USAV Puget Sound Regional

I wasn't planning on playing this tournament but since it was the last one for our region then might as well. My friend Sheona Traylor flew in from San Francisco to play with our team which she tried to surprise me with but I ended up surprising her when she found out that day that I was in the same team she was playing in.


The gym was literally in the middle of nowhere down in Puyallup. This was my view on top of the morning when we had to officiate the first match.

And of course, I managed to hurt myself in the last tournament. I was going for a swing in the outside when I slipped on my first step and rolled my ankle pretty bad. My first thought was "Shit! We only have 6 and if I dropped, the whole team might be dropped for the tournament." I tried to get a feel of it and it was painful. We had an automatic medical timeout so I had time to walk it off. The team then decided to switch me to setting so its less jumping for me. We pulled off a 4-2 pool play standing and was seeded 3rd coming in to the tournament play.

We had great runs and matches all day but by the finals match we were all tired from non stop playing and ended up finishing 2nd place. I should say though that it wasn't bad and I'm not bitter about it. We had a great season winning 2 tournaments. And the priceless memories and fun that we had on this tournament was something to treasure for a lifetime.

(L-R) RochelleRochelle(?), Penetra, Idaho, Sheona, ChaCha and Nicki Minaj

Looking foward for future tournaments with you guys again. This is the volleyball that I know, competitive but fun is always priority... well maybe those occasional injuries. LOL!

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

Outdoors season begins

It was a gorgeous Sunday in Seattle and everybody took advantage and enjoyed it. We decided to go to the park and play some outdoors volleyball. I know its just Spring but if this is a preview of summer then there's gonna be a lot of outdoorsy stuff in the our future.

Can't wait for more sunny and nice weather here in Seattle!

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

USAV Puget Sound Region

Just wanted to make a quick post of this pics taken from the two separate USAV tournaments we played at. Our team name is DTF (figure it out), such a bunch of fun people to play with with no drama
 (well not until later from other people. LOL!).

(L-R) Dylan, Chris, ChaCha, Rick, Cody, Gabe, Ronald and Nack (Bottom)

(L-R) Brian, Fred, Nack, Dylan, ChaCha, Jaquan, Cedric

We won Gold on A/BB Division on both tournaments and we are super happy with that.It's nice to just get in the court and enjoy what all enjoy doing together. Team Chemistry is a must and eventhough we all don't play together as a team, we found that chemistry and built it up progressively. 

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

Current Knick-Knacks...

• I think I'm getting sick. Went to bed last night with a lil sinus and headache. Ugh!
• I'm not sure if I should be excited for league tonight since my knee is not in a good condition and I haven't played in like 3 weeks.
• I can't wait for the weekend. I don't know why
• I stepped up and training somebody new at work since she is not learning anything from the previous one. Lol!
• I'm CRAVING SUSHI!!!

San Jose 2013

I can't believe that its been a month and I still haven't finalized this blogpost. I ws waiting on some pictures to come up and this is the best that I can find from our trip to San Jose for a volleyball tournament (like usual) but above all, to hang out with tons of friends. 
The night before we left, Bitter, Sean and Tyra decided to stay at my house so that we can just get shuttled from one area to the airport. It's much easier and we get to have some drinking night as well... again, like usual. Haha! On top of that, I was of course packing last minute. Nothing new with that with my travels!

Photo time while hanging out and drinking. This was our usual situation. My sofa bed on the living room spread open and Bitter (at the very back) would be under the sheets. And next thing you know...

This happens!!! He always passes out in the middle of our good times! What the hell?!?
We got into San Francisco and got to our hotel where our friend Roel works and hooked us up with a room. Nothing fancy but it was a decent hotel room that we just needed. Little did I know there's gonna be tons of us in one wing of the hotel. All Pinoys (Filipinos) ! All Bakla's (Gays)! We took a nap when we got there to catch up with some zzz's from the previous night. I didn't even sleep coz I was more entertained drinking versus packing. We finally ventured out lil before 2pm after having a slight delay with our car situation.

I remember this joint that my friend Junarta took Mappy (from Chicago) and I when we visited 2 years ago for the Sacramento tournament. The filipino joint called Tselogs was so good that I wanted the "ladies" to experience as well. As soon as we got there our eyes was feasting over the menu for we all wanted ever single item. Good thing there was 4 of us that we can all order different kinds to share and experience. We all agreed to order the specialty of the house like Tapsilog, Tocilog, Sisigsilog and the likes. But what is a filipino breakfast without some Garlic rice and some Lumpia on the side. It was just as good as I remember, if not better. We were all full and was ready to nap again. 
But since we are by the city already, why not see the Golden Gate bridge? I've seen the bridge numerous times and I've been with Bitter there, Bitter and Sean has seen it together but Tyra has never seen it and the look on her face was priceless.

I've never driven at the bay before whenever I visit but this time was different. Since I was more familiar of the area I was the designated driver for the tour. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I just hate driving more so in a place where I'm not as familiar with the driving situation.

Tyra snapped some pictures right away!  (which she still yet to post explaining the delay of this post)

I took the same shot the last time I was there on July last year. When Bitter and I was there moons ago, we were only able to see the view from the other side of the bridge but this was better. You have the view of the city and a nice view of Alcatraz as well.
We then rushed back to our hotel to get ready for our registration for the tournament. Imagine 4 people with one shower/restroom is kinda chaotic (maybe smelly lol).

It was so good to see my Chics again!

A group pic with Panda, me, BJ and Chics at Hi Tops in Castro area.

It's always good to see this guy.  We got hungry on our way back after the rather boring clubbing night at Castro. The Cafe was not the ticket that night! So I called "Daddy" for our usual... Jack in the Box!!! He drove all the way from Sunnyvale which was quite a distance from where we were staying at but because he loves me so much, he'd do it anyways. LOL!

Meet the 2 lovebirds. You should have seen the twinkle in their eyes once they saw each other. It was so cute. Almost puppy love. No, they are not together but we just kept insisting that they look cute together. Haha!

Game time!!!
The competition was pretty good like every year that I've been there. This tournament is close to my heart because it was one of the tournaments when I started traveling for volleyball. I've met so much people who I still treasure to this day.

This is Daddy's baby Baileigh who I adore.

Being silly with Baileigh!

Daddy trusted me to bring her outside with me coz I promised her that we would go to the park.  She saw this dog (forgot the name) and got so excited!

This is a pic of us when she was 4 months old in Vegas and now turning 3 at the Bay. I can't believe how fast she's grown. She was just in her mom's belly when I first met Daddy.

After pool play on Saturday, we were so excited about partying all together at the hotel. There was tons of us there and I can't believe we were able to fit in one room. Dudz, Heart, Tony and JenJen presented their business but I could tell not even half way thru it that everyone was just excited to drink and party it up.

Here's is my team at the tournament... Team SuperFish!!! (L-R) Panda, Koi, Momma Fish, Smash, Scruff, BJ and Angry Bird) We did well in the tournament and progressed nicely unfortunately we didnt medal. But what matters is that we had fun and fought a good battle.

Here is a cute action shot from the tournament

I played libero like usual and good thing my knees held pretty nicely all weekend.

This next series of pictures was when most of us got together at the other gym while watching the semi-finals til finals. Ok, let's be honest... we barely watched any games but there was a beer garden and other drinks around so we just started the party right there and then. 

Trying to do a nice group pic...

And this where it got all crazy. LOL!

Never trust those red cups!

Immitating the Charlie's Angels with Tati and Victoria

The San Jose NAGVA Spice Gurls!!! LOL!!!

Another family pic with Daddy, Ninz and Peachy. I love them so much!

A picture with Daddy while we were at Ninz place with everybody drinking the night away.
I didn't get to sleep before our flight home. Went back to the hotel after driving the drunk baklas. Took a shower and took off to the airport. We even left Ian at the hotel coz he won't wake up but miraculously made it to the airport in time.

My first night back home, Daddy Facetimed me and look who it is... Baby Baileigh!!!

We got to chat a lil bit and missing her so much that night.. Ok Daddy, you too.

It was a fun trip over all like always. Our family is growing with newer generation of volleyball players coming in. I feel so old around them but keep me young coz all we do is laugh about everything and anything!

Can't wait to see everyone next month for a real vacation in LA. No volleyball tournaments and just pure vacation!

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

Finding Nemo

I was so excited when I found out that my "eldest son" was gonna be visiting town from SoCal. He moved down there not to long ago to start school and for a change of scenery. As far as I remember, he's  been wanting to move to SoCal and when he found the chance to do so.   I got a call from Nemo last Thursday and was wanting to meet up but I just left work and was at Southcenter mall with my friend Tyra. But we made sure that we would see each other even for a lil bit befor he heads back to SoCal. Sunday was a good oppurtunity. I was in the hill for a baby shower but told him that I would be able to meet up with him after. The gang decided to grab some drinks at Purr after the baby shower and it was perfect timing that they were in the area.   Outside Purr since Nemo is underage   I was glad to see Nemo (center) and finally meet his boy Cole. I have heard great things about him since they got together and sure enough he is just how Nemo described him to me. Nemo and Cole seems really happy and I can't stop but notice the smiles that they give to each other. It was nice to be able to chat and catch up with how things are going with him/them.   Cole, Nemo and I at open gym Monday   I was lucky enough to see them again at open gym. After they stopped by on Sunday open gym, they thought might as well play some volleyball on Monday and have more time hanging out with the Seattle peeps just like the good old days.   I really wish all the best for Nemo. And I hope he finally gets back to school this fall as planned. Plus, he has good potential on making the volleyball team at the junior college that he is planning to go to.   I'll miss you again Nemo! I hope to see you on April when we plan on visiting SoCal. not usingxoxo, ChaCha  

UW #blackoutUSC in a sweep

It was a good week to be a Husky it at least in my case a Husky fan. On Wednesday, the ladies of UW volleyball beat #4 UCLA in 5 sets and the UW Football team beat Stanford. And last night, #5 UW Volleyball sweeps #3 USC Trojans. 

The young team stayed composed as strong. Errors here as there have away points but they definitely came back strong in every rally. Krista Vansant was on fire the whole match and the Dawgs defense was on point and they definitely played a lot better compared to their match vs UCLA. 

#blackoutUSC

Kylin Munoz don't normally serve in rotations with their 6-2 offense line-up but she killed it on the service line finishing the match with 5 aces. Girl has a killer serve. Go Ky!!!

Sorry for the blurry pic but everybody was excited after winning the match. We have the best fans here in Washington. The Dawg Pack definitely pumps up the crowd every time. 

Hopefully the winning streak continues on their away matches. Home court advantage is definitely a huge factor in a match. But as strong as the look right now, I have faith that this girls will bring it!  

#GODAWGS!!!

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

Something different on a Sunday

As far as I remember, my Sunday's has always been consumed by open gym volleyball since I moved here in Seattle but it was a lil different yesterday. We just played our league tournament on Sunday so I'm pretty burnt out fromo playing volleyball so it was a perfect oppurtunity to do something different rather my normal Sunday routine.

Fortunately, we didn't have to think of an alternative activity yesterday. It was our friends son Aleq's birthdya celebration at Acme Bowl. We used to bowl a lot when I was under age but it has been a long time since the last. I have to admit, I was a bit rusty but 111 wasnt bad right?

not using xoxo,

ChaCha

I left my ♥ in San Francisco

I've been lazy with blogging lately that I am so behind on things. I always tell myself that "I will blog today" but just the motivation is not there. First off, I finally found an iPhone app that puts watermarks on pictures. I've been looking for one in forever and now that I have one, I am too lazy to edit pictures which is another reason why I haven't been blogging. Not that my pictures are great because most of them are just taken from my phone but I've seen some of my pictures on other blogs before without any link back or credit.

Anyways...
I was in San Francisco couple of weeks ago for a volleyball tournemant. It is my 4th year in a row of participating on that tournament and it just never gets old. I love the Bay Area so much that everytime I have an oppurtunity to visit I would go. I have so much friends who lives there and they help my stay feel at home.

This time, I went with fellow Seattleites Grimace and Big Momma Fish. We decided to make a team the last minute since we have nothing to do. Haha! We picked up other players to fill in our team with Ginger Albatross Rich from Canada, Michael and Adam from Arizona, Dennis from Hawaii and Angry Bird Oliver from San Jose,CA Like the usual, I was only able to take some pictures from my iPhone3gs. I'll grab some more pictures on my fb once I collected more tagged pictures.

I've only seen the Golden Gate from the park before the toll gates and wanted to see it from another perspective. My friend Tony and Jet took me and couple of the Seattleites to the other side overlooking the bridge. It was GORGEOUS! I can just picture the opening credits of the Charmed which I love and actually seeing it was just breathtaking.


I call this trip my trip on a budget. My trips to San Francisco has always been inexpensive since I have friends to stay in and show me around everytime. I decided to save some more money from doing carry ons instead of checking in my luggage which cost $25 per bag and I also took public transportation to and from the airport in Seattle. I can do this again!


My friend Sheona took me and Raja from Houston to an In-n-Out joint. I've had this before but Raja was a virgin and she was so excited. 1 Cheeseburger with Fries and Milkshake sealed the deal for me.


For dinner, we feasted in a Korean BBQ place to celebrate Heart's birthday. It was delicious but it wasn't Palace Korean in Seattle or Sunya in LA.


I can never get tired of this view overlooking the city from Heart and Tony's house. I love the variety of the weather which goes from cloudy just like this picture to a super clear view.
This is my "sister" JhenJhen and I when we just woke up and enjoying the view. Another sister of mine Jel who lives in Chicago was there too. The last time we were together in San Francisco was about 4 years ago and it was just about time for a reunion in the Bay. We went sight seeing at Fisherman's Warf togehter with JhenJhen who took this shot for us. The view of the city from Fisherman's Warf.
Tell me why did we stay here for 30 minutes just to watch the Sealions annoy each other and make their noises? Haha!

Thanks John for the picture.
We met up with other friends from Chicago who wanted to go to this dessert cafe in Little Italy. The walk was horendous from the Warf that my feet started hurting coz I was wearing my sandals but it was all worth it. I couldn't help but reminisce the first time I was in San Francisco in 2003 (?) once I saw Monalisa restaurant with my super friend John. We ate dinner there and it was delicious.

Steps of Rome Caffe is a lil dessert place filled with tons of sweet treats.
I ordered a Tiramisu combined with couple of glasses of white wine. It was SO GOOD!

We went to registration down in San Jose,CA that night. I didn't have much pictures that night coz I was a lil "tipsy" prior to getting there so I just sat on a corner hiding from humiliation. LOL!
Daddy and I at the gym.
Team Hyphy and Thai Iced Tea on Semi-finals was the match of the weekend for me. It was a showdown of Polynesians and Thai players. Amazing!!!
This was the view from our Hotel on a beautiful Monday.

We started our day with some yummy breakfast at Cafe Flora at Market St. I highly recommend this place for breakfast with their specials. It was "Bear weekend" when we were there so I had the Bear Special breakfast like most of us did.

Ginger Albatross and I at breakfast.
After breakfast Tony and Jet and I played catch up and went to Sausalito with some appetizers and drinks. We didn't really care that it was just 3pm. We are such TROUBLES together anyways.
View from Sausalito.

I can't wait for my next trip to the Bay. This trip made me realize how much I miss the city. I would visit twice or three times a year but been slacking lately.

not using xoxo,
ChaCha