2017 Year in Review, December

Finally, the last month of 2017, thank you to everyone for being a part of my life in 2017 and thank you for all your support whether it be reading my blog, making sure I was okay when I was injured, or if you were a good friend to me. Onward to 2018!

Lancaster, PA in the Christmas mood

For my last First Friday in December in Lancaster (unless I end up with a job and a house in the Lancaster area) I had to go downtown as I knew the Christmas tree would be up, and it makes for a good photo, especially next to the centerpiece of Penn Square the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The night was cold, so I hurried along to Issei Noodle on Queen street where I feasted on crab croquettes and my favorite dish from Issei, Midori Spicy Udon. Midori Spicy Udon has udon noodles served with chicken and veggies in a spicy green curry sauce and is a good mix of Thai and Japanese. After feasting at Issei, I had to find a white elephant gift for a party then I explored the city a bit and found a sweet shop that sold fudge and stroopwaffels. Before going back to campus, I stopped by at the Rabbit and the Dragonfly and got a hot chocolate that had chocolate ice cream in it. It was delicious and the ice cream didn't cool down the hot chocolate!

Some friends competing against each other for bragging rights

The UCF Christmas semi-formal was much fun, though I chose to not partake in the more competitive events (It's better that I abstain from some competition). Drew was a great MC, but the audience could have treated him better, the food was great, especially the buffalo chicken dip and the Kings Hawaiian rolls. The gift exchange was interesting in that some gifts were stolen multiple times but others stayed put. In the end I left with a good time and a new mug.

A nice way to end the semester

I was finished with finals but not quite finished with meteorology for the semester as on December 15th, I went down and met up with my Statistical Meteorology class to tour the Weather Prediction Center in College Park. It was cool learning about the daily operations and that what we learn and do as meteorology students is applicable to the professional side of things. Lunch was good with a choice of sandwich (I chose the B.E.L.T Bacon, egg, lettuce, and tomato) and the lunch came with chips, pasta salad, and a cookie. I wished that I had more pasta salad, I love pasta salad. Lunch with the group was also with Bill Lapenta and we had a Q and A session (partly because Dr. Clark told us to ask questions) and we the students got some good advice from Dr. Lapenta. The visit was capped off by a speech from Dr. Louis Uccellini, the director of the National Weather Service. What I found interesting, besides what he had planned to say, was that he was aware of the current conditions outside at the same time, it seems that my Millersville friends made it back to MU safely in the snow.

Big Church Night Out

I went to Towson University to see some acts in Christian music. This Big Church Night Out featured Sidewalk Prophets and Newsboys. Many people probably know about Newsboys through the God's Not Dead movie series, but I find it amazing how the group started in Australia but now one of the lead men in the group is from the Baltimore-Washington area. The music was great, though my one selfish wish that night was that the Sidewalk Prophets did the full version of their song Live Like That (I WANNA LIVE LIKE THAT!)

Go Navy! Just like the bleachers say

My dad got tickets to see the Military Bowl in Annapolis, so I said yes to his offer. Turns out we got lucky and got to feast on the Navy tailgate. The Navy tailgate had pulled pork, fresh huge oysters, Old Bay shrimp, and scallops among other treats. It was a really cold and blustery day in Annapolis and after an early slip-up, the Navy came back to dominate the football game. Though we left early due to the extreme cold, we kept up with the Navy scoring machine. Navy: 49 - Virginia: 7

2017 Year in Review, November

A combination of several cultures

I love food as evidenced by the many food photos, but one day at lunch, I hit the jackpot. There was macaroni salad, rice, miso soup, chirashi-zushi, and Toll House pie all at the same time. I had to get a meat item to complete the makeshift Hawaiian plate lunch idea (a meat item served with rice and macaroni salad) and the miso soup and pickles made for a good basic Japanese breakfast (though I guess a proper breakfast would have fish, I win some I lose some). A taste of mom's cooking and a taste of where I was born (Hawaii) and it was all for me!

Study fuel

This may look like a humble roast beef sandwich from Saxby's (a coffee shop), but the combination of the fresh veggies, roast beef, and a spicy sauce make it one of my favorite items from there. The roast beef sandwich was eaten in hopes of providing brain fuel throughout the semester, and especially in times where extra brain power was needed, such as this November.

A lot to be thankful for

The HUB at Millersville as I mentioned earlier has free lunch on Thursday and french toast Friday nights. They also have a food pantry for people to take food as they need for free. Then there's the family atmosphere at the HUB, some people will bond over conversation of school while eating food while other students and local community members race each other in Mario Kart or duke it out in Super Smash Bros in the room next to the dining area. There is a lot to be thankful for at the HUB and good times is what I'm thankful for.

A celebration of meteorology

This is the aforementioned King Air aircraft mentioned in the October post. Around 40 students from the four universities got to fly in the airplane and do some cool research while thousands of feet off the ground. I stayed Earthside for the mission but did provide an important service with forecasting and determining based off of the forecasts whether the plane is clear for takeoff or if we needed to let it rest for the day. One time I had to be up at 3 am to give the forecast, and thankfully most people sleep at 3 am, as I also had to deliver the forecast to representatives from the four universities. The two week project was a success and there was a pizza party to cap it all off. Thank you University of Wyoming, Rutgers, Penn State, UMBC, and Millersville for giving me a chance to work on research in meteorology!

I'm ready!

For me, it's okay to start getting into the Christmas spirit after Thanksgiving. So here's how I got into the spirit, making a large origami wreath from 18 sheets of 8 inch paper. Too bad it couldn't stick to the door.

2017 Year in Review, October

Maps for days

In Synoptic Meteorology this past semester, Dr. Sikora gave us a lot of maps to analyze and work on. My favorite map assignment was drawing isotachs (lines of constant wind speed) and isobars (lines of constant pressure) through the entire United States, well more so the isotach maps, as the isobar map was very dense in weather stations so some of the numbers were hard to read.

The Honors College at the Millersville Community Parade

Although I was not part of the Millersville Parade in 2017, I did get to see the whole parade pass by so I got to see all the community and some nearby and faraway groups descend on Millersville to partake in the fun. Although the theme this year for the parade was animation, there were more animated faces in the parade and in the crowd than there were references to cartoons. Also great job as always to the Honors College and the Marching Band!

Millersville Meteorology getting ready for big things

This picture represents some of the preparation that went into hosting a project called SEAR-MAR or Student Experience in Airborne Research in the Mid-Atlantic Region. More than a hundred students from UMBC, Rutgers, Penn State, and Millersville participated in this project. We also got the University of Wyoming to graciously let us borrow their King Air aircraft for use in the project. Although the main meat of the project occurred in November, we had to prepare early to ensure smooth operations.

I was a king for a night

Millersville University Dining actually impressed me with their Game of Thrones themed dinner night. Instead of the typical college food, I got to feast like a king on a greater variety of meats, vegetables, and even some seafood. There was also a photo stand where one could sit at the throne with a sword in hand.

Go Bears!

At the end of October, the MU-AMS group went up to Hershey not to ride on the thrilling roller coasters or to hear animatronic cows sing at us about chocolate, but to see the Hershey Bears hockey team in action. It was a good game with the Bears winning, but that night was not a regular night as it was a Pink Out night to raise awareness for breast cancer. I got to see a hockey fight and enjoy an interesting sports arena food in pasta salad, who says the only things to eat at sports events are hot dogs and chips?

2017 Year in Review, September

Sugar on Top, and in my belly

There is a gourmet donut place next to Millersville University called Sugar on Top and sometimes I ate there for breakfast instead of the cyber cafe at the science building. My favorite donuts there are the Maple Bacon and the French Toast (which also has the maple frosting). A great breakfast for test prep or for celebrating stuff.

Meteorology majors storm the bowling alley

After one the MU-AMS meetings, a bunch of meteorology majors went to Leisure Lanes for student discount bowling. I was sharing a lane with the MU-AMS president Bob and he was one of the better bowlers in our lane, but I didn't lose!

More firsts in food

The MU-AMS had a lot of food related fundraisers this past fall semester and thanks to that I had a chance to try some food from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Although I didn't get a namesake smoothie, I did get a Thai chicken wrap and even without the carrots it was still delicious, I should have been working on my streamlines for Tropical Meteorology while I was eating.

The return of crazy adventures and more crazy good memories

Sometime in September, Kait and Zim came back to visit, and of course we had to do cool crazy things, such as taking over the local IHOP. The journey was actually half the fun as we managed to get lost on the way to IHOP, yet Kait still beat Drew in a race to get to IHOP first. Then of course we had breakfast for dinner and I went with the chicken fajita omelet with harvest nut grain pancakes. Food and Friends for me equals a great time.

Why Sing Sing Sing when I can swing swing swing

Thanks to Lauren, I, and a bunch of fellow students were able to learn the basics of swing dancing one Saturday night and although my coordination could use some work, I enjoyed the dancing and would go again, especially if a big group of friends also come along. The music selection is swingin'! (BOO! Mr. Sean gets pelted with tomatoes for typing a bad pun)

2017 Year in Review, August

Izzy Bizu, AlunaGeorge, and Coldplay (or the British Invasion 2017)

My brother Robbie, my dad, and I went down to FedEx Field one night in August to see Coldplay perform. We've been listening to Coldplay since at least the A Rush of Blood to the Head so we thought it'd be a cool concert to attend. It really was, and a bonus came from AlunaGeorge when they performed a song with a familiar tune to me. The song was You Know You Like It by DJ Snake and AlunaGeorge. What made the Coldplay portion of the concert amazing was the light display by the audience. Also they performed Clocks, which is my favorite Coldplay song. Izzy Bizu was also great!

Origami got tinier

I tried to find more challenges for origami besides modular origami, and I stumbled upon the idea of tiny origami. I'll just say that tiny origami is a real challenge, every fold must be precise lest the project be ruined. I was able to successfully fold this tiny crane that can fit inside a dime. Now if only I could make a tiny modular origami wreath that would be cool.

A historic moment in American astronomy

August 21, 2017 will go down in history as a day when all of America tried to see the moon block the sun visually. Although some people strived for seeing totality within a narrow band from coast to coast, I was satisfied with the partial eclipse up in Maryland, especially since I got my cereal box pinhole projector to work. Bonus: there were a lot of clouds wanting to ruin the fun, but even they appeared through the projection.

New glasses who dis?

After two years with old glasses and a pair of new glasses that didn't work correctly, I got me a new set of peepers, and I don't take very many selfies, but new glasses are always selfie-worthy. 

Some work and some play

This picture of my desk may be one of the last pictures of my desk at Millersville University, and although my super-senior year will be full of hard work I must remember to also have a little fun while I'm going at it. I only wish that the bookshelf part of the desk was raised a little higher so I could fit my TV under it.

2017 Year in Review, July

Tasty, Spicy, Thai

Just before I left for Fair Bluff, NC in July, this Panang Curry was my last supper at home. Although my favorite curry is Japanese curry, Thai curries I really like also.

Hot day, Cool hat, Wild rides

On the way down to Fair Bluff, the youth group I was helping with stopped at Kings Dominion. Some of the group decided to cool off at the water park portion of KD but the group I was with strived to be Ride Warriors and riding all the roller coasters and other thrill rides. I ate at a food place that served up some delicious pulled pork, but I decided to try again coleslaw, and I found it to be good, which is good if I eat more pulled pork or other southern food. Also, I got a cool cowboy hat from an amusement park in Virginia.

Pure awesomeness

I went down to Fair Bluff, NC for a week with my former youth pastor (former meaning I'm not a youth anymore) Chris and his youth group from Revolution Annapolis. It was nice to meet new people while also seeing some familiar faces. Fair Bluff, NC was one of the towns hardest impacted by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and I figured I would spend a week down there to help people rebuild. I went only expecting to help people physically and spiritually, but I experienced more than I expected with the nice community of people, the teamwork on our roof where instead of two squads working on two sub-projects, the two squads became a supersquad and worked on the whole roof as one team, excellent food and hospitality from the local churches, the best phone signal being inside a port-a-john (I kid you not on that), and the fact that essentially a bunch of people previously unknown to the area would willingly spend a week of their lives away from a comfy bed ready to work in the hot and humid North Carolina summer. One of the best things about 2017 was this one week!

Finding something I thought I lost

I got me the double digit 24 game at a yard sale I helped out at to raise funds for the mission trip to Fair Bluff, NC when I wonder if I ever got rid of the factors/multiples box I got as a birthday present so long ago. I frantically looked for it thinking I got rid of it but when I found it, relief! Though I do wish that I had it on me at school for spring semester, it would have been a good help for Abstract Algebra and Number Theory I kid you not.

THUNDER!!!

One day in July while I was working at Panera instead of a nice orange sunset on display, I saw an ominous purple cloud with a pink feature, turns out it was a cumulonimbus cloud and the local area got drenched in rain with lightning flashing the sky that night.

2017 Year in Review, June

A nice day to go for a run

This photo represents the few times I tried to get more fit in 2017, but I should quit making excuses and quit being a failure. In the words of Nike and Shia LaBeouf: JUST DO IT! It was quite a nice and warm enough day at the beginning of June to boot.

Work at Panera Bread may afford views of nice sunsets

Thanks to how Panera is positioned and the fact that the windows were floor to ceiling, every time I came out of the dish area around 8:30 pm, I was typically shown the sunset, some of which were impressive.

Me in a nutshell

I think most people who know me already know about how these things apply to me, if not here's the break down. The Maryland flag means I'm proud to be from MD (and that the flag is awesome, even if some people don't like it). The Broncos hat is representative of me being a Broncos fan. Curry Rice is my favorite food. The laptop is actually the exact model of laptop I have, but represents how it seems to be with me a lot. Then there are my majors of meteorology and math represented, my favorite Pokémon Ho-oh, my main instrument the Clarinet, an origami crane for my origami-ness, and a bee because I like bees.

Maryland meets Japan, but who's crabby?

Japan is notorious for its interesting snacks. Maryland is notorious for its love of crabs. Although these crabs aren't blue, I can see a Marylander trying this Japanese snack and liking it. Though I'm not sure that a bag of tiny crabs would make a proper omiyage gift to a Marylander who has been spoiled with huge meaty crabs.

Comfort food in the face of pain

Although this seems like a regular double Cheeseburger from Dairy Queen, the significance of this picture lies not within the picture but outside of the picture. This was from the day I managed to injure one of my fingers at work and needed stitches. It was painful to get the stitches, but I managed to not yelp and breathing actually helped me through the pain of getting the stitches. This cheeseburger was comfort food that day. Thankfully my pointer healed in quick enough time for the July post tomorrow, thank you for reading today's posts!

2017 Year in Review, May

A First Friday Fiesta

First Friday is an event in Lancaster where the arts flourish on the first Friday of every month in Lancaster. I was out and about in Lancaster for First Friday in May, which so happened to fall on el Cinco de Mayo. I don't celebrate it correctly as I'm not from Puebla and didn't defeat the French in 1862, but I couldn't help but eat at Robburitos to feel a little more festive. They've got good burritos and some great BBQ sauces.

A farewell to some of my friends, but with delicious food to eat

The Thursday of finals week, the Asian and Friends Affiliation had one last farewell event. We went to the Himalayan Curry and Grill in downtown Lancaster and we had a great time feasting on Indian and Nepali dishes. I got the Chicken Tikka Masala with medium heat. It was perfect for me, but apparently too much heat for other people. Kianna, Hayley, Kianna and Hayley's friends, and I had a great time feasting then going for cupcakes at Lancaster Cupcake.

The start of an improved me, or maybe improved handwriting

Right after I got home from college after eight semesters down, I opened my package from Amazon and took out the thing I really wanted, a Leuchtturm 1917 dotted ruled journal. I was watching a video from a German YouTuber named Trixi and she was showing off her bullet journal and inspired me to try making and using my own bullet journal. So far, after about 7 months of use, I could do better, but it has been a good help to me in organizing my life and recording my life in hard copy.

Pusheen, but with sushi!

One day while going around the local mall, something caught my eye. It was a Pusheen plush eating sushi! I know that Pusheen loves to eat food (like me!) but most of the other plushes were of regular food such as chips and pizza, I knew I had to get one that better represented me, so I got the sushi Pusheen and named him Susheen (yes I know Pusheen is a she, but I decided for Susheen to be similar to me, that Susheen is a he). Susheen should really only steal my glasses if he wants to do my hard work.

Giant Spiky Origami Ball of Doom

After having folded 1000 cranes in 2016, I was on the hunt for new origami challenges. I found one in the idea of modular origami. The premise was simple, fold one sheet into a shape, then fold more sheets into the same shape with pockets and tips and put the origami shapes together to create something more than the sum of the parts. This photo shows a 30 unit Sonobe Stellated Icosahedron, but I like to call it the Giant Spiky Origami Ball of Doom.

2017 Year in Review, April

A blast from the past

I have a collection of bee related items, and since my first bee plush named Bee is very old and has seen better days, I figured he could use another bee friend. Turns out the nineties called and had one friend in mind for Bee, this plush bee Beanie Baby, awesome!

The sky may not be my canvas, but it does make a good canvas

Although this wasn't a specific event, one evening in April, the sky decided to put on an amazing sunset show with the clouds, it was as if Mother Nature embraced her inner Bob Ross.

Cherry Blossoms = Spring!

With some the Asian and Friends Affiliation group from Millersville, we attended the Philly Cherry Blossom Festival and got to indulge ourselves in warm sunny weather and Japanese food and culture. It was one of the best day trips I had while at college. 

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times

I don't mean Good Times as the burger place out in Colorado though, this was pure Cook-Out from the South in Salisbury, MD. My friends Kait, Zim, Drew, and Lauren had this crazy idea for a day trip: go to Salisbury, MD for some Cook-Out, then go to Rehoboth Beach for some fun in the sand (not surf, it was a little cold and recently rained), and before returning home we ate a bunch of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (have to spell it that way for Krispy Kreme). This was an awesome day.

(Not so) Hidden Gem

Behind one of the hills near campus, there is a river and a trail that winds parallel to it. I decided to walk down the trail after one of my Friday evening weather shifts and think about things while sitting near the river, and I tried to be artistic with this black and white shot of the river.

2017 Year in Review, March

Not just any croissant, a glazed croissant

In March, I finally had the chance to visit Central Market in Lancaster. It's one of the most interesting places to be at in Lancaster, as there are so many food stands, some run by Amish, while other stands offer a taste of the world such as Narai Thai and Safie's Middle Eastern. This place is packed despite being open early, and I was looking around when two words caught my eye: Shady Maple. Turns out that the Shady Maple that my friends were raving about had a bakery operations in downtown Lancaster and they had glazed croissants, which I had to try one as it sounded delicious, it was!

The Angry Pac-Man

Over the spring break that occurred before the start of spring, my parents took me to Blaze Pizza for the first time. It was a little daunting figuring out what I wanted to put on my pizza toppings-wise, but I managed to get all the toppings I wanted on my pizza and realized there was a lot of red, so I gave my pizza the name of The Angry Pac-Man and Blaze Pizza liked that when I shared the name to social media.

Maryland's Huge Cake

Thank goodness for a restaurant called Eggspectation. Thanks to them, I didn't have to travel to Smith Island in far southern Maryland to get my hands on a slice of the state dessert Smith Island Cake. Many layers of cake and chocolate is the best explanation I can give before it got devoured by hungry ole' me.

Found my childhood inside Millersville University's Math building

I decided that if I wanted to spend my time studying, some of it had to happen in the math building rather than my dorm room. Turns out one of the study rooms had the Everyday Mathematics workbooks that constituted my math lessons while at Mission Viejo Elementary in Aurora, CO. The childhood nostalgia was strong the day I found the workbooks.

"Science is so Amazing!" - Ash Ketchum

I was told that helping out at the Science Olympiad was a very worthwhile cause. It was, and I don't say that just because I got delicious pasta salad in my lunch, no siree, it was seeing all the youth that were inspired by the science they were doing that day that made volunteering at the Science Olympiad worthwhile. Hopefully we can keep encouraging America's youth to keep going with their interest in science.