Top 10 Most Memorable Moments Since I Graduated San Jose State University

December 1997. It was my last month in college, turning in homework, taking exams, and writing term papers . . . anything a professor requires in his or her class. 10 years passed with a degree in Economics. Here I am. I'm currently work at Cisco as a contractor, drive own my car, play Team Fortress 2 online, work out at the gym, watch anime, hang out with friends, accomplish my goals, and find who I am. Honestly, I still consider myself lost ^^^ Between December 1997 and today, lots of events, moments, and incidents happened to me. Most of those happened since September 2004. I'm going to be honest. I want to share those events, moments, and incidents. I want to share now instead of when I'm 40 years old and creating my Top 40 Most Memorable Moments. (My Top 30 Most Memorable Moments when I turned 30 years old can be viewed at www.innovateinfinitely.com/topten.html. Scroll down or click the link Top 30 Most Memorable Moments.) Celebrating my 10 years out of college, here is the Top 10 Most Memorable Moments Since I Graduated San Jose State University. 10 Las Vegas Trip (December 2004). My friend Steve and I took a mini vacation to Las Vegas. We stayed one night at Paris Las Vegas and the second night at the Bellagio. Both of us agreed the Bellagio is the best hotel room we stayed. It was worth the price. We also went to Fremont Street and played $2-$4 limit Texas Hold'em. Unfortunately, we both lost money. Our best event was playing the camel race game Chariots (something) and playing craps at Luxor. Monday Night Football, gambling, and complementary bottle water were great Monday night entertainment. 09 Oregon Trip (November 2005). My Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt, and I took a road trip to Oregon to buy real estate. We drove from the Bay Area to Oregon, a 14 hour drive. During the trip to and from Oregon, we gambled in the Indian casinos. I won $100.00 $-) We also shopped in outlet stores and visited Multnomah Falls and downtown Portland. We stayed in the Salem area. We talked to a real estate agent who gave us a list of homes for sale. We did a self-tour. In the end, the timing was not right to buy. Glad we didn't buy any homes. My favorite parts were no sales tax and when you buy gas, the gas attendant must fill your gas. 08 Innovate Infinitely Was Created (November 2000). There is no innovateinfinitely.com without Innovate Infinitely. Innovate Infinitely was created when I was driving to Japantown-San Jose. Initially, I needed a web page theme because my family, friends, and acquaintances' web pages have a theme. I wanted a never stop learning theme. Always find ways to be a better person. And when you accomplished something, find another way to improve it. At a stop light, the words Innovate and Infinitely came to my mind. I said the words together, "Innovate Infinitely . . . Never Stop Innovating Life." Today, I'm innovating infinitely--always finding something new to learn, always improving what I know, always creating, and always becoming a better person professionally and personally. 07 www.innovateinfinitely.com Is Online (May 1, 2004). On June 2003, I choose to create a new web site with a new design to promote Innovate Infinitely. Everything I learned in the 30 years at work, in leisure, at San Jose State, reading books, and living life everyday can be summarized in two words-Innovate Infinitely. It took 10 months finding a web hosting company, learning how to register a domain name, how the Domain Name Servers work, and learning the basics of web pages and the Internet. The experience and journey were worth the adventure. I admit I have lots more to learn. www.innovateinfinitley.com is a start. I hope the people who visit my web site are satisfied and come back to visit again. 06 Anime Expo 2006 (July 2006). What a happy vacation and happy time: CLAMP panel, meeting new people, took lots of cosplay pics, Vic Mignogna panel, Full Metal Alchemist movie, Full Metal Alchemist mini gathering, meeting new people, . . . . the list goes on. I rarely stayed in my hotel room. 05 The Next Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2002)? The first time I heard of Robert Kiyosaki was a late night infomercial. The infomercial was the only infomercial I watched from beginning to end. The information made perfect sense. L.M, a friend and former co-worker, introduced Kiyosaki with greater detailed. She told me about Kiyosaki's books, tapes, seminars, and the web page. I went to Costco the same week and I saw Kiyosaki's first book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I purchased the book, read the book, and became more aware about my financials and my future. I read books by Peter Lynch, learned how to read a financial statement, attended seminars, read more Kiyosaki books, and, in short, started to learn more about businesses and expand my skills and knowledge professionally and personally. In 1999 when I was out of college, I never had a five year plan. Today, I have a five year plan. I want to innovate myself with knowledge and skills in technology, web pages, stock market, and whatever else I'm interested in learning. Also, I want to meet and know more people-expand my circle of friends, family, and acquaintances. Ms. L.M., we do keep in touch from time to time and it's hard with our busy schedules. When I make my first million dollars, I'm going to make sure you are appreciated. Update: Ms L.M. is currently working at Cisco. We do have lunch together and chat. 04 My First Car (May 2007). My neighbor and his wife moved to Virginia (or was it West Virginia?) and they sold their second car to me. The car is a 2005 Toyota Camry V6. The car runs great. I look forward to future adventures. And the car has air condition. I mention air condition because there was no air condition in my Dad's older cars I drove. 03 My Job At Cisco Systems, Inc. (March 19, 2007). I paid $100.00 at careerbuilder.com to increase my chances of my resume appearing on employers search for 30 days. I got a call for an interview at Cisco for a contractor position eight days after I paid. I was hired. No more Colliers International. No more working on their crappy databases they have failed since 1997. No more working with my dumb-ass co-worker. No complaints working at Cisco ;-) My department had an off-site meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on my second week at Cisco. And speaking of Canada . . . 02 Washington Canada Trip (August 2005). Lots of first visiting Steve who lives in Washington. First time: visiting Washington including Seattle, visiting Victoria and Vancouver British Columbia in Canada, visiting a foreign country, visiting Steve at his home, gambling in an Indian casino, riding a ferry, Steve doing all the driving ^__^, heck, the entire trip was a first, first, first. Excellent and full of fun, fun, fun. Thank you Steve for organizing the trip XD Oh, and no potholes in the Washington roads. 01 First Cosplay (September 2004). In Fanime Con 2004, I watched 17 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist. I stayed awake during the entire marathon. The series was that goddamn good. I loved the series. Edward Elric rocked. After watching the series, I said to myself, "I'm going to cosplay as Edward Elric." I want to thank my Mom for making my Edward Elric (and my Syaoran and Hitsugaya) cosplays. My Mom is teaching me how to sew while making my fourth cosplay. I cosplayed for the first time at Japan Town Anime Faire 2 (JTAF 2). I remember people taking pictures of me and meeting new people especially other cosplayers in Full Metal Alchemist. Cosplaying at JTAF 2 opened my eyes as an anime fan. Being an anime fan is more than watching anime and attending anime conventions. Just like any hobby and interest, being an anime fan is meeting new people. If I didn't cosplay, I quit being an anime fan. Once you cosplay, you can't stop ^__^