JustinMar.com: The official website of Justin Mar

It has been yet another year that flew by faster than a "New York Minute." I can only say that 2008 was another year of life lessons, happiness, and good eating. I can only look forward to 2009 and what it has to offer. Stay posted. I think this year has some "sunshine" ahead.

I know I'm a day late! Yesterday was Christmas Day. My excuse was the fact that I was too busy to make a blog post. :) Christmas Day was spent with my immediate family. My sister roasted crab with garlic and butter. I made jambalaya and brussel sprouts. My aunt made pork adobo. Plenty of food and no leftovers! For dessert, we had a coffee crumb cake from the famous Eastern Bakery in San Francisco's Chinatown. Yes, we are family of big eaters. Opened gifts and had a wonderful time. As usual, I got a new stock of orange shirts/sweaters to add to my large existing collection of everything "orange". The gift that was the most meaningful to me was a Remote Controlled Helicopter . Here's a background information about the helicopter and the meaning behind it. When I was very little, my dad happened to purchase a Spiderman toy helicopter. My sister, who was a toddler at the time was the recipient of this toy. When you think of toy helicopters, you would t

Growing up as an American Born Chinese (ABC), I was obviously exposed to Chinese food. My parents whom are also ABC were fortunate enough to expose my sister and I to various different cultural cuisines as we were growing up. My girlfriend on the other hand only ate Chinese food as she was growing up, and still to this day, her parents cook only Chinese food. She also mentioned to me that she really was not exposed to different types of food until she entered college. Most Americans have a liking to Chinese food. It's filling, inexpensive, different, somewhat healthy, and is well known as the default "take out" delivery food. So you ask why the love/hate I have with Chinese Food? It all started in the year 2000 when I went on a trip to China. For two weeks, we ate Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Aside from breakfast (dim sum), each meal was your typical 10 course+ banquet style dinner. In China, what else is there to eat (especially in the village

Today is my 32nd Birthday. Another year older, fatter, and wiser. Thanks to those who wished me Birthday wishes on Facebook, email, or phone calls. No big party. Just a simple dinner with family. Simple and relaxing. Oh yeah, forgot to mention cake.

Yet another year to give thanks!  Despite all the mess that's going on in today's economy, we should all be grateful and thankful for all the current blessings we all have.  Thankful for life, family, love, pets, jobs, electronics, transportation , football, turkey, good food, and BLACK FRIDAY! After perusing the Black Friday ads, nothing really captured my attention.  All the items such as cameras, GPS, and flat panel TVs exist with some at killer deal prices.  A new flat panel TV would be a nice addition to my home office also doubled as a computer monitor , but NAH! I consider myself very fortunate that I have all these items already.  So why go out to buy things on sale for items I already have?  That's just from my own personal perspective.  I'm the gadget guy with too many toys. Black Friday enthusiasts are just plain crazy!  Early birds definitely catch the worm, but at the same time freeze their asses off standing or camping in line. With everything going on wi

Getting the morning San Francisco Chronicle newspaper delivered every morning to my residence is completely frustrating! Especially when I'm a paying subscriber! As more and more print publications are going under due to online readership, you would think delivery subscriptions would do a better job. Call me old fashioned, but I still like to read the morning paper while I drink my cup of coffee. I've been a subscriber since I got a random phone "cold call" about a promotion the San Francisco Chronicle where I can subscribe to the paper for six months on Wednesday through Sunday only. It was an inexpensive promotion for under $15. It was mentioned that the subscription was discounted because advertisers were subsidizing the subscription costs. Plus the added value was getting all the coupon savings from the Sunday paper. Blah blah blah. I'm sold. Send me the paper. If I recall correctly, the phone sales rep mentioned that I would get the paper within a

First of all, "HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!!!" To all those veterans out there who served past and present for our Country, "THANK YOU!" I think all Americans should give way more support to those who are currently serving for us despite our opposition to the current war we are in. People are dying out there to protect the freedom and rights that we have here in America. Let's have a moment a silence for them. Time sure does fly by fast and it's really hard for me to keep up with blogging. I still haven't had the discipline to blog faithfully about anything or everything that goes on in my little world. I am for one, very happy that we elected the first African American as President of the United States. Go Obama! I strongly believe that he will do a good job at moving our country in the right direction for the CHANGE that we need. Aside from the recent election, I've been also entertaining myself with the controversial California Prop 8 discus

Coffee? Espresso? Latte? Mocha? Yes, call me the new coffee fiend. I simply got tired of spending $4 or more for some type of specialty coffee drink at Starbucks . Slee usually contributes more to Starbucks franchise than I do. So to save a little more money during these tough economic times, I've been brewing and making my own cups of Joe. I do agree that I can't come close to Starbucks, when it comes to all the fancy flavors, but I can get the potency of caffeine . Plus I get my coffee from an inside corporate source at Starbucks for free! Thanks Big Al! Many will say, "It's not the same." Who cares? During these economic times, over the long run, it's a better investment to buy a good coffee maker/espresso maker that won't break your daily budget. Save money and still get the caffeine buzz! I started off by purchasing a good burr grinder. Good coffee grinders are not cheap. Don't even bother with those $20 spinning blade grinders. T

My head hangs in shame.  I let my sales team down, my company down,  let God down, and my country down.   That sounds way too dramatic.   Why do I hang my head in shame?  I didn't sell a single contract the entire month of September 2008.  Blanked!  I had a few contracts pending, but they didn't happen to close within the month.  I can sit here writing on and on blaming the poor economy.  It's not going to change anything.  I just have to be patient and wait until things get a little better.   Eventually within time, all that hard work, patience, putting up with cold shoulders, having doors slammed in my face will pay off.  All I can say is that I tried my best and just have to work even harder for the next month.   We all have bad months.  I am just reflecting on what I did or attempted and started making a strategic plan for the months ahead. It was definitely a hard month for everyone in my industry.  A lot of the dealership in my market area closed their doors.  There

With all the hiatus going on in regards to the upcoming election and the economic crisis we are currently facing; I can't help but keep my eyes peeled to watching CNN .  When I was younger (not much younger), I used to think that CNN was the most boring cable news channel to watch.  Who wants to watch news 24/7 of national and international new events?  CNN is everywhere!  It's the most watched news channel internationally!  CNN is broadcasted at the airports, at hospitals, and even some sports bars.  Call me a late bloomer or it a personal sign of maturity; but why haven't I tuned in earlier?  Perhaps, everyone should be informed.  It's really scary to realize what we have ahead of us. CNN has been pure entertainment (for now) and I love how the media is still very careful on how they present the news.  Lately, it doesn't surprise that they are trying to inform the Nation rather than scare the Nation shitless.  Yes, the financial institutions are failing.  Banks ar

I've been known to have a keen sense of memory. People are always amazed at how well I can remember experiences, names, faces, places, processes, and even smells. Lately, I've been careless with an important item that many people hold onto with extreme care. It's not my house keys. It's not my car keys! It's not my social security number. It's not even money (although close enough)! I've been careless with my CREDIT CARD! Al thought, not careless with my spending. Let me explain: I order food from a restaurant. I pay the bill with my credit card. I sign the credit card receipt. Then I somehow forget to put my credit card back into my wallet!!!! Turns out that I happened to leave my credit card behind at a local restaurant we visit often and they were honest to keep it safe for me. I called them the next day and then had to suffer the embarrassment of walking in with a big stamp on my forehead that says, "DUMMY." The panic of opening my wal

Thanks Twitpic for hosting these photos These are your typical before and after photos. Call me a bad owner. I usually let Mickey's hair grow out to the point where his hair gets knatted and tangled. This time it wasn't so bad. Obviously in the first photo, his hair was so long that he couldn't see. I felt really bad because when I was walking him; he walked right into a pole. Underneath all that fur is a skinny little dog. Just from observation, people would think it's a totally different dog. Aside from Mickey's haircut/grooming, it has been definately an eventful summer for me. Been keeping busy at work and also enjoying this somewhat beautiful weather here in the Bay Area . Hope to blog a little bit more. With summer nearly over, it's back to school with my full schedule of various music classes/rehearsals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. Until the next post, enjoy the rest of summer while it lasts!

The tooth fairy better give me $100 for this tooth. It's not just an ordinary tooth. It's a tooth of WISDOM! It's been two hours since I've had just my one and "only" wisdom tooth extracted. The tooth was on the right hand side upper jaw. It surfaced out but was growing sideways. Being way in the back, my dentist recommended removing it for hygenic reasons since it's really difficult to clean or brush. I arrived at the dentist nice and calm. Wasn't anxious or worried at all. Opened my mouth, and took the wonderful shot of Novocaine . No need for the nitrous. Nitrous should be saved to make your car faster! Waited for the numbing to kick in and took some x-rays. My dentist walks in with this long metal instrument that looks like an ice pick. He said I'll feel a little bit of a push. I swear, in about ten seconds the tooth was OUT! His assistant didn't even notice that the tooth was out too. I seriously thought my dentist was kidding until he s

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend! After spending nearly over a month without a television , I'm happy to announce that I can finally return to my usual couch potato habits. Circuit City replaced my Philips plasma with a Panasonic TH-50 PZ 85U . FYI...I'm not a Jeter fan. He just happened to be on the ESPN screen. It was a nice time of reflection living without a TV. I can't say that I was more productive without a television, but I did notice that it was something I could live without. Spent more time surfing online more than anything else and I'm surprised I decided not to take the time to blog. Some of the noticeable difference was a decrease in our electricity bill. Some of the downfalls: We're still paying for our cable bill. Our Netflix movies just sat for a month. Our GameFly games sat for a month. No Wii Need to catch up with all the shows we missed. Thank God for Hulu ! Other than that, it wasn't too bad. We survived! If w

In previous posts, I blogged about how I'm a curse to the San Francisco Giants . I am happy to announce that today, June 2, 2008, I attended a game and the Giants won! THE CURSE IS FINALLY OVER! My record for attending games where the Giants lose goes all the way back to games back when they were playing at Candlestick. This is the fifth home game I've attended this season, and the Giants win with me attending in attendance. A total shocker. Plus it was a blood bath win over the New York Mets . Giants 10 - Mets 2. It's not like I go to each game hoping that the Giants lose. I want them to win and it makes me somewhat upset that I've never attended a winning home game. The other great highlight, caro 2660 was able to score us $8.00 tickets for upper reserve seats with a deal online! These are seats that normally sell for $22! I couldn't ask for anything better in a game: cheap tickets along with a winning game! I think I'm going to "frame"

I am a huge advocate for the purchasing of Protection Plans or Extended Service Plans. People usually think they are a total waste of money. Especially when you never use it. The reason why I'm such a huge advocate of protection plans; I used to sell them when I was automotive sales business. If you're going to sell these products, you should be a strong believer in them. I'm one of those strong believers in these products. Why? It saved my ass countless times. Protection Plans are just another form of insurance. It's just like auto insurance or homeowners insurance. It protects your investments! You may never use it, but you can sleep at night knowing that you're protected. When you have problems or situations, you're covered with peace of mind. It saves you money as well. For any large ticket items I usually purchase a protection plan. My 50" Philips Plasma with Ambi -light is one of those items. I've had about two major incidents where my TV broke a

Instead of calling this Justin's Blogger Spot, I should call it, "Justin's Electronic Toy Spot." Especially with all these gadgets I've been acquiring. With the new California law prohibiting the use of holding your cell phone while driving going into effect July 1, 2008; I've decided to invest into a decent bluetooth device. The BlueAnt Z9 is perfect for my needs. Especially with the Voice Isolation Technology option it has. Since I drive two cars that both have loud exhausts, the noise cancellation works like a charm. I also like the fact that you can pair and switch between multiple devices. I carry two cell phones (one personal and one work), so this enables me to switch between phones. Only downfall, the earpiece is rather large and it gets uncomfortable to wear at time. In fact, my ear is a bit sore after I take it off. I hope this will go away or hopefully my ear can slowly adapt to it. Also...Happy Cinco de Mayo!

After thinking long and hard; I've made the decision to take this blog down. Too lazy to update it and it just occupies too much of my time. I've also decided to scrap all my computer electronics and send it off to an e-waste facility. Who needs all these high tech gadgets that keep you preoccupied all day? Stomped on my Blackberry too. I hate that annoying piece of crap that alerts me when I get a new email from work. You won't see me checking my blackberry anymore. If you want to contact me, send me something through the US Postal Service....or a telegram via Morse code. Swung a sledge-hammer through my 50" flat screen and cranked my Vienna Acoustic speakers so loud that they blew out. Great....more e-waste. Lastly, I'm selling both my cars. Donating the Vibe GT to charity and the Cobalt SS is sitting on the street with a FOR SALE sign in it. I've decided to spend my money on bicycle. This will be my new form of transportation. Condo is for sale to

I'm not that big on being an environmentalist, but this worldwide event call Earth Hour is a really cool aspect to consider. Turn your lights out at 8PM tonight. It'll be cool to see everything outside with the lights out. That's only if people are aware and participate. They had a similar event in San Francisco last year, and we did a stroll through the city. Probably only 25% of people participated. Do it for the environment or do it for the coolness factor.

Poor Mickey. I've been a bad owner. I let his hair grow out too long and he had some serious poodle "dreadlocks". For better words, "knatted" hair or "hair knots". The worse damage was around his ears, so the groomer at PetSmart had to completely cut the hair off his ears. No more cute floppy poodle ears. It looks funny, but it'll grow back. Next time I'm going to a better job at getting him groomed earlier. Here's how Mickey looks now after his grooming. His ears are really short! Especially in comparison to the stuff animal look-alike. Who you looking at?

Went to a Whole Foods Market today for the first time. I tend to stay far away from yuppie stores like these (no offense to yuppies). I keep my distance especially when this grocery store is classified/nicknamed as the "Whole Paycheck". Yes, they do serve quality, wholesome, non trans fat items, organic foods, fresh local farmed produce; but at a high price! At high prices that only a few Americans can afford......aaahhemmm....just the healthy and wealthy! Everyone knows that Mac & Cheese is what Americans call good ole' American comfort food. It's also an inexpensive staple of some low income families. I am in no way making fun of low income families that eat Mac & Cheese, but you can automatically ask anyone who grew up on government issued foods, they will tell you they ate Mac & Cheese. Made from the box or from the blocks of government cheese given out. Why, because it's cheap and hearty. Now back to the topic of Whole Foods. Here is what I fou

Yeah Baby! Carbon Fiber !!! Lightweight, strong, and stiff! When I think carbon fiber; I think automotive! It is a very versitile compound that is super strong and looks cool too. The demand for it is high and it's generally used in aircrafts and performance automobiles. In fact, a lot of aircraft companies are buying up all the raw carbon fiber compounds, making the demand for carbon fiber really high. I'm happy that I have these custom carbon fiber orthotics under my feet. They are light as a feather, but can withstand the weight and abuse of my 205 pound fat ass. The hard part is trying to get used to wearing these suckers. It takes time for your foot to conform to the new mold and support it offers. Since I'm flat footed, this will help my develop an arch, and also protect the metatarsal joint issues I've had in the past. The painful part is getting my foot to conform to these inserts. Carbon Fiber is faster. Not sure in my case!

I guess you can say that I'm on a spending spree! The good thing, I'm buying items that are functional and useful. Not just something that going to sit and collect dust (like my cars). My latest and greatest purchase is the Le Cruset Cast Iron Round Oven. It's a 5.5 quart pot that is capable for making soups, stews, or any other dishes you can make out of a pot. What makes this oven/pot so special and so expensive? Because it's French? The cast iron material helps for the retention and distribution of heat with very easy clean up; especially with it's enamel coating. There are no cold spots (even heat distribution), you can sear, saute, fry, braise, roast...and just about anything else. It just can't do the cooking for you. I've been shopping around for deals online, at retail stores, and finally purchased this round oven (in FLAME color) from the Le Cruset Factory Outlet in Vacaville , CA. I was in perfect time for this deal because the sales person

Yes, another expensive toy purchase. To many who know me, this purchase would sound like just another implusive Justin purchase. Honestly, I waited and did a little bit of shopping beforehand. I even waited for the deal . This is the Garmin nuvi 360. It's rather popular for it's small size (=stack of playing cards) and it's bluetooth capabilities. For the longest time, I've been borrowing my dad's Garmin nuvi 350, and I've always found it handy; especially when travelling. I figured why spend the money when I could always borrow it from my dad? Sure enough, I have a job that requires me to be on the road. There are countless times where this tiny little device saved my ass from getting lost or calling around frustrated trying to get directions. So for peace of mind and it's purpose for work, it's money well spent! Now, there's no excuse for me getting lost or relying on my sometimes inaccurate human navigator with AAA maps. :)

Happy Valentine's Day! A special day to express your love with the people you love. In reality, you can make Valentine's Day on any day of the year. Again, it's just a commercial holiday for retailers and florist to start their earnings off strong for the year. I must admit that I was with the rest of the last minute "guys" standing in line buying a dozen long stemed roses at Costco . Costco has the best bargain in town! Don't call me cheap! It's the thought that counts! Tonight we're heading over a friend's house for filipino style BBQ. No fancy dinner. Just enjoying the evening with friends and eating lots of protein. mmmm.

My left foot has been giving me some serious problems. For better words, "serious pain!" It's my typical male mentality to just ignore going to the doctor when I have some sort of health issue, but this time the pain was bad enough for me to actually get checked out by a doctor. Honestly, I don't know how I managed to mess my left foot up. My right foot is fine and dandy. In fact I'm almost embarassed to tell everyone how I developed this pain that causes me to limp around. Ok....I'll tell. A few Sundays ago, S wanted me go for a nice walk around the neighborhood. As much as I dread walking; wait, I'm just plain lazy! She convinced me to walk down the street to the coffee shop. What was planned out as a 45 minute walk turned into a 15 minute walk because we decided to head back home because of some last minute plans with friends to eat out. So much for exercise when your stomach overruled the walking agenda. I really didn't notice the pain until a few

Happy MLK day! May we all have "a dream." Just wanted to share one of my new discoveries. It's probably not very new, but very new to my tastes buds. Allow me to introduce... Han's All Natural Goumet Sausages Costco carries their Chicken Sausage: Spinach, fontina cheese, and roasted garlic in a 3 pound pack. What's great is the fact that the chicken used was raised with no antibiotics, no added growth hormones, no nitrates, nitrites or MSG added....not much artificial stuff either. My intentions were to pop these babies on the BBQ grill, but it is so cold and rainy here in the bay area....I was forced to use the George Foreman grill instead. Tasty with every bite. Not oily and filled with fat pockets. You can taste the flavors of the spinach and garlic. Fontina Cheese is almost like a mozzarella....so I can barely taste the cheese. A damn good sausage! Don't get me wrong, these aren't the most healthiest sausages you can eat, but it's good

I'm still in shock that it's 2008. Time sures does fly by fast! Our NYE celebration was a blast. We invited friends over for food, games, drinking, and celebration. It was fun! Tons of great food. T made lion's head soup, and zh a jian mein . S made her yummy chicken wings, and I made korean style bbq short ribs. Plus we prepared some frozen dumplings. Our guests deep fried some various goodies like nuggets, tater tots, and shrimp chips. Again, plenty of food to consume before we start our resolutions. Our guest also brought plenty of alcohol and bubbly to add to the celebration. We played this game called " Apples for Apples ." It's a really fast paced and totally hilarious to place. Rather than explain the game, our friends at Wikipedia explain it the best...so click the link. Super fun game to play at parties, and there are also different variations on how you can play the game. We also played Risk 2210 A.D is a futuristic version of the