Wow. 2008 went by so fast. I can’t believe it’s already 2009. My New Year was spent at Universal City Walk waiting for the count down. Oddly enough I was with family. Over my holiday break my sister and I decided to reconnect with them since we haven’t done so for a few years now. Yeah we’re bad relatives. Not just us but also my Mom & Dad. They were never really close to the familia except a few. But even then, they don’t see each other for awhile.
So the last 2 weeks came and went rather quick. I had the opportunity to spend almost all my time here at my home. Can’t believe it’s almost 2 months living here. I have a tenant / roommate living at the other room. It’s the gf’s sister who was looking for a place to stay since her job was relocated to Studio City from WeHo. It’s nice to have someone looking after the place when you’re not here. Except she works almost similar hours as I do.
The place still needs furniture. I haven’t had the chance to dive into my woodworking ambitions. Not sure if its because I’m lazy or I don’t have time. Maybe because I know that this new hobby is going to cost me some dough to buy tools, I’m just holding off on it for now. I do need some furniture so I’ll save up for it. I did get to do my first major upgrade to the kitchen sink. Not really something I absolutely needed to do but the old sink was leaking pretty bad and I was going to just change out the parts of the old sink. Unfortunately, the bolt on the handle would not budge and the allen wrench I used kept on rounding off corners in the hole. I just gave up after trying for about an hour. Ran over to good ole Home Depot and picked me up a Moen faucet. The job took me another hour and I was done installing. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was ripping the old one out and getting wet as well as having rusted metal fall over my head because the bolt underneath the old faucet was corroded pretty bad. I couldn’t unscrew the bolt but rather ripped it out from the top of the sink. Here’s a few shots of the old faucet and the corroded bolt
Here’s a nice picture of the end results of the new faucet.
I have to say I’m pretty proud of my work. I celebrated by making dinner for everyone.
Last weekend I had the chance to attend a wedding of a very good friend of mine. We were friends since 6th grade. She’s finally getting married. This gave me the chance to reconnect with people in past. One notable figure was my 8th grade history teacher. He looked the same except more white hair. Also got to see some college buddies and their kid. It was good to see everyone again. I contributed to the wedding by helping them build their website and creating their slideshow. Fortunately it turned out great with their multiple day visit and feedback. My gf said their attention to detail made my slideshow better and made me look good. Hopefully we’ll get that thing on YouTube soon.
I also had a chance to get in a good ride on the same day as the wedding. It was a good 20 mile ride around Burbank, Glendale, Los Feliz, and Griffith Park. I found another route that leads me up the Verdugo Mountains and San Gabriel mountain area. It’s a 30 miler through Sun Valley, Sunland, Glendale, and finally Burbank. Haven’t done it yet but will be doing it soon when I’m feeling ambitious and adventurous. In the mean-time, my daily commute to work every Tuesday to Friday will keep me happy.
Another one bites the dust. This time it’s Ton who just got married a little over 2 weeks ago. It was a small but cozy wedding banquet. The first time we met his girlfriend/fiancee/wife. She was nice. Don’t know anything about her so she seemed nice.
This past weekend Shon and I went to run in our first 5K race of the season. The unofficial time based on my watch was 26 minutes and 48 seconds for myself and Shon came in about 37 minutes. I didn’t expect so many hills. The most disheartening thing was watching a 70 year-old run by you chatting with a woman with a quarter of mile left. I had no gas left to try to out run this guy. I can only wish I am as fit as him when I am at his age.
I have another race coming up this coming weekend on April 6th. It’s for the non-profit I’ve been working with. Another 5K so I hope to beat my time. I’m also hoping the course will be much flatter than La Habra. Wish me luck.
Nothing much going on these days except some weddings and Halloween at work.
It’s a bit late to post this but better late than never. Here are pictures from Howard & Sandy’s wedding on June 9th. Great food and even better time catching up with friends. Congratulations to Howard & Sandy!
More pictures here.
Fresh off the digital camera, I finally have photos of my buddy’s wedding day. My brief stint as the best man ended a week ago with the ceremony and reception between Andrew and Belinda. Drew made it easy and I was glad I was part of this moment of their lives. Here are some pictures and copy of my potential speech. Luckily I wasn’t required to make one, but I did prepare for it. It’s kinda cheesy and I chickened out on it, but whatever! I was sick. Really I was.
Hi. My name is Johnny Lam and I am the Best Man to Andrew. Andrew told me that I didn’t have to make a speech but I didn’t know if he was joking or not. Good thing I went with my instincts. I mean for those of you who know Andrew, you know it’s hard to really take him seriously at times. The guy is constantly joking and laughing after every sentence. For example, “Hey Johnny, I am going to ask Belinda to marry me. Hehehe.”
I mean how do you believe someone who is chasing Hollywood celebrities as a day job? Or how do you believe someone who tells you that they just won a contest to propose to their girlfriend on national television in New York City? But after I got past his giggling I knew he was very serious about marrying Belinda. And I couldn’t be happier for the both of them. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them who was the guy constantly calling them when they were at New York for the proposal. Dude I was so proud of him!
(Ok seriously), I am truly honored to be part of this joyous occasion. Thank you Andrew and Belinda for letting me participate in this magical moment with you. I am glad that you guys found each other and found the love and companionship you both deserve. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, let us all raise our glass and help me usher in a lifetime of everlasting love as they begin their lives together. Congratulations!
This past weekend I was at the Bay Area with the first intention of attending a wedding and hanging out with a couple of friends. The cool weather was very welcoming considering the that Southern California was hot and humid the week before. We spent some time hanging out by the pool on Saturday and attended the reception party. It was a nice wedding. The food was good, the bride was pretty, and everything seemed very organized. We had our typical 10 course meal (although really 9 course since the mango pudding never came 
) . The drive home was relaxing and mellow. I didn’t do much driving up but took about 3/4 of the drive back. Unfortunately the ability for photos was lost during a recent migration to another server, but I’ll have my guy help me resolve this issue when he gets back from vacation in Asia. In the mean-time you should be able to view some photos on the bride’s MySpace.
On another note, my ETF positions have been doing good for me. It went over the 1% mark for my entire IRA portfolio. I know that doesn’t seem like alot but considering only 25% of my portfolio is helping me gain that 1% profit. I’m still positioned in since I feel that energy and gold still have a ways to go as far as gaining more profits. As of the end of trading today, both was yielding a 2.8% gain. If either one loses 1/2 I may make that my exit point.
I would like to extend my congratulations to Aaron & Fran on a beautiful wedding ceremony and banquet. I was honored to be part of the small and intimate ceremony and enjoyed the food of the banquet while cruising the Orange County bay in a beautiful yaht. It was a perfect day all around with beautiful weather, good food, and even better company. I just want to thank them for sharing their special day with us.
I’m back after 2 days and 2 nights of tumultuous family gathering. Thank goodness there wasn’t any vomitting incidents on the way back. It was a good to see my cousin Betty on her wedding day. She seemed very happy. This was a traditional Chinese wedding where red envelopes was exchanged, tea ceremonies was conducted, and a plethora of food was digested by all wedding guests. Being in the middle of our family reunion was also… “interesting” to say the least. Yes, like most families out there, stories and dramatic recollection of events was the talk of the town. But I wouldn’t say my family would be qualified as dysfunctional compared to what I would define as dysfunctional. Lets just say I’m glad to be back in California and getting ready to go to bed.
Thanks to my cousin Lynn for letting our family crash at her place again. Her boy Ethan, has grown quite considerable since the last time I saw him.
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