new football coach

today, ucla hired neuheisel as coach.

i am afraid of possible violations and sanctions.

some cool videos during cupcake season...

in anticipation of the game against uc davis tonight, which i expect to be won in a very convincing manner, i found the below videos of my boys in blue and gold on youtube.

i love my boys!




i miss arron afflalo! ...and i love alfred aboya's hustle and he friggin eats cats, rats and vipers! haha!

grieving the loss of a santa hat

my grief

i miss my UCLA santa hat.

i wore it to a basketball game.

i wore it on the plane - on a game day before christmas when UCLA had basketball and football games.

unfortunately, i lost it (and a wool cap and a glove) on a night out filled with sangrias, kamikaze shots, carbombs, heinekens and grey gooses on the rock.

it makes me very, very, very sad to have lost my UCLA santa hat.




my anger

i love that UCLA santa hat.

so when a friend received his own UCLA santa hat as a present, i was happy for him.

he loaned it to MIRRIAM who wanted to wear it at a party full of u$c fans.

he agreed so long as MIRRIAM promised to return it before the game last saturday.

he made sure that MIRRIAM had his address so she can drop it off prior to the game.

what did MIRRIAM do? she did not return it until the day AFTER the game.

he called and texted prior to the game. MIRRIAM never responded.

he did not have the UCLA santa hat at the basketball or the football game -- which happened in one day -- on this big game day immediately before christmas.

i do not like MIRRIAM.

a glimpse into a christmas family gathering

i haven't celebrated xmas with this side of the family in about 10 years and it was good to come back... albeit, having to brave below freezing temperatures and the infamous "wind chill" factor that brings down the actual temperature even lower. yeah, i literally was freezing my arse (face, legs, hands, and pretty much my whole body) off.

nonetheless, i did brave the frigid temperature because xmas on this side of the family is always a blast because it pretty much focuses on the kids, food, catching up, kids and the food. the whole set up is reminiscent of family reunions past. then, all the kids were all forced (yes, forced) to do a talent show. one either sings, dances, plays an instrument. whatever. that way, the parents get to be proud of their kids and the elder family members get amused.

i remember avoiding the talent show like the plague. i would hide out with my cousins (my age) so no one could force me to do anything. of course, once you reach a certain age, you are no longer subject to such torture.

well, things have changed. in this chicago version of the family reunion - christmas style - the talent show involves kids who actually want to show off their talents. in years past, the kids started off with singing or banging on the piano (literally). but as they aged, their talents have gotten better. and it is quite a joy to see that.

video taped talent shows of years past show my nephew, who is now 18 but was then about 8 or so, running to grab the mike to sing as many christmas carols he could think of -- and then, making some up -- to the amusement of his adoring public. he was, of course, quite embarassed now and he received a lot of good natured ribbing as only family could give. and to protect the innocent, i will not mention his name -- but he is the oldest son of my eldest brother! haha!

all in all, the kids have been great at providing entertainment. they are pretty much kids desiring to enroll at julliard. they play the piano, violin, cello, clarinet. and if my 18 year old nephew did not "graduate" from the talent show, he would have played the saxophone. and if my 13 year old nephew was around, perhaps an electric guitar would have been involved (although he plays the trumpet and has done so at the NY pops). to my 13 year old nephew's credit, he did play his electric guitar for us -- also willingly and with minimal prompting -- over the speaker phone. he was quite good.

yep, it is true, my torture, apparently, to these kids, is not theirs. aaaaahhhhh, kids. go figure! (or maybe, it was just me.)

on to the food. it was a smorgasbord. the food included kare kare (oxtail with peanut butter), kaldereta (goat), dinuguan (pork blood), pansit (noodles with shrimp and chicken and veggies), fresh lumpia (which should be differentiated from other kinds of lumpia, which are all fried), empanada (pastry with ground pork, chopped hard boiled egg, raisins), pork sinigang (tamarind flavored soup with pork), grilled fish (pompano).... oh and yeah, ham.

veggies pretty much consisted of a veggie platter from costco, that as far as i knew, remained untouched. :D

dessert was also quite a treat. we had buko salad (coconut meat, jello and milk), tinudtudok (sweet rice flour and sugar) and palitaw (coconut and sweet rice flour). i must admit that a chocolate mousse, sees candies, baklava and some brasilian candies also showed up at the dessert table.

i am sure there was more food, but i only have one stomache and could not eat/remember everything. darn!

but most importantly (to me, at least), these types of gatherings afforded me to catch up with family - uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, and the whole lot. cuz i have got plenty. and that is alright with me.

to be fair, my other side of the family also has the same talent show and the same smorgasborg of food -- albeit on a smaller scale - but that was a function of quantity - my grandparents on that side did not reproduce as much as the grandparents on this side. :D

some of the family


my grandparents started it off. ...and this isn't even close to including everybody!



and some of the food


fresh lumpia - individually wrapped




pansit




kaldereta - goat meat





kare kare - oxtail and tripes in peanut butter sauce





grilled pompano - must be eaten with the chopped tomatoes and onions and patis (fish sauce)





buko salad - coconut meat, jello and milk

left (top to bottom): baklava, palitaw, pork empanada, brasilian candy, sees candy

right (top to bottom): chocolate mousse pie, some candies

my half eaten empanda - served warm. yummy!

mamon on the top left. tinudtudok on the top right. and my half eaten tinudtudok, which one of my cousin says has the highest sugar content.... i ate about 5 or 6. so yummy!

ramblings about a winter wonderland

i am in chicago and it is COLD!

i have always wondered how people can live here. and i still keep on wondering. when people say it is freezing -- they are not lying. it is literally freezing. ...and then, you add on the wind chill and you're really really freezing.

i went on a walk yesterday. bad idea. my head was warm, my body was warm, my feet were warm. my legs were getting prickly cold. my face was about to fall off. it was freezing!!!!!

here are some of my freezing pix:

yeah, i was that cold!


it looks pretty from afar. but it was cold!


pretty lights

thank god it is basketball season

UCLA = first school to win 100 ncaa national championships. GO BRUINS!!!

last night, i went to my first game of the season at pauley (most likely my only game at pauley this season -- no season tix this year).



we were rockin' our kevin love shirts courtesy of matt.

idaho state tried to play the zone. but they weren't good enough to befuddle my boys. there really was no competition right from the beginning.

i thought that i would see nikola dragovic rain threes. he barely played and he didn't make any basket. his defense was not quite there.

darren collison was progressing nicely after his surgery. he was the highest scorer of the game.

kevin love barely played -- understable given the blow out. he missed some dunks but he made a couple too. i have to remember that he is a freshman.

saw chace stanback play -- around the last 4 minutes of the game. he'll be fine in a few years.

i was pleased with how my boys improved on their free throws. aboya was 4-4 and mata was 2-2. very, very pleased. ....even though i was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

even caught this dunk courtesy of mata:


as much as i enjoyed the pass from shipp to love for a dunk, and mbah a moute's dunk and collison's tres, i have found my newest "kelvin kim." that would be #55, a.k.a. the walk-on matt lee. as blowouts go, coach puts in the third stringers. lee played his heart out and was determined to score. the last 6 seconds on an inbound pass, he was still playing and trying to get past defenders. then, just right before the buzzer went off, he went for a three. ....and it was in! matt lee. my new kelvin kim.

score: ucla - 89 v. idaho state 49.

congrats to coach ben howland on his 100th win last night as the bruin head coach!

interesting stats from espn:

Ben Howland earned his 100th victory as UCLA coach, tying him with John Wooden and Steve Lavin as the second-fastest to do so. Wooden, who won a record 10 national championships, and Lavin, who was fired, both reached the milestone in 142 games. Jim Harrick, who was fired after winning the 1995 NCAA title, hit 100
in 136 games.

i know coach howland ain't following in the footsteps of he-who-must-not-be-named (a.k.a. "rico hines is the coach on the floor").

as for he-who-must-be-revered, ak.a. coach wooden, i did not see him at pauley last night. it still never ceases to amaze me that we have a living legend at most home games.

it's good to be a bruin.

reflections on a fantastic 3-week trip to brasil

i am in love with bahia. i would love to go back one day and just explore it even more. although i would love to visit the rest of the gold coast (recife, fernondo de noronho, natal, jericoacoara, etc.), the amazon and iguassu.

here are my one word reflections:
music in salvador - dynamic
morro - idyllic
beaches in morro - beautiful
boipeba - unspoiled
sunsets in bahia - breathtaking
body issues - confidence
hang gliding in rio - amazing
futbol game at maracana in rio - wild
christ the redeemer as a 7th wonder - really?
rio - busy
buzios - blah
driving in brasil - scary
people - friendly
food - mediocre
caipirinha - yummy

i am so sad to have missed olodum, as they were touring when i was in salvador. for those who don't know, olodum is one of the more established drumming groups based in salvador and performed with paul simon in this video of the obvious child:


the first scene shown on the video is the same place where i saw the reggae star geronimo play and where i met wonderful new friends from chile, italy and england and whom i hope to visit soon.

compare the opening scene in the video with this picture i took:

the place is a bit run down now but it is still a great place to hold concerts. i was there... dancing and drinking! :D i love salvador!

i did enjoy other drumming from salvador, which i absolutely enjoyed. view those videos here, here, here and here.

even though i did not see olodum, i am now addicted to at least 2 of olodum's songs:
1. faraó divindade do egito (i think it is something about the pharaohs of egypt)
2. i miss her

if you click here, it will take you to the olodum site that has a radio playing their music.

here are some practical tips if anyone plans to go solo to salvador, morro, rio and buzios for 3 weeks:
1. if you don't want to check anything in, just buy your toiletries there. everything is cheap and the quality is the same. if you land in sao paulo, rio or salvador, pharmacies abound to buy shampoo, soap, toothpaste and all other liquids you want to avoid packing.
2. if the only electronics you plan to bring are your ipod, cell phone and camera, don't bother bringing a converter. usually, those take 110-240 volts. make sure you check though.
3. don't bother bringing flip flops. buy your havaianas (very comfy flip flops) there. it is cheaper there than here. buy one the first time you land. then shop around for even cheaper ones for your stockpile back home and/or presents.
4. bring only one bathing suit and buy your extras there. first, it is cheaper and second, you get the brazilian fashion so you don't stick out like a sore thumb at the beach.
5. i took 3 gigs worth of memory card for my digicam. i used up about 2.75 gigs in 3 weeks. keep that in mind.
6. definitely bring a phrasebook with you if you don't speak portuguese or spanish. a lot of the locals don't speak english.

helpful words/phrases:
"mais devagar, por favor" [mahysh deh-vah-gah, por fah-vor] - slowly, please
"obrigada" [oh-bree-gah-dah] - thank you (use this if you are a girl)
"obrigado" [oh-bree-gah-doh] - thank you (use this if you are a boy)
"muito obrigada/obrigado" [moy-toh] - thank you very much
"onde banheiro" [ong-day ban-yeah-roe] - where is the bathroom?
"tudo bem" [too-doh beng] - everything's alright (this is the literal translation but it is equivalent to "what's up." you can respond by saying "tudo bem" back or just the shortened "tudo")

my favorite phrase i learned the entire time i was there
"vocé está brinquendo con meu coração."
guys in brazil are very passionate. they say all these things that i would not hear an american dude say. it sounds so cheesy but it sounds good when you hear it in portuguese.

so, what does it mean? it means "you are toying with my heart."

how does one say it? voh-say bring-ken-do cong myo koh-rah-song.

fyi, no one said it to me nor did i say it to anyone. but i love it. it is hilarious!

head to head:
salvador v. rio - salvador wins
morro v. buzios - morro wins
salvador v. morro - tie
rio v. buzios - rio wins
morro v. boipeba - tie
caipirinha v. caipisaque - tie
lime caipirinha v. any other fruit caipirinha - lime caipirinha wins
any other fruit caipirinha v. any other fruit caipisaque - any other fruit caipisaque wins

extensive ramblings on my trip can be found here.