While it has been a worthwhile challenge taking 5 business trips in 4 months and learning along the way, I was relieved that I had a month off from travel. This was especially so, since in-between sojourns, I had to apply all that knowledge on a work project back at the home office of Torrance, California. And unfortunately, that meant some more late nights. Thankfully, I completed it in mid-March without too many headaches. With that set aside, I wanted to use the rest of the month to catch up on life outside the workplace. So what did I do?

I went to the Pac-10 Basketball Tournament at Staples Center on Friday, March 14 with some friends, because we figured it would be our last chance to see Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Love play live (With his talent, it seems likely that he will leave UCLA for the NBA). It was great seeing our Bruins take down the Trojans in a close one. It was odd seeing half the crowd leave right afterwards, not wanting to stay for the Stanford/Washington St. matchup. I left at halftime.

I returned to my old improv stomping grounds on March 16 for a couple of shows. It was my first time back to CSz since January. There was a graduation show for those who went through all 3 levels of workshops. They did a great job, and I can see a couple of them eventually playing with the Sunday team. I also saw my old Sunday friends perform a special St. Patrick's Day show, with all the improv games having an Irish theme. While I didn't miss the late nights, I sure would like to make people laugh and perform again.

It was nice to finish up March attending a couple of memorable Dodger games. I am now part of the Guinness Book of World Records, since the 3/29 preseason game versus the Boston Red Sox set a new attendance record for a baseball game. I also took a vacation day off work to attend Opening Day vs. The Hated Ones. Probably the most heart-warming moment was before the game, as many beloved Dodger old-timers took the field to celebrate the 50 years of baseball in Los Angeles. I got choked up because the soundtrack of Field of Dreams was playing in the background. You can watch this YouTube clip from the last minutes of the film to understand why it hit me so hard. Xanga readers can see this clip below.

In honor of this day, "Erin Go Bragh"! Google/Wiki this one yourselves folks. I usually link a lot for you loyal readers!

This song may be banned in this New York establishment, but I won't shun it here in this Los Angeles domain! Plus, you have to laugh at this group's attempt to sing it.

I'd like to see William Hung and Sanjaya try and tackle that! Then again, maybe not.

Just for fun, can anyone name all 6 characters that appear in the above video? Without using Google/Wiki? I can only think of one reader, but I like to be surprised!

Coming up next, on the Adventures of Kid Akio: March Gladness

This year's Oscar party was an unusually "eye-opening" experience.

Normally during Academy Awards time, my neighbors Stan and Robin host a Oscar party, where we potluck it up, critique the show, and celebrate all that is movies. Another recent tradition is that I come close to winning the Oscar pool, but always end up falling short (See here and here!) I do, however, go home with a Oscar-nominated DVD as a consolation prize (including this year), so that makes up for it!

Things changed considerably last year, when a handsome lad named Holden entered the world. The 2007 party temporarily moved to my friend Chellie's place in Santa Monica, But when the shindig came back to its rightful home, I was surprised that a good deal of the invitees became parents! So, it was a little amusing that a lot of the attention this year was not directed at the television set! Maybe that was a good thing, because from what I saw, the opening montage was weak in comparison to previous years. Host Jon Stewart's monologue didn't have enough zingers. And with the writers' strike just completed, it was understandably difficult to pull together a great show. Looks like it was worst rated Academy Awards ceremony. Why couldn't they have more of the funny?

So near the end of the telecast, my friends Ed and Claire motioned for me to hold their young daughter Alexa. I haven't had too much experience with carrying babies, so I was a little nervous. But it didn't take too long though to become comfortable with her as I gazed into her lovely eyes, and nuzzled her soft tiny cheeks. She apparently liked me enough to give me a head-butt back!

The thing that fascinated me the most about Alexa was her light eye color. I noticed that in Holden as well when I first met him. I didn't realize until later that initially, baby eye color is blue or gray, and turns to its natural eye color by his/her first birthday. I can certainly understand why my parent friends blog about even the slightest of changes in their children. It is truly amazing.

Well, unless there is a change in my company division's training budget, I took my final trip out to Atlanta. And even though my last class was the most intense I have had so far, I enjoyed it a lot because now I have extensive experience with the SAP environment and have produced tangible results at work. It's a big encouragement when you can actually see the fruits of your labor.

I took advantage of the great MARTA transportation system this time around to get out of the local scene for dinner. While it's not that often that I splurge on meals (especially at the company's expense), let's just say I ate well at an "upscale" diner, and a churrascaria that was almost as good as the joint in Copacabana. With all the pleasant train-taking I did for those first two evenings, it made me wish that the light rail Expo Line would open sooner.

The continuous cool-weather temperatures made my running experiences enjoyable too. Runner's World had actually mapped out 3 and 5 mile courses (link to PDF file) around my hotel! Both were great, and have an abundance of hill work too, which was nice to work off those previously mentioned dining luxuries.

Because of my continual problems with jetlag, I had wanted to get an good night's rest for my last day of training on Thursday. But my love for Lakers basketball kept me up late. (I can almost understand the East Coast bias thing.) Anyways, the Lakers/Suns matchup took on a whole new level, when the Big Cactus Shaq made his debut for Phoenix that evening. It definitely wasn't a defensive battle (as the 130-124 final score can attest), but was a very entertaining game. I am now convinced that the Lakers currently have what it takes to win it all. Let's hope to see a dream matchup in the year's Finals, reminiscent of my childhood: Lakers vs. Celtics. Who says you can't relive your past?

Editor's Note: 2/4 Entry. Forgot to make entry public until 2/15

I had looked forward to my recent jaunt into the ATL last week. I took an early 6am flight on Sunday morning, in anticipation of visiting the MLK National Historical Site and the new World of Coca Cola before my training class on Monday. Unfortunately, I couldn't get some catch-up shuteye in the plane, and landed with the biggest headache this side of Buckhead. So, I had to cancel my visits and slept it off in my hotel. But, I might have another chance to see the sites, since I make a return trip in two weeks.

My return flight was interesting, since it was my first time flying with a "celebrity". As we were making our approach into LAX, the passengers behind me (an elderly Kiwi man, and an African-American woman) were chatting loudly, so it wasn't hard to hear their conversation. And when the lady introduced herself as a singer for a band called Arrested Development, I lifted an eyebrow. The band was on their way from their hometown to Australia (with a stopover in LA) for a tour. I didn't think to much of it, except I did wonder, "Hey, where are the other members?" I got some of my answer when I deplaned and immediately recognized Speech, the lead rapper/singer, waiting outside our gate.

My Super Bowl Saturday afternoon was spent in Little Tokyo visiting Takashi Murakami's exhibit at MOCA and sampling the hyped ramen at Daikokuya. I came away with mixed results.

MOCA was great. My favorite part of the exhibit was his animation features, which included the premiere of Kaikai and Kiki's first adventure, and Kanye West's "Good Morning" music video. From my recent storytelling class experience, it's nice to see that typical life events can produce golden entertainment, of which the two aforementioned cuts had plenty. They inspired me to purchase his art book and to hopefully create an animated feature of my own.

As for the ramen, I hate to report that I was slightly disappointed with it, not considering that nearly 70 minutes elapsed between entering the restaurant and having my meal placed in front of me. Whenever I try ramen at a new joint, the first thing I do is taste the soup, which pretty much makes or breaks a good bowl. Maybe I came on a bad night, because the touted tonkotsu pork soup was surprisingly mild in flavor. But to be fair, the kurobuta pork slices were velvety, and the consistency of the noodles was to my liking (just past "al dente"). Kudos should also go to their tasty gyoza, which is atypically shaped and profusely garnished (see picture below, courtesy of yelp.com)

With the exception of a sun-kissed friend, I'm assuming that you were one of the 97+ million who watched the big game last night. That 4th quarter was probably one of the more exciting sports moments I have seen in which I have not had a serious investment (i.e Dodgers, Lakers, or UCLA). That Manning to Tyree helmet catch was unbelievable!

I was intrigued with the possibility of the Patriots make history. 19-0. Now I've watched my share of sporting events. And with the exception of Mary Lou Retton's gold-medal winning vault, I don't remember seeing anything close to a perfecto team/individual performance. I guess I will have to wait a little longer.

So Monday, during my lunch break of udon and tonkatsu goodness, I was hastily reading the LA Times when one article in the Sports section caught my eye. Former Bruin basketball player J.R Henderson became a naturalized Japanese citizen and his new last name is Sakuragi (translates to "cherry blossom tree"; he took on a Japanese surname to help expedite the process).

I remember watching him play as a freshman phenom on the 1994-1995 championship team. He impressed me immediately when he calmly sank two free throws in the closing seconds to beat a very good Kentucky squad at the beginning of the season. While he apparently didn't have the skill set to play in the NBA too long, he seems to be doing quite well in the Japanese league that he makes a good living and even participates on the national team.

The interesting part of the article was his lengthy process of acquiring Japanese citizenship. The paperwork was the easy part. The harder part? He had to learn 1750 kanji characters and speak Japanese at a rudimentary level. While my years at Saturday Japanese school helped me conversation-wise, I don't know if I remember learning that many kanji!

Hopefully, I will have a chance to see him play in Japan next year. I think it is about time I head back to the motherland, considering that the last time I was there, I was half my age! Plus, I think it would be good to reconnect with Dad's side of the family, whom I haven't communicated with in over a decade.

Happy New Year, loyal blog readers! This entry is long overdue!

Well, 2008 has started off on an interesting note. I will be on hiatus from the ComedySportz Sunday team indefinitely. The artistic director and Sunday team coach wanted to take the group in a new direction (a smaller, cohesive group), and had auditions last week. Unfortunately, I was cut. But in all fairness, it was deservedly so, since I just wasn't that funny in comparison to my former talented castmates.

There will be an opportunity to reaudition with the team in June, but I am uncertain if I want to do so. While I did enjoy performing in front of crowds and making people laugh, it became more difficult to stay late after Sunday shows to go over notes/critique, sometimes until 11pm! I was a zombie at work on Monday mornings!

All I know is, my year with the Sunday team was a great experience, and I will always remember it fondly. And for those of you supporters who saw me perform, I have nothing but sincere thanks to give.

Now, what will I do next? Stay tuned...

Pictures at an Exhibition Update (finally!): 4 shots taken from an evening field trip to downtown San Francisco.

From my recent trips, I realize that there are few pleasures that the business traveler can enjoy. And tasting good local cuisine is up there on the list. Of course, I did enjoy a tasty seafood meal at a Fisherman's Wharf establishment (risotto at Alioto's). However, tonight was the first time that I had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious bowl of ramen; a perfect meal for a chilly evening!

My old volleyball buddies, Michael and Grace, had moved up to the Bay Area in Belmont nearly 3 years back. I met up with them and they took me to a nearby popular joint called Santa Ramen. Yes, that is the name of the place!

While the decor was a little too modern for my taste, and the wait was considerable (40 minutes for a table and our orders), I did enjoy the tonkotsu chashu ramen very much. It definitely warrants another trip when I return in April! Santa's goodies pictured below.

I laughed when Grace said she was pleased that their local ramen establishment met "Akio's seal of approval"! I make no claim to be a ramen expert yet (Give me 20 more years). And if you think that I am crazy about ramen, you should check out rameniac's website. Comprehensive and impressive, although I must admit that his preferences and mine differ.

After dinner, we spent a long time catching up over coffee and dessert back at their home. We did reminisce a lot about our volleyball days and camping trips. But, it was also great to share our current concerns with one another. I left their home feeling a little sad that our time together was short, but glad that a future camping trip is in the works. We're shooting for Kings Canyon in mid-spring.

Well, this time around, my business trip experience was better than what I had in Atlanta. I guess it is because I felt more comfortable with the SAP software environment to do some customization. It also helped that I had the same instructor in Atlanta, so there is some familiarity on another front. And, minus today's little rainstorm back here in Los Angeles, I think I brought over the fine weather into "The Big D" over the week. By Friday, it was 80+ degrees in the downtown area!

Probably the most valuable tool that I got out of the class was the networking contacts. Contrary to my ComedySportz "persona", I don't come across as a friendly guy (I'm still working on it). But, I think that learning improv has helped me to be more relaxed with strangers. We shared our SAP issues and bonded pretty quickly over that! Turns out that one of them works for Harley-Davidson, and she sent us all free t-shirts as early Christmas presents! They are celebrating their 105th anniversary next year, so I got one of their black "105" shirts.

I'm trying to enjoy my business trips a little more, instead of holing up in the hotel room and gym facilities after class. I wanted to have a "winter experience" so I ice skated at a really nice, upscale mall. It reminded me a lot of the famous Vittorio Emanuele galleria in Milan (including the huge price tags; see picture below of the Milanese splendor).

Here's a picture of the ice rink with the huge Christmas tree in the middle.

How appropriate that such news is coming out during Rivalry Week.

Link to a CNNSI article saying that U$C is petitioning to have their home football games at the Rose Bowl beginning next year. Yep, I didn't believe it until I read it.

Fellow Bruins, insert your Trojan punchline in the comments if you wish.