(yesterday).

dykas: so what're you doing tonight?
me: i don't know. unpack. blog. wait, no blog.
dykas: hahahahaha. yeah right! you're gonna blog! you always do!
me: naw man. sometimes, i tell myself i'm going to blog and i really have alot to write about. but after i open up the blogger and everything, i'm just too tired and write it the next day.

i told you dykas.

dang it! i hate it when i have so much to talk about for one entry. i always forget the specifics and don't emphasize the significance of important matters. let's see strong my memory is.

tuesday:

i went to go eat pho with my mom and this couple from her workplace. we went to Vietnam Village in San Bruno, which is probably my favorite pho place in the world. so i never met these people and my mom and i were waiting outside for them to come. i see this old man walking towards us and i hear my mom greeting. so i make good strong eye contact with him, bow, and say hello. he gives me this awkward look and nods his head. then i see my mom walking towards this younger gentleman and his wife greeting them instead. DOH!

so i tried to make myself feel a little better by telling myself that i'll probably never see him ever again. but goodness does God have a sense of humor! of all the tables in the restaurant, the waiter sits us at a table RIGHT next to the old man! i try even harder to make myself feel better by telling myself that he's probably vietnamise and he probably didn't understand what i was saying to him. (shaking head). korean was straight off the boat.

i actually asked for a regular pho tai, but the guy told me to eat a large one. ugh. i killed the pho but it also left me with some uncomfortable wounds. i just cannot enjoy pho like i used to. that lunch was just a really bad lunch for me.

wednesday:

i finished the fifth video of "All-In." cj told me that the story turns out like crap and i think i know what he meant. i think i saw just up to what i would have enjoyed. the fourth video had a climax of song hye gyo's beauty (fudge!) and the fifth video ended with the cool gambling. the rest is garbage and i'm happy those were the only videos that were available.

but later that day, i was thinking about my summer situation and what was going to happen. so i talked to my mom about what was going to happen with simon and i guess she's going to end up staying here with him as he goes to mills cause my dad hasn't given any certain response yet. then i started thinking about how i wanted to work over the summer and that a car would be necessary. she actually thought about it and called up this one dealer who was good friend's with one of our friends. unfortunately, the guy really recommended that i did not buy a car til my junior year cause he thought that i could manage without one. he told my mom that he had three younger sons and he completely understood my situation. i felt like he made me look really stupid, bothering my mom that i needed a car even though i REALLY didn't need one. dude, of COURSE you can say that i can manage without one til my third year. shoot, you can even say that i can manage without one til i get married. but my working and commuting situation would be kinda difficult without one, especially in a place like irvine!

after coming back from seeing my brother's improved pool skills, i saw that chang was at my house talking to my mom. they talked about the whole car thing and chang told me that PJ was selling his old car. a market value of $1500, willing to sell to me for $500! i wasn't jumping for joy but i was happy that i had a chance of buying a car for dirt cheap!

later that night, chang took me to his place in san bruno. quite spatious with a cozy room. i like it alot. the only negative is that you have to quiet cause of the old lady who lives upstairs. but the real reason why chang brought me to his place was cause he wanted to take me to Cache Creek as a birthday present! haha. aw man, what an experience! we both started off kinda bad but we soon started to rake in the goods! before we went in, i told him that i was going to stop if i made $100. but dude, when you've made so much money in so little time, money becomes nothing. you don't mind if it disappears and you smile at your wins...

chang: alrite phil, BIG CAJUNAS!

me: alrite chang, if we're going down, we're going down in flames!

compromise after compromise after compromise. greedy phil. you don't know when to quit until your pocket is lacking chips. and that's exactly how i left the casino.

even though i lost money in a rather stupid way, i learned alot about myself. the sinfulness. the change in heart. never in my mind was i thinking about glorifying God through gambling. it was all about WIN WIN WIN! haha. it's funny when you think about it, but it's kinda sad when you REALLY think about it. i think God took my money away to show how far away i was from him...not just at that moment but throughout my whole spring break. that night, i kept telling myself that the next time i go gambling, i'm DEFINITELY NOT going to compromise ever again. but more than that, i told myself that i needed God so much more.

thursday:

so i picked up my very first car. '94 Mazda Protege. black. 6 cd changer. power windows. power locks. Praise God! talk about provision at the right time. i didn't have a ride back down so i was about to fly down for $100. instead, i spent five plane tickets' worth and got myself a car that i can use for at least a year. may i use this car for God's glory!!!

later that night, dykas and i watched Moulin Rouge at his place. i never did understand why so many people appreciated this movie. everyone jabbering about how great the songs were and how they watched the movie over 10 times. i just never understood it...until that night! just as dykas predicted, i appreciated the movie so much more the second time. the songs are awesome! the choreography was well done and the story was emotional. the only thing i didn't like was the secular message of the movie: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and to be loved in return. in the words of PJ: HOGWASH!

friday:

so i only get three hours of sleep and take off with dykas. this was the first time i drove the whole way down to so. cal. for some reason, this drive down wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. became more and more accustomed with the car and drove at a good pace. we actually got to la in like 5 1/2 hours. unfortunately, that happened to be 5:00 and traffic was hitting us hard up the butt: lots of heat, no gas, no sense of familiarity, and legs dying of pain. 2 hours.

however, we did find church and was only an hour late for the Brothers' Appreciation Nite. it was really cool with the whole sports theme going on. a whole buncha girls dressed up in jerseys and mariela rollerblading around the whole place. haha.

highlights:

1. elisa, carol, rebecca, and suzy busting unexpected grooves.
2. mariela's embarassing stories. (it's nice to see that you're not the only one in the world who's a complete moron).
3. dykas slowdancing with priscilla! (can this night GET any better?!).
4. the encouragement circle.

i thought the encouragement circle was really original and thoughtful. however, i couldn't help but feel a bit arrogant throughout the "encouragement time." for example, when one quality was said, there'd be moments where i'd expect a whole buncha taps and pokes. i'd start thinking about how i'd be receiving alot more taps than another person. you get the idea. a very sinful and arrogant attitude. on the other hand, i also couldn't help but feel really guilty and humbled. when i did get alotta taps for a certain quality, i was definitely thinking about how i really did NOT deserve to get touched at all. if only these girls knew what kinda person i really was. if they only knew what kinda stuff goes on in my heart. the encouragement circle was very kind and flattering. but it also reminded me of how ungodly i was and how much more i need to be like Christ.

so me, being the type who likes to analyze and criticize, started listing in my head all of the weaknesses and unfortunate things of the banquet. but i started thinking about how it's always so much easier to point out the bad things rather than the good things. this took my thoughts to a whole new level. i thought about all the effort, the time, the patience, the love. what can i say? the banquet definitely accomplished its purpose. i felt very appreciated. thank you sisters!

driving home was kinda weird. i felt very naked not driving with eugene. i mean, it has ALWAYS been with me, dykas, and aaron. oh well. i'd better start getting used to this.

gosh, arriving back in my dorm was such a pain! my key wouldn't work on any of the doors for some reason and not a single person was in the dorms! so i ended up breaking into my room for the first time. i practically broke the screen thing but put it back on the window. man, i was super duper tired from the lack of sleep, all the driving, and yeah all the driving! i took a nice shower, unpacked, and cleaned up. i was a little unhappy with myself cause i forgot to bring back my irvine shorts. i'm going to have to ask my mom to send those to me.

but yeah, my other roommate, kiyoshi, is gone. i guess he couldn't stand another quarter with me and minh. i really can't blame the guy. one quarter is ok and two maybe. but three is probably unbearable which is why he didn't even bother to tell me before he left. all his stuff is gone so minh and i are either expecting a new guy or a huge room to ourselves! goodbye kiyoshi...dang, i wish i knew how to apologize in japanese.

but dude, i checked my grades even though the lines were super busy!
winter quarter grades:

Korean 1B: A+
Psychology 9B: B-
Writing 39B: B-
University Studies 2: C+

GPA: 3.080

WOOHOO! dude, you don't even understand. these grades are seriously proof that God exists. and not just ANY GOD, but a GRACIOUS GOD! haha. i laughed at the A+ i got in korean. i gasped at my psychology grade. not only did i pass, but i got a B-! that means i got at LEAST an 84% on the final! fudge dude. incredible i tell ya. (fingers pointing to the sky). i was a little disappointed with the C+ cause uni. studies is supposed to be a certain GPA booster! unfortunately, it only hurt me. but yeah, i actually got over a 3.0! what a crazy quarter. this was all God folks.

this finally brings us to today. friday, march 29, 2003. my birthday. 19 years old. my last teen year.

i woke up to SUCH a good sleep from last night. i slept over 10 solid hours which included a bad dream which i cannot seem to remember right now. but that's ok. just as tiffanie mentioned, the weather was just so good today! man, i thought up north was pretty warm. *ahem* NO WAY! it is sooooo much hotter down here! i had to wear all white with a pair of shorts today. if this is just spring, i don't even wanna think about how hot it's going to be during the summer.

so dykas took me out to Claimjumper today. just the two of us since aaron or the other irvine guys couldn't make it. but that's fine. man, ordering an appetizer was a fat mistake. dykas ordered the Widow Maker (ahahahahahahah) and i ordered the Frisco Burger. we ordered the Nachos Platter as an appetizer just to get started. it was the biggest nacho thing i've ever seen in my life. quite delectable and unhealthy. it was very unfortunate cause by the time we were done, we didn't have any room to eat our burgers. and these weren't just any burgers! these mothers were humoginous! just as eugene said, everyone takes their food home.

dykas also took me out to go watch Basic with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. i didn't like it much but he seemed to appreciate it. i thought it was too confusing and the ending was too sudden. *shrug* if you wanna know more about it, talk to dykas since he's the weirdo who liked it. but i do thank him for taking me out this whole day.

today, we also went to Target and i bought an air freshener for the car. i also bought Jaci Velasquez's no cd, Unspoken. i usually don't buy cds but since i have all of her other albums, i had to buy this one too. only 12.99 too!

alotta people wished me a Happy Birthday today. i do thank you all for the kind words. i'm a little disappointed that some of my closer friends didn't call, write, or even message a Happy Birthday to me. *shrug* it's cool though. i'd like to specially thank lisa and elisa for text messaging me...even though that was what woke me up, it started my day just fine. tiffanie, thanks for the voicemail. you never call but the message was very thoughtful of you. thank you. i even wanna thank eunice for wishing me a "happy HAPPY birhtday!" haha. the little girl doesn't even know me that well but she somehow found out about this date and gave me a kind im. and to the rest of the ims that i received. thank you everyone! may my 19th year of life truly be pleasing to God!

Thought of the Day: "Yo Philip, it's your birthday!"
Song of the Day: 50 Cent-In Da Club Beyonce Mix