May Weekends in Phoenix-ish

When I saw my #1 blog fan (arguably, but anyway his picture is to the left) this past weekend, he pointed out how I had not blogged in many weeks.  Although he's right, I was kind of waiting to go on all my Phoenix trips this month and make one long blogging post.  I find that I blog most about my vacations or events I go to and not so much about my random thoughts.  Sometimes I wonder what my audience prefers to read about, but in the end I just try to blog about whatever and if I can find the time to write something up.  So anyway, on to blogging about the month of May where I ended up going to the Phoenix area three weekends in a row!

The weekend of May 12 was Mother's Day, so my sister was also in Scottsdale to visit my parents.  I usually try to coordinate visits to our parents with her.  That Saturday I got into Dobson to have some good ol' Dim Sum at Mekong Palace with the family, but I will argue that there are better Dim Sum places such as Phoenix Palace.  Later that afternoon, I went to meet up with some friends who had traveled from Tucson to go ice-skating in Chandler at Polar Ice for my friend Dori's birthday.  Tucson actually doesn't have any ice-skating rinks anymore and she wanted to go ice-skating, so it had to be in Phoenix.

I hadn't ice-skated in several years but I had been before and had also roller-bladed a ton as a kid. I actually used to play street hockey with other kids in my childhood neighborhood almost every night until it got dark and our moms called us all home from their front doors. :) I had no trouble ice-skating well, although the skate rentals were pretty crappy and made my feet hurt a lot afterwards, heh.

After ice-skating, we went to Teharu for sushi dinner, which was actually my recommendation after it was recommended to me by Matt.  If you've never been, it's one of those conveyor belt sushi places where you just pick off the belt whatever you want to eat and they charge you at the end.  It's not only delicious, but surprisingly very affordable as well.

The next weekend of the 18th was the 4th Annual Wakeboarding and Camping at Apache Lake trip.  It had been planned for months by Doug and was something Kalyn and I had been looking forward to for a very long time.  For me, it was my second time on this annual trip and Kalyn's first.  We drove up to Apache Lake from Tucson on Thursday morning and set up camp that afternoon.

The next day, we got out on the boat early in the morning and did our share of wakeboarding, wakesurfing, and tubing.  This was now my 3rd time out on the water and you could really see the improvement.  It can be very hard just to get up on the water and be pulled and for example, my first time I barely got up on the water.  This time around I was getting up almost every time and then it just came down to figuring out my balance and how to maneuver around on the wake.  (Yes I realize the attached picture below is of me still in the water 'cause the ones on my camera where I'm up actually up were instead videos; but they are boring because it's just me trying not to fall off!)

Camping and waking at Apache Lake is always a great time since we get a big group of close friends together and just enjoy the nice lake and the great outdoors.  On the last day, Kalyn attempted to wakeboard, something she hadn't done in many years.  She was able to get up for a few seconds, which reminded me a lot of my first time out.  I'm confident that next time she'll be able to pop up onto the water with ease. :)

This past weekend was Memorial Day, and Kalyn, Lucky, Ann, and myself decided to make it a full blown weekend of fun in Phoenix.  On Saturday we met up with Kyle and Jamie and Nate and Elizabeth at the Diamondbacks game versus the Brewers.  It was also JJ Putz bobblehead day, so each of us received free bobbleheads!  The game was a good one that ended in a 8-5 victory for the D'backs.

Afterwards, we decided to hit up some bars in Old Town and so we went to Gilligan's and Social Tap (where Mulligan's used to be).  Gilligan's was a little interesting when we spun the shot wheel and Lucky got the "bartender's choice".  His shot turned out to be a shot of blue food coloring with absolutely no alcohol in it at all.  His mouth was all blue the rest of the night (he didn't even shoot all of it) and it's kind of questionable why Gilligan's would do that to their clientele.  He tried not to let the blue dye get to him too much and I think the joke of the night for him was "I just blew a smurf!" lol.  My shot was horrible - El Chuey - which was whiskey and an egg yolk.  In my opinion, the wheel is not really worth it, or at least don't expect much or take it seriously!

On Sunday we met up with Jeff and Ashley for their pool party, which turned out to be lots of drinking games like flip cup, beer pong in the pool, bag toss, and slap game (that's a fun, new one).  We weren't planning on staying out too late because we had to be up early the next morning, but ended up going back to Old Town and didn't make it home 'til after midnight.  I had waaaay too much to drink that night and ended up throwing up twice before bed and once again in the morning. :/

On Memorial Day, we went Salt River Tubing with Matt, Pamela, Doug, Jonny, Alex, Jody and several others.  I think we counted 20 in our group.  It would've actually been more, but we unfortunately got separated from Jen, Jon, Deanna, and Vanessa. :( Regardless, it was a great time even though I was hungover for most of it!

So that about wraps up my past 3 weekends out of town.  I am now a whole skin tone darker from all that sun and ready to take it easy this coming weekend.  For my loyal fans, I say thanks and appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and I hope it's entertaining or at least informative!  I will try and blog more often, but you know me, I just blog whenever there is something worth blogging about!  Until next time....pppppppeace!





AHGL Finals in Santa Monica; IBM Basketball Championship

AHGL Finals in Santa Monica

This past weekend, I traveled to Los Angeles and the Santa Monica area to compete in the finals for the After Hours Gaming League!

Courtesy of IBM, I flew into Los Angeles on Thursday evening and my buddy Xav picked me up from the airport.  It was already a crazy beginning to the trip when Southwest had e-mailed me at 6am that my flight at 5pm was delayed 2 hours already.  After I was all "WTF" for a few hours, another e-mail came saying that the flight was back to it's original departure time, lol.  Computer error possibly?  When I got to Los Angeles, Xav and I picked up his wife Nicole (both are former teammates of mine from IBM) and we went to Chosun Galbee for dinner to meet up with one of my teammates, Brian a.k.a. thudbang, and his brother and sister-in-law.  Oh, and I should add that Kalyn drove all the way from Tucson to join me on this trip!  So all of us enjoyed an amazing dinner at the Korean BBQ restaurant, which I think was one of the best meals we had all weekend...and the price was really great for what you got!  Thursday night was pretty chill since the rest of the teammates from IBM wouldn't be arriving until Friday.  So Xav, Nicole, Kalyn and I grabbed a couple brews at Smith House and called it a night shortly after.

On Friday, Kalyn and I ventured out to Santa Monica Pier on our own, figuring the rest of the weekend we'd spend with the IBM team and doing AHGL stuff.  It was really nice to go to the beach, just the two of us, although the water was way too cold to go in.  We had lunch at Ocean Avenue Seafood, where Kalyn tried a raw oyster and almost puked LOL.  I gave her mad props for trying one and then I happily consumed the rest. :)

Friday night, while team Epic had rented out a LAN center and was practicing their SC2 matchups, there was a scheduled bonfire on Dockweiler beach where the IBM team gathered to meet one another and drink and hang out on the beach.  We literally roasted hot dogs and smores over the fire and it was a pretty bitchin' good time.  After the bonfire, the team split up a little, but several of us went to the Melody Bar and Grill to get food and drinks.  There weren't many bar options around the LAX airport area and apparently a lot of places close around 11pm...very odd.  Anyway, it was soon off to bed in preparation for the big day ahead!

Saturday was the Finals for the After Hour Gaming League.  Team IBM and team Epic took a charter bus to the Red Bull Corporate Headquarters where the event was being held.  Red Bull HQ was pretty awesome...a giant skateboard ramp runs through the middle of the entire office and yes, there was plenty of free Red Bull for everyone to consume lol.  I got to meet Day9 and Husky in person and took many photos of the event, most of which have been posted to my Facebook.  The afternoon was kind of boring because they were showing League of Legends, so we just spent the time chatting, hanging out, getting free food and drinks until the StarCraft finals were ready to air.

The first game between IBM and Epic was between GreatArchon (IBM) and Crabtastic (Epic). GreatArchon opened with hellion+marauder pressure, but Crabtastic was able to hold everything off with apparent ease.  Crabtastic then used a nydus worm to infiltrate GreatArchon's base and Epic took game 1 of the best of 7 series.
The second game featured Zai (IBM) versus Razed (Epic). Zai opened with a Robotic Facility while Razed attempted quick Dark Templars, but Zai's build was very safe and he was able to take out the sneaky DTs and even the series 1-1.
The third game was between VDeezy (IBM) and JDub (Epic). JDub is arguably their best player and his superior macro abilities showed when he was able to outmacro and outplay VDeezy.  Epic then went up 2-1. However, the first 3 games went exactly as we had envisioned.
The fourth game was a pivotal match between thudbang (IBM) and USKC (Epic). Although thudbang was arguably favored in this matchup, USKC held his own and had a key auxiliary attack in the game where he killed many of thudbang's drones.  The losses began to pile up, USKC got ahead, and he helped his team secure a 3-1 lead.
On to game 5 between Kuma (IBM) and Spraypaint (Epic). It was now up to Kuma to extend the series.  However, Spraypraint executed a very aggressive 4-gate with Warp Prism build while Kuma attempted DTs and just didn't have enough units to defend Spraypaint's drop.  Epic won the series 4-1 and I was left on the sidelines, not able to play nor showcase my skills, but only to watch as our team had fallen so quickly to Epic's great play.

The outcome of the series was pretty disappointing.  IBM had come very far but got romped in the finals.  For the record, ATrain (IBM) and Elendil (Epic) played their match offline after the weekend to just see what would have happened.  ATrain executed a powerful 2-base mothership rush that caught his opponent Elendil offguard to win the game.  It was a relieving feeling to know that I would have won my game had I got to play, but oh well, such is life sometimes!

After the AHGL Finals, Day9 treated everyone to pizza and bowling in Santa Monica.  For fun, IBM played Epic in a bowling matchup and stomped Epic to the tune of a 500-300 victory.  ATrain rolled a 184 for good measure.  It helped that Kalyn drove because she brought my bowling ball and gear with her in her car. :)

On Sunday, everyone was ready to go home, but Kalyn had decided she didn't want to leave the beach just yet.  She was in no hurry to go back to Tucson and because she drove, she could afford to stay another day and leave whenever.  She let me accompany on her extended vacation, so I skipped my Sunday flight and the two of us went to Venice beach.  Venice beach is pretty awesome...shops along the beach and a long boardwalk containing several colorful characters.  We relaxed on the beach and enjoyed our last day in California.  Later that night, we found a cozy little motel called Sea Shore Motel in Venice beach to stay the night.  We also had dinner at Finn McCool's, which was featured on the Travel channel. :)

On Monday we drove home from LA and split the driving time, when traveling together, makes the 8-hour drive not seem so bad.  Overall, the AHGL weekend was a great experience and vacation and I was really happy to be a part of it; sans 2 hours of team IBM getting it's ass whooped by Epic, lol.  I was also thrilled that Kalyn was able to come along the trip with me, since she made it like 10x better. :D As for next season, I think I will be back and hopefully the key players Zai and thudbang will be back as well.  Until next year!!!

IBM Basketball Championship

This past week was a big one for me.  After coming up short in bowling and the AHGL, I had one last chance to prove that I was still championship material.  The IBM Basketball League finals were this past Wednesday.  My team had lost in the winners bracket and was forced to win the losers bracket to have a chance at the final game(s).  Because our tournament was double elimination, we had to beat the other team twice on championship night while they only had to beat us once.  They had beaten us once during the season and again the playoffs, so it was time for me to draw up a new strategy.  Their best player, Adam, is a very difficult player to guard.  He can shoot the ball from deep behind the 3-point line and is tall and skilled enough to work his way inside.  My new strategy was this: instead of having my star, Ryan, or our muscle, Cooper, guard Adam, I would defend Adam instead.  In the previous two games, Cooper and Ryan could guard Adam, but it left us really weak in the paint since we are an undersized team compared to them.  So on this night I guarded Adam and played some really hard-nosed defense.  Adam was cold from outside and had trouble scoring inside when Ryan could help at the second level.  On offense, my teammate Matt really helped with by shooting almost lights out and the our whole team just played great.  We won the first game 54-30 and then the second 64-50 (we were even leading 41-21 at the half).  And so I finally won a championship this year!  It was my first year as a captain in the IBM Basketball League and I was really proud of my team, but mostly it was just a lot of fun to play with all my friends this season.  Hopefully everyone can get back on the same team next year and we can make a run at a repeat title!

Championships Await!

The month of April has been a good one for me and this next week is gonna be big as I have two important championships coming up!

The AHGL Finals featuring IBM vs Epic will take place this coming Saturday, April 21st at 5:00pm. You can watch the event at http://day9.tv/live that will be broadcasted live by Day9 and my favorite StarCraft caster Husky!  I will be playing 6th in the matchup, which means I won't actually get to play if the series ends 4-0 or 4-1.  Regardless, we are playing for lots of bragging rights and a $5,000 donation to our charity, Youth Service of America.

My team in the IBM Basketball League also won yesterday, which puts us in the Finals this coming Wednesday, April 25th at 6:00pm.  We unfortunately lost a game, coincidentally to the same team we will be facing, so we will have to beat the other team twice without losing in order to claim the title.  Both teams are very strong, so it should be a challenging night ahead.

I am super excited for both events and will update my blog with the results. Wish us luck!

IBM Basketball League Playoffs

Back in February, the IBM Basketball League started and this was the first year as a captain.  I drafted a team of friends, bringing along with me 2 guests and in fact, my entire squad except me was new to the league.  7 weeks later, I am happy to say that we found our way to a 6-1 record and enter the playoffs as the number 1 seed!

My team is very well-balanced and should be a good favorite to win the entire thing.  However, we can't get too confident out there.  Just have to take care of business!  I'll be hoping to get my second title in basketball, wish us luck!

P.S. I apparently blog a lot about playoffs and championships.  LOL