythical super weapon, the "Soul Edge," to save their village, gain power, rule the world, whatever... typical video game stuff. And I think it was in the ending for the samurai character(?), he finally attains the Soul Edge, and it IS a wondrous sword, but he can tell that it's evil, and if he were to keep using it, eventually it would take over, and it would be the sword in control and not him. And it's kinda like that with the protein powder for me. Now, I'm not calling protein powder evil or anything, but if I were to stay on it for awhile, eventually would I be able to tell if the muscles were me or the protein?

Or what if I know it's all the supplement but love it anyways? And I'm afraid that's a slippery slope. I'm not as power hungry now as I used to be when I was a hormonally charged teenager, but I remember that getting bigger & stronger always felt good. The power is addicting; otherwise why would I bother to keep working out? (Well, to tell the truth, I kinda like the image of power more than the power itself, heh). And it presents me with an Uchiha Sasuke-esque moral dilemma as to how far I would go to attain power. What if the protein supplements weren't enough? I wonder if after protein powder I would turn to anabolic steroids, "vitamin S" as I often jokingly refer to it. It's a dangerous temptation, to have that kinda power dangling in front of you (when you've exhausted your other options). Maybe I had kinda just always wanted to save protein supplements as the last ace up my sleeve if I ever needed more power in a pinch. And what if (when) I stop taking the supplements and the muscles shrink? Would I be ok with that, or would I be addicted and "need" to get back on it? I just don't know the answer to that right now. =/ Yea, I dunno, usually when you have to think this hard about something, it's probably not a good idea. But hey, I bought the supplements already, and the Asian in me probably won't bear to let it go to waste. -_-

And also, I was thinking, like when I'm in the gym and I see skinny folk on protein supplements, I'm like fine, no big deal, they need it anyways. But when I see big guys taking them, I'm like ok, you freaking MEAT head... and I'm afraid that'll be me in the near future. Double standard? Just jealous? Yea, maybe so, but I won't lie and tell you that's not how I feel.

On another note, I was out drinking with some coworkers at a casino a couple weekends ago, and I was wearing a muscle shirt. And this black lady walks up to us and says to me, "You probably get this all the time, but 'mmm-mmm-MMM! Milk has done a body GOOD!'" I managed out a bewildered "thanks?" and after she walked away, me and my coworkers couldn't stop laughing, hahaha.

TASA Reunion/Austin. I went back to Austin this weekend for the TASA (Taiwanese American Students Association) reunion that my brother organized (he was one of the original founders)- mainly an excuse for my brother to see HIS friends, and I kinda got sucked into it, hahah. But yea, it was alright I guess- I took a half-day at work on Friday and flew out around noon and got into Austin just in time for dinner. We went and ate at Salt Lick with the current members, but we kinda self-segregated so it was like the old guard on one side of the room and the young'uns on the other. Afterwards, we went to Austin Karaoke, but none of the newbies showed up, hah- not entirely unexpected.

On Saturday, I went with my brother and his friends and had Rudy's (bbq AGAIN =P) for lunch, then went canoeing at Zilker Park. I tried kayaking too for the first time, and man, that gets real tiring real fast! Then I went out to dinner at Hoover's with Louise and Kevin C. After dinner, I met up with my brother's posse again at Champion's sports bar inside the Marriott downtown to catch the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight- was disappointed with the outcome, but it was a pretty good fight nonetheless. From there, we headed over to 6th Street and did the usual bar crawl. Saw a few familiar faces along the way.

On Sunday, I had brunch with Minnie, Stephen, and Maria at Marie Callender's. Then headed back to campus and chilled with Patrick N for awhile; funny how fast the stores on the Drag seem to change. =/ But yea, most ppl were tied down with exam stuff, so I took the hint and just headed to the airport early, grabbing some 888 Vietnamese with my brother's crew before heading out. So yea, I guess the moral of this trip was: don't go visit your student friends around exam time expecting them to hang out much, hah. But I mean, I had a lot of good bbq, a lot of good booze- and really, I guess that pretty much captures the quintessence of a trip back to my alma mater, so I guess I can't complain too much, heh.

But yea, I dunno, I really just don't see myself coming back to this place a whole lot anymore. It's like trying to force an epilogue on a chapter of my life that, like it or not, IS over and done with. This town holds few charms for me, and once the last couple friends graduate and leave, that will cut the last few strands of my ties to this place, and that will be that. =/

Also, this trip got me thinking: like you know how you've got semi-friends, who are really more like friends-of-friends where once you subtract out the mutual friend, you're not sure where that leaves you? Yea... Facebook friends, haha.

*OMG, on my flight back to Vegas from Austin, a bird hit our plane, and we were forced to make an emergency landing in El Paso to get it checked out. We were on the ground for an hour and a half while they had it checked out and filled out the paperwork deeming us fit to fly- but not before several false alarms that we'd have to stay the night in El Paso or fly to a different city. And the cabin started getting real toasty cuz the A/C doesn't run while the engine's off. Then later, once we get back in the air, after beverage service, the guy sitting next to me spills his drink all over my leg & backpack. >_< Yea, it was a bad experience all around. Didn't get back home till around 2AM and had to wake up at 6 to get to work (they've started cracking down on late arrivals). Was grumpy & sleepy at work the whole day.

"Yea, I'm so tired, I'm just gonna close my eyes for a little bit, then I'll wake up and finish _____."

Uhh, yea, man, I should be old enough to know that NEVER works by now. >_<