Simple Living

I've tried for years to lose weight and each attempt has ended in failure.  While I was able to see short term gains, I would lose focus and give up in a short period of time.  I've decided once again to try as my weight has hit 184 lbs and it’s making me feel depressed as I look and feel bloated. Summary - I plateaued at 165 lbs as of May 2024 While this is short of my goal of 150 lbs.  It’s a start and I’ll keep working towards it, but thus far seem to have hit 165 and been here ever since. Old goal 155, new goal 150 My original goal was to reach 155 lbs.  I'll need to lose 29 pounds or 101,500 calories.  I'm budgeting 2 pounds per week so about 15-29 weeks to realistically achieve this. After learning 155 lbs is BMI 22.2.  I’m going for 150 lbs or another 5 lbs for 34 lbs total weight loss. Outline, Plan & Log Summary - Weekly Vacation Perspective of 20k steps/day Diet Strategy Goal - 10k steps/day Diet - Avoid Junk Food & Eat Healthier Diet - Limit Alcohol R

Final leg of my 2 week vacation is a weekend in Vegas.  Arrived Thursday night and went to a couple casino bars and met up with friends.  I’ll hit up the buffet then Shin Lim magic show before heading back home. Day 1 - Arrival, Downtown - Golden Nugget - Decent Day 2 - Vegas Strip - Caesars Bacchanal Buffet - Crap Day 3 - Shin Lim @ Mirage - Meh Day 4 - Departure Overall - Vegas is Meh unless you spend big. Overall Vegas is no longer worth it unless you plan to spend at least $500-1,000 per day minimum for a good hotel, food and entertainment.   I spent $1200 for food, hotel, transportation and a show for a mediocre experience.  You would think I’d get something good out of that?   Only highlights was 1 amazing Old Fashioned at Alto Bar in Caesars.  A decent magic show and that's about it.  Only $100 of what I spent was worth it, the other $1100 was a waste. 1st Day - Flight into LAS from LAX, Stayed Downtown at Golden Nugget I first flew into LAX on ANA and got to ride on the Sta

Uniqlo is about 40% cheaper in Korea than Stateside and likely even cheaper in Japan.  I picked up my Supima Cotton T-shirt staples along with some Airism over shirts and a pair of sweaters for total of 197,700 Won or about $150 USD.  This would have cost me $100 more or $250 in the US.  Everything is XL Asia size which would be L in US. Total Haul - 11 items Supima T-Shirt - XL - 6 (4 Black, 2 White)  Airism T-Shirt - XL - 2 (Red, Green) U Crew T-Shirt - XL Green Sweater - XL - 2 (Gray, Green) I went for more Green and Burgundy colors this time along with my Black, White and Gray staples.  It’s a bit early for Fall/Winter wardrobe but couldn’t pass up 12,900 Won ($9.62 USD) sweaters. I won’t wait this long to swap out shirts as my previous Uniqlo T-shirts were from 2019 and almost 4 years old!  While the material was still in good condition it was stretched out and the collars worn.  I’d prefer swapping them out within 2 years. In contrast Hanes and Costco Pima barely lasted 6-9 month

Going to skip watch buying this year and stick to my set of 6 watches. Rolex 114270 Omega 2531.80 Zenith Cal 126 Casio A168 Casio G-Shock 5600 Apple Watch SE2 I’m fairly content with this collection.  Typically, I’m wearing the Apple Watch most days and sometimes swap to my A168 or G-Shock.  It’s surprising how versatile is the humble A168. Added a silicone case protector and screen cover.  The Apple Watch screen is unfortunately easy to scratch.   Update - 6/12/23 - 2 Watch Shuffle - Rolex and Apple I've been in the habit now of wearing the Apple Watch for most of the day to hit my 3 rings and for workouts then swapping for my Rolex in the evenings.  I'm missing the Rolex as it's the most comfortable watch in my collection.  In many ways my Rolex Explorer is the 'perfect' watch and I've grown to love it.   Especially as I get older, sometimes having a Rolex to glance down at makes me feel like I at least did something good in life.  Sometimes you need that pic

I’ve centered around Nike’s as my shoe of choice coming around from Onitsuka Tigers to Adidas and now Air Jordan’s. I want to maintain a set rotation of shoes: Air Jordan 1 Low - Reverse Black Toe - 9.5M Air Jordan 1 Low - Flight Club - 10.5M Air Jordan 1 Mid - Tartan Swoosh - 9.5M Miler’s - 10M Shoes for special occasions: Air Force 1 Low - 9M With some insoles my older shoes might feel more comfortable and I’ll test it on the Court Vision.  I’d like to take a break and not buy new shoes until 2024 and likely a new pair of Air Force 1’s. I’m impressed with the Jordan 1’s.  They’ve now served me across Tokyo, Busan and more. To make room for more shoes.  I’ll wear out the Court Vision’s.  As I think all my shoes are too small and need to go up to a 10 from a 9.5.  So might as well use em all up! Update - 6/11/13 - Bought larger 10.5M AJ1 Lows and wow it was too small my previous shoes I couldn’t take it anymore and was making me miserable so I went for a full size bigger to 10.5M and w

Can’t get enough of the coffee options in Korea.  Things have improved considerably since 2018 and there are a lot more tasty varieties. Before it was more rebranded American products.  They now have all kinds of new products. Origin Toffee Nut Latte - A+ The Origin Toffee Nut Latte was the best so far.  The Twosome Latte’s were too heavy on the milk taste. Twosome Latte I’ll rank a C. HBAF Almond Snacks I tried the HBAF snacks brand and it’s pretty decent.  The pizza garlic flavor was interesting. Vending Machine Coffee - Cantana Latte - B- More Coffee ☕️ they were acceptable and for 1000 Won a great deal.  I’ll buy these again in a pinch. Maxim T.O.P. Sweet Americano - B+ It’s a clean and simple taste.  An interesting rendition of a classic Americano with some sweetness.  Has a watery yet slight syrupy texture that is pleasant.  Doesn’t feel over sweetened and quite nice. Maeil- Barista Rules - Madagascar Vanilla Bean Latte - A- This was decent and I’m thinking vanilla is my preferre

Concluding my Tokyo stopover.  Prepared to head over to South Korea for a week.  Pretty much it was hang out in Nampodong and spend time with family. Day 1 - Flight Tokyo —> Busan Day 2 - Ananti Hilton & Lotte Outlets Day 3 - Nampodong - Family Dinner Day 4 - Nampodong - Lotte Mall Day 5 - Nampodong - Lee’s Pizza Day 6 - Busan Coastal Walk Day 7 - Flight back to LAX via HND 1st Day - Arrival into Busan from Tokyo. Got a hair cut and ate dinner at a Pork BBQ restaurant.  Kept it simple as I was up since 4 am in Tokyo and spent over an hour standing on a crowded train. Going to chill and not walk about as much. 2nd Day - Ananti Hilton Busan Stayed a night at Ananti.  Very nice hotel and can’t get this level of luxury stateside for $300 a night. Had lunch at Lotte Premium Outlets while doing some shopping.  The Tonkatsu was good, but Japan is still better.  The Outlets are not really an ‘outlet’ and only slightly cheaper than a regular mall.  Both however are cheaper than stateside