I’ve been posting a lot about my career in software engineering, but we all know that at the end of the day, our career is not what defines us. What defines us are the actions we do, the people we befriend, the choices we make in our daily lives culminating in our will to survive and live on.

In this post, I want to talk about some of the things that define me – my hobbies. I’ve had many hobbies throughout my life that it’ll be impossible to talk about all of them in detail. For now, I’ll go over some of the hobbies I’ve been pursuing lately that have been giving me great joy. I encourage you to share YOURS in the comment section below!

Basketball

I’ve been playing a lot of casual basketball with my coworkers and building mates after work. I get the chance to test my athletic abilities and quick decision-making skills with my peers that are just as good or better than me. My spirit basketball player would have to be Kobe Bryant.

Cooking

I try to avoid eating out now as that is one of the areas I can maximize savings on. It is so much cheaper to go to Costco, Trader Joes (I love Trader Joes) or even Vons/Ralphs and buy items in bulk. It’s also really fun to take these items and cook something different each week. Some of the things I’ve been cooking that have been really quick, easy and delicious:

• Japanese chicken curry (using the prepackaged dried curry sauce)
• Pasta (there are many types of sauces at Trader Joes that are ready to be thrown in with the noodles)
• Dumplings (frozen dumplings from 99 Ranch Market)
• Drunken noodles
• teriyaki stir-fried chicken with thai chili oil sauce and rice
• Bun Chao Gio (vietnamese egg rolls with rice noodles)
• different types of filipino food and many more!

Writing this out now, I definitely need more veggie/fruit dishes in my life.

Reddit/YouTube

I like to go on r/nba to catch up on my nba news since I don’t really watch full basketball games anymore. Same with YouTube, I use it to catch up on Laker highlights from a game I’ve missed. I also like to go on r/cscareerquestions and check out software engineer channels like TechLead to relate to people I share my career with. And of course, I like to go on r/smashbros and check out random smash vids on YouTube to learn the game. I’ve also been watching a lot of chess videos lately to try and absorb as much as I can.

Chess

This is something I’ve recently picked up due to a channel on YouTube, agadmatorchess. He showed me that chess isn’t just a game, but there’s a history behind it. A history on the players from the past and the drama that has gone along with it. Pretty cool to see. Right now, I have a friend who is completely destroying me at chess. Apparently he got 2nd place at a chess tournament at UCSD before..

Super Smash Bros Melee

Captain Falcon main here. I’ve loved SSBM since I was a kid. I’d always want to go to my cousins’ places to play this with them, even if I sucked. Today, I have a close-knit group of friends to share this passion with. I’m not the best, but I’m working towards it.

Hiking

Hiking is loads of fun. One of my friends loves to hike and explore areas. Lately, we’ve been exploring San Diego and he showed me and a few other friends some EPIC places.  Just last weekend we went to:

• Mushroom Caves trail
• Ho Chi Minh Trail
• Sunset Cliffs
• Spruce Street Suspension Bridge

We did some crazy fun things on these trails. I hope to share these via instagram soon!

The diversity of my hobbies helps me get through the tough week of work and gives me an opportunity to look forward to things. I’d say one of the toughest things after college is truly finding time for myself and making myself better