so, i used to question those people at the gym who seem to just go there to utilize the cycling & walking machines. my thought was, "why don't you just ride a bike outside or walk/run outside, get some fresh air while you're doing it!" but recently i discovered a cardio machine i can really respect. the elliptical machine. with this machine, you move both your upper and lower body, so your whole body is participating in creating sweat. it's low impact, smooth, and relatively comfortable.. so it's much better than walking, running or cycling. this thing is godsent. it will help me put in cardio in a relaxing way, and save my joints from damage from poundage in the long run.

i started at 5 mins for a couple of sessions then moved up to 10, now i'm at 15. 15 minutes is pretty tough. i need to stabilize and master this before moving on to 20 minutes. one thing i learned about working out and life in general is that taking baby steps and gradually moving up to challenging my comfort level is key. otherwise, i get overwhelmed and give up - an undersirable result. maybe i'll stick to 15 mins for about 2 weeks. also looks like i'm burning 150 calories per 15 mintues, so i'm burning off a bag of sun chips potatoe chips per session. and, i never eat potato chips to start with, so this is good news. my body looks leaner and feels like i have extra energy. cardio is so vital. i recommend the elliptical machine. (mtking article on elliptical machine got me curious about it)

as for weights, i'm focusing on lower and upper chest, wings, abs, and glutes. doesn't make sense to keep building in areas i am already strong. i need to balance everything out, and waiting patiently for these areas to catch up.

oh yeh, organic soy milk at costco is hella cheap compared to trader joe's.

also, i decided to try to cut out as much refined sugars from my diet as possible. (alex influence) trying to go all natural. i hope my health addiction rubs off on my parents. they should be watching their diet more than i am, but they don't seem to put much attention on it. they are in their early & mid 60's.

have a good weekend all!

so my friend wants to start speaking japanese w/ me whenever we talk, so i asked if  they could teach me korean too. it's a fair deal right. i learned my first 6 words today.  i've seen these words thrown around on xanga often because a lot of the people i subscribe toare korean. now, i know how to pronounce them.

ahjuma  
ahjushi

nuna
(unni) (female to older female)

hyun (hyung)
oppa (female to older male)

yogiyo!

if you wet the spaghetti you stored from yesterday in a bowl of water.. not too long, just a little bit, then the dryness disappears and it is easier to recook.

how did i discover this?

hint: original intent was to clean the spaghetti, not to alleviate the dryness.

few months ago

hey, you know what, i thought summer would be the greatest thing, warmer temperature, everyone on break, fun times, the beach : waves, sand, sunshine. but, i realized bc of vacation, bally's, the beath and all other places that are usually really low traffic and mellow are becoming hellishly busy. oh well, it's cool, i guess more the merrier.

edit: took a dip in the pool after coming back from the citadel to buy some tank tops at old navy. dude, it's so cheap. it's 6.99 to start w/ but they take off another 30-40%, so about $5 each. a lot of the summer wear is on sale there as well.

i lost my keys a few weeks ago and totally forgot about the happening. but, yesterday i received a letter from ralph's saying that someone submitted the lost keys to them because it had the ralph's club key tag attached to them. lol number one, there is a really nice person who went out of their way to submit the keys to their local ralph's and number 2, ralphs was kind enough to send me a letter regarding this and wants to arrange a location to pick them up. wow, right? i'm so thankful.  this is true customer service and i think ralphs rocks now. now remember bally's? i lost my membership card and went in to pick it up. they said their policy is to throw out any lost card that are not claimed in 1 week. can you see the stark difference in attitudes between these two organizations? actually i'm not really too pissed about bally's anymore. but, this ralphs/key incident reminded me of it and forced me into writing this blog entry.

so moral of the story is, those ralphs club key tags aren't just good for discounts, they might actually help your keys back to you when you lose them. and, stick w/ 24 hrs fitness, not ballys.

edit: or, just don't lose your keys and fitness club cards to begin with. haha

for those of you who have a discover card, right now, they are offering 5% cash back bonus on gas purchases. log-in to your account and sign up for the get more program, it's free to signup, it only takes a few clicks of the mouse. gas is expensive lately, this 5% is good.

ohyeh, not just gas... 5% back on.. July-Sept 2007

• Gas
• Hotels
• Summer Fun

     Admissions to:
     - Theme Parks
     - Water Parks
     - Museums
     - Aquariums
     - Zoos

i'm so glad my xanga is fixed. i was sweat'n for moment there. shows me how attached i am to this thing. lol

i accidentally set my own site at explicit, but now i switched it down to caution. maybe u guys can see my site again. crossing fingers.

 dude, i thnk i lost all my audience. my site is now designated explicit status and most of my people's can't log-in w/o credit card authorization.this sucks man. i miss my audience, this sucks. i think someone sabotaged me after i did some subscription cleaning because i had too many and wanted to slim down some.

it seems like almost every asian guy @ bally's has a tat somewhere on their body. as time passes, the tats increase in flamboyancy. first it was hidden on their shoulder, back, chest or arm, slightly showing. now, the dragon claws are finding their way above the neckline and below the shirt sleeves. wtf. it's like they are all slowly progressing to the point of become full-on yakuza tatoos. actually one of my friends has one of those yakuza-type tatoos, where it covers most of his upper body, down to the wrists. it's cool but, it's prolly not for me. what a committment u know, once you put it on, it's for life. what if u aren't satisfied w/ the job, what are u gonna do then? it's not worth the risk to me. but, i feel left out, i'm prolly the only asian guy rock'n a bald head in san gabriel valley w/o a tattoo. it's ok tho, i'll just wait it out another decade, when natural will be back in fashion. either that, or everyone will be looking like lizard man, trying to out-do the previous tat generation.