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By Johnny, November 2, 2010 1:24 am

The first rule of blogging, you do not apologize for not blogging. Of course, I’ll be violating that right now. To the rare people who checks my blogs: why aren’t you following me on Twitter or friending me on Facebook? Even though I’ve been doing play-by-play update of my life on those social network, I can’t abandon this lonely blog. It is one of the rare moments I can write as much as I want without a 140 character restriction or without everyone on my friend list seeing (I do have a habit of letting people know there is a new post so I guess that’s not a relevant detractor).

I feel more open on my personal blog to express and rant. Unfortunately, due to a few life changing events I am completely overwhelmed with work and have been trying to waste my time more wisely. On a rare occasion like tonight, I am feeling a bit inspired to put some words here and give my dedicated readers an update of my life even though I know you don’t care or already know what’s going on. Hell, this will be good to go back and read my postings when I’m old and gray and say, “Thank you, you! For writing this.”

So what’s been going on? The most significant accomplishment that happened late September into October was that I completed my awesome ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 8 days. Words cannot explain how awesome this trip was. Therefore I’m just going to show you my Flickr photo set instead:

250 riders raised about $1.27 million for the Arthritis Foundation. It was so good that I’m going to do it again next year. Look for my solicitation for donations and leave some money in your budget to help donate to this great cause.

The second update in my life (or really my family’s life) is that my sister is finally married! Her long-time boyfriend turned fiance is now her husband. I gained a brother-in-law who I welcome to our family with open arms. I was part of the wedding ceremony which was a very simple and progressive combination of American and Chinese culture. Much like the way I would like to do it if I was getting married. Too bad that’s not happening anytime soon.

The third and final update is that I am in the middle of changing jobs. Yup, I am moving forward from my 7 year tenure from NBC Universal. Quoting the great Lebron, “In this fall — this is very tough — in this fall I am taking my talents to Culver City and work with Sony”. Last day is November 5th. It’s going to be a sad departure. I’ve given my best with this company and they’ve allowed me to grow and groom my skills as a Project Manager.

There you go! You’re caught up with my life now. Move along. There’s nothing else to see here…

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By Johnny, October 14, 2009 1:58 am

I reached the half-way point of my 2 month trial period of being car-free. The first month wasn’t too bad. I actually traveled more than I thought I would. I rode about 500+ miles so far. There were days I felt that I was struggling to stay on the bike. Most of the time I’ve been happy riding to and from work. I realize I can’t stay out during school nights too long. Riding home at 11PM or 12AM really sucks when you’re exhausted. I also don’t like to bring my Xtracycle on a train. This limits my mobility since the bike is much longer than normal and I feel like a jerk for blocking people’s way. Plus, I can’t throw it on the bus since their bike racks are built for normal length bikes. Those are pretty much the major challenges for the first month of being car-free.

Now that I just finished the 2nd day into my second month, I was presented some new challenges. I visit my folks weekly and when I got there this week, I did not have the keys to their place. I was locked out in the cold and couldn’t get a hold of them and friends. If I had a car, I would have the keys with my car keys. No, that did not discourage me but made me realize that I need to be more conscious about having keys with me or perhaps stashed away somewhere in case I forget again. Another challenge comes from the weather. Early in the week I saw rain in my forecast. Since I haven’t purchased rain gear for riding, I’m not going to ride the bike home. Instead I’ve planned it out so that I got a ride from a co-worker after my CERT training at work. The rain has raised more awareness as far as going to destinations like the library. Luckily I bribed a friend at work to take me in exchange for joining him for a lunch out. Otherwise, that would have been coming into work later than normal and taking 2 bus rides and a train stop to the library and then work, in the rain. The last but least significant thing I am experience is that I may be socially out casted from my friends who are planning to have monthly / bi-monthly poker games during the week. There’s no way in hell I’m riding over to Culver City on a school night for a poker game. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy so I’m glad I have these challenges. But this is definitely something I’m willing to live with. My spirits are high and I can’t wait till November 14th when the 8 week is done. Hopefully, nothing will change from now until then. I’ll be glad to announce that the car is for sale!

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By Johnny, September 22, 2009 1:21 am

This year’s Nautica Malibu Triathlon kicked off on a Sunday morning at 3:30AM. That was when I woke up and realized we were going to be late. I was suppose to be awake an hour earlier but put my alarm on snooze. Coincidentally, I had a nightmare that I missed the race and woke up at 7:30AM! I quickly woke Marie & Sang up and told them we’re late. They graciously obliged and quickly got ready to go in a matter of a few minutes.

We drove over to Zuma with a pack of cars who seem to be heading at the same direction. Lucky for us, we were actually on time. We got parking and quickly got out to pump more air into my bike’s tire. What I did notice this year was that the weather was warmer. This worked in my favor since I forgot my sweater.

It was a long walk from the car to lifeguard station 15 where the transition area was. When we got there, a few folks from NBC Universal was hanging around getting prepped for the race. I was much more calm and relax than last year. It definitely helps that this is my second year and I knew what was expected and how to approach the pre-race jitters. I went to my area for the co-ed relay teams and setup my bike and equipment. It only took a matter of 10 minutes to get everything organized and race ready. It helps especially when you’re not swimming.

I even had time to eat breakfast before the race. Nothing big, just a bagel w/cream cheese. I was also tagged during this time with my race number, 884. This was a lucky number in Chinese. Another good sign that I’m in for a good one. Around 5:30, we had our group picture with the team taken. My team mate, Sanya was still not here. I was a bit worried since this was her first race and she had a Toastmaster event the day before that she might have overslept. She finally shows up around 6:30. She was sleeping in her car and had arrived very early. She completely missed the picture and was bummed out. We quickly went over logistics as to the first transition and went over to listen to our mandatory meeting around 7:00.

The meeting pretty much went over rules for the race and highlights with the national anthem being sung by a race participant. Immediately after the pre-race ceremony, the first wave began. Sanya was in the third wave so it didn’t take too long since they were going out 15 minutes at a time. I got to the transition area and had my helmet, gloves, and shoes on. I quickly ate some Gu and water for the extra energy. I also noticed I didn’t have to pee as much as I did last year, which was a good thing because the lines to the port-o-potty was long.

People started flowing in from the water and in about 30 minutes of waiting, Sanya was running pass our lane. Those lanes are hard to recognize when they’re filled with people waiting for their teammates and cheering. I had to run out there and call her back. She quickly took off the chip and handed it to me. I strapped it to my ankle, grabbed the bike and dashed out to the beginning of the bike round.

My strategy was to take it easy and up my cadence at a mellow pace and not push it too much. I had to say I did just that until maybe at the end when I was coming back. Much of the way I just took a mellow pace and allowed the true triathletes speed by with their “whooshing” wheel (that’s the sound their bicycle makes as they speed on). I was much better on the hills this year. I was less ambitious and allowed people to pass me. By the time they were half way through the hill, I would catch up and pass them with ease. On the descents I was able to keep pace with the rider in front of me who was still spinning. I just dipped low and just rode it through in my aerodynamic position. On the way back, I had a few guys that I kept going back and forth with. And then finally on one last hill, one guy took off climbing pass me. I didn’t know why I reacted that way but soon I was blowing by him even though he gave it his all on the climb. It felt good. I felt like Contador on the Tour de France on the day he blew by all his opponents on one of his climbs.

On my way back into the parking lot, I felt good. Ate another packet of Gu and rode on to the transition area. From there I dismounted the bike and ran to my spot. I lost track of where it was for a moment but quickly hung the bike up, took off my shoes, helmet, and gloves and quickly slipped on my running shoes and was off to the running leg. I could hear Sanya and other folks cheering me on. As I began my ran I started to cramp up on both of my calves. It got bad enough for me to stop and stretch out a bit before I begin to gingerly jog. I thought it was going to be a bad run but miraculously I felt better and better as I kept on trucking. Every water stop I took a quick sip and dumped the rest on my head to cool down. That helped tremendously as I made my way back to the finish line where the time read 2:09 (2 hours and 9 minutes). They even announced my name as I crossed the line. We were welcomed by freezing wet towels and a cool medal.

I went back to meet up with Sanya. We talked a bit about the race and went to go grab breakfast at the buffet area. Along the way we saw so many celebrities. Terry Hatcher, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, shirtless Mario Lopez, and Mark Feuerstein (the doctor in “Royal Pains” series on USA) to name a few. Breakfast was delicious but I held back since I was going to have lunch at King’s Hawaiian again this year. I decided to make it a tradition to go there after the race every year.

Here are the results from the race. Our official times: Swim – 00:17:19.6 Transition 1 – 00:01:46.3 Bike – 0:56:03.3 Transition 2 – 00:01:52.8 Run – 00:36:24.1 Finish – 01:53:32.7. Sanya didn’t swim as fast as my former teammate but we made up alot of time during transitions and biking. I was 4 minutes faster on the bike this year than last year but I was 26 seconds slower on the run. Overall, we were about 2 minutes faster than last year. Not bad for a pretty relaxed training schedule. I only ran about once a week and ride my bike as much as possible to work.

Click on the image below for the rest of the photo set.

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By Johnny, August 17, 2009 1:53 pm

This past weekend, I spent some time training for the 2009 Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I started out pretty good on the ride but cramped up really bad and had to stop my run 1/4 of the way in. Over extended myself after being sedentary the whole last week. I have to do more running after not doing that for awhile. Anyhow, here’s a video made by Jacob from last year’s race. I make a brief appearance during the last seconds of the group shot.

2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon from Jacob G on Vimeo.

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By Johnny, April 19, 2009 4:23 pm

The other day, I was checking on the comments on this blog and inadvertently received a message which I interpreted as spam. The message read, “Your a good, but lazy blogger.” Some might think that maybe a legitimate comment but the link provided with the message went to some obscure spam site. Well, they’re right! I am a pretty damn lazy blogger. Not to make excuses, lots of things are happening in my life. I’ve got maybe 5 projects at work. I’ve been working hard in starting one and maintaining the other one. You think with this economy, work would be slow. Not where I’m at.

I became a charter member and and officer for my company’s Toastmasters club (first one on the list). Sorry guys, this is only opened to employees of the company. I’m actually really excited about this one. For awhile now, I’ve been to join Toastmasters but with this opportunity, I can hone my public speaking skills. That’s one area I feel I need the most improvement on. Hopefully this will instill the skills I need.

I’m still settling in at my new home. Worked out a weekly routine now in which I pick a day to visit the folks and spend the rest of the week riding into work (if weather permits). I have my laundry day and my grocery shopping day on the bike. I’m definitely been car-lite. Only filling up twice a month. Riding about 50+ miles a week to work and running errands. I had a roommate who stayed for 3 months and moved out at the end of March. Although she was cool, it is definitely nice to have the whole place to myself. I am able to leave stuff all over the place as I choose. It is certainly one of those benefits where you couldn’t put any amount of money on.

My file-server died recently. I had to rebuild and recover the machine this past week. Upgraded to Slackware 12.2 for 10.0. Not much difference. I finally switched from a Dual Celeron computer to a P3 500Mhz . Yes very impressive. If you haven’t already realize, I don’t buy the latest and greatest when it comes to my computers. Heck, the computer I’m typing on was given to me by a co-worker who decided to buy a laptop when her hard drive died. It’s a P4 3Ghz w/HT Dell Dimension 4700. Decided to put Ubuntu 8.10. Main reason to see what the hype was all about. I have to tell you, I like it alot. I am able to do everything I can on a Windows or Mac system. I’m able to use virtual machines to run Windows for free using VirtualBox. I haven’t tossed my other systems away. Still using the laptops to portable access and the Mac for my home theater system. It’s nice to see how Linux has finally evolved to something that is useful and can compete with the likes of Microsoft and Apple.

Another thing I want to mention is that I’m thinking about doing 2 things that are going to be life changers. No, not get hitched! I’m thinking about going car-free. I read, “How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life” and got me thinking about a car free life. It is very doable considering I’ve already being car-lite. Even if I have to rent cars twice a month, I am not paying more than I am on car related expenses every year. I’ll be sure I’ll post up when that happens. The second big thing I am going to do is cut my hair. Not just cut it for my own selfish need. I am planning to donate my hair for a good cause.

See even guys can donate their hair. I’m thinking about giving it to this cause. I may or may not make a video like this guy but definitely some pictures will be required. Again, I’ll make sure to post up here. For more information on hair donation, check this page out.

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By Johnny, September 17, 2008 10:29 pm

I did it! Finished my first triathlon. Well, actually a “duoathlon” for me. I woke up at 2:30AM last Sunday to begin my journey to the race. Luckily I packed all my gear and bike in the car the night before. My sis and gf came along for the ride. It was good that they were there to keep me awake while I twisted and turn through on a quiet PCH. We finally made it to the Zuma parking lot 5 minutes after 4:30. As expected the spaces were filling up quickly with participants of the race.

It was pitched dark still. The air was chilly but not very cold. I proceeded to take my bike out and prep it for the race. Pumped up the tires so that they were at 100 psi. Gathered all my gear and walked over to the race site. We were guided by the tiny LED light on my bike and another gentleman’s flashlight. My sis and gf kept it entertaining by chatting up a storm. It was good to have background noise because I started feeling nervous for some strange reason.

Upon arrival of registration, we find Deepak there. He was in the process of registering and had informed me that several folks from work was already at our company tent. I went over to the tent hoping that my partner was actually there early so we can register together. Fortunately, he was waiting on the wall bundled up in a hoodie. We then went to register. Registration was quite a fiasco. We didn’t know our bib number and was floating from one registration booth to another until we were finally redirected to a bulletin board which had our number, 873. With this information we both turned in our signed waiver and received a nice packet of race materials as well as our customary tshirt and hat. We were then tagged with our number on our left bicep and our age and the letter “R” to indicate that we were relay racers. And that was it with registration!

I went back to our tent and opened up our packet of race materials. We had to wear a yellow band in order to get into the transition area so we did that. We also divvy up the swim cap and RFID ankle monitor to my partner and I get the bike number plate, running bib, and a sticker for my helmet. We made our way into the transition area to look for our space in the “NBC Universal” rack. I racked up the bike and laid out my running shoe and pinned all the numbers to myself and bicycling gear. This probably took about half an hour to do. My partner familiarized himself with the path that he was going to take and pass the RFID to me and we were done prepping for the race.

The rest of my time was spent socializing with various co-workers and helping them out with setting up their transition spots. I was pumped with excitement and apparently fluid because I visited the porta-potty 3 times before the race even began. When 7:00AM rolled around, we were told to head over to the main stage to go over rules and introduction. 15 minutes after that, the race had begun! The relay teams was to go in the 2nd wave 5 minutes later. I made my way back to transition area to prepare for my transition. It took all but 13 minutes for my partner to make it out of the water and hand me the RFID strap.

I quickly strapped the wet monitor to my ankle, pulled my bike off the rack and ran out of the transition area. There was a designated area where we can mount the bikes and pedaled away. About a few yards later I hear a “clank-clank” sound coming from the front of my bike. I knew exactly what that was. It was my damn cyclometer receiver clanking on my bicycle spokes. I knew because of the cyclometer not tracking the mph. I had to adjust it twice in the first mile until I finally got it spaced appropriately where it didn’t hit the spoke and where I was able to keep track of my riding statistics.

The ride then finally went on through the parking lot to the under water bridge where the race organizers built a wooden plank for us to ride across. When we made it across, the road was so rough that it jarred all the joints in my body awake. We finally hit PCH to begin the 3rd mile. I was jazzed up. I was excited about this moment and exerted tremendous amount of energy to pull ahead as fast as I could. To my dismay, it was too early to do that. Right before I reached the first hill, I had to hold back a bit. I was able to power through the hill past a couple of folks. Unfortunately, when the second hill came, I was fading. The same people who I passed, easily pulled ahead. I couldn’t do anything about it. Huge mistake on my part to start out so eagerly.

I kept telling myself that it was okay to be passed. I just need to keep the cadence going and not exert too much energy. I was also worried that I was not flagged for drafting anybody. I was very conscious to either give space from the rider ahead or truly power pass them in a staggered formation. By the time I reached the turn-around, my leg started to cramp. I thought, “Oh crap! This isn’t good”. I slowed my pace even more and grinded out the longest and steepest hill of the race.

One by one, other racers passed me. I wasn’t so discouraged because I made it pass the hardest part of the race and kept my pace going. I checked my average speed and it was at 17.9. This was much better than my practice pace so I was feeling good. It was nice to have a whole lane dedicated to us that morning. We blew by the only signal lights since the cops was there to direct traffic. That was fun going so fast down the final hill with somewhat of a reckless abandonment and to be welcomed by a crowd of people standing on both sides of the road cheering us on. That was great! Probably my favorite part of the race.

I finally made it into the parking lot and quickly slurped my last GU packet to provide energy for my run next. My cyclometer read 1 hr and 43 seconds when I got off my bike and quickly slipped into my running shoes and dug in my bag for my mp3 player. The first steps I took out of the transition, my leg felt buttery. It was screaming with soreness and pain. This was never the case during training but I think I probably used up some adrenaline and was too eager too early. Oh well, pushed forward and eased into a jogging pace.

Several times, I thought I was going to stop and walk the race but my pride kept me from doing so because I never stopped running whenever I trained so I was not about to do the same here. I eventually made it through the 4 miles and crossed the finish line at 2hrs and some seconds. I was welcomed with a cold and wet towel on my shoulder and a medal, while everybody was herded in a single line to have their RFID ankle bracelet removed by a volunteer. I was beat! I quickly swallowed a bottle of water and walked back to our tent. I took a few moments to recover and received numerous congratulations. Went back into our transition area to grab my bag of crap. The race was still happening so we just stuck around and waited. We eventually went to get food from our brunch.

At the brunch we were surrounded with onlookers who were trying to get a glimpse of JLo and Mark Anthony. It was weird. I felt bad for them but it looked like they enjoy this kind of lifestyle. At least that’s what I thought. I was sore and limped back to the tent and waited for everyone from our team to finish. We finally got together for a few group shots. We left around 11:30 and I was exhausted. All I know is that I slept early and didn’t wake up until it was time to go to work!

The official race results are posted here. Our official times: Swim – 00:13:59.6 Transition 1 – 00:02:11.3 Bike – 01:00:49.1 Transition 2 – 00:02:29.1 Run – 00:35:58.5 Finish – 01:55:27.5.

I’d like to thank those who donated on my behalf to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. I was able to raise $1,040 from my network of friends and family with ease. The whole race raised about $950K and $17K was from the NBC Universal team. I was proud to be part of a rewarding effort to help raise this money and to participate in my first sprint triathlon. I will definitely do this again next but will make the proper adjustments for better time. Oh no. I’m hooked!

More action photos of me and other folks in the race (all the celebs) can be found by clicking here. Search by their bib # or name. I found J Lo and Mathew McConaughey by their name.

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By Johnny, June 30, 2008 11:00 pm

As I was sitting on the train today I was staring out in darkness and began to reflect what’s been happening in my life the last couple of months. I’m at a completely different phase in my life right now compared to last year. First of all, I’m sitting on a train to work! I’m sure I never thought I’d be doing this a year ago. I’m actually happy that I am doing this to help be more green and not contribute in the demise of our environment.

Last year, I was playing poker on a weekly basis. Now we’re playing once every 3 months as it seems. I miss the face time to BS with the friends and catch up. I got to do that 2 weekends ago when all of our schedules allowed it.

I’m 10lbs lighter than I was a year ago. I’m more active and enjoy running and biking this year. Last year, my bike was sitting in the garage collecting dust. I was coming with all sorts of excuses not to go to the gym. It was not until the blood results that came in on my annual check-up to wake my lazy ass up. I’ve already run 2 5K back-to-back weekends. I will be participating in my first sprint triathlon relay this year and hopefully the LA marathon next year. I’ve added 2 more bicycles to encourage myself to ride them. And ride them, I do. This is one trend I don’t want to forget.

This year we’ve been actively searching for a new home for my family. Unfortunately nothing has turned up and I may have to look for property for myself. I can’t help it when my folks are so picky about all the places we’ve seen. My second offer to potentially the last house of our search has been submitted. It’ll take a miracle for the seller to accept the offer but I guess we’ll see.

I’m in this weird purging phase. My motorcycle is listed on Craigslist still. I’ve had people who were interested inquire about it but no formidable offers that I can entertain. Lots of people want to trade me for another bike and even a boat. That does nothing to someone who doesn’t know how to swim. I’m also playing with the idea of selling my trusty car and get a more fuel efficient Honda Fit. I love the fact that you can carry crap in such a compact vehicle. Maybe after I buy my first property.

I’ve lost interest in gaming from last year. Yes I still play my XBox but it’s still the same game, NBA 2K8. I love that game!

In the work front, things aren’t looking so good. I’ve inherited more applications to handle and it’s starting to stress me out. The overall company politics is making it harder and harder for me to do my job. It’s only a matter of time where grinning and bearing won’t work. Until that time, I can only keep my head up and work through this tough time.

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By Johnny, April 3, 2008 1:04 pm

Today I’m taking my first steps in being “Green”. I’ve completed my plan on commuting to work without the need of my car. Here’s how the plan will pan out: I will be riding my bike to Cal State Los Angeles. Leave my bike in a bike locker which I will rent from the school for $10 every quarter or 10 weeks. Take the Metro line 484 or 490 bus from the campus to Downtown LA. Transfer over to the Red Line train which stops directly across the street from work. This will cost about $50 a month.

It will probably take some getting use to following a schedule to leave from home and work, but I will have more time to enjoy some music or read. I’ll start on a Tuesday and Thursday only schedule. If I enjoy it, I’ll probably do it more frequently. The only problem is carrying stuff to go to the gym and my lunch. That is the only reason why I would drive. That can simply be rectify by adding a pannier. I can’t wait to put this plan into play. I’ll be saving money, helping the environment, and getting exercise (not that I don’t have enough).

If you’re interested in doing the same go check out the LA Metro site. They have a great trip planning tool to tell you what buses to take for your destination.

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By Johnny, December 29, 2007 12:56 am

Not to toot my own horn again but I was featured once again in my affinity group’s newsletter across the company. Here is the article written by Mei-ling Andreen on December 21, 2007

Johnny Lam, NBC Universal, was presented with a distinguished honor in volunteerism by Ron Meyer, President and COO, Universal Studios, during NBCU’s Volunteer Day.

Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Johnny Lam, Project Manager (Publicity & Marketing Systems Group), NBC Universal, immigrated with his family at the age of three to Pomona, California. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, primarily in Alhambra, Johnny watched his father, the “sole breadwinner” work full days as a mold-maker, while his mother stayed at home to care for Johnny and his younger sister. This upbringing led Johnny to one aspiration while growing up – to be the first in his family to graduate from college.

After graduating from Alhambra High in 1994, Johnny continued on his promise to himself and was accepted at the University of California, Irvine. Originally an Economics major he switched majors as the lure of the Internet fascinated him. Five years later, Johnny proudly earned his Bachelors of Science in Information and Computer Science.

Upon graduation, Johnny landed a job at Plutus Enterprises as a Systems Administrator and managed the entire company’s server systems and supported all consultant laptops – a big job for a new college graduate, but Johnny was up for the task. This was a clear indicator for what this self-proclaimed geek had in his future. After a year, Johnny left and joined a dot.com called Popcast, which led him to a Developer position at 10th Degree, an advertising company in Orange County. There, Johnny was able to work on projects closer to his personal passions, motorcycling – one of the company’s main clients was Mitsubishi and Johnny redeveloped their entire website while there. But it was landing at Universal that really impressed Johnny. “I remember coming to the theme park as a child and wondered how it would be to work here and here I am. It’s a dream come true and it’s awesome! He thanks a former co-worker at Plutus who asked if he was interested in working at Universal – that was October 2003 and Johnny’s been happy ever since.

As a Project Manager for the Publicity and Marketing Systems group, Johnny is the owner of three web applications for various businesses within NBC Universal, primarily extranet applications used by other business and internal groups (TV Distribution, NBC Casting and TV operations group.) His responsibilities include ensuring that the applications are up and running, rolling out improvements to the applications and those new applications are managed properly with the inclusion of all business partners.

In addition to enjoying being on the Universal Lot, Johnny agrees he not only gets to work with great people but he receives the support needed to succeed in his current role. One of those ways is his involvement with APAF and the SoCal Hub. “It’s refreshing to see a group of people who are dedicated to improving the involvement of all GE employees with their communities and with each other.” Johnny also added, “Without APAF, I would not have had opportunities to meet and become friends with individuals in various businesses of GE , as well as meeting members of upper management.” But it’s Johnny’s passion in helping others in need that has really made the biggest impact to the APAF family and community. Johnny’s tireless commitment to the website relaunch and redevelopment for the Asian Pacific Women’s Center (APWC), as featured in SCOOP, October/November 2007), earned him praise not only within the Hub but the company. During NBCU’s Volunteer Day, Ron Meyer, President and COO, Universal Studios presented Johnny with a distinguished honor in volunteerism.

Johnny continues to be a community leader within APAF and looks forward to becoming more active in various non-profits and to continue to bring awareness to APAF within other parts of the company. He also looks forward to bringing more to his team and in helping GE/NBCU and APAF to continue to attract quality people and continue to contribute positively to our communities and society.

Single, with no children yet, Johnny enjoys his spare time motorcycling, Moto GP races and talking bikes. He also works on various website projects for two APA non-profit organizations, APWC and Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA). For fun, he gets together with friends to play Texas Hold’em, eat, drink and laugh. “As a true geek, I’m always tinkering with computers and various gadgets.” When asked what his perfect weekend would be, Johnny answers simply, “To hop on my bike, ride up the coast, and stay overnight and stopping whenever I like.”

This down-to-earth, sincere, plain, old-fashioned nice guy is setting the standards for the SoCal Hub. And for the single ladies, he is definitely the kind of guy you would take home to meet your parents. With a continuous smile on his face, you can always find Johnny ready to help. And with that said, Johnny stands true to his favorite quote by Donald Trump, “If you’re interested in ‘balancing’ work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.” For this self-proclaimed geek, he’s already achieved it.

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By Johnny, December 5, 2007 10:19 pm

Last Saturday, San and I went to volunteer for the Oliver Crest foster home at the CBS lot. It was my second year participating and we had a great time. We helped the kids create decorate popsicle frames so they can use it for their picture with Santa. And hand-full of people from APAF showed up. We grabbed a quick shot with Santa here:

Yesterday I was surprised with an offer to watch the Clippers play the Milwaukee Bucks. I finally got to experience the game in a box seat at a suite. The suite was rented out by NBC Universal. It was weird to see our company logo on the walls and on the furniture.