It's a Saturday Night. You know what that means. No, it doesn't mean that I've been out hanging out like a normal teen. No it means that I have once again spent my day at the beach. Another hugely successful beach day in my opinion.

Today I drove because I felt bad for all the people who always drive. I am a firm believer in a rotation of driving.

So we manage to actually leave before 11 today, and got to the beach around noon. Today's crew consisted of:

Car Mark: Mark, Amith, Kwan

Car Candice: Candice, Diana, and her friend Dan

Car Noel: Noel and Jessica

Car Me: Me, Brian, Duke, Grant and Thomas

As soon as we got there, we began with a game of footbal. As usual, tiring as heck. Our team got whupped though. It's all cuz they had Dan who I dubbed as "Danimal," because he's freaking hardcore.

We soon hit the waves and I was reunited with one of my new found passions: buggie boarding. I'll admit though that the water was pretty darn cold, and it wasn't too long before we were out and chilling on the beach again.

I'll have to say that soccer was definitely the highlight of the day today. We separated into two teams which are as such:

Team China and a white boy
Grant Lee: One of the most exciting young talents in beach soccer today. Can play on the wing, in attack or behind the front two and has already attracted the attention of European scouts. Undoubtedly the best striker in the league, and his speed, fancy footwork and relentless attacks have made him the most dangerous player in the game today.

Justin Kwan: Surprisingly agile and quick for a man of his stature. Over six feet tall he is the second tallest player on the team and one of the hardest working. Silent yet deadly, he is in his best element when pairing up with his striking partner Grant. Together, they are capable of pulling off some of the most amazing cross pattern goals in the game. Is also able to sub in as a goalie when needed.

Diana Auyang: Coming in quite late in the series (only the final game), she has proven to be an excellent defender. While being afraid of the ball limits her as a goalie, the relentless pressure she applies playing defense makes it difficult for any player to get past her.

Danimal: His lack of experience with the soccer game has been more than made up by his athletic and physical prowlness. One of the most athletic players in the game, Danimal is known for playing his heart out and serves as the team's wingman.

Duke Lee: A goalkeeper whose displays are often as colourful as his ever-changing hair, while not always consistent, he is still proven to be the most effective goalie of the team. When not goal keeping, he bursts on to the field as the fastest player in the game today, and is extremely dangerous.

Team Non-China and an exception
Mark Lesar: The best striker on the team, his versatility is almost unmatched. Is able to easily switch into mdoes of playing defense, midfield, or attacking. Powerful and quick, Lesar has served as a captain figure of the team and can steal a ball just as easily as he is able to launch a 40 yard goal from back field.

Brian Sze: Famous as the son of former Korean international striker Cha Bum Kun, who played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup?in Mexico and coached the team at France 98, Sze has had to fight to emerge out of the shadow of his illustrious father.

Candice Liu: The most ruthless and most effective midfielder in the game today. Few people (if any) are able to get past her highly unorthodox style which involves her getting into crab position and stealing the ball away from her confused attackers. Moreover, she is the toughest player of the game, capable of taking countless abuse and pain, all in the name of her team.

Amith Shetty: Serving as the only member of the team with true soccer experience, Shetty made a surprising change from a highly effective striker, to one of the best if not the best goalie in beach soccer today. With a keen eye for the ball, lightning quick reaction time, and unseen athletic skill, Shetty has been the pillar of strength and fortitude for the team.

Philip Nho: While not always consisent, his highly unorthodox style of striking has been proven to most effective in the biggest time of need. Playing with an unmatched level of heart, Nho is seen everywhere on the field, everywhere from playing last minute defense to scoring unbelelievable and often shocking goals. Nho serves as the heart of the team, often seen running around in an absolute frenzy after every goal.

Match Summary
The series is best out of three, not including the games the preliminary games played before. Team Non-China with An Exception won the first game with flying colors with a spectacular victory of 5-3. Mark Lesar was the player of that game by being able to launch goals from the midfield. Candice Liu and Brian Sze were also responsible for scoring two flashy goals from midfield. Duke was visibly upset over some his mistakes.

The second game was a different story. While it looked like Team Non-China with An Exception were initially going to be able to wrap it up, their Team China and A White Boy came back with a fury by capitalizing on numerous rebounds of goalie Amith Shetty. The final score came out to 5-2.

During this time, we took a breather and rested for a little bit. Soon after listening to some Jimmy Eat World and getting pumped up, both teams headed back onto the field for one final battle.

The final game was the one that was pretty hardcore. With the series tied at one, everyone was hell bent on putting it all on the line. It became quite apparent that both teams had finally realized that this was no longer a recreational sport, but an actual competitive battle. Both teams were playing their hearts out and injuries were plaguing both sides. Candice Liu took the most abuse, receiving a kicked ball in the face, and an actual roundhouse kick to her hip from her own teammate Nho. Arguements over the validity of certain shots ran amuck as well. Team China and a White Boy began to take the lead as the score came to 4-3. However, a tragic injury sent Danimal to the sidelines with a cramp in his leg, and Team China and a White Boy were forced to play one man short. Team Non-China and An Exception soon came back after a last minute shot by Mark Lesar. It was stretching down to the wire.

In a quick effort to regain possession, Grant Lee faced both Lesar and Nho in a battle to get past them, and crumpled to the floor with a cramp, and part of his toenail had come off. Eventually Lee got back up to the applause of the crowd.

Both teams were forced to cast aside their tiredness and play for the last goal. Team Non-China and An Exception skipped a heart beat when Lee nearly scored a goal in the final moments of the game before being knocked out of bounds. In the final moments of the game, Lesar brought it up field and passed to his left to Nho who faced defender Auyang. Auyang nearly stripped Nho of the ball, but Nho was able to break free and fired a slanting kick into the far right corner of the goal for the win. It was a tremendous finish. Team Non-China and An Exception broke into a wild frenzy before both teams fell to the floor in exhaustion.

Hahha, that was it for ya. Gotta tell ya, scoring the game winning goal was one of the most exciting moments in my brief and unspectacular sporting career. My foot is pretty messed up though. I'm walking with a limp and it's pretty swollen. I'm gonna let it rest for a bit before deciding if I have to get it checked out. This is the price you pay. All for the game baby. And it's good practice before I head off to the fall season A-League at Berkeley.

I was telling Amith this online, but I've realized that our weeks are our rest, and our Saturdays are game day baby. Whoo!

-Phil

I've just had a series of weird/bad events to finish off the night.

Watched Austin Powers III. Disappointing. Well not really disappointing, because my hopes for the film weren't that high, but it honestly wasn't very good. I would say it sucked really, it had a couple of good scenes like the Mole, the Mini-Me fight scene and that awesome opening sequence. But really, the movie was overdone and the jokes should have been kept short, yet were allowed to drag on and on until the audience quit chuckling and just kinda sat there bored. Beyonce Knowles wasn't bad per say, but was the most boring girl thus far. She offered almost nothing to the movie. The ending also was simply "shake your head" material. Well at least we can say the first one was great.

And the whole movie seating situation got unnecessarily complicated. While we were waiting in line, Grant, Brian, and Justin went to find some people they knew and managed to get some spots up front, while the rest of the group, Dave, Sherry, Duke, Bbin and I sat back and waited. The idea was to have the other three get great seats and save it for us. While were entering into the theatres, they blocked off the other theatre and put us in another one. I spoke to one of the ushers and explained our situation about how we were supposed to meet people in there, and he said we could go in if we had to. So I went back to grab the rest of the group, but by then they had already found good seats, and it would simply be a hassle to gather everyone, fight the crowds and move into the other theatre. So we decided to stay. Then Justin Thomas calls and asks where we were. I told them that we were staying in there, and I explained what happened and after failing to convince either party to move, we decided to just stay where we were, and meet after the movie.

Then as we headed back towards the lobby and met up, the guys said something along the line "Very disappointed in you" in a totally joking manner. I responded by saying "Well who ditched who??" in a much more serious and defensive manner than I had planned. I have no idea why it came off sounding like that. As a result they got defensive and started going off about how they saved a row for us, and I tried to explain the situation again, but it just ended up coming out bad. And somehow the conversation ended with them walking off and Dave pointing a finger at me and shaking his head. Duke then put his hand on my shoulder and said "It's okay, I know how you feel." I was shocked, but I was a bit more pissed than anything. I just got sick of the idea that things were somehow always pinned back to me. I dunno if it's just me being an easy target for abuse, but with what happened today, and Dave constantly getting on my case about not calling Jane, and the whole beach fiasco, it was always felt like I was somehow partly or even fully responsible for the crap and miscommunication that happens. And no one should ever apologize because no one was ever at fault. I just think it's just B.S that I have to stand there with my mouth open while crap gets flung at me.

And when I got home Kev told me something he heard about Jane getting upset about me not calling her about the beach. I quickly left some messages on her voicemail and apologized about not calling her and muttering some crap about how stressed I was with my midterm and all (which was partly true) and how today had been pretty hectic since coming back from Berk today. It just would have been hard to try and organize a ride for her and all, and yeh I admit I managed to goof it up again. I should have called and all and let her know, but I dunno, with the way I had been feeling, this simply wasn't helping.

I may be getting all worked up over this, in fact I know for sure that I am, but I'm just getting sick as hell of everyone trying to give me some kinda of guilt trip, however jokingly it may be. And I probably deserve a lot of the stuff I get thrown at me, but that doesn't mean people have to rub my face in it. And don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm abused or anything, just what little crap is thrown at me, it seems I'm always face first in it.

I don't even ask to be put in such situations, I dunno how I get there.

Man, people are gonna think I'm moody after reading this. Well screw you then.

JP. :P

-Phil

I haven't blogged for a couple of days because I've been studying for my History 7B. I've been genuinely enjoying the class, but I still had reservations about emphasizing that whenever someone asks me about it, simply because I haven't taken any exams yet. Well I had my first one today, and may I say I feel pretty good about it actually. This is the first time I've felt like this about a test since high school. But I'm not going to bee to confident yet, I dunno they may be hard graders or something.

I came home today and on the way I home I noticed a group of people at the park by my house, and remembered that some people were having a sports day/picnic kinda thing. We went there and hung out for a bit, and sat in the shade while everyone else ran around playing ultimate frisbee. Why bother getting sweaty?

As Kwan, Duke and I were going home, we saw a girl sitting on the sidewalk of Vince Pasqual's house. We turned around and it was none other than Julia Freakin Fazakerly. I haven't seen that girl in ages. Turns out she walked all the way from her house to Vince's. Insane I tell ya. I spoke to Vince for a bit, and turns out he's going to the Army Reserves. Double Insane.

Anyway, had accountability at my house and we were gonna talk about dating and relationships, but just ended up talking about random things instead. Only 2 more weeks left.

After, we went back to the park and hung out for a bit. I played guitar while everyone else played frisbee again, and then did penalty kicks with Duke and Amith, and eventually got into a game.

To be continued....

-Phil

type "Philip Nho" (althought I don't know why you would want to) and what do you find? A link to my blog, and references to a lot of Vietnamese people.

"The words to say, the road to take, to find the way back to your heart
what can I do to get to you, and find the way back to your heart
I'd turn back time, to make you mine, and find the way back to your heart...."

Hahhaha, never expected lyrics from a Backstreet Boys song eh? Anyway....

Grant, Sanam, and Mike Kinney (the original, not the Berkeley version) came to visit today. I met up with Candice and her friend Dan, and we all met up with them. We took them to Asian Ghetto for lunch. They ended up getting Steve’s BBQ, and because I already ate, Candice and I ended up getting Snow Bubble. I got no tapioca with it of course (I loathe that stuff), but they put lychee in there instead which was actually pretty good.

On instance during the day, I remember Mike asking me, “So where you go again? You go here?” to which I nodded. “So you uhhh like it here?” (with a somewhat pitying and disgusted look on his face). I kinda laughed at this because I can see in so many ways how people would dislike Berkeley. Especially someone like Mike who hated homeless people and threatened to beat the gay out of his children. Anyway, that was a random side note.

Later on we walked around the campus for a little bit exposing our nice campus which semi changed Mike’s mind about Berkeley (yeh Cal rocks whoo!) and showed the genetically mutated trees that are butt ugly. Can’t stress that enough.

There really isn’t much to do around Berkeley except to look at some of the stores, which we did for a little bit, so we all ended up at Duke’s place and chilled for a little while. Then went to my place where we rinsed and repeated. Except this time a little X-boxing came around.

I played ball yesterday, and there must have been at least 4 counts of traveling and 2 counts of carrying the ball on me. I simply don’t understand. After the second traveling call which confused me enough as it was, I made sure not to move as soon as I got the ball, but apparently according to the tall old whites guys we played against (one of which looked like Moby), I traveled. For a while I swore to myself I would stop playing, because I was freaking useless.

Anyway, I really wish I was capable right now of having brilliant thoughts and sharing them to the world. I mean what happens if I’m rich and famous some day? I mean think about all the people who have written autobiographies comprised of all their memoirs and journal entries? Ben Franklin, Richard Wright, Frederick Douglas, Dave Eggers, heck even Mick Foley! I mean what will my autobiography look like? Passages featuring Backstreet Boys quotes and random thoughts of how Natalie Imbruglia looked better in 96 than she does in ’02? Sheer genius I say….

-Phil