Yankees= AL East Champions, yet again.

13th division crown in 17 years. Back to the post season, here we go! Clinching on the final night of the regular season, with a sweep of the hapless Red Sox in routing fashion and the Orioles losing sealed the deal. How sweet can this get? The Red Sox had called up most of their minor league prospects in this miserable season and finished in last place.

The last time the Kentucky Wildcats won the NCAA title for men's basketball, the Yankees won the World Series. One can only hope that there will be a repeat of 1996.

Thinking is easy, but the doing is hard.

Been inspired to edit my blog after reading tons of professional blogs over the past week and adding on an "about me" section, and sample "professional work". Having specific tags and themes for each post, rather than clumping everything into one. Hmm.

Still trying to figure how to construct this post, of random thoughts classified into their respective sports. Incoherency enters the bloodstream when on the booze wagon, but not now. It can't rock me like a hurricane. I need to have some form of structure, and practice what I parrot to students when judging debates/giving them constructive feedback.

AL Baseball: Less than two weeks till the season is over. So much for Anaheim overpaying for Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. They didn't live up to the hype. Third place in the AL West? Who would have thought that Oakland, with a paltry payroll would be playing bridesmaid to Texas in vying for a spot for the wildcard? Not me. Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout are the future of Anaheim. Not a fan of the team, my gut feeling has Trout winning AL Rookie of the year in a landslide. (Sorry, Pat- your Angels will be staying home in October after a good 4, 5 months of trash talking with you about Angels rocking and my Yankees that suck as you said. Still friends, yea?)

Boston could very well lose 90 games for the first time since the 90's when I was still in elementary school. Bobby Valentine was clearly not the right candidate as the skipper for the team. Right from the get-go of the season, the Red Sox played the slow and painful sinking of the Titanic, ironically on the hundredth anniversary. No prizes for guessing this: Who played the Captain? Bobby Valentine, of course! What a way to go down in style. The Red Sox season has been a soap opera and a bad drama series with nothing but arguing and deceit and accusations. No fried chicken, beer guzzling and video gaming sob's like last year. Well, Josh Beckett, one of the main culprits has been shipped off to the Dodgers with the poster bust child, Carl Crawford.

As for the AL Central, the White Sox might very well win the division and could be a cinderella come October. Robin Ventura has done a fantastic job, going above and beyond expectations in his rookie season as manager. Detroit was supposed to have ran away with the division, but no.

Last but not least, the Yankees have attempted to pull a Red Sox of 2011 collapse in the final month. Baltimore is neck-in-neck with them, the leech that refuses to fall off your skin despite multiple burnings. That's how I view the Orioles. It annoys me that I get so stressed and nerve-wrecked because no win is safe, and two straight losses could spell the takeover and lead given to the Orioles.

Come on Yankees!!!

The NL in one blab: The Phillies season has been an ultimate failure. Washington's dominance has signaled a changing of the guard. The Reds are either hot or ice cold. They might flame out in the division series. So much for Ozzie Guillen's first season in Miami. He couldn't walk the talk and could walk the plank this offseason and end up in the unemployment sack. The Giants have done surprisingly well despite Melky Cabrera's suspension. Dodgers are an ultimate flop. Houston won't do any better next season when they move to the AL West.

In other words, I've had a rough past month(s) and am no longer at that job. It's a learning experience for sure. And to a certain someone, I'm glad we're still friends. :)

Oh, and in college football news, what do Matt Barkley and Peyton Manning have in common? Both have failed to beat their biggest rival teams in every collegiate season they've played. Matt Barkley failed to beat Stanford, with last week's loss to the Cardinals, in his senior season.

Someone met Ben Howland and the UCLA team in China. I'm jealous. Would've been a million times even more if it was the UNC team.

A million thoughts running through my head, but nothing concrete and definite coming out. Been stuck in a rut, in the mud, and can't figure a way out. I need to write. Badly. And the thoughts aren't able to flow properly. The cross between a hurricane and the aftermath when everything is gone and damaged.

Dreams come crashing down like a helicopter shot down in a war torn country. Head down, in a funk. Downward spiral, falling faster, deeper into the pits of the unknown. The feeling of being pulled even further by quicksand sucking you in like going down a never ending drain pipe leading into the sewage, full of darkness. No hope, no chance of survival of reaching sturdy ground to stand on, a free disaster, death wish. Maybe death could come faster and spare the pain and agony and terrifying hell?

"I was here"

One of my favorite things I enjoy doing when I'm out of the country:

Writing on the walls/tables when I'm out of town in a bar/establishment/ guestbook! I absolutely love looking at scribbles especially when others scribble where they are from and adding an extra especially across the big pond makes me feel very privileged and lucky that I was able to be so far out there. Plus the added emo bonus when reminiscing. Here are five photos of me making my mark, enjoy!

The bathroom stall door- Cask and Flagons next to Fenway Park, Boston, MA. January 2012.

MBK Stationery Store (on the testing paper). Bangkok, Thailand May 2011. (That was intended for the crush, who knows who he is.)

Feel Good Bar. Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand. June, 2012.

Bathroom stall in St James Gate Irish Pub. Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands. July, 2010.

Written on the table! And the hot LA boy knows who he is! Where the bucket was heavy and the shots were good and the beers were brewing for him (and me). Angkor What? Pub, Siem Reap, Cambodia. July 2012

Now that the Olympics are officially over,
Ten things that I have learned:

1. The Phelps isn't an instant gold medal generator. He failed to secure the coveted gold in three events. One of which, he did not even medal! Did the bong have an effect?
2. Jamaica has the fastest man and woman on earth.
3. There are probably at least 30 people who represented the state of California.
4. China would rather play it safe in diving.
5. Alex Morgan is going to be a huge womens soccer star for the next decade.
6. Did anyone see it coming-- Mexico winning mens soccer?!
7. The Kiwis have made a name for themselves with anything that has to do with a boat on the water.
8. USA Basketball. Both men and womens. Enough said. (And that is probably my last time rooting for Kobe!)
9. Latin America is rising up! And the fall of Southeast Asia... no country in ASEAN managed to win a single gold.)
10. I wish Def Leppard would have performed at the Opening/Closing ceremony. Okay. I didn't watch either cause I was too tired, and I have a 12 (or 16) self imposed time limit on work before I serve the papers and go forth in bringing my aspiration of being a teacher to reality.

It has been a good 2.5 weeks since the last time I posted here on my penultimate day of vacation.

To keep it short (for now), I had a blast with Pat. It was the hardest goodbye when we met up at the airport again for twenty minutes that very Friday for a short, but emotional farewell. (Romantic, maybe?) Most. Amazing. Person. Ever.

Since I've never actually met a friend  inside the airport, past customs to say those words. Well, I've had booze at 7:30am with Joseph, an attorneywhen I was headed to Korea and he was  headed back home to  LA for Christmas in 2009, but that doesn't count since he lives here.

Ventured into the great unknown, transcending cultural boundaries, stepping foot on new territory, walking on historic ground. I guess that sums up the trip.

Many firsts for me.
1. Meeting a friend on my own in a different country.
2. Spending 6 nights straight with a friend on vacation. (Pat, were you tired of me being in the same room? ;)) This was the longest time I've spent with anyone, just the two of us outta town.
3. Landing at dusk in Thailand. I've been there 6 times and land in broad day light! The lights coloring the city made me feel that this trip was going to be a blast-- it sure was.
4. Not staying in the Chidlom/Siam/National Stadium area for once. We stayed at where the cool pubs were!
5. 9 hours of traveling time by land to Siem Reap. And I thought the 4.5 hour bus ride from Boston to NYC was long... or the 4 hour bus ride from Val D'Isere to Lyon airport...or going back from Brussels to Utrecht (5 hours thanks to traffic!) Longest ever road trip.
6. Going to a new country.
7. Staying in a guest house. Okay, I've never done it before but it was awesome. Um, folks.
8. Watching a movie in a foreign country.
9. Not buying an item of clothing. Uh, every trip I go on I get at least a shirt, or even a pair of socks RE: Korea. The purchases I made were: Deodorant, lip gloss, acne wash, tea tree oil and a knock off iphone cable (thanks to the lovely Pat who gave me his old iphone as my graduation present-- awww!

I'll do a photo blog of things like "My 5 favorite things in a certain city." or 5 photos that sums up (insert city name) that I have been.