fort worthless and plain-o
so in 12 hours i head off with jeremy, johanna, and xiao to go to fort worth and plano, with alex and phil joining us on friday. if you're in the area, give me a call and come join us!

and alby, if you are reading this, you are deeply missed. i am actually listening to "the hardest thing" right now. i'm sure you can see me doing all the hand motions.

mok says: worry not friend, there's a reason for everything.
plz alby plz: i guess ur right
mok says: maybe your wife is waiting for you in cali sometime from june 24-27
mok says: ya never know
mok says: and i mean
mok says: i know it's hard to believe
mok says: but even I am not worth missing your wife for
plz alby plz: no man
plz alby plz: u are
plz alby plz: u definitely are
mok says: yeah, you're right
mok says: good answer
mok says: just testing you
plz alby plz: duh

until next time, take care over there. and i'll see you when i see you.

and then there's THIS fool..

titus3l5: it's all about the walking mang
mok says: sigh
mok says: im used to it
mok says: hong kong man
titus3l5: lol
titus3l5: did you gain poundage?
mok says: nah
mok says: cuz i got sick
titus3l5: =/
titus3l5: SARS?
titus3l5: plz dont come to plano
titus3l5: we don't need your kind here
titus3l5: you walking disease bag

hehe anyways, new poll up top. what about? t-mac, of course. you want the trade or not? vote.

so what's there to do in Japan?
hm, nothing much.

but it was still pretty fun. here are some pictures. with CAPTIONS! get excited.


so we took some bus to go to some place to get some view of the famous mount fuji. unfortunately, when we got there, we realized that this time of the year, the mountain is almost always covered with clouds. so, we were left to do other things to amuse ourselves. this was outside some store.


we rode a cable car to the top of this place. see that view behind us? yeah, somewhere back there is supposed to be mount fuji. =\


yeah, for some reason, there were random animals everywhere..


this one is my favorite =)


this is the cable car.


now this guy was just mest up. my brother took a short video of him too if you wish to see it. he is sitting on top of one of those crane games. you know, the ones where you pay 50 cents to try to grab some stuffed animal or whatever? yeah they have tons of them over in japan. this guy just kept screaming in some unknown language (japanese) and trying to get people to walk into the arcade. personally, he scared the poo outta me.


so i left hong kong with the detroit pistons up 3 games to 1 against the lakers, and i had been searching everywhere for some news of what was going on in the sports world. and God sent me brian shaw, who plays for the lakers. haha yep, i ran into him at japan. man, he's a lot taller than i expected. so he told me the lakers lost in 5 games. oh boohoo. ah well, i guess that makes ONE person i like on the lakers now..


haha i like this picture too. when we were taking it, i didn't know my sister was doing the same thing i was. i laughed for like 5 minutes straight when i saw it, i'm not sure why.


we stayed in some baller hotel for one night called "prince hotel." we found this bench in a building across the street. pretty tight, huh?


man, talk about THUG.


we heard some random japanese rapping coming from like, 2 miles away, so here's me freestylin' in tokyo. oh btw, i am standing on top of some pillar, facing one of the busiest streets in the city. haha it was funny watching people's faces as they would drive by. but hey, i'm never gonna see them again anyways, right?

alright. hope you enjoyed the short slide show. i'll just leave you with a quick peek at a couple of my friends.

so i try to catch up with cynthia..

mok says (1:12:00 AM): so howve you been
smoOchamoOmoO (1:12:00 AM): gnite

talk about a conversation killer.

and then there's always xiao..

HeyLookItsXiao: i'm gonna own u when u sleep next yr
HeyLookItsXiao: hand in warm water everyday

what would i do without this guy?

t-mac, baby!!
if you haven't already heard, the buzz around houston is around tracy mcgrady, the best baller in the NBA. right now, the trade is basically 99.9% official, so i'm just going to go ahead and talk about it.



who the Orlando Magic get: Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Kelvin Cato, Bostjan Nachbar
who the Houston Rockets get: Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, ???

you have no idea how giddy i've been since i heard the news yesterday. tmac in a rockets jersey?!

gotta keep pinching myself to make sure i'm not dreaming..

anyways, i am still crazy jetlagged, so it's time to sleep. good night.

IKDG PART I

i am home. after an eternity overseas. 3 weeks is definitely more than i bargained for, but it's ok, i still survived.

breakdown of the trip:

hong kong
pros: visiting relatives, hanging out with cousins, having scott randomly stop by where i was staying because he thought it was time for add/drop, mahjong, chillin' with ophelia and michelle on my last day there, and seeing my grandma for the last time
cons: hot, a LOT more walking than i was used to, only seeing one NBA finals game, getting crushed by 32908 elevators

beijing
pros: got to see forbidden city and great wall again
cons: HOT, a LOT more walking than hong kong

japan
pros: GREAT weather, first time there, good food, ran into johnny and emily at the airport!
cons: everyone had too much makeup on..even some guys =\ and no one spoke english

all in all, a wonderful trip, but i am still glad to be home =)

for you ofoto freaks, go to my ofoto.

now to the good stuff. you may be wondering what the heck that "IKDG" stands for in that title up there. figure it out yet? eh? c'mon, you can do it..

..ok maybe you can't. and even if you can, i don't really care. IKDG stands for "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." many of you should know what this is. if not, then you must be utterly confused right now. IKDG is a book by Joshua Harris. i firmly believe that 10 or 20 years down the road, i will be able to honestly say this book changed my life.



if you have noticed, i have been "reading" this book since january. let's just say i like to squeeze each book for all it's got =P but anyways, on my final plane ride from detroit to houston today, i finally finished the book.

IKDG is split into 4 parts. i highlighted and marked down stuff while i was reading through the book on the 209384 hours i had on the plane. if you're not interested in this, then just disregard the rest of this post. this entry is not so much for everyone who reads this but also for myself. you know, for those rainy days when i get the dandy idea to browse through my old blog posts.

but if you ARE somewhat interested or just incredibly bored, i hope that these notes and quotes will really hook you onto this book because i REALLY enjoyed reading it. it has definitely changed my perspective on many things, and i hope you will take the time to get a hold of a copy of IKDG and read it for yourself. don't be intimidated by the title =)

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1. So this is love?
Beyond what feels good, back to what is good

I’ve come to understand that God’s lordship in my life doesn’t merely tinker with my approach to romance – it completely transforms it. God not only wants me to act differently; He wants me to think differently – to view love, purity, and singleness from His perspective, to have a new lifestyle and a new attitude.

I’ve come to realize that while friendships with the opposite sex are great, I have no business asking for a girl’s heart and exclusive affections if I’m not ready to consider marriage.

As I’ve sought God’s will for my life, I’ve discovered that a relationship wouldn’t be best for me or for the one I’d date right now. Instead, by avoiding romantic, one-on-one relationships before God tells me I’m ready, I can better serve girls as a friend, and I can remain free to keep my focus on the Lord.

True love isn’t just expressed in passionately whispered words or an intimate kiss or an embrace; before two people are married, love is expressed in self-control, patience, even words left unsaid.

2. The little relationship principle
(that leads to big change)

The joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.

3. The seven habits of highly defective dating
recognizing dating’s negative tendencies

1) dating tends to skip the friendship stage of a relationship
2) dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love
3) dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships
4) dating can distract young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future
5) dating can cause discontentment with God’s gift of singleness
6) dating can create an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s character
7) dating often becomes an end in itself

4. Counterculture romance
five attitude changes to help you avoid defective dating

1. every relationship is an opportunity to model Christ’s love
2. my unmarried years are a gift from God
3. I don’t need to pursue a romantic relationship before I’m ready for marriage
4. I cannot "own" someone outside of marriage
5. I will avoid situations that could compromise the purity of my body or mind

You and I will never experience God’s best – in singleness or in marriage – until we give God our all. We’ve held on to old attitudes, foolishly clutching a lifestyle that the world tells us will bring fulfillment. God asks us to hand it all over to Him.
--------------------

go buy the book already -- you won't regret it. i promise.