Thursday, June 13

today was my mom's birthday. my brothers and i got 6 lobsters, lots of clams, mussels from chinatown, then went back to NJ to cook for my parents. it was fun, and it tasted good. so simple to cook, and very tasty. after the lobster, clams and mussels, we had shabu shabu. for those of you who don't know, it's basically swirling thin slices of beef thru a hot broth. we used the juices from the seafood and shabu shabu, added 2 fatty fish also from chinatown, some mushrooms and various vegetables, spices, some udon noodles, and came up with a tasty spicy soup with great chunks of white fish. then cake. quite a festive little family gathering, all the more fun whenever all five of us are together.

of course, when 9:30pm hit, we watched the LAKERS game. ah, too easy, too easy. as i predicted, it was a sweep. i guarantee, the LAKERS will win so much more in the coming years. as long as both kobe and shaq are in, pretty much guaranteed a trophy. eventually, after 5 years or so, shaq will retire, because he will physically be tired, and be satisfied with his rings. then kobe will breath a sigh of relief, LAKERS will be able to sign real players since shaq's contract will expire, allowing the LAKERS to spend all that money on quality guys, and kobe will prove his excellence without shaq. can you imagine kobe surrounded by quality players? the LAKERS already have played w/o shaq, when he was injured and have done well. imagine what will happen when they get real players around kobe. can you believe he has 3 rings already, and he's only 23? (my age). ridiculous. jordan got his FIRST at 29. kobe has what, 12 good seasons left in him. he will end up with the most rings EVER. the winningest player, above all.

my bros and i then watched two movies (i know i should be studying for the boards, but here i am, stuck in NJ, with none of my books, because i was abruptly pulled out of the city by my bros, earlier than i expected. i was literally coming out of the weight room, when i get their call. no chance to get my books)

movie #1: office space-
hilarious. so funny. especially for those of you who have normal, go to office from 9-5 kind of jobs. every scene, from the beginning, was packed with wit and humor.

movie #2: billy elliot-
so, i've heard of this movie before. and all the reviews were positive. i just couldn't possibly imagine how a movie about a little kid who becomes a ballet dancer could be watchable, much less entertaining. i figured, it's about english people, so it must be witty, at least.

this movie turned out to be as gripping a movie as i've ever seen. i laughed, agonized, and cried at least 3 or 4 times in the movie. i'm a natural cry-baby, to be sure, but this movie was one of those movies where it would hit you low and hard, unexpectedly. in succession. where you want to hold back, but they just keep a coming. definitely one of the best movies i've ever seen.

*****
dad told several family stories. about two uncles, which i have to try to remember and put down in writing later. sad stories.

grandmother's tip, when i was in korea. also must remember and put down.

too tired. time to sleep.

yakob at 4:15 AM

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