masterpkf's Xanga

Apple Picking "Story"

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:42:08 GMT

The End

Missions

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:08:24 GMT

In a few hours, I'll be on my way to Macau for missions. I am feeling excited and nervous... and as I was frantically packing and gathering the rest of my stuff my hands were shaking. Please continue to pray for my team and I. If you would like updates please email me at masterpkf@yahoo.com. See everyone in about 2 1/2 weeks.

Grad

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:36:44 GMT

WOHOO! Finally done with undergrad. Chose not to walk because the ceremony was early and my parents said it was alright. So now I am just hanging out at home relaxing. Last Saturday went to see Wicked and thought it was good. Also, I have started running at Walnut High School. Wish I could play more basketball and start playing ultimate frisbee. Until next time.

Last Quarter of Undergrad and Maybe School

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:53:02 GMT

It does not seem that long ago that I was a 1st year and was working my way towards graduating college. Struggling to find the right classes, getting messed up by the UC system, and wondering if I would graduate on time. Finally, I have come to the final stretch of my undergrad career. This quarter I am just taking electives to finish the rest of my unit requirements. I am signed up for business 10, ethnic studies 1, education 100a and dance 5. I am very grateful that my last quarter will be pretty chill with Mondays and Fridays off and not having to wake up until 10. Since my first year my outlook of Riverside has changed from disliking to whatever to almost good. While I am disapointed that the campus environment and surrounding community is not as lively or as nice as say UCLA or UCSD, Riverside made it convenient for me to return home every weekend (which is a big plus in my book since I am such a home-body). Something thing that I regret is taking advantage of the work out facilities that are available. Ever since rolling my ankle pretty badly during my first year I have not gone back to the gym until winter quarter 06. But now because of my light schedule I can enjoy my last few weeks at college and take everything in before I join the business world. Of course there are a few other things that I wish I could've redone which would be trying harder in a few classes there is not much else that I would want to change.

While my distant future is uncertain, my immediate future, this summer, is filled with things that I may not be able to do after I start working. I have planned to go on missions to Macau this summer and hopefully will be able to serve as a counselor if schedule permits. During this time I will be going to interviews so that I will have something to do in my year off. After the summer I should be working somewhere and will be taking the CBEST and CSET and all that stuff I need just in case I return to school to get my masters of Ed. Even though I am looking forward to getting a job and finally getting away from school I can't help but think that by that time I will be wishing that I was in school. O BOY, AM I EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE

Disappointing Spring Break

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:16:37 GMT

    It has been about 2 weeks since my spring break ended. It was such an uneventful one at that. While many other UC students enjoyed their time partying and hanging out with friends, I was stuck serving jury duty. Since the Monday of spring break, I spent my days at the Norwalk Courthouse. The first day started at 8:00am and ended at 4:00pm. At the start of the day there were many people waiting to be called. Slowly that number was withered down and I was left in the room with 20 or so people waiting for the day to end. An hour or 2 before the day was over, a voice over the the intercom called the remaining people and I to head over to the courtroom. Once in the courtroom, the judge introduced himself, gave a brief introduction, and then a lady swore us in. After the introduction, the judge then started calling people to be the temporary jury. As the names were being called, I waited their anxiously not knowing whether I wanted to be called or not. The first name was called, then a second, next name called... "Preston Fong". Somewhat quickly, I rose out of my seat. In my head, it felt as if I won something on the "Price is Right". Bells were going off and the background played as i walked up to a seat. I could not help but grin. Not knowingly, this turned out to be something that I should not have been to glad about.
    As I sat there, I looked around the courtroom to take everything in and to get an idea of how jurists in the past have felt as they sat in the box. While I looked around the room I took note of the people in the courtroom: the lawyers, judge, bailiff, typing lady and the other positions that I do not know the names of. Something that caught my eye was the DA. As the people came to the box, he carefully observed the jurists. Occasionally, the DA would look at a jurists for a longer a period of time and smile at them. I found this a little awkward and thought that he was trying to win over the jurists by smiling at them. After the juror's box was filled, the judge then gave a brief description and some rules regarding the case. Next, the defendant lawyers stepped to the podium and asked the new jurors questions about our previous experiences that are related to the case and whether or not those experiences would affect us from being unbiased.
    Most of the jurors had no problem with the questions and were not affected by their previous experiences. The judge and lawyers constantly reminded us that they were not asking us to forget our past experiences but to listen to everything that is presented and be fair to their clients. 30 minutes into the selection process, another college student, who was in the jury box raised his hand and told the court that he was unable to be fair and unbias towards the defendants. It was obvious that the guy was trying to skip out of jury duty and I am sure everyone else thought so as well. For sure the judge and lawyers knew what he was doing and called him out on it. They kept questioning him and asked him why he didn't bring this up 30 minutes earlier when they first raised the question. It did cross my mind to make up an excuse but I figured that the case shouldn't take much time and that if I am not supposed to serve God would have the lawyers dismiss me. As a result, I answered all the answers truthfully and awaited their decision. At the conclusion of the selection process, they dismissed the college guy that was trying to get out and another girl who got emotional over one of the questions. I think the court dismissed the guy at the last moment just to keep him there for the longest period of time to spite him for his actions. Once the 12 jurors were selected, the court then got another 7 people and chose 2 of them as reserves. This whole process took a day and a half.
    After we were done selecting everyone, the judge dismissed the rest of the jurors and then began the trial. I was a little disheartened, when I was not dismissed from the case since it was my birthday and spring break after all. So we went straight into the trial. The trial was a murder case, which charged two guys with 4 counts. The first count was the murder of this one guy. The next was the attempted murder of two guys which accounts for 2 of the counts. The last count was for shooting into an occupied vehicle. We did not get very far into the case before we had to go home. We were only able to finish the opening statement. That night, I went out with friends to go bowling.
    For the next few days we listened to the evidence and their questioning. The DA had many poster boards with pictures on it. Each evidence he used he had to label it "peoples #". It was kind of funny because by the end of the case we had people's 34. On a side note most of those were poster boards. The case had all types of evidence: pictures, items, video clips, audio clips expert witnesses and witnesses. While I was there, I couldn't help but envy the church guys being able to play basketball. As the case got farther and farther into the week, I became worried that the case would go into the following week. It was told to us earlier, that the last day we would get things to start deliberating was Monday. For the UCs we started school on Monday but luckily I had no class on Monday but if the case took any longer than that I would be in trouble. Then on Thursday the judge told us that Friday was a court holiday and it wasn't until later that I found out that it was Cesar Chavez Day. I was kind of mad that the court had the day off while schools and other jobs did not have that day off. That day could of allowed us to at least end a day earlier than we were supposed to. The weekend came and it did not seem that we were any closer to ending the case.
    After jury duty on Thursday, Flo took me out for my birthday dinner and we went to C&O. We didn't really do much else since I had jury duty and she has research. It was delicious and I had a good time not thinking about the case and just spending some time with her.
    On Monday I continued jury duty. The lawyers gave their concluding statements and then we were given instructions by the judge. The instructions took a long time and printed on a sheet that would be given to us later on to use as reference. Everything was finished at lunch time and we were told that when we came back from lunch everything should be ready for us to start deliberating. When we came back from lunch we waited in the juror room and waited for them to give us everything. We ended up receiving everything with 30 minutes left before we had to leave. For the last 30 minutes we started deliberating on one of the defendants but we came to a halt because one of the jurors thought that he was innocent. Before we left we gave the juror our thoughts and told her that she could think about it that night and we can try again Tuesday. Throughout this day I was very anxious because I had class the next day and did not want the case to drag on any further. I was hoping that the judge would dismiss me from the case so I wouldn't be dropped from the classes but he would not let me go. During the weekend I emailed and called the professors and most of them said it was alright while the others did not even respond. So when the day concluded without us having completing deliberation, I told myself that whatever happens happens and hoped that my profs that didn't respond to me would not be butts about my situation.
    It took us a full Tuesday to complete our deliberation. When we completed deliberation we waited for the court to call all the family members and get everyone that was involved with the case to come to the court. Once everyone arrived we went back into the court and the judge read the verdict. We found that the two defendants were both guilty of all 4 counts. After that was completed we went back into the juror room and waited for the bailiff to escort us out. All of the women jurors broke down once we got into the room because they felt for the families of the defendants. They imagined themselves in their situation and how they would feel if their sons were in the same situation. When the bailiff was ready we walked out through the secret corridor the judge and other court officials used. As I walked to the parking lot I felt much joy that the case was finally over and that I could return to my regular routine and life.
    Overall, I enjoyed the experience and am somewhat glad that I got selected to be a juror. It would have been better if it wasn't during my last spring break and birthday but it's already over. I'm also glad that I won't have to do it for at least another year. Some of the other jurors said that they haven't been called for 15years which is something i look forward to. It's a good thing that the case only made me miss a day of class.
    You thought that that was the end but think again. It was a pretty good ending but then the day took a turn for the worst. As I walked to the parking lot in search for my car, for some reason I could not find it. I held my key to my mouth, pushed the button and listened for the horn but nothing. Thoughts were swirling in my head and I thought the family/friends of the defendant stole my car! I quickly ran back and caught the bailiff as he was walking back to the building. I told him what I thought happened and told him to hold my belongings so I could run back and make sure that my car was really missing. As I ran through the parking lot in search of my care, fear was running through my head. I had an insurance card in the car that had my address and was thinking that if they found that they could attack my house and family. My second attempt was unsuccessful and I ran back to the bailiff's office for assistance. When I got to their office they sent me to the sheriff's department, so I grabbed my belongings and headed for the station. As I walked in search for the station I was pointed to the wrong direction a few times. While I was walking I made calls to my parents and to the sheriff's department. I eventually found out from the sheriff that my car was towed. In my head I got angry because I know for sure I did not park somewhere I wasn't supposed to and that there was no reason that I should have been towed. When I got to the department I asked them why my car was towed and they said that it was blocking the driveway. I have no idea why my car ended up there and I'm pretty sure that I had my parking break on but there's always the possibility that it rolled backwards since I usually don't put it in first gear. Anyways, I had to pay the sheriff a release fee before I could go get my car and I had to pay them $100 cash! I was like WTH, who carries that much cash on them, so I quickly asked them where the nearest ATM was and the said it was at TOGO's. The ATM there was whack; the maximum I could withdraw at once was $30 and each time I withdrew I had to pay a 2 dollar fee. I quickly got the money and went back to the station and paid them and got my release form. Then I asked them where the car was and they tell me it's at some towing place. I ask them where it was and whether or not it was walking distance. The place was kind of far, but before I left I called the place and asked them how much I needed to pay them and they tell me that they were closed. OMG now i'm stranded in Norwalk without a ride home and a mode of transportation to school the next day. I'm getting tired of writing so to cut a long story short, I missed another day of school for the car. Luckily, Flo had jury duty that Tuesday and was able to drop me off at the tow place. Then the place tells me that the person the vehicle is registered under needs to pick it up. So I called my dad thinking it was at home telecommuting but it turns out that he was at work in El Segundo. The plan was to walk back to the courthouse, borrow Flo's car, pickup my dad and then come back to pick up my car. A positive that came from this was that I saw where the Laker's practice facility was. But that's not much of a bright spot. So everything worked out in the very end and nothing else bad happened. And now I am back at school starting my last quarter of undergrad .

Yes, I know it's a long entry. But I had a lot of time today since I did not have any instructions regarding the homework due next week. I should get an extra unit for this essay

we're playing ba-sket-ball

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:19:54 GMT

So on Monday, Fornia, Donald and I went to the gym to play some basketball. I thought there would not be as many people since it is close to finals. We get there around 9ish and the courts were just as full as usual. So we called next and had to wait for 2 games... that was about 1 hour of waiting. As we were waiting for our turn, there were two guys that were playing that thought they were pretty good. One guy was a guard how had a weird shot and dribbled with only one hand. Yet, no one on the other team stopped him. Then there was this other guy, he was a tall 6'3" Caucasian. This guy complained so much and called all these little ticky tack fouls while he was like pushing and hacking people as they drove on him. Anyways so it was finally our turn to play and we had to play those guys. We picked up 2 extra guys and started our game. That tall guy was still complaining during our game, and when it was off his own guy or he touched it last he would say that it was his ball. A couple times we couldn't really tell so I just gave it to him since he was being such a baby and just said we'd get next. Then he just gave me a little cocky look that was like "ha ha i fooled you"... whatever. Anyways that guy scored a lot of their points cause Donald was being lazy and let it rain it all day in front of his face. His excuse is that he just finished a final and was running on 5 yogurts. If you ask me it seems like he always plays that way. On a brighter note he did score a few threes. So we only lost by 1, which is alright since one of the guys we picked up was like our only aggressive guy, the other was not a threat, 1 does not know how to play. So that is the end of that bad game.

As I was resting after that game some other guy was asking people if they wanted to play cause he needed one. So I said I was down and went to go run with him... on the middle court . The people that i played with this time were more organized and knew what they were doing so it was a fun game. This time one of the players on my team was a guy from another team in my IM league. This guy looks like a sleeper but when he plays he has a smooth stroke and control the game. We won our first game and then before we played our second game the guy who asked me to play with him told me that he asked us because he didn't want to ask the KP people. In my head for some reason I switched it around thinking that he said PK and was like what's PK ? Then I thought... pastor kids?... how would he know that? I kept repeating the letters KP in my head thinking what the heck it could be. Then we we actually played and I saw the other team, I was like OHHHHH... KP... Korean Pride. Anyways that was a revelation to me and I just laughed in my head. The guy that I was guarding seemed like a nice guy. We greeted each other and wished each other luck. I thought I would have to worry about this guy cause he was taller than me, kinda buff, and looked like he could ball. After he threw up a hook shot from mid range I was like uh.... guess not. Then on top of that his shorts kept falling down so I for sure didn't have to stick with him the whole game. This game was fun too and I enjoyed my time playing ball. I don't think I can play unorganized ball cause it isn't fun for me. I have to play organized ball with people that know what they're doing and know their role.

After we finished the game the gym started dimming the lights, notifying us that it was going to close soon. So I grabbed my stuff, changed and went to look for Donald and Fornia. It wasn't until I got back to the apartment that I noticed that my arches were killing me. And on top of that I had like indigestion. Once I got back I used the restroom and showered. I still did not feel good. I drank some water and ate some mandarins hoping that would help me but my stomach still felt bad and my arches were killing me. So I went to bed hoping that it would all go away as I drifted to sleep. Instead of falling asleep, I was caught between sleeping and being awake. I am was probably slipping in and out of consciousness but I think most of the time I stayed awake. Finally, I got up at like 3AM and used the restroom and was successful. O Boy did I feel better after that . But my arches were still in pain and on top of that Curtis was snoring. I did not have much luck falling asleep but eventually fatigue set in and I fell asleep.

I think I need to get myself some souls that will make my shoes flat footed.
On another side note my dad saw the doctor a couple days ago... forgot which one but he is now at least able to walk on his own. I don't know about now though... i'll find out when I get back

Come watch our semi-final game this Sunday at FCBC walnut. Our game is @ 8:30pm. PREPARE FOR VICTORY!!

10th week

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:16:44 GMT

So things are starting to come to an end. I am almost done with this quarter and after this weekend i should be done with most of my projects and finals. Things were a bit hectic but turned out being a little easier than i thought. It seems like it has been forever that we have played basketball at church and I can't wait until it starts back up again. Usually, Saturday morning basketball has been my exercise and practice for Sunday games but the mac hasn't been open. As a result, I have been taking a couple hours out of the week to go to the school's gym and shoot around and joined intramurals.

I think Intramurals has helped me improve my game. One of my friends from AACF invited me to join his friend's team and since we would be having a few weeks off at church I thought it wouldn't hurt to join. The team did not do so well and was unable to win a game. Even though I was not able to help the team win any games, I was able to get more confidence and develop my leadership skills. It was tough to get any playing time since there were 10 guys but I was able to get some. It was frustrating not being able to win but it was enough just to play.

During the week, I would also go the gym in morning on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Usually I would go with Donald and/or Fornia (my apartmentmate). We typically shoot around for at least an hour and then we would all go our separate ways. So far the mornings have been empty and get the whole gym to myself. It is actually quite nice and relaxing. Being the only ones there also gives me time to just think and reflect about whatever. I haven't had the opportunity to see if I have made any improvement. Hopefully all the extra practice will pay off and i'll be able to help our walnut team win the championship this year.

On a side note, please pray for my dad. He hurt his back when trying to flip our computer. Supposedly he was sitting on the floor and tried to flip the comp and then he felt some pain. He was not able to move very freely after that and it was painful when he spoke as well. Despite this, he was still able to yell at the Lakers. He was so looking forward to playing basketball Monday and Saturday. When i left for school, he was planning on sleeping on the couch.

WHAT YOU CALL ME?!

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 00:46:37 GMT

So i've been observing and helping out at Westhoff Elementary to get my student hours done for class. It has been a fun experience working with the kids and being somewhat of an influential figure in their life despite the short time i am with them. One of the things that I find weird and funny during my time there is the reactions and titles that parents and teachers have given me. For some reason, a few teachers and parents have called me a parent! I guess I can overlook this since the school has good parent participation. Maybe they do not expect anyone else to help out besides parents. Still, I know i do not look young yet i am still mixed into the parent category. How weird is that? Someone my age having a kid... the youngest kid is what? 5 years old? That would mean i had a kid when i was 15 or 16 ! I wonder what those parents are thinking... are they looking down on me? Especially when a parent of one of the students are helping out they automatically think that i am a parent. It isn't until my teacher introduces me as a one of her previous students that I can see a light bulb click on in the parent's head . Another time, I was walking from the office to the classroom and a male teacher with his class was walking to their classroom. The teacher stopped the class and told the class, "Class, let's stop and let the parent pass." I think I gave a weird look along with a smile as I passed . Those are some of the interesting situations that i've had with parents and faculty.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:35:11 GMT

so since the start of this quarter i have been going to the library before and in-between classes to kill time and to use the school's speedy internet connection. I would usually find a study room to go into. this is where i can have some privacy and where it is quieter. While it would be somewhat difficult at times to find a room, i would eventually find an open one. Recently, midterms has started and because of that more people have been going to the library. These non-regular library goers have taken the rooms and it has become rather difficult to find a room. As i write this entry i am in the library sitting in a booth instead of a room because i was unable to find a room . They should have rooms reserved for the regulars instead of for the frantic people that are doing last minute studying or napping.

End of Winter Break

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 07:24:39 GMT

So i haven't done all that much over break. I've just been spending time with flo. Went to her hs reunion christmas party at some brunch place in laguna beach. The restaurant was very nice and had a great view. It's nice hanging out with her friends even though i don't interact all that much with them. They are very nice and make me feel very welcome. I'm kinda labeled "bag boy" and the boyfriends are referred to as "the boyfriends".

During the second half the break i went up to mammoth with some church buddies. Everyone left Sunday night but Flo and I left the next day because she had to stay for her mother's birthday. The drive up the mountain was alright, flo and I split up the driving and she drove the bottom of the mountain and i drove up. We went snowboarding the next two days. Boarding was fun, I was able to learn how to turn left and was eventually able to carve. On the second day, Derrick and I traded boards cause he wanted to try mine out. While using his board i found it very easy to carve and only fell a couple times; instead of many. Afterwards he told me that it was a little harder for me to carve because my board's edges weren't sharpened. And so i have to take care of that before i go up again. We all left thur morning and caravaned down the mountain. A few minutes into the drive my car over heated and we pulled over to check it out. The heating went down and we continued our drive but at a slower pace. There seemed to be no problems as we progressed but as we drove further i heard clicking noises whenever i stepped on the gas. So we pulled over yet again and this time my car was smoking pretty bad and could not continue with the journey. So after a while of moving luggages around and making a few phone calls. Some people had to get back home and so 2 of the 4 cars left for home. While i awaited for the AAA guy to come, flo and i waited in derrick's car along with david wong. It took the guy about 30 min to get to my car and then he towed my car to bishop. Once at Bishop the guy dropped the car off at a little garage. Unfortunately the garage was too busy to take care of my car, but he called another shop and luckily they were able to check out my car. Since the tow truck driver already left i had no other choice but to drive my own car there. When i started my car the fan was going crazy so i told the shop owner and he came and checked it out and he said i shouldn't drive it. He called AAA for me and the next guy towed me to another garage. The guy told me that it would take 30min for them to take a look at my car so we headed off to a nearby restaurant that the guy mentioned to us. It turned out that the restaurant was a small mom and pop shop. the food was pretty good and we had a good time of fellowship. After lunch we went back to the shop to check out the progress because they guy didn't call us. He told us that they found all the parts necessary to fix my car and that it would take abour 3 hours to fix it. Before leaving we ask the guy what there is to do around town. He mentioned a bowling alley, and knowing me that was all i needed to hear. So we headed out again looking for this bowling place. At first we could not find it, so we pulled over several times and i asked a few people how we could get there. Finally, we got to the bowling alley and it was really small. There were only 10 lanes, 2 arcade machines and a bar. Unfortunately there was no deal going on like Brunswick, each game was 3 dollars a person. Derrick, David and I played 2 games a piece. Florence could not play because of her bum ankle so she just watched. After bowling we went to the beef jerky place that had "the world's best jerky". Then we went to a sporting goods store to check it out and finally the guy called me and told me the car was ready. It cost me a pretty penny to get that fixed but it was worth it get back home. So around 4 we headed out again for home. We took it slow at first to make sure everything was alright, slowly we increased are speed and everything turned out fine. We made it safely back to Walnut but before actually going home we went to BJs to have some dinner.

In the end, it turned out to be fun to hang out with those that stayed behind. I'm greatful that Derrick was able to help manage the situation with car. I'm also thankful for those that made sure we were ok throughout the day. Sorry not everyone could hang with us, it could've been fun.

Now back to school