Korean Sushi

I had dinner at Kaya Sushi in Marina Del Rey today with the UCLA girls. It was an interesting place with about 6 full pages of rolls including the Spicy Tuna Kimchee Roll, which was rather good. It’s kinda cool having sushi rolls, sunduboo, green tea, and bulgogi all in one sitting. Anyway, it was nice to catch up with the girls and I think we’re going to be seeing more of Miho once she moves to SD for grad school. Afterwards, I met up with the brother, Jon, and Janelle for a good laugh. I’m spending the night at the brother’s tonight to give the car a rest. Only two more days of camp left.

It feels like summer.

Seriously…it’s only for 3 weeks out of the whole year that I set my alarm for 6:00 am and I’m out the door to drive 54 miles before the sun rises. It’s for Camp. Today was the beginning of the second week and I ended up staying at Camp until 7 pm because a camper hadn’t been picked up yet. I would have had to stay longer but our boss came to relieve us. Only 4 more days and I will no longer need to fill out incident reports for bloody noses, babysit forgotten campers, or sort t-shirts. I will be relieved but again, sad that I’ll be done with this insanity. It’s been a fun 4 years but I’m soooo ready to hand it over to the next generation.

Weekend Recap

On Saturday, I loafed around and managed to finish 5 loads of laundry between my four-hour nap and watching Good Eats. In the evening, Johnny came over and we went to Debbie’s 30th Birthday Party, which was a “Black and White Ball” with everyone dressed in all white or all black. They went all out with a bartender, poker tables, and chocolate fountain. Happy Birthday, Deb!
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On Sunday, the Brother and I had a day in the suburbs complete with a neighborhood jog, breakfast at Denny’s, shopping at Target, shopping at the grocery store, and making chili at home. Exciting, I know. Jes came home from Vegas and we spent the rest of the evening watching TV.
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Despite the lack of excitement and adventure, I’m feeling well rested with clean clothes to wear and 3-days worth of lunches ready to go!

X Gizames

On Thursday afternoon, I went to Staples Center with the brother to watch the XGames. Johnny designed their media guide this year so he had some free passes to use. Gotta love free stuff.
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The XGames weren’t exactly the way I remembered it to be. A few years ago, I went to XGames in SF. I took BART over to the city and walked right in. It was more like a festival by the water just next to PacBell Park. There was shwag and No Doubt was playing on stage. This time, it was indoors in the Staples Center with not very many spectators and really limited viewing areas. It felt more like a TV production with camera guys everywhere and commercial breaks. I took about 250 shots and ended up uploading only a handful. I suppose that’s how you learn. Sports photography is tough when you’re stuck in the stands with poles and TV cameras in your way. The Flying Tomato, Bob Burnquist, Andy Macdonald, and a bunch others were competing and it was cool to watch them skate. At the end we even saw the legendary Tony Hawk in the media booth doing the play-by-play. It was weird since he was sitting only 10 feet away from us and it took at least 15 minutes for us to notice that he was there. Here are the photos I uploaded.

time to play

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I’m in the middle of Week One of Camp. I’ve been getting up at 6 am each morning and on the road by 6:30 am. It’s been rough but I sure am caught up on pop culture through Kevin and Bean and the news through the news radio and NPR.

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So far, everything has been going smoothly and the new coordinators that I’m sorta mentoring are doing great. Unfortunately, I’ve been stuck in the office taking care of the last bit of my paperwork duties. Luckily I finished everything today and I’m ready to be out in the sun. It’s hard work running around and hauling stuff but it sure beats being in the office behind a laptop all day.
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In addition to all the paperwork, I’ve been able to get outside for little spurts to take photos. We have this new “Camp Live” thing where parents can go online and view photos of their kid at camp…sorta. It’s sorta because I’m the one taking and uploading all the photos and it’s hard to keep track of who I’ve taken and who paid for the service. It definitely forces me work on my photog skills. Just wait until I bring my flash tomorrow. Heh Heh.

shuck, suck, and…chuck

On Sunday, we drove to Hog Island Oyster Co. located in Marshall, CA. The drive was long and almost nauseating but well worth it. Vyl and Bang reserved a picnic table and bbq and we all brought fixins for the oysters along with kalbi, watermelon, and plenty of wine/champagne. When you get there you buy raw oysters from guys at the counter and they give you a rubber glove and knife. It’s literally a day of shucking and sucking. I shucked a couple oysters myself and luckily didn’t lose a finger in the process. Raw oysters are actually pretty good. Vyl made a couple good sauces to top the oysters but I think my favorite was the basic cocktail sauce/lemon juice combination. I also enjoyed a bit of kalbi, rice, and kimchee to compliment the rawness.

It was a very pleasant setting with lots of good friends who drove over from the East Bay and SF. Susie and Victor even made it after Susie finished the SF Half Marathon that same morning. Unfortunately, I got a little too much sun and my shoulders burned a bit. On top of that, all the driving on the winding roads, dehydration, and the airplane ride kinda caught up with my by the end of the plane trip home. I kept my composure on the parking shuttle and then let it all go in the trashcan in the parking lot. Once more at home, a quick shower, and a nap made it all better by 10 pm. Ah…it was a good trip. Oh yeah, thanks for the ride to the airport, J!