Thursday, December 25, 2008

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 67th USO Tour

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders visited our base in Chinhae today. They put on a really nice show and signed autographs. They are all wonderful gals with really big hearts. My daughter Rylie really enjoyed meeting them. They called her "Princess Rylie" and treated her like a little sister.

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Group Photo


These beautiful women sacrificed their Christmas at home with family and friends to travel overseas and visit the soldiers and sailors and I am very grateful. Thank you so much ladies. Here are several pics I've taken while they were performing at the base.
Here's my daughter with Dara Mc Farlane. You may check out some of he photos at my wife's blog.
Happy blogging everyone!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Meaningful Present

My boss gave me this valuable remebrance as Christmas prestn. It is the Wire Fence from De Militarized Zone or DMZ. It is the border between South and North Korea.

The text inside the frame says:


It has been half century years after the armisticeof the Korean War, in Panmunjom on 27 July 1953 and after 155 miles of wire fence was set accross the Korean Peninsula. We pray that the day will come soon when this rusted fence, which symbolizes war, confrontation and division, is removed while people of the whole world watching it.


I hope and pray that these two parts of Korean Country will be reunited soon...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Presents

My wife and daughter got busy wrapping up gifts last Sunday after the mass. I bought her something today and she really want to know what it is hehehe. Rose doesn't like surprises, I told my daughter not to tell her Mom because she helped me wrapped it up. Here are some photos I snapped when they were busy...
Does gifts really important during Christmas? I know for sure that it makes children so happy but what about adults? I don't care about gifts, I just do it for my children's enjoyment. For me, gifts isn't really important in celebrating the real meaning of the occasion... what is your take on this?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

I Married a CHEF

It's funny to remember that when I first had a heart to heart talk with my wife before we got married, the first thing that she told me is "I don't know how to cook". I told her that I don't care, as long as there are restaurants and food chains around, we won't starve. It fascinates me however, that when we settled in, she realized that she can cook and I mean she can really cook good. Even the menus that she never tried to cook before, turn out pretty good. Anyhow, since we are talking about food, here is a beef soup she cooked yesterday...Here is the pasta she made today where she called "Pasta Bahala Na". I asked her why she called it that way, she said that she really don't know what she cooked because she just invented it out from scratch, she did not follow any recipe....
Damn, it was good. I am very thankful a married a loving wife and a CHEF!

Friday, December 19, 2008

the impact of color in our moods



Have you ever wondered why a clear blue sky puts you in a good mood? Or how the off-white walls of your office seem to put you to sleep? It's not your imagination: Studies show that colors have a profound effect on our emotions. So how can you harness color to aid in your personal mood boosting?

Colors can definitely affect our moods. In the morning, I usually want to see something lighter so my day will be easy and light. How about you? Does color affect the way you perceive things? Does it affect your mood? Does it make you feel gloomy when you see black color or dark brown? You may share your opinions here please...
source: qualityhealth.com

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Baby in a Baby?

This is an amazing story. I am happy to read that the baby is doing well but sad to know that the rigorous testing has to be done afterwards. I just feel bad when infants have to have blood tests and such. I agree with the "fetus in fetu" theory, even though the doctor said that it is very rare to occur in the brain. Imagine if the other fetus was able to grow outside of the brain. This could have probably been another "siamese twin" story in which they were connected at the head and only one could be saved or both lost. 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Dog Logic

I really wanted to get a bulldog but my extra loving wife said we can't have one right now because we are planning to go to the Philippines in a few months. She doesn't want to get a puppy and then have to leave it with someone for a month while we are away. I am planning on getting one before we leave Korea and head back home to the U.S. It has always been my dream to have an English bulldog but because the stateside price is so outrageously high(and they wonder why there are puppy mills), I refuse to pay that much money for a dog. The price here is really reasonable and the dogs look great.

I have a few friends that prefer having a cat instead of a dog, I think that is insane. A cat could never hold a candle to a dog when it comes to companionship and just being a good friend. Dogs truly are man's best friend. That's brings to mind something else........they say that diamonds are a girls best friend. I wonder why we get dogs and they get diamonds. Think about it....


The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. - Anonymous

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. - Ben Williams
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. - Josh Billings
The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. - Andy Rooney

Dogs love their friends & bite their enemies, quite unlike people. - Anonymous Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. - Franklin P. Jones

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise . - Unknown
My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3 a can.. That's almost $21 in dog money. - Joe Weinstein
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. - Robert A. Heinlein
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. - Mark Twain
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. - Roger Caras


If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them. - Phil Pastoret

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Liberals....The kind of CHANGE America needs

I was just reading a story on Yahoo News about the arson case involving Sarah Palin's church. I can't believe people these days. I can't really say for sure but I would bet it was probably some self-serving liberal heathen at work here. America wanted CHANGE......I guess this is a taste of what's in store. Unless President Elect manages to get the boot for one of his many scandals. 

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter Wonderland

We went to the gym of the base last Saturday to attend to this event organized by the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) dubbed as:
It was very nice, the had a lot of activities for kids. Our daughter Rylie had a blast but our son is still a little bit hesitant to mingle with other kids. He is a bash one among the two, our daughter is so outgoing and social. Here's the booth for cookies...
Here's Rylie decorating her own cookie... And the finish product...
Here she is on the arts and craft making a Santa ornament..
My son enjoyed the bowling set with her Mom, finally he found something he wanted to do...
Here he is, trying to color a picture to one of the arts and craft booth...
Here's my wife with a Korean and Japanese friends.
Here's Rylie enjoying inside the trampoline


That was a good weekend we had. How about you guys, how's your weekend went?

Friday, December 12, 2008

UAW Union Greed

I copied this article from Yahoo news. It is an interesting spin on current events. I put my valuable opinion at the bottom (just in case you want to skip the biased news article)

$14B auto bailout dies in Senate

WASHINGTON – A bailout-weary Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year's end.

Republicans, breaking sharply with President George W. Bush as his term draws to a close, refused to back federal aid for Detroit's beleaguered Big Three without a guarantee that the United Auto Workers would agree by the end of next year to wage cuts to bring their pay into line with U.S. plants of Japanese carmakers. The UAW refused to do so before its current contract with the automakers expires in 2011.

The breakdown left the fate of the auto industry — and the 3 million jobs it touches — in limbo at a time of growing economic turmoil. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have said they could be weeks from collapse. Ford Motor Co. says it does not need federal help now, but its survival is far from certain.
Democratic leaders called on Bush to immediately tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund for emergency aid to the auto industry.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the bill's collapse "a loss for the country," adding: "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight." GM said in a statement it was "deeply disappointed" that the bipartisan agreement faltered. "We will assess all of our options to continue our restructuring and to obtain the means to weather the current economic crisis," the company said. Chrysler, too, said it "will continue to pursue a workable solution to help ensure the future viability of the company."

The White House said it was evaluating its options in light of the breakdown on Capitol Hill.
"It's disappointing that Congress failed to act tonight," Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto said in a statement. "We think the legislation we negotiated provided an opportunity to use funds already appropriated for automakers and presented the best chance to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy while ensuring taxpayer funds only go to firms whose stakeholders were prepared to make difficult decisions to become viable."

That bill — the product of a hard-fought negotiation between congressional Democrats and the Bush White House — was virtually dead on arrival in the Senate, where Republicans said it was too weak in its demands on the car companies and contained unacceptable environmental mandates for the Big Three. Thursday's implosion followed yet another set of marathon negotiations at the Capitol — this time involving labor, the auto industry and lawmakers. The group came close to agreement, but it stalled over the UAW's refusal to agree to the wage concessions.

"We were about three words away from a deal," said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the GOP's point man in the negotiations, referring to any date in 2009 on which the UAW would accept wage cuts.

The Senate rejected the bailout 52-35 on a procedural vote — well short of the 60 required — after the talks fell apart. Just 10 Republicans joined 40 Democrats and two independents in backing it. Three Democrats sided with 31 Republicans in opposition. Reid also voted "no" for procedural reasons.
Congress is not scheduled to return for legislative work until early January.

Some Senate Democrats joined Republicans in turning against the House-passed bill — despite increasingly urgent expressions of support from the White House and President-elect Barack Obama for quick action to spare the economy the added pain of a potential automaker collapse.

"In the midst of already deep and troubling economic times, we are about to add to that by walking away," said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman who led negotiations on the package. Alan Reuther, the UAW's legislative director, declined comment to reporters as he left a meeting room during negotiations. The union had no immediate reaction to the bailout's defeat.

The stunning disintegration was eerily reminiscent of the defeat of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in the House, which sent the Dow tumbling and lawmakers back to the drawing board to draft a new agreement to rescue financial institutions and halt a broader economic meltdown. That measure ultimately passed and was signed by Bush. It wasn't immediately clear, however, how the auto aid measure might be resurrected, with Congress now set to depart for the year.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Senate Republicans' refusal to support the White House-negotiated bill irresponsible and urged the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve to provide short-term relief for the automakers. "That is the only viable option available at this time," she said.
Congressional Republicans have been in open revolt against Bush over the auto bailout. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined other GOP lawmakers Thursday in announcing his opposition to the White House-backed bill, which passed the House on Wednesday. He and other Republicans insisted that the carmakers restructure their debt and bring wages and benefits in line with those paid by Toyota, Honda and Nissan in the United States.

Hourly wages for UAW workers at GM factories are about equal to those paid by Toyota Motor Corp. at its older U.S. factories, according to the companies. GM says the average UAW laborer makes $29.78 per hour, while Toyota says it pays about $30 per hour. But the unionized factories have far higher benefit costs.
GM says its total hourly labor costs are now $69, including wages, pensions and health care for active workers, plus the pension and health care costs of more than 432,000 retirees and spouses. Toyota says its total costs are around $48. The Japanese automaker has far fewer retirees and its pension and health care benefits are not as rich as those paid to UAW workers.

Republicans also bitterly opposed tougher environmental rules carmakers would have to meet as part of the House-passed version of the rescue package, and the Senate dropped them from its plan.
The House-passed bill would have created a Bush-appointed overseer to dole out the money. At the same time, carmakers would have been compelled to return the aid if the "car czar" decided the carmakers hadn't done enough to restructure by spring.

The House approved its plan late Wednesday on a vote of 237-170.
A pair of polls released Thursday indicated that the public is dubious about the rescue plan.
Just 39 percent said it would be right to spend billions in loans to keep GM, Ford and Chrysler in business, according to a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 45 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans supported the idea.
In a separate Marist College poll, 48 percent said they oppose federal loans for the struggling automakers while 41 percent approved.
___
Associated Press writers David Espo and Alan Fram in Washington and Kimberly S. Johnson in Detroit contributed to this report.

I copied this article from Yahoo news (ultra-liberal biased). I always find it amazing how the democrats can fault the Republicans for everything.....even the problems they've created. The way I see it, the Republicans are looking out for the TAX PAYERS....that's right, you and me. I don't feel their demands, for the union to agree to lower wages, are out of line. I would rather accept lower wages and keep my job, than have my company go under and have no job at all. This is simply the GREEDY UNION rearing it's ugly head again. This type of cancer causes more job losses than it ever saves. The unions are the reason "Big Business" moves to other countries. I don't won't to see automakers lose there high salary, but at the same time, I don't want to see them lose their jobs completely. What ever happened to company loyalty? Oh yeah, unions abolished that practice years ago. GOD BLESS AMERICA....and the blue states too.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Pearl Harbor Day




Some don't realize it, but today is Pearl Harbor Day. We remember the attack made on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by the Imperial Japanese Navy. This is some factual information about that day in history (copied from Wikipedia). Aircraft and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy began a surprise attack on the U.S. under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. 

Despite long-standing assertions that this attack could have been predicted and prevented by the United States Military, the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor appeared to be utterly unprepared, and the attack effectively drew the United States into World War II. At 6:09 a.m. on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 planes composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. 

The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 7:55 a.m. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 8:30 a.m. a second wave of 180 Japanese planes, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and twenty-one ships were severely damaged. Three of the twenty-one would be irreparable. 

The overall death toll reached 2,350, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. The first shots fired were from the USS Ward on a midget submarine that had surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor, the USS Ward did successfully sink the midget sub at approximately 6:55, about an hour before the assault on Pearl Harbor.

The Navy base itself was recognized on January 29, 1964 as a National Historic Landmark district. Within its bounds, it contains several other Landmarks, also associated with the attack on Pearl Harbor including the USS Arizona, USS BowfinTemplate:WP Ships USS instances, and USS UtahTemplate:WP Ships USS instances. As an active Navy base, many of the historic buildings that contributed to the NHL designation are under threat of demolition and rebuilding.

wikipedia: information and image source 

Monday, December 1, 2008

habit

Our son has a habit that until now he still does it. Every time he would sit down, or do something like nursing from her mom or play his toys, he always cross his feet like this.
My daughter used to flex her muscles when she was a baby and we find it cute hehehe..

Am sure your children had/has habit too. Would you mind sharing it?


Sunday, November 30, 2008

Its FUN to be a Teacher

Recently I began teaching English at a local Korean elementary school. It is part of the U.S. Navy's Community Relations Program which is sponsored by the base chapel. I volunteer my time so that I can help the kids, let them get familiar with American style English speaking, and because I want to get involved in the community. I didn't replace the existing teacher, I just show up once a week as a guest to their class. The kids are great and the teacher is really nice. I didn't realize teaching could be this much fun. The classroom is set up pretty much the same way that it is in the U.S. but these kids work on English from the time they are very small and up through college. The teacher warned me that the kids can be a bit wild at times.......so I provoke the wildness and try to get them into our session. The kids are very respectful and most approach me at the end of class and thank me for being there.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Ribbit Ribbit

The climate here is changing drastically and most of the wild animals are seeking for a shelter. Just like this little froggy that climbed our wall the other night. We find it weird that he's on a dry land because usually, frogs just stay where there's pond or place with water.
My interpretation for this scene is, maybe something good will happen since the frog is climbing.. What do you think? Share your opinion please?

Thursday, November 27, 2008

T'was a Success

Thank God, we managed to pull it through last night. We had a great time celebrating the thanksgiving day with our korean friends. The turkey and ham was sold out lol... One thing I noticed though, they aren't fond of eating mashed potatoes hehehe... Have a great weekend everyone...

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