I love to plan things even when what I'm planning is how I'm gonna plan. It's comforting to know what the path ahead looks like despite not taking a step forward. It's a matter of preparation. By knowing how every route looks like beforehand, I know what to do should I ever be thrust into one unexpectedly.
Certainty is the only way to live a stress-free life. Isn't that what enlightenment is--a state in which you can see everything as it is? While we can't see into the future, we can certainly plan for it, and after realizing our premonitions enough times, the uncertainty of tomorrow begins to dissipate. Planning becomes less a prediction and more a fact.
So here's my plan: I'm going to write a post for JomattoPro, publish it, and do more research about my trip in Tokyo next year, which is the reason I'm feeling so motivated in the first place.
At the beginning of the year, all me and my friend had was a vague idea of going to Japan, but now that I'm digging into the research, the itinerary is starting to take shape. It's in a stage where anything is possible. The basic framework for Tokyo is mostly in place--it's just a matter of filling out the details. I haven't been this excited in a long ass time. Planning the trip is half the fun of traveling!
Monday, August 17, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Saturday Walking
Last Saturday, me and my friend were trying to figure out a way to get into San Francisco from Emeryville, which is right across the Bay Bridge. We were supposed to use the "F," a bus whose only purpose is to bring people to SF. Unfortunately, due to construction or whatever, all trains on the BART weren't going in, which meant that everybody took the F, which meant that there was no way for us to get to SF. We passed by five stops, one earlier than the other, and every time we waited, a packed bus would just us by, leading us to coin the phrase, "F the F."
Finding some means of transport led us into the ghettos of Oakland and it was not a nice neighborhood. Eventually, we found our way by getting on a shuttle offered by BART. The amount of walking and running we did that day was nonsense, and exactly one week from that day, I went through my usual walking route. The lingering aftereffects of that trip would've been far worse if I hadn't started preparing myself through these weekly walks.
And it's during these walks that I can enjoy the moment. Exercise and happiness are closely linked, and I'm at most inspired when I'm tired. I thought about the final chapter of Love Sick and I think I finally got it sorted out. Compared to my other stories, it's not as explosive, but what it lacks in surprise, it should make up for in conclusiveness.
Finding some means of transport led us into the ghettos of Oakland and it was not a nice neighborhood. Eventually, we found our way by getting on a shuttle offered by BART. The amount of walking and running we did that day was nonsense, and exactly one week from that day, I went through my usual walking route. The lingering aftereffects of that trip would've been far worse if I hadn't started preparing myself through these weekly walks.
And it's during these walks that I can enjoy the moment. Exercise and happiness are closely linked, and I'm at most inspired when I'm tired. I thought about the final chapter of Love Sick and I think I finally got it sorted out. Compared to my other stories, it's not as explosive, but what it lacks in surprise, it should make up for in conclusiveness.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Finding Myself
I visited San Francisco over the weekend. It's hard to believe I was hundreds of miles away from home a mere couple days ago. I remember sitting on the couch of my hotel room thinking, "I'm really far away right now."
But California is California. It doesn't feel like I strayed too far from my comfort zone. Despite its uniqueness, San Francisco lies under the same sun I've been living with all my life. Visit any major U.S. city and they're all fundamentally similar.
If I ever visit SF again, it won't be for the city, but for the people. I went hardcore tourist mode, checking out the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden, Fisherman's Wharf, Twin Peaks, the financial district, and Chinatown.
You gotta take the bad with the good. The layout of the city is crazy interesting but inconvenient to navigate. Walking the street is the best way to experience the town up close and personal, but you get first hand exposure to bums, noisy construction on every block, and that nasty smell of exhaust and pollution. It doesn't help when I visit on a weekend in the middle of summer during the height of tourist season. I haven't heard this much foreign language since Vegas.
I don't think I can ever live in a metropolitan area. It's just not my style. Everything's too cramped and crowded. I'm all about the suburb. Give me open space, a minimum of two lanes for every street, and plenty of sky.
But California is California. It doesn't feel like I strayed too far from my comfort zone. Despite its uniqueness, San Francisco lies under the same sun I've been living with all my life. Visit any major U.S. city and they're all fundamentally similar.
If I ever visit SF again, it won't be for the city, but for the people. I went hardcore tourist mode, checking out the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden, Fisherman's Wharf, Twin Peaks, the financial district, and Chinatown.
You gotta take the bad with the good. The layout of the city is crazy interesting but inconvenient to navigate. Walking the street is the best way to experience the town up close and personal, but you get first hand exposure to bums, noisy construction on every block, and that nasty smell of exhaust and pollution. It doesn't help when I visit on a weekend in the middle of summer during the height of tourist season. I haven't heard this much foreign language since Vegas.
I don't think I can ever live in a metropolitan area. It's just not my style. Everything's too cramped and crowded. I'm all about the suburb. Give me open space, a minimum of two lanes for every street, and plenty of sky.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Constant Denial
The Street Fighter V beta hates me and everyone else. It's hard to recall a bigger disaster in terms of a beta. Just when I think I might get in, boom! Denial message. I suppose these things are tested for a reason. A beta that runs flawlessly isn't a typical beta. It just goes to show that Bungie are masters of network coding. For all its faults, networking is the least of Destiny's issues.
Since SFV was kaput for the entire weekend, I invested a lot more time into BF4. I don't know why but I've been feeling it lately. Just when I think the game is stale, my friend brings up a gun recommendation that changes things up. I've invested 330 hours so far. That's almost enough to pay off my purchase of the PS4. Almost. Only 190 more hours to go (price of PS4+BF4+Premium). I've got more than my money's worth, but it's nice to go for that one dollar per hour value.
Even though I've put a freeze on Tales of Xillia 2 until I complete Love Sick, I made no moves to update the story. Thanks to many late nights, I napped instead of writing during my lunch break. It doesn't help when I have to work harder these last two weeks to hit our goals.
I'd like to go for a 5k word minimum but I've only got 1k so far. Chances are, I won't be updating today. I'll be traveling to San Francisco next weekend so I'm between a rock and a hard place. I may not be able to update on my story's anniversary. Time to put my head down and focus.
Since SFV was kaput for the entire weekend, I invested a lot more time into BF4. I don't know why but I've been feeling it lately. Just when I think the game is stale, my friend brings up a gun recommendation that changes things up. I've invested 330 hours so far. That's almost enough to pay off my purchase of the PS4. Almost. Only 190 more hours to go (price of PS4+BF4+Premium). I've got more than my money's worth, but it's nice to go for that one dollar per hour value.
Even though I've put a freeze on Tales of Xillia 2 until I complete Love Sick, I made no moves to update the story. Thanks to many late nights, I napped instead of writing during my lunch break. It doesn't help when I have to work harder these last two weeks to hit our goals.
I'd like to go for a 5k word minimum but I've only got 1k so far. Chances are, I won't be updating today. I'll be traveling to San Francisco next weekend so I'm between a rock and a hard place. I may not be able to update on my story's anniversary. Time to put my head down and focus.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Them Late Nights
I need to get off the sauce, and by that, I mean I gotta stop staying up so late to watch other people play games. It makes sense if I'm the one playing, but other people? Oh, how times have changed.
It's amazing just how easy it is to find something entertaining. It's also dangerous. Thanks to all my late nights, progress on Love Sick has been ravaged. I pretty much have to finish it all in one day because with the upcoming Street Fighter V beta, I fear for my productivity.
Speaking of fighting games, Evo was mad hype. Who knew the last couple sets of SFIV would go the distance and come down to the last round every time? Too bad it was tainted by a well-timed Razer malfunction. MadCatz for the win,
I finally discovered Rocket League and it's very addictive. I played like ass in the beginning but have quickly improved in skill. The important thing here is to not get a big head. I'm really good at picking up games but it means I plateau quickly. It's easy to get confident, but if I encounter a wall, things get super frustrating.
The correct frame of mind is to tell myself that I suck. Can't get too full of myself. Put things in perspective and my successes will be that much more enjoyable and my losses a great deal less painful.
Chop. Kick. It's all in the mind.
It's amazing just how easy it is to find something entertaining. It's also dangerous. Thanks to all my late nights, progress on Love Sick has been ravaged. I pretty much have to finish it all in one day because with the upcoming Street Fighter V beta, I fear for my productivity.
Speaking of fighting games, Evo was mad hype. Who knew the last couple sets of SFIV would go the distance and come down to the last round every time? Too bad it was tainted by a well-timed Razer malfunction. MadCatz for the win,
I finally discovered Rocket League and it's very addictive. I played like ass in the beginning but have quickly improved in skill. The important thing here is to not get a big head. I'm really good at picking up games but it means I plateau quickly. It's easy to get confident, but if I encounter a wall, things get super frustrating.
The correct frame of mind is to tell myself that I suck. Can't get too full of myself. Put things in perspective and my successes will be that much more enjoyable and my losses a great deal less painful.
Chop. Kick. It's all in the mind.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Compression
7/6
After failing to do anything of note over the weekend (besides having fun), I wrapped up my overdue tasks in one night, and this includes my usual workout routine. See? I can do it if I try. Then again, it was 4th of July weekend, and I still haven't finished the latest chapter of Love Sick.
7/7 - Murphy's Day
Everything that can happen, will happen. Talk about a wet dog of a morning. I got a red light at virtually every stop in my commute, including a dang train. Throw in some mid-summer drizzle and a leaking coffee machine at work and it seems things are going out of whack.
Rest of the Week
I dropped out of my bi-weekly update schedule to realign with Love Sick's anniversary publish date. Even with the extra week, I'm barely able to get any writing done. I just want this story to end already.
My friend brought up the idea of going to San Francisco at the end of the month but we've hit a couple snags. We really gotta put our heads together and figure out a solution that makes our trip as cheap as possible. I also don't mind if we don't go. Just means more money in my pocket.
7/10
Even though we lost, I saw flashes of the young talent on the Lakers summer league squad. I'm looking forward to the next game!
7/11
I just cleaned up my inbox. The only time I do that is when I have to distract myself, and in this case, I'm procrastinating on the next chapter of Love Sick. I'll get it done eventually.
After failing to do anything of note over the weekend (besides having fun), I wrapped up my overdue tasks in one night, and this includes my usual workout routine. See? I can do it if I try. Then again, it was 4th of July weekend, and I still haven't finished the latest chapter of Love Sick.
7/7 - Murphy's Day
Everything that can happen, will happen. Talk about a wet dog of a morning. I got a red light at virtually every stop in my commute, including a dang train. Throw in some mid-summer drizzle and a leaking coffee machine at work and it seems things are going out of whack.
Rest of the Week
I dropped out of my bi-weekly update schedule to realign with Love Sick's anniversary publish date. Even with the extra week, I'm barely able to get any writing done. I just want this story to end already.
My friend brought up the idea of going to San Francisco at the end of the month but we've hit a couple snags. We really gotta put our heads together and figure out a solution that makes our trip as cheap as possible. I also don't mind if we don't go. Just means more money in my pocket.
7/10
Even though we lost, I saw flashes of the young talent on the Lakers summer league squad. I'm looking forward to the next game!
7/11
I just cleaned up my inbox. The only time I do that is when I have to distract myself, and in this case, I'm procrastinating on the next chapter of Love Sick. I'll get it done eventually.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Monthly Renewal
July could not come soon enough. With each new month my budget resets. It sucks to reach the limit and not be able to do anything. I maxed out my budget early in June, which meant I had to go hermit mode for the last week. It's nice to finally get some breathing room. It's also a chance to test my auto-payments. Hopefully, everything will move smoothly without a hitch.
One of the best things about July is that I get paid 3 times this month, which means my budget is going to see a healthy surplus. The next time I'll get a trifecta is in January, so this is indeed a rare event. The extra money will probably go straight into my travel fund. Work can be boring, but rather than work to survive, I work to have fun. Having a destination in mind makes the days and weeks go by quickly. Thanks to all my churning, I've got plenty of options for travel.
I got a half day on Friday for the fourth of July weekend. I took advantage of a free afternoon by watching Jurassic World. I kind of expected more from a towering box office dinosaur, but it was a fun distraction. The kids were really hyped after the movie. Reminds me of how I used to be back in the day. Just going to the movies was an event in itself.
In preparation for my big trip to Japan, I started walking again. I anticipate lots of foot travel. If a one-day visit to a theme park leaves me wasted, I can't imagine two entire weeks of it. That's why I'm starting early. The results from my first walk were devastating. Plenty of time to improve.
Ever since I got into the fanfiction business, I've been keeping contact with my contemporaries, but this fourth of July was the first time we could actually meet. After a year and a half of correspondence, I have finally met up with one of my writing buddies. Even though we've never met before, we conducted ourselves like old friends. This should bode well for future "visiting with online friend" trips.
Sunday was the 100-day anniversary of my uncle's passing. It was an unexpectedly cool day. We wrapped up our prayers with dim sum at Sea Food World. It was good, I guess. Service, as it goes with these places, leaves a lot to be desired.
Team USA won. We back on top, baby. USA! USA! USA!
One of the best things about July is that I get paid 3 times this month, which means my budget is going to see a healthy surplus. The next time I'll get a trifecta is in January, so this is indeed a rare event. The extra money will probably go straight into my travel fund. Work can be boring, but rather than work to survive, I work to have fun. Having a destination in mind makes the days and weeks go by quickly. Thanks to all my churning, I've got plenty of options for travel.
I got a half day on Friday for the fourth of July weekend. I took advantage of a free afternoon by watching Jurassic World. I kind of expected more from a towering box office dinosaur, but it was a fun distraction. The kids were really hyped after the movie. Reminds me of how I used to be back in the day. Just going to the movies was an event in itself.
In preparation for my big trip to Japan, I started walking again. I anticipate lots of foot travel. If a one-day visit to a theme park leaves me wasted, I can't imagine two entire weeks of it. That's why I'm starting early. The results from my first walk were devastating. Plenty of time to improve.
Ever since I got into the fanfiction business, I've been keeping contact with my contemporaries, but this fourth of July was the first time we could actually meet. After a year and a half of correspondence, I have finally met up with one of my writing buddies. Even though we've never met before, we conducted ourselves like old friends. This should bode well for future "visiting with online friend" trips.
Sunday was the 100-day anniversary of my uncle's passing. It was an unexpectedly cool day. We wrapped up our prayers with dim sum at Sea Food World. It was good, I guess. Service, as it goes with these places, leaves a lot to be desired.
Team USA won. We back on top, baby. USA! USA! USA!
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