JustinMar.com: The official website of Justin Mar

At last, we approach the most awaited day of the year! The time gift exchanging, over eating, and spending time with loved ones! Also let's not to forget the celebration of the birth of Christ. Yes, it's a hectic time, but we suffer through it anyways to remain in the spirit of giving. I was able to spend a good amount valuable time with my parents. They decided to come over to our place to spend the holidays since our families decided have their own individual celebrations rather than a huge family gathering. It was a different change because we're so used to the huge gathering, but it was also nice to have this small intimate immediate family gathering. As with all traditions, we always open our gifts at the strike of midnight on Christmas day (Christmas Eve to Christmas Day). We exchanged and opened gifts. The tearing, crunching, and crumbling of wrapping paper fills the room with echos of cacophony . Smells of chocolate fill the air with an aromatic sweetness that is ne

Yes, another year to mark on the tally. Can't believe I turn 31 today. Geez , I'm getting old. Older, wiser, and fatter. No big celebration bash like last year . This year, I just want something simple. Just a small dinner. Sure the big celebrations are fun, but as I get older...simplicity is just easier and better. As I reflect back on the year as being 30, I can honestly say that it was the year of change. So many dramatic changes have been made. Just recently I made a career change. I spent nearly half the year trying to find myself and planning out my career goals. Luckly, I found a career that is less stressful, more flexible (time wise), and I work from home! Can't ask for a better job! This is the secret I was hiding in my last post. Other than that, I just looking forward to the holidays and new years! Just less than eight more days until Christmas!

Today is my little sister's birthday. As we get older and the numbers get higher, I still see her as my little sister despite our three year age difference (plus she's shorter than me). It's sad how we're getting older, but at the same time I can remember all the birthday parties we've shared since both of our birthdays land in December. Birthdays are special not only for the cake, but also the gathering we have as a family. Sure, no more huge parties celebrated at home with classmates and mom's homemade cupcakes with candles. Or a party at the local McDonalds with Ronald McDonald and an appearance of Santa Claus! My sister and I were fortunate that our parents always made a wonderful effort of having a fun celebration on our birthdays. Awaiting all the toys and gifts to open. Ahhh ...to be a child again! The reality now is just a small gathering with family with a simple dinner and the traditional cake. As I get older, I'm slowly appreciating life

Ahhh....the day that many Americans celebrate family togetherness to celebrate their thanks followed by the beginning of holiday shopping! Like many holidays, it's good to remind yourself of true meaning of these holidays. Thanksgiving Day just isn't about the turkey, all the fixings, food, and football. Sure it's a day to celebrate eating, travel, and family togetherness as well. These are all important factors, but I think we should always reflect on the small and large things that we are thankful for. Enjoy this day of eating and prepare yourself for the crazy crowds of shopping on Black Friday. Take advantage of all the DOORBUSTER sales and spend all that hard earned money on your loved ones. I am specifically thankful for my health, my life, my loving family, my loving girlfriend, and the ability to live with freedom under the American dream. The list can go on and on. I'm happy that we can reflect on this special day all the special things we are thankful fo

Free stuff and "hand me downs" are always great if you can put them to use. They can also generate more clutter in your household as well. A few weeks ago, my girlfriend (aka "S") brought home a messenger bag that resembles a medium sized Timbuk 2 messenger bag that her co-worker Johnny gave to her. Me being a big fan of "orange"; S knew this bag had my name written all over it. In reality, it had a Rare Medium logo on the part that is orange. We received the bag, with signs of usage, and black dirt/oil spots on it. All it needed was a little TLC. So I brought out the "oil eater" and sprayed the rest of the bag with "Shout." Threw the bag in the washing machine with a few pair of jeans and "Voila!" NEW BAG AGAIN! Since I already have two Timbuk 2 bags in my collection, I had to find a good use for the newly acquired bag. So what did I use it for? A Bass Trombone Mute Bag! As you can see, it can hold my Cup Mute, my trombon

Trick or Treat! Yes, it's that day where we dress up in costumes and settle that sweet tooth fixation. I used to remember going door to door back in the days when the grass was green and it was a little more safe. Today, FORGET IT! There are way too many psychos out there! It's good that I live in an area that rarely gets any trick or treaters. In fact, it's hard to find our place when it's not even Halloween. I guess that's good in some ways. For all those die hards that still go door to door; BE SAFE OUT THERE!

Every morning, I'm awaken by annoying telemarketers calling about free cell phone promotions, mortgage refinancing, carpet cleaning, newspaper subscriptions, and satellite dishes promotions. I get enough calls to the point where I'm tempted to buy caller id. Since I get so many calls on our home telephone, I've decided to have a little fun with the people who call. Too bad it's illegal to record the conversations, because some of the phone calls I reply to are hilarious. I know that they record on their side. This morning I got a call that I know is out sourced from India. You obviously can tell because of the long distance "echo" and the strong accents of the caller. The promotion was for a free Sprint Cell Phone. You could totally tell that a lot of these telemarketers read off a script. The fun part is distracting them from reading and asking them questions where they actually have to think and attempt to sell you the product. I'll ask random

Wow! Time flies by too fast. It's October already! In any case, I was walking around a new asian market that just recently opened up in South San Francisco on El Camino Real. The name of the store is Pacific Supermarket which is an independent asian food store chain similar to Ranch 99. Since their opening for only a week, I've been to this place twice. I just wanted to share some of the interesting products sold in the market. There was just one item there that caught my eye. For those who understand Spanish slang, the word "Puto" is the Spanish word for B*tch. Just thought it was the funniest thing to see. The other ironic thing is the company name..."White King" Is there some hidden message I'm missing here? This product is made in the Phillipines and I'm not sure of "puto" has a different meaning in Tagalog. I'm sure there is some close relation since the Phillipines does have a Spanish influence. Other than the funny product name,

Yes folks, I just couldn't resist the temptation of not having a smartphone! In my previous post about the death of my Palm Treo 650, I decided to get the somewhat newly released Blackberry Curve offered through ATT . I've been loyal to ATT way back when it was Cellular One, then ATT, then Cingular, and then ATT again. A loyal customer for over ten years! Purchased this phone through Amazon.com , because they offered a great deal in comparison to other offers out there! The retail ATT stores sell this phone for $199 and I only paid $74.99! Score! I can also trust Amazon as well. My friend of mine who works for ATT Wireless suggested the Blackberry Curve to me as a replacement for the Palm. He said, "screw getting the iPhone, it'll be outdated with a replacement by January 2008." Ooops...did I spill out a secret? This could also be just a rumor as well. Don't rely on me as the source. I love the Palm Treo devices but they are so big, heavy, and I get numerous

My trusty Palm Treo 650 is finally being laid down to rest. No, it's not being replace by a fancy hyped up Apple iPhone (even though I would like to entertain that idea). Palm Treo 650 just had a little mishap that made it jump to retirement a little earlier than expected. Unfortunately yesterday morning, my Palm Treo 650 fell out of bed (bed being my pocket). It wasn't my Treo's fault, it was mine. As I was walking, my clumsy hands just couldn't hold on to her as she fell onto the concrete of a hospital parking lot. I could have rushed her to the emergency room since I was already there on location...BUT WAIT...REALITY CHECK! It's a damn smartphone ! As I dropped the phone, I shouted to myself, "Son of a B**ch!" The battery case popped off, the battery bounced out, and the phone fell face down. With a worried expression on my face, I picked her up. Turned her over. Then I couldn't help but notice the huge crack across the screen! DOH ! I can liv

Yet again, when I attend a Giants game; THEY LOSE!!! This time the Giants hosted the Western Division leaders, the Arizona Diamond Backs. Until the ninth inning, I thought I broke the curse on the Giants when they were leading the D'Backs by 3-2. Then all of the sudden at the top of the ninth, the D'Backs with two men on base, outfielder Jeff Salazar hits a homer to make the score 5 to 3 D'Backs . Final score Diamondbacks 5, Giants 3. Yes, another disappointment! Perhaps I should just stay away from attending Giants games. It sucks that they are last in their division. Hopefully they can do better next season as long as I don't attend their games. Scored free tickets again! Thanks Larry! Lower Box Section 130 Mmm ....GARLIC FRIES Eww ...Stinky Breath! We brought our own Hot Dogs instead of paying $4 for just one!

Despite my need for speed, I consider myself a very safe driver. Especially when I'm driving with passengers in the car. I've been driving since my sixteenth birthday and have a flawless driving record. I've been in a few fender benders, but all of them were not my fault. Since the popularity of cell phones existed, there are so many countless accidents and sometimes fatalities because some people are distracted from talking on the phone. What's to blame is the distraction the phone causes. It bad enough that you have to be alert while driving. It's even worse when you have one hand on the wheel and the other hand with a cell phone. I can't wait until California passes the law (effective July 1, 2008) which makes the use of cell phones illegal while driving your car. Obviously, you can only operate your phone if utilizing a hands-free device. There are countless times where I've been on the road and some moron would swerve into my lane and as I pass them th

As everyone knows, I'm not big on spectator sports. My father wasn't big into sports either, so the tradition just passed down to me. Perhaps the only thing we'll watch is the Superbowl, Baseball's World Series, NBA Finals, the Daytona 500, etc. Only the final games that make world champion history is what we watch. Other than that, we can only name the professional sports stars that we hear in news media....from either good or bad news. Honestly, it's probably better that I don't get into watching sports, because I get really into watching the game. I start screaming, cheering, booing, etc....all the important qualities of being a fan. People have told me, I'm a bit too loud. Ever since the San Francisco Giants started at their new ballpark, I've yet to see a game there until a few days ago. I've driven by the ballpark, cursed the traffic near the ballpark, but never watched an actual game since the Giants played back at Candlestick Park (now known

Over the weekend, we did some window shopping/browsing on Union Street in San Francisco and found some great words for wisdom inside a store entitled, " lululemon athletica ." This store sells apparel for yoga enthusiasts. I'm not into yoga, but I did admire some of the quality "sport-like" apparel they had to offer. Some serious quality apparel, but too expensive for my taste. Getting back to the poster. Lululemon has this poster inside in which they call entitle it as their, " MANIFESTO ." The poster is in red and white and has random facts to live by. Here's the list in text if you are too lazy to click the manifesto link: Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins and keeps your brain sharp. Observe a plant before and after watering and relate the benefits to your body and brain. Coke, Pepsi and all other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are NOT a substitute for water. Col

I've come to a point in my life where I finally took action to make some changes in my life. Talk is cheap. Taking action is what counts. Change is always good and I'm at a opportunity in my life where I can have the ability to make these specific changes. Everyone has their own individual challenges such as a children, debt, relationships, health, work, and taxes. I'm fortunate that I only have a few challenges and oddly look forward to other challenges ahead. I've taken the liberty to change myself in several ways and here is my list of changes I'm currently working on: 1. Health (eat better, exercise, etc) 2. Career (Enough said) 3. Social (Talk to people, meet new people, network) 4. Economical (less spending and more saving) 5. Enjoy life in form of a "POSITIVE" outlook. (Life is Good) With all the new craze of web innovations and new generations of communities; I've been seeing a lot of "2.0" going around lately (i.e. Web 2.0)

Did you feel it this morning? Apparently, the greater East Bay, specifically Oakland had a minor earthquake with the magnitude 4.2 at 4:42AM. I slept all the way through it. A friend of ours woke us up terrified and asking us if we felt it. She happens to live very close to the epicenter. I turned on the local news and they were already covering it and taking calls from all over the bay area. Here's what the USGS has to say . No injuries reported. Just a bit of damage at local businesses such as broken glass and windows. There was also some reports of power outages affecting some residents and businesses. Nothing major. Again, this is just another awakening that we live in earthquake terriorty. Are you prepared?

Let us say " farewell " to the month May. This year is just flying by way to fast and it's hard to believe that we're almost halfway through this year already. What ever happened to those years that nearly seemed forever? I think the years seem longer when you're in school perhaps. I guess time flies when your having fun! Let me bring your attention to the badges that I have to my right: Meebo Chat Screen Here's a little explanation from their website: Meebo .com - is a website for instant messaging from absolutely anywhere. Whether you’re at home, on campus, at work, or traveling foreign lands, hop over to meebo .com on any computer to access all of your buddies (AIM, Yahoo!, MSN , Google Talk, ICQ , Jabber) and chat with them, no downloads or installs required, for free! If I happen to be online, you can chat with me as a guest from the screen to your right. The other cool badge is from Twitter.com . Twitter.com - is a global community of friends and stran

Yes, summer is near! The weather has been nice and nothing else beats a great meal with the BBQ grill. I've been contemplating about purchasing a propane grill and finally decided to purchase one over the Memorial weekend. Sears had one of their Kenmore line grills on sale and I just couldn't beat the price! $189.99 with the normal price of $249.00. What's great about this grill, it's the perfect size for our balcony. Since we have a balcony, our Homeowners Association does not allow charcoal still grills, so we have to use the propane style grill. It doesn't take up too much space, and believe it or not...I was able to fit the entire assembled grill inside the back of my Pontiac Vibe . Now it's time for me to look up some delicious BBQ grill receipies and get this baby fired up! I'm so excited!

What's Wrong with this picture? In the United States we respect all cultures and celebrations. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashing the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862. Hence the celebration. People are mis -informed that it's Mexican Independence Day; when in fact Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15 th of September, 1810. All in all, it's a day to celebrate...no matter what culture background you come from. Now back to the Photograph. I happened to looking out the window from work and saw this flying in the air. A few of my co-workers were very upset at what we see above, especially working at an "ALL AMERICAN" automobile dealership. I'm not going to name the business, but we did give them a friendly call about flag etiquette. About five minutes later it was taken down. I was able to take a shot

I'm sure that everyone has a bad day once in awhile. Some have them more than others. Some have bad days everyday (sucks to be you). Some have worse bad days than others. My bad day was more like a day of physical and mental frustration! The day starts off waking up in the morning with a vice- sqeezing migraine headache and a stomach ache like someone just punched you in the gut. No, it's not a hangover. So to cure the headache, S gives me some Tylenol to take the edge off. As I get out of bed, I run quickly to the toilet. As it sit on the toilet, an explosion of fecal matter exits my anus like an upside down geyser. I'm hating life. A killer headache and drippy @$$hole. I spend some valuable time on the throne only to return to make another drippy deposit. Guess what, we're out of Immodium AD too! I have some prescription medication ready for pickup at the Hayward Kaiser Hospital Pharmacy. The trek is about 15 minutes away from my residential location. The prescrip

It's Sunday morning around 6:30am and my co-worker calls me up asking if I heard about an explosion near Emeryville. The reason why he's concerned so early is the fact that I have to commute on highway 580 to come into work. I turn on the local news station, and here's what I see: Thanks to SFGate.com for this photo Apparently, a fuel tanker truck carrying approximately 8600 gallons of unleaded fuel was speeding and the driver lost control of the truck ~4:30AM. The tanker caught fire and basically melted the metal support structure that holds the overpass together; causing a section of the freeway to collapse. The driver of the truck survived and was able to walk down to a gas station to catch cab to drive him to the Oakland Kaiser Hospital. Luckly there were no fatalaties, and only the driver of the rig has servere burns to his body. What is the end result of this? TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE until the freeway structure is fixed. If you're coming from San Francisco....taking 58

I'm terribly sorry that I've been out of blogging scene for awhile. In fact it seems like ages since I've last posted something here. Just been busy with the regular rituals of everyday life. Still trying to balance out work with enough fun and enjoyment. Since my last post, we've watched a Broadway musical and some local ACT plays in San Francisco. In February we saw Jersey Boys . I must say it's probably the best musical I've seen in a long time. The star that played Franky Valli totally "whaled" with authority in the high falsetto . The other plays were at the ACT theatre and we saw Hedda Gabler and After the War. I also took a nice week off the beginning of April just for some relaxation. Also hiked and backpacked in the beautiful hills of Sunol . That was fun and challenging! I'll try to stay more up to date. I've been eating out a lot and adding the the spare tire I'm carrying around. Check out my Yelp reviews here . Unt

I'm sure this is old news to the serious console gamers out there, but Guitar Hero II (sequel to Guitar Hero) is a really fun game to play! Our friends T&T brought their PS2 to our place and they showed us this fun phenomenon. T&T connected their PS2 to our TV and the fun was about to begin. For those who don't know, your controller is a mini version of a guitar that looks similar to this: This game turns your into an instant rock star and you don't have to have any music talent to sound like a pro. Here's how it works. You choose a song, you set your skill level, and then you select the tempo (speed). As the song starts, there will be a long "fret" line with five colors (green, red, yellow, blue, and orange). As the colors scroll down the screen towards you on the fret, you have to press down the color on the control guitar and strum the guitar with the tempo as the color passes down the screen. As you hit the colors and strum the guitar c

Yes, we dwell upon this day of love. I'm sure there is a historical and mysterious religious background behind the purpose of this day. But it all boils down to a huge profit generator for florists and candy stores. I hate to say it, but it's us MEN who fall into this sucker scam on this day. People get caught up with the cards, the chocolate , the long stem roses, and sometimes lavish jewelry or other nice gifts. This day should be the sharing of gifts between loved ones, but it seems like it's always a one way street. The male is the one who is in the dog house if this day is forgotten. Love can be interpreted and shown in many different ways. It doesn't have to be shown with candy, roses, and all those common gifts that women expect. I think men fall victim to this and women take advantage of it. Call me cheap, but I would rather do something nice for my woman (that doesn't cost money) rather than wait in the crowded lines for flowers and candy....just so I

Hello everyone, my name is Justin and I'm a car tweaker. The orange American Rice Rocket (aka Clare the Cobalt) gets a few new upgrades for the new year. TAG Racecraft , a car performance tuning company in Ontario Canada developed this nice little kit to compliment the GM Stage 2 upgrade which I already have installed. Here's the list of items in the kit: 2.79" supercharger pulley made of 6061 Billet Aluminum (previous size 3.00") 60 lbs./hr Flow Matched Injectors to spray more fuel (previous size 42lbs.) Custom Power Control Module Tune to optimize upgrades Colder Spark Plugs This upgrade gives the car increased POWER throughout the entire RPM range. Click image for larger view This is a dyno sheet of the horsepower and torque that was done. Keep in mind the dyno reflects WHEEL horsepower....which means: 248.25 horsepower and 238.55 ft-lbs of torque. This is definately an aggressive amount of horsepower for such a little 4 cylinder engine. I got a little help from my

Her birthday was yesterday, and I know this posting is a day late. My excuse for posting the following day? I was busy making sure she was having an enjoyable day. I wanted to dedicate this post to Sherry's Birthday! Here is a list of what we did for the day...including pictures! Breakfast made by me. Yes, rice with breakfast. Dinner at Bacar Sherry has Striped Bass The horns....I was eating deer. Christmas colors? I drink too much coffee. Birthday Clapping...Sherry is 3 Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!

It's safe to assume that for the whole month of January you can eat at some of San Francisco's finest restaurants for reasonable price under the Dine About Town Program . The participating restaurants offer a prix-fixe meal that usually consists of a appetizer, main course, and dessert for only $31.95 a person for dinner and $21.95 for lunch. So far, I've tried the Tablespoon Bistro on Polk Street. Good ol' American style food. Read my review that I posted on YELP . There are a few more places that we're going to visit before the month ends. I recommend that you try this great offer before the month ends. Make your reservations online too with OpenTable.com . Happy eating!!!

I hate to say it...."I'm a fat ass!" Eleven days into the new year and I already broke the diet resolution. For those who know me; I'm a meat and potato type of guy. People usually think I'm big into Chinese food or other type of Asian cuisines because I'm Chinese. WRONG! Standing six feet two inches tall doesn't come from eating Chinese food all my life....maybe for the exception of living off Texas Long Grain Rice. If I had a choice between asian food or american food....I'd most likely choose American food. The restaurant that broke my diet plan was Harry's Hofbrau . When people think of "hofbrau" they think of German food. When I think of hofbrau; I think open faced sandwiches with meat piled high, smothered with gravy! From what I'm told, hofbraus were places where you can grab a beer and a hearty meal to eat all under one roof. This place is definately the fix for any hungry man. Just from visiting the website, I made the assump

This is my official first post for the new year and I'm already three days late. So much for making a resolution to keep up to date with this blog. Despite my reputation for not being blogger punctual, I want to take this opportunity to give everyone a sample of my top ten resolutions. Lose weight and eat healthier. No more AYCE (ALL YOU CAN EAT) Blog at least everyday or every other day. Exercise everyday. FIND A NEW JOB!!! Spend more time with slee. Reduce spending on car modifications. Monitor blood pressure more often. Decorate and paint the interior of the house. Take the written exam for a motorcycle license. Take more vacation time off. T hat sums everything up for now. The list continues, although I usually try to make resolutions that you can live up to. I find it amazing that the gyms are so crowded during the beginning of the year and then the crowds go back to normal after three weeks. So much for keeping the resolutions! I hope that 2007 will return some good fortune