If you like Street Fighter at all, you should definitely check this out (This is part 3, you can check out parts 1-4 at collegehumor.com):

edit/update  Thanks everyone, for your tips and suggestions.  To clarify, I have to go to San Jose for the conference, but during my free time, I can go to SF.  How easy, or difficult is it to get to SF from San Jose?

Also, from the sounds of it, it sounds like San Jose is boring and there is absolutely NOTHING to do. Is this true??????
______________________________________________________________________________
One perk of my job is that I have a training budget, which I can use for conferences, books, etc.  I usually end up using it for a little of both.  With the conferences, I can get a mini-vacation, but my employer can't cover my time. 

So far, I've been to:
1. Miami, FL
2. San Francisco
on the company's dime.

My next destination is San Jose, CA next month.  Is there anything worth seeing in San Jose, or should I travel to San Francisco?

Thanks for all of your advice about the iphone.  I decided to get it anyway.   I figured, if a better version comes out, then I can persuade my boss to get it for me as well.  If I passed it up now, I'd be getting nothing.  So something free is better than nothing at all.

So how is the iPhone?  It's wonderful.  The Google maps feature is nice if you don't have a GPS.  You can get directions, look up restaurants and call them, etc.  The photo album is nice too, if you don't already have an iPod video.  I like the iPod feature the most -- you can listen to music without headphones since it plays out of the very loud speaker at the bottom of the phone. 

The phone features are pretty good too.  You can have a conference call with up to 5 people (I think you are included in that figure.)  You can also surf the web, look up stocks, check your gmail, etc. while you are talking on the phone. The only thing I don't like about the phone is that it's hard to hear the other person unless you put them on speaker, use a headset, or the included headphones (which are very cool, because there is a mic in them, and you can use the headphones to pause and skip through your music.). 

Overall, I'd say it's worth it, even if it doesn't have 3G.  If you live in the city, there are probably more free wifi hotspots available to connect to, compared to the suburbs.  The iphone will connect to a hotspot before it uses the 3G, so I guess it's an okay tradeoff.

My annual review just came up, and in addition to a raise, my boss offered to get me the iPhone, for free.  However, now I'm having second thoughts.  The iPhone uses only WiFi (not many free Wifi spots around this country) or the horribly slow EDGE network, instead of the wonderfully fast 3G (which is widely available in Hong Kong and Japan). 

Is the EDGE network a dealbreaker?  Should I just wait until the next model comes out next year, which will probably be thinner, have 3G support, etc.?  It might be called iPhone nano, like the iPod.

So what would you do?  Get the iPhone now, or wait?

Please check PP to see NEW pics (posted Tues, June 26th) Thanks!

I haven't blogged in a few weeks, mainly because it was my 30th birthday and literally the day after that, Joanne & I went straight to Tokyo for 4-5 days, then Hong Kong for about 10 days. 
We returned on the Saturday during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Tokyo was nice, but I enjoyed Hong Kong more.  I think more people visit Tokyo for various reasons, ranging from the fashion, electronics, to manga and anime.  People actually know that these things exist in Japan.  However, I think many people are unaware of the many things HK has to offer.  I was too, before I got there. 

The food is extremely cheap, transportation is very efficient, stores and restaurants are open very late (past 2am or even better, 24 hours), and there is plenty to do (karaoke, clothes shopping, anime/manga toys, arcades, dessert bars, etc.).  However, if you go as a tourist, you'll end up at the restaurants that are overpriced. 
Also, a lot of nice attractions are just a short subway ride away, like Ocean Park, Wetlands Park, Ngong Ping 360, etc.

Also, the dim sum there was incredible.  I don't even want to eat dim sum here (in the U.S.) anymore.

I'll be posting pictures of Japan first, then HK, as protected posts.

Skip this entry if you don't care about martial arts....
Anyway, every week, my dojang has a different focus and every four weeks, it's sparring. 
I haven't sparred in several months, and I tend to think negatively.  Will I remember how to spar?  Will someone kick my head?  etc. 
Then I get butterflies in my stomach, and my heart beats very fast; this happens the moment I leave my house until I get to the dojang.

But today was awesome -- I won most, if not all of my matches.  I won, 9 to 5 against my first opponent, and my axe kicks were the reason for that. 
Next I sparred this guy who is at least 6'2" (I'm only 5'7") and I was able to land an axe kick on him too!

I tend to forget a lot of life lessons -- maybe because other negative people tend to shoot them down and/or people think it's stupid.  Thing is, look at them -- usually they're the ones who are depressed and have lots of problems.  Nothing good comes out of thinking negatively.  Through martial arts, one of the things I've learned is that you really can accomplish anything if you believe in yourself.

Found this from The Consumerist:
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/audio-screaming-dell-customer-cant-figure-out-how-to-shutdown-laptop-hint-hold-down-the-power-button-249254.php

I realize the customer is always right, but this is crazy.  I think he needs to learn how to calm down, or he's got some kind of chemical inbalance.  Probably too much meat in his diet, or not enough exercise.  Reminds me of the a-holes that I have to deal with sometimes.  Just because he had a bad day, he can't figure out how to turn off his computer and has to yell at the tech support at DELL.

exercise... it's the key to feeling good. Especially after you've had a crappy day at work and you just feel like $#%^.  I just came back from TKD, but didn't even feel like going.  However, after I finished, I felt like 100%, refreshed and ready to take on anything.

I've got a $10 reward certificate at Best Buy.  I've also got three somewhat new video game systems: XBOX 360, PS2, and Nintendo DS.  Any good games to buy for any system?  (I don't have a Wii because one: they are hard to find and I didn't camp out when I could have, and two -- I am tired of most of the domestic games, so I plan on importing a Wii when I go overseas.   PS3 is overpriced and the games don't even seem that good.)

Addictions -- I consider myself kinda healthy, compared to most people I know.  However, I do have my addictions once in a while.  For a while, it was freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  I don't know why, but now it's Kool Aid.

I left work early last Wednesday to go see the cherry blossoms.  It was a really nice day; the weather couldn't have been any better.  Here are a few photos to enjoy.