As many of you know, it’s time for the holidays. Which means a lot of people will be bombarding the malls to do their holiday shopping. Even malls that are usually empty are now crowded with people. Malls that have been pretty dormant for most of the year seem to have come alive with the hustle and bustle of crowds. (more…)

I went to a screening of “This Is It” the other night. I was very hesitant about going to the screening, partially because it’s a documentary film, which I’m not a big fan of, and partially because I have never been interested in Michael Jackson.

All of my friends who saw the movie gave me positive responses when I said I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to watch the film or not. Even though I still wasn’t convinced by their encouragement, I went to see it to check out why they were so enthusiastic about it. (more…)

With the Holiday season in full swing, we’re starting to receive more out-of-town guests. Some stay for a day or two, others a week or more.

What I’ve found interesting about our last visitor is that she chose to integrate fully with our daily lifestyle and routines. Things that I do every day and sometimes take for granted, like a 30-minute morning walk, or a daily yoga session, and even just things like dancing salsa in the kitchen. (more…)

Ever since I moved out to Los Angeles, my Thanksgivings have been pretty quiet. The only family I have here is a cousin. This year was different.

On Thanksgiving morning, I headed out to a park to play some volleyball with the youth kids. Then I headed over to my cousin’s new house for the first time, and enjoyed a couple of hours of family conversation. Finally, I spent the last few hours of Thanksgiving at a friend’s house, watching a movie and playing games. I couldn’t help but feel very blessed for all the love and camaraderie God threw my way that day. (more…)

Once again, my weekend begins with a night at youth group. Only this time, there’s a twist. The activities coordinator decides that it’s a good idea to have a pie eating contest – more specifically, pumpkin pie slathered with whip cream. Oh yeah, it’s a 12-year-old girl versus an 11-year-old boy. For you competitive types, the girl won, which was hilarious. The fun really began when they decided to try to mash what was left of the pies into peoples’ faces. Now, the girl may have won, but she’s 12, so there’s still over half the pie left. Long story short, I end up getting nailed with pre-chewed pie mixed with liquidy whip cream. Awesome. It got all inside my ear. INSIDE. (more…)

Last week, I had a screening for the new big budget musical movie called “NINE” that will be released on December 25th. In addition to the fact that I love musicals in live theatres and movies, there was the added bonus of a Q&A with all the main cast members: Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, and Judi Dench. I’ve been attending a lot of screenings with Q&A where big famous actors come on the stage, but this is the biggest Q&A I could see. (more…)

My daily schedule the last few weeks was crazy. First of all, the promotion at YogaHub started, so all of us team members were (and still are) totally focused on it.

On top of that, even though I’d been so busy putting in a lot of hours at work, I also had to look for a place to live because I’m moving out of the current place I’m staying at. I opened up several websites so that I could check any vacancies, make appointments, and personally check all potential places that are near the office. That was a lot of time-consuming work during and after work hours. (more…)

Last night, I sat down to watch for the first time “So You Think You Can Dance” on FOX. There was one very moving dance towards the end of the show (danced by Ade and Melissa), which really moved the judges, performers, audience members, and me – who was watching from the privacy of my own home. The dance was about a woman who was fighting breast cancer and a friend who was trying to help her. (more…)

I started learning Koto – a Japanese traditional music instrument – when I was small, and I studied it for 16 years. I did a lot of concerts, at least once a year, at different places in Sapporo, Japan. Before leaving Japan for America, however, I decided to take a break from Koto for a while.

Umm…but a strange thing happened: Koto came to me. Now, you must be wondering what I mean by that.

I never thought about buying a Koto here because I already have two at home in Japan and I didn’t think I would play it here in US. One day, however, my classmate suddenly asked if I was interested in taking a look at a Koto that her friend had just been given from his old friend in San Francisco. I was surprised – how did she know that I played Koto? She said she remembered it from one of our regular conversations! Good memory, I must say…because I don’t even remember mentioning it!! Ha, ha! (more…)

It’s hard to express how to feel when you hear news of Michael Jackson’s death. He was a world-renowned legend who contributed greatly to the music community and broke a lot of barriers for the African American community.

I grew up listening to his music and watching his videos. I remember when “Thriller” first came out on MTV – I was in awe watching it. I remember my mom telling me stories of how she saw the Jackson 5 performing on the streets of New York prior to their hitting stardom.

Radio stations are playing his music non-stop right now. (more…)