Towards the end of March I headed back home to visit family and friends. Along the way I stopped to hang out with Michael in Irvine. He had the bright idea of taking me on a hike. Little did I know how tiring this week would be. It was a good hike though, with many hills and pleasant weather.

Irvine

Irvine

Once back in San Francisco Wil also had the bright idea of hauling me on a hike. We hiked through the hills from San Bruno down into Pacifica and back, which was quite a challenge. The weather was normal Pacifica weather, with a nice cloud layer over the sky. A few spots along the way we encountered drizzle, but otherwise the hike was relatively dry. Well, as dry as Pacifica comes that is.

San Bruno

Pacifica

Soon after that my brother had me running up the side of a mountain playing airsoft with a couple of friends. Exhausted, I prepared myself for Saturday, where we would spend the day playing paintball. In the end I was exhausted, bloodied, and bruised, but I suppose it was a eventful trip. Seeing old friends from DCD, GGBC, Section[31], and Troop 79 made it all enjoyable.

During my stay I had to go get my car smog checked so I while I was waiting for the test to be done I walked through SF Botanical Garden with my dad.

I even had the chance to hang out with Elaine for a whole day.

Tonight was the night I took a step forward, backwards. It began with a simple phonecall, one that sent me through time and space back to when I was a child. I never realized our ghetto beginnings, hanging out in the locker room after swim practice next to the orange rusty lockers. The way we were influenced, the way we were immature, the way we acted, it was a miracle how we’ve turned out 13 years later. College graduates, married, jobless, buying homes, finding jobs, this is not how we remembered ourselves. Talk of old times, old friends, old faces. The time a bra was stolen, the time when someone almost had a concussion, the time where any number of fights threatened to break out. These events shaped us to be who we are now; yet, the new children, the new era, they didn’t have the wise, older teammates that we had. Lost direction, no guidance, what will become of them? When will we return to take up what has been lost? As I journeyed back through time I discovered long lost memories and found new ones. Digging up the ghosts of past I saw familiar and unfamiliar faces, distant, yet we have both been shaped by a simple connection ages ago.

DCD. Daly City Dolphins. A small team we were. We never had aspirations of being a large and fast team like those around us. We were a family. And when we tore through the competition at championships we never thought we’d see, people looked at us. Recognized us. How can a team of misfits, out of shape short little asians, ever hope to beat a team who has 2 pools the size of our own? How? Nobody knows. But we take home the gold. My journey here complete I continued forward, always facing forward even when hurtling backwards through time.

After I passed the giants my travels found me in an ever bustling place, a hub of all activity in this place. Stumbling upon a major artery, I hurtled through along with the many other people I discovered along the way. Steep hills soon became the norm but I knew I couldn’t stop. My destination was not here, continuing on to find the next clue was what needed to be done.

Today’s post sees me with a lot of catching up to do. We have here images from my trip to LA to watch the China Missions team head out, 4th of July celebration, and trip to San Francisco. Be sure to check out my flickr site for the new sets posted. Now without further ado, a sample from the images taken.

LA Trip

Lightcones

College Excursions

Independence Day

SF Trip