27 for the Front Nine

The Palm Lakes Par-3 golf course is a wonderful thing.  Not because you can work on your short game, or because it's cheaper than a full round, but because of the atmosphere that it creates.  It's not pretentious or stressful, and creates a great opportunity for new golfers or rusty players who want to take an hour or so to play some golf.  Nobody is going to make fun of you, or tell you to hurry up; after all, it's a 3-Par.  If you want to play a serious round of golf, go play at Vellano or Los Serranos.

Chip shot

The sunny California Christmas weather was perfect for playing a round of golf - mid 70s, sunny, and crystal clear skies.  Only one problem: the Porter Family is terrible at golf.  Karen tried to marry into some ability, but Thomas has yet to impart his skill to his wife.  The perfect solution was to head to Palm Lakes!  We split into two groups - Thomas, Karen, Stephen, and Kylee teed off first, followed by Chris, Doree, and Lisa.

Follow through

Luckily, most members knew enough about golf, and had swung a golf club before, that there were very few whiffs and strikeouts.  However, we certainly enjoyed watching everyone's golf balls go everywhere but towards the hole!  There's a certain level of anticipation as the amateur golfer addresses the ball, swings it back, and brings the club down - will it be a worm-burner? A shank? A hook? Perhaps the stars will align, and the ball will go sailing down the fairway with a satisfying THWACK!

Thomas was the best, of course - the only one of the group to actually end up on the green in one shot. Kylee had some of the highest arc shots I've seen.  Although they wouldn't go much further than 60-70 yards, she was very consistent.  Stephen and Karen would be all over the place - sometimes making good shots, but more often walking off with a pitching or sand wedge in hand.

Overall, a great way to spend an afternoon.  Relaxing but competitive, and lots of laughs.

The Family that golfs together stays together

Pull!

I'm nursing a bruised cheek at the moment, and it's due to a fight.  The score is: 12-gauge shotgun - 25, my face - 0.  Of course, the clay pigeons got the worst of the deal, as every single one of them ended up broken.

Die pigeon!

Shooting isn't an activity that I've spent a lot of time doing; none of my family grew up shooting guns/bows, so I naturally gravitated to other sports.  However, being in the military has given me the opportunity to at least be familiar with guns and the basics of shooting.  When my brother-in-law, Grant Petruzzelli, suggested that we head to the range and do some shooting during my Christmas leave, I jumped at the chance.

Kid, meet Candy Shop

Eye of the Tiger

The first day I went with my father-in-law, David Lollis, and Grant, while the wives went out to do some shopping.  Dave was like a little kid in a candy shop; telling everyone at the range that it was his first time shooting a shotgun.  Grant and I tried to assume the role of more experienced shooters, with limited success.  We got a 20-gauge shotgun and 25 shells each, and headed to the range.  After a brief demonstration of how to load and fire the guns, we set our stances and started firing.  When the dust cleared, I had barely edged out Grant for the win.  Final score: my 15 hits to Grant's 13.  Dave laid an egg.  We then headed over to the pistol range and got a 40cal pistol and 50 rounds.  We took turns shooting 5 rounds at a time from 10 yards out from a silhouette target, and took our bullet-riddled targets home to proudly show the womenfolk our prowess.

This gun's kinda heavy. . .

I guess old dogs can learn new tricks

We showed the pictures and videos from the day to our wives, and told my parents, and they expressed a desire to also do some shooting.  So, we took the afternoon today to head back to the range with Kylee, my Dad, and my Mom.  We got two rifles to share, and hit the range.  The assistants running the range were very helpful for all of us, giving pointers and tips for better shooting.  Everyone in the group hit some pigeons, though it was a nail-biter for my mom.  She went 0 for 23, then nailed the last two targets to the applause of all.  Kylee and my Dad were quite good - shooting down 8-10 pigeons each.   This day, I rented a 12-guage shotgun to try.  Though I shot better than the day before (hitting 20 pigeons) due to the greater power and spread, my cheek paid the price.

The weather was gorgeous, the kind of weather that only California can offer in December - mid 70s and clear skies.

Eye on the prize

More pictures at:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100638891273681.1073741832.12004504&type=1&l=7e32759cb4

Clearly, You've Never Been to Singapore (and Hong Kong)

Alright, time to catch everybody up on what happened over the summer of 2013.  Yes, I was deployed a decent amount (added up, I think it was about 5-6 months, broken up into 3 deployments), but I also got to visit a lot of very cool ports and foreign countries.  The first deployment, I went to Vladivostok, Russia.  The second deployment headed down south to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.  To round out the year, we hit up the famous Asian ports of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Singapore was a surprise visit, so it became a geo-bachelor port call - almost nobody's wife came out to visit due to the short notice.  As a result, the detachment stayed together as a group.  We all got the same hotel, visited the same locations, and generally had the same experience.  Additionally, it meant I got to keep my mustache for another couple weeks. I apologize for those photos.


Singapore was a very interesting city to visit - there are some strange rules, and things that are commonplace in the US or  Japan are illegal in Singapore.  For instance, it's illegal to chew gum in public, bring smelly Durian fruit on public transportation, or eat/drink in trains or train stations.  There are also laws against "outraging the modesty of a woman." Not sure what exactly that would entail, but needless to say, the men were on their best behavior.

We traveled the city exclusively by train and foot, visiting the Botanical Gardens (where we saw the National Orchid Garden, which had more orchids than I can count), Little India, and a park with Avatar-esque towers coming through the trees.  We stayed at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, living the life of luxury in a gigantic hotel with rooftop infinity pool, impressive views of the city and bay, and built in mall/casino!

Hong Kong was a very different type of port call than Singapore, largely because the spouses were there!  Kylee flew down with several of her friends (also wives of the detachment) and met me at the Bishop Lei International House - a small hotel with a stunning view of Hong Kong Harbor.  The next 48 hours were packed full of rooftop bars, fancy dinners, eating dim sum on the top of Victoria Peak, braving the intense night life of Lan Kwai Fong, and taking in as much of Hong Kong as we could.

I could have spent another week in Hong Kong - I felt like I only saw a glimpse of all there is to see, and what we did see was very rushed.  I look forward to more visits in the future!

More photos of Singapore:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100635216328301.1073741830.12004504&type=1&l=951bc6adbc

More photos of Hong Kong:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100635222540851.1073741831.12004504&type=1&l=d1ef906b07