(Some of you guys know this post as The Origins Part 2, I renamed it and reposted because I know a lot of people havent read it and thought it was interesting. This post was originally posted on Oct 27, 2008. I dont know where My Origins Part 1 is where I talked about my parents story to Canada…if anyone knows, lemme know. lol)

As promised, here is part two of the story of my mediocre life. lol
We’ll pick up from where we left off, but here are some random childhood pics, of course I had a lot more childhood pics…cant seem to find them all.Above is a picture of my mother and myself …yea, she was a glam mom. Forever thinking she’s hot type thing. Funny thing is my moms 40 now and still thinks shes hot. My mom goes shopping more than my gf…or almost any girl I know…combined. Sometimes I hate the fact that my mom’s young because people think Im her bf…*will barfs*
But it works out too, so the fuckin pervs dont gawk at her…the lord knows Id deck any fool who was bothering my mother.
The great thing about my mom is, she doesnt look like she’s aged a day. She’s still the most beautiful woman I know…just thank god she doesnt have that hair anymore…lol
Below is a pic of me and my pops…(and my mom in the photo frame.) Umm…he still looks pretty much the same now, well not exactly the same cuz that would be embarrassing.
The picture below this is kinda humorous…yet not…
My mom didnt want a son at first, she thinks boys are a headache. She wished she had a daughter. I guess when you’re really young, u just look like a kid, if you had short hair ud look like a boy, and if it was long u looked like a girl…my mom kept my hair long…tisk. And if you could also notice, she also painted my finger nails…(not cool mom)So the story starts off here.
My parents arrived in Canada in the middle of the winter. Imagine, Vietnam to snowland…lol.
I was born on June 20th, 1985 on a hot summer afternoon at the Toronto General Hospital (College and University Ave) (thats right mother fuckers! Im a citizen, eat that! No more FOB jokes!) lol.
My parents had only been in the country for about 5 months. My dad started working several jobs at night while trying to learn English in school during the day. I remember my pops always telling about how hard it was to trek through snow when you’re always underdressed and only have canvass shoes.

We lived in this spot right here, on top of a convenience store at Dufferin and Dundas. It was a tiny ass place. It was a bachelor that housed my pops, my ma and myself. Well come to think of it, it wasnt really a bachelor…it was one big room with a kitchen, and bedroom in it, with a random closet where you showered inside. We slept on mattresses on the floor and shared a washroom in the hallway with some random white people on the same floor.
I remember one time pooing…or I dont know what the fuck I was doing cuz I was less than 2, but I was in the washroom and the old lady from next door ‘accidentally’ opened the door…you know how old women look like in flickering dim lighting and ghetto surroundings…scary as fuck. Thats my word.
I remember nights in the kitchen when my mom would rock me to bed, in a room probably no more than 8×8 ft. My dad would be trying to sleep to work the next day, but would be frustrated and aggravated by my constant crying, so my mom had to carry me out to the hallway or another room, i cant remember too clearly, but she would put me to sleep there. My mom spent sleepless nights in the kitchen just singing lullabies to me that I still have not forgotten the words to and falling asleep on a wooden chair in a room that was only lit by a candle. Who said being a mother was easy right? I love you mom.
My mom told me stories about how I was a very needy baby, how she was never allowed to be out of my sight. My mom said I was so clingy that even when she went to the washroom she had to bring me in too. She would sometimes face me the other way on the sink counter so I couldnt see her while she was using the washroom, but I would cry as soon as I couldnt see her no more. lol
Anyone who knows me, knows Im a mama’s boy.
My parents had a really rough beginning in Canada. The new country really tested their strength and commitments, unfortunately my parents couldnt do it and they fell apart before I was 2.
I know what happened between the both of them, but its probably best that I dont expose that to the world…at least not until my E True Hollywood story is released. lol
I just really wish I was able to grow up with both parents. I know there are a lot of people reading this right now who grew up with only one parent, usually your mother, but to everyone else who did grow up with both, consider yourselves very very fortunate. Do not take that for granted.
Lets say things went horribly wrong between my parents, like really wrong. I dont blame anyone more than the other, but I can imagine it must be hard, splitting in a new country when you have a child and no friends or family to support you. No one speaks you language or shares your culture. You have no where to go but home everyday after coming home from your miserable low paying job. Its a cold country which only intensifies the misery, and everyone goes about their business and doesnt really ever stop to say hi. I just know Id be pissed as hell to run away from a war torn country, to end up in a new one without the woman I married, loved, had a child and who I came with and having to start in a completely new surrounding all on my own. It doesnt get lonelier than that.
This is why I never make fun of immigrants. It must be so hard, the stress of getting settled and learning a new language, understanding a new culture, being isolated and excluded from the community, not being able to fully experience and enjoy what the new country has to offer you because of racism, discrimination and intimidation.
I cant even imagine where to thank my parents for having to deal with those first however many years in Canada in order for me to be born in a country with ‘more’ opportunities.
But like I said, Im not blaming any of my parents…its in the past now.
My dad took me away at first to try to raise me on his own and left my mother. He moved in with my grandmother where he was only able to keep me for a few weeks until my mom found him and took me back.
My mother left my dad and lost contact with her mother for sometime.

This was the entrance to the upstairs apartment above the store.

My mom and I later moved into the east side of town.
Some of you guys may know this, and some of you may not, but there’s actually an east chinatown. Spadina and Dundas is west china town. Gerard and Broadview is east chinatown. Im sure there are a shit load of u guys reading this that are from Toronto that didnt even know that. Its not a side of town many people travel through if you’re not from there. If you think Spadina is grimey, than you aint seen nothing yet til you hit Broadview. Word.

If I thought the beginning between my parents were rough, man, it only got worse from here. Due to the nature of blogs being so public (obviously), im obviously going to have to leave out a lot of key details.
Im not sure how long after, but my mom met my brother’s father. He was a really nice guy, I never had any problems with him. He treated me as one of his own. My brother’s dad was a bit different from mine in terms of lifestyle and personality (but they both had their pros and cons). My mom and my brother’s father enjoyed a lot of the beginning of the relationship. Kinda like the crazy rebel rockstar couple you know? Clubs and karaoke bars, gambling and nonstop shopping and whatever else is included in rebellious lifestyles.

Like I said…it got worse from here. A lot of things that I do re-call, I will opt out of and choose not to share.
Eventually, they got a place on the northside of Regent Park, near Gerard and Parliament. To anyone who’s not from Toronto, Regent Park is Canada’s first and largest social housing ‘project’ located not even 5 minutes east from the downtown core.
This is it…407 Gerard…that balcony is actually split into two…my apartment was on the right side, that window with the A/C sticking was my living room.
Ive seen some really crazy shit as a child living in this area. Im sure my experiences dont differ much from anyone living in the projects. Crackheads, druggies injecting themselves in the stairwell, domestic violence in the building hallways, dirty smelly alcoholics and pissed up staircases and whatever…
A couple of months later in December of 1987, we introduced my little brother Michael into this world, who ends up being my best friend and guinea pig for my experiments for most of my childhood and much of his own. lol.
Its lonely enough being an only child, but in a place where your parents dont have any friends with kids either…shit gets mad boring. lol
The introduction of my brother, started a very prosperous era in our lives. My brother and I were usually decked out in gold and jade, fine ‘italian’ clothing and brand name toys that werent just from Honest Eds (the biggest and oldest bargain shop in Canada…I think. lol). We even had a powerwheels. I love no dude more than I love my kid brother.
My brother’s dad was doing well for the family even though we still lived in Regent Park. He bought himself a brand new Chevy Camaro (pictured below). Life was really good for us…for the time being anyhow.This is an image of Regent Park now. They demolishing the projects to redevelop the land and create new mixed income housing…basically, displacing the poor…whatever.

Lord Dufferin is where I used to take swimming lessons as a kid.

This was the convenience store I used to go to everyday afterschool to buy candies and chocolate. If you’ve seen any pictures of me as a child, you’ll notice I had no frickin teeth. lol. Thanks mom. lol
The 2 best memories I have of this convenience store is one day after school, the frito-lays truck is parked outside and unloading the chips in boxes into the store. Me and a couple friends came up to the man (I was in like grade 1), and asked if we could have some chips, and he really did give us some. I remember coming home and bringing home enough chips for months. When you’re poor, coming home with chips with a brand name is some shit! lol Not like No Frill’s and Knob Hill Farms (thats right I said Knob Hill Farms…who remembers that shit? lol)
The second favorite memory is my mom taking me there one time because she was going out and I was wining. So she bought me some candy and a My Pet Monster doll…it was ugly as hell in retrospect, but somehow it kept me quiet. lol
This here is fuckin hilarious…the picture below is the house that my best friend in grade 1 lived in. His name was Leo. It was right beside the school. I had the biggest crush on his older sister Zoey. I used to come over to his house all the time afterschool cuz I just wanted to see her. lol
This was my elementary school. I was only here until mid year of grade 2. I remember a chinese girl named Bonnie always kissing me in class and me telling on her cuz I was getting annoyed. I remember a blonde kid named Matthew with crazy temper tantrums that refused to do any work and the only words he ever said was “I cant”, I remember Miss Franklin because she would always make French Toast for me in class, I remember a girl in my class that was cute too named Kayla, but she had some crazy ass split ends, I remember writing a love note to her before I moved away in grade 2. I remember one time playing tag with this kid named Vu, and my brother seeing me running and not knowing what was going on. My brother got concerned and protective so he picked up a plastic sand shovel and wacked it across Vu’s face, cutting his face and leaving blood all over the place. I remember Vu’s parents coming in and cussing at me in Vietnamese. I remember crying then calling my mom. Then I remember my mom on the phone saying “Do you need me to send someone in to beat up this kid Vu? And what did that bitch say to you (referring to Vu’s mother), do you want me to have her taken care of too?” lmao. I also remembered being tossed into ESL…thats some fuckin shit man. I spoke perfect fuckin english as a kid. What? Because my eyes werent round enough and my skin wasnt white I had to get dashed in ESL…No one in ESL spoke english…EXCEPT ME!!!
They eventually let me go back to the regular classes after a few weeks. Some bullshit…I should sue them now. lol
This is me and the white kid, Russell who lived in the apartment directly below mine. I remember that his dad’s name was William too. lol Umm…monkey bars in the school gym. lol
This is the track where I tried out for track and field in grade 2 but was cut because I didnt know I was supposed to run in my own lane. lol. Who woulda known thats what the lines were for. lol
Anyhow, the story continues.
My dad was absent from my life until I was around 4 or 5. I didnt even know who my dad was. As far as I knew, my brother’s dad was my dad and I refused to believe anything else.
I can just imagine how hard it was for my dad.
By this time my dad had already remarried.
I remember this day so clearly. I was sitting in the living room with my brother, and someone knocks. My mom opens the door and my dad is standing there, but this was the first time I had seen him since I was 1ish, when my parents split.
He said it was my birthday so he wanted to take me shopping. I just remember kicking and screaming as my mom told me to leave with him. I remember crying the whole car ride. I remember crying inside Honest Eds. I remember him letting me choose which fire truck I wanted…I remembered me not crying after that…I remember being very quiet on the ride back home…I remember also not remembering who I was in the car with and that he was my father.
It took another year or so until I finally accepted him as my father.
Sometimes when I think about it, I feel so bad for my dad. He left me when I was still an infant, I didnt even remember his face. For 3 or 4 years, he said he missed me and cried all the time that he couldnt be with his son. He said he never wanted to visit me because he didnt want to see my mother. And when he was finally able to locate my mother and found the nerves to face me again, I didnt even know who he was. I cried and kick and scream. Musta killed him inside. Musta killed him inside to see my mother again in a happy home with another child and another man. Musta killed him for those 3 years being alone with no friends and working in a factory all day and night.
But this is not to say my dad never wronged my mother either. I still refuse to share the details of what happened.
Ill get to how bad I feel about my mother raising me without my father in her life when I get to part 3. My mom’s hardships havent kicked in at this point yet. Well not ones that I consider as bad as what I will eventually tell you about.
But anyways, my brother and I didnt see eachother too much as kids because he was raised by his grandmother, which was extremely unfortunate. Man…its so hard to write about this right now without having a breakdown as I remember everything…fuck…
I was occasionally babysitted by a friend of my mom’s and occasionally by her son. Lets just say when I have kids, they’re never going to a daycare or babysitted by strangers…EVER. These are some times I wish I could erase from my mind…I remember it every now and then and I get angry and upset about it…
Fastforward maybe a couple months or a few years, and a family member opens up a restaraunt/ karaoke bar on College and Bathurst. I used to go there everyday afterschool. I used to play in the arcade and then chill in the billiards room in the back where I seen people lose their shoes and necklaces in games of pool.
My mom worked there as the head chef and as an assistant manager. If you dont know by now, Vietnamese people are messed up. lol It wasnt long until illegal activities started running in the spot.
One night, the police raided the spot and arrested everyone inside. According to the story, my mom got her head bashed against the glass table, shattering it. Her and a few other were taken into custody and locked up for 2 nights.
I remember coming home one day afterschool and not seeing my mom. My brother’s dad told me she was out. And he kept on having to leave to handle the situation. I was all alone because like I said my brother was being looked after by his grandmother. I remember just staying home and crying because I was all alone in the apartment, no one was there except me, I was hungry and scared. Being a momma’s boy didnt help either. I remembered it being late at night. I couldnt sleep, so I called my aunt or everyone else on the speed dial asking where my mom and my brother’s dad were. And no one would tell me where they were even though they knew. I remember sitting in the hallway curled up and all alone in a dark ass apartment with no lights on, sitting in front of the door waiting for it to open just to see my mom. I fell asleep by the phone waiting for calls. I remember finally waking up to a call, and it was my mom calling from jail, I remember her crying saying she was scared and she loved me and missed me. Saying she was sorry. Saying she’ll sing me to bed when she gets home. But she didnt tell me where she was. She had to hang up shortly after, and I cried myself to sleep all alone in the apartment in the hallway on the floor.
My mom came home two days later. The relationship between my mom and my brother’s dad went downhill not to long after she got home. Without putting a blame on anyone, they decided to end their relationship and go their separate ways. I remember how much it hurt the day that my brother’s dad left holding bags of his belongings in his hand standing there at the door tearing as he left my brother and I.
This chapter ends off with me being 6 or 7 years old, still living in Regent Park with my mother and brother.

I understand my childhood wasnt as hard as some others, but it wasnt exactly the happiest either. Im 23 now and Im quite used to people coming and going, in and out of my life. Its hard. Ive moved several times too, which you will find out in the later posts. I make friends and lose them. I become comfortable in certain homes and then move away. I live with siblings and leave them. Im with my mom or with my dad. The one thing Ive always lacked in my life was stability.
Im sometimes shocked that Im not a different person. If I really got into details about my childhood, im talking about SPECIFICS, you’d think Id grow up to be a fuct up kid…but somehow Ive managed to stay sane and somewhat rational.
Anyone who knows me, knows I take nothing for granted. I need friendships that I can depend on, people I can trust and believe in. People who I believe wont wrong me or misunderstand after a small mistake.
This is why I prefer serious relationships over flings and one night stands, why I prefer a few close friends over being in gangs or large groups. Why I try to stay focused in school and try to make legit money. I need stability. I need to know these things will be there tomorrow. Because everything else in my life is a toss up.
I can only take every negative action in my life and learn from it and try to become a better person. I dare not repeat the negative actions in my life that were acted upon myself or my family, because it would be as if I agreed and I condone it.

Sorry if this post is all over the place…I tried to keep it as organized as I could, but I broke down several times during this post as I remembered everything I wrote and everything else I didnt. Understand my childhood is a very sensitve topic for me, and is probably my least favorite time of my life…Its one thing for you guys to read this right now, but a whole different scenario for me to have flashbacks and generate these images and memories in my mind all over again. Im not even sure why I even felt the need to tell the story…

But I did…

Thanks for reading…hope I didnt bore you guys or wear you guys out with my uber dramatic-emo story.

ps. i dont proofread my stuff so forgive me.

I got back from North Bay around 1115am from a 3.5 hour drive, went home showered and raced back down to just east of downtown by 1230 for this shoot.

Some of you guys may or may not be familiar with this clothing line, but they’re a pretty big deal and they’re also one of the most successful in Canada. Anne Hathaway, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Garner, Brittney Spears, Taylor Swift, Jessica Biel, Nelly Furtado, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson and a handful of others, can all be seen wearing Line Knitwear. Do check their website here, especially if you’re into fashion. I think you’ll be able to appreciate it.

Mark your calendars for March 25th. Thats when their next show for fashion week will be.

Man, everytime I come to one of these shoots, I wish it was me doing it. I cant wait to do all these big projects, test my eye, push my imagination and be seen and valued for my product on a grander scale…and maybe have someone else come in take behind the scenes stills. lol

In due time.

Shouts to Ashley! Love you always!

Yesterday, a few of Toronto’s most reputable bloggers and myself were asked to attend a photoshoot for a relatively new online magazine called Polysh Magazine where we would be featured in.

We were all interviewed, some of us were styled and touched up with make up and then shot.

Its always interesting when I become the subject of interest and its not me doing the shooting or question asking.

Shout outs to my brothers Brock and T-RexXx at 1loveto, shout outs to Catriona and Eva of Coco and Lowe, Karla of HustleGRL, Andrew of whoisdrew, Anita of IwantIgot and Gloria of Urbanebloc. Special shout outs to the whole gang at Polysh Magazine for even considering me and allowing me to stand beside people of such ranks. It was an honor and a pleasure.

Dont mind my hair. I literally just woke up. Vince was supposed to cut my hair but was too drunk from the night before at his going away party.

Shout outs to Andrew Park as well for the behind the scenes shots!

Earlier this afternoon, I had the pleasure of shooting a new artist thats been working with Sal and CP Records, Lola.

Ive been hearing her tracks on the radio not evening knowing it was her. I wish I could post the pics I took from today but nothing can be released yet, so for the time being, just look at the few behind the scenes shots that Andrew took while I shot today. Sorry that all the pictures are just of me and my double chin (check the third last photo), Im sure we would have rather looked at Lola…lol. I just cant post any pictures that would really give away what the shoot will look like. Trust me, Im super anxious for you guys to see how these pics look, Im actually pretty proud of them.

Shout outs to Sal, Maia, DY, Kevin, Lola and Andrew!

Last night, Tilt, Wristpect, Danny and I took a 3.5 hour drive up north…to North Bay…I have no idea where that even is on a map. Ive never been so far north on this planet until last night. lol.

Its colder, snowier and colder…lol.

We were supposed to head up there early so we could snowmobile, right after my shoot with Polysh Magazine, but that didnt really happen. We were going to snowmobile over a nearby lake…I mean it was cold outside, but it wasnt cold enough for me to trust snowmobiling over a lake. Crazy thing is, on the way home, we listened to the local radio station and it said “3 people have died from snowmobiles in the last 39 hours…” …yea…snowmobiling aint no joke. lol.

Anyhow, shouts to the folks of MBM at Nippissing University for the hotel accomodations, giftbasket, the food, the free alcohol and the hospitality and to the brunette in the slate grey v-neck shirt for looking so damn good! lol. I shoulda said hi! lol

Anyone who’s been on my blog from the beginning knows I havent done one of these for like a year now.

Can anyone tell me where I am in these pictures. Like where I was standing?

Goodluck.

(This is actually a repost from November 2008. Im sure someone remembers when I originally put this post up.)

Im doing the way back play backs right now. lol
Im taking you guys back to school, literally.
Above is a picture of me in grade 12 at York Memo(rial). This was back when racing jackets and air brush shirts were in…if you’re still on racing jackets and air brush shirts…lol…smh.

The first batch of pictures are from Boylen Collegiate. Too bad I dont have any pics of the Latina crew at Boylen. Boylen had some smoking ass Spanish girls. Especially Anna and her sister Carmen! *jaw drops. lol. One time Anna caught me staring at her in the hallway, when she looked, I pretended to read…too bad my book was upside down! lol. Idiot.

Boylen was a crazy ass school. School of like 500 kids. Most of the school boards rejects and former juveniles ended up in Boylen. Ive seen some mad shit go down at Boylen. This school was no joke during my stay from grades 9-11.

Gemini and I were basically the only Asian kids in school, the rest of the school population was black and spanish…and maybe 20 other random nationalities.

A lotta crazy fuct up shit went down at Boylen too but Ill tell you guys another time. Im talking about helicopters, SWAT teams, gang fights and fuckers parking their cars side ways in the street to prevent anyone coming in or leaving the block, ambushes, machedees, axes, punching out principals, ambulances etc. …Im sure every school had their fair share of bullshit, but Boylen had a very FAIR share. lol

In grades 9-10, I didnt really do much. I was too busy being chasing and dating Portuguese and Italian girls, so I didnt really have a crew in school(ill elaborate on that story at a later time). In grade 11, I really got back into school and chilling with my peoples.

Random funny memory. A lotta black girls in school used to try to get with me saying they wanted to have my babies because they would be such cute light skin babies with nice hair…lol…wtf do I look like? A fuckin farmer? U juss want me to plough up any free land I see and juss plant seeds everywhere and let you bare the fruits of my loom? Lmao

To answer ur question, I wasn’t a whore in high school. I’ve always been a serial monogamous person. I only believe in relatively serious relationships. Whores turned me off…at least when I know they are it does. Lol

There were 4 crews at Boylen. The first was the Spanish kids who hung out by the north end of the hallway by the doors. Then there was the hardcore gangster black kids who hung out by the south doors, blazing all day. Then there were all the nerds who hung out in the cafeteria. Then there was my crew, we stayed in the middle of the hallway in between the gangster black kids and the spanish kids. We were the ‘cool kids’, ironed Polos, pressed khakis, cuffed jeans, clean AF1s, wallabes or Tims. There were no real sports teams at Boylen, so our crew was basically the replacement Jock crew. lol. There were some bad ass girls that hung around us…but Im gonna have to find the pics somewhere…Boylen didnt have much to offer, but the ones they did were dimes. I promise you. lol

Sometimes, the crew and I would just go into the cafeteria/auditorium and someone would break into the projector room, play some DMX or Jigga on the giant speakers, turn off the lights, turn on the disco ball and we would just bang to that shit during lunch.

But anyways…The girl sitting on my lap above…uuggghhhkkk…I never wanted her to sit there…uugghhkkk. I wanted the girl sittin on the left (who was actually my prom date), but my boy Owen grabbed her first…so I got stuck with…that…lol. Im so bad.

If you guys remember, my best friend Dame, thats him above in teh white and blue Fubu shirt (lmfao! FUBU! lmfao), grey tims and the glasses.

Scarves tied over my head, grey khakis and Tims…yes, I is.Zola (blue shirt) was that chick in school, freshest dressed all day everyday. She had every single pair of Jordans in every color, a pair of AF1’s, highs and lows in every color, tims in every color, matching belts, matching Jansport backpacks, and jackets. Shiet…and this was before the sneakerhead culture and hypebeasts even existed…this is when hip hop was nothing more than Nikes, Tims, Jordans, jerseys and fitteds.

…and thats my arm that I used to draw on all the time. Ive wanted tattoos since I was grade 4 actually.

Below, my home girl, Helen. One of the bestest friends Ive ever had. Below is my home boy Jamie and my favorite 3 tone cap! lol. Catch the American flag chucks.

Jamie is one of the most important people who helped guide me through highschool. He was that dude who first saw potential in me and let me chill with all the cooler older kids. He introduced me to all the girls, introduced me to what gang life was like and tried to keep me out of it, he looked after me, he was the guy who walked me in and out of the block to make sure I was safe, taught me to always iron my clothes, keep the kicks clean. I cant write all the things Jamie helped me with, but understand, Id be a very different person had I never met Jamie.

Below is the baby mama crew. The women to each side of me either had a kid or was having a kid. There were a few more crew members to this crew too. lol

Its funny in high school though, as soon as you find out the girls got a kid, you just want to start hitting on her. The mentality is, damn she’s having sex? Aite cool, lemme try to chat to that. lol. Even though I wasnt a whore, Im pretty sure myself and many others subconsciously thought that. lol Its bad that I said that, but its also the honest truth. lol

Below is a picture of the crew and James…the only white guy in school…well John was the only other white guy but he dropped out when he had his first daughter. lol. Jay-Z wore the same Rocawear shirt in “Song Cry” except with a yellow trim. lol sorry, that was a VH1 pop up fact. lolI still have that same Jordan track suit…lol…I told you I wore a lot of yellow…and the AF1’s…lol…oh Nelly. lolI would so not date a girl who would wear a shirt like that now…lol

Jamie getting a braid up from Krystal in the stairwell…

Remember when Diesel shoes were cool? No diss to anyone who still rocks them. lol. I had the black ones to the ones Jamie has on…I was only able to afford them because I ran a credit card scam. lol.

(Fran)Cisco and I. Cisco was my best friend in high school, we went to every school together and he knew everything about me. You know on Friday nights when you had nothing to do except go to the mall (in my case, Yorkdale), chill by the theatre in your freshest new outfit and just waited for hot girls to come by so you can grab their arm and holla? Yea, that was my wing man. lol…we usually went home empty handed. lol. But we would have a blast making fun of ourselves while sitting on the train on the way home. lol

Now we get to Memo…a school of 1200 kids? I think?…
I came to memo in grade 12 for my final year of high school.
Ive always had a soft spot for big booty light skin black girls, and big booty dark skin white girls…well…I think its really just a soft spot for big booty. Like I said, Memo had 1200 kids, so the selection was oouu so sweet.

I was the first guy in school with an MP3 player (before iPod times) back in 2003…yep…how asian of me. Remember when Sony came out with the little square hard disc mp3 player? Some people will know this. I spent a pretty penny on that. Everyone was still rockin the Sony Discman. lol. Anyhow, I would have all the new Elephant Man tracks, T.O.K, Wayne Wonder and …whoever the hell else was relevant at the time. I always had the newest dance hall tracks, Id hook up my MP3 player to the portable speakers and play it in the cafeteria. Tabby, Chief, Brandon and the rest of the Dirty Dozen would wil’ out and do their dance routines.

Oh yea, the black kids in school never really considered me Asian either, I was that light skin dude. lol. Sounds silly, but high was silly too.

This was also the same year 50 dropped 21 questions!!! lol

Remember the high socks and skirts or shorts? lol. Girls in pig tails tied up with shoe laces? They probably had a sponge bob knapsack too. lol Dont watch that. lolOnly Kemeisha, below would come to school dressed like that! lol. She was one of my faves in school though. I remember one time she came to school in just a soccer jersey and heels! BOM BOM! lolShout outs to Shev (you guys might recognize her, she shows up in my pics now from time to time) and the white pants she wore that day…you cant really tell much by this picture but oh my…Shev, I never told you in highschool, but damn did I ever want you. lol. Like on the real real. God bless that booty and Im glad it only got bigger through time! lol Thats my locker…Im sure you expected more photos on it…lol

Once again, yes this is Shev. We go way back! lolEnter throw back jersey’s era. lol.

yep yep.

So many people have been saying to me, oh man, high school, I wish I could go back in time…especially with what I know now.

Not me. Id go back, but I wouldnt change anything.

I would make those mistakes again over and over.Everything we went through made us who we are. If only one thing changed it’d set off an entire chain reaction and, we’d be a different person. Why do you think time travelling is illegal!!! lol

Every single thing that has happened, every single person who has come and gone, was all for all a reason.

Life is like a cake, these moments in our lives are all the ingredients…you take something away, and we dont have a cake no more.

To anyone who has a camera, I encourage you to take as many pictures as you can. Especially if its a digital camera. You have no reason to not…its not like you gotta go buy film and develop them.
I love looking back at my life and seeing how much Ive grown.

This is your history. Document it. You will grow old one day and your memory will corrode and you wont be able to tell your story. But your photographs can.

Its crazy, because so many people think I was that rich kid who grew up in the suburbs with everything in my hand because they see how my life is now…but let me remind you, you and I - we`re not that different.

If a regular kid from the block can live like this…than whats your excuse?

These pictures are from the last day of school in grade 7 (1998). I might have looked like a scrawny little kid, but ask anyone who often I scrapped. lol. I fought everyone! lol

On the last day, we put our pocket change together and bought a crap load of eggs…of course to egg people. We were broke so we bought the cheapest eggs. Those eggs were so damn gangster it didnt even break when it hit people. lol. It just bruised them. Some of them didnt even break when it hit the ground! lol. Hilariously enough, the blonde guy on the left in the picture above got egged shortly after this picture was taken…and then we egged his older brother because they were losers. lol. I think I dated or tried to date every girl in the picture above except the girl in the glasses. lol

The picture above was taken at the Burger King that was down the street from our middle school (Glen Haven). I remember, my mom would only give me lunch money on Fridays. Every other day, I would have to pack a sandwich, which I was always embarrassed to eat in front of my friends. I usually ate my sandwich on my way home…truth be told, I threw out my lunch a lot. I actually hate that I used to throw away so much food growing up. When you’re this young, you dont realize the value of money and how much your parents care for your health…ah…im gonna stop here before I stray too far off.

I dont know why my face was like that. Above are the shoes my dad bought me instead of the Kobe Bryants. lol…boo Dad. lolThe lord knows I got swat right after this shot. lol

My picture taking days started in grade 7, when I stole a camera from one of the girls afterschool. lol. She knew I stole it too, but I didnt care. lol. But this is when my love for photographic documentation began. I dont even know how I was able to ever fund this hobby of mine. This shit was before the digital age. I was buying canisters of film and developing this shit…and I took a lot of pictures. I didnt even have a job…so I really dont remember where the money I spent came from. If you come to my house, you’ll see how many stacks of photos I have laying around, and how many film negatives and albums I have. lol.

Shortly after the pictures above, I moved out of my moms crib in Sauga and into my dads place at Keele and Falstaff in North York. My sisters dad and I were getting into too many arguments and I couldnt stand it anymore. It took me years to get really comfortable in North York and even longer to get along with my dad. I was 13 and havent lived with my father since I was 1…so you can imagine the difficulties of fitting in with him, his wife and 2 other sons. I missed my mom a lot and always travelled back home to see her, my baby sister, Judy (who was 4 or 5 at that time) and occassionally my younger brother, Mike.

Although I consistently moved, my love and loyalty always stayed the same.

Above, my brothers from another mother, Anthony and Jason. I think I was in Grade 8 in the picture above.

In the picture above, my home boy Jay is showing off the fact that he just got a new Nokia cell phone…lol. Remember when those just came out, and you could get the different face plates, the flashing antennas, different color buttons and all that bullshit? lol. Im holding the big ass cordless house phone. lolIts interesting becasue I dont have any idea who the hell took this picture above. lol.Crew pictures are always the most interesting…like how do you decide who takes the picture…because the person who takes the picture usually is the least important in the crew, whether you admit it or not. I mean you ever say…’yo, crew shot…who wants to take it?’ everyone looks around. No one reacts. Either now you suggest the least important person to take it or the least important person will volunteer. If you’re nice, you’ll be like, ‘you sure?’ and if ur a jerk, you’ll just get in the picture and pose. lol. If the least important person is smart, they’ll say something like…its ok, I dont really want to be in the picture anyways, I dont like what Im wearing. LMFAO!

A lie? lolHow Asian of us to pose for a picture doing the gangster squat. lolAll these pictures are taken in Mississauga with my boys that I ‘grew up’ with. Havenwood/ Fieldgate was the block.

Dont get it twisted, this wasnt the nice suburban Mississauga you guys think of, this was the hood. lolThe above picture was taken outside the Cineplex at Sherway Gardens…when they still had a theatre that is…I think we were watching Rush Hour.We used to go bowling a lot when we were young. I was never good. Above to the left holding the bowling ball is my younger brother Mike. Im the one in the light blue short sleeve button up and my sister is sitting just below me. lollol. This was my GQ dressing/ Gino hair days. I had a thing for the tanned skin, dark haired, euro/dance/trance listening white girls. lol. I guess I looked like this in hopes of attracting them. It worked for the most part. lolYou’ll never guess but the girl on Anthony’s back is Lola Plaku circa 1999/2000.

I think this picture was from 1999 and Lola had just come to Canada the year before that. lol. Ive known this girl from time…shit, she knew me before she could properly put an English sentence together! lol. Cant lie, she was pretty hot. She a yellow bikini on, I was tryna get her and her friend in the pool…shit didnt work…even with my cool sunglasses on. lol

And below is Lola as well sitting in my lap. lolIm not sure why I look like that in the picture above…but whatever…thats Lola at the bottom corner of the picture above! lolAbove is a picture of me and Monica and the boys. I dated Monica for most of my highschool career…on and off. lol. I hate on and off relationships so I dont know why I dealt with one when I think about it, but it probably had something to do with me thinking she was hot, tanned, the fact that I could say I was dating a Portuguese/Brazilian and that she had a big booty. lol…no lie, her backside had me weak in high school. lol

Shes probably going to hate that I posted that. lol. As you can imagine, I have a ton of pics of Monica and I, in fact I have tons of pics of any girl Ive ever dated or liked (no creeper) but Im not gonna post them. Us at Wonderland. Crazy thing is the black dude in the white du-rag is actually married to the girl he’s beside! Shout outs to them! The two pictures above were shot at Playdium in Mississauga back when it first opened. lol…I think this was 1999…2000 maybe?lmfao! I have no comment for the picture above. lolWe used to wear yellow a lot. It was our gang colors. So corny. lolRemember when rocking baby blue was cool? *sigh…lolBelow are a bunch of pictures of me on my webcam when I bought my first computer in Grade 10…I spend ours being vane and taking pictures of myself…smiling all sorts of ways.

Let me just say it was ok for me to do that back in 2000…but its 2010 now, taking pics from your Mac isnt a bad thing…but if all your pictures on your fb or whatever else are are like the pics of me below tryna act sexy?…shit, I aint got much to say. lol.Remember when headbands were in? lol. Especially the upside Nike ones?  Remember the white headbands with the black checkmarks that we would bleach so it could turn gold? lolRemember when headsets were cool for cell phones? lolRemember when Jennifer Lopez was the shit? lolUmm…I used to wear du-rags…a lot actually. lol

lmfao!!! if you still take pics like the last pic above and still write stupid captions…and you edited that shit on Microsoft Paint…than you should never question why you’re single. lol Im playing…sorta kinda not really.

Trust me, I have way more photos of back in the day than this, but I figured this was a good collection to post.

I look back at all these pictures, and I smile so hard. Because I know the story behind every picture, the story behind every person in it. Its also crazy to see how much I change from picture to picture - from my hair, to my clothes to my face, my physical to my mental. I know what phase I was in during all these pictures. Photographs are such beautiful things.

I cant think of how to write what I want to say eloquently, so Ill just end it here before I start sounding corny. lol

Anyways, Im gonna go find a new sitcom to start watching now…

Feel free to comment on these embarrassing pictures…Most people wouldnt have posted these pics, but I dont give a damn.

lol

Peace and Love.

T’s and O’s.

Theres no need for me to write anything about the Shuffle Party…we already know what I feel about it. lol

Shout outs to Brock and T-RexXx and welcome back from the Grammys!

I dont know what to say
But I do know how I feel…

I wish you came sooner…
or maybe if you came later…

But at the same time, Im glad you’re my present.

Ive been sitting here for the last 40 minutes typing and deleting, typing and deleting…I figured Id just leave this at that.

You know who you are…

(ps. i feel like such a loserbag because my emotions really made me write that…its so lame when you articulate truth with such tacky words…but sometimes the truth is super tacky and if you knew the situation, I guess you’d say that what I wrote described it perfectly.)