The much anticipated ride for this week was for LADWP’s Festival of Lights bike ride that was held on Thursday, December 3rd. I got out of work a bit late and raced over to Griffith Park. Luckily I made it there before they started lighting the displays so I was able to cruise through to the south entrance of the park where the ranger station was suppose to be. It was quite pleasant to ride through the street without any cars since they had already started diverting car traffic away from this area. In fact, I was the only bike since everyone was waiting near the Zoo entrance.
I made plans on Twitter earlier in the week to meet up with a few folks. @FunctionalCycle and @LACycleChic showed up with their daughter around 5:30PM. A few minutes later, JHarv from the Bike Oven showed up and we began our ride through the light display.
It was nice to cruise through the lit displays with Christmas music blaring from speakers that was strategically placed throughout the course. The music certainly helped bring out the feeling of Christmas! One of my favorite display was an animated sequence that resembled LAX airport with a plane taking off from a blue landing strip. Our other favorite thing was riding through the 2 huge tunnel of lights. Here are a few shots of the tunnel.
It was a very short ride to the other side where we ran into more folks from Twitter, @dudeonabike and later @danceralamode joined us when we rode through the displays the second time around. People really got into it by decorating their bikes with lights and colorful props and outfits.
Besides the evening being very chilly, we were dodging wobbly bicycle riders and people scattered all over the street. Not really the best situation when you mix pedestrian and bicycle in an area. Everyone seemed to handle it very well. I wished it was ALL bikes and no foot traffic. I have to say I don’t know how people can see this through their cars? Sitting in long lines of traffic stretching out to the 5 freeway every year. Sucking in carbon monoxide while people are rolling through display to display at snail pace. On bikes, folks can still stop and enjoy each display without ever impeding traffic and smell nothing but maybe your occasion funk from the skunk. If you haven’t been through this I encourage you to go but the remaining nights are car free w/pedestrian and shuttle until December 17th. The rest of the month after that will require you to drive.
Enjoy the 6 minute video I shot with my digital camera while riding my bike. Not the best quality but you get the idea.
For those of you who need a jump start in your holiday spirit go out and participate the first night of Los Angeles Departmenet of Water and Power’s 14th Annual Festival of Lights at Griffith Park this Thursday, December 3rd. Apparently this is the only night you can ride your bike to view each of the displays. After that, you’ll have to hop on a shuttle to see the display from December 4th until December 17th. From December 18th until December 30th is for car traffic.
I’ve only been there by car in previous years and never by bike so this will be an exciting experience. I think out of the 3 choices, this would be the best way to see the display since you dictate the pace and can stop and go as you please without impeding traffic. It’s ironic how LADWP is touting that they are going green when they only have one night dedicated to bicycle traffic and 13 nights for cars. Having car free nights with the shuttle is a good step but it could be better. Perhaps powering each light display like how folks at Copenhagen is doing it for their Christmas tree might be better?
Some how during all my life changing events, the “feeling” of the holiday season isn’t here. Considering that I’m writing about this on Christmas I don’t think the feeling will be coming this year. To me, it seems like another day. Yes, I get to see more family, friends and have a 2 week vacation to help me usher in this holiday season. Unfortunately, purchasing this new home seem to have sucked the festive feeling right out of me.
I think the main reason for this lack of “feeling” is that I didn’t get to go Christmas shopping this year. Just alot of shopping for the new home. I didn’t feel I took part of the giving. I even tried to replicate by participating in volunteer events every weekend this December but still nothing.
I’m not the only one who’s feeling this way. My sister, who is also in the midst of her home remodeling is bitten by the scrooge bug. Gone is our annual Christmas tree. Gone is the presents under the tree. Gone is the annual tradition of staying up until Christmas morning to open our presents.
I’m hoping this is only a temporary setback only for this year. I’m hoping the same time next year, we both will be situated and will be fighting to have our traditions restored. Maybe then 2009 will give me back that “feeling” of the holiday season. But for now, here are some pictures from recent events in my life.
Anyway, I still wanted to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. And if I don’t post again before the new year begins, Happy New Year!
Christmas came and went this year. I didn’t feel as festive as I have in previous years. Sure I had the chance to take my friends out to eat on 3 separate occasions. I feel a nice meal is more rewarding than gifts that people may not like or use. It was more of a favor to me since I did not have to look for specific gifts for people or write additional Christmas cards to them. Not that I wanted anything at all, but I got some pretty nifty gifts this year. I got a Tim Duncan jersey, a new motorcycle helmet, a t-shirt, a DVD, and a frame. None of which I wanted people to get me but I got them anyway. I can’t really complain because they are awesome gifts. San had suggested the reason why I don’t feel festive is because I didn’t go through the whole ordeal of figuring out what to get who. That maybe the case, but I do enjoy the fact that I didn’t have that added stress. In fact, I found my parents gift on a spontaneous shopping trip last Wednesday without really looking. I ordered a couple of items on the Internet but for the most part gift giving this year was good.
2008 is quickly approaching after 1 more week. I’m looking forward to the new year but hopefully 2008 will continue to be good to me as 2007 was. I’ve been thinking about what is going to happen in 2008 that may be significant to me. It’s a 90% chance that I will be buying my first home. Whether it being with or without the folks, I have yet decided. I’m also going to have major work done on my teeth. Yes oral hygiene has been a big priority to me recently. After seeing the Dentist for the first time in 13 years, I’ve decided to make the whole next year dedicated to taking care of my teeth. I’ll also be taking a trip to Boston and NYC at the end of April and beginning of May for a friend’s wedding. Who knows, I might even have a new car or bike. Most likely not brand new but it will definitely be an upgrade to what I have now. Of course, this won’t happen until I have my own place. That will always be priority 1 until it’s been taken care of.
On December 12, was Richie’s birthday. We celebrated by taking him out to King’s Fish House in Long Beach. Had a very nice lobster dinner and awesome cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries. The meal was delicious and the company was good. I’m sure he had a great time. He couldn’t stop raving about the cake.
On Saturday, we went over to Sun City for our 5th Annual Holiday Party. We had a huge selection of food! We were entertained by a very thorough and fun trivia game that Sophorn came up with. We also had a couple of intense games of Jenga and our world famous White Elephant gift exchange. This year was probably one of the most funniest exchange. Good times good times.
This past Saturday I spent my entire day at the Long Beach Convention Center gawking at motorcycles from various manufacturers. I also bought some custom molded earphones for my listening pleasure. We probably walked the whole show 3 times waiting for the earphones to be completed. Some highlights of the show included getting autographs from MotoGP’s Colin Edwards and AMA Superbike riders Bostrom Brothers and Josh Herrin. I also got to see both MotoGP bikes of Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner. Not to mention 2007 AMA Superstock Champ, Ben Spies’ Suzuki.
To close out the rest of the evening, I spent some time with friends eating at Seafood Village in Monterey Park. The meal was delicious and the company was good. On Sunday, San and I went to volunteer as facilitators of a silent auction. We basically collected the auction sheets once the bidding ends. Nothing to exciting but got to learn a bit on how auction and silent auctions are executed. All-in-all, a very productive weekend.
I can’t believe I’m on the half-way mark of my vacation. Can’t say they were dull. Spent the first day of my vacation in Sun City, Ca at our 4th Annual Christmas Party. We had lots of food to eat, had our gift exchange, played a home-made game by Sophorn, sang karaoke, and finished the night with a Trivia Pursuit game. The fun didn’t stop there. I delivered some gifts on Christmas Eve and went over to my sister’s for our annual tradition of opening gifts at midnight.
I received some great gifts this year! I received a set of Memory Foam Contour Pillows, which by the way eliminated all the shoulder pain I’ve been experiencing with my old pillow. I received a pair of Converse All-Star shoes, a GPS, and some motorcycle and car related toys. It’s amazing but I didn’t get any gift cards this year. I did however received alot of picture cards from friends.
Christmas day was spent with the parents eating Hot Pot and hanging out at Billy and Jen’s watching movies and eating at a buffet. The day after Christmas and the Wednesday afterwards was spent at the Harrah’s Casino in Rincon, San Diego. Played some poker and lost about $130. Still on that losing streak. Thanks Drew for setting all that up.
Here I am today with nothing to do. It’s a great feeling and I’m glad I do this every year. Gives me a chance to reflect the events of this year and usher in the new year. I’d have to say 2006 was one of the better years in my life. I became debt free, went to new places, continue to challenge myself at work, began investing, and just enjoyed life. There really isn’t anything else to complain about. Except maybe living on my own, but I have feeling I may be able to make that happen in the coming year or 2. Hope everyone have a safe and happy holiday. Let’s make this new year a good one too.
A good way to find out what I’ve been up to is going through some people’s photo albums / websites.
You can first find me at Johnny’s Photoblog. He’s getting pretty good at his craft. We were just hanging out with Ann during Thanksgiving weekend.
You’ll also find me on Jamie’s Picasa album for her first social event @ Jillians for our APAF organization.
Finally, I was volunteering at the Olive CrestChristmas event on the CBS lot. I think I’m going to make this an annual volunteering event that I’m going to attend every year.
With today being the kick-off of the Holiday shopping season, many people are out there shopping to their hearts content. Not really bitten by the shopping bug like my sister and girlfriend, I decided to go take my car in for a free rotation and balancing of my tires. For some weird feeling I knew I was going to need to spend some money today. Unfortunately my hunch was correct when the service guy told me that all my struts for my car is leaking. I also had to flush out my brake fluid and adjust the rear brake rotors. The struts job will cost nearly $800 and to flush out my brake fluid and adjust the rotors cost about $80. I opted for the cheaper service only because I still have to pay for my bike’s service tomorrow. So for the rest of the year, I’m going to need to buy or pay for the following transportation service and items:
$750 – Valve adjustments and tune-up for motorcycle
$800 – Replace my car’s struts $500 – Motorcycle insurance $70 – Motorcycle registration
$400-$800 – New motorcycle helmet since my helmet is “expired”
This doesn’t even include my Christmas shopping that I need to do. It looks like I won’t be saving any money until the new year.
Kicked off Christmas at midnight with a gift exchange with my sister, her bf, and San. I scored a nice beige jacket from my sis and her bf. I also got another Spurs cap and an incredible earphone from my baby. I never knew my mp3 player and laptop can play such rich sounding music! The Shure E3 is an incredible piece of equipment. You can hear a whole range of sound and it isolates it so that you block off outside noise. The review I read online explains this further. The yellow foam buds (PA750) gives the music more bass while the other buds were a bit lacking in the sound. I may have to order more once my pair gets worn down. I love my gift! San loved her new black Motorola Razr and a picture frame with the album photo from the motorcycle show from this post.
This moving thing is such a drag. I can’t really settle down and relax. I still have to clean and pack-up after all the excitement. I guess it was my fault for choosing to move during the holidays! Anyways, hope you all have a great Christmas. Spend time with the people you love and relax. At least do it for me.
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