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I admit it. I’m kind of insane…
…especially when it comes to thrill rides and high jumps.
Today was an amazing day. Our young adults ministry (YAM) went over to Mountain Creek Water Park for fun in the sun and some good ‘ol fashioned fellowship…with water. (A quick thank-you and shout-out to Abe for organizing this event!!!)
I got to spend over 10 hours today with my friends, sans make-up, hair un-done, and covered in nothing but my (cute new) bathing suit and the sweet smell of sunscreen. I don’t remember the last time I was able to stay outside all day long in such beautiful weather with nothing on my agenda but playing in the sun and water. I even left my camera and cell phone behind.
By the end of the day, we rode the super-tall waterslide (which caused the biggest atomic bathing suit wedgie of all time), jumped around the wave pool, launched off of the Tarzan Swing (which cleared my sinuses by flushing it out with tons of water up and out of my eyeballs), and pretty much every other crazy ride in the park.
SO much fun. SOOOO much fun.
With no deadlines, surprisingly yummy water park food, and absolutely no places I was expected to be, everything was perfect.
The most fun I had, though, was during the last 10 minutes of our water parking, which was when Abe, Dave, Beyshyh and I decided to go and “cliff jump” from a 24 foot tall ledge. (The trick is to give yourself a running start…oh, and not look over the edge before jumping.)
Click HERE to See Random People Cliff Jumping @ Mountain Creek.
I felt like I was flying. It was ridiculous. And despite landing on my bottom (ouchies), the rush was intense.
I wish I had a deep meaningful way to end this entry, but what can I say? No deadlines, no time limits, no expectations, lots of physical activity, and good company.
I should go out and do things like this more often.
Bloop! ❤
I am entering into a photo competition and can’t choose which one photo to submit!
After polling some close friends and family members, I managed to boil my top 50 choices (insane, I know), to a top 4. And The votes were pretty close.
So if you have a sec, cast your vote and let me know which one of the following photos is your favorite.
Thank You! (And send this to your friends so I can get their feedback, too!)
Photo 1:
Photo 2:
Photo 3:
Photo 4:
Cast your votes below!
Am I the only one who actually thinks like this?
My last name (which is “Whang“) is actually supposed to be spelled “Hwang.”
In Korean, Hwang means “Gold.”
In English, Whang means a man’s “Member.”
Does that make me…
“Goldmember?”
God, I kinda hope so. That man is hilarious.
Okay, back to work.
I walked by that haunted house hundreds of times…
But there was no way I ever planned on going in.
During any vacation, break, and free weekend, my family would go to Ocean City, Maryland to visit my grandparents, who owned a Motel along the beach.
(And yes. This was the same beach where I would find skate sacs and terrorize my brother with them.)
We would hang out at the motel, play on the beach, and pile into my grandfather’s dark blue van to drive over to the boardwalk and spend the day playing at the game-rooms and riding the kiddie-rides.
And every time we walked down that boardwalk (for over a decade), we would have to walk by the Haunted House to get to the real fun. I hated that big, scary, ugly bat…hated it.
That stupid bat...
My uncle was a bit of a terrorizing fiend himself, and if he caught me even looking at the bat, he would pick me up and pretend to carry me into the Haunted House until I cried for mercy.
(Now that I think about it, I can see where I got my terrorizing skills from. Hm.)
Many years later, I went back to Ocean City, long after my grandparents sold the motel, and this time with some church friends.
My friends Kyle and Dante were walking with me and I saw the stupid bat long in the distance.
Ew.
Instinctively, I averted my gaze, but stopped when I noticed my friends pausing at the entrance.
“Wanna go in?” Dante asked mischievously. Kyle walked over to the booth to see how much the tickets were.
“Uh…sure?” I replied hesitantly. I had a rep for being a thrill junkie, and I wasn’t going to back down now. It was time to face my childhood fears.
I sat, squished between the boys, clutching the handlebars while trying to put on a relaxed face at the same time.
“Whoo!” The boys yelled.
“Whoo…” I muttered.
With a clank, the doors opened and our car went into the house.
The guys were laughing at the stuffed rats that were poorly glued to the ceiling, and the plastic skeleton that hung from the rafters. I remained wary, as we moved our way through to the next room.
At that moment, a column started to “fall” and stopped a couple of feet away from where we were. What surprised me wasn’t the falling column, but the high pitched scream that came from Dante.
I laughed so hard. Dante laughed too, though out of relief. Kyle had been laughing too, until a giant rat (with its hydraulic mechanism audibly apparent) launched towards him, which caused him to scream even louder.
The rest of the ride was a blur, as the tears that poured down my face kept me from noticing anything.
When we got off of the ride, the three of us promptly fell onto the wooden planks of the boardwalk, rolling around and laughing.
It made me realize that facing fears are so much better when you have people around you who you can count on to face them with you. Plus, it’s fun to look back on those fears and giggle at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Nowadays, more and more, I realize that while I have the ability to do things on my own, it doesn’t mean that I should. Friends are good.
(Plus, in retrospect, I think that my friends had only pretended to be scared just to make me smile. And it worked.)
Now, when I see that winged creature as I walk along the Boardwalk, I look right into its goofy looking eyes and think about how much fun I had that day. How silly I was for even being scared of it in the first place.
(If you’re curious about the ride, watch it from some dude’s POV HERE)
I love posting music videos.
There are so many great songs that come out on a daily basis, and as I do often on Facebook, I like sharing my favorites (mainly K-Pop, but I’m trying to expand my horizons ^_^). I think for this blog, I’ll start doing the same thing, but moreso on a monthly basis:
Here are my top 5 favorite music videos/songs for this month!
#5: Pyramid by Charice
This little 17-year old Filipino girl is something else. If you haven’t YouTube’d her yet, I highly recommend it.
#4 Gettin’ Over You by David Guetta/Chris Willis/Fergie/LMFAO
Talk about a feel-good song. The diversity of the people, the different styles of music and dance, and the overall ridiculous amount of talent just makes me wanna dance around like a crazy person whenever I hear this.
#3 Somebody to Love (Remix) by Justin Bieber/Usher
Okay. I admit it. I have Bieber Fever. But what really makes me love this song is the video itself. With heavy hitting dance groups like Beat Freaks, Poreotix, LXD, the Syrenz, and more, in addition to the simple yet dynamic graphics of the video, I don’t mind watching this over and over.
#2 I Need a Girl (Dance Version) by Taeyang
Taeyang. I am a huge fan of Big Bang, and this music video is no exception. Great song, lots of charisma, fun lyrics, and cute choreography…Yes. This is one of my top favorites. (I’m uploading the version with Eng. subs for all my non-Korean K-Pop fans!)
#1 Double Rainbow Song by the Gregory Brothers
Fine, so this isn’t an “official” song or music video. But if you haven’t seen the original Double Rainbow video, SEE IT NOW. It makes this auto-tuned song all the more amazing and catchy. You’ll find yourself singing it to yourself in the middle of work…like I’m doing right now. I should stop. But I won’t.
Enjoy Watching!
This past weekend definitely ranks as one of my top 10.
My mom and I had a one night, two day date, where we traveled down to Atlantic City’s Borgata for fun, games, and Russell Peters.
I got it from my mama.
Despite the two of us getting stuck in traffic for more than an hour, we thankfully met up safe and sound and rushed off to the Coach outlet to pick up some pretty baggies (yay for 20% discounts and NJ lack of taxes!).
Once our bag fetishes were satiated, we checked into the hotel and went downstairs for a little bit o’ slot machine playing. (Our favorite~!)
We wanted to take our time, and spend the little bit of money we set aside to play with (guilt-free-ish) over as long of a time span as we possibly could. So we walked slowly and chose our machines carefully.
After a bit of wandering around the casino floor, we happened upon a brand new penny slot machine called “Reel Em In.” (See some dude’s video HERE to understand how the Reel Em In bonus rounds work)
My mom and I snagged seats and played, really not quite understanding how the game was played, but enjoying the button pushing, the sounds clanging out of the machine, and all the pretty little graphics blazing across our screens all the same.
To our pleasant surprise, a bonus round was triggered and we sat back to watch our assigned “characters” fish for the bonus fishies on the large screen above us.
My character pulled up a $6 fish bonus. Not bad for a penny slot machine. But we waited eagerly to see what my mom’s character would pull up.
A flurry of random fish flew by, ranging from a dollar to $15 at most. Then, to our shock, a gigantic shark with the number $495 above its head swam by.
I turned to my mom and said to her, “They’re so mean, teasing us with a shark. No one ever gets the shark.”
She nodded, still focused on the screen. I looked back up, arms crossed and smugly resigned to our impending disappointment.
At that moment, her character hooked the shark.
To recap, in the past bonus rounds we had played, the bigger fishes tended to let go of their hooks after a few seconds after they’re caught and swim away, leaving the players very…very frustrated at the machine.
So I remained wary. But the shark stayed on the hook for 5 seconds…then 10…then 15…and just as my eyeballs were about to burst, my mom’s character reels up the shark.
I grab my mom’s arm and shook it very violently.
“MOM!” I cried. “YOU WON!!!” I looked at her machine and realized that her bonus game was playing at 2x, meaning whatever she won was multiplied by 2.
I shook her again. “YOU WON $1,000!!!” My mom stared at her screen, wide-eyed.
“Noooo…” she said quietly. “I won $100. This is a penny slot machine…”
“NOOO!!!” I said (way too loudly). “YOU WON $1,000!!! 100,000 pennies means $1,000 dollars!!!”
She looked at me and I could actually see the realization hit her in the face (it was awesome).
“Oh my God…” she whispered, her eyes huge.
“MOOOOOOOOOOM!” I yelled (again, way too loudly), continuing to shake her arm. “YOU WOOOOOON!”
Without another word, my mom slapped the “cash-out” button on the machine and we bolted to exchange the ticket for real cash monies.
Calling Dad to share the good news!
(But, of course, not before I took a picture for proof.)
YEAH, BAB–I mean, YEAH, MOMMY!
We were still riding high when we took the elevator up to our rooms.
We put the money away safely and gushed about how we not only paid for all the bags we bought, but also for the room and for the extravagant dinner we were now planning to eat.
At the restaurant, we ordered the things that sounded the best on the menu (not realizing the ginormous portion sizes) and ate to our heart’s content and our stomach’s discomfort.
Too good.
I will now upload these pics to make you hungry at work (or wherever you happen to be reading this).
Rock Shrimp Appetizer. MMM!
Biggest Dragon and Spider Rolls EVAH. MMMMMM!!
Spicy Seafood Pad Thai! MMMMMMMMM!!!
Oh, baby. I just drooled on my keyboard. We may have been waddling out of the casino by the time dinner was over, but it was SO worth it.
Getting ready to laugh our ung-dung-ees off.
We went over to the Event Center and sat down to watch Russell Peters, and honestly, it was just the icing on the cake.
My throat actually became raw from laughing so hard. And my mom struggled to maintain her eye makeup as her laughter caused tears to pour down her face.
We left feeling exhausted but completely satisfied. (And if anyone says TWSS, I’mma have to smack that person down.)
But seriously. Everything that day was so good.
By the end of the night, my mom and I were lying down in bed and we talked about life. And Momma Whang dropped down some seriously needed wisdom bombs on me.
Now that I’m back home in Fort Lee, I can look back on the past weekend with nothing but fondness and a little bit of righteous guilt.
Despite my complaining and feeling emo over the past week, God gave me the vacation I needed, an undeserved amount of blessings through my Mom, Borgata Casino’s $$$, and even Russell Peters, plus the spiritual and emotional perspective that I needed.
I just thank God for hearing the (admittedly whiney) prayer I posted a few days ago. He really did carry me to a place where I was able to look behind me and see my worries from far away and from a higher perspective.
As always, I need to seek God for comfort and guidance when I am hitting walls. Or, as Russell Peters says, I need to “BE A MAN…DO THE RIGHT THING.”
Or in my case, (WO)MAN).
I love burgers…but I hate what they do to me.
Sooooo delicious…those juicy grilled beef patties…crisp lettuce and sweet tomatoes, and, if I’m lucky, some browned grilled onions, all on a toasted bun…mmmmmmmmmm…
…but they’re not really fun for your body, especially when you enjoy unhealthy foods like I do.
Lately, my body has been super-grateful for the good things I’ve been putting into it over the past year, and has rewarded me with a sizable weight loss (and a sizable cash-out from a “Biggest Loser” bet my friends and I had…$cha-ching~$).
My goal to start moving down to a healthier weight actually started almost 2 years ago when I worked in Korea for a summer. I remember on the the last day of work, my friend Rich and I (who were both on diets at the time…as our American weights were considered overweight over there) went to Kraze Burger at the COEX mall to satisfy our cravings by splitting a small burger between the two of us. And interestingly enough, it was filling enough when we ate it slowly.
Which then made me think about how much I consumed in the States…
…yeah…I was kind of gross.
If left to my own devices, I could probably kill two burgers in one sitting with fries, but it took Korea to let me realize that my body, while it could physically contain all three burgers, only wanted and needed 1/2 of one.
Plus, when I ate slower and with more purpose, food actually tasted better. By no means am I “skinny” yet, but I am definitely the lightest I have ever been and the fittest I have ever felt.
If you’re on a mission to lose weight, I have 10 tips:
- Don’t starve. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and the worst way to lose weight and the best way to gain it all back (and more) with vengeance.
- Work out at least 3 times a week. Cardio (treadmill-ing) is the fastest way to slim down and tone up your entire body. I try to get in about 2-3 miles per workout, following it up with 15 minutes of weights and pilates/yoga.
- When you eat, eat half of what you usually would, but take twice as long to eat it. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. A LOT harder. But in order to get that kick-start for your weight loss, this is the best way to do it without compromising your meal schedule/tastebuds/metabolism. When you eat, chew your food really slowly. It’s better for your digestion and you’ll find that your food tastes a whole lot better.
- Pack your breakfast and lunch. Saves money and calorie-intakes (I try to shoot for about 250-300 calories per meal). Try to limit your sodium intake, too.
- Drink lots and lots of water (and if you can, with lemon). And try to get at least 7 hours of sleep. Your body flushes everything out and when you sleep, your body and metabolism gets a chance to recover and burn off fat without you having to do anything!
- Don’t stress. I’m totally the teapot calling the kettle black, but I’ve found that the days I stress out the most, even when I eat right and work out, those are the days I don’t lose anything (and sometimes I gain). Stress killlllls your weight loss.
- If you can’t make it to the gym, do one of the 10-30 minute workouts on Hulu.com. I am a big fan of the Bikini Body Makeover sets.
- Carry around a healthy snack with you, or keep a bowl of something at your desk at all times. I like roasted peanuts (non-salted). Yummy and super low in carbs and fats, and when I pop in a handful every half hour, I don’t get hungry between meals.
- Take the stairs. Being conventionally lazy, I hate having to do this, but taking the stairs tones up the legs, gives you a small cardio work out (depending on the length of the flights), and makes you feel better about yourself when you get ‘er done.
- Pick one meal out of the entire week for you to “cheat.” I like saving my Saturday nights for this cheat meal. I eat a non-diet meal (like a burger with fries) : it lets me satisfy any cravings, gives me something to look forward to, and motivates me to work it off at the gym afterwards. Plus, by the time I get to the meal, I end up leaving some of it behind anyway (because I get fuller faster).
Now that my food no longer owns me, even the concept of dieting stresses me out a whole lot less.
I am the Burger Queen.
Ah, the power of Google.
During lunch, a co-worker and I ended up Googling some random creatures we had heard about. We looked at pictures ranging from Goliath Bird-Eating Spiders, to Coconut Crabs. Yeah, creepy.
But amongst these crazy searches, this little guy shone above the rest:
I actually laughed out loud when I saw the expression on its face…
And then I found out that it was a real creature…appropriately named, the “Blobfish.”
I dunno. It’s really gross, but I kinda wanna hug it. Booger in its mouth and everything. I wonder what it would feel like?
oOoO, Squishy...
Probably really blobby. Now I want one.
Delays on the subway are the worst on days like today…
Sitting in a car with nothing to look at but a row full of strangers that have scowls chiseled onto their faces.
Days like today when work is long and tiresome. When my best is just not enough. When feelings of inadequacy and rejection are the only things going through my head. When the only thing I want to do is go home.
I sit there, turning the music up on my hand-me-down iPod as loudly as my busted headphones can muster, trying to drown out those negative thoughts. And then it happens.
I feel one drop fall. Then another.
Damn it…I think to myself. I probably look insane, crying like this in a public place.
I wipe frantically at my eyes and look around nervously. One lady sitting across from me pretends that she doesn’t see me and averts her gaze.
I take in a deep breath and empty my mind again. But those thoughts scream louder than my blasting music.
Why is this so hard? I wonder quietly. Another drop falls.
I put my sunglasses on.
Breathe. I command myself.
By the time I get home, it’s past 10:00.
And once the door shuts behind me, the tears fall freely, and I clutch my chest as strange sounds come tumbling out of my throat.
The many delays in my life are getting harder and harder to deal with.
God, be my strength when I am too tired to keep going.
Savior, defeat the overwhelming sadness that tears at my heart.
Daddy, be my Comfort and Refuge when I’m feeling weak.
As I fall downhill on days like today, please carry me to a place where I can look behind me and see my worries far away and from a higher perspective.
More than one year has gone by since I moved here to NJ/NY…
And looking back, I can easily say that I am blessed.
The people God has put in my life have all been amazing. The jobs I’ve worked in have taught me so much. I’ve grown physically stronger and healthier. Mentally, I have learned more than most people my age get to learn in ten years. Spiritually, I am more consistently stable and on fire than I’ve ever been.
But emotionally, I am completely drained.
From what I’ve seen in the past, this feeling signifies that it’s probably time for me to move on in some way…and one year from now, this may mean a literal move.
My current job and boss are both great, my current church is the closest thing to a home I’ve had since moving away from Maryland, I have made friends that have nonjudgmentally challenged me to be myself (and have loved me for it), and nothing has happened here that has caused me to want to leave…
…but nothing and no one here has really given me a reason to stay, either.
In my mind, when I first moved here, I had hoped that I would be able to work my way to an ideal job at an architecture firm, meet someone that I can have a relationship with, and spend a few years honing my skills as an architect and ultimately get my license.
Looking around now, even after an entire year, none of these things has happened…and in my heart, I feel that a change is needed.
And change is incredibly scary. It would be really easy to stay where I am now and just be. I am making enough to stay in a nice comfortable apartment with a car, but…I know that it would be foolish to live my life this way.
God has given me passion to do amazing things for those who are in need, so while I am young and able, I will make sure that I am as well-equipped as I can possibly be. And I don’t believe that He intended for me to be alone for so long, either. It’s getting so hard to come home every day to an empty apartment, with no one to talk to or be with…
I will be applying to 4 graduate schools this winter, and each school is in a different state.
I honestly have no idea where this decision will lead me, but I trust that God, as He always has, will open a door and tell me where to go…
…or whether I am to stay (there is a 25% chance, after all, that I will stay in NY).
I believe I was brought here to NJ/NY for a reason, and though I may not see it 100% clearly now, I know that when I look back, maybe years and years from now, maybe I’ll be able to see the real reason why.
By early 2011, I will know for sure where He will be taking me next. And despite this initial little bit of fear, I am excited. Who knows who I will meet, where I will work, who I’ll fall in love with, and who I will be able to help.
I wish I was a little bit taller... 
