Woohoo!

Honu 70.3 Lessons Learnt

2011-06-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's been more than 24 hours since I crossed the finish line at the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii triathlon and I want to record the lessons learnt from the race for future reference.

Pre-race:

1. Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, one orange, and 8-10 oz of water 1.5-2 hours before the race starts is fine for pre-race nutrition.
2. Use sunscreen lotion not spray.

Swim:

1. To save about 30 seconds to a minute, start near the front with the faster swimmers. I am a better swimmer and can handle swimming in the bunch.
2. While 2 min 2 seconds/100m is not too shabby, I can do better than that. My splits while training at the pool prove that I can go faster than 2 min/100m. How do I translate my faster pool times to the open water? Not sure, but I can start by training at race pace for extended distances.
3. The Orca RS1 Killa Race Suit is an awesome one-piece suit for non-Wetsuit swims. So too is the Kiwami Amphibian.

T1:

1. Ask for sunscreen from the volunteers.
2. Need to cut down transition time by keeping the transition bag free of clutter.

Bike:

1. Secure individual Powergels (not the whole bunch) to the bike using black tape. I lost two Powergels during the bike because of that oversight.
2. Don't bring my own bottles on the bike. If necessary, pay for a bottle of Perform and/or water for nutrition on the bike.
3. It is possible to secure the C02 cartridge and inflater to the race belt . No need to get a rear saddle storage system.
4. Even though the bike course is only 56 miles, always use chamois cream. Even though I did not experience any significant chafing, I was still fairly uncomfortable during the latter half of the bike.
5. Consider using the Kurt Kinetic stationary trainer to build strength. Despite the undulating course, I can do a better job of smoothing out my power output and staying in the aero position by using the trainer.

T2:

1. Ask for sunscreen from the volunteers.
2. Need to cut down transition time.

Run:

1. Consider using a visor or hat during the run. My scalp and forehead actually hurt from being sun burnt.
2. At mile 0, take two Powergels plus a few sips of water for post-bike refueling.
3. From mile 1 to 7, take one Powergel (for refueling) plus a few sips of water and a sip of Perform (for electrolytes to prevent cramps) at every aid station.
4. From mile 8-12, take a sip of Perform and/or a sip of Coke (for a quick shot of sugar) at every aid station.
5. From mile 12, run through the aid stations. It's less than 2 miles to the finish line. Any Perform or Coke will do little for my body at this time.
6. For races with temperatures higher than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, grab two cups of water and two cups of water at each aid station and pour the water and ice inside the front and back of the tri suit to lower the core temperature and keep one cool until the next aid station.

Overall:

Negatively splitting the swim, bike, and run segments respectively is an effective strategy for finishing strong.

I'll follow up on the lessons learnt with an official race report.

ELC Pictures

2010-02-26T09:18:00.001-08:00

Chocolate Kiss Cookies

2009-12-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

This week's is Chocolate Kiss Cookies.
I saw this recipe online and I wanted to try it since I see these cookies everywhere and I was just curious how to make them. So, this was my first attempt and it turned out great! (thanks to the recipe).

The original recipe asked for kisses, but I think it will go well with Reseese's Peanut Butter cups, too. I used Cherry Kisses and Kisses Meltaways for these cookies. (can't tell the difference since the outside is brown.)

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
* 1 1/4 cups butter (softened)
* 2 cups white sugar
* 2 egg (room temperature)
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 54 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

1. Mix all wet ingredients. It's better if you mix butter and sugar first until fluffy. Then add eggs (leave the eggs out for about 30 minutes to an hour before using). After butter, sugar and eggs are mixed, add in vanilla extract.

2. On a separate bowl, mix in all the dry ingredients.

3. 1/2 cup at a time, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Continue until all the dry ingredients are gone. I used the hand mixture speed 1 and slowly mixed them.

4. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour (longer the better - half a day or one day)

5. Take out the dough and make 1-inch diameter ball. Roll on sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes (8 minutes = chewey cookie, 10 minutes = more crunchy).

6. Take out the cookies when it's done, cool for a minute then put unwrapped kisses whiles it's still warm (but not immediately after you take out).

7. Cool & Enjoy! It yields about 4 dozen cookies.

bobby pins VS. butterfly pins

2009-11-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

VS.

recently I remembered an experience I had in high school and it's pretty funny. So I thought I should write it down before I forget.

I used to play basketball in high school. I was in the international school so we usually played against other international schools. But during my senior year, my coach decided to join Chinese schools basketball tournament. They play basketball so differently (with elbows and nails) that I kept getting fouled out because they said my defense was too 'rough'.

Anyway, in one of the games against one Chinese school, before the game a referee came up to me and said, "you.. no... this [pointing at the bobby pin]" And I said, "oh... ok... but I only have one." But he said, "no" so I took it off, wondering how one bobby pin can hurt anyone. Then during the game, I was guarding this girl and I looked at her hair and oh my goodness! - She had [at least] 30 butterfly pins on her head and the wings on that butterflies were sharp!

The whole time, I was just thinking... why butterfly pins are okay and not bobby pins. But our team had a great laugh about that, so it was ok. We decided to wear butterfly pins instead of bobby pins [for our next game].

Go, Cougars!

2009-11-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

I've been in Provo for six years now and I have never been to any football games. So we decided to attend a football game for the first time since this year's the last football season. We bought the tickets and I was bundled up with 5 layers of clothes, 2 layers of pants, 2 pairs of socks, a hat, gloves, a scarf and a blanket. And yet I was freezing towards the end... but the game was good. We won, so that's good.

But most of all, from this experience, I felt how amazing BYU is. I think I've taken things for granted like great football team, great education, clean campus, amazing library, loads of activities (and free stuff) and other things that make us unique and 'blue'. I will miss BYU and Provo, even though I always say I want to leave... When I graduate next year for the 3rd time, I'm sure it'll be hard to say good bye.

Well, until then (and probably after grad also) -- "Go, Cougars!"

BTS cake

2009-11-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Nat & I love this cake because it has all the good stuff inside.
Nat always say, if you want to eat dessert, it has to be fat and high in calories. For example, he doesn't like eating low-fat ice cream or sugar substitutes (or anything that says 'no sugar added'). he loves the 'real' stuff.

Anyway, we make this cake for anniversaries or when we had bad days (we call it "pity-party days" or when we deserve it after a long day of work/school.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces caramel ice cream topping
5 or more bars of your favorite chocolate bars (can be different types), chopped
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
1. Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Make slits with knife across the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom (you can also use the end of spatula to make holes).

2. In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the slits; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm.

3. Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate bars chunks and swirls of caramel topping. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!

p.s. if you want to know what BTS stands for, well, we might tell you.

Autumn Pumpkin

2009-11-09T17:16:00.001-08:00

It's Autumn (or people call it Fall here in the States). And it's pumpkin time!
Autumn makes me think of pumpkins. maybe it's because of the colors of the leaves outside... or maybe because of the Halloween. But, in Woo's house, we have a tradition to make pumpkin rolls every Autumn/Fall.

So, this week's recipe is Pumpkin Roll.
I wanted to take a picture of it, but by the time I got around to it, it was all gone. So, pictures have to wait a little while (until the next pumpkin roll comes around), but here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
* 1 cup pumpkin puree
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan. Line the greased pan with a parchment paper and grease and flour the top.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, mix pumpkin puree, eggs, and lemon juice until creamy (the more you mix it, the fluffier the cake. If you don't want too fluffy, don't mix too much). Combine flour mixture into pumpkin mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly.

3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until it's fluffy .

4. (while baking) Lay a damp linen towel on the counter, line with wax paper or parchment paper and sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and when the cake is done, turn the cake onto the towel (upside down). Peel the parchment paper from the cake and carefully roll the towel up (lengthwise) with the cake in it. Place the cake-in-towel on a cooling rack and let it cool for 20 minutes. (it'll help if you open your window a bit and cool it right by it)

5. While waiting, make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar with an electric mixer.

6. When the cake has cooled 20 minutes, unroll it and spread icing onto it. Immediately re-roll (not in the towel this time), and wrap it with plastic wrap. Keep the cake in freezer for 45 minutes and transfer to the fridge for at least 1 hour. Cut the cake in slices just before serving and sprinkle on powdered sugar.

Comment: If the cake is still warm, it might still be sticking to the paper. Let it cool more and it should be fine. Also, the cake might break so be gentle while you unroll the cake.

Our family loves it and hope you like it, too!

wonders of butter cookies...

2009-10-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

butter cookies can be used to make different kinds of dessert.
chocolate chip cookie dough and butter cookie dough are the MUST HAVEs in the freezer, so anytime you want to bake, it's ready to go!

Here's this week's dessert:

Giant Fruit Tart

Ingredients:
Butter cookie crust
2 ½ cup flour
1 cup butter
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ tsp almond or vanilla extract

Custard Cream
500ml milk
6 egg yolks
30g flour
80g sugar

Your favorite fruits

How to make:
1. Combine all the ingredients for butter cookies. Make a big ball, wrap in up and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Use a pie tray and evenly line the bottom with butter cookie dough (about 5mm thick)

3. Put a weigh on top of the cookie dough (you could use another pie tray on top, or you could use weighing balls for baking on top of the cookie dough - with a sheet of aluminum foil)

4. Bake for 10 minutes. Take the weigh off, then bake again for another 7-9 minutes until the edge of the pie crust gets golden brown. Take it out and cool.

5. While baking, make custard cream. First, heat up the milk until it gets lukewarm. Meanwhile, mix egg yolks and sugar until it becomes creamy and smooth. Add in flour into the egg yolk mixture. When the milk is warm, add into the egg yolk mixture and mix it. Put the egg yolk + milk mixture back into the pot and keep stirring until it thickens. Turn off the heat and pour it onto the tray (any kind) and cool.

6. If you like cold custard cream, you can put the custard cream in the fridge.

7. Once both cookie and custard cream are cooled down, you pour custard cream evenly into the cookie crust. Put cut fruits (your choice) on top.

Comment - We like strawberries a lot, so we put that, but you can put other fruits like kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, peaches, pears...etc there's no right way to do it so put anything you want!

Nutella Butter Cookies
I had left overs from the tart, so I made these mini heart Nutella sandwich cookies.

Ingredients:
Butter Cookie dough (see above)
Nutella (can be replaced by melted chocolate or jam)

Directions:
1. Cut out the cookies with your favorite cookie cutter.
2. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edge turns golden brown.
3. Cool on rack.
4. Sandwich the two cookies with your choice of Nutella, chocolate or jam.

Comment - it's easy to make and it fills up the cookie jar!

new hobby

2009-10-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

i love baking. i'm not very good at it yet, but i'm working on it.
it all started from nat's triathlon training. triathlon is his hobby and he loves it. he shows it through his daily training and his care for his bikes. i admire that about him because he is so dedicated. he never missed a day of training. then it got me thinking, 'what is my hobby?'
so i started baking again. i used to bake a lot and i wanted to make time for it again.
every week, i'm baking something new and if it turned out good, i will share the recipe with you.

these are some of the things i've baked. nat loved them so i hope you will enjoy, too.

Moist Chocolate Cake with Strawberries

Recipe:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

source: allrecipes.com
comment: this recipe was really good! it was very moist. we like it better when it's cold. keep in the fridge for a day or so - it's oishii~

Cream Puffs with Custard Cream

this recipe is in Japanese, so if you want the recipe, please let me know!

comment: i made the puff too small, so it became a bit crunchy at the bottom. i think making the puff bigger (about 3-4cm in diameter) is better.

here's one more recipe. Stacia Klemas gave the recipe to us and we love it!

Lemon Cookies

Recipes (Cookies):
1 1/2 sticks (3/4cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
2 cup all-purpose flour
lemon curt (separate recipe)

Lemon curd recipe:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 whole egg +1 egg white
1/2 cup lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon (optional)
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. On low speed, beat in baking powder, then flour, until mixed in. Cover. Chill 1 hour (or longer).

2. Meanwhile, in microwave safe bowl, whist together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the bottom of the spoon. It should take between 3 and 6 minutes. Strain through fine strainer to get out any bits of egg, should it be slightly overcooked. Put into zip-lock bag for later. Lemon curd can be stored in teh refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

3. heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with nonstick foil, liners, or parchment paper. Shape the dough in tablespoon sized balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. With index finger, making a deep indentation in center of each. Snip tip of zip-lock bag (full of lemon curd) and pipe lemon curd into dough indentation to fill completely (about 1 tsp).

4. Bake 10-15 minutes, until cookie edges just begin to lightly brown. Cool completely, then dust cookies edges with powdered sugar before serving.

Comment: If you like sour & sweet together, this is the recipe for you! Enjoy!

Singapore Mission Reunion 200

2009-10-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

The thing we look forward to during the General Conference weekend is first, of course the conference itself, but also the mission reunions we have on Friday nights. I don't know when it started or who started it, but it seems like it's becoming a tradition for many of us. Every October, President and Sister Larkins will organize a wonderful mission reunion for his missionaries both old and young, at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. We always look forward to the Singapore mission reunion because we get to meet so many of our friends. Yesterday, we went to the mission reunion for the 3rd time together as a couple. It was very fun to see that friends who were single last year are dating and friends who were engaged last year are married and friends who were married last year are now parents of one or two children. It was interesting to mingle and talk to them about what's happening in their lives and what their future plans are. Even though every year it seems like we talk about the same thing, but that makes the reunion so special and fun. It's funny how we live so close to each other and yet we are so busy with our own lives :) Reunion is definitely the time we recommit ourselves to keep in touch with our fellow returned-missionary friends. When I saw Nat mingling with his companions and other missionaries, I felt so blessed to have him as my husband because I could tell that he loved his mission and buddies he served with. I'm sure his 2-year mission was the toughest yet the happiest 2 years of his life and yesterday I was able to see that.

The Lamb family

Sister Larkins & Rie

The Fox family & The Woo family

The Millers

Brother Allen & us

Sweet little thing.

2009-10-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last week, we attended our friends' baby blessing and it was very beautiful and touching. Watching Ave bless the baby with so much love and care was really touching. After the blessing, we went outside to take some pictures and both Ave's and Worthy's parents were there. Throughout this blessing, I was looking at how happy Ave and Worthy's parents looked and how proud they were of their children for becoming such wonderful parents. It was touching to see how family ties were even stronger because of this beautiful baby girl.
Father's blessing is one of the greatest traditions we have in the church. Children can receive blessings from their fathers anytime they want or need. Through these father's blessings, children grow up strong and happy -- knowing that someone cares and loves them. It's an act of love. Ave gave his daughter her first father's blessing and I know that throughout her life, she will receive more and as she does, she will become a stronger person because she will know that her father and mother (and grandparents, aunts and friends) love her so very much.

It was just simply... beautiful.

(from left: Charles, Rie, Nat, Ave, Annalise, Worthy, Cheryl & Jaylin)

Baby Annalise

Nat: "Maybe that's your passion..."

2009-09-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and I came home with bags full of food.
Nat was looking at all the things I've bought and stood there just looking at me.
And we had this conversation:

Nat: "You look so happy"

Rie: "Yea-- look at these-- they were on sale!!"

Nat: "Really... [taking out food out of bag] Why tomato paste?"

Rie: "well, we never know when we'll use it. Plus, it was 20cents! [with a huge smile]"

Nat: "You really like grocery shopping, huh."

Rie: "Uh-huh"

Nat: [Stood there for a while, looking at me and then smiled...] "Maybe that's your passion."

Rie: "What? Grocery shopping? my passion?"

Then he left and I was standing there digesting what Nat said and thinking... of all things, why grocery shopping?

But what he said is true. I love grocery shopping. If I could, I would go grocery shopping everyday. The longest I've spent in the grocery store was about 3 hours. You're probably thinking I'm crazy, but what I usually do is go to each section of the store and grab everything I want. That takes about an hour. Then before I check out, I will go to one corner and start separating the items in 'need' category and 'want'. Then after I finish that, I will go through the 'want' items and ask myself 3 questions:

1) Can we afford it?
2) Will Nat be happy if I buy it?
3) Can I explain why I bought it [other than "I wanted it"]?

After asking these questions, I probably only have 1 or 2 'want' items left. Then I will go around the store and return all the other 'want' items. So that's what I usually do when I go grocery shopping. It's my passion in a way since I love it and I do it so often.

Anyway, to end this post, I wanted to share my Grocery Store Ranking (for fun). If it is my passion, I should rank it (my own definition of 'passion')

#1 Smith's
#2 Sunflower Market
#3 Macey's
#4 Costco
#5 Wal-Mart

= My passion

quote of the day

2009-09-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

"Seize the day! Use it to its fullest."

what's new with us...

2009-09-24T14:44:00.001-07:00

here's the update of the little Woo family...

We both had a wonderful summer in Hawaii, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali and San Francisco, thanks to our wonderful family and friends who did so much for us. Hawaii trip was our belated honeymoon. We weren't able to go on our honeymoon when we got married in 2007, so we decided to wait and we are glad we waited because Hawaii was BEAUTIFUL. Nat liked it so much that he said he wants to retire in Hawaii. We will see about that. Anyway, we did a lot of fun things like swimming with the dolphins, visiting the volcanoes, suntanning on beautiful beaches, shopping and of course eating. We visited my sister in Big Island and they have the cutest house. We found our favorite restaurant in Hawaii and it's called "Roy's." They have the best fusion food and very addictive desserts. If you are interested, check their site out: http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

After our honeymoon, we went back to Singapore and Malaysia. Even though the weather was hot and humid, we had so much fun with our families, friends and food (the three Fs). I came to know more about Nat & about Singapore from this trip. It was simply fun. I think I can live there... I kinda like it :)

During our trip in Singapore, Nat's brother, Charles, came back from his church mission in Taiwan. I've never met him personally before so I was very excited and nervous. But we get along fine (or I hope he thinks the same way). He's a great guy and I'm lucky to have two wonderful brothers-in-law.

We also went to Malaysia for a month to visit my family. I love to visit Malaysia, even though it's hard to move around the city without a car. But the food, the people and the culture are simply the best. I keep telling Nat that Malaysian food is better than Singaporean food, but they are pretty similar (Nat will probably disagree). We ate A LOT and I didn't even want to weigh myself. Diet can wait! But it was such a fun trip.

After coming back to Provo, Nat lost 13 pounds by training (running, cycling, swimming) everyday. He is preparing for the Ironman (triathlon) competition in May 2010. He's preparing for the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run race. It's crazy! But I'm amazed how diligently he trains for it... It's his passion. If you are interested, here's the website: http://www.ironmanstgeorge.com/. Please come and support! As for school, Nat is in his final year and planning to graduate in April 2010. He is very excited about that. Right now, he's busy job-hunting. Hopefully he can get a job he likes.

As for me, I'm still doing what I've been doing the past 6 years -- being a student. I'm in my 2nd year in grad school and also planning to graduate next April. I started teaching at the English Language Center. I teach speaking/listening to 12 wonderful students. Other than that, I'm still the same old me.

Nat & I are celebrating our 2nd year anniversary on Oct 12, 2009. We are still thinking of how to celebrate. any ideas?

That's the update from the Woos... hopefully next update will be more exciting.

my fav time? 2am, of course!

2009-09-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love is waking up at 2am-ish.
Yes, that's the middle of the night.
but no, I don't like when people wake me up at 2am.

But once in a while (like this morning I woke up at 2:13am), I just wake up in the middle of the night for no reason. and I look at the clock and it's only 2am. Some people hate it when that happens, but I love the feeling of going back to sleep for another 4-5 hours!

well, just another random fact about me :)

rie

re-blogging

2009-09-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Looking through my blog, I realized that I haven't written anything since... last year. I can give countless excuses for not writing. I can re-start my blogging by giving excuses, but I should just write what I think. All these months, I thought that there's nothing fun to write about. But since last entry, so many things happened, so many thoughts went across my mind and so many ideas that might've benefited someone. Yet I didn't write because I thought it's just normal daily things and people won't be interested in reading.

Until I got sick this week, which gave me time to think about all the great things I have in my life. Such as...

A great husband who does dishes (even though he doesn't like doing dishes) because he knows I'm sick.

A great sister who emailed me such a great advice and realized that she has been like that all the time.

Parents who care and love me.

Friends who drop by and give us soup and brownies.

Cousins who always make us feel welcome at their lovely home.

Family we have in Farmington who always make us feel like we can accomplish anything.

Faithful Civic that always bring us to destinations in safety.

Friends who make us laugh.

Bright blue skies.

Comfortable life I live in with people I love.

Technologies that keep me connected to people I love.

Being able to study at the great university.

And to have Gospel in my life that teaches me what i need to do.

This is not a complete list. It's just the beginning of what I'm grateful for. But what I wanted to say was that it's these small things that brings us joy. These small things are something we want to keep in scrapbook. These small things make us who we are. so, why not write them down instead of taking advantage of it.

So I learned (and it took me a while) to realized that I should write and share what I feel and think, even though it may be small. and hopefully you won't be bored hearing from me time to time.

thanks!

2009 Updates

2009-02-01T21:23:00.001-08:00

Here are some updates:

Rie and I are both well into the semester. Rie is in her second semester of graduate school, and she's currently taking classes in Second Language Acquisition, Curriculum Development, and a teaching practicum at the BYU English Language Center. In addition to her school work, Rie is also teaching at the Provo Missionary Training Center. Rie was also recently called to be the second counselor in the Relief Society.

I am in my fourth year at BYU. I'm taking a heavy load of classes this semester--Economics of Strategy, Intro to Strategy, Financial Mathematics, Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, Civilizations 2, and a research class in Algorithmic Design Processes. While the classes have been very interesting, the workload has been rather demanding. Coupled with my responsibilites as a research assistant, a ward clerk, and a temple ordinance worker, Rie and I have little time left for recreation and fun. However, we were able to celebrate Chinese New Year with our friends and extended family here in Provo, Utah.

Christmas Up North

2008-12-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

Following the tumult associated with finals, deadlines, wedding plans, and vacation plans, we finally have the time to update our family and friends on our lives. We were really privileged to be closely involved with Pam and Ko's wedding. It was really heart-warming to witness the importance and strength of families during the experience.

Following the wedding, we made plans to travel to Vancouver, Canada, where we spent the next ten days with close friends from Singapore. Nat also went snowboarding for the first time at Whistler. He enjoyed himself tremendously and plans to snowboard in Utah.

Here are some photos from our Christmas break.

Tate Tate Yoko Yoko Maru~kaite Chon!

2008-09-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

We sometimes get very bored and come up with ingenious ways of amusing ourselves. We would like to share our most recent game - Tate Tate Yoko Yoko (a variation of rock, paper, scissors)

ジャンケンポイ！(Jyan ken poi!)

ジャンケンポイ! (Jyan ken poi!)

たてたて　よこよこ　まるかいてチョン！(Tate tate yoko yoko marukaite chon!)

How to play: You begin by playing rock, paper, scissors. Each time you win, you get to pinch your opponent's cheek. If you lose, and you happen to be pinching, then you have to let go. When you are able to win the rock, paper, scissors challenge three times, you can punish your opponent by performing the "tate tate" action and saying: Tate tate (vertical, vertical), Yoko Yoko (side, side) Maru kaite (draw a circle) chon (snap) It's hard to understand so here are two videos of us torturing ourselves. Enjoy~

Horseback riding (horseback climbing)

2008-09-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

We had the privilege of going horseback riding with our church bishop, Bishop Brown and his wife. We were very excited because our previous experiences with horseback riding were in the zoo, and we had to paid to ride on those horses. When we got to their place, there were four huge horses waiting for us, and I was just looking at the horses and thinking how in the world I would get up on one of those horses. But with the help of Nat and Bishop, I was able to climb onto the horse. My legs were not long enough, so I had to stretch my legs as wide as I could and try to look normal as we prepared to leave for a 'walk'.

I was expecting a walk to be like a walk through the pasture; well, I was wrong. For the first 15 minutes, we were riding around the pasture and I was smiling and having a great time, then Bishop turned to the right towards this huge hill and I thought he was just joking. But he wasn't. So Nat's horse followed the Bishop's horse and my horse followed Nat's horse. And we went UP the mountain on a narrow path. I never knew that horses could climb mountains!! I was so scared until I closed my eyes most of the way up (and down) and hoping and praying that my horse knew where she was going (because I had no idea where I was going). When I reached the field again, I was relieved. But I think my horse was more relieved than I was.

Now I have a new definition for horseback riding. The horses in Utah are more adventurous than the ones in the zoo (well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it...). I'm glad we had the chance to go on a real horseback riding/climbing.

Pictures from horseback climbing:

Summer of 2008

2008-09-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Following the tumult of the first 2 weeks of school, Rie and I finally have some time to update our blog. I thought I'd start by posting some photos of our summer activities.

First off, I completed my final triathlon of the season, the 10th Jordanelle Triathlon in a time of 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Then, we went to Poco Loco to try their fried chicken with Pam and Ko.

This was followed by a Chinese cooking class for our neighbors and church friends.

Then, we went down to Zion National Park with Pam, Ko, Valerie, Pace, and Andrew for a 4-day camping trip.

That's all I have time to post for now. I promise I'll come back with more updates.

Missionary Training Center

2008-08-19T22:19:00.001-07:00

I started working at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) where new missionaries come and learn new language and the Gospel. I was hired last Monday and I've been to many training meetings over the past week. It's overwhelming to teach 19-21 year-olds how to do missionary work, but this has been one of the best jobs I've ever had.

I went on a mission for the church about two years ago in Hong Kong. I was in the MTC for three months, learning Cantonese and learning how to teach the Gospel. Now I'm back at the MTC, this time as a teacher. I'm teaching Japanese to the missionaries who are going to Japan.

In MTC 2 years ago, as a missionary

After living in Hong Kong for eight years, in the US for five years, and in Hong Kong/MTC as a missionary for a year and half, I literally forgot how to speak Japanese. Some American returned missionaries speak better Japanese than me (sad, I know...). I say things in Cantonese or sometimes I have to think in English before I speak in Japanese. The first week was tough because I didn't practice/speak Japanese for a long time. But it's slowly coming back to me.

I love Japan... After speaking and teaching Japanese daily, I really miss Japan.

I moved around a lot when I was young and I left Japan when I was ten. I thought I will lose my Japanese identity. But now with this new job, I remember many things about Japan and it made me realize that I'm very Japanese. This opportunity at the MTC gives me a chance to reconnect with Japan again. I'm excited to teach, but in addition to that, I'm very excited to learn more about Japan.

Good old times in Japan

In elementary school - Mitsushima sho-gakko- in Osaka, Japan

High school in Hong Kong

My Triathlon Hero: Utah Half Triathlon

2008-08-11T10:08:00.001-07:00

Before I met Nat, I always thought that triathletes were amazing.
If you know me, I love basketball. I also ran in track & field, but I only ran 100m, 200m, and did long jump.
400m was the longest I could run. I'm more of a short-distance athlete. So when i met Nat, I was amazed
that he did triathlon.

I love to watch triathlon. In March, Nat participated in the Half Ironman at Oceanside, California.
It was my first 'live' triathlon race and it was very inspirational.
I saw people from different backgrounds, races, shapes, and ages -- There were disabled people and cancer-survivors. I was almost in tears when I saw these people take on such a difficult task. It was such an inspirational experience to watch triathlon races.

I had the opportunity to watch Nat's second triathlon race. This time it was closer to home, at Utah Lake.
This triathlon was not as big as the one in California, but still it was amazing. Nat trained for this triathlon for months. He trained early mornings and I'm always amazed at how much self-discipline he has. I don't know if I can survive his training sessions (well, I don't know if I can survive the race).

Nat had a goal, which was to finish 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles bike, and 13.1 miles run race within 6 hours.
The time in California was 6 hours 38 minutes, so trying to go more than 38 minutes faster is very hard thing to do.
But he did it! He challenged himself and he reached his goal! The time for the UtahHalf race was 5 hours 52 minutes.
It was difficult to see how much pain Nat was in after the race, but at the same time, I was so happy to see him reach his goal. I respect and love him even more :-)

I don't have confidence in competing in triathlons because I don't have confidence in swimming.
But Nat told me that he wasn't good at swimming before, but he worked at it over and over and now he's really good at swimming. Maybe I should try doing something about it rather than giving up before I even started.

Race Report

2008-08-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 9, I competed in my second half-Ironman triathlon. Unlike my first half-Ironman race, I was feeling a little nonchalant in the days leading up to the race. I'd ridden the course quite a few times on my bike and I felt confident that I would be able to complete the race; however, I felt aimless going into the race. I didn't have a goal that I wanted to accomplish. I knew that I wanted to improve on my first half-Ironman performance, but I didn't have any specific goals--that was partly due to the fact that I wasn't able to train as intensively as I'd like. Nevertheless, I felt like I could improve on my previous time.

The race started at 6:50am and I was joined by my wife, who so graciously accompanied me to Utah Lake State park. Unlike the Ironman 70.3 race that was held in Oceanside, California, the Utah Half was smaller. There was also less excitement among the participants, and the level of intensity was significantly lower. However, I was really excited to start the race.

The swim went rather poorly. I thought that the course was poorly marked, and I had to stop for a few times to check my bearings. There were times when I had to check that I wasn't swimming in the wrong direction. I actually had to swim to a canoeist and ask for directions back to the start ramp. I expected to post a faster time because I was swimming in a sheltered harbor where the waters were calmer than the waters in Oceanside Harbor. I thought that it was possible when I checked my time at the turnaround-buoy; however, I was disappointed to find out that I still had another buoy or two to swim before the actual turnaround. It was also really difficult to see underwater because the water in Utah lake was really murky. I couldn't even see my hands in front me! In the end, I exited the swim in 39 minutes--the same time that I had clocked in Oceanside. At this point, I was limping slightly because I had cut the sole of my left foot while walking down the swim ramp before the swim start. I was a little frustrated because of the time that I had lost in the swim, but I was determined to make up for it on the bike.

As I rolled out from the transition area, I made sure that I kept up with my nutrition by chewing on my Powerbars. The new Energize Powerbars taste a lot better than the ones that I had eaten previously. They're the same ones that are appearing on TV commercials starring Michael Phelps. I felt good and I was able to maintain a good cadence of about 85 rpm, and I was also going at a speed of 22-23 mph. I wasn't too optimistic about my bike because of the lack of training. During my training rides, I averaged 18 mph. I wanted to improve on that, but I wanted to save some energy in my legs for the run. Once we were out on the course though, I felt really good on the bike, and I started passing people. At about 5 miles though, I hit a snag as I had this sudden urge to pee. I fought that urge for about 5-10 minutes, thinking that it would go away, but it didn't. In the end, I gave in and stopped for a quick toilet break. The break didn't hurt my chances to improve on my time as I found myself passing more and more people. Eventually, I was passing people with full-on tri bikes, with aero helmets, and disk wheels. For most of the bike, I stayed in the drops as the shortie bars were uncomfortable for me. Even though I had sacrificed some aerodynamics for comfort, I think it paid off, especially since I was able to go up to 24-25 mph. My legs felt strong, and my breathing wasn't very labored either.

After 20 miles, I started feeling really competitive and began to race. Since I started participating in triathlons in the United States, I never raced. My goal was always to complete the race. However, I felt that competitive urge come back to me on the bike during the Utah Half. When I passed someone on the bike, I would always take a long look at their equipment and then ride away from them. Somehow, that gave me a feeling of superiority, like I was scoffing at their equipment. That feeling didn't last through the rest of the race because I had to run another 13.1 miles.

I arrived at the transition area after clocking 2 hrs 39 minutes for the bike. I clocked an average of 21 mph. If I hadn't stopped for a toilet break, I might have shaved off 5 minutes from that time.

Running has never been my forte in triathlon. Even though I ran track and cross-country in school, I was never a natural at it. I had achieved all my results through hard work, and unfortunately, I had not worked on my running for two years. I had run on the trail on a few occasions, but nothing more than 10 miles. I knew that it was always going to hurt, and thoughts of giving up filled my mind. I was waging a battle inside my mind--the sun was out, it was hot, and bright, and I was feeling thirsty; however, I also told myself that everyone else was hurting, and even if I was jogging, I would post a better run-split time than Oceanside. It was at this time that I decided on the goal to break 6 hours. I had clocked 6 hours 31 minutes for my first half-Ironman and since the bike course for the Utah Half is flatter, I thought that I had a good chance on improving on my performance. I started the run at about 3 hours 25 minutes after the start. So, I had about 2 hours 35 minutes to complete 13.1 miles. I felt confident that I would be able to clock about 2 hours for the half-marathon, especially when I checked my split times, but I was surprised to find that the final turnaround was a mile or two longer than I had thought. By this time, I had swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, and run 10 miles. My ankles felt inflamed, my hamstrings were sore, and my feet were just hurting from running so much. I was also worried about dehydration and I stopped at every aid station to get some water and electrolytes. That probably wasn't such a good idea because I was feeling really bloated by mile 10 of the half-marathon. However, I was spurred on by the goal of breaking 6 hours. After I made the final turnaround, I found out that I had about 45 minutes to run 4 miles. That was quite a tall order since I was really hurting all over, but the route was familiar. Rie and I had run that route a few times and I felt that I would be able to maintain an 11 minute/mile pace.

I really got the rhythm going by mile 10 and I just made sure that I stayed focused and ran strong. I was running much faster and passing some people(!!!), but I was also hurting a lot more. Eventually, I stopped to walk at about mile 12.5. The pain was just so unbearable. I also knew that I had some buffer time, but I was cutting it close. In the end, I ran to the end of the trail and the volunteers told me that I had about 400 meters to go. Now, my favorite event while running track is the 400 meters. I consider that distance my forte, and I'm proud of my 53.3 seconds PR in 1998. When I heard that there was only 400 meters to go, I knew that I could finish the race, and I knew that I could finish under 6 hours; however, I wasn't sure if my legs could handle the beating.

When I turned the corner to head down the finishing straight, I was grunting with each step. It was all I could do to keep powering. Nonetheless, I was urged on by the volunteers, and by the sight of the finishing chute. The final 100 meters was on grass, and it was a little harder to run on, but I powered ahead, shouting with each stride. Rie and a couple of spectators were probably shocked to hear loud grunts from the finishing chute, but that was just me trying to finish strong. It raised my level of adrenaline and gave me the strength to finish strong. In the end, I crossed the line in 5 hours 52 minutes. I had taken 2 hours 29 minutes to finish the half-marathon. I was happy with my results, but I was also angry at the pain and the heat. There were a lot of things that I was unhappy about during the race--I suppose that's all you think about when you're suffering, but it's going to be a while before I do another half-Ironman. There's too much pain and time involved.

I think that it will also be a while before I attempt a full-Ironman. That'll probably have to wait a few years.

My biggest fan. Thanks hon!

good thing about Chinese names

2008-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! It's 10 days after the actual July 4th, but it's better than not writing :-) It was such a fun day. We went to the parade (I must say, I've never seen such a huge parade in my life! They closed down the whole University Avenue!!) and we ate the funnel cake for the first time. In the evening, we went to our friends' new (and cute) home for BBQ and Hokkein Mee. The house was great, friends were great, food was great, the weather was great, and the day ended great with fireworks!

So, the title of this entry is 'good thing about Chinese names'. Pictures tells better than words, so here is why: (and we spent about 30 minutes perfecting these)
Oops wrong order...

There... it's a perfect 'Woo'

Our friends also attempted to write their names... Ow (not on) Lee (not Leo) and Yip (not VIP)

Great thing about Chinese names is that it's short. Most Chinese names are three to four letters long (such as Chan, Lim, Lee....etc). Can you imagine if I tried to do this with my Japanese name? T-E-R-A-O-K-A. We need 7 people to write it!

Anyway, our 4th of July 2008 was great! and here are some of those great moments:

Fun Facts about Singapore & Japan!

2008-06-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Every Monday, we set aside a special time for our family to do fun stuff and learn new things together. Since we are newlyweds with no children (yet), occasionally we invite our friends and neighbors to be a part of our FHE. Last week, we did a scavenger hunt - a special edition of Union Square (the apartment we live in) This week, we are going to have a game with questions about Singapore and Japan. I was amazed with some of the facts that I came across! I thought it would be fun for all of you to test your knowledge of Singapore/Japan! Enjoy:

1. Singapore is the first place to:
A. to join United Nation
B. open night zoo called Night Safari
C. to become a bilingual country
D. most densely populated place (per square kilometer)

2. The highest natural point (mountain/hill) in Singapore is:
A. 1.2 miles high
B. 0.5 mile high
C. 0.1 mile high
D. 1 mile high

3. US is about ______ times bigger than Singapore:
A. 600 times
B. 1500 times
C. 8000 times
D. 15,000 times

4. Japanese high school students are not allowed to have…
A. Car
B. Part-time job
C. Failing grade
D. Different age friends

5. This is the best in the world (about Japan):
A. Japanese flag
B. Trains
C. Airplanes
D. Food

6. Japan has the high rate of…
A. smokers
B. drivers
C. drinkers
D. Karaoke-goers

7. Japan consists of ______ islands:
A. 900
B. 5
C. 150
D. 3000

8. Chinese people eat ________ on their birthday.
A. Frogs
B. Fish
C. Noodles
D. Rice

9. 4 is an unlucky number for Chinese because…
A. April is a ghost month
B. It sounds like ‘death’
C. Something bad happens at age 4, 14, 40, 44
D. People usually jump off from 4th floor when they suicide

10. Singapore has great transportation system. It was the first county to…
A. Double-decker airplanes
B. Moving escalator roads
C. fastest train in the world
D. triple-storey highways.

*** If you want to know the answers to the above questions, please post your comments! thanks! ***

My Highlight for the Week

2008-06-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

My highlight for this week is walking to Smith's with Rie on Saturday evening. After a wonderful dinner of ramen and leftover spaghetti, Rie and I decided to walk to Smith's to buy some ingredients for Sunday's dinner. The weather was perfect--it was cool and there was enough light. As we walked, we talked about our plans for the future--graduate school, finances, stuff that newlyweds talk about. The walk was a wonderful opportunity to spend time together, uninterrupted by the demands of school, work, TV. I felt a certain closeness with my wife as we walked along the pavement holding hands. Our relationship had certainly matured. I no longer felt like a little school boy who was giddily in love; I felt a certain sense of responsibility for my wife and our future together. As we were walking home from Smith's, I felt something really warm and deep bubble up to my throat. I turned to her, looked into her eyes and said, "I love you." I think she felt something really special too because she turned to me and said those same words. The rest of the walk was spent in silence with our hands clutched firmly together, punctuated by a warm smile that echoed the feelings of that evening.

Quote of the Day

2008-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

I came across this quote while doing some research on the economics of information. It's a classic quote by a Nobel-prize winning economist.

One should hardly have to tell academicians that information is a valuable resource: knowledge is power. And yet it occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics. Mostly it is ignored: the best technology is assumed to be known; the relationship of commodities to consumer preferences is a datum. And one of the information-producing industries, advertising, is treated with a hostility that economists normally reserve for tariffs or monopolists. - George Stigler in the Journal of Political Economy

Newlywed $$$ saving Tip #1

2008-06-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

HAIRCUT!
I've realized that cutting hair requires a lot of trust between the two people.
And a lot of hope and maybe a lot of prayers :-)

Cutting hair definitely saves us a lot of money! Since we are a young couple with no money, this is a great way to save money PLUS build relationships! (hopefully it builds and not breaks the relationships...).

The first time I cut Nat's hair, I had a personal coach -- Taka san.
But now that he's back in Japan, I get very nervous when I cut Nat's hair.
But I'm glad Nat still trusts me and allows me to touch his hair.

Nat doesn't know this, but the last time I cut his hair, I wasn't sure what I was doing. If I told him that, he probably won't let me cut his hair anymore. But since he likes the new haircut, i guess i have another chance! yattane! :-)

I'm HORRIBLE!...or am i?

2008-06-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

the past couple of months were difficult. Trying to find jobs, get rejected (or don't hear back from them), find another job, and rejected... After few jobs applications, I thought maybe the problem was me, you know... i'm not good enough, i'm not smart enough, other people are better than me... all these self-pity excuses. but then i realized that i was only thinking about myself. instead of thinking, 'what can i learn from this', i chose to look at this as 'this is horrible, I'm HORRIBLE! i can never be as good as everybody else'.

but then came this news that i was accepted into BYU Graduate School.

my first reaction was... 'all these while, God knew'.
during the difficult times, i couldn't see the possibilities.
i couldn't think positively because i couldn't see the bigger picture.
but God knew what I needed and what I wanted.

when i face failures, the first person i blame is myself.
but often times, i'm doing more good things than i realize.
i was doing all i could. what's missing was having faith in myself and in God.
to those of you who are facing challenges right now, lift up your head and be happy.
we cannot see the big picture of things, we may not know why challenges happen,
but i assure you that there is something big waiting for you!

むりせずまいにちゆっくりすすめば, かならずいいことがおきる！

Why did I Get Married in the Temple?

2008-06-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post for the mormonchurch.com Web site a while ago and I thought that I'd include the post here as well. It's a way for me to pay tribute to my wife on our 8 month anniversary.

Why Did I Get Married in the Temple

The temple represents the pinnacle of all of the ordinances that are performed in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of these ordinances is temple marriage. Temple marriage is an ordinance, or a ceremony, that is performed in the temple. It is similar to a wedding ceremony that is performed in a church, a synagogue, or even a Japanese shrine, with some notable exceptions. In the above ceremonies, the couple exchanges vows with one another, in the presence of witnesses and an officiator. In the temple, the couple also exchanges vows in the presence of an officiator, also known as a sealer, and two witnesses. However, Mormons also believe that God is party to these vows. These vows are known as covenants because of their sacred nature, and because they are a symbol of a relationship of commitment between God and the marriage partners. When performed by a sealer who possesses the authority, acting for and behalf of God, the marriage is perpetuated beyond the grave. This has reference to the sealing power that was given to Peter in the New Testament. See Matt. 16: 19

My wife and I have only been married for seven months but we have experienced the blessings that come from being married in the temple. One of the blessings is the opportunity to be in a relationship that can last forever. As a student studying economics, one of the things that I learned in my microeconomics class is that when two individuals are involved in agreements that span an infinite time horizon, there is an incentive for them to keep working together. If the agreement only spans a finite length of time, it will break down. My wife and I are also involved in an "agreement" that spans eternity. We are both committed to making one another happy and fulfilling our part of the "agreement" because of our belief that our marriage can last forever. We recognize that we are only experiencing the beginning of married life, and we recognize that we will have to face many challenges in the years ahead; however, we are confident that we will be able have a successful and enjoyable marriage.

My wife and I have also been blessed with miracles in our marriage. Our pleas for help have been answered in the form of unexpected monetary gifts, unsolicited job offers, as well as impressions that have led us to do something that was needed, but not solicited, for one another. We attribute these miracles to the covenant relationship that we have with God. As our benevolent Heavenly Father, we believe that God is involved with the details of our lives. His omniscience and omnipotence enable Him to bless us with extraordinary events that we are not able to experience otherwise. It's like having God as a contributing partner in our marital relationship.

A few days ago, I woke up to the beautiful silhouette of my wife lying beside me. I was filled with so much gratitude for her and for the blessing that she would never be taken from my side. Eternity sounds like a long time, but when you’re spending it with someone who you love completely, you’ll be grateful that you can spend eternity with him or her.

hello, snow!

2008-06-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

so this is our first winter sports that we've done together.
cross-country skiing! it was really fun, as you can tell in the picture... haha..
we fell a lot, but we laughed a lot, too!

Ladies we admire

2008-06-06T20:33:00.001-07:00

One of my goals for this year is to try doing something that I don't usually do. so I decided to read. Reading is not something that I did for fun. The only reading I've ever done was reading my textbooks. And I didn't really like reading. But I told myself that there are amazing books out there and it would be a great skill to have.

I read about 9 books so far and I love reading. Sometimes I can't stop reading-- there are so many interesting stories! I love all kinds of books -- mystery to children's books, romantic to non-fiction books. These books make me think (well, not that I didn't do any thinking before).

Anyway, I wanted to share with you one of the books i've read few days ago. It's called "Ladies with Options" by Cynthia Hartwick. It's about few middle aged women. Just like many middle aged women, they were housewives who depended on their husbands. But one day, they found out that the retirement fund will not support their lives after retirement. So they decided to do something about it. They had no background in investments, but they did their research. They worked together and supported each other. Even though they have their own sets of challenges, they never gave up. People around them didn't think highly of them because they were just bunch of housewives. But that didn't stop them from doing something great. Eventually they all became millionaires and did much good to the people around them.

I was reading this book and I kept thinking about all the great women I've met in my life. Starting from my mom, my mother-in-law, Corri, Libby, Grams, and many others who are doing so much good in other people's lives. These women have talents and they don't just sit at home and do nothing. They do a lot of things. But one thing that is common among these great women is that they all serve other people. They use their talents and resources to help other people. I think that's what makes them amazing and wonderful. Just like the ladies in the book who used their money to help other people, I think we all can use what we have to lift other people's lives.

The picture below is the shrimp pasta that Libby made for us. We went to visit her and that day was Annie's birthday and they were planning a birthday party, but we couldn't stay because Nat had to translate in MTC. But Libby cooked for us even though she had other things to do. She was even allergic to shrimps! We were very touched and were so grateful for her kindness. We learned from her example that even though the action might be small, but it has great impact on others. This shrimp pasta was the best because it was made with love! Thank you, Libby! You're great!!

Boho Zarbadas!!

2008-06-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Nat and I have a special opportunity to help out the missionaries at MTC.
There are two sisters from Pakistan. Pakistan is where Nat served his mission (for 10 months, then to Sri Lanka for a while, Malaysia for few months, and Singapore for few weeks).
He was asked to translate during the weekly Sunday devotional.
He hasn't spoken Urdu for quite a while, so he said he has forgotton many words. (and he wasn't too happy the first time, like in the picture on the right. haha...)
But I was just so amazed that he could translate, even a few sentences!
Nat said that this experience has been a humbling experience because he felt that he needed to keep up with his Urdu...
When we was translating, I sat quietly beside him and try to see if I can translate in Cantonese, which is the language I learned on my mission. Good thing I wasn't translating out loud because I, too, need to work on my Cantonese!!

I miss MTC -- the food at the cafeteria (never ending ice cream bar! and PB&J sandwiches), singing time during the MTC choir, TRC, LRC... wow.. back then I didn't like LRC (where you speak to people about the church on the phone) because if you know me well... and Nat can testify to this, that I am very scared to talk to people or even to the answering machine on the phone. Yes, that's weird, but it's true. I have hard time talking to anybody! Even making a reservation at the restaurant is difficult. so, LRC was tough, but now those times are all good memories. I especially miss the spiritual power you feel there. The missionaries are glowing and they are full of energy. I wonder if I ever was like that. They give me spiritual boost ever time I go there!

Nat never had a chance to come to Provo MTC, so he was really amazed when he first entered :-) He really wants to eat at the cafeteria one day because he heard so much about it!

It is truly a humbling blessing and opportunity to be able to help the missionaries. A simple service like this has brought so much joy in us.

"Boho Zarbadas" means very wonderful or very amazing or... ちょーすごい!
That's how we felt about this whole experience!

Houston, here she comes!

2008-06-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

yesterday, nat and i went to farmington to see our dear friend, kate. we will going to miss her when she leaves to houston. it's... mix feelings... we are very happy for her that she got a great job in houston, but at the same time it is very difficult to say good bye to her.

i knew kate since january of 2005. it's been more than three years but even until today, she continues to amazes me and inspires me. she always believed in me. when we were in mtc together (where we train as missionaries), i often look down on myself because i thought i wasn't a good missionary. but kate was always there for me, and wrote me cute little notes on post-it and encouraged me the whole three months we were together. i am a different person because of her. she is kind and caring -- always puts others first. that is why she will be amazing no matter where she goes.

the greatest thing kate taught me was this, 'changes happen when we choose'. when we were companions in mtc, kate only wore black or brown or maybe burgundy colored, long-sleeve sweater with white shirt. she never tied her hair up. she was like that forthe whole three months and also when we went to hong kong. then we didn't see each other for few months because we were serving in different areas. but one day, i saw her and she was wearing a BRIGHT PINK SHORT-SLEEVE SHIRT!! and she had her hair up and there was something different about her.

she told me that before, she felt inadequate and had no confidence, not because she was not good, but because she allowed herself to think that way. but she decided that the only person who can change her was... herself! she had positive attitude in everything. she can tell you much better than i can, but what i learned was that change is possible to anyone who choose to change. i am grateful for her example and for her courage to change and to be positive in life!

i love her so much and i hope she knows how special and amazing she is!

short, fat elder with glasses.

2008-05-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

okay, let's talk about how and where we met.
i came back from my mission in july of 2006. i had 6 months in malaysia before I head back to BYU-provo. within those 6 months, the members from my home ward told me to look for 'Elder Woo' in provo. even though i wasn't interested, i agreed.

this is what i thought elder woo looked like:

- short
- with glasses (thick, black framed)
- a bit or maybe a little more than 'a bit' fat
- something like the elder in the cartoon, except he's
shorter and... nerdier? maybe...

i forgot about this 'elder woo' until i went to the asian ward
in BYU, talking to Sae Joon (our mutual friend) and i suddenly remembered about elder woo, so I asked him if he knew any 'brother woo'. i didn't know his first name because i wasn't interested in short return missionary. but i asked, and he pointed at one guy right behind me and said that's 'brother woo' and when i turned around... i said to myself...
WOW! WHO'S THIS GOOD-LOOKING GUY?!?
well, maybe not to that extreme, but he was totally the opposite of my short, fat elder woo!

he was what i call... tall, dark, and handsome (and single!) he looked like.... superman, with cape and everything! i was very interested in getting to know him, so after knowing him for 2 weeks, i asked him out on a date. (and he said yes!) and we are together ever since :-)

well, this is my side of the story...

So, why holyman?

2008-05-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

So the title of this blog is 'holyman and riebo-'. But there's a reason behind that.

Here are some possible reasons why.
1) Nat became a monk few months ago in a small village in Cambodia.
2) He was the executive secretary in Asian ward (church) for a year or so.
3) He is known as the 'righteous one' in his family.
4) He wanted to be named after a superhero, but all the 'cool' names (superman, spiderman, batman, ironman...) were taken, so he made up a name for himself - HOLYMAN!
5) He was called the holyman in his cycling team in Singapore because he never cycled or competed on Sundays.

All these reasons are possible, especially when it comes to Nat. If you know Nat well, you know that he does all sorts of crazy stuff. But if you want to find out the real reason, go to this website and read about one of the coolest things he's ever done!

http://www.teamabsolut.net/holyman/profile.htm

Holyman and riebo- are excited to start a blog! We are probably the last couple to start a blog (we tend to start things late. haha...) but we hope it will last for a long time.

ps- 'riebo-' is just a nickname I had in high school. I wish I have fun reason behind that nickname, but... i don't. maybe I will come up with one later.