Brian Yip's Memorial Day

This was my speech for him during his funeral service. My dog Iria passed away on Feb. 20th and Brian was killed in an accident 6 days later on Friday Feb 26th, 2010.

He was a couple of months away from turning 30...

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Hi my name's Brandon. I've been friends with Brian, ever since we were kids. In fact when my little sister was born in 1981, I wanted to trade her for Brian. This didn't really matter too much, as my family and his family use to have several vacations together.

Camping together in Yosemite or Big Sur, we invented this thing called water hiking. Instead of hiking on the trails, we would wade through the streams that ran parallel to the trail. This was actually quite a bit more dangerous than we anticipated. Rocks were slippery, and there were spots were it became quite deep.

Quite often he would spend a week or so at my parents house during the summers. We would spend the time playing games during the day and then at night, we would watch late night television when my parents were asleep. This consisted mostly of re-runs of Remington Steele, Silk Stalkings and of course the hilarious sketches of SNL. Of course what midnight viewing be without food? We would make ourselves waffles or have instant noodles. It's a wonder we didn't turn out to be fat kids.

We both had similar tastes in movies... i guess pretty much any boy would. Star Wars, Die Hard, Terminator, and of course those handful of chinese films our parents would bring home... like Panty Hose Hero or any movie with Jet Li or Jackie Chan. Brian had the best memory, and he could always quote something from any of them. One of my favorite quotes that Brian would say were from the first Terminator.

The terminator arrives from the future naked. He's walking down the street towards these 3 punks, and one of the punks go " nice night for a walk eh?".

The terminator responds.. "nice night for a walk."
Punks say: "Wash day tomorrow, nothing clean right?".
Terminator: "No clean clothes right."
Punks: "I think this guy's a couple of cans short of six pack!?"
Terminator responds: "your clothes give them to me now."

Ahh those were the simpler days... times without responsibility or money. Of course without money we could never have been introduced to Japanese manga. Around 10 years ago my older brother started collecting these Japanese Comic books called Manga. Brian and I would sit for hours reading a martial arts comedy called Ranma. While browsing the local japanese bookstore, I found another manga by the same author called Maison Ikkoku. At the time Brian was about the same age as the main character, Yusaku Godai. It was a complicated romantic comedy about a college flunkout who lived in an apartment complex with a lovely young female landlord. He worked hard to finally win over the her heart over the course of 12 volumes. This series really meant something to Brian. I think it was because it appealed to the old school romantic side of him. We use to take trips to the local japanese bookstore every month waiting in anticipation of when the next one volume would come out.

After I graduated college, I sort of drifted off in a different direction than Brian. We didn't hang out as much or chat online. I guess I thought he would always be around, and our kids would grow-up with each other.

Everybody has regrets about Brian's death, and this just means he meant a lot to you. Don't let his death let you forget about all the things that made Brian unique. I know a little bit of him will live on in all of us.

I wish you well my friend, your company will be sorely missed. Most of all... I will miss you reminding me of things I said or did years ago.

Iria's Memorial Day - February 20th

In Mid-February 2010, I had to bring Iria to the vet. She was very lethargic and little to no appetite. Her gums were very pale, so they knew something was seriously wrong. They performed an ultrasound, and found that she had a rupture on her spleen. The vet thought it was cancerous, so they referred me to a specialist.

She was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. It is a fast growing cancer that typically affects the spleen and heart. Unfortunately by the time something is visibly wrong, it is too late. Iria was given a blood transfusion, and a wrap around her abdomen to keep the blood from flowing too fast out of her spleen. This was a temporary solution to allow my little sister time to fly from the east coast to say goodbye.

The blood transfusion really perked Iria up. She was starting to act like her old self. I did some research on the hemangiosarcoma, and there was some anecdotal information that Power Mushrooms and CoQ10 would help give her a better shot at recovery. Unfortunately before I could try anything, she started to do worse. I kept hoping that the bleeding would stop.

Last year on February 20th, I had to put my little girl Iria down. It was the toughest decision in my life. Should I put her down and stop the suffering, or hope she can miraculously recover? During our drive over to the Emergency Pet Clinic, she put her head out the window just like how she use to. She seemed quite perky in the car ride over. I had second thoughts about going through with it, but I knew I had to end her suffering.

One option I was given was to remove her spleen, but there was no guaranteed that the cancer on her heart wouldn't rupture like the one on her spleen. The cancer is very aggressive, and attaches itself to large blood filled organs. I was in the clinic room for over 2 hours deciding. She was with me for 13 years. All through out my college years to get both my degrees. She was always there for me, and the decision to put her down was overwhelming. How DO YOU DECIDE??!?

She helped me get over Tony's death in 2008. She was an excellent running companion, and I miss her greeting me at the door after a tough day at work. I miss her jumping on my bed to go to sleep. Most of all I miss how she would put her nose under my hand to make me pet her.

I miss you my dearest Iria. I miss you so much.

Snowboarding just isn't the same...

I can still hear him say "I have my board hot-waxed and ready to go. Ahh... I love this season!"

It use to be one of my favorite things to do in the winter. Every since Tony left, I just don't have any motivation to it anymore. Sometimes I can trick myself into going, but it's just not the same. We would play some stupid games and photos... like playing follow the leader through the trees and doing jumps or jumping over small trees & pretending we were cool. I always felt like he helped my snowboarding skills improve by challenging me to do more than just fly down the mountain.


This season was going to be one of the best ones ever...

I was suppose to graduate in the summer, but one of my classes didn't count towards my M.S. degree. So last Fall (2008) I finally finished school in time for one of the biggest storms, but I didn't even go until much later. If I had to do everything over again, I would definitely not have gone for a Master's degree. It was a waste of time, and there was so much more I could have done. All those mountains to be conquered either by snowboarding or by mountain biking...

Would it be harder to know when you were going to die or to let it be a surprise?

Hot & Humid in Hong Kong

I know I don't blog too often, but I feel like I need to fill a void in my life with something. Even if no one reads this; at least it will journalize those fleeting moments in my life.

Being here in Hong Kong is a little bittersweet, and it's definitely hard to fly after such an emotional weekend. The world continues to turn... and commitments have been made... One step forward... One day at a time...

The flight here from SFO to Hong Kong took about 13.5 hours, and the food they serve on Cathay Pacific is really good. I had two meals lunch & dinner, and they served a ton of snacks on the way over. Sorry no pics... I was too hungry. Even though I ate every 4 hours with snacks in between, I was still hungry.



When we arrived in HK, we went out to eat. The food here is pretty good, and the Won Ton Mein is almost as good as the stuff in Vancouver.



Posing in front of the WonTon restaurant. From left to right (my oldest sister - Terrina, my youngest brother - Matthieu, my youngest sister - Korrina, and her boyfriend - Benson).


Here we are eating... sorry for the bad angle. I didn't bring a tripod with me, so I had to make do with what was available... a short table and a spoon to prop up the lens. (Left to right: Auntie Pontie, Matthieu, my father, Korrina, Benson, Terrina, and B-Rad).


The view from the hotel is pretty awesome here at night.

The day isn't so good... it's overcast and raining... and still pretty hot & humid.

Ride on Tony, Ride on...

Thanks Clinton for helping me write the eulogy, I couldn't have finished it without your help!

For those unable to make the Memorial Service on August 2nd, I thought I would post this up in a tribute to the greatest guy I know.

Read the adventures of Tony

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Hi my name is Brandon or as Tony liked to call me, B-Rad.

I met Tony in 2005 and we quickly became close friends. I think we met online through a forum, some mutual friends created. Tony had this outgoing personality that made everyone feel at ease.

As everyone knows, Tony was an athlete. He was in great shape and always working out at the gym. Our friends once asked him to help move a couch and before he did he replied, "What!?!? These!?! They're just for looks." But we all knew better. We knew he worked hard so he could satisfy his love for adventure. It was in those adventures that he and I built a bond.

In the winter of 2005/2006, we both purchased season passes to Northstar & Sierra snow resort. We did a lot of riding, tree dodging, and jumps. I was not very good with the later, but Tony always convinced me to keep trying to improve.

We also went to Sugarbowl that season. We carpooled up there, and started riding around 8:30 in the morning. 

It snowed the day before, so we had fresh tracks. There was so much powder it was funtastic. We were exploring the resort when a cave came to view from the chairlifts. We were pretty psyched, so we fought our way through the powder to our destination. 

The cave wasn't as impressive as we thought. We were disappointed by its small size and the odd smell. We took some pics and jammed down to some more tree runs.

We were riding in the trees, when Tony disappears. I call out his name wondering where he went, and I hear his voice saying "watch out for the hole". I ride down a little further, and I see Tony in a hole about 10 feet deep. I was laughing so hard. It was such a funny scene, I just had to take a picture of it. So I reach into my pocket to take a snapshot w/ my camera... doh!... batteries dead. Look for my cellphone left it at the car. So I ask Tony, "Hey do you have something to take a photo with?" oh yeah... he has his cameraphone. It was pretty funny that Tony was willing to let me use his cameraphone to take a capture this incident. It speaks volumes about a person's character when he could laugh at himself. Confident, but not arrogant. When I reach down to grab the cellphone, I flip over and somehow land feet first into the hole as well. Tony's busting up laughing. My feet start to get wet from a small stream of melting snow beneath me.

Here I am, the rescuer needing rescue. He eventually helps me up, and we climb out. On the way down, we see some more holes near the main trail, and Tony notices what looks like someone's ski pole sticking out of one of these holes. We slide over and a skier was trapped in a similar situation to us, but he was completely stuck in the hole. He had very little room to maneuver, and the only thing holding him up were his skis. I ride down to get ski patrol, while Tony stayed behind. Ski patrol had to use a snow mobile to pull the guy out. Neither the skier nor I would have made it out safely without Tony then again, I probably wouldn't have fallen in. Either way, Tony was a hero on that crazy memorable day.

The best part of the day was that these tickets were free! This became an annual tradition for us.

If there was snow in the Tahoe, I could always count on him to go snowboarding. I'm not able to snowboard at the same level as Tony, but he always encouraged me to be better. We had so many adventures at Northstar, Sierra, & Sugarbowl in Tahoe, and Whistler & Blackcomb in Canada.

Tony also convinced me to try mountain biking, another activity he loved. So I bought a used mountain bike from Craigslist, and on the first time up... Tony takes a group of us to the Marin Headlands. A monstrous climb of about 1.5 miles greeted us. Out of all the people there... only Tony made it to the top w/o walking. But it was well worth the struggle because after that climb, we were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the bay.

Since then, Tony and I have gone on to ride numerous mountain biking trails: Skeggs point by Woodside, Soquel Demonstration Park by Santa Cruz, Waterdog in Belmont, Sea Otter at Laguna Seca, and Mt Tam/Muir Woods in Mill Valley.

Tony was one of those guy you could count on to be there for you. If you needed to throw a party, he would help out to make sure it was fun and exciting. If you fall, he would be the first one there to take photographic evidence and to help you up. He was always willing a friend move into their apartment. He offered to tune up our bikes and even spent a day assembling some for charity. When asked why he would spend a Saturday like that, he replied "Because I'm giving back in a way that I enjoy. And it's just a nice thing to do."

Tony was the greatest friend a guy could ask for. He was outgoing, adventurous, funny, dependable, and honest. He saw the best in everyone and inspired us to improve. He was like a brother to me and my best friend. It's been difficult for everyone to digest that Tony's gone. And a part of me still doesn't believe it. He was too healthy, and vibrant to be taken away so soon. 

Tony had many great adventures. There is no doubt in my mind that he lived life to the fullest, and he is enjoying an even greater adventure now.

I miss you Tony. Thank you for all the joy and great memories you shared with me. On behalf of all of our friends, thank you and know that we love you. We love you Tony. Ride on... Ride on.

Spring Anime Releases!!!

There are a couple of new anime recently released last week. Here are a couple of my favorites of the Spring releases (the closer to the top, the more I like it).

- Macross Frontier
- Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (season 2)
- xxxHolic Kei
- Allison & Lillia
- Blassreiter
- Vampire Knight
- Bus Gamer

Still one of my favorites - D.Gray Man! Keeps the lovin' comin' with a lot of insane action sequences, great artwork, and comic relief at the end of each episode.

Turning Wheels for Kids - Great Success!!

Thanks to Tony and Jin for coming out and helping at Turning Wheels for Kids!  It was a huge success!  We built 1800 bikes in 4 hours!!!!

Tony and Jin did most of the work... All I did was pump some tires up, take out the trash, haul the unassembled bikes over, etc.  (I really just chatted it up with some cuties over in the other section... but hey keep that on the DL).

I'm a little strapped for cash, and it was well worth the time spent there.

Things to do before the year ends:
- Donate my super precious Blood, cuz I'm Universally loved!  What's up O positive!
- Volunteer Work over at Turning Wheels for Kids (aka pick up on chicks)
- Update my blogs
- Go snowboarding
- Get started on my Master's Project due next semester
- Finish painting my new pad
- Move into my new pad

I'm almost half way done.... too bad there is only 2 more weeks in December eh?  Not sure I can fit snowboarding in... since I'm flat broke.

BTW:  I'm starting a new donation organization called... "Send Brandon Snowboarding".  If you would like to donate, you can paypal me or drop me a couple of bucks (you'll see me begging downtown... let me know if you have a good spot!).