Toyota Camry 4-Dr... FXG-119/FGX-119... creep.

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches." - Benjamin Franklin

Every man "ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." - George Washington

“The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole cartloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity.” - John Adams

Last but not least...

"The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" - Treaty between the United States and Tripoli, 1796

Keep separation of Church and Government. Don't listen to that BS about the founding of this country based upon Christianity or the need to introduce Christian creationism in our schools, we listen to enough crap from the media already. Tip of the hat to you ladies and gentlemen...

Months fly now that we're all getting older. =(

- Tri

Update Inserted: So they don't delete this account. Haha.

Had forgot about this account since I joined facebook to get in touch with my friends.

Shit, it's been a while hasn't it?

As usual, more trips were taken around the world, still in school finishing up and working at the hospital. Bought a 2nd house, and everything can't get much better than this. (Just wish school was done with, haha). Hope everyone is doing awesome, and I will post pictures whenever I can, since this is a Lifetime account anyways, (yes, I paid $100 a long time ago).

Take it easy, life is always good, there's much more dire situations around the world,

- Tri

Holy hell, 2 months already. 4 Weeks till Vietnam, 5.5 Months until Oahu/Kauai (I know repeats, but they're both fun).

As usual, hope everyone is doing well, whether you read this or not, you know who you are.

Hope to see you all soon, best of luck with everything, go visit a country you have always wanted, you may only get ONE shot at Life.

Just another random thought I had which I felt like typing out, would make me feel better like all other rants I've had.

Despite of the list above, in
my shoes, in terms of my
parents, To finish school, get a high paying job, and
establish "respect" is what my folks have set forth as the basis of
Success. Due to this, I feel like I am somewhat failing in their eyes.
For a
flawless high school graduate -> college graduate, I should be able
to attain a Masters by the age of 24. However, I am a tad shy of my BA,
and a couple more years away from MA due to complications of the past.
Keep in mind they aren't the ones who are upset, but rather it is
myself who feels I have not done everything I could have.

- Tri

Few things that's popped in my mind lately, all opinions based from my experience in life thus far, nothing is meant to be offensive in this politically correct and over religious goals of today's society...

Today's Topic : Many random Black People, specifically American-born, rather than foreigners.

I don't believe I've seen anyone pull the race card out more times than a black people. I doubt there are any minor ethnicity out there that can comfortably create a tv show that is purely of one color other than black. I do realize they were enslaved, but so has every other culture in the world. If one was to go back far enough, I am pretty sure he/she would find one of their ancestors being enslaved. It is unnecessary to pull out the slavery card over and over for compensation. It is even a bit more strange to see black people today blame the great-grandchildren of slave owners for slavery. This might sound a bit ballsy, but Get Over It. No one is forced to be slaves on a cotton farm now, and universities from all over the nation present opportunities to anyone who has the willpower to work their way through it.

Money is NOT  (for most) a reason why one cannot succeed in college. Student loans are available everywhere, scholarships are listed by hundreds if not thousands, and community colleges are a great cheap start. It pisses me off that people say the system/their background/poverty/etc. is holding them back, when the opportunity to pull yourself from the bootstraps is available. My parents came over here speaking not a single word of english, and shared a 1-bedroom apartment slump with almost a dozen of my other family members who have ALL worked their way up to give their children, like myself, the opportunity to go to college and become a contributing member of society. Everyone has to start somewhere, and blaming a shitty future because of a rocky start is a waste of a life. You've already lost the war if you have already admitted defeat before trying.

I was watching an episode of survivor, and there is a contestant whose name was "Dreamz". A black guy who teaches high school cheerleading. They sat there in a hut, forced to sleep together on the floor while ants/spiders bit them, and eating nothing but coconuts and drinking stale water. His comment is the exact type of response that annoys me from certain black people. "This is paradise compared to my usual life, I don't think anyone here (other contestants) has suffered much in their own lives." As well as a series of other comments about being colored, hardships of being black, etc. (1) When were you able to peek into people's lives and experience what they did when you just met them? (2) Being a high school cheerleading coach is worse than wiping your ass with leaves, waking up with new rashes and bumps every morning, and forced to eat nothing but coconuts and stale water? Which America do you live in? I hate it when anyone pulls the "I have a much harder life than anyone else" bullshit. Everyone goes through shit in life, some worse than others, but just because you're black doesn't mean you have it the worst. People who have it the worst do not live in America. They do not get the chance to win a million dollars by being on a TV show. They are the people who crawl by life on a day to day basis. Last time I checked, cheerleader coaching wasn't exactly the most difficult job in the world. Stop bitching "Dreamz", what a stupid name.

We need more Real black role models in today's society. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are jokes, they're media-whores who like to pull the race card whenever the situation presents itself. Racism exists like it always has, ever since different ethnicities existed, and it always will exist. We don't need people who are screaming for media spotlight to use this reason to do so, it annoys the sh*t out of me. Real role models like the deceased MLK, intelligent, fair-minded, and mature. People like Barack Obama, or Condoleezza Rice, who has worked their way through the system and proves anyone can do anything if they put their minds to it. It is unfortunate that hip-hop/rap/popular culture dictates that it is cool to "pimp ho's", "cap fools", or  deal drugs. Not all black artists push this idea, but enough do to create a negative trend upon the black community. Rap especially pushes the idea of sluts, drugs, guns, and money. It is sad because there are young kids who actually look up to these music producers and take their lyrics as the rules of life.

My Theory about Saggy Pants

If anyone has studied the history of staple ethnic dishes of different cultures, they will be surprised to find that a great deal of them stem from survival. People are on the verge of starving and must make due with what ingredients they have on hand, which eventually becomes a common dish for that specific culture. What if the idea of Saggy Pants was from the same premises?

1) Most poor people are black. Don't believe me? Go Research.  (I am not saying most black people are poor)
2) I see more black people wearing baggy pants than any other ethnicity out there, but hey maybe it's just me.

You know when you go to shop for clothes on sale, the stores usually have only the extra-sized pants left most of the time? What if poor people went to shop for pants and all they could afford/find was extra-large pants? So instead of letting people think they look funny, they try to make a statement with what they have, and Saggy Pants was "cool". You know, like Billy Madison making those kids think that peeing in their pants are the new cool. The trend caught on, so you see many black kids wearing baggy pants on purpose now, as well as kids of other color of course. Pretty wierd right? Is it true? I don't know.

In the end, these are all generalizations. Will people disagree with me? Of course. They're just opinions. =)

- Sleepy Time, Cya

Tons of Quality Family time sums up my past half-year.

Waiting for the doctor's office to open with acute bronchitis and pink eye is a pain, but gives me time to update...random ranting really...

Few pictures (I don't recall where I pulled them from...my bad...)

Tokyo During the Night. Very niiice. High-Fighve!

Lots of work, but it looks pretty.

Stylish, Simple and modern. Just how I like it.

Website I use to blow time. (www.digg.com). It's a social news website, it is biased (e.g. anti-sony/anti-MS), but it's interesting nonetheless.

Websites I use to buy:
Cables. (www.monoprice.com)
New Electronics. (www.newegg.com)
Cheap Electronics. (www.ebay.com) - Who didn't see this coming...

I dropped the WoW-addiction a couple months prior to it's expansion. Anna quit with me too of course. Nursing school admittance looms over our heads and we gotta get in and graduate before we can work on our Masters. We applied a month ago and letters should be sent out within 90 days from today. I felt like I wasted a couple of years in Elec.Engineering, but at least I know where hopefully will be the right choice for my future career. CRNA, hospitals are always looking for some. Out of college pays 50-60/hr. Caps out around 110-120/hr (Rare). Median of around 120k a year. Things go right, Anna and I should pull a quarter of a million every year a few years from now. Sounds so near, yet it feels like it's light-years away.

Speaking of which, we all gotta be sure what we graduate doing is what we really want to do. Unfortunately my brother-in-law who is a Capt. in the Army, and a Network admin for a local hospital is planning to go back to school for a PharmD degree. My sister who graduated to become a Drug Rep. for Merck and Johnson and Johnson is planning going back to get an MD for pediatrics.

Christmas I was spoiled rotten, which I felt made up for the past 4 years of full-time school and work (Although having Anna alone is spoiling me enough ). XB360, PS3, Wii, 42in. Panny (Panasonic) Plasma. All sitting so pretty in our bedroom. Wii I sat early to reserve one, PS3 I planned to sell but decided to keep it (It's so sessy), XB360 was actually not planned, but a guy at the hospital sold it at a much more than modest price, completing the trio of Next-Gen gaming.

Planning on Repeats of last years trips. Vietnam in the summer with my Anna, and main-man Alex as well as a group of others. Possibly sneaking in a trip to Orlando on Spring Break to visit Disney World or Univ.Studios. Surprising my dad with a family trip to Hawaii to eat where the highest rated bowl of Pho according to my uncle, who owns a multi-million dollar vietnamese food chain in Cali. (Not trying to sound conceited, just saying the man knows how to cook ).

Don't know who still reads this anyways, I think it probably has more use for personal reasons to read back about myself when I grow older. (I was one of the few that signed up for the Lifetime account for Xanga...)

Hope all my friends and family are doing absolutely amazing, better than me would be ideal because pink-eye and bronchitis are no fun. Spoil yourselves once in a while, life is so so short.

- Adios amigos

A week ago, I came back from my 2nd anniversary with my beautiful lady. Not to underdo my first year anniversary on a cruise to Cozumel, I decided to take her to Hawaii.

Life is short peeps. Life can end today or tommorow, you never know. I'm making my A's in school for the future, everything's going fine. Why not live life to the max? I've told a good many of you, in my own belief... there is not a single thing that anyone could possibly convince me otherwise in the afterlife (if there is one) that is more real than this. Thus... let's enjoy it while we can. =)

Enough with the psycho-babble, and onto the trip with pictures!

To be honest, I was going to keep myself calm and get to Hawaii, expecting the usual things people rave about it. But to be honest again... it was more than I could ever expect. It was an amazing trip. Honolulu, Oahu is my exact vacation. Why Oahu?? Because it has more award-winning cooks, and more variety of food than anywhere else on the islands of Hawaii.

Let's start at the beginning. Flying to Hawaii, we go back in time, 5 hours to be exact. Thus giving us extra time in paradise. The plane trip sucked, American airplane food BLOWS. You pay 5$ for a box of crackers and salami. There is no such thing as a decent meal on US airlines vs my kickass meal on Korea Airlines on my Vietnam trip. Imagine...

US Airline Food Box:













Actual Korean Air Food:



























Many of you are probably thinking why the hell am I taking pictures of airline food. I like to eat and cook, so most of my pictures are foodie pix. The people sitting around me were looking at me wierd, and what kind of a loser I was taking picture of airline cuisine. But there was this cute Thai girl that sat next to me, whipped out her camera and also took a picture of her food and winked at me. =) Off to a great start in my opinion.

This shot of vietnam is actually a prettier part of the city. This park has several parts all in downtown of Saigon. Alex told me that this is "Makeout Point". I didn't believe him until during the evening, the park is PACKED with couples making out, and doing their love thing out in broad moonlight! Haha, so if a guy brought a girl to this place... the girls knows what's up.


























This shot is a simple shot off the coast of Waikiki where Anna and I stayed at. Just a short catamaran ride to get a view of the ocean and the whole coast of the island. Nice blue water, with nice white/bronze sand. 80 degrees all the time (85 degrees at night here in Tx). Just an awesome place to live to be honest.



























This little unit on the wall is what every room has in vietnam. No building has a central AC unit like in the US. Each room has this very efficient, very badass cooling unit. Larger rooms have larger standing units. I wish I could bring one back here, I bet it would save a lot of energy usage. Just use the remote control to set the temp, and voila it will kick right up and start working.


























This is Daewoo's newest sports car. Naturally the more well known car companies vary from country to country. I had a chance to speak a foriegn exchange student in the DFW airport, and his dad drives a SAMSUNG van. Haha, I wouldn't have expected that at all.


























Now, you all know ... if I won the lottery, I would still go to school for one thing. Cooking. Thien and I both enjoy doing it, and growing up in a restaraunt had nothing to do with it *snicker*. But seriously, I trully think it is one of the most simple, yet most satisfying things to enjoy in life. And that... ladies and gentlemen... is food.

These three shots are pictures of: #1 a "modern" vietnamese restaruant. Shot #2 is just an asian BBQ joint. #3 is this Pho place that is filled with wooden carvings with a sign that states "No good No Pay", also unspoken word is if you manage to eat 6 bowls of Pho here its all free. Each bowl was expensive in terms of vietnamese money. (2$ per bowl). The spices and the broth is very unqiue, and I highly reccomend anyone that steps into Saigon to try this Pho place out.
















































































These next 2 shots are food in Hawaii. First one is at the VERY VERY packed Duke's Beachside restaruant. Very reasonable prices (10$ per entree), with a full salad bar. Good food. And the 2nd shot was a random korean place Anna and I dropped in after walking around for a couple of hours. Once again, reasonable food prices (6$ per person). I wish I had a chance to load up pictures I took at Alan Wong's restaurant. The only upscale($55+ per person) restaruant that I would LOVE to eat there again. I have tried a good deal of expensive restaraunts that are worth the experience but not a revisit. I can say with confidence that Mr. Alan Wong will see me again. As soon as I can get my cell phone to load up pictures onto my computer, I would like to show you very artistic and tasty dishes I had the honor of trying in his restaraunt.





















































I will stop with food pix for now. But it is pr0n for me. Mmhhh...

We had a chance to go to the Ala Monoa shopping Center. Which ROCKED ASS. Hundreds of stores, and almost 100 places to eat at. This is hands down the best looking, most fun shopping mall I have ever been in. We had to go here on 3 different days. 4 Stories tall, part of it indoor, most of it outdoors. Architecture changes as  you walk through it, as if a team of different engineers made their own part of the mall a bit different than another.





















































Just a Ukulele store. From 20$ to 1200$ tiny guitars. 12-string anyone??


























Now I don't usually go for the "touristy" things when I vacation. But in Hawaii... I think Everyone must have gone to a Luau at least once while they are there. And for Anna and I, it wasn't an exception. So... without further Adieu... some pictures of Germaine's Luau.

Dancers... blurry, but they move so fast.


























Free drinks included with our meals = A warm n' fuzzy Anna and Tri.






















































I don't really think where you stay is important to the overall experience of the location you are staying at. However, I think it does add to the fun.

My room in one of Alex's Parent's Dozen houses in Vietnam.


























When I stay near a beach, I just want to have a few things. 1) A beautiful girl. 2) The smell and sounds of the ocean. #2 satisfied by our hotel that is right on the beach of Waikiki.


























Fruit is trully nature's natural dessert. Good for the body and soul, yet so so soooo tasty.
All the fruit in Vietnam completely whooped all of US's fruits asses left and right. Fresh, sweet, and very satisfying.

Rambutan:


























All the fruit in Hawaii is about as good in America with one exception. PINEAPPLES. If pineapple was ranked 1-10 scale. US mainland pineapple is a 6, Hawaii pineapples are an 11!! They are just THAT good. I've talked a couple of buddies who both are like me, after eating so much pineapple here in mainland, our throat starts itching, and it's sometimes sour. Hawaii pineapple, Everywhere I tried it was very sweet, and my trip to the Dole plantation filled! a meal of just pineapple. Delicious. Very naturally fresh squeezed pineapple with no perservatives.





















































Now a couple of shots of common things you see at both places...

Vietnam. Mopeds Mopeds Mopeds!!!


























Hawaii. Sand Ocean Sun!



























These next two shots are related somehow. Take a guess. =P




























































Give up? As you all know Lost the tv show is filmed in Hawaii. Naturally, Jin's (a character in the show) stunt double resides there as well. So why did we take a picture of his picture frame? Well, stunt double is only a part-time gig, not a full-time job. So what does he do? He sells Time shares. That is our picture right after we purchased one. Points can be switched to double-points for other locations in the Time-share system, meaning one week of our 5-star place = Two weeks anywhere else. =)

Anyhow... its 5 am, and I should head to bed and call it a night. I hope you all enjoy the pictures, I'll try to get more up soon. Take care, enjoy life, and till next time... Allllooooooohhhhhaaaaaa.

Last parting shot for Mr. Ho. He is famous in Hawaii after all...