Notes
Dang, I wish I could take notes like this.
By Mike Rohde
thepismire CURIOUS THOUGHTS OF AN ANT
Club 33
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever go inside the famous Club 33 in Disneyland. I heard about the 14 year waiting list, how they capped the membership, and basically how exclusive it was, but my buddy Eric hooked it up! Of course he would, he’s Eric. A perk of his job is that he has access to Club 33, so he invited a few of us to have the best night of our lives. When you decide to eat there, they give everyone complimentary passes to enjoy the day in both parks, so we did that first. It was good times, then we headed to the lockers to change since there is a dress code, and made our way in. After we rang the bell and verified our reservation, they opened the door to let us in. I couldn’t help but walk a little taller as we went through those enigmatic doors as the commoners looked on in wonder. Club 33 son, back up. We then took this lift up that was a replica from France that Walt Disney loved, and was finally seated in the Trophy Room. Food and service was good, but not the best place in town, BUT because the place is so exclusive, I enjoyed every minute of it. At one point, Fantasmic started and some of us went out on the balcony, to watch it, but our view was obstructed by trees. We were on the balcony though, and that’s all that mattered. When people would look up and see us, I acted like I didn’t even notice I was on a balcony. “Oh this? OH yea, I forgot Club 33 had a balcony.” I was thankful for the experience, and hopefully will be back another day (through Eric of course).
Also, World of Colors is not your average water show. How does Disney continue to make my wildest imaginations come alive! It’s a freaking amazing show. Go and watch it.
SD Goes 3 For 3
I went down to San Diego to visit a friend. I left it up to the San Diegans that I traveled with to decide on where to go and eat. It was shaky at first, but each place was well worth it. So, thanks Sooj and Albert for the awesome picks.
Hodad’s | Out in OB, when we finally got down here (traffic sucked to the max) we saw the line. Lines, I suppose, are a good thing because it shows that the place is doing something right. We decided to skip dining in to skip the long line and ordered to-go. However, ordering to-go seemed to take just as long as waiting to be seated. I’ve never waited so long for a stinking cheeseburger. When we finally did get it, it was pretty good. It was super thick, but only because they sliced their tomatoes and onions thick. I applaud their optical illusion, but I saw right through it. Nonetheless, it is a good burger. Oddly enough, what stood out to me the most were the pickles they used. I’ve never enjoyed pickles inside my burgers, but these were really good. Onion rings were not special, FYI (supposed to be their house special or something). I would come back sans line.
The Living Room | This coffee shop is right by the La Jolla cave, and I only got their coffee, but dang was it good. That’s all.
Phil’s BBQ | So much hype going in, but I kept telling myself, “If it’s tasty, it’s tasty”. So, was it? Yes. I ordered a half rack of the baby back ribs (still full from Hodad’s) and I enjoyed it. There was a line, but it went by quick.
Thanks SD.
OC Fair
I had a chance to check out the OC Fair with some of my co-workers. What is the one thing that comes to your mind when you think of fairs? Answer: FRIED EVERYTHING IN MY MOUTH. I was so excited to try all these ridiculous items, and the adventure would come to a glorious finale at the epitome of all things fried and the downfall of our society: deep fried butter. My stomach paid the price for my selfishness, but the price was well worth it.
Ants In A Scanner
François Vautier decided to install an ant colony in his scanner for 5 years and this is what he got. So awesome!
LA Street Food Festival
I went to the LA Street Food Festival at the Rose Bowl where 70 street food vendors (food trucks) come out. You pay about $50, and it’s all you can eat and drink. The highlight of the festival for me was this fried shrimp taco and…that’s it. Yea, it’s safe to say that I was pretty disappointed in the whole thing. It was a good experience, but I don’t think the all you can eat approach was ideal here. The lines were just way too long. It was incredible that 70 vendors were there, but that didn’t matter because you only would have time and space for maybe 8-10 places. I thought they would have more interesting items because that’s what I thought the truck fad was about. What made the Kogi Truck so popular was the fact that it had a novel idea by fusing together Mexican and Korean flavors. This was what I was expecting everywhere, but there were only a few. The majority of the vendors were things that I could get from any old restaurant. I heard there are a lot of these festivals so I would recommend not doing any kind of all you can eat deal, but just pay as you go. Also, look for the smaller festivals so that lines don’t get too long OR spend that $50 on a really good meal.
AZ 2010
Alright, I can finally start updating again. The last WP update broke my website, but now I have decided to go with this layout. So, AZ happened. I really didn’t know what to expect going in. Honestly, the first reason for choosing AZ for missions this summer was the fact that they didn’t have a leader at the time, and I was asked if I could help out. Obviously, I would’ve wanted to go back to Chiners, but I needed to practice what I preach because I don’t like it when people resort to the heart issue with missions. If we ask someone to go to Mexico, and they reply, “Well, I think I have more of a heart for Thailand, so I would rather go there…” Are you saying that God won’t be able to use you in Mexico then? Is God not everywhere? Why are you limiting him based on your petty human emotions. It’s not about you! The crazy thing is, when you stop thinking about yourself, and just obey, God DOES make it about you because he’s more than enough. He can use you to bless others, but also take the time to do a good work in you.
I guess that’s what happened to me in AZ. Going in not knowing what to expect, no agenda, no nothing. God did so much out there in terms of ministering to the Navajo people. Every debrief was just filled with something God’s doing in this person or that person. The fact that I was witnessing him work so much was kind of mind boggling. In China, things took time. It was sometimes very hard to see any fruit, so this was exciting to see. At the same time though, he worked in me in so many different ways. He helped me to let go, he confirmed what my heart wanted, he finally answered a 2-year prayer, he allowed me to be a part of a heavily orchestrated plan of his that I got to see unfold, and more.
This post is already getting too long so I’ll end it with this. What AZ ultimately did for me was to remind me of the joy that you get when you are totally living a life for him. Yes, it can be stressful. I hope some people don’t go on missions as an escape. You still deal with your baggage out there. You still have to deal with life out there. The difference is that life has color when you’re totally abandoned to him. Life is FULL. Life is…what it is meant to be. So coming back to my cube on Monday was devastating, but I’m learning not to sulk in that and be depressed about it. I’m learning to embrace it knowing that God works everywhere. I’m learning not to say, “Well, I have more of a heart to live out on the field than work so I would rather do that…” Is God not working at my company? Can God not use me there? Don’t get me wrong, I believe God has plans for me out there, but I think he’s telling me to chill out right now, and do this. Obedience over sacrifice, any day.
LOST
This is my little shpeel (how do you spell this word btw?) on the finale. I can’t critique the finale objectively. I’m too intertwined in the theories/mysteries/characters, and after 6 years of it, I just can’t plainly say, “That sucked”.
I think, no matter what the ending was, no one would be totally satisfied. Everyone hoped for that ultimate perfect ending, but just like anything that is described as “ultimate” and “perfect”, it doesn’t happen a lot. Even when important questions, like the origin of “Adam and Eve”, were finally answered after 6 years, my reaction wasn’t the mind-blowing, shivers-down-the-spine event that I expected it to be. Instead, I just processed it, and continued watching the episode like nothing happened. That alone told me I was not going to be satisfied with the ending that I expected to get. I was right, not completely satisfied, but not upset. With all that said, I really enjoyed the finale. It was an emotional roller coaster, and I didn’t realize how attached I was to the characters. I guess that was the real “twist” for me in the finale. This whole time, I thought LOST was a show that focused more on the story than the characters. I sense a lot of “No durrs” out there, but honestly, the mystery of the island was what drew me in week after week. It hooked me so bad that I couldn’t even let go of the show when it decided to suck in season three. When Jin and Sun died, I wasn’t sad, but instead thought to myself, “Jin should’ve left to at least take care of their daughter”.
However, the finale wasn’t even about the island. They brought the focus back on the characters. Every time a character “remembered”, I had a lump in my throat. I don’t know if it was the music or the pure joy in seeing two characters reunite, but kudos to the editor/producer/cinematographer. You got me every time. I don’t think I’m even going to comment on the afterlife/heaven stuff except that I thought the final scenes of Jack walking on the island coinciding with the characters reuniting in the afterlife was a perfect way to end it. The eye closing…then we see “LOST” one last time. I can’t believe it’s over, and I still think it’s the greatest TV series so far.
Still, they better answer most of these in the DVD features.
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