February 2014 Entry

For being the shortest month of the year, February felt like it went rather slow. But there are a few things that attributed to that. And I know I forgot a few things, ha.

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- Justice League: War came out on the 4th. It was great. Definitely one of my top favorites. Read my quick thoughts about it via the link below and check out the trailer if you haven't seen it yet.

https://www.facebook.com/arnell.ragasa/posts/10152291956231929?stream_ref=10

- A situation at work popped up starting around the 7th of the month. My friend/coworker was going through some personal things and it caused him to take a leave of absence from work. Although we didn't know he would be out for 3 weeks. During that time, I was asked if I could work more hours during the day (full time), but I couldn't due to my parents having car issues meaning I needed to go home after work so that they can use it if needed. But I was able to work a full week at the same hours at least instead of taking a day off as usual.

Not only was I covering from him, but I had to take on more tasks at work. That included a few more projects, doing more IT tasks (even though I'm not the best for that), and even participating in decisions and meetings. It didn't become overwhelming except for one day when I was already in the middle of doing 5 things and then was asked to do another. At that particular point, I could fully understand the pressure my friend had been going through for years at work.

Others at work were panicking due to his unforeseen long absence. I was actually asked why I wasn't working full time to begin with and was offered to work full time from now on, which I declined. To me, it was a bad spot we were in, but we weren't in any danger. We were able to carry on without him even though there were a few tasks we held off on because we just were unsure. If anything, it did show how valuable he is to the company and that they need to treat him better. He has since come back to work and I'm slowly helping him ease back into things. Glad to have him back.

We actually did have a couple of incidents at work that he wouldn't have been able to fix anyways. We had a case of smoke happening one morning. I wasn't there, but when I came in, I knew something had happened. Apparently the fire department just left before I arrived. The only victim to the smoke was a duplication tower that got fried. It wasn't that bad. The second time was worse. I was there for it. The smoke filled up the whole office this time. The fire department came again with more trucks. Our company and our neighbors all had to evacuate. The fire department did figure out it was a faulty a/c unit this time and the only victim again was a duplication tower. That lead us to rewire a lot of our electronics and have an electrician come in. Otherwise, we're fine.

- A friend of mine who loves karaoke put on another surprise birthday party for himself (on not his birthday) for the second time (not on the same day as the first). A few of us met the weekend before to plan things out. We also came up with a Valentine's Day theme. We figured it wasn't his birthday, why not make it not Valentine's Day also, ha.

The night was fun. Saw familiar faces I had not seen in a long time and met some new awesome people. I played the part of hype man throughout the night as well as the closing DJ for the final 2 hours of the night. The only sucky part of the night was that we filled the room to capacity so people had to be turned away. Although some snuck in by coming to the main room and then joining us in our room. It's a testament as to how many people love my friend and wanted to be there for him. Overall, a fun night filled with 7+ hours of karaoke.

https://www.facebook.com/darrellw/media_set?set=a.10152001035337569.1073741862.598587568&type=1

- Something was recorded secretly on the 8th. And another secret recording is happening in March. Trying to make sure it's good and ready before letting the rest of the world know.

- Spent the weekend in Dallas on the 15th and 16th. I was worried at first because I actually was coming down with something a few days before. That and I was sick last time we were supposed to go to Dallas back in December. I waited until the day of and the time I woke up to see if I was good to go, which I felt I was. At that time, all I had was a stuffy nose so I figured I was good to go. My dad dropped me off at my friend's, we dropped her dog off, picked up another friend (who overslept, ha), and headed off to Dallas. (during this recap, I forgot the name of places we ate so they will be left out)

We first met our friend that lives in Dallas at a burger joint. Burgers were alright, but it was good to see our friend after a long time. We then went to the Dallas Aquarium. It was very crowded. We went through the line to see all the see animals first since our friend was going to leave soon for other plans.

Towards the end of the Aquarium visit, my phone malfunctioned. Not only was the touch screen not working, but my contacts were also lost. Earlier on the way to Dallas, my friend pointed out that the GPS on my phone was acting funny. I had noticed a few other odd things happening to my phone ever since swapping to a new case. Fast forward to the Aquarium, I took a photo of a white alligator and the phone craps out. For the rest of the Dallas trip, my phone was only a clock.

After parking close to our dinner location, we walked around the area and went to the supermarket. I actually bought some Dayquil and Nyquil pills because I wasn't feeling that good. The others bought things also. Then we went to our dinner location, which had another restaurant upstairs. I was actually not feeling well throughout most of the dinner. For the most part, I had my hand to my head because I wasn't feeling comfortable. Not only that, but they got my dinner order wrong. Maybe it was the stuffy nose, but the misheard "salmon" for "same as him." It was odd seeing all the staff and cooks and even the owner start bustling around. But apparently my sick mood to them was how I felt about the service and food when it wasn't. In the end, they got my order out and it was fine. To compensate for their mistake, they offered a free drink, which wasn't much. A free dessert would have been nice, but no...just a free drink, which I declined. And on the way out, one of the servers gave me a very nasty look. That cemented the fact that I would not be going back there again. I wish I remembered the name so I can let all of you reading know.

Anyways, when dinner was wrapping up, I asked if I could be dropped off at our friend's apartment since I wasn't feeling well. I figured staying out in the cold for the Lantern Festival would have made things worse. They were cool with it. It was a nice apartment for one person. We tried to get the password for his internet so I could possibly look up how to fix my phone, but he had bad reception. My friends left for the festival and I hooked up my laptop to watch Running Man. I started to fall asleep through the episode and after that, I shut everything off and was falling in and out of sleep. Friends returned hours later. Dallas friend arrived later, but we were asleep by that time.

The next day, I felt a little better. Mostly the stuffy nose similar to how Saturday started. I skipped out on the breakfast plan. Once they returned and everyone was awake, we started catching up and talking. About an hour or so later, we headed off for King Spa.

After dipping into the hot tub, I felt way better. I waited for my friend to show him around and point out stuff. Then all 3 of us went around to different saunas and just relaxed. I did start feeling blah again, but certain saunas did help with that. Our Dallas friend also joined us after soccer practice. He enjoyed the hotter saunas. He even challenged me to a push-up contest, ha. I did 20 and quit. All of them were able to stand the heat better than I so I would usually be leaving the saunas before them. I did schedule a Swedish massage again. I needed it since my body felt like hell. After that, I finally ate the fish-shaped ice cream. It was pretty much an ice cream sandwich. No complaints from me as I like both now. I think we were there for about 6-7 hours. The 3 of us left and our other friend stayed longer to relax. I also gave him my free admission pass I got again from the massage.

The 3 of us then went to eat dinner at a Korean restaurant. The service was okay...but the food was good. I had a dish that had octopus legs, but there weren't that many. After that was the night trip back to Houston. More silly talk and questions rose. Overall, great car conversation. We dropped our friend off and then continued our way back home. I think I was dropped off at home...around 10PM...maybe closer to 11. It was good to relax at home.

And the next day I figured the simple fix for my phone. Those with iPhones, if your touch screen doesn't work, shut it off. That's all I needed to do. My contacts were still lost so I had to use a backup from September. That meant I lost texts and photos. Nothing major was lost.

- February was a big wrestling month. It started on the 11th with buying the latest Shawn Michaels documentary; Mr. Wrestlemania. HBK takes a look back at all his Wrestlemania matches (minus XX) and we get to see those matches in full. I thoroughly enjoyed reliving those great moments especially HBK VS The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXV. I highly recommend it to any hardcore HBK fan.

Then the Elimination Chamber PPV aired on the 23rd. Overall I thought it was good with the Shield VS Wyatts stealing the show. It could have ended better, but I'm still hoping for a payoff for Daniel Bryan some time soon.

And then the WWE Network launched the next day. I and a bunch of other wrestling fans had been looking forward to this on-demand service. $9.99 gives us full access to the vast library of history as well as new content live feeds and all PPVs live starting with Wrestlemania XXX. Sure, there were some issues at first, but you had to expect it. When I tried to sign up in the morning (during work), it took an hour before I could enter any information and it still didn't go through. I finally got it to work after work. I really like it. The live feed works 90% of the time, which is a very good rate. And the search works very well. The first WWE PPV I watched was Wrestlemania X-7 (from Houston), the first WCW PPV I watched was Bash At The Beach 2000 (where Jarrett laid down for Hogan), and the first ECW PPV I watched (while typing this) is ECW One Night Stand 2005 (the first one produced under WWE). And NXT ArRival was amazing. Those NXT Superstars are the future. I'm very impressed so far. The WWE Network can only get better. It's almost on in the background whenever I'm doing anything online.

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- It took a lot of StreetPasses, but I finally completed all of the StreetPass Challenges in A Link Between Worlds. I haven't touched the game since then (02.05.14).

- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U) - Review

 My first Wii U game of 2014 was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I picked it up on the 21st, which was a Friday, and played it for about an hour. I then spent the next day beating the game. I didn't expect the game to be as short as it was. It definitely was a great game. Check out my review on it. I originally was planning to go through all the extras, but that has been put on hold for now.

- I had taken a break from playing Shadow of The Colossus. Since I was more busy, I just didn't have time for it. Things have calmed down now, but the one thing that pushed me to get back into it was that Game Grumps started a play through of it. I haven't watched their episodes, but I will once I beat it myself. So on the 26th, I took down 3 more Colossi making the total 6.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/438855185746497536 (picture would not upload)

- Thanks to the popularity of Twitch Plays Pokemon, Rev3games decided to have some fun with it and do Twitch Plays Adam Sessler. I take fool credit in getting him to say "Dik Dik," getting him to eat fudge (but there was no fudge), and for getting him to staple his own penis. All callbacks to stuff he did on X-Play when it was on TechTV. It was great and hilarious.

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- I find it odd that ever since last month I could only upload photos straight from Twitter sometimes. This time it almost never happened. At least I have some photos backed up to my PC already. I just wanted to have my Twitter still attached to them rather than just uploading them. It seems like I might have to just upload them from my PC from now on though. At least Miiverse photos still upload properly.

- I only bought one hat since my last blog entry, the AJ Lee hat. I don't know if I'll get more any time soon, but we shall see. Here's a look at what I've got so far and what you'll see on my head throughout the year.

- I learned about the Bean Boozled Challenge from StarSlay3r.

After talking to a few friends about it, they were also interested in trying it. So I ordered a few boxes online and received them on the 18th. I can't wait to try them out with others. It's going to destroy us, ha.

- Team Grimmie RAWWKS!

Post by The Voice.

SNSD - Mr. Mr - MV

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

January 2014 Entry

Happy 2014, everyone. It's cold.

Note: I'll be adding a break in between sections to make it easier to tell what I'm talking about. After the intro, the first break will be about general life stuff that happened (going out, work, etc). The second break will be about gaming. And the final part will be any extra content and the standard closing message.

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- I had ordered a hat the last day of 2013. It arrived on the 7th. Fiend of Fauxx's BAKA hat.

I also ordered a hat the first day of 2014. It arrived on the 10th. $tress hat seen worn by Gary on episode 135 of Running Man, which featured Jackie Chan.

I noticed after getting these two hats that I've been collected hats over the last few years without noticing it. The $tress hat brought the tally to 8. And as of typing this (02.06.14), one more has arrived and another is on its way. This year will be the year I wear hats a lot.

- On the 11th, I went to a friend's place to help her organize her closet. I'm good at organizing things in general (work/home). I think I initially was just asking to hang out, but I didn't mind helping out.

It was a good time to catch up anyways. I mentioned at one point that the latest Running Man (180) made me want seafood so bad. But I wanted an authentic seafood restaurant, but Houston really doesn't have one. So we ended up going to one that we've never been to for dinner, Orleans Seafood Kitchen. It was good and loud due to football being televised. The food was good, but it still wasn't the authentic seafood experience I wanted.

- I'm pretty sure I mentioned a few work projects in previous entries. One was cataloging inventory and packing them up. At some point after I finished, I was told I was to destroy them. It took a good month before the finally bought me a sledgehammer for me to go nuts.

I started destroying things on the 14th. A few others got to destroy stuff as well. It was a great stress reliever. After a while, it was getting tiring. 3 hours into it, I had only destroyed 5-7 boxes. A lot of the time went to cleaning up since pieces would fly everywhere. And I was just getting worn out swinging the sledgehammer around. I also did get a few cuts even while wearing protective clothing.

After a day off, I returned and a coworker had brought his circular saw for us to use. The destruction location was relocated and we worked out a system. Since it was faster using the circular saw, he would fill up a trash can and I would go to the dumpster and dispose of all the debris. We of course decided to just do it for 3 hours a day because even though it went faster, we still were going nonstop. For me, going back and forth from the dumpster 20+ times a day amounted to a ton of walking (and lots of steps accumulated on my Wii Fit Meter, yay). Plus I told him I didn't want to use the saw out of fear that I would zone out and lose a finger, ha. Unfortunately, one of the parts of the circular saw was worn down. We started looking online and my coworker even went to a few nearby stores to see if they had a replacement. They did not. We ordered the part and we just had to wait.

We did attempt to use the circular saw the following day. It worked, but crapped out after 3-4 boxes. We ended up just going at it with regular hammers. That way we could both take part in the destruction and we could also take turns going back and forth from the dumpster although I was still the main runner. That was actually very fun to do. My wrists did hurt a lot afterwards, but we had to get it done.

The following Monday, we continued with using the hammers. We did face an issue with it being MLK Day. The dumpsters were all still full from the weekend. So we spent a lot of time walking to other nearby dumpsters and stuffing them as best as we could.

And then the next day was the last day. We used hammers again, but we also got the part for the circular saw. At this point it was mainly just CDs left and those were easy to destroy with either tool. And we completed all the boxes. It took a full week to do, which was twice as fast as my estimated 2 weeks with the sledgehammer would have gone.

Here's a before shot of all the boxes in the studio. (12.19.13)

And here is the studio after all the boxes were dealt with. The remaining boxes seen in the photo were later moved to a different room to be kept. (01.21.14)

100+ boxes, gone. You can see more destruction photos on my Twitter account.

- The weekend between the inventory destruction (01.18.14) I went with a couple friends to the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. I saw it on a link of places to check out in Houston and a few of us decided to go. It was really nice, but it was smaller than I had imagined. Still nice though. You actually had to remove your shoes to walk around the marbled area. I only took a few photos that you can see on my Twitter. Check this place out if you're ever in Houston.

https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/424670617397252096 (picture would not upload)

Afterwards we went to Main Event just to check it out. I actually found a free game of Terminator Salvation while going around hitting Start on random arcades, ha. After a few minutes, we went to Razoos for dinner. The wait was 45 minutes so we decided to go to our back up choice of Japaneiro's. Japaneiro's was also a 45 minute wait, but we stayed since we figured everywhere would have a long wait. Our food actually took a long time to come out as well (maybe an hour). We were told we were behind 2-4 boats (100 pieces of sushi). We actually joked about getting one of those, ha. To compensate for our long wait, our waiter offered us 2 appetizers on the house. Very nice. Shortly after, our food came out. I stuffed myself. I had not been that full of food in a long time. I actually felt dizzy, ha. We walked around the whole town center area afterwards.

We then went to Target so the others could buy a few things and then we ended up at Cafe 101 for some tapioca drinks. I ordered a hot grass jelly tea that actually started off hot and gooey, but after a while it turned into actual jelly. It was good and just an interesting drink/food to have. I'll have to get it again some time.

- Last month, I went with a friend to the WWE TLC PPV. A month later, I ordered the DVD. Oddly enough, the DVD wasn't available in Houston (the city the event happened in). Also, the TLC PPVs are only in DVD format in the States. They were only on Blu-ray in the UK. Very odd.

Anyways, I finally got my copy through Best Buy's online store. It was good to see what I missed from sitting ringside and the commentary. I didn't see myself in the crowd, but I saw my friend as he pulled up his camera to take a photo before the main event.

https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/426454720782151682 (picture would not upload)

- The monthly Game Nights continue. This one happened on the 25th and we were just a party of 5. We caught up with each other before heading out for dinner at Steak 'n Shake. When we got there, we saw a sign saying there was no running water. So we decided to walk to a nearby restaurant when we noticed that the parking lot wasn't full. We figured that the whole area didn't have running water and that's why it was easier to find parking, ha. We ended up going to La Olla. This location wasn't that far away. If I had not mentioned it in a previous entry then I'll do it now, La Olla is the best Colombian restaurant in Houston. It reminds me so much of Colombia.

Then it was a quick stop at Starbucks before I drove us all back to the apartment. We played Bears, Munchkin, Kill Doctor Lucky, and Catchphrase till around 1:30 in the morning. Munchkin proved to be a nail biter like last time. I also liked it because I was super buff for the majority of it, ha.

https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/427297593064837120 (picture would not upload)

Kill Doctor Lucky turned into Kill Ash Ketchum since one person brought his collection of Pokemon for us to use. I actually won using Metapod. I killed Ash in the Foyer with a powered up Monkey Hand.

https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/427316278127099904 (picture would not upload)

- The Royal Rumble (01.27.14) was fun. The opening match with Daniel Bryan VS Bray Wyatt was the match of the night. The Rumble was fun, but lackluster. And of course the audience (and the internet) got deflated when Daniel Bryan wasn't in the actual Rumble match. And that unfolded a series of events that make this an interesting/odd time in wrestling. Hopefully things turn out okay before Wrestlemania.

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- I wrote a list of my top Games of 2013. It's only lengthy because of the numbering. If my gaming continues on like it did in 2013, I'll make another list like this for 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/WingedVoX/posts/561791937242144

I also learned a couple things while writing that list up. One was that I beat 6 Zelda games in 2013.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Oracle of Ages/Seasons

Legend of Zelda

Wind Waker HD

A Link Between Worlds

And since I started writing full reviews again, I found out I only did 6 despite beating so many games in 2013.

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

Sonic Lost World

Super Mario 3D World

A Link Between Worlds

NES REMIX

- On the 3rd, my Legend of Zelda Box Set: Prima Official Game Guide arrived. If you read the last entry, this was my Christmas gift to myself. This thing was heavy and magnificent. See the rest of the unboxing photos on my gaming Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/419230027029704704 (picture would not upload)

- I did another unboxing on the 7th as my copy of High School DxD First Press Limited Edition (3DS) came in the mail. And as stated earlier, you can see all the unboxing photos of this and other future items on my Twitter account dedicated to gaming.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/420676854333206528 (picture would not upload)

I also ended up beating Super Mario 3D World 100%. Every single bit of the game is done. Tons of lives were lost on Champion's Road. It was an amazing challenge to end the game on.

- Mega Man X2 came out for the Wii U's Virtual Console service. I downloaded it on the 2nd at the discounted price and beat it 100% on the 8th one more time.

 - Senran Kagura Burst (3DS eShop) - Review

I finally beat Senran Kagura Burst. I beat the Hebijo storyline earlier in the month and then beat the Hanzo storyline on the 21st. You can read my review of the game with the preceding link. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

 

- A friend of mine was selling some of his Nintendo collection and I was able to get a couple that had been on my wish list for a long time. Those being Gargoyle's Quest II (NES) and Demon's Crest (SNES). I initially was going for just Demon's Crest because I didn't know he had Gargoyle's Quest II. The person that initially wanted that dropped out and I snatched them both up. I met up with my friend on the 24th to get the games.

https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/426850494498082816 (picture would not upload)

The next day I searched for Gargoyle's Quest on Game Boy on eBay. It arrived a few days later. I already had the VC cop on my 3DS, but I wanted to own all three in physical form.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/429006088097112064 (picture would not upload)

- Since there was no major games I wanted for January (next game I want is Tropical Freeze that comes out late February), I looked at some games I owned I haven't beaten. Out of three, I chose Shadow of The Colossus. I'm slowly going through it. As of typing this, I've only downed 3 Colossi. I'm liking it and it's holding up well for a PS2 game.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/428730069758914560 (picture would not upload)

- And on the 30th, I downloaded both Spin The Bottle: Bumpie's Party and The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past. Both were discounted. I can't wait to play Spin The Bottle with others some day and when I have time, I'll run through my favorite Zelda game for the billionth time.

https://twitter.com/WingedVoX/status/429000593110102017 (picture would not upload)

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- So other than January being cold, it's been nice. Other than everything I mentioned above, I actually have been making headway with in planning a secret project I've mentioned before. In February, the wheels have been turning and stuff looks like it will happen. Please stay tuned for that.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

December 2013 Entry

The final month of 2013 was quite busy. A little more than expected, but all good for the most part.

- A friend invited me out of the blue to an art exhibit and then the zoo at night on the 8th. Glad he asked because I was feeling bored that day. We met up and walked over to the Gaia Marshland Art Exhibit at Rice University. It was the last day for the exhibit to be open. I thought it would be a little bigger, but it was interesting. You can see his photos he took via his flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/b2tse/sets/72157638549006775/

Afterwards we ate and then went to the zoo for Zoo Lights. They decorated the zoo with Christmas lights all over. I always knew about it, but never went. Thankfully the weather wasn't too cold that night. Lots of great light creations made. I actually filmed the whole hour we were there. I took some photos as well, but mostly of the live giraffes that were in their holding area. We also saw an elephant from far away as well as here a lion growl. It reinforced that I want to go to a zoo and interact with animals again. It has been a long time since I last did that.

- Friends had a Housewarming Party on the 14th months after having moved in. It was fun. Haven't stayed out this late in a while with friends. Hot pot, Bears, Kill Doctor Lucky, Game & Wario, Nintendo Land, silly talks. Good times.

A week later, a few of us gathered again to play Munchkin Legends. It took a while to figure out how to play and then the game took a good 3 hours to play. It should have ended at least 30-60 minutes prior, ha. So many false finishes.

- On the 15th, a friend and I went to attend WWE's TLC pay-per-view. I always have tons of fun at live events. I bring my Rated-R title, wear a wrestling related shirt, and scream my head off with the thousands in attendance.

There were a few gripes. There were audio issues. And there was an unsavory fan sitting behind us getting mad at the concessions worker getting in his way trying to sell beer etc. Other than that, it was a fun event. All my predictions were correct except for the final match which crowned Randy Orton as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. A shocking ending, but I'm glad they just didn't go the safe route with John Cena.

On the way back to the car, we ended up joining other fans at the garage exit where the wrestlers were leaving from. I don't remember everyone we saw, but I'll rattle off who I can remember. Everyone was in cars except for the first person I saw. There was Michael Hayes, Vickie Guerrero (reacted the best to us), apparently Fandango and Summer Rae, Tensai, Brodus Clay, Renee Young, apparently either Stephanie McMahon or AJ Lee, Booker T, Antonio Cesaro and apparently Jack Swagger, and a few more I can't recall. During the half hour we were out there, we noticed a big shuttle bus driving around. Eventually it parked close to us and lights and a camera crew were getting ready. In the end, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella came walking out and onto the bus. Bottom line, it's possible we can be on season two of Total Divas for a brief second, ha. We left after that.

- I was supposed to enjoy a 5-day weekend off of work starting on the 21st. Unfortunately I got sick the night of the 22nd after having dinner with a friend. The cold front did come in that day too. Being sick cancelled plans the following Monday with friends from out of town. We were going to visit Sensei's grave, visit our friend's macaron shop, and mainly play games with her family. The sickness didn't go away for Christmas either. I had to skip a family Christmas Eve party unfortunately. At least I started to feel better Christmas day.

The hardest part of having the flu for almost a week was that I couldn't fall asleep. Sure, having my body racked with pain from the constant coughing sucked as well as not being able to keep down any food, I just wanted to be able to fall asleep and I could not. Nyquil's sleep effects did not work at all nor did any other sleep aids (leaving a podcast running for white noise, melatonin, nothing worked). My body was either too hot or too cold and I was never comfortable enough to fall asleep. At best, I'd get an hour for the first few nights before I got better and all of those times I woke up drenched in sweat. The easiest time I was able to sleep was when my dad gave me hot scotch (or was it whiskey...don't remember) with honey. For one thing, that was strong to drink down. Two, it actually did the trick and I was asleep about 15-30 minutes later. For a while I was only able to sleep while reclined like in a hospital bed with 3 pillows under me because my heart rate would jump up for some odd reason if my elevation was any lower. I slowly had to adjust back to normal once I started to get better. I was losing it from the lack of sleep. It was similar to how 2012 started and I couldn't sleep because the boils were too sensitive. Yeah...sleep is a great thing to have back. I still haven't recovered all that lost sleep yet since I feel overly tired throughout most of the day.

I only got one present for Christmas from a couple of aunts (Best Buy gift card, used to purchase High School of The Dead on blu-ray). But I got parcels in the mail on Monday. I was too sick to open them on Monday so I opened them on Christmas day. One was my Cloud/Akira shirt from TeeFury. The other was my blu-ray copy of Dear Mr. Watterson. I actually didn't know it was the blu-ray since I was expecting other items I ordered to come in the mail soon (thought it was my Club Nintendo prize, which I got a couple days later). I finished watching it (including the extras) on Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it.

And as I do every year, I bought myself a Christmas present. 40% off and a $50 gift card (given at a work lunch party) was a deal I could not pass up. It had been on my Amazon wish list for a while.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804161380/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

While I was feeling better by Friday, I had already cancelled weekend plans to go to Dallas again with a couple of friends. I didn't want to have a relapse while out of town. We were going to check out a few museums on Saturday and then spend the day at King Spa. That would have felt so good. So this flu (that a lot of other people caught apparently) ruined a lot of plans I had for the end of the year. I'm all better now at least.

- As far as games are concerned, I didn't play as much as November, but still played a good chunk. 2 VC games I downloaded were The Legend of The Mystical Ninja and Super Punch-Out. Both were SNES titles I previously had on the Wii so these were discounted.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) - Review

An absolutely amazing adventure. I beat it 100% for my one and only play through. Most satisfying game I've played in 2013.

NES REMIX (Wii U eShop) - Review

A great challenging mix of nostalgia. A little frustrating at times, but good fun.

And a month after beating it, I went back and started the process of 100 percenting Super Mario 3D World. Almost there. That will be my first big gaming achievement of 2014. And at some point I need to finish Senran Kagura Burst. I have time. The next game I plan to buy is Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (02.21.14)

- 2013 is over. Was it good? Kind of. Better than 2012. I really don't know what to think about it. I started with ambitions and goals and again...none of it came true. Whether it was my fault or the fault of someone else, none of those goals happened. One was to be part owner of a dance studio and the other was being a producer/director of a TV show. Despite things not working out for me in the past, I always stuck with never quitting entirely, never lay down and give up. I do feel that over the years that it takes a little longer for me to get back on and try something new. 2014, I will be trying something new again. I'm highly motivated to do it, but I can't help but think back on past failures. Chalk them up to learning experiences, but I don't want this to fail as well. I just hope the small team I've gathered so far will pull through and make things happen.

I initially wanted to make a long rant about one main thing that bothered me the most in 2013. I actually thought a lot about it a lot on December 31st and felt sick to my stomach with how things turned out. I came so close to doing a CM Punk style pipebomb and just let it out. I think I'll let it pass, but at some point I might just put a few people on blast so others don't get mistreated.

One great thing for sure was getting back into shape. While it has only been for the last 2 months of the year, my body feels better. My back feels better, but it is still not back to full mobility. My heart is still a mystery, but it has definitely been better than the last couple of years when those issues began. Wii Fit U has done wonders.

Also, for the first time in 31 years, I did not celebrate New Year's Eve. I probably would have gone done something were I invited, but I also didn't have the energy to call around and see if any friends were doing anything. I did however spend it online with a game community I'm a part of. We watched a series of videos of a play through of a game that brought us all together. They're a fun community.

Do I have any goals or resolutions for 2014? Yes. The new thing I want to start is one. Continuing to get my body back into shape is another. Those are the most important. All I can ask is for the support of those that care to help push me forward to achieving these and anything. Support...THAT is something I always yearn for more of because I really do believe that with the proper support, I can do anything.

See you in 2014, everyone.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

November 2013 Entry

November has come and gone. For some reason it felt like a long month.

- A friend and I drove to Dallas on the 15th to try out a Korean spa called King Spa. We actually took her dog with us who was very well behaved in the car. After a smooth 4 hour drive, we dropped the dog off at a dog shelter before heading to the spa a few minutes away.

Shoes off and into the locker room to get nude for the bath/shower/hot tub area (mandatory in the bathing area). I remember the talks about going to this place, the big concern was the nudity. It was a couple minutes into the locker room before I saw someone nude and I was over it. It's just like any men's locker room pretty much. Yay, public nudity. Showered up and then soaked in the hot tub for quite a while. It was tough to leave the hot tub since it was so relaxing.

Met up with my friend in the main area. The main area had plenty of seats, couches, and recliners to relax in. You could watch TV (I recall seeing Barefoot Friends and Heirs playing), jack into their internet spots, eat in the food court area, and partake in the many different saunas. We went through all the saunas throughout the day (except one that was out of service). I'll just list the order we/I did things as best as I can remember it.

Yellow-Soil Crystal Room (nothing special, but a good starter)

Infrared Room (even less special, people were snoring in there)

Ice Room (it's like a freezer you see at a convenience store)

Pyramid Room (warm, ceiling goes up to a pyramid point)

Salt Room (warmer)

There was 1 other sauna that I can't find the name of (progressively warmer)

Bul Ga Ma Room (even hotter)

Oxygen Room (the air really was good in there)

Base Rock Room (very warm where you can lie down on the heated bricked areas)

Pine Salt Room (very simple and warmer than the Base Rock Room)

Fire Sudatorium (extremely hot)

I did get a scrub while I was there before going to those last three saunas (I think). The scrub was done in the shower area. Basically I had my skin (all of it) scrubbed by a scrubber using a certain type of glove. It really did get the dead skin cells off as I could feel them coming off. I even saw them laying in a few clumps on the area I was laying on. Took a bit for me to relax because...well, I was nude having a dude scrub me. I just started singing songs in my head while relaxing. Overall it was very good.

After that hour, I met up with my friend who was relaxing in the recliner area. I scheduled a Swedish Massage and then I went to eat since she already did. I just got spicy ramyun, nothing special (next time I'll get something different).

We tried the 3 hot saunas. We did make friends with a couple in a previous sauna and re-met them in the Pine Salt Room. We asked about the super hot room and we were told "hold your breath before you go in because it will suck the breath out of you." They were not kidding. We stayed in there for less than 10 seconds...twice, ha The first time I think we were just in shock. She ran out right away and I walked all the way in and back out seconds later. Crazy hot. We decided to try it again and make one lap around the tiny hot room. We did that, but my goodness...that was extremely hot. Anyone that visits the spa needs to just experience that at least once. I made a pit stop at the Ice Room to run a few laps and cool down.

We did check out the movie room. Different times were scheduled for different movies. We went in when they were showing Super 8. By the way, there is a kid room for parents to drop off their kids. Not much in there. We then split as my friend went to do her scrub. Minutes later I went for my Swedish Massage. Very relaxing hour. I did get a voucher for a free massage. It was for a few weeks after and I knew I wouldn't be going that soon again (mailed the voucher for a friend to use that was planning on going).

I seemed to be the only person wearing my key around my ankle, ha.

One final shower and hot tub session for me before changing back to civilian clothes and waiting for my friend. We had been there from noon to 7PM and it was incredible. Definitely going again. I recommend it to anyone that needs to get away from everything and just relax.

http://kingspa.com/index.php

- The following weekend, that same friend and I participated in the Via Colori Scavenger Hunt. The Via Colori event was where artists were drawing great works of art in chalk along the sectioned off streets. The weather had unfortunately brought on a late start and even causing some artists not to show up the first day.

We took a look at the scavenger hunt card and just kept a few things in mind while making our first trip around the area. I think when we discovered our first item (a granola bar booth), we got excited and started to specifically hunt things down. I suggested we also take photos of everything we found just for memories. We ran into another group of friends that were there and they didn't do that well. They had 2 items while we had 7-9 by that time.

After a few more round within 3-4 hours, we decided to call it a day after finding a third of the scavenger hunt items. Ended up meeting another friend after a stop at the grocery store, had dinner at La Olla (which ended with a great piece of flan), a trip to Walmart, and then chilling.

Day 2 of the Via Colori event included 2 more friends. We first met up, ate at Brunch Cafe, and then headed out to the streets of Via Colori. More of the artists had made it and more of the art work was nearing completion. We went around once for the other 2 to see what was going on before looking for scavenger hunt items. Our list was nearing completion after a few hours, but we unfortunately could not find 3 of the things on the list. We still turned it in anyways. A lot of stuff happened and a lot of the art was amazing. My friend took a lot of photos of the street art. You can see some of them via the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.759828827376664.1073741835.727155707310643&type=1

We ended the event eating Pho and then splitting after retrieving our cars. I ended the day watching Survivor Series.

- A coworker received a job elsewhere for much higher pay and to do what he likes, editing videos. I actually let him have my toy championship title for his last week and even brought my Rated R title on his last day.

 He also arranged to have drinks with some of the guys after work. I joined up with them at the Flying Saucer. I had myself a Big Sky Moose Drool. I remember asking a couple coworkers how they proposed to their now wives and those were good stories. And as we were all leaving one by one, we were wishing our former coworker well in his new job and that he deserves it. Congratulations, Brandon.

- I did get a lot of gaming in this month. One game that's not on this list of reviews is Senran Kagura Burst. I didn't beat it because it came out right before Mario and Zelda did and those 2 got priority. But I'll properly review that game when I do finally beat it and make mention of watching the anime series beforehand.

And I also downloaded and beat Contra III: The Alien Wars. It was re-released  on the Wii U's Virtual Console so I got it at the discounted price. By the way, the ability to link and save Miiverse photos is gone now so I won't be posting those anymore unfortunately.

The following are the reviews of the games I beat in November. Click on the links to read the more detailed reviews.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destines (3DS) - Review

I very much liked this game. It just felt great jumping back into the crazy world of Ace Attorney. The DLC was good too.

Sonic Lost World (Wii U) - Review

Did...not...like...this...game...at...all. Waste of money. Don't waste yours.

Wii Fit U (Wii U) - Review

Kind of odd to review since it's a fitness program/game. But I am using this as my main means of exercise. A month later, I feel better. Slowly losing a few pounds (yes, I've gained weight) and I'm slowly regaining flexibility and mobility in my back thanks to the yoga exercises.

Super Mario 3D World (Wii U) - Review

Such an incredible and fun experience. There is so much to like about this game. If you have a Wii U, you need this game.

- And in honor of the Korean girl group SES celebrating their 16th year, one of my favorite songs of theirs.

- November was pretty good. 2013 is almost over. Kind of crazy. Let's have it end on a nice note.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

October 2013 Entry

October will mainly be about 2 things. While other things happened like a baby's birthday and a few games I played (I beat Wind Waker HD), the following 2 things were the most important.

 

- Two friends finally got married to each other on the 19th. I met them both at UH and they've been together for at least 10 years. It was great to see them finally get married. The ceremony was nice and short. There was actually a 4 hour gap in between that and the reception. So I just went home to relax.

I did go to the reception hall a couple hours early to set up video cameras. It was there that I met the bride's aunt who was coordinating the reception and established a good communication line. It didn't take that long for me to finish setting up the video cameras, but it was a good thing I was there early. The bride's aunt needed extra help outside of all the help that was already there so she asked me to assist her. I ended up being a liaison between her and the newly weds and became an usher helping another attendant showing people where they were to be seated. That was draining, but I was glad to help out and be a bigger part of this event.

Once everyone was seated and the wedding party made their entrances, I then sat with friends even though I wasn't assigned to that table. Good food, good talks, good dancing, good fun. I actually was asked to provide the speech for our table even though we voted between me and another guy at the table. But when they finally came to our table, the photographer (bride's uncle, coordinator's husband) gave me the mic while I was tying my shoe, ha. I still involved everyone else at the table anyways.

I also caught the garter...again. That makes 5. I'm going to stop catching them from now on.

As the reception was winding down, some of us made plans to continue the party. I was hesitant to go, but it was good to hang out with some new people and friends I had not seen in years. Trying to reconnect with a few of them.

I also volunteered to drive one of the groomsmen home since he lived closer to me than the best man. Unfortunately, the best man's car got towed and we had to search for it. I will say that that was the best towing line I've ever been a part of. At least 5 other people (some with friends) were there to get our cars and everyone was just complaining and then having fun making jokes and anything to just not feel horrible. It was great. We got the car back, split ways, I dropped the groomsman home, arrived home around 4AM, drank a lot of water, and went to bed around 5. I did wake up 3 hours later and was tired all day. Good thing I didn't have anything to do.

Congratulations to my friends for getting married.

- In last month's entry, I mentioned how I learned about my high school Japanese teacher, Yoshiko Brotherton, passing away last year. My emotions were all over the place ever since finding out about this and it was hard to control at times especially when I was alone. Me typing this out is for therapeutic reasons as well as to honor her.

I spent the last couple weeks of September trying to contact as many of her former students as possible. I told them about Sensei's passing and that I was going to arrange a date for us to visit her.

There was one week where I called the funeral home where she was buried at. I mainly called to figure out visiting hours, but I ended up asking other things. The woman on the other end was very consoling, which I imagine she gained lots of experience having to deal with many families over the years. I think she could tell in my voice that I was having a hard time talking at points. She enlightened me on the private ceremony that was held the year Sensei passed and even searched for her obituary for me. I had to call again the next day since I didn't receive it. The same woman answered and also answered a few more questions I had. The next day I spent emailing those I contacted with information on when and where we were going to visit Sensei as well as send them her obituary. It was a nice read and spoke very highly of her so I figured they needed to read it as well.

Throughout the month...I was just emotionally out of it. I'd go from happiest of times to depressed thoughts over and over again. As much as I could, I would just mask myself and just continue on as normal, but there were days I just couldn't. There was one day that I was crying on the way to work. There were many nights I couldn't sleep. Any time I wasn't doing anything, I almost immediately thought about Sensei.

I had to do a few things to help myself not get sad all the time and (to me) honor her in some small ways. I had to stop listening to Japanese music. I was okay for a while until I watched the latest Girls' Generation Japan tour. They sang 2 sad songs back to back and I couldn't help but cry and think of Sensei. I tried to avoid other Japanese related things if I could. I also wore black hair ties on my arms the whole time like how I've seen wrestlers wear black arm bands when a wrestler has passed. And I dedicated every 100th tweet to Sensei.

I did talk to a few friends about this just to vent and get some advice. Honestly, learning of Sensei's passing made me think a lot about my life...and how it's not what I wish would be. I pictured myself talking to Sensei and thinking of what I would be talking to her about my life. Most of it boiled down to things I've tried that didn't work out. While some have pointed out that I have done some great things, a lot have still ended in failure.

And with thinking about this, I chose to cut out a few things in my life. I left The Game Fanatics on the 13th. While it was great working with them, the end-game goal was no longer there (for me). I can recall previous posts this year asking for you the reader to stay tuned. I don't recall if I ever said what it was (although I've told people in person), but that's not happening anymore. Not only that, but it became increasingly stressful and I didn't feel the appreciation for all the hard work I put into it. Ever since leaving, I felt a big weight lifted off me. The door is open for me to return, but that's not in the foreseeable future at this moment.

There are other things I cut back on, but I'm in the process of trying to figure out what else I should do in terms of business and relationship. Sensei's passing has woken me up to the fact that I just change things for the better.

A few of us went to visit Sensei's grave on the 26th. She passed last year on the 23rd so this seemed like a proper time to visit her. Unfortunately a lot of her former students could not make it for multiple reasons. I have offered to go with those a separate time whenever they're able to. In the end, there were only 4 of us there. I also called one of her former students that is teaching in Korea and he gave a few kind words over the phone. Myself, I just stood there thinking. It really hit me seeing her name there. I almost broke down right there. Eventually we all started sharing stories and had a good time reminiscing over the great times we've had and the fact that we're all friends because of Sensei. And that's what I wanted to happen with more of us there. Most of us that became friends through her class are still friends today. That's over 15 years of being friends. It's amazing and it's all because of her. It was really good to visit her.

On the morning of October 29th, I had a dream where a friend (another former student of Sensei's) came to visit her. Although I ran into him at a parking garage and he was dressed oddly, not his usual style. I gave some greetings to him and was making fun of how he looked when Sensei came from a door and said hello to us. I told her why I was laughing and asked how to say "punch him" in Japanese. She and I ended up laughing and sitting on the ground. She then pulled me in for a hug and said "thank you for visiting me." I started to cry in that dream and I immediately woke up with tears streaming down my face. I took a nearby towel and cried into it for about a minute thanking Sensei for visiting me in my dreams.

I can go on and on about Sensei. I seriously could and I know I'm not saying everything here. She is without a doubt the best teacher I've ever had. I considered her another grandmother and actually planned to invite her to my wedding whenever that were to happen. She's an amazing teacher, a wonderful woman, and I'm sure a great wife and mother/grandmother. I thank her for teaching me, believing and encouraging me to do what I want to do, and for being the catalyst for some of the great friends I've ever made. Arigato, Sensei Brotherton.

- And that is it for October. One of the more emotional months I can remember having. I can say that my heart and my mind are more at rest after visiting Sensei's grave, but more so after that dream I had. While I still am in a wandering stage, I'm hoping for something to properly lead me in the direction I need to be going.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.