Checking In

It's been a while so I thought I'd check-in for a bit. It's work as usual at the office, but the past couple of weeks I've been nursing a sprained ankle. I wish I could honorably say I got it while negotiating a tight turn on my mountain bike, spinning for a reverse layup in basketball, or sliding to home plate in a baseball game. But it was an uneventful stroll outside the post office and not seeing the curb...well I was reading something...aw, forget it...I sprained it out of stupidity. To add to the misery, I got sick a day later (the doc did run a flu-test on me and I was clear). Anyway, that's history. Anti-biotics cured my infection and I've had two sessions of physical therapy that have really done well for my recovery. My limp is pretty much gone although I still walk cautiously and I still wear protective wraps. I think the PT was right in predicting she could get me rehabilitated back in about 3-4 weeks.

Fort Worden

Fort Worden in Port Townsend is a beautiful place and the soldiers who first occupied it were very fortunate to have had this place of tranquility to go with their military service. I was there for the west coast kayak symposium and elected to stay in one of the dormitories. It's a little eerie if you think about the fact that this place had been in service since 1904 and I wonder about the different enlisted men over the years who may have stayed in the very room I was occupying. I had trouble sleeping the first night. One of the first things I discovered when I entered the room on day 1 was that....well....no TV. I've gotten so used to having a TV lull me to sleep that pure silence kept my mind too busy to sleep. I started thinking...."well imagine you're a convicted criminal and this is your jail cell.....or.....you're in a mental institution and you are confined to your quarters until you come to your senses." Eventually, I got tired and dozed off (finally!)

Friday morning was delightfully slow. I had breakfast at the commons, then attended a class on hypothermia. I walked around the military base for hours after that, taking pictures as I go. After lunch, I went to the beach for one of the kayak sessions and went on the water on a Gulfstream (by Current Designs). It's a nice boat and reminds me of the used Andromeda that I recently acquired (from Cascade CK). I tried a few more that day but none much to say. I was tired that night and had no trouble getting to sleep. The following day I joined an early morning group for a paddle. This time I tried a Nigel Denis kayak. It was a bit windy but luckily the NDK was maneuverable and so leaning was not a problem. I could have probably stayed for the day but I had pretty much felt satisfied will the activity so I drove home afterwards and spent the rest of the weekend resting and doing housekeeping at home. I've still got memories of Fort Worden and I know I will visit it again.

Labor Week

The past week was an odd week. Starting with an off day Labor Day Monday was nice, but Tuesday and Wednesday threw me into Jury Duty hell....there is a two day minumum, of which I fell into the pool for the first case of the day...the biggest one most likely. I could not get excused despite my desperate pleas (short of lying, which I could just not do...am glad that part of me still works) and with the prospect of being sequetestered for at least five weeks, morale started to really dip...until on the last couple of hours on day 2 when the lawyers finally did not see me as their type of juror...and suddenly everything again in the world was bright :). Thursday was the company meeting at Safeco field and like past years its a lot of presentations and energizers, but what's brewing up at reasearch is what I always look forward to...in the past Bill used to do the honors, but the folks from research are equally as enthusiastic and fun to watch. Friday was a "Day of Caring" and I was with my co-workers at an assisted living factility clearing up landscape. The week is over. zzzz.

Good Morning

The Apocalypse Song
(2007, Annie Clark)

Wait
I'll be swifter than the speed of light
carbon my body a billion years of time
you wake with stitches over both your eyes
and deny me my body and all earthly delights
its time
you are light
i guess you are afraid of what everyone is made of
all your praying amounts to just one breath
please keep your victory
but give me little death
its time
you are light
i guess you are afraid of what everyone is made of
so take to the streets with apocalypse refrain
your devotion has the look of a lunatic's gaze

Stroke Clinic

I spent this weekend in Dan Henderson's efficient forward kayak stroke clinic in Renton. The image above is a capture from Dan's video recorder. This is the first part of the clinic.....the video will be discussed later in class (where your forward stroke is disected and evaluated). We are then given assignments or adjustements in our stroke to work on when we get back in the water. I picked up a lot and improved my stroke. It's great to come home feeling you've taken a good step forward in becoming a better paddler.

Burn baby burn

In the first time in my life here in the US......I actually used the tub in the bathroom! Hey, it was a great idea.....was simply hot outside and what way to cool down than fill a tub with cold water and submerge. Did have the radio on for some entertainment ;)

Four casinos and a wedding

Ok ok so I'm playing with the title....it really is, by sequence, a wedding, crossover, and four casinos. More than a week ago I made a quick trip down to California to attend the wedding of an old friend of mine. It was a private ceremony so we really didnt get to see the bride and groom until the reception, which was done in a beautiful private residence in Atherton CA.

A few days after, my mom, dad, and brother paid me a visit. This was my mom and dad's first time in the Pacific Northwest. We made the standard Seattle stops on day 1 with the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. I sadly made the wrong estimation of not making any arrangements with the rotating restaurant, so we just went straight to Pike Place Market and then just had a late lunch at a Mongolian restaurant near my place. Before night's end, we travelled to Anacortes WA to get close to the ferry terminal.

The following day we got on the ferry and spent a day in Victoria, Canada....visiting primarily Butchart Gardens and downtown. My mom loves gardens so this was a real treat for her. We had a few hours before the return trip so we went to downtown Victoria and just walked around the wharf. The ferry ride back had a stop at San Juan Island and this reminded me of another return trip from BC that was at Lopez Island. It was that stop that planted a vision of the island in my head and not too long after that I was back at Lopez for my first kayak lesson.

Back in Seattle, the next day, we drove to Tacoma to the Museum of Glass. It had been just my second trip to Tacoma (the first was at Point Defiance) and first time at the museum. The highlight of the place was the Hot Room where there is a demonstration of glass making. This must be really popular in the winter time with all those furnaces!

On the last day, we had breakfast at Anthony's Homeport in Kirkland, then went to the Museum of Flight, where my mom and dad got to read up on a lot of history of not only Boeing, but aviation in general. Notable discoveries: a Corsair (from Blacksheep fame), an SR-71, Air Force One (the old one), and the Concorde.

Oh....and yes.....just in case you were wondering about the casinos. My mom loves playing the slots.....so even though it wasn't planned, we went to a different casino every night (midnight to two is what my mom considers the "magic hours"). We visited Tulalip (near Marysville), Angel of the Winds (near Arlington), Emerald Queen (Tacoma), and Snoqualmie (North Bend).

A Camp at the Crocodile

It's been at least a decade since I last visited the Crocodile. That one other time, I was just a tourist, but now I am a local (somewhat) and so it was nice to see the place still around (it did close and got new owners). It was a great show. Nina's voice was a little rough, but that actually made it better (if you ask me). They performed a lot of songs from Colonia. "The Crowning" is much better live ;).

Terry Gross in Seattle

I've been listening to NPR for pretty much my whole stay here so far in the Pacific Northwest and always look forward to hearing Terry Gross on the ride home. I've downloaded interviews from iTunes as well (loved her interviews with George Carlin and Conan O'Brien). It has to be that grandmotherly voice mixed with smart wit that makes her approach so captivating. On days when someone else is covering, when I turn on to listen to her Fresh Air program and hear someone else's voice, I always immediately switch off (nothing against the sub, but it's such a big void when it's not her). I don't think she's promoting anything, but she's doing some speaking engagements and happened to come to Seattle at the Paramount Theater. It was funny listening to people (and wow the place was full) whispering ("should I close my eyes", "should i not look?"). She shared a lot about her approach to interviewing, clips from conversations that were either funny, didn't work, or was simply amusing. It was also an opportunity to speak more about herself (something I'm sure a lot of us listeners have wondered about). It was an evening well spent.

Baseball Weekend

This weekend the Giants were in town to play the Mariners and I was fortunate enough to have acquired tickets beforehand (as in before Griffey announced his return to Seattle) and that probably explains why the locations I got were pretty close (first base side, foul ball territory). I just took a chance that my brother would be able to make the trip from the bay area and luckily he made it and so we were in the park Saturday and Sunday (Cain won Saturday, Zito lost on Sunday). I did also have a ticket on Friday and that was quite a special day because another returning Mariner, Randy Johnson, was playing. The folks here still appreciate him and cheered and stood up to acknowledge him. When he finally walked off the mound, he stopped and tipped his cap to everyone in each direction. That was quite a warm moment. The other two games was business proper....Cain threw a dominating number of strikes and got rewarded in the late innings when Sandoval, Uribe, and Lewis (finally catching up and getting his stroke back) produced. Sunday was the opposite with Felix Rodriguez dominating with strikes and Griffey giving everyone (including us) a nice show of that beautiful swing. Sunday's game also had a surprise player in Eli Whiteside who was called up from the minors to cover for Sandoval (sore elbow). He's got a quite a potent bat. I'd really like to see him get a shot at making the team as a regular someday.

KS at Port Defiance

I kinda sacrificed the backlight for this shot....but the mountain view was tempting. The kayak symposium at Port Defiance State Park was also my first visit to Tacoma. This place is a great spot....fine beach for launching and the water is calm. This event is bigger and has a very busy stream of people. The classes fill-in fast and i was lucky to get a spot in the edging clinic. It was a great opportunity to try demo kayaks and I took a couple of Necky models for a spin....er...paddle. I like the Manitou 14 composite. During the edging clinic I used a Hurricane kayak....not too happy with the absence of thigh braces.

Time to hit the water again

The weather is slowly coming into season. It hasn't been consistent, but I've done what I can to come out whenever there's a chance. This photo I think is from my fifth trip out on Lake Union. Ever since I moved my kayak to a new storage location on the marina, coming in for a couple of sunlight hours to paddle has been possible. Granted the traffic takes away a good hour, but there is now enough sunlight to make up for it. I still feel like a rookie, but I'm happy at the progress I'm making. By experience, I'm learning more about blade travel and angle. I've also been able to travel farther and longer and I think better mechanics with my stroke are working out. Still, I feel like a rookie. Edging and navigating through wind are points for improvement. I'm going to have to do better if I'm to do this in the bay area someday (where the wind is a constant).

KS at Port Angeles

I went to Port Angeles this weekend for the kayak symposium sponsored by Olympic Raft and Kayak. I really like the kayaking community in Washington state and the clinics or talks have been very helpful. I pick up a few new things all the time. I was on a mission, too, though.....I wanted to get a new shorter paddle so I can try a different stroke angle that I had learned from another clinic in Renton.

Sooooo.....yes, mission accomplished :).

Spring Training 2009

Yep, it's that annual ritual my brother and I take to watch some early Giants baseball. This year we watched a couple of games outside of Scottsdale Stadium. We watched the Giants play the Brewers at Maryvale Park and the A's at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. A side trip we did take while we were there was the local library. And wouldn't you know it, we got library cards!

Back in Manila

After being away from my country for more than a decade, I was very fearful of all the things I didn't know. Will the heat make me sick? Can I casually walk among people as I used to? Will I know how to go about town without looking like a complete moron?

I had chosen to stay in the city so I could walk around a bit the few days before the wedding. This going to sound silly, but the first order of business was learning how to cross the city streets like a local again! I just laugh at myself now when I remember this bit. I had to stand from afar and watch the people, and eventually I remembered (it's pretty much like a frogger game). Before I had left my mom and sister gave me their old money (I had some, too) and to the amusement of my friends, some bills are now coins (I tried to use it buying bottled water and the cashier gave me a puzzled look....."sorry, just kidding"). The heat was not as bad as I had feared, but I have to admit I still felt like I was "defrosting" the first two days.

It was great to connect with some old friends and just talking about the past makes one really appreciate how life, irregardless of however it's been. Sometimes I wonder if I'm still recognizable, but then you realize that there is always something that people record in the memory to identify (and identify with) you.

I had come to be the best man at the wedding of a good friend of mine and the reception toast was probably what made me nervous about the whole thing. I had tried to keep myself from rehersing and just keeping tabs at just the message I had wanted to say. I'm glad I found the words I had wanted to say when the time came, though I stammered a bit through it, sad to say.

The following day we went for the beach, a couple of hours from city proper. Having travelled to other places, I now have this very warm appreciation of my home country. Watching the sunset with this cool breeze hitting your face.....it's simply beautiful.

Home for the Holidays 2008

The journey back to the bay area this year was a bit of a challenge. I was supposed to leave December 20th but found myself among the crowd of people stranded at SeaTac airport because of a snowstorm. I had no choice but to go home and try again the following day, only to be turned back again as bad weather prevailed...by 4pm that day Alaska Airlines ran out of deicing fluid and cancelled all its flights (this made the news as Alaska represents almost half of SeaTac's flights). I was on Virgin America and our plane was actually stuck in Los Angeles, unable to get clearance to come to Seattle. In the end I was placed on a December 23rd flight that finally took off as scheduled. The day before I had already bought an Amtrak ticket as a Plan B...I guess I already know how I'm travelling home next year!

We spent Christmas eve at my old house in Hayward. My parents live there these days and so the feel really is totally theirs and it was a little weird walking the halls knowing this used to be home, and it still is, and it also isnt...right now anyway. The garden is absolutely better! (thanks, ma!)

New Year's eve we celebrated at my sister's house in Union City. It doubles as a birthday celebration for her as well. We played Mahjong to pass the time before midnight (I think I won a couple). New Year's day my old friends and I did our holiday party and exchanged gifts and played bingo!

The days in between I spent visiting or meeting with family and friends.....and playing lots of Xbox at brother's house....now I know why that Halo thing was such a hit :). Also did a lot of driving with Forza.

The trip home this time came through without a hitch and work resumed as I stepped in my office.....kinda explains why this entry is so late.

Arctic Breeze

We get a first dose of Arctic breeze this week. The temperature has already dropped and some snow has started to appear. I didn't drive down last month and so there's not much to report (hence the absence of a November entry). I've started to browse through my jackets and added the optional layering one of them.

Call!

Last week the company I work for sponsored a poker charity event and having missed last year's run I didn't want to miss this one. It was a chance to simualate the experience. I know it's not a pro event, but I was nervous and felt the cold in my hands as I placed each bet. I didn't think I'd last, but you know what......by the time they announced the raise for the second ante I was still playing. In summary, I won one hand (woohoo!) and lost two big hands (both bad beats when I had aces in one and queens the other), the second of which ended my run. I still felt like a winner, though.....I think I played my cards well, I wasn't the first to bust out, and the two players who were obviously the pros in the table asked me to reload and keep playing...and even shared poker lingo with me (no, I didn't know how to respond without looking like a fool so I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders). On the way out I grabbed another bottle of beer (oh....yes, they served beer and pizza, too!).

It's been a while

It's been two months since I last posted here and it's not for lack of any activity. My brother-in-law visited Seattle on business last month and I was excited to meet him and take him to Shakey's Pizza in Renton (a popular place from our past lives back in the Philippines) his first night. We had a bit of time the following day so we got to visit the Space Needle and the Microsoft Visitor Center before he had to get back to his company's local office. We had lunch that day at one of the mysteriously abundant teriyaki places here.

I got a chance to come back to the bay area for a brief weekend. Saturday I joined my brother and my friend, Thess, to watch the Treasure Island festival...to see Goldfrapp perform again :)...well, that's again for me as I also saw them perform at the Showbox the day before my flight. Alison did sound a little tired and her voice was a little rough the first few songs. So it scared me a bit when she started Utopia...which I was dying to hear, but still..... Anyway, the roughness was gone as soon as she belted that one (cleared the throat, I guess :)). At the Treasure Island festival, that was the first song she performed.

Sunday, Thess and I went for a drive down south on HW1 to take some pictures down the coast. Our itinerary was to reach Ano Nuevo state park, but that was more like a heading and we made stops whenever a place might have a calling (the beach above was about 5 or so miles north of the park). On the way back we made stops at the goat ranch and downtown Half Moon Bay.

Back in Seattle I took my kayak out for a trip one weekend around Lake Union. The season's pretty much over but for as long as the cold is tolerable I'll probably keep taking my kayak out before it goes into hibernation for the winter.

I do hope the sun continues to shine so I can paddle on my kayak some more....which come to think of it is a story I haven't even mentioned here. It's a Northwest Kayak Cadence LP. I've rented Northwest Kayaks before at Lopez island and have really grown fond of them. It's very hard to find one used in the market but I lucked out with a private seller at Friday Harbor. I enjoy the fact that this brand is local (handmade in their facility in Redmond)...which, as of this writing, is where my kayak is at...for rudder replacement (to switch to their new rudder design....alas one of the benefits of having the local factory in your neighborhood :)).

Return to Lake Union

After spending a number of days at Lake Union for my NWOC classes, it's become somewhat familiar territory and so I decided to come back this past weekend so I can keep working on my paddle strokes. But really, I just wanted to enjoy the water and since I was alone I didn't have to pace and I can hangout and float around. There's a lot of traffic in Lake Union and that's what makes it really interesting. Other than fellow kayakers and private boats, you have a float plane that lands and takes off in the middle of the lake (so watch that crossing!) and on occasion you might see row boats (single or group) or unusual crafts (well, unusual to me perhaps) like what looked like a kayak from afar but in close inspection looks more like a surfboard...I thought the guy on it had just flipped and might have been trying to swim back to the dock so I approached to see if he needed an assisted rescue (hey, great time for me to apply what I learned, right?) but turns out he really was just lying flat on the craft and paddling with his arms...I felt like a jerk as it appeared that I may have broken his stride and he had to lean up to take off his earphones....but after he realized I was just offering assistance he thanked me and went on his way.

What can I say? I'm new to the neighborhood :)