Domain name renewed

Paid for another year of this domain name today, wasn't too bad of a price since it's not exactly a high demand domain. I don't think there's another Healy Chen on this planet so it's not like I've got competition clamoring for it. If there is, though, I'd gladly sell it to you for a princely sum.

It's a lovely noise when I drive through my work's parking structure and the boxer rumble from my STI trips up numerous car alarms. Don't blame me, the car came like it stock. You car's alarm is simply too sensitive. Nobody responds to vehicle alarms anyways; they just annoy the crap out of you until it goes away somehow. Not sure why the modern car even bother with such nuisance. If a thief wants your car bad enough, it's effectively gone.

First night of vacation

You'd think I'd be all outside getting into all sorts of trouble on the first night of my 10 day vacation, but ha! I just spent like the past six hours watching episodes of the acclaimed television series Friends.

Yup, this is the life, isn't it.

Ken Block's Gymkhana Five

Ever since the first Gymkhana, I’ve been a fan of Ken Block’s video brand of rally car driving acrobatics. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that the fifth iteration of the series will be shot in the streets of my lovely hometown, San Francisco. The hilly and twisty roads of the city coupled with world renowned landmarks makes for the perfect canvas for Block to perform his technical car handling ballet with a rally car. Doing burnouts and massive drifts on such epic San Francisco locations like the Bay Bridge, Financial district, and Twin Peaks is something us regular car enthusiasts can only dream about.

The reason I am a big fan of the Gymkhana series is that it helps introduce/promote the rally form of motorsport to the American public. Rally cars and the World Rally Championship (WRC) over in the Europe has been one of my favorite racing discipline. Just the sheer variety of terrain the rally cars has to traverse and the abuse it is designed to take is simply magnificence in engineering. Unlike most other forms of racing, WRC features race cars based largely on road cars you can buy. The greatest examples of this is perhaps the Subaru Impreza STi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and the original Audi Quattro. These cars were essentially homologation road going models of the same rally cars campaigning in WRC. The kind of car Ken Block is using to zip through San Francisco with? You can buy one. Today - and that is absolutely magic.

Unfortunately in the land of left turn racing, rally car is something many Americans are unfamiliar with. If it was not for racing games such as Gran Turismo introducing it to us and making us desire these type of cars, automakers wouldn’t even make them available to the American market (it wasn’t until 2003 before STi and Evos finally arrived to our shores, while the two have been sold in other markets for a decade.) What I hope ultimately happens with these Gymkhana videos is spread the rally motorsport discipline throughout America. It would be nice to see actual rally events in the States (and not just the X-Games.) The popularity will then push automakers to make road going rally type cars for people to purchase (that Ford Fiesta Ken Block is driving can NOT currently be bought in the turbo four wheel drive form). As a car enthusiast living in the U.S. that loves rally cars, this reality would be awesome.

Automotive enthusiast's life: car detailing

For an automotive enthusiast (the quintessential car nut), the weekend is that wonderful occasion when you can finally spend some quality time with the car(s) you love. Nothing is more in line with “car guy” tradition than washing and detailing the car. People that love cars tend to make sure their automobiles are well maintained and in quality running shape. Cleanliness of course is the one big factor that contributes to the beauty of the car - as it was meant to be seen.

Being a huge car guy myself, I spent this past weekend performing a full detail to my beloved Toyota Corolla sedan. The whole process took a grand total of eight hours because I was deliberately being extremely precise about it. During the washing process I made sure to clean inside the engine bay of all the road dirt and grime that has accumulated in six years of ownership. I even took the alloy wheels off in order to clean them from the inside. Some call it obsessively anal, I call it obsessively thorough.

After washing the comes the arduous task of hours upon hours in clay barring (to get rid of paint contaminants), polishing, and touching up the paint where road debris made annoying rock chips on the front end of the car. Last step is of course protecting all the hard work with a nice coat of wax.

The jinx is broken

So the story of the jinx is this. During the previous year’s baseball season, whenever me and my Giants-baseball-partner-in-crime Amber is at AT&T Park at the same time (either went together or in separate groups), the Giants have not not won a single game. That’s right, zero wins out of the 11 or so games we were there at the ballpark. It was so bad that it was dubbed a jinx; blame was tossed around, threats was spewed, and friends begged us not to go to games anymore.

Well, the jinx is no more! On Sunday, April 30th 2012, Giants beat the Padres 4-1 as we watched from the upper decks of AT&T park. Oh yeah, it is going to be a good season of baseball. I can tell.

The war on sodium

Sugar is not the problem anymore. You know what is prevalent problem these days in the American diet? Sodium. For the non educated type, that means the common salt. Who convinced the mainstream eateries out there that ungodly amount of sodium is the proper way to cook food? Everything is just so salty these days and is void of their natural flavors.

But that is not the major sticking point. All the intake of sodium just makes a person wants to drink water ceaselessly. Recently I had breakfast at an ihop ordering the usual breakfast food. For the rest of the day I could not stop drinking water for I was just constantly thirsty. And it is not like you piss it all out either, because sodium causes the body to RETAIN water thus you will look bloated (not good ladies)

And you wonder why Chinese people tell you that the food at restaurants is largely way different that authentic home cooked Chinese food. Not because the ingredients are different, but its the way they season the food (or lack of). All they do at Chinese restaurants is fry the food (yes even veggies get a oil bath, notice how shiny they are) and add MSG (see, a sodium that taste even better!).

This has to stop. I don't want to not enjoy the great human societal joy of eating out just because more and more there are just not anything kosher to eat.

For sure I'm not saying go gorge on some ice cream (I wish), because eating tons of sugary products (or it is not even sugar, it is more often than not corn) will still make you obese and have large risk of diabetes.

Thoughts after annual check-up

So I had my annual checkup today, and I am proud to say I am above average in terms of health condition. These past four years of stringent diet and a constant exercise program is paying off (in more ways than one). It is really not all that difficult to be and stay healthy thus it baffles me to see people that are not. Do not think that medicinal technology will magically extend your life. Prevention is always better than remedies after the fact.

As the constant observer as I, there are a few things that I have notice while I was at the clinic that is just baffling:

Hey idiot! what part of no cell phones do you not understand?!
It's usually counterintuitive to put someone at reception who is an absolute bitch.
Why is the guy that is late for his appointment get to jump me who is otherwise on time?
Hey doc, don't be so surprise at how healthy I am. What, are most of your patients on the verge of chronic illness?
Don't give me an awkward attitude when I refuse to speak Chinese (it was a Chinese clinic). I know the American school system uses English to teach so I know you speak English well.

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