Cheating Day Diary 3

It has been 2 days since last time I cheated, and I did really well eating lots of protein and vegetables. My abs started showing again with extra room in my pants. Sounds like another reward time for me.

So on 6/29, nearing the end of Ramadan, I found a Brazilian meat buffet in Jubail. Well, as long as I watch carb, I should be okay... endlessly justifying myself while waiting for a driver.

Brasa de Brazil. I'd be surprised if they serve pork, haha. Of course not, obviously. 

Starting with simple apetizers, I think I'm done cutting carbs. Forget about it.

Grilled meets on the stick. I'm not sure whether the guy sitting there was Indian or Arabic, but he showed me how to call the meat delivery guys. I was supposed to use that red-green thingamajig on the table.

And I ended my sinful meal with grilled cinnamon pineapple and sweets. It was 190 SAR (~$50). Yes, for the same price, I could get a lot better food at Texas de Brazil. Well, this is Saudi. What do you expect? I just appreciate that there is a Brazilian restaurant in my town.

Cheating Day Diary 3

It has been 2 days since last time I cheated, and I did really well eating lots of protein and vegetables. My abs started showing again with extra room in my pants. Sounds like another reward time for me.

So on 6/29, nearing the end of Ramadan, I found a Brazilian meat buffet in Jubail. Well, as long as I watch carb, I should be okay... endlessly justifying myself while waiting for a driver.

Brasa de Brazil. I'd be surprised if they serve pork, haha. Of course not, obviously. 

Starting with simple apetizers, I think I'm done cutting carbs. Forget about it.

Grilled meets on the stick. I'm not sure whether the guy sitting there was Indian or Arabic, but he showed me how to call the meat delivery guys. I was supposed to use that red-green thingamajig on the table.

And I ended my sinful meal with grilled cinnamon pineapple and sweets. It was 190 SAR (~$50). Yes, for the same price, I could get a lot better food at Texas de Brazil. Well, this is Saudi. What do you expect? I just appreciate that there is a Brazilian restaurant in my town.

Cheating Day Diary 2

I cannot believe I cheated for two days consecutively. I think I was pushing myself too much, that I'm re-bouncing uncontrollably now. I really need to get back to healthy diet...

Same place. This time, it was brunch buffet...

As always, their buffet selection isn't great. I'd say they were... edible.

They also give one special food from kitchen, included in buffet. For their brunch buffet, it's usually omelet, and you can choose among plain, cheese, or chilly (pepper). I got the chilly omelet.

That's it for today. No more food until tomorrow.

(nothing)

A friend of mine in Korea passed away a week ago. His family notified me this morning. I'm pretty sure they are emotionally exhausted by now after his funeral and all that, so I really appreciated for their message.

This is not the first time in my life to see someone very close to me leave for good. In fact, thanks to my religion, I'm not too sad about this kind of occurrences since I know where they are now. I don't know honestly whether they had faith in Jesus or not, but I'm in no position to determine that. Jesus will take care of those for me. I just believe that my good old friend is in a very good place, waiting for me to follow him very soon - according to the heavenly clock. However, this feeling of emptiness will always hit on me every time this kind of incident happens, and I don't seem to get used to it even after four times.

A sorrow and regrets would follow. Why wasn't I a better friend to him? Why didn't I return his call right away? Why did I ignore him a few times? Why did I do this? Why didn't I do that? Regrets, regrets, and regrets. Again, this happens every time, so I had the exact same feeling for four times in my life. But I don't change. I don't learn. I'm still a cold, unreachable person to my friends. Maybe because I don't take death seriously, maybe because I know I will see them again, maybe I'm just what I am, a cold, unreachable person.

At least he is in better place now, with no cancer, no pain, no stress, no nothing. For him, it's the best. I cannot use this as an excuse for my insensitive personality. But for him, it's the best.

한국에 있는 한 친구가 일주일 전에 세상을 떠났다. 오늘 아침 그 친구의 형한테서 연락을 받았다. 분명 장례식이랑 뒷수습등으로 많이 지쳐있었을텐데도 나한테 알려주려는 그 수고가 너무 감사했다.

내 삶의 가까운 사람이 내곁을 떠나는 건 처음있는 일은 아니다. 그리고 내가 몸담고 있는 종교 덕분에 이런 일이 있을 때 그렇게까지 오열하거나 슬퍼하지는 않는다. 죽은 사람들이 어디에 있는지 잘 알기에. 물론 내곁을 떠난 사람들이 예수님을 믿었는지 안믿었는지는 잘 모르겠지만 그게 뭐 내가 판단할 일인가? 예수님께서 잘 알아서 해 주시겠지. 그저 난 내 친구가 아주 좋은 곳에 있으면서, 천국시간으로 봤을 때 길지 않은 시간에 곧 따라갈 날 기다리고 있을 거라는 것만 믿고 있다. 하지만 이런 일이 있을 때마다 내마음은 한없이 공허해지고, 이 느낌은 아무리 겪어도 익숙해지지 않는다.

그리고 나선 슬픔과 후회가 뒤따라온다. 난 왜 더 좋은 친구가 되지 못했을까, 왜 연락을 바로바로 해주지 못했을까? 왜 가끔 연락을 받지 않았을까? 왜 그랬을까? 왜 그러지 않았을까? 이런 후회들이 밀려오면서도 난 변하는 건 없다. 배우는 것도 없다. 난 그러면서도 내 주변사람들에게 계속 차갑고 멀리있는 존재일 뿐이다. 아마도 죽음을 종교로 인해서 심각하게 받아들이지 않아서일지도? 아니면 그들을 다시 만날 거란걸 알기 때문에? 그것도 아니면 그냥 난 차가운 사람이니까?

어쨌든 지금 내 친구는 확실히 더 좋은 곳에 있다. 암, 고통, 스트레스, 아무것도 없는 좋은 곳. 차라리 그곳에 있는게 훨씬 더 낫지... 내 메마른 성격에 대한 자기방어적 생각일지는 몰라도, 어쨌든 지금 내 친구는 확실히 더 좋은 곳에 있다.

What happened to me in 2013

2014 has already started, and Chinese new year of 2014 is about to start (1/31/2014). And I also noticed that it's been like a month ago since last time I wrote anything here. So, I guess I can take this opportunity to look back the year of 2013.

What did I do??

1. Big Loss and Gain on Stock Market
It was bad. I should've never stepped into that world. The huge loss on stock market drove me crazy and gave me depression throughout the year. I was doing so well for the first couple months, then I lost pretty much everything... Fortunately, the big gain came at the end of November that covered all my loss. I withdraw my money as soon as I recovered. Been there, done that. I will never appear in that world again.

2. Left my job only after one-and-half year

The decision was made dumb but resulted sweet. At first I didn't hope or expect to be accepted. I was happy with my old job. I didn't want to leave. I loved my co-workers. But I had to. Maybe one day, I would tell the true reason. I think it's best to keep it quiet for now.
Anyway, the job is great. I had to go through some adjustment period, but the job is very rewarding and co-workers are also very nice. I'm so happy that Exxon accepted me. But I will also never forget about what Marathon has provided me.


3. Revised my faith with God
I realized that the relationship between me and God is no one else's business but mine. After that, I no longer felt obligated to follow any "human" rule to stay faithful. This ended up making me interested in Catholic. I may try Catholic this year and see where it leads me to.

4. Gained all my weight I lost
Dang... I'm back to 180 lbs range again. Fortunately, I still fit all my clothes. That kinds of makes me feel better, but I'm definitely losing weight again. This is third time losing weight, (I lost in 2004, then in 2009. So it's about time.) I know all the tricks and secrets. It just depends on how much I'm ready for it. I think I'm ready for it this year.

5. Doggie doggie, I love doggie

Yeah. I used to be a cat person. Now, I'm a dog person. My little toy poodle is so lovely that I cannot live without him anymore. Yeah, I had to go through a couple months of potty training him and pay a fortune to put doggie door and fence in my backyard. But Boshin paid me all back by being a very sweet dog. I love you~

6. More Apple product
So, let's see... I got a macbook pro, iPad mini, iPhone 5S, and Airport Extreme. Man... that's where all my money was leaking to. No wonder why my checking balance never increases!!

7. Video Games

Finally, I got into playing Playstation 3 games when everyone else is ready to jump onto the Playstation 4. Guess what?! I have 4 too ha! But no game to play yet. The thing is... I wasn't able to finish any of them. I hope to see the ending of all of them this year.

I think that's about it. I might need to edit this post after a few days... because I always remember important things after the moment has passed.

My Lovey Dovey Apple Techy

So, yes. I used to be a big fat nerd in love with gadgets, computers, IT's, CPU's, giga-bytes, etc. I used to know everything about everything in technological worlds. Intel's Smithfield series with Netburst architecture, AMD's Barcelona architecture, DDR vs. DDR2, L2 vs L3 Cache... I knew everything!

Well, as you see the examples I listed above, I'm old and obsolete. I no longer am up-to-date with today's technology. When I was a student, my budget was limited, so I had to research and make sure to get the best valued products. Now I have more than enough money that I can manage, so I don't care as much anymore, muohahaha.

No, I was joking. I don't have that much money. But, having more money now did contribute to my change. As I started working 8 hours every day and sometimes weekends to compensate my inefficiency from dumb brain. So, I don't have much time following up the latest technology news. Also, since I started making my own money, I am not as desperate to search for the best-valued gadgets.

That being said, I started loving Apple products. Yes. If you're a true nerd, I mean a true poor nerd, you will never look at Apple products. They ARE NOT BEST-VALUED GADGETS, if not over-priced. They look pretty, shiny, "minimalistic", and all that. Sometimes they are arrogant when promoting their products. I never looked at their stuffs either when I was a student, until right before I graduate.

What I like about their products is that... they are worry-free... mostly. Part of the reason I was a big fat nerd before was because of Windows. It just broke so many times that in order to fix them myself, I had to learn lots of stuffs, and that naturally led me to nerdy world. But, Apple products didn't make me learn as much. I mean, they do break from time to time. But spending minimal time on the internet researching for solution works all the time. I've never had to go into like Registry Editor or open one of those .sys files. Most times, I was able to solve the problems still in GUI interface. Many times, problems weren't really problems. It was more of me not configuring things properly.

I see that Windows got a lot better since XP. I also have the latest version, 8.1, on the virtual machine on my MacBook pro. I agree that it is great, 10,000 times better than Windows 95/98. (By the way, MS-DOS 5.3 was the first OS I played with). Microsoft is finally doing things right. If they keep doing it, I may go back to Windows again. I mean, I'm not a maniac of anything. I just love computers and its tech specs although I'm not knowledgeable anymore.

Enough talking. I'll end the post with pictures of some Apple products I have.

iPhone 5S

Macbook Pro Retina, iPad Mini Retina, and Magic Trackpad

Airport Extreme

iMac

빠른생일 따지는 사람들

오랜만에 쓰는 한글 블로그로구나.

이런 경우가 있었다. 두 명의 빠른 84년생이 어떤 곳으로 이주했다, 첫 번째 빠른 84년생은 친구들은 모두 83년생이지만 어차피 새로운 곳으로 이사왔고 복잡한걸 싫어해서 그냥 84년생으로 지내며 83년생에겐 형이라 부르고 84년생과는 친구로 지냈다. 그리고 두 번째 빠른 84년생이 왔는데 그는 빠른 84년생, 즉 83년생 취급을 받고 싶어했다... 이유는 친구들이 전부 83년생이라서...

그래서 약간 꼬이는 상황이 발생했다. 두 번째 빠른 84년생은 83년생들과 친구먹기 시작했고 84년생들에게는 형/오빠 대접을 받았다. 하지만 이 사람은 첫 번째 빠른 84년생에게는 형 대접을 받을 수 없었다. 그렇지만 그 사람은 83년생들에겐 형이라 부른다.

결국 궁여지책으로 첫 번째 빠른 84년생은 두 번째 빠른 84년생이 있을 땐 83년생들과 친구먹고 없을 땐 형으로 대접한다. 이 무슨 머리아픈 상황이...

일반적인 상황으로 봤을 땐 첫 번째 빠른 84년생이 일을 복잡하게 한 걸 수도 있겠다. 빠른년생들이 윗사람 대접받는 건 사실 한국에선 보통 상황이니까. 하지만 인간적으로 좀 이해가 안가는 부분들은 왜 굳이 그 대접을 받고 싶어하는 걸까...

난 85년생인데, 예를 들면 내가 빠른 85년생이랑 친구먹고 싶으면 친구먹을 수 있는 거 아닌가? 물론 그 사람 친구들은 죄다 84년생이겠지만 만약 새로운 곳으로 이주한 경우에, 그 사람 친구들이 84년생이건 아니건 나랑 상관없는 거 아닌가.

내 친구들 중에도 빠른 86년생이 있다. 사실 상관없다. 솔직히 9월생이라 빠른 86년생이랑 아무리 멀어봤자 6개월도 안되는데 1월이 사이에 있다고 형/동생 하는것도 좀 그렇다. 하지만 이런 마음은 빠른85년생에도 느껴진다. 어차피 같은 해에 태어났고 생일이 아닌 해에 따라 나이가 드는 시스템인 만큼 빠른 85년생도 솔직히 동갑으로 치는게 그렇게 문제가 되는 걸까. 가끔은 그런 거 없는 미국식 사고방식이 훨씬 편하다고 느껴진다.

하지만 새파랗게 어린 눈퍼런놈이 "헤이 맨~" 하는것도 정말 못봐주긴 해...