LoveFlutter's Paper Bag Speed Dating Event in NYC

It has been a couple of weeks since the paper bag event. I’ve done some more digging around the internet and there’s a ton of articles (to no one’s surprise) about the event. I read these articles written by female participants with disgust. The guys at the event had already figured it out: 90% of the female participants were from the media. I stupidly didn’t realize it until L told me after the event. Some of these articles written by these women really pissed me off. Each of them say they went with an open mind but the way they write their interactions with the guys make their claims really phony. In fact, most of them treated the guys like they're inferior. Since they were there for the story, not to really bond with anyone, they were in interview mode. I felt like I wasted my time giving these people a chance when they judged us within 2 minutes and based on what? Most of the conversation sucked because the conversations were directed by what we put on our bags. The problem was that the women were bland and didn’t have anything interesting to say. When they took control of the conversation, it went to boring and dry places. And since most of them were interested in what we did for a living, where we lived, we didn’t even get to ask them what they did. Oh and they were brutally honest in their articles. One woman even said they felt bad after a while and started lying about their true occupation (news writer). What a complete joke. The guys there were all decent guys from what I could see. We put creativity and thought into our designs. It’s a joke how we were there to actually meet people when the other half of the participants were there to ridicule us. It’s no wonder these women are still single. More than half of the women left immediately after the de-bagging. They didn’t even stay to meet the guys because they didn’t come here to meet people. All of them were there for the scoop. You know what the real story for the event was? Female participants were all reporters looking for an article while all the male participants were there for finding someone. Maybe I'm a little bit bitter because the event was advertised to have a higher female to male ratio, maybe I'm mad because I paid $25 and didn't really get anything from it, but I think it's the fact that the guys got played that really annoyed me.

The video below (which is not me, but you can see a cameo of me) describes perfectly what went wrong with the event.

Masters of Love: An Article about Relationships

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/happily-ever-after/372573/

I love this article. They make a lot of valid points on what couples should do to build trust and foster a long lasting meaningful relationship. The article is a very interesting read but the summary is this: kindness and generosity fosters a lasting relationship.

The Ice Bucket Challenge

Okay, recently there's been a viral social media phenomenon occurring known as the Ice Bucket Challenge. Everyone's been tagging their friends on FaceBook and everyone's opting to do the "challenge." No one's been bragging about how they donated $100 instead. Oh look! Let's brag about NOT donating to charity but instead dumping water on yourselves. Good job everywun!!!



You know who's the man? Charlie fucking #winning Sheen.

Okay but seriously, these fads are really silly in my opinion. The world has such a short term memory, this will be forgotten after a month. Remember these?

Yeah I didn't think so.

Kony 2012 was a film made to make people aware of this terrorist African military leader and to stop him. The video on Youtube has near 100 million views! The end result? Kony is still at large, two years later. Well played folks, I also wondered what happened to all the money that was donated towards the "cause" went.


What about the African terrorist group known as Boko Haram? These guys kidnapped 260 girls and they were never found. #BringBackOurGirls was a big thing a while ago. Did they catch these terrorists? Did they return the 260 girls they kidnapped? Nope. The Nigerian government is a joke, they won't risk lives fighting Boko Haram. The rest of the world didn't do much either. Oh... and the Nigerian government even declared that they have given up on the whole situation. But who cares, not like anyone has remembered about what happened two months ago.


What I'm trying to say is, don't follow the masses just because everyone's doing it. You need to make your own choices in life. I honestly don't think any of my friends will "nominate" me for this stupid viral thing, I don't think anyone who has done it actually knows what ALS actually is anyway. But if they do, I will refer them to this opinionated article.

NBA Free Agency

NBA Free Agency thoughts 

I really enjoyed this year’s free agency period. The best player in my generation, Lebron James has returned to Cleveland. The entire league was at a standstill when he opted out of his contract with the Miami Heat. Not one of the big name players signed until after Lebron made his decision. Everyone was waiting to see where he would end up before making their own decision. I think it’s pretty amazing how the best player in the league can influence the entire free agency landscape.

Thoughts on Lebron: 
I really liked James’ decision to go back to Cleveland. The way he left Cleveland four years ago made everyone hate him. Fans burned his jersey, Dan Gilbert wrote a comic sans letter that condemned him and people who looked up to him felt they were betrayed by him. And rightfully so. Lebron James was a hero, a prodigy to the no name Cleveland Cavaliers. They weren’t the best team, they weren’t the worst either. They made the playoffs, but never got to the finals. Lebron did them a favor by leaving them for four years. Within those four years, the Cavaliers managed to somehow luck out and win the draft lottery three out of four times. By leaving his hometown, James also managed to win two championships. Both parties won. But by returning to Cleveland, Lebron secured his legacy by returning to where he was brought up and to ultimately win a championship for the Ohio fans. His infamous “Decision” was probably the worst PR idea to ever hit television. His letter announcing his return to Cleveland was definitely one of the best well written letters I’ve ever read. You can just see how much he’s grown and matured. The way he sees things now… props to you Lebron James for doing the right thing.

 The only thing that sucks is Dwayne Wade got screwed. He was originally going to make $20 million this coming year, but now has to take $15 million instead because he opted out of his contract to make the team’s salary more flexible. Scratch that, he’s still a millionaire, who cares. But yeah, since he and James are friends, I would probably be mad that my friend cost me a couple of million bucks. The rest of the Heat players also have to feel the sting of Lebron’s departure, especially those who signed on so that they can play with him.

 In other news, the Houston Rockets dump Jeremy Lin to the LA Lakers, let Parsons walk, and traded away a starting center (Omer Asik). General Manager Morey did all of those so that he can land either Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh, both of whom opted to stay in their respective current teams. And rightfully so, because Houston management is by far, the worst at treating their players. If you think about how Lin got screwed over and over while he was with the Rockets, I’d be thrilled if I was Lin—to get a chance to start over in a new team. After losing his starting job to a nobody and losing minutes each night last season, I had to drop him in my fantasy league because he wasn’t doing anything night in and night out. He was mistreated by the coach, who never really gave him a chance and used him as a scapegoat for their loss to Portland in the playoffs. Being in Houston really made him stand back and watch as Harden dominated the ball. As for Asik, it’s the same story. Ever since Howard arrived in Houston, Asik was an afterthought. As for Parsons, he just had the breakout of his career, and he’s only 25. Yet they decided he wasn’t good enough so they let him walk. In summary, Houston’s summer was a huge mistake. They cleared plenty of cap space, only to resign Trevor Ariza and nobody else. Two of my favorite players left Houston, time to stop watching these scrubs.

Results of the 5K

I forgot to post the results of my training from a month ago. I tracked the results using endomondo sports tracker (it's a free app). I highly recommend it, it's great for tracking your pace and progress.

I ended up finishing the race of 3.41 miles in 36:47. That was an average speed of 10:47 min/mile. My plan was to finish under 40 minutes, which I did. Next year I hope to get under 30.

An article about relationships

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/happily-ever-after/372573/

This is a really well written article and its points are well made. It speaks volumes on how people should really treat each other and explains how some couples stay together in relationships and others break up. They stress that when couples share and bond over happy moments they are more likely to be happy, but likewise it's also important to recognize the bad moments and how to deal with those are equally as important. There are 4 types of ways in which partners can respond to each other; active construction, passive construction, active destruction, and passive destruction. You can read about examples in the article. Couples who stay together react to each other using active construction, while other types of responses tend to cause couples to split.

2013-2014 NBA Season Part Deux

The other aspect of fantasy basketball appeals to those who want instant gratification. In other words, for those who do not have the patience for a seasonal league and wish to see immediate results, daily fantasy is a great alternative. I read plenty of basketball news on a daily basis which eventually led me to FanDuel. On daily sites such as FanDuel, there are daily tournaments in which a prize pool is given out to the top fantasy teams per each day. It is incredibly addictive because each day brings a new lineup, and a new opportunity to win.

Each day, certain amounts of teams are going to play. Your roster consists of filling up the following positions: PG, PG, SG, SG, SF, SF, PF, PF, C. You need to fill up the nine positions within a restricted cap budget. With a total of $60,000 cap budget, you allocate the funds to each player, trying to fill up your roster within budget. Each player is worth a certain amount of salary, and it changes daily based on their recent performances. A top fantasy stud like Kevin Durant can cost from a range of 11,000 to 13,000. That means he takes up almost 20% of your cap space and you will need to try to compensate by taking cheaper options at the other positions. What’s interesting about daily leagues is how there is a tradeoff between player options and the vast amount of different combinations you can create. With that being said, 95% of the time, there is only one true winning combination per given night. Out of thousands of entries, the #1 fantasy team is almost always exclusive. You can see how difficult it is trying to get the magic combination that will win you big bucks.

There are really two strategies that work in daily leagues.

Stud Stacking – the first strategy is to try and stack as many studs/superstars as possible while filling the other spots with minimum salary players. This is incredibly risky, but I’ve seen many of these win time and time again. The trick here is to try and pick the guys who will give you tremendous upside but cost very little, while combining those guys with superstars who usually give you consistent results. The risk here is that your superstars might not contribute a big amount for their price, or if your minimum salary players contribute very little. This is essentially an all-in strategy that is typically used for big tournaments.

Balanced roster – the second strategy is to avoid minimum salaries and try to fill your roster with guys who are a little bit more consistent. By doing so, you have less risk and more chance of actually getting a payout. Due to the fact that the top 10 percentile usually gets a payout, if you reach a threshold you can make a profit.

Should you pay for the cream of the crop players? The answer is yes. If Kevin Durant scored 70 Fantasy Points (FP) that night, and you did not have him in your roster, you essentially are not going to cash out. Even if all of your players had a decent contribution of say 35 FP each, your end result would be 315. However, compare that with the guy who had KD, let’s say two of his minimum salary players only got him 20 points each, but the rest averaged 35. 20+20+35+35+35+70+35+35+35=320. The trick is really to guess which studs will be a winner (matchups, injuries, etc) and to build the roster around those guys with low salaries.

I don’t know about the other fantasy websites, but for FanDuel, you have to get around a total of 300-350 on a low scoring night to win, 350-390 on a high scoring night to win big. This is very difficult to do because it means your roster has to be flawless, each player on average giving you at least 40 FPS.

I won a bunch of times, but I also lost a bunch of times. Basically, it's like gambling your money away trying to hit the right lotto number. It's definitely fun, but to win big you gotta play risky so it's difficult. The most I've won from a tournament was $36 for a $2 entry.

2013-2014 NBA Season Part One

2013-2014 Fantasy BBall Results

I’ve never really followed any sports until the start of this year. A friend of mine started up a friendly fantasy basketball league and invited me to join. Although it started out just for fun, it grew into a hobby. Actually, I would say it was more than a hobby because it became part of my daily life during the regular season. Going into my first fantasy draft, I was completely oblivious to more than 90% of the players. I drafted only by name and stats presented. I knew very little about team depth, injuries, aging, and potential breakouts. Needless to say, my first drafted team didn’t do very well in the season. However, I quickly learned from my lack of drafting knowledge and entered several other seasonal leagues, two of which were for money. Out of the five leagues I entered, I finished 11th, 6th, 2nd, 2nd, and 5th. Barring the first one being a total mistake, the rest turned out pretty decently. Out of the two money leagues, the first one I took 2nd place and won $70. The second one where I finished 5th, I could’ve easily made the playoffs had I monitored the week like a hawk. In any case, I feel more confident than ever going into the next season and can’t wait till next year’s season begins. There are some strategies I’ve thought about exploring next season. Since all of the Yahoo Basketball Leagues have the standard 9 category scoring method, realistically you just need to win five categories consistently to really win the league. Being an “all-rounder” doesn’t really help if you are not guaranteed to win in any one category. There’s an interesting tradeoff between player roles.

Guard: Generally speaking, the G does well in assists, FT%, 3s, steals, and points. Guards usually hurt you in the FG%, turnovers, and have low rebounding rates.

PF/C: The front court players are the opposite in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Forwards do well in rebounds, FG%, blocks, points, and have low turnovers. However, most of them have terrible FT%.

SG/SF: These guys are the blend and sort of do it all. Except SF is almost always more contributing than the SG because SG really doesn’t do anything other than get you points.

Now let’s take a look at the roster limits set by the Yahoo standard leagues. The positons are: PG, G, SG, SF, PF, F, C, C, UTL, UTL, BN, BN, BN. It’s very important to draft people who are not constricted into one role. Take for example, you have Tyson Chandler, who only plays at the C spot. There is really only 4 out of the 10 spots on any given night that you can put him. Compare that with someone like Serge Ibaka, who is listed as PF/C. Ibaka on any given night, can be put in any of the 6 slots available. This is important because sometimes nights can be loaded with one type of player, and thus you are forced to bench them. Whenever a player is playing that night and he’s on your bench that means you’ve lost value. This is only true for categories that go up as more games are played. Essentially, FG% and FT% are sort of random in the sense that they cannot be controlled through sheer volume. For all you know, the best FT% player you have might not have taken more than two attempts. Likewise, sometimes a player as a terrible night and his FG% takes a huge hit. The last caveat is the turnovers committed. Since the more players you play, the higher chance you will commit more turnovers. Thus, this stat is hard to control, especially if you draft a higher number of ball handlers. This leaves the idea open for strategy.

I want to experiment with different team compositions next year. For example, I want to try out punting a category to ensure I win the others. I can do this by building my team around players with similar stats. Of course, it will change depending on who is left on the board, and some luck.

Strategy 1: Punt FT%. The idea behind this is quite simple. Some players are absolutely monsters on the court, but they can’t hit free throws for their life. Notable examples would be DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, and Dwight Howard. However, by having a combination of these guys, you would easily win rebounds, blocks and FG%.

Strategy 2: Punt points. The general consensus is that most fantasy owners love to have guys who contribute large amounts of points. This happens because points are realistically the most important stat in real life. But it is only one category in a 9 category fantasy league. So let’s say you don’t care about points, you can stack your team with players who consistently contribute to multiple categories. Some examples are Paul Millsap, Joakim Noah, Ricky Rubio, and Lance Stephenson. Players I will be reaching for next season: DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, Rajon Rondo, Paul Millsap, Thaddeus Young, and DeMar DeRozan. Players I will NOT be drafting, like ever: Kyrie Irving, Dwayne Wade, Jeremy Lin, Spurs players, Larry Sanders, Roy Hibbert, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Garnett.

Players of interest: 

Gorgui Dieng: In my opinion, this guy will be a sleeper going into next season if Nikola Pekovec iis injured or if Kevin Love gets traded. When Pek was injured this season, Dieng became a double double machine with good peripheral stats are over. This kid has potential.

Andrew Wiggins/Jabari Parker/Nerlens Noel: These guys have been hyped by college prospects, and it will be interesting to see how these players transition into the NBA. Since Noel will be playing for the 76ers, he will get a ton of playing time as the starting center and I do not fear drafting him because he took the entire year off to recover from his knee injury.

Busts of the Year:
I love busts of the year, it tells us who complete fell flat on their face when expectations were set too high. Luckily for me, I didn’t have any of these guys.

1. Derrick Rose: This guy just can’t get over his injuries. Shortly coming out of a knee surgery, everyone thinks he’s ready to carry the Bulls this season yet he suffers another season ending injury. Yeah, don’t draft him.
2. Anthony Bennett: The first pick overall of 2012 was the second biggest bust of the year. With averages of .356 FG%, .638 FT, 4.2 PTS, 3 REB per game, he is widely considered the one of the worst first picks ever.
3. Larry Sanders: This guy was getting picked up 2nd to 3rd pick in drafts and he didn’t do anything for the Bucks this year. Disaster.
4. Kobe Bryant: Good grief, he only played 6 games and got injured again.

Breakouts of the Year:
These guys were absolutely steals because they were drafted so late yet returned so much value.
1. Trevor Ariza: I never heard of this guy, but he put up some amazing stats, and he went undrafted going into the season.
2. Terrence Jones: Terrence WHO? Yeah, he was an unknown player for the Rockets that got hot in the middle of the year and contributed huge stats to his owners.
3. DeAndre Jordan: for a guy who was drafted around 10th round, he was the leader in FG% this season. However, his FT% was horrendous, but who cares. He was a huge shot blocker, and his FG% anchor was incredible.

This is my money league that won me $70. My roster was really good until the final week. Kevin Love pretty much gave up during the final weeks of regular season play. His players went nuts on the other hand. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, it's the name of the game. I have no shame losing to that guy's roster because he drafted really well, especially for a guy who had 9th pick (I had 3rd pick).

Why NOT? Wobbbbbuffet!

Japan - Country of Singles

I often wondered why Japan’s current culture fosters such hostility against relationships. When I was in Japan, it really hit me. You can read about how the marriage rates and birth rates are in massive decline in Japan in the news all you want, but it’s really something else to see it firsthand. During my stay in Japan, I rarely saw any children around. If I did, it was tourist children mostly. The other part is the lack of couples. We were out and about on Valentine’s Day, but we barely saw any couples holding hands. Japan is a country of singles. Just why does this happen exactly?

I’m no expert in the matter, but I can give some thoughts on why Japan is such a pitiful state. The first blame goes to the otaku culture. Anime, with all its intents and purposes, is ultimately part of the reason why men and women in Japan can’t get along. When anime shows feed ideas to the young population, good and bad constantly, expectations are set. In anime, male protagonists are always portrayed as being chased by a flock of girls. Does this happen in real life? No, it never does. When such high expectations are set in a young boys mind as they grow up, they become resentful when real life does not turn out the way they thought it would. In slice of life animes, the females are always the aggressors, the guys are being pursued. When does that ever happen in real life? What examples are they setting for the youngins? It is important to understand that what happens on TV is a fantasy. I just get the feeling that the young men who grow up embracing these ideas become disillusioned. What do they do to remedy this problem? Anime isn’t bad for you, as long as you know it is a form of entertainment, not a way of life. Unfortunately, a large part of the population does not understand this concept.

The solution to disillusionment is even worse than the problem itself. Otaku culture allows men to fulfill their sexual fantasies. That’s why you hear of strange stories about how guys want to marry their 2D girlfriends. Men are so afraid of rejection that they turn to dating SIMS, blow up dolls, maid cafes, and prostitution as substitutes. Believe me when I say this, because obtaining a substitution is far too easy in Japan. As for the females in Japan, most of them would rather be single than to date these boys in grown bodies. Essentially that is what a grown Japanese male is. We went to a figure convention and it amazed me how many grown balding men were there. What is a figure convention? They sell anime character toys. It felt like going to a hentai fair because most of the figures were suggestive. I wasn’t all that surprised by the demographic turnout. Would this ever happen in the states? Probably not. There is no stigmatism in Japanese culture. Since it is so widely accepted, no one cares. And that, my friends, is where the problem lies.

Another problem is the Japanese mentality. Failure is like the ultimate shame. That’s why you hear about so many suicide stories for kids who failed their entrance exams. The same faulty thinking occurs in dating. I read somewhere after a guy fails to court a female in Japan, they just stop trying altogether. They take rejection like it’s the end of everything. Granted, not everyone is like that, and this is the extreme, but the fear of rejection is so much more powerful overseas. In fact, this fear makes most guys just not try at all.

Akihabara - Otaku paradise

Community Series CANCELED

 

Community has finally been officially axed by NBC. After a long short 5 seasons, the critically acclaimed sitcom comedy series has finally aired its last episode. The first season was extremely well written. The show was very entertaining because despite its low budget, it was able to create unique and interesting episodes. I absolutely loved the strong cast of nine main characters. Most shows don't go this far into developing such a large main cast, but this one does. Each character has his or her own unique and interesting story. 

After the 3rd season, however, the show writer Dan Harmon was no longer part of the show and the effects were disastrous. While seasons 1-3 had 20 episodes each, season 4 only had 13 episodes. What's worse was that NBC decided to keep delaying the show until February instead of releasing the show in the fall. Perhaps what was really bad was how the show writers botched Chase's character so much that the actor himself became fed up with the show and quit. The way he left the show left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. They wrote him out of the show saying he died. You can tell even the cast themselves didn't give a shit because the dynamics between the cast has changed. After Chase's departure, in the final season Troy also leaves mid-season. It was definitely hard to watch. The original cast members were replenished by newcomers that became regular "important" casts that were not replaceable. 

Lastly, I do think the show ended when it should. After the gang graduated from Greendale at the end of season 4, for some unknown reason they all continued to hang out at the community college. At this point, the show just wasn't going anywhere plot-wise and it was time to truly time to wrap things up.

In honor of the show, let's list some of its most epic episodes:

1. Modern Warfare S1E23: The entire school turns into a paintball war zone. The production level and the seriousness levels of the episode turns this into one of the best critically acclaimed episodes of the year.

2. Epidemiology S2E6: A Halloween themed special, the school becomes infected with "zombie-like" symptoms and the gang has to fight their way out.

3. Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas S2E11: This is first of the uniquely created episodes. The cast members are displayed as Christmas characters in a Rudolf the reindeer style animation.

4. Fistful of Paintballs S2E23-24: Season 2 season finale is a two part paintball war.

5. Digital Exploration of Interior Design S3E13-14: Two part story of how the school turns into a pillow fight war zone.

6. Digital Estate Planning S3E20: An 8-bit animated game episode, the characters voice over their characters as they fight their way into a platform game. It is by far, my favorite episode of the series.

7. Geothermal Escapism S5E5: The school becomes a engulfed in imaginary lava and the last person standing wins a monetary reward.

8. G.I. Jeff S5E11: Jeff Winger is a G.I. Joe in this episode and fights his way through Cobra. Classic G.I. Joe animation and hilarity ensues.

Overall, I think this series deserves way more recognition than it has. The stories in each episode is a fantastic adventure you cannot see elsewhere. Sure, the ratings were sub par and was in decline over the years, but the loyal fans of the series understand how good the series was. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is able to dream big or has imagination.

Farewell Community!

Staying Active is IMPORTANT!

Over the weekend, I’ve witnessed some things that reminded me of how old I am. Honestly, my brain hasn’t grown much. My maturity level hasn’t reached a higher level. But my body definitely has aged, despite me not knowing the signs. Maybe I’m lucky because age has not caught up with me yet, but for some others it has. A friend of mine who will go unnamed for example. I haven’t seen the guy for a couple of years now but now he’s gained weight… in a bad way. He told me he works out almost every day and watching his diet. The way he does it makes me want to slap him. He monitors his diet like a hawk and exercises excessively trying to lose weight. Meanwhile, I’ve been stuffing myself and barely see any difference. I’m sitting in front of the computer all day and still burning calories. But looking at him and the way he eats, it’s pretty sad. I’ll eventually become like that—having to eat healthy all the time or risk gaining weight. 

Another example is David who always declined our invitations to volleyball. I never understood why he didn’t want to play with us. I always thought he didn’t because he thought we sucked. Even if that was the case, the main reason why he doesn’t play with us (or anyone) is because playing volleyball made his bones ache. It was not until yesterday that I had the same realization. After jumping around for several hours, my shin and knees started to hurt. I was surprised myself, for only being 24, my joints were already going soft. There were some high school kids there on the court playing against us. Those guys were us, back six years ago. SIX YEARS AGO. That was us. It’s scary how fast time passes and we are quickly going through our prime. Eddie was complaining about how our prime has already passed, but I refuse to believe it. It’s so important to get regular exercise these days because without it, our bodies age even faster. By staying active at least once per week at Krav Maga for the past four months, my body did not go through soreness the day after. Last year, every day after volleyball, my entire body would ache. But now, it’s much more tolerable and my stamina has gotten a lot better. I can jump higher, I can run after the ball without huffing and puffing, and most importantly--I did not get leg cramps. I intend to stay active for as long as possible so I do not regress. It's so important to stay active, especially now. 

I'm training for the 5K run in June. Hopefully I can finish with a respectable time (under 30 minutes). My cardio has always been horrible and this is taking a lot of effort to build up.

How I Met Your Mother - Series Finale

It truly is an end of an era. How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) has finally come to an end after nine long seasons. I wasn’t there when the journey began, I was late to join the bandwagon. I usually don’t watch sitcoms because they usually aren’t appealing. Since so many of my friends watched this series, I gave it a shot and it was one of those few shows that I stuck with through these years. The series was appealing in the sense it had a linear progression while seeding a lot of unanswered mysteries. However, the general consensus was the story was dragging out way too long and everyone wanted to see the ending. I felt there were way too many filler episodes that did not progress the plotline any further these last few seasons. I guess that’s part of what’s to be expected from a sitcom series. I didn’t see the ending the night it came out, unfortunately. By the time it was the next day, I had already been spoiled by the newsfeeds and news articles on the internet.

I watched the hour finale last night and it was bittersweet. It felt like the story fell short because they were setting up Barney and Robin’s webbing for an entire season, only for them to get divorced shortly afterward. The reason why they broke up wasn’t convincing to me. The whole thing about Barney never going to settle down because he’s just a player didn’t resonate too well with me. It was depressing to see him still chasing after twenty year olds in his forties. It was not until he became a father did he grow up. Again, I thought that transition did not go smoothly. I didn’t buy it.

I enjoyed Ted and the fated mother’s meeting. The entire scene was perfect. Only those who have seen the entire 9th season would know what they were talking about when the two of them met. It was such a perfect meeting between Ted and Tracy. However, the happy scenes did not last long enough for the audience to enjoy. As a viewer, the show built up a great deal of character development for the mother. It made us like her. We believed that she was perfect for Ted and that Robin was finally out of the picture. After they gone through the entire sequence of making a statement about how Ted wasn't right for Robin, we were certain that Robin will never be an afterthought. No good things last in life, and eventually the mother died. That was a gruesome blow to us all because we were all so emotionally invested in her and it was hard to see her cruel fate. But it wasn’t enough that she died, the writers decided to put Ted and Robin together at the end. I don’t know, it just felt like a slap in the face. Wasn’t the purpose of the show about the mother? Why did it end on such a low note? For what reason did they deny all of us of a happy ending? For what it’s worth, the show creators had already filmed the ending nine years ago when the show was first created. At least they had a plan going into the show, unlike some that just go on and on with no end. But like many others, I felt the show would've been perfect if it ended after they met. The extra with the passing of the mother and him going to find Robin was extra information nobody wanted to see.

To Japan and Back

It’s a very strange feeling. While I was in Japan for two weeks, I grew weary of the foreign land. How I longed to go back to the States, where I can communicate people who spoke English. After getting back, I grow restless and agitated by the slightest annoyance. The cultural exposure in Japan made me a lot more aware of the American way of thinking. There are pros and cons of both, but how great would it be if I can find somewhere in the world where a unique blend of both could co-exist?

Japan – Pros:

1.       Superior customer service – There is absolutely no contest when it comes to customer service between these two countries. Japanese service reps were always courteous, smiling, and always professional. Even McDonald’s employees were outstanding. Compare this with the awful attitude you face with waiters and baristas, it’s not even close. I went to many postal offices in Japan, and also in the States. The clerks behind the counter in the states have terrible attitude, they don’t greet you, they look like they hate their jobs, and they work like turtles. Is it too much to ask of you to smile? You’re being paid a salary are you not?

2.       No Tipping – Tipping is such a lame concept in the States. My concept of tipping is that, if customer service is satisfactory, then you give a bonus for the service, AKA a tip. However, in America, this concept has been twisted so far from this definition, it’s almost always added to the bill in restaurants. The rational for tipping in America is because service employees are underpaid with minimum wage and thus “require” additional income in the form of tips. In Japan, tips are never given out. Service employees are paid with respectable wages and thus the customer does not need to tip. In fact, if a tip is given, it is often considered an insult because it would mean their service wasn’t good enough. Compare this way of thinking to the American way, where terrible service is still rewarded with 15-20% on top of the bill. The benefit of society is often neglected for the sake of profit maximization. Restaurant owners are reaping the rewards while the customers have to bail out the minimum wage workers.

3.       Cleanliness – Japan is by far the cleanest place I’ve ever been to. China ranks behind the US in terms of cleanliness, but Japan makes the US look like a third world country. The benefit of society is a reoccurring theme in Japan.  There is respect for both public space and themselves that causes the Japanese to not litter. It amazes me how we walk for many blocks and never see a trashcan yet there is not a trace of a bottle or litter anywhere. Don’t you hate it when you are a victim of fresh gum on the floor? Do you see black patches on the concrete ground everywhere you go in NYC? You don’t see nor encounter the same thing in Japan. Their public space is clean, well kept, and makes you feel happy. Graffiti is a very rare phenomenon in Japan that you have to practically seek it out in order to find any. Whereas in New York, every train station, public wall, even cars are vandalized. Just compare a train station in NY to any station in Japan and there is no contest. Public restrooms are everywhere in Japan. The most amazing part? The toilets are crisp clean. You don’t have to look into fifty stalls before finding one that is clean because they’re clean. Their toilets not only have multipurpose buttons, but they are 99% automated. It makes the restrooms in the US look like a complete joke. Going to the restroom in public space in the US is a nightmare. In Japan, public toilets are as clean as your home toilet. You just can’t beat that.

4.       Safety – safety is the biggest concern for any potential traveler and I could not be happier with the smooth sailing of this trip. If you’re going to China, you have to be wary of con-artists, thieves, and robberies. In Japan, things like that rarely happen and safety was not at all a concern. In fact, while traveling outside during nighttime, I still felt safe and not as tense as I would be back in Brooklyn. Sure, there were the occasional fishy looking guy in the middle of the street in a suit, probably a Yakuza member, but they didn’t bother you and you just keep walking. What I felt was, if you didn’t go look for trouble, you wouldn’t be in any. Japan is such a great place in a sense of community, mutual respect, and that leads to safety. Heck, even the homeless people are well kept. In the US, you would probably be on your highest guard and never dare to walk the back allies. The biggest difference is the youth group. Teens in the US have a habit of causing civil unrest while Japanese teens are the tamest kids I’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder bikes are left on the streets everywhere unlocked while in the US your bike wheels would be removed even with a paddle lock on the frame. It is a complete joke here in NY.

5. Homogeneity – Before I start writing about why homogeneity is so great, I would like to say I’m all for diversity. In fact, I’m the biggest advocate of interracial couples. Being in Japan had a zen like effect on me. I was in a peaceful place. Not only was it peaceful, I blended in. I was not an Asian man, I was just a man. The very state of not being judged based on your skin color was a relief. I love other cultures and other races, but the feeling is definitely not mutual. In NY, the so called great melting pot of the world, is where racism is most apparent. Racial profiling, stereotyping, racial inequality, and racial hostility is a very common theme in NY. People are just so hostile and I think race has a lot to do with it. I wish one day we can all coexist without malice toward each other, but it won’t happen. Hopefully one day, my children can be judged by their strength of character, not by the color of their skin.

Hello 2014, I am reading again.

This is a long overdue post. Hopefully I can muster some willpower to write more than 4 posts (2013).

I think this sequence of events occurs for most people.

Elementary school: “I can’t wait to read all these books!”

Middle school: “Why do I have to read so much?”

High school: “Reading? Ha! Just use Cliff/Spark Notes.”

College: “Read chapters 1 and 2 for homework? Nice… no homework.”

While growing up, my relationship with reading was a downward slope. As a kid, I read a ton. Back when the computer did not occupy the vast majority of my time, reading was the go to source for entertainment. It was a way to stimulate the mind. As I grew older, technology and other instant gratifications came into my life and I didn’t pick up a book unless I had to. I still read all the books that were assigned to me, but they were not enjoyable because they were bothersome chores. Reading became uncool and I did not pick up any books for leisure until now. It’s fascinating how now I am beginning to read again for leisure. It amazes me how much I’ve missed in these ten years. So many great works of literature have sprung out over the years. Over the past month I’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy. The movies were so great they inspired me to pick up the books in order to find out what happens. There is a newfound appreciation for the power of literature, something I ignored for the past ten years. It is so much easier to decide to read when it isn’t a chore.